“ASK FOR DEATH!”

The Indoctrination of Palestinian Children

to Seek Death for Allah – Shahada

by Itamar Marcus

Director, Palestinian Media Watch

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“Ask for death” is the message that the Palestinian Authority [PA] has been conveying to its children since the start of violence in October 2000. In June 2002, two articulate 11-year-old girls were interviewed in the studio of official Palestinian Authority TV. Among other topics, they spoke of their personal yearning to achieve death through Shahada – Death for Allah – and of a similar desire they said exists in “every Palestinian child.” It is striking that their desire for death was expressed as a personal goal, not related to the conflict with Israel. Having been convinced that dying for Allah is preferable to life, their goal in living is not to experience a good life, but to achieve the proper death – Shahada.

The following is a selection from their remarks:

Host: “You described Shahada as something beautiful. Do you think it is beautiful?”

Walla: “Shahada is very, very beautiful. Everyone yearns for Shahada. What could be better than going to paradise?”

Host: “What is better, peace and full rights for the Palestinian people, or Shahada?”

Walla: “Shahada. I will achieve my rights after becoming a Shahida.”

Yussra: “Of course Shahada is a good thing. We don’t want this world, we want the Afterlife. We benefit not from this life, but from the Afterlife... The children of Palestine have accepted the concept that this is Shahada, and that death by Shahada is very good. Every Palestinian child aged, say 12, says ’Oh Lord, I would like to become a Shahid.’” [PATV, June 9, 2002]

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What has caused this compelling desire for death among these children, a desire that conflicts with the basic survival instinct of every human being?

During the more than two and a half years of armed conflict, the Palestinian Authority [PA] has been making a paramount effort to convince their own children that there is no greater achievement than to die for Allah in battle, known as Shahada. This has been done via the many mediums at its disposal, including children’s TV broadcasting, the educational system, cultural programs, directives from political and religious leaders and even encouragement from within the family.

In November 2000, a mere six weeks after the start of violence, Palestinian Media Watch published a report documenting the first indications that this was a PA goal. The official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, glorified children who were killed in confrontations and described their deaths as personal achievements. It wrote of a 14-year-old: “He responded to the call of Allah and achieved the Shahada he yearned…. He reached the highest levels with Allah…” The paper reported with admiration that the dead boy’s “classmates swore they would continue on the path of Shahada…” [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 9, 2000] Other children were said to have been disappointed at having merely been injured and not killed. An injured 13-year-old: “My goal is not to be injured, rather something loftier: Shahada.” [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 8, 2000] Since then, Palestinian Media Watch has published numerous reports on the progress of this PA indoctrination of its children and on the varying methods the PA employs to portray death for Allah to its children, not only as an ideal, but, as something that is expected of them.

The Results of the Indoctrination

In recent months the success of the PA indoctrination efforts are apparent. The 11-year

olds quoted above defining death for Allah as their goal in life and public opinion polls confirm the widespread acceptance of this sentiment. These polls show 80% of Palestinian children seek death as Shahids.

Still more grave are the cases in which 14 year-olds have fulfilled this PA directive, writing farewell letters to their parents proudly describing their desire to be Shahids, and embarking on suicide terrorist missions hoping to die. It must be emphasized: the children’s farewell letters have included phrases identical to phrases from the propaganda films produced by the PA, such as “Mother, don’t cry for me,” showing a direct link between the PA propaganda and the children’s drive for heroic death.

THE RESEARCH

This paper documents the PA’s indoctrination of Palestinian children to seek death, and its effects on the children. With the exception of statements made by parents, all the indoctrination cited in this report is directed by the Palestinian Authority.

PART I:

The Indoctrination of Children to Seek Death

a. Short Propaganda Films for Children

b. Schools and Textbooks

c. Culture

d. Political Leadership

e. Parents and the Palestinian Public

f. Religious Leadership

PART II:

Results of the PA Shahada Indoctrination

a. Ages 6-9: Playing Death Games

b. Ages 10-13: Expressing Desire to Die

c. Ages 14-17: Shahada Missions

Part I:

The Indoctrination of Palestinian Children to Seek Death for Allah – Shahada

a. Propaganda Films for Children

Short propaganda film-clips for children, teaching them to see violence and Shahada – Death for Allah – as ideal values that are expected of them, are broadcast daily on PATV, often for several hours a day. The following are three examples from among hundreds:


The “Farewell Letter”


Film-Clip: “How Sweet is Shahada” for children

A propaganda film-clip designed to offset a child’s natural fear of death, portrays Shahada as both heroic and tranquil. The film’s hero, a nice looking schoolboy, leaves a farewell letter explaining his choice to achieve Shahada, describing the death he is seeking as pleasurable: “How sweet is Shahada.” It was broadcast repeatedly in 2001-02, even three times a day.

To view click here:


The following are selections from the boy’s letter, which are sung accompanying scenes of the boy calmly heading toward his death:

“Do not be sad, my dear,

“And do not cry over my parting,

“Oh my dear father,

“For my country, Shahada…

“How sweet is Shahada

“When I embrace you, Oh my land!…“

“My beloved, my mother,

“My most dear,

“Be joyous over my blood

“And do not cry for me…”

The words “How sweet is Shahada when I embrace you, oh my land!” are sung as the child actor is seen in the above picture falling dead and “embracing” the land.

[PATV, hundreds of times since May 7, 2001. Recently September 27, 2002]

2. The Film-Clip: “I am the Shahid, My Mother”

“I am the Shahid, oh my mother! I have inscribed my name with my blood…

“I have prayed for the land

“And I have responded to the promise

“And if I do not return, don’t cry for me my mother! (3x)

“Sound a cry of joy, sound a cry of joy, my mother!…

“I am the Shahid, oh my mother! I have inscribed my name with my blood!”

[PATV, many times in 2001-2002, beginning May 16, 2001]

3. The Muhammad Al-Dura Clip: “Follow me” to a Child’s Paradise

In a striking film-clip, the most famous child Shahid, Muhammad Al-Dura, whose death in a crossfire was captured by a cameraman and broadcast on television, calls to Palestinian children: “follow me” to paradise. Al-Dura, played in the clip by a child actor, is portrayed in paradise, going to an amusement park, flying a kite and frolicking on the beach. The aim of the soothing words and scenes is to eliminate a child’s natural fear of death: “How sweet is the fragrance of the Shahids… I go with no fear, no tears…”

The film-clip opens with the following invitation from Al-Dura displayed on the full screen:

“I am waving to you not to part, but to say ’follow me’”

[signed] “Muhammad Al-Dura”

To view click here:


The following calming words are from the film-clip:

Narrator: “How sweeis the fragrance of the Shahids,

“How sweet is the scent of the earth,

“Its thirst by the gush of blood

“Flowing from the youthful body.”

Vocalist: “Oh father ’til we meet, Oh father, ’til we meet! “I shall go with no fear, no tears,

“How sweet is the fragrance of the Shahids!

“I shall go to my place in heaven,

“How sweet is the fragrance of the Shahids!”

Choir: “How sweet is the fragrance of the Shahids!”

Vocalist: “Oh father ’til we meet, Oh father, ’til we meet!”

[PATV December 25, 2000, and many times since]


Schools and Textbooks

The PA Ministry of Education’s textbooks portray Shahada as an ideal. For example, “The Poem of the Shahid” extols yearning for death, and includes the words: “I see my death, but I hasten my steps towards it…” It appears in schoolbooks for grades 5, 6, 7, and 12. The illustration below of a dead child appearing in a textbook published in September 2001, teaches the children to identify a child as the one who is yearning death.

1. “The Shahid” in Four Different Grades’ Curricula

“I shall carry my soul in my palm

And toss it into the abyss of destruction...

And then, either life, gladdening friends,

Or death, enraging the enemies.

By your life! I see my death,

But I hasten my steps towards it...

By your life! This is the death of men

And who asks for a noble death – here it is…”

[Our Arabic Language for 5th grade, p. 60, Our Beautiful Language for 6th grade, section 1, p. 47, Our Beautiful Language for 7th grade, section 1, p. 97, Arabic Language Improvement Guide for 12th grade, p. 84]

2. Textbooks Educate for Shahada

“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 Shahid on the field of battle is preferable to death in his bed…”

[Islamic Education, for 8th grade, page 176, by the PA Ministry of Education, based on a Jordanian book, CMIP Report]

3. In School

The following, one example among many from the PA official newspaper, shows a teacher’s supportive attitude toward his student’s seeking Shahada:

“The Shahid Wajdi Al-Hattab [9th grade] responded to the call of Allah and achieved the Shahada he yearned for... He would always say to his friends: ‘When I become a Shahid, give out cake... he attained what he yearned. He reached the highest levels with Allah… [Wajdi’s gym teacher said:] ’Wajdi asked me to give out cake if he becomes a Shahid…’ His classmates swore that they would continue in the path of Shahada…”

[PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 9, 2000]

4. Higher Education: “We do not Love Life!”

Professor Issam Sissalem, Chairman of the History Department in the Islamic University of Gaza and host of an educational program on PA TV: “…Allah rewards those who offer Shahids for the sake of heroism and honor with great compensation. We are not afraid to die, and do not love life.…”

b. Culture

Many cultural programs idolize Shahada and the Shahids – those who died for Allah. The regular PA TV programming includes song and dance accompanying scenes of violence and words glorifying willingness to die for Allah. The following are some examples of cultural PA TV broadcasts glorifying Shahda:

1. A Song of Praise to Wafa Idris, the First Woman Suicide Terrorist

A song honoring Wafa Idris, the first woman suicide terrorist, who blew herself up in the center of Jerusalem, was broadcast on PA TV three times in two weeks. The song extols and praises both Idris and her act of suicide terrorism. It calls her a “blossom” and a “heartbeat of pride” and applauds her choice of death: “You chose Shahada, in death you have brought life to our will.”

To view click here.


The lyrics:

Vocalist: “My sister, Wafa,

“My sister, Wafa,

“Oh, the heartbeat of pride,

“Oh, blossom who was on the Earth and is now in heaven, (2x)

“My sister, Wafa, My sister, Wafa,

“Oh, the heartbeat of pride,

“Oh, blossom who was on the Earth and is now in heaven, (2x)

“My sister, Wafa…”

Choir: “Allah Akbar! Oh Palestine of the Arabs

“Allah Akbar, Oh Wafa!”

Vocalist: “But you chose Shahada,

“In death you have brought life to our will.

“But you chose Shahada,

“In death you have brought life to our will.”

[PATV, May 12, 2002 and others]

2. Dancing and Singing: “I will Even Fall as a Shahid”

This song calls upon children to attack Israel with stones: “You will not be saved, Oh Zionist, from the volcano of my county’s stones.” It reiterates the preparedness to die: “I will even willingly fall as a Shahid!,” is sung to scenes of children throwing stones and participating in a frenzied “war dance.” [See picture]

“Allah Akbar! [Allah is Great]

“Oh, the young ones…

“Shake the earth, raise the stones

“You will not be saved, Oh Zionist,

“From the volcano of my county’s stones. (2x)

“You are the target of my eyes

“I will even willingly fall as a Shahid!

“Allah Akbar! Oh, the young ones.”


Political Leadership

The Shahada mandate to children comes from the Palestinian political leadership. Arafat presents the actions of children who intentionally died as Shahids as model behavior. 14-year-old Faris Ouda died a week after having been broadcast on TV hurling stones at an Israeli tank. The story of his successfully achieving death was glorified in the PA official press: “On the day of his death Faris Ouda left his home with a slingshot, after having made himself a wreath decorated with photos of himself and having written on it ’The Brave Shahid Faris Ouda’…” He said to his mother: “Don’t worry, mother, Shahada is sweet…” [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 30, 2000, Feb. 3, 2001]

Yasser Arafat has singled out Ouda as a role model for children. Addressing an assembly of summer camp children, he praised Ouda’s action, and called the children there “peers of Faris Ouda.” Asked in a TV interview what was his message to Palestinian children, he cited Ouda’s suicide act, saying dead Palestinian children Shahids are “the greatest message to the world.”

1. Arafat: Displaying Dead Palestinian Children to the World is “The Greatest Message.”

Question: “Mr. President, what message would you like to send to the Palestinian people, in general, and, in particular, to the Palestinian children?”

Arafat: “…This child, who is grasping the stone, facing the tank, is it not the greatest message to the world when that hero becomes a Shahid? We are proud of them…” [PATV Jan. 15, 2002]

2. Yasser Arafat: Palestinian Children are “Peers” of Faris Ouda. The Children: “Millions of Shahid’s Marching to Jerusalem!”

Newscaster: “The president said in his address to these boys and girls [in summer camp] that the [14-year-old] Shahid Faris Ouda and all the Shahids of our people constitute the fundamental and victorious power, Allah willing!”

Arafat to the children: “Oh, children of Palestine! The peers, friends, brothers and sisters of Faris Ouda. The peers of this hero represent this immense and fundamental power that is within, and it shall be victorious, Allah willing!... Onward together to Jerusalem! Onward together to Jerusalem!“

The children respond, cheering and chanting: “Millions of Shahids marching to Jerusalem!”

[PATV Aug. 18, 2002]

3. Arafat’s Fatah Organizes Young Girls to Celebrate a Woman Suicide Terrorist.

In a Fatah demonstration, young girls were given posters of the first woman suicide terrorist, Wafa Idris, portraying the terrorist as a hero.

The poster’s text:

“The Fatah Movement... eulogizes with great pride its heroine Shahida... the Shahida Wafa

opular and broad based phenomenon, the Palestinian Authority gives significant media exposure to parents who praise their children’s choice to die, and express gratification and joy with their Shahada. The PA media also highlights praise offered anonymously by the “man on the street” for acts of Shahada. The following are a number of examples.

1. Mother of a Shahid and the Palestinian Public Express Satisfaction with Shahada

To view click here:


The mother of Ashraf Zwayed: “Praise to Allah... I hold my head high. The honor is mine; the pride is mine. I have a son who is a Shahid. And not only is my son a Shahid, but all the Shahids amy children, Praise Allah.... The honor is mine; the pride is mine.”

Man on the street #1: “Their death as Shahids is a source of great joy for us. They responded to the call of the country. May Allah’s mercy be upon all of them. They are Shahids, close to Allah, in a position of the highest status.”

Man on the street #2: “Praise Allah for giving us the Shahada. We are a people who love the Shahada and love defending our country...” [PATV, September 24, 2002]

2. A Child’s Death – a Mother’s Day Present

The Mother of Abbas Al Awiwi: “The best Mother’s Day present I got this year was the death as a Shahid of Abbas.’ The mother of the Shahid Munib says to the mothers of Shahids on Mother’s Day: ’A blessed day and a blessed Shahada’.” [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 21, 2001]

3. A Mother Encourages Her Son to Shahada

“She is interested in nothing, other than to encourage her sons to sacrifice and to die as Shahids for the sake of the land of Palestine.”

[Al-Ayyam, November 1, 2000]

4. “Praise Allah, I Gave Birth to Heroes”– Mother of Dead Boys.

“After Fatma read this passage [her son’s desire for Shahada] aloud, her expression took on a look of pride and honor at her sons’ sacrifice, and her own sacrifice. Then she said: ’Praise to Allah, I gave birth to heroes’…”

[’Voice of the Women’, Al-Ayyam, February 28, 2002]

5. For the TV camera, a Mother Sends her Son to be Killed

Some of the suicide terror attacks were preceded by a parting ceremony of the terrorist from his mother. One such ceremony was filmed of a 17-year-old terrorist, who later killed 5 Israeli teenagers before he was shot dead. The following are the TV narrator’s description of her hugs and kisses, and an interview after the attack, in which she explains her sending him to his death:

To view click here


Narrator: “In a silence filled with tears, with a mother’s warm longing, his mother embraced him good-bye, planting kisses on his cheeks before the moment of parting. She ordered him not to come back to her except as a Shahid.”

The mother [after he was killed]: “I give my son to Jihad for Allah. This is a religious obligation for us. If I were to have compassion for him, or allow him to change his mind it would not be right. I do not want to follow my heart, a mother’s feelings. I mean: I sacrificed him for something greater. Even something like this is connected to motherhood. How? Because I love my son and I want to choose the best for him…”

[Arab News Network TV]

In Islam, religious teaching is not limited to the realm of worship, as social and military activities are considered within Islam’s jurisdiction. Palestinian religious leaders have been a driving force, through their religion classes and their televised sermons, in calling for Palestinians to kill Jews, especially through suicide bombings. They teach that seeking death for Allah as a Shahid is every Moslem’s duty, and direct these messages to children as well. Religious rulings [Fatwas] have also established that children are obligated to participate in these activities. The following are a number of examples:

1. Children are Obligated to Shahada: Ruling of a Senior Religious Leader

Interview with Sheikh Hamed Al-Bitawi, Head of the Council of Sages of Religion of Palestine and Preacher in the Al-Aqsa mosque:

Question: “Is children’s participation in Shahada-Seeking missions permitted?”

Al Bitawi: “The sages say: ’They should go [on Jihad], the men and the women, and even the children’. In the time of the Prophet [Muhammad] it was shown that children, who had not reached maturity, participated in Jihad… We in Palestine have a great love of Jihad and Shahada, and that makes many children compete among themselves in carrying out Jihad and Shahada-seeking missions.”

Question: “What is the obligation to be obedient to parents in cases where they insist their child not participate in the confrontations with the enemy?”

Al Bitawi: “…if the enemy conquers a portion of Moslem land, Jihad becomes a personal obligation on every Moslem man and woman… and as the Prophet said: ’One must not obey a creation [the objecting parent] and disobey the Creator [Who demands Jihad].’

The principle is that this son and others like him will take part in Jihad against the enemy.”[www.islamonline.net, September 28, 2002]

2. “The Moslem was Created to Die for Allah”

“The believer was created to know his Lord and to uphold Islam… to be a Shahid, or intend to be a Shahid. If the Moslem does not yearn Shahada, he will die as in the Jahiliya [pre-Islam faith]. We must yearn Shahada and request it from Allah. If we truthfully request it of Allah, He will grant us its rewards even if we die in bed… [Allah] has planted within our youth the love of Jihad, the love of Shahada. Our youth have turned into bombs, they blow themselves up among them [Israelis] day and night.”

[Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Razek, PATV March 22, 2002]

3. Religious Leader: Fathers Should Send Sons on Suicide Terror Attacks

“Shame upon he who does not educate his children the education of Jihad…blessings upon he who dons a vest of explosives on himself or on his children and goes in to the midst of the Jews and says: Allah Akbar [Allah is Great]...”

[Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Madi, Friday sermon, PA television, June 8, 2001]

4. Preaching Suicide Terror Attacks to 14-Year-Olds

To view click here.


“I was uplifted when a youth said: ’Oh, Sheikh, I am 14 years old. I have 4 more years and then I will blow myself up among Allah’s enemies, I will blow myself up among the Jews.’ I said to him, ’Oh young child, may Allah let you merit Shahada and let me merit Shahada...‘ All the weapons must be aimed at the Jews, Allah’s enemies, the cursed nation in the Koran, whom Allah describes as monkeys and pigs, worshippers of the calf and idol worshippers… Nothing will deter them except the color of blood in their filthy nation… unless we blow ourselves up, willingly and as our duty, in their midst…’ May Allah make the Moslem rule over the Jew. We will blow them up in Hadera, we will blow them up in Tel-Aviv and in Netanya so that Allah will make us masters over this riff-raff. We will fight against them and rule over them until the Jew will hide behind the trees and stones and the tree and stone will say: ’Moslem! Servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, kill him.’ We shall enter Jerusalem as conquerors, and Jaffa as conquerors, and Haifa as conquerors and Ashkelon as conquerors.… Blessings upon he who educates his sons in the path of Jihad and Shahada!”

[Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Madi, Friday sermon, PATV, August 3, 2001]

PART II:

Results of the Shahada Indoctrination

Palestinian polls show that 72% - 80% of Palestinian children desire death as Shahids. In games and in conversation, the yearning to die for Allah is an integral component of the Palestinian child’s worldview. Children are already acting on the indoctrination – a 17-year old girl has blown herself up in a terrorist attack in a Jerusalem supermarket. 14-year-old children have written “farewell letters” to their parents, incorporating expressions from PA propaganda film-clips. In the letters they took pride in their eagerness to die as Shahids and then set out on attacks in which they did, in fact, die. Following are some examples, listed by age groups.

Ages 6-9:

Playing Death Games

Palestinian children have embraced honoring Shahada from an early age, as expressed in the “Shahid Game,” in which children act out a Shahid’s funeral. An interesting note on this game: the children argue who will have the honor of playing the dead child. “I am younger than you. I should be the one to die!” is the 6-year-old’s assertion. Even at this young age, they have already internalized the message that thonorable role is the Shahid.

The “Shahid Game” as described in the PA media:

“Nada, a seven year old girl, says to her friends: ’Let’s play the Shahid Game!’ The children fetch an old sheet that they spread on the ground, and then they argue who will play the Shahid. Fa’iz, 6 years old, says: ’You were the Shahid yesterday, today it’s my turn! I’m younger than you. I will be the one to die!’

“Then he lies down on the sheet. Nada, playing the role of ’mother of the Shahid’ cries and yells as the rest of the children lift Fa’iz up, wrapped in his ’shrouds’. The children walk, chanting ’Allah Akbar! Make way for the Shahid!’ As they brandish plastic toy Kalatchnikov [AK-47] rifles…”

[PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 26, 2001]

Children Play the Shahid Game

Ages 10-13:

Expressing the Wish to Die

1. 11 Year-Olds: Shahada is Preferable to Peace

In July 2002, two articulate 11-year-old girls were interviewed in the studio of official Palestinian Authority TV. Among other topics, they spoke of their personal yearning to achieve death through Shahada – Death for Allah – and of a similar desire they said exists in “every Palestinian child.” It is striking that their desire for death was expressed as a personal goal, not related to the conflict with Israel, having been convinced that dying for Allah is preferable to life. Their goal in living is not to experience a good life, but to achieve the proper death – Shahada.

The following are portions from the TV discussion:

Host: “You described Shahada as something beautiful. Do you think it is beautiful?”

Walla: “Shahada is very, very beautiful. Everyone yearns for Shahada. What could be better than going to Paradise?”

Host: “What is better, peace and full rights for the Palestinian people, or Shahada?”

Walla: “Shahada. I will achieve my rights after becoming a Shahida. We won’t stay children forever.”

Host: “OK. Yussra, would you agree with that?”

Yussra: “Of course Shahada is a good thing. We don’t want this world, we want the Afterlife. We benefit not from this life, but from the Afterlife. And so all young Palestinians are not like other youth, they are hot tempered. Of course they prefer Shahada; since they are Palestinian.”

Host: “I want to ask you, do you actually love death?”

Yussra: “There’s a difference between death and Shahada.”

Host: “No, I mean the absence that is in death, the physical absence. Do you love death?”

Yussra: “No child loves death. The children of Palestine have accepted the concept that this is Shahada, and that death by Shahada is very good. Every Palestinian child aged, say 12, says ’Oh Lord, I would like to become a Shahid.”

[’Letter of the People’, PA TV, June 9, 2002]

2. Public Opinion Polls

“72% of the children sampled from all the districts of Gaza expressed the hope of becoming Shahids in the confrontations...”

[’Sout Al-Nissa’-Voice of the Women, Al-Ayyam, January. 24, 2002]

“…79-80% of the children expressed willingness to be Shahids.”

[PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 18, 2002]

3. Children’s Poetry

“I swear to you by all that I hold dear that I will purify your land… For your land we will die, we shall advance to Shahada in groups!” [10th grade boy reads a poem, PATV, August 23, 2002]

4. Three Girls go to Seek Shahada

“The residents of the village Yassid…found the 3 girls who had disappeared two days ago, following a full day of extensive, strenuous searching. Yassid residents said that the three girls, aged 10,11 and 12, packed clothes, food and some money, and left eastward, looking for the way to Jerusalem, in order to achieve Shahada there. The girls got as far as a PA checkpoint, and there the officer on duty convinced them to go back. The children said they had wanted to get weapons and to go to Jerusalem in order to achieve Shahada there, and that the Israeli Army checkpoint would not have prevented them from their aspiration to achieve Shahada.”

Ages 14-17:

Embarking on Suicide Attacks

The PA indoctrination has already led to the death of Palestinian children. Young chlidren have written “farewell letters” to their parents in which they express pride in their desire to die, and have set out on suicide terrorist attacks. These children’s farewell letters included phrases identical to “farewell” phrases from the propaganda films produced by the PA: “Mother, don’t cry for me,” indicating a direct link between the PA propaganda and the children’s desire for heroic death.

In addition, a 17-year-old girl blew herself up in a suicide terrorist attack in Jerusalem.

Following are the stories from the press:

1. Leaving Farewell Letters: “Do Not Cry for Me”

Three 14-year old boys set out to attack an Israeli village, hoping to be killed. They left farewell letters which included phrases from the TV clip “Farewell Letter” which was broadcast hundreds of times on PA TV: “The child Yussouf Zaakut wrote: ’…Don’t cry for me. Bury me with my brothers and with the Shahids…’”

[The New York Times, April 25, 2002]

2. Brothers Leave Farewell Letters: “Don’t Cry for Me, My Mother”

Two brothers who took part in the confrontations left farewell letters to their parents expressing their hope of being killed:

“He wrote phrases of love of the counrty and love of Al-Aqsa and becoming a Shahid, for liberty and independence. He referred to himself as a Shahid. On one of his notebooks he wrote: ’The hero Shahid, Yasser Sami Al-Koussba died as a Shahid on the land of Palestine…’”

“Sammer wrote the following phrase on one of his notebooks, a few days before he became a Shahid: ’Mother! Don’t cry over me if I am killed. Death does not scare me, my aspiration is to be a Shahid’”

[’Sout Al-Nissa-Voice of the Women’, Al-Ayyam, Feb. 28, 2002]

3. 17-year-old Girl commits Suicide Terrorist Bombing in Jerusalem

Ayyat Al Achris, wearing a belt of explosives, walked into a supermarket in Jerusalem’s Kiryat Yovel neighborhood, on March 29, 2002. She was 17 years old. The security guard at the door, suspecting she was a terrorist, pushed her outside, and she detonated her explosives, killing the security guard and a 17-year-old Israeli girl.

PART III:

Findings and Conclusions

The Palestinian Authority has created a violent, death seeking reality for their young children, having taught them to see death for Allah – Shahada – as an ideal, which they are expected to achieve. As Arafat said in his message to children: “Is it not the greatest message to the world when that hero becomes a Shahid?”

The examples presented in this report are a representative selection, demonstrating the comprehensive campaign waged by the Palestinian Authority. If just 1% of the children attempt to fulfill their “duty” and seek Shahada through suicide terrorism, the ramifications will be cataclysmic. The targets of the future Palestinian terror wave will be Israel, and in all likelihood, other Western democracies, as well.

Today an entire generation of Palestinian children, victims of the PA’s indoctrination and propaganda, believe that their death for Allah in war is the highest achievement attainable in life. This education is an indelible stain on Palestinian society, and places the Palestinian Authority among the greatest child abusers in history.

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