EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
A Deadly Exploitation
"Martyrdom is a beautiful thing. Everyone longs for martyr-
dom. What could be better than going to paradise?"
An 11-year-old girl on Palestinian TV
about her ultimate ambition
"The Palestinian Authority message to their people — 'Kill
and be Killed' — has never ceased," says Itamar Marcus, the
Jerusalem-based director of Palestinian Media Watch. "It
should be reiterated that the Palestinians have been both
encouraging children to seek heroic death as well as encourag-
"Perhaps Allah brought the Jews to our land so that their
ing parents to express joy at having their children die in battle
in shahada (death for Allah)."
demise would be here, as it was in their wars with Rome."
From the Palestinian textbook "Our Country Palestine,"
Arafat praises child martyrs even as he "condemns" suicide
dubbed the "Great Book" bombings that target Jewish civilians. He strives to incite out-
rage toward Israel by showcasing martyred Palestinian children
shot dead by Israeli soldiers.
ate-inciting propaganda has
become mainstream in areas
When asked on Palestinian TV to share a message with his
people, he replied, "The child who is grasping the stone, fac-
under Palestinian control. As
ing the tank: Is it not the greatest message to the world when
soon as they can comprehend,
that hero bedomes a shahid? We are proud of them."
children are taught that they have historic
rights to Israel. And they are brainwashed
For World Jewry to even imagine peace between Israel and
such an uncivilized neighbor is a shande (disgrace).
into believing Jews must be driven from their
The Palestinian Authority taps U.N. school funding to
midst. The net effect has produced a new
generation of terrorists; the youngest suicide
teach kids "the true goal of the Jews is to rob the majority of
bomber was 14.
all the Arab homeland." Meanwhile, sermons on PA TV
.
The social pressure exerted by Yasser
preach Allah's jaded view of Jews: conceited, arrogant, disloyal,
ROBERT A.
Arafat's Palestinian Authority on kids to die
guilty of treachery and ideological terrorism, cursed enemies
SKLAR
to torture on Judgment Day.
as
shahids
(martyrs)
is
daunting.
Suicide
Editor
So-called shahids have been as young as 10.
bombers are celebrated as "heartbeats of
Janet Aronoff of CATCKH points to the poem "My
pride" on television, in school, through pop- ,
ular music, among families and by political and reli-
Homeland," taught to Palestinian first-graders:
gious leaders.
"The youth will not tire
The common intent is to "de-legitimize and
They desire to be free and to perish
demonize Jews. and Judaism," says Allan Gale of the
We draw our water from death."
Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit.
In one "farewell letter" film clip sung on PA TV, an
In the broken world of the Palestinians, salvation
adolescent shahid writes to his parents before going
awaits martyrs. Says Janet Aronoff of the West
off to throw stones with other boys in front of Israeli
Bloomfield-based Citizens Against Teaching Children
soldiers during a bullet-laden street riot:
to Kill and Hate (CATCKH), "There will never be a
"My beloved. My mother, my most dear
future for peace while generations of Palestinian Arab
Be joyous over my blood and do not cry for me."
Rabbi Syme
children are being taught to hate and kill Israelis.
Says Itamar Marcus: "The message of this song to
Today's suicide bombers were nourished on the
Palestinian children is clear. It should be a child's wish
Palestinian Arab educational system."
and goal to die in confrontations with Israel."
It's time the non-believers among Jews wake up. A united
He adds, "The Palestinian media extol and exalt not only
response to terror is central to securing a lasting peace and sav-
those killed, but also their willingness to die as martyrs for
ing Israel from compromising away its security edge.
Allah, emphasizing that dying a martyr's death was the realiza-
tion of their hopes."
Some Palestinians know peace with Israel would improve
their quality of life. But most become sucked in by Muslim
militancy Take the mother of Hamas activist Abbas al Awiwi,
Bleak Peace Prospects
26. She was proud he became a martyr by Israeli gunfire, call-
Judaism teaches the ideal of tikkun olam — healing the world.
ing his 2000 death "the greatest Mother's Day present I
Rabbi Daniel Syme of Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
received."
Township is local founder of the teen suicide prevention pro-
Just last week, a Palestinian championship soccer tourna-
gram Hand for Hope. He says the revisionist history fabricat-
ment was named for the suicide bomber who killed 29 people
ed by the Palestinian Education Ministry is yet "another
at a Passover seder in a Netanya hotel. All seven participating
instance of a desperate attempt, by those who hate, to involve
teams were named for others who also "died for Allah."
their children in another generation of violence."
Such inhumanity underscores that Arafat's outlaw rule
Rabbi Syme has joined in many interfaith events since 9-11,
embraces and rewards terrorism. It plays to impressionable
but chastises local Arab leaders who refuse to denounce
kids eager to please society and Allah. And it's unadulterated
unprovoked bombings of civilians in Israel. Like him, I see a
child abuse.
glimmer of hope "in dialogue between Israelis and Arabs who
"Out With The Jews
Over the past 28 months, Palestinian violence has taken at
least 726 Israeli and foreign lives via suicide bombings, sniper
attacks and roadside bombs. Israel's economy has collapsed as
a result. From the start, the goal has been to stake claim to the
Jewish homeland and, by whatever means, expel the Jews —
"the foreigners who strayed to it," according to the revisionist
textbook Our Country Palestine, written in 1947 but still used
in Palestinian schools.
are not fundamentalist Muslims and who have a true desire
for peace."
"Even as it took the Jews 40 years of wandering in the
desert to reach the Promised Land," he says, "so it may be that
the generation who hates will have to pass on before a more
moderate Muslim leadership can emerge."
Here in America, we must do more to teach our children
that their counterparts in the West Bank and Gaza are being
exploited. We can't let our leaders of tomorrow disconnect
from the realities of today in the beleaguered Mideast. El
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