Who's to blame for Palestinian suffering?

[igloo]

Who's to blame for Palestinian suffering?

Armstrong Williams (archive)

March 23, 2004 | Print | Send

Many people see the Arab-Israeli conflict as a hopeless morass, a maelstrom of hatred with no beginning or end. Both sides are victims and victimizers, so goes the refrain.

It is true that both sides are suffering, but on closer examination this neat symmetry of blame breaks down.

Recently, we recorded my syndicated television show from Jerusalem. During that time, we talked to Israeli Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu about his attempts to revamp the Israeli economy along free-market lines. We also talked to Diaspora Affairs Minister Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident, about being imprisoned for 13 years, much of it in the Siberian gulag, and continuing the fight for human rights as an Israeli elected official.

Sharansky sees no contradiction between his struggle for human rights then or now.

"On one hand, so many people feel Israel is a big violator of human rights, but I know Israel demonstrates more sensitivity to human rights than any other democracy in the world," said Sharansky. He added, "the depth of all concessions should only be (comparable) to the depth of democracy on the other side."

In Ramallah I met with Palestinian Authority Minister Saeb Erekat who condemned the recent outbreak of suicide bombings. He also cackled at Sharansky's assessment of himself as a human rights activist and wondered aloud how the Jewish people, who have historically suffered so much oppression, could be so brutal in their treatment of Palestinian Arabs.

The Palestinians, however, are no strangers to brutality. This week, Israeli soldiers caught an 11-year-old boy who had been given a bag to carry through a checkpoint on his way to school. The bag was full of explosives, and when the child was detained the terrorists tried to set the bomb off by dialing the attached cell phone. The bomb failed to explode, but if it had, it would have led to the scenes I saw at Israel's Hadassah Hospital - victims of suicide bombings stretched out on their cots, their faces dotted with shrapnel marks, green and blue tubes strung up across and through their bodies.

Along the West Bank and Gaza, cars are smashed and burning. Mourners drag themselves across the sands in grim funeral processions. Kids chant, "I want to be a martyr."

Which brings us to the next point. People assume that the Palestinian suicide bombers are dying for a cause. Oftentimes, they are not. Military and police sources shared countless stories that suggest the suicide attacks are a response not to Israel, but to the oppressive forces within Palestinian society.

Our military sources recalled the story of a woman who recently detonated herself and four others at the border checkpoint. What went unreported was that the woman had been having an adulterous affair. She was given a choice: Be stoned to death, or go on a suicide-bombing mission. She chose the latter because it was the only way to restore "honor" to her family.

Our intelligence sources also talked about how more children are being used to deliver explosives. Often it is younger siblings, traditionally treated as second-class citizens, who try to affix honor to their names by carrying out bombings. This sort of pathology is maintained through social and religious myths that indoctrinate the youth to extremism. Schoolrooms are decorated with pictures of suicide bombers, who are praised and glorified by teachers. One of the most popular pastimes for school kids is a card game called "how to be a suicide bomber."

From a young age these children are taught to blame the ruin of their lives on a nexus of crippling political decisions handed down by Israel. In a land where large portions of the population are starving and lack a sense of future possibilities, this kind of social conditioning holds a special appeal, suggesting a more glorious alternative to poverty.

Of course, the Palestinian leadership knows that it cannot dislodge Israel by force. And yet it continues to condition its citizens to engage in brutal and arbitrary suicide attacks.

The obvious implication is that many Palestinian suicide bombers aren't dying for change so much as they are dying because their own oppressive government is using them as pawns to keep themselves in power.

Meanwhile, Palestinians suffer. They are poor. They lack a court system, and even many basic rights. Their leaders have created a society dedicated not to building their own state but to destroying another - and sacrificing their own children in the process.

It is in the world's interest to have a peaceful Palestinian state. This will not occur until the Palestinians are no longer oppressed - not by Israel, but by the Palestinian dictators who send hopeless citizens across the border to martyrdom.

[igloo]

Double post of this, but belongs on this thread...

March 19, 2004, 9:14 a.m.

Preaching Poison

Palestinian clerics encourage child-martyrdom.

By Steven Stalinsky

It has been reported that at least 29 suicide bombers younger than 18 years of age have been exploited into committing attacks by Palestinian terrorist organizations over the past few years. This past Monday an 11-year-old Palestinian boy was apprehended in Nablus with explosives to be used in another apparent suicide attack.

The concept of educating children to become suicide bombers often appears in weekly Palestinian sermons by Khatibs (preachers) who are paid employees of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The sermons are broadcast live every Friday at noon from mosques under control of the PA and are shown on PA television.

The most senior Palestinian Authority religious figure, Mufti Sheikh Ikrimeh Sabri, is a vocal proponent of sending children on terrorist attacks. In an interview with the Egyptian paper Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, he explained his thoughts on child martyrs, as well as the joy of their mothers: "I feel the martyr is lucky because the angels usher him to his wedding in heaven. I feel the earth moves under the occupiers' feet... There is no doubt that a child [martyr] suggests that the new generation will carry on the mission with determination. The younger the martyr — the greater and the more I respect him... They [mothers of martyrs] willingly sacrifice their offspring for the sake of freedom. It is a great display of the power of belief. The mother is participating in the great reward of the jihad to liberate Al-Aqsa... I talked to a young man... [who] said: '... I want to marry the black-eyed [beautiful] women of heaven.' The next day he became a martyr. I am sure his mother was filled with joy about his heavenly marriage. Such a son must have such a mother."

Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi, one of the most popular Palestinian imams, is especially vocal on educating children to become martyrs by sending them on terrorist attacks. During a sermon at the 'Ijlin Mosque in Gaza, he repeats the following discussion he had with a child who approached him about becoming a suicide bomber: "A young man said to me, 'I am 14 years old, and I have four years left before I blow myself up'.... We, the Muslims on this good and blessed land, are all — each one of us — seekers of Martyrdom.... The Koran is very clear on this: The greatest enemies of the Islamic nation are the Jews, may Allah fight them.... Blessings for whoever assaulted a soldier.... Blessings for whoever has raised his sons on the education of jihad and Martyrdom; blessings for whoever has saved a bullet in order to stick it in a Jew's head..."

On another occasion, Madhi praised children who put on explosive belts in order to blow up Jews: "Shame and remorse on whoever refrained from raising his children on jihad... Blessings to whoever waged jihad for the sake of Allah; blessings to whoever raided for the sake of Allah; blessings to whoever put a belt of explosives on his body or on his sons' and plunged into the midst of the Jews, crying 'Allahu Akbar, praise to Allah, There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger'.... Allah, show us a black day for the Jews, like the day of 'Aad and Thamud [Two pre-Islamic Arab tribes that refused to convert to Islam, and were punished by annihilation]. Allah, turn them into pillage for us. Allah, we strive for martyrdom for your sake..."

If there was only one Palestinian child left, he or she would be sacrificed by the Palestinian people for the sake of jihad, according to Madhi in another sermon: "Even if they slaughter all of the Palestinian people and the only survivors will be one single Palestinian baby girl and one single Palestinian baby boy, the baby boy will marry the baby girl and they will give birth to the one who will liberate Jerusalem from the defilement of the Jews.... While they [the Palestinians] sacrifice the last Palestinian child and the last Palestinian fetus, they [the Arab nations] will satisfy themselves with victories on the soccer courts.... It was rightly claimed that a thousand verbal shells cannot compare to one shell made of iron. It was rightly claimed that what was taken by force will be regained only by the use of force. We must prepare ourselves in accordance with the religion of Allah and the Law of Allah. We must educate our children on the love of jihad for the sake of Allah and the love of fighting for the sake of Allah."

In addition to the usual calling of the Jews "sons of Pigs and Apes," who "deserve death," last Friday's sermon by Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris discussed the joy a mother has when hearing her child committed a suicide bombing: "...But they accuse us of being terrorists. Terrorists, because when the Palestinian mother welcomes her martyred son, she wishes to receive him as a corpse. She does not want him to be alive.... The wish of the Palestinian mother is to see the body of her son the martyr..."

The importance of educating youth for battle has also been the topic of sermons by Sheikh Mudeiris, who stated on February 28, 2003, from the Khalil Al-Wazir Mosque in Gaza: "And here, I want to emphasize, oh people of Palestine, that our children, the fruit of our loins — we must protect them.... The children need proper education because it is they who will lead the struggle after us, on the day when they will grow up and become strong and we will grow old. They are our children, who will conduct the battle after us."

To view videos of these and other Palestinian Authority sermons that deal with calls for the destruction of the U.S., the perceived American Crusader War Against Islam, honoring Shahids and the rewards of the martyrs, and anti-Semitism, including calls for the killing of Jews, visit here.

http://www.memri.org/video/

— Steven Stalinsky is executive director of The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

[igloo]

Djxeno...

Please put aside your bias and I woild like to hear your serious comments and insight on this, especially the first article

[g420]

Soldiers catch Palestinian boy, 12, wearing explosive belt

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

Israel Defense Forces paratroopers caught a Palestinian boy, aged 12, wearing an explosive belt at the Hawara roadblock south of Nablus in the West Bank on Wednesday afternoon.

Sappers used a remote-controlled robot to remove the belt from the boy's body and then safely detonated it in a controlled explosion.

The boy was taken in for questioning.

The army believes that the boy was meant to detonate the belt near the soldiers or near the nearby army base.

The IDF commander at the roadblock told Army Radio on Wednesday that the youth had run toward the soldiers and intended to blow himself up next to the troops.

The boy said he received NIS 100 to carry out a suicide attack. Army Radio reported that the belt failed to detonate due to a technical flaw.

"This is another horrific example of how the Palestinians use their own children to spread terror against Israelis," David Baker, an official in the prime minister's office, said in response.

"These children are turned into human time-bombs for the purpose of spreading as much terror against Israelis as possible," Baker said.

Just last week, soldiers found an explosive charge on a cart pushed by a 10-year-old Palestinian boy at the same roadblock.

The soldiers released the boy after it transpired that he did not know what was in the bag he was carrying through the barricade.

[igloo]

Originally posted by g420

Soldiers catch Palestinian boy, 12, wearing explosive belt

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

Israel Defense Forces paratroopers caught a Palestinian boy, aged 12, wearing an explosive belt at the Hawara roadblock south of Nablus in the West Bank on Wednesday afternoon.

Sappers used a remote-controlled robot to remove the belt from the boy's body and then safely detonated it in a controlled explosion.

The boy was taken in for questioning.

The army believes that the boy was meant to detonate the belt near the soldiers or near the nearby army base.

The IDF commander at the roadblock told Army Radio on Wednesday that the youth had run toward the soldiers and intended to blow himself up next to the troops.

The boy said he received NIS 100 to carry out a suicide attack. Army Radio reported that the belt failed to detonate due to a technical flaw.

"This is another horrific example of how the Palestinians use their own children to spread terror against Israelis," David Baker, an official in the prime minister's office, said in response.

"These children are turned into human time-bombs for the purpose of spreading as much terror against Israelis as possible," Baker said.

Just last week, soldiers found an explosive charge on a cart pushed by a 10-year-old Palestinian boy at the same roadblock.

The soldiers released the boy after it transpired that he did not know what was in the bag he was carrying through the barricade.

of course, met with silence

[kramadas]

BTW, for all you Palestinian haters (read g-skank), how do you think the Israelis are able to stop so many suicide bombers and pinpoint militant targets?

[g420]

Originally posted by raver_mania

BTW, for all you Palestinian haters (read g-skank), how do you think the Israelis are able to stop so many suicide bombers and pinpoint militant targets?

the Mossad or even common sense if you see a palestinian good chance he's a terroris

[igloo]

Originally posted by raver_mania

BTW, for all you Palestinian haters (read g-skank), how do you think the Israelis are able to stop so many suicide bombers and pinpoint militant targets?

Disclaimer: By responding to this, I am not admitting to being a Palestinian hater (OK clueless djxeno). I am a Hamas and their kind hater though.

Anyway, how?