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Palestinian Authority Encouraging Children to Seek Martyrdom

This visual analysis explores the evidence of the Palestinian Authority encouraging Palestinian children to seek death as Martyrs, citing examples from schoolbooks, TV clips, and official media reports.

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Palestinian Authority Encouraging Children to Seek Martyrdom

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  1. The Ultimate Child Abuse Palestinian Media Watch Visual Analysis # 1 - April 23, 2002 * *All the TV material cited is available on CD from info@pmw.org.il

  2. PMW has compiled substantial evidence that the Palestinian Authority has been encouraging Palestinian children to seek death as Martyrs. This report presents examples of this evidence: Part 1: Encouraging Children to seek Martyrdom Part 2: Success of the PA Strategy

  3. Part 1: Encouraging Children to seek Martyrdom This drawing depicting a dead child Martyr appears in a 7th grade Palestinian schoolbook... with the following poem glorifying Martyrdom:

  4. “The Martyr”by Abd El Rahim Mahmud “I shall carry my soul in my palm And toss it into the abyss of destruction... By your life! I see my death, but I hasten my steps towards it... Hearing [weapons’] clash is pleasant to my ear And the flow of blood gladdens my soul… By your life! This is the death of Men And who asks for a noble death - here it is…” [Our Arabic Language for5th grade, page 60, Guide to Improve Arabic Language for 12th grade, page 84, Our Beautiful Language for 7th grade, part A page 97, PATV, Oct 27, 2000 and other broadcasts] This poem appears in three additional school books. It has been recited by heart by children on PA TV.

  5. Schoolbooks induce children not to fear dying by teaching that death is predetermined and Martyrdom is better than any other death: “The Moslem sacrifices himself for his belief and wages Jihad [Holy War] for Allah. He is not swayed for he knows that the date of his death has been predetermined and that his death as a Martyr on the field of battle is preferable to death in his bed…” [Islamic Education, for 8th grade, page 176]* *PA Ministry of Education, based on a Jordanian book

  6. “How Sweet is Martyrdom” for children The following slides are from one of many Palestinian TV clips encouraging Martyrdom. • This clip attempts to allay Palestinian children’s innate fear of death by depicting death • by Martyrdom as painless, even serene. • This clip depicts the last day in the life of a young boy. • His farewell letter explains that he willingly chose death:

  7. [Boy routinely leaves to school, without disclosing his plan]

  8. Father receives “farewell letter”: “Don’t be sad, my dear [father] and don’t cry over my parting, for my country Martyrdom... For my country I sacrifice myself.”

  9. [He’s a nice, friendly child]

  10. “farewell letter”: “With determination and desire I long to approach”

  11. “farewell letter”: “How sweet is Martyrdom when I embrace you my land.”

  12. Palestinian TV broadcast this glorification of a child’s eager self-sacrifice nearly every day last year. Often 2 and 3 times a day.

  13. The news media openly portrayed children as seeking death: When 14 year old Wajdi died, the official PA daily glorified what they claimed was his desirefor death: “The Martyr Wajdi Al-Hattab (9th grade) responded to the call of Allah and achieved the Martyrdom that he yearned for... He would always say to his friends: ‘When I become a Martyr, give out cake... he attained what he yearned for. He reached the highest levels with Allah… [Wajdi’s gym teacher:] ‘Wajdi asked me to give out cake if he becomes a Martyr…’ His classmates swore that they would continue in the path of Martyrdom until the liberation of Jerusalem…” [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 9, 2000] Caption: “Wajdi Al-Hattib

  14. When children were only injured, the PA reported they were disappointed because they sought death as Martyrs. Ramadan Saadi Abed Rabbo, 13, injured: “My goal is not to be injured, rather something much nobler: Martyrdom.”[PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 8, 2000] “The injured [boy] Sa’ed Osallah [11] from the Jebalya [refugee] camp said: ‘We are all potential Martyrs for Jerusalem and the motherland’.”[PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 6, 2000] “The injured [boy] Alfayumi [11] says that being killed as a Martyr for Allah and the motherland is an obligation of every Palestinian.” [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 6, 2000]

  15. This interviewer asked a 2nd grader if he wasn’t afraid to die fighting Israel. When the child hesitated,the interviewer prompted him by shaking her head “no”, after which he answered “no.” Even 7 year olds are being pushed to Martyrdom.

  16. Arafat on PA TV: His message to PA children is that their “greatest message in the world” is Martyrdom: Question: “Mr. President, what message would you like to send to ... Palestinian children?” Arafat: “…This child, who is grasping the stone, facing the tank – is it not the greatest message in the world when that hero becomes a Martyr? We are proud of them…” [PATV Jan. 15, 2002]

  17. Palestinian children are asked • to “follow” a child Martyr to Paradise. • Mohammed Al Dura was killed by an undetermined source in a televised crossfire. • He was turned into a symbol for Palestinian children. • In order to make child paradise look attractive, the PA TV broadcast a video clip with an actor playing Al Dura, • frolicking in child paradise.

  18. The clip opened with this callfrom Al Dura in Paradise • to other Palestinian children to follow him: • “I am waving, not to say good bye, but to say follow me.” • [Signed] “Muhammad Al Dura.”

  19. In paradise for child Martyrs, he is: • Running on the beach • “How sweet is the fragrance of the Martyrs, • how sweet is the fragrance of the earth, • its thirst quenched by the gush of blood • flowing from the youthful body.”

  20. Playing with a kite “I shall go with no fear, no tears…”

  21. And even with a Ferris Wheel “How sweet is the fragrance of the Martyrs”

  22. Post Script: After PMW exposed this on NBC TV, the Palestinian Authority, in a special press release, attacked PMW’s and NBC’s credibility. Disgraced at being caught telling children- “follow me” to paradise, the clip was immediately removed from PA TV. After editing, which took out both the “follow me” and the scene with the ferris wheel, it was again broadcast regularly. The text: ‘How sweet is the fragrance of the Martyrs, how sweet is the fragrance of the earth, its thirst quenched by the gush of blood, flowing from the youthful body’ ...continues to be broadcast.

  23. Young girls were given posters idolizing the first woman suicide bomber as the “Heroine Martyr Wafa Idris.” [Al-Ayyam, Feb. 1, 2002]

  24. Parents are regularly cited describing their joy at the death of their children: “The best Mothers Day present I got this year was the death as a Martyr of Abbas.” [mother of Abbas Al Awiwi, PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Mar. 21, 2001]

  25. Part 2: Success of the PA Strategy Tragically the PA manipulation of their children to seek Martyrdom has been successful: “72% of the children sampled from all the districts of Gaza expressed the hope of becoming Martyrs...” [‘Sout Al-Nissa-Voice of the Women’, Al-Ayyam, Jan. 24, 2002] “63% of them [children] said they want to be Martyrs.” [The Eighth Day, Al-Ayyam, Mar. 3, 2002]

  26. Child Karam -age 12- wrote his own death announcement… “Prior to his being injured... Karam announced his own death on the walls of his home and attributed to himself, in his own handwriting, Martyrdom and its honor. The notice read: ‘The Al-Kard family announces the death of its courageous Martyr Karam...” [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 30, 2000] Child Muhammad asked Allah for Martyrdom... “The [child] Martyr Muhammad Abu Tahun wrote his last words in his notebook: ‘The Martyrs [will enter] Paradise and myself among them, Please Allah ...” [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 9, 2000]

  27. A mother of 2 dead sons: My sons sought Martyrdom: [‘Sout Al-Nissa-Voice of the Women’, Al-Ayyam, Feb. 28, 2002] [The first son]: “He wrote phrases of love of the homeland… and becoming a Martyr... He referred to himself as a Martyr. On one of his notebooks he wrote: ‘The Martyr hero Yasser Sami Al-Koussba died as a Martyr on the land of Palestine…”

  28. [‘Sout Al-Nissa-Voice of the Women’, Al-Ayyam, Feb. 28, 2002] The second son: “A few days before he became a Martyr, wrote the following phrase on one of his notebooks: ‘Mother! Don’t cry over me if I am killed. Death does not scare me, my aspiration is to be a Martyr’.”

  29. The Mother describes her pride: “After reading this passage, Fatma’s expression took on a look of pride and honor at her sons’ sacrifice, and her own sacrifice. The she said: “Praise to Allah, I gave birth to heroes’…” [‘Sout Al-Nissa-Voice of the Women’, Al-Ayyam, Feb. 28, 2002]

  30. 10, 11, and 12 year-olds - ran away to seek Martyrdom. “The residents of Yassid, a Palestinian village, found the missing girls, aged 10, 11 and 12, after a day-long search. Apparently, the children went looking for Jerusalem, seeking Martyrdom... The children said they were going to get weapons and to be Martyred in Jerusalem, and that the Israeli checkpoint would not prevent them from their aspiration to achieve Martyrdom.” [Al-Quds, Jun. 7, 2001]

  31. “Children of Gaza Substitute Child Play with the Martyr Game” ... [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 26, 2001]

  32. … and compete who will be the Martyr “Nada, a seven year old girl, says to her friends: ‘Let’s play the Martyr Game!’ The children fetch an old sheet that they spread on the ground, and then they argue who will play the Martyr. Fa’iz, 6 years old, says: You were the Martyr yesterday, today it’s my turn! I’m younger than you. I will be the one to die!’ ” [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 26, 2001]

  33. Conclusions The Palestinians are presenting Martyrdom to their young children as something idyllic and as something expected of them. The selections here are just a sampling of the evidence. The Palestinians’ education of the next generation to see Martyrdom as an ideal, will have tragic repercussions, even if only 1% of the children fulfill their “duty”. The victims of their terror will be Israel, other Western democracies, and of course, the children themselves. This PA education is a permanent stain on the Palestinian Authority, placing them among the greatest child abusers in history!

  34. Palestinian Media Watch Visual Analysis # 1 - April 23, 2002 * Visit PMW Web site www.pmw.org.il To receive PMW e mail updates send an empty e-mail to reports-subscribe@pmw.org.il for additional information, contact Itamar Marcus, PMW Director, at info@pmw.org.il The video material in this presentation is available on the site and on CD from the PMW office

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