Palestinian family of child bomber voices furor with militants
ALI DARAGHMEH | 28.03.2004 13:56
A Palestinian family voiced anger Thursday at militants who sent their 16-year-old son on a suicide bombing mission, saying the extremists had exploited a naive boy.
The family's feelings reverberated through Palestinian society, where people expressed shame that children had become weapons in the violent Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"We just want them to leave us alone," said Tamam Abdo, the teenager's mother.
The family's feelings reverberated through Palestinian society, where people expressed shame that children had become weapons in the violent Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"We just want them to leave us alone," said Tamam Abdo, the teenager's mother.
A Palestinian family voiced anger Thursday at militants who sent their 16-year-old son on a suicide bombing mission, saying the extremists had exploited a naive boy.
The family's feelings reverberated through Palestinian society, where people expressed shame that children had become weapons in the violent Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"We just want them to leave us alone," said Tamam Abdo, the teenager's mother.
Open criticism of militants is rare in Palestinian society, where consensus is valued and questioning the behavior of armed groups is seen as a betrayal. Some Palestinians are silent for fear of retribution.
While many in the West Bank and Gaza Strip still strongly support suicide bombings as a weapon against Israel, they have become critical of the militants' choice of attackers in several incidents this year.
In January, a 17-year-old boy died when his bomb belt exploded prematurely, a week after his 15-year-old brother and a cousin were killed in clashes. No group claimed responsibility.
A few days later, Hamas sent a 22-year-old mother of two young children to blow herself up at a crossing from Gaza into Israel, killing four Israelis.
Earlier this month, two 17-year-olds blew themselves up at the Israeli port of Ashdod, killing 10 Israelis. On March 16, Israeli troops stopped an 11-year-old boy allegedly trying to smuggle explosives through the same checkpoint where the teenager was caught Wednesday.
Israel said militants had given the 11-year-old the explosives without his knowledge. Palestinians denied he was carrying a bomb and claimed the incident was fabricated by Israel.
The most recent uproar grew from the capture of 16-year-old Hussam Abdo, detained wearing an 18-pound suicide vest at an Israeli army West Bank checkpoint.
Soldiers near Nablus dived behind concrete barricades and pointed their rifles at the teenager. In a scene captured on video tape, troops sent a robot carrying scissors to the youth, who then cut himself free of the bomb.
Israel said the teenager was sent to blow himself up among the soldiers, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades had claimed it had dispatched the youth. But by Thursday the group, affiliated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, withdrew the claim when it became apparent Palestinians were deeply angered over the use of a 16-year-old to attack Israelis.
The group subsequently said Israel had staged the incident to discredit the militants.
The teenager's mother was in tears as she spoke of her anger.
"It is forbidden to send him to fight," Tamam Abdo said. "He is young, he is small, he should be in school. Someone pressured him.
"If he was over 18, I wouldn't feel so angry ... then it is his decision," she said.
The young Abdo, who had been suspended from school for a week for playing childish pranks, became a main topic of street conversation in the West Bank on Thursday.
"We have to carry out serious attacks," said Sadia Abdel Rahman, 42. "This is not a children's game. This is an embarrassment."
Palestinian militants have killed 942 Israelis in more than 3 1/2 years of violence. During the same period, 2,762 Palestinians have been killed.
There was speculation militant groups might be turning to children to fool the Israelis, who primarily watch for adult attackers. Children are easily recruited, because fighting Israel is almost a rite of passage here, analysts and residents said.
"This is a society where the only way to prove yourself is to fight against the Israeli occupation. There are no sports, no games. The only game now is the occupation and the fight," said Samar Awad, 38, a Nablus resident.
In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot, Abdo said his classmates had bullied him for years, teasing the youngster because he was small for his age. Abdo said he wanted to go to paradise.
"A river of honey, a river of wine and 72 virgins. Since I have been studying Quran I know about the sweet life that waits there," the boy was quoted as saying.
"But when the soldiers stopped me, I didn't press the switch. I changed my mind. I didn't want to die anymore," he said. "I'm sorry for what I did."
The family's feelings reverberated through Palestinian society, where people expressed shame that children had become weapons in the violent Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"We just want them to leave us alone," said Tamam Abdo, the teenager's mother.
Open criticism of militants is rare in Palestinian society, where consensus is valued and questioning the behavior of armed groups is seen as a betrayal. Some Palestinians are silent for fear of retribution.
While many in the West Bank and Gaza Strip still strongly support suicide bombings as a weapon against Israel, they have become critical of the militants' choice of attackers in several incidents this year.
In January, a 17-year-old boy died when his bomb belt exploded prematurely, a week after his 15-year-old brother and a cousin were killed in clashes. No group claimed responsibility.
A few days later, Hamas sent a 22-year-old mother of two young children to blow herself up at a crossing from Gaza into Israel, killing four Israelis.
Earlier this month, two 17-year-olds blew themselves up at the Israeli port of Ashdod, killing 10 Israelis. On March 16, Israeli troops stopped an 11-year-old boy allegedly trying to smuggle explosives through the same checkpoint where the teenager was caught Wednesday.
Israel said militants had given the 11-year-old the explosives without his knowledge. Palestinians denied he was carrying a bomb and claimed the incident was fabricated by Israel.
The most recent uproar grew from the capture of 16-year-old Hussam Abdo, detained wearing an 18-pound suicide vest at an Israeli army West Bank checkpoint.
Soldiers near Nablus dived behind concrete barricades and pointed their rifles at the teenager. In a scene captured on video tape, troops sent a robot carrying scissors to the youth, who then cut himself free of the bomb.
Israel said the teenager was sent to blow himself up among the soldiers, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades had claimed it had dispatched the youth. But by Thursday the group, affiliated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, withdrew the claim when it became apparent Palestinians were deeply angered over the use of a 16-year-old to attack Israelis.
The group subsequently said Israel had staged the incident to discredit the militants.
The teenager's mother was in tears as she spoke of her anger.
"It is forbidden to send him to fight," Tamam Abdo said. "He is young, he is small, he should be in school. Someone pressured him.
"If he was over 18, I wouldn't feel so angry ... then it is his decision," she said.
The young Abdo, who had been suspended from school for a week for playing childish pranks, became a main topic of street conversation in the West Bank on Thursday.
"We have to carry out serious attacks," said Sadia Abdel Rahman, 42. "This is not a children's game. This is an embarrassment."
Palestinian militants have killed 942 Israelis in more than 3 1/2 years of violence. During the same period, 2,762 Palestinians have been killed.
There was speculation militant groups might be turning to children to fool the Israelis, who primarily watch for adult attackers. Children are easily recruited, because fighting Israel is almost a rite of passage here, analysts and residents said.
"This is a society where the only way to prove yourself is to fight against the Israeli occupation. There are no sports, no games. The only game now is the occupation and the fight," said Samar Awad, 38, a Nablus resident.
In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot, Abdo said his classmates had bullied him for years, teasing the youngster because he was small for his age. Abdo said he wanted to go to paradise.
"A river of honey, a river of wine and 72 virgins. Since I have been studying Quran I know about the sweet life that waits there," the boy was quoted as saying.
"But when the soldiers stopped me, I didn't press the switch. I changed my mind. I didn't want to die anymore," he said. "I'm sorry for what I did."
ALI DARAGHMEH
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omitted link
28.03.2004 14:15
Ian D
Lie upon lie
28.03.2004 22:57
The Israeli army said he was caught wearing an explosive belt at an army roadblock in the northern West Bank.
The boy, identified as Husam Abdu from Nablus, was shown on TV screens around the world, with an explosive belt strapped to his waist.
The Israeli army said the boy told interrogators that his dispatchers promised that he would have sex with 72 virgins in heaven soon after his death.
"We know for sure this is a fabricated story from A to Z. Would you believe that a 13 or 14-year old would agree to blow up himself in return for a hundred shekels which he would receive after his death?
"It seems to me that the Israelis are bad liars as well," said Yaqub Shahin, a director-general of the Palestinian Authority ministry of information.
Painting a 'terrorist' picture
In an interview with Aljazeera.net, Shahin accused Israel of seeking to justify slaughtering Palestinian children by spreading the false impression that they are used as human bombers.
"Their [Israel's] goal is to besmirch Palestinian childhood so that when they slaughter the children, the world won't feel sorry for them," he said.
Arab Knesset member Muhammad Baraka has also voiced "serious doubts" about the veracity of the Israeli narrative.
"I have very serious doubts about the whole story. I can't give the Israeli army the benefit of the doubt."
However, Baraka urged all parties to "keep children away from this sinister and bloody conflict.
"Using children as bombs is infinitely diabolical. It is totally inconsistent with all religious, moral and human values."
Fatah denial
The armed wing of Fatah, the Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, has denied any involvement in the incident, accusing Israel of "concocting the whole story for the purpose of justifying the killing of more Palestinian children".
Full story
dh
Further to this
28.03.2004 23:45
dh