Use of child suicide bombers by Palestinian militant groups

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Child suicide bombers are children under 18 who commit or try to commit suicide attacks. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, instances of suicide attacks carried out by children particularly came to light during the al-Aqsa Intifada.

Overview

File:Aamer Alfar.jpg

Aamer Alfar, the youngest Palestinian to commit a suicide bombing, is seen in an undated family photograph.

In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and especially during the al-Aqsa Intifada, controversy has arisen over the participation of children in Palestinian militant and terrorist actions. Palestinian militant groups actively recruit children to attack Israeli civilians and soldiers; in some instances these groups have also recruited children as suicide bombers to attack Israeli targets, both military and civilian. The youngest Palestinian suicide bomber who successfully blew himself up; was Issa Bdeir, a 16-year-old high school student from the village of Al Doha, who blew himself up in a park in Rishon LeZion, killing a teenage boy and an elderly man.

There have been nine documented suicide attacks involving children (aged 16-18) between October 2000 and March 2004. An Israeli military report details 229 cases of children involved in militant activity. In 2004, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers reported that "there was no evidence of systematic recruitment of children by Palestinian armed groups," also noting that this remains a small fraction of the problem in other conflict zones such as Africa, where there are an estimated 20,000 children involved in active combat roles in the Sudan alone. Human Rights Watch also reported that "there was no evidence that the Palestinian Authority (PA) recruited or used child soldiers."

According to the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, in the al-Aqsa Intifada, Palestinian militant groups have used children as "messengers and couriers, and in some cases as fighters and suicide bombers in attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians." Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) have all been implicated in involving children in this way. The issue was first brought to world attention after a widely televised incident in which a mentally handicapped Palestinian teenager, Hussam Abdo, was disarmed at an Israeli checkpoint.

Indoctrinating children

File:Dying to Kill by Mia Bloom cover.jpg

A little girl strapped with fake explosive suicide belt on the cover of Mia Bloom's 2005 book Dying to Kill

TV

In April 2007 Hamas created a Mickey Mouse lookalike to propagate their brand of fundamentalist Islam to children. The character, named "Farfour" (butterfly) calls for Muslim world domination, encouraging children to say that they will "shoot", "annihilate the Jews", and "commit martyrdom.". "Farfur and a female co-host instructed their young viewers on Hamas's militant brand of Muslim piety and urged children to support armed resistance against Israel".

Criticism came from many quarters. Mark Regev, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman was outraged that "children are taught that killing Jews is a good thing," while Basem Abu Sumaya, head of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp., responded "I don't think it's professional or even humane to use children in such harsh political programs."

On May 9, at the request of the Palestinian Information Ministry, Hamas suspended the program. Information minister Mustafa Barghouti said it was wrong to direct political messages at children and that "any media outlet that breaks Palestinian broadcasting law will be penalized by the Information Ministry." But according to the British The Daily Telegraph, a spokesman for the station, which is owned and run by Hamas later announced the programme would continue and to remove it would be a political surrender to Israel.

According to AP and AFP report the mouse program has returned to Palestinian television. On June 2007 the mouse had martyred himself "while defending his land" He was killed "by the killers of children"

Palestinian Textbooks

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Main article: Palestinian textbooks

Some have repeatedly accused Palestinian textbooks of inciting Palestinian children to violence. Detailed analyses of the textbooks have been done by various research institutes: The U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem commissioned studies from the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI). In Europe the Georg Eckert Institute performed research. The Hebrew University's Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace has also published papers on this issue. A U.S. Senate subcommittee and the Political Committee of the European Parliament have both held hearings about Palestinian textbooks.

The original allegations were based upon Egyptian or Jordanian textbooks and incorrect translations. Repeatedly and indepently, researchers have found no incitement to hatred in the Palestinian textbooks.

According to Fouad Moughrabi in The Nation, reports of incitement in Palestinian textbooks are exaggerated and false.

The Palestinian Authority, religious clerics, and the Palestinian education system have been accused of inciting violence by glorifying suicide bombing and violence through the concepts of shahadah ("martyrdom") and jihad, which appear frequently in textbooks. According to Middle East Media Research Institute, Palestinian textbooks contain statements such as:

"Islam views those who have died defending it as the most prominent martyrs (Shuhada), because the Qur'an says: ‘Why should we hesitate to fight if we are driven away from our homes?’"
"The noble soul has two goals: death and the desire for it."

According to the same source, the textbooks encourage children to participate in militant activities and contain many references to children who died fighting against Israel. In the presentation of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the textbooks emphasize that Ramadan is a month of jihad, referring to the Yom Kippur War as the "renowned Ramadan War of 1973 between the Arabs and Israel." Even lessons of Arabic language contain numerous texts and exercises calling on the students to sacrifice their lives.

On the other hand, a special report commissioned by the U.S. Department of State and conducted by the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information defended the Palestinian curriculum claiming: "The overall orientation of the curriculum is peaceful despite the harsh and violent realities on the ground. It does not openly incite against Israel and the Jews. It does not openly incite hatred and violence. Religious and political tolerance is emphasized in a good number of textbooks and in multiple contexts".

Ruth Firer of the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Sami Adwan, a professor of education at Bethlehem University in Bethlehem compared Palestinian and Israeli textbooks in 2002. Of the Palestinian textbooks they found that "The books portray Jews throughout history in a positive manner and avoid negative stereotypes. However, according to the everyday experience of Palestinians, modern-day Israelis are presented as occupiers. The texts include examples of Israelis killing and imprisoning Palestinians, demolishing their homes, uprooting fruit trees, and confiscating their lands and building settlements on them. The texts also talk about the right of return for the 1948 Palestinian refugees when describing how those refugees live in camps." The Israeli textbooks, on the other hand don't even mention Palestinians "The Palestinians, as such, are not found in any of the three types of primary-level textbooks." Disputed territory is presented as being part of Israel: "Many of the chapters describe "the good land," sometimes called "our birthplace" or "homeland" ("moledet" in Hebrew), and include photos of places that are in the PNA or are in dispute between the two nations (i.e., East Jerusalem). They are presented without the national-political debate, and as naturally belonging to the Israeli state."

A 2004 study of 13 Israeli textbooks and 9 Palestinian textbooks found that "neither side's books tell the story of the conflict from the other's viewpoint, both ignore the other side's suffering and each counts only its only victims."

According to Nathan Brown, a professor of political science, reports of Palestinian textbooks inciting violence can all be traced back to "the work of a single organization, the ‘Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace'".

A number of groups, including the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the current President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas, claim that many children are paid by militant groups such as Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades to throw pipe bombs at Israeli soldiers, often resulting in severe injuries and handicaps to the children through premature detonation. Between September 2000 and March 2004, "Palestinian non-governmental groups documented the deaths of 30 children actively involved in organized military action... Most of the deaths occurred as a result of accidents with explosives or during armed clashes with Israeli troops". Some Palestinians and commentators have claimed that the role that money plays in this is highly doubtful given the large amount of stone throwing at tanks by children on their own.

Incidents from September 2000 through 2003

According to the Israel Defense Forces:

Since the beginning of violence in the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, 29 suicide attacks have been carried out by youth under the age of 18.
Since May 2001, 22 shootings attacks and attacks using explosive devices were carried out by youth under the age of 18.
Since the beginning of 2001, more than 40 youths under the age of 18 were involved in attempted suicide bombings that were thwarted (of them, three during 2004).

Incidents in 2004

On March 24, 2004, one week after capturing a bomb in the bag of 12-year-old Abdullah Quran, Hussam Abdo, a 16-year-old Palestinian (who initially claimed he was 14), was captured in a checkpoint near Nablus wearing an explosive belt. The young boy was paid by the Tanzim militia to detonate himself at the checkpoint. IDF soldiers manning the checkpoint were suspicious of him and told him to stay away from people. Later, an EOD team arrived and by using a police-sapper robot, removed the explosive belt from him. . Hussam explained that he was offered 100 NIS and sex with virgins if he would perform the task. He said his friends mocked him in class.

The latest incidents have caused controversy in the Palestinian society, with most expressing their dismay at the phenomenon . Although all major Palestinian groups have "publicly disavowed the use of children in military operations ... those stated policies have not always been implemented." However, the Israeli government still claims that the Palestinian Authority is inciting children to participate in militant operations and attacks, alleging that PA television broadcasts call on children to seek death, and that the PA condones posters of suicide bombers in the classrooms.

Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International strongly condemned the act of using children to commit attacks: "Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned suicide bombings and other attacks against civilians by Palestinian armed groups as crimes against humanity. Using children to carry out or assist in armed attacks of any kind is an abomination. We call on the Palestinian leadership to publicly denounce these practices."

"Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs's Brigades, must put an immediate end to the use or involvement of any kind of children in armed activity."

Despite the harsh condemnation and internal controversy, Palestinian militant groups such as Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Islamic Jihad, have recently used children as militants and suicide bombers. On March 31, 2004, Raed Khuweir blamed Islamic Jihad for attempting to recruit his younger brother, aged 15, to commit a suicide attack. He said, "They crushed my brother. These are dubious people who tarnish the reputation of the resistance by making us look like barbarians who exploit children." Khuweir claimed that his younger brother was "brainwashed" by an Islamic Jihad cleric and "call on the Palestinian Authority to investigate this affair and on Islamic Jihad to reveal who these people are that deceive children, so that they really belong to the group." Several weeks after the incident, the IDF arrested Fatah activists from Nablus who were believed to be behind other suicide bombings by children.

On May 29, 2004, The New York Times reported Israeli allegations that the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades were using children to recruit classmates as suicide bombers.

One child, Nasser Awartani, 15, of Nablus allegedly recruited four of his classmates, one of whom was claimed by the Shabak report on Awartani to be Hussam Abdo.

On June 16, 2004, two girls - aged 14 and 15 were arrested by the IDF for plotting a suicide bombing. According to an IDF statement, the two children were recruited by activists from Tanzim (Fatah's armed wing), guided by Hezbollah. On July 3, the Israeli Security Forces thwarted a suicide bombing which was to have been carried out by 16-year-old Muataz Takhsin Karini. Karini and two of his operators were arrested, while a 12 kg explosive belt was detonated safely by an Israeli EOD crew. On June 5, IDF forces detonated two explosive belts concealed in schoolbags. On July 14, the Shin Bet arrested in Kfar Maskha a suicide bomber. The bomber was identified as 17-year-old Ahmed Bushkar from Nablus.

On August 7, 2004, a 15-year-old Palestinian was killed while trying to launch an anti-tank missile into the Rafiah Yam settlement in the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces returned fire and hit the missile, and he was apparently was killed by the explosion. Later that day, in an attempt to sabotage the Israeli Gaza Strip Barrier, one Palestinian was killed and a 16-year-old teen was arrested. An IED explosive charge was found nearby.

On September 23, 2004, a day before Yom Kippur, the Shin Bet and the Israel Police captured a 15-year-old suicide bomber and a 7 kg explosive belt in the village of Dir-Hana in the Western Galilee. The 15-year-old was part of joint terrorist cell of Tanzim and Palestinian Islamic Jihad from Yamon village near Jenin. The four were Palestinians who worked illegally in Israel. The 15-year-old teenager was paid 1000 shekels in order to blow himself up in Afula.

According to a Shabak report published on September 26, 2004, about 292 Palestinian children have been involved in terrorism. ,(DOC, Hebrew)

As of the fourth quarter of 2004, Nablus continued to be a center for the recruitment of child suicide bombers:

On September 27, 2004, a 15-year-old suspected suicide bomber was arrested in Nablus. . On October 28, Ayub Maaruf, a 16-year-old Fatah suicide bomber, was arrested near Nablus along with his operator.

On November 1, 16-year-old Aamer Alfar blew himself in Tel Aviv's Carmel Market, killing 3 Israelis in a suicide bombing that was claimed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Alfar's mother and father condemned what they saw as the exploitation of their son:

"God will curse those who recruited Amar. I had heard the stories about recruiting children in Nablus but I didn't think they were true... Yes, it is difficult here for everyone because of the occupation, and life in Nablus is intolerable, but children should not be exploited in this way."

On November 4, a 15-year-old suicide bomber was arrested in Nablus.

Incidents in 2005

On February 3, Mahmoud Tabouq, a 15- or 16-year-old Palestinian, was arrested at the Hawara checkpoint near Nablus carrying a bag containing an explosive belt, an improvised gun, and 20 bullets. The belt was detonated safely by a Magav bomb squad.

On April 12, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy identified as Hassan Hashash was caught at Hawara checkpoint hiding five pipe bombs under his coat. He tried to ignite them with a match when the soldiers apprehended him. Later he was disarmed, and sappers detonated the bombs safely. Family members of Hashash suggested that he deliberately carried bombs into an IDF checkpoint in order to be arrested and study for the "Bagrut" final exams in the Israeli jail. A week later, another Palestinian youth (aged 17) was caught carrying explosives in Beit Furik checkpoint.

On April 27, two Palestinian teenagers, both aged 15 (though other sources cite their ages as 12 and 13), were arrested at a checkpoint near Jenin after 11 explosive charges were found on them. One teenager was recruited by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the other by the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. The two told interrogators that they had been acting as couriers for terrorists, but security forces suspect they planned to get close to the soldiers and then detonate the charges.

On May 22, Iad Ladi, a 14- or 15-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber was arrested at a Hawara checkpoint near Nablus. This was the 14th time during April and May that a Palestinian child was arrested as a bomber or a courier. Two days later, another 15-year-old Palestinian teen carrying two pipe bombs, was caught at the same checkpoint. On June 15, The Israeli press reported that the Shabak arrested a Palestinian terrorist cell in Nablus during the previous month. The cell included eight members, four of whom were child suicide bombers. The cell was on the verge of committing another suicide bombing attack using the four children. According to the Shin Bet, the cell was directed and funded by the Fatah's Tanzim branch and the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

On July 6, a Palestinian teenager was caught carrying explosives near Baqa al-Sharkiya, two days after another Palestinian 16-year-old was caught with explosives at the Hawara checkpoint.

On October 11, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy was arrested by IDF forces. He told the soldiers he was forced to agree to commit a suicide bombing when two terrorists from Fatah's Tanzim faction threatened to murder him by spreading a leaflet accusing him of collaboration unless he agreed. They took pictures of him with a gun and the Qur'an and forced him to write his own will.