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Palestinians Speak Out Against Suicide Missions by Children |
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By Omer Barak NEZTARIM, Gaza Strip, Apr 26, 2002 -- "I'm going to be a martyr." These were the last words that 14-year-old Ismail Abu-Nada told his mother Tuesday evening. A member of his family said later that the boy's mother thought that Ismail was joking. But by midnight on that same day, his parents became increasingly worried when Ismail failed to return home. When they heard in the Israeli media about an incident in the Neztarim area, where IDF soldiers killed three Palestinian youths attempting to infiltrate the Gaza Strip settlement, they began to understand. Later on, they found a farewell letter that Ismail left behind, in which he declared his affiliation to Hamas. The deaths of Ismail, Yusuf Zakut, 14, and Anwar Hamdona, 13, stirred anger amongst Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Just one week ago, another boy from the same neighborhood was killed when he attempted to infiltrate the Dugit settlement in northern Gaza. These two incidents are further proof of the recent trend of expanding the circle of those involved in "the Palestinian resistance." But in contrast to the inclusion of women in suicide attacks - a step that roused a brief but fleeting outcry - Palestinians seem to be genuinely unwilling to accept the inclusion of their young people in suicide attacks. The combination of the young age of the perpetrators and their "certain death" that comes with the operation has created something of a red line for Palestinians. Hamas, which, according to sources in Gaza and the IDF, was responsible for sending the three boys to their death, rushed to fall into line with the official Palestinian stance, and called on teachers and clerics to discourage Palestinian youth from carrying out such attacks. The Palestinian Education Ministry in Ramallah, which returned to work this week after 22 days of the IDF's "Defensive Shield," were busy Thursday drawing up a memorandum on the subject to be sent to teachers. "What happened in Gaza both saddened and angered me," Dr. Nayyim Abu-Humus, deputy Palestinian education minister told Ha'aretz this week. "They thought that they were going to defend their society. They were victims of the current situation, and that is tragic. That is why I want every one of the 45,000 teachers in the Palestinian Authority to act as psychologists, to talk with our children." There are 450 educational counselors employed by the PA, and Abu-Humus plans to intensify training for educators and managers in this area. "We must not treat this as just another newspaper article," he said. "What's happening is crazy. We need a scientific solution to this problem." Abu-Humus also criticized organizations that are supplying weapons to Palestinian youth. That said, he doubts that he has the ability to influence those organizations. Prof. Fadal Abu-Hin, a psychology lecturer at the Al-Aqsa University in Gaza, pins less hope on the education system. "First and foremost, I blame the parents," he says. "They are the ones who should keep tabs on their children." In April 2001, Abu-Hin conducted a research study among 1,000 young Gaza Strip Palestinians, aged 9 to 16. According to the results he published, over 40 percent of the respondents said that they were actively involved in the Intifada. Over 70 percent said that they wanted to be martyrs. "If I were to carry out the same study today," says Abu-Hin, "I am sure the figures would be even higher," adding that he believes that similar figures would be found on the West Bank. Abu-Hin believes that the willingness of young Palestinians to endanger their own lives stems from a combination of acute disappointment with the elders' inability to defend them, unsound education and exposure to the media. "In light of the situation, these children and their parents are often stuck at home for many hours, often watching news broadcasts for days on end." "Eye on the Palestinian Media," a Jerusalem-based research group that tracks the various official and unofficial Palestinian media outlets, says that Palestinian television is the main culprit in encouraging young Palestinians to carry out suicide missions. A study published by the group provides the example of an interview with Palestinian second-graders, in which one of the children, who had thrown stones at Israeli soldiers, was asked was he not afraid to die. The boy seemed to hesitate, so the interviewer gave him a hint, shaking her head silently, before he answered, "No." Against this backdrop, it is easy to understand the words of one Palestinian journalist in Ramallah: "I am just happy that I am not a mother with children right now." © Ha'aretz, 2002. All rights reserved. Distributed in partnership with Middle East News Online and Globalvision News Network (www.gvnews.net). |
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