The exploitation of Palestinian youth by Palestinian terrorist organizations

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Masked children holding guns. In the background is the emblem of the Fatah military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades; above the emblem is a militant verse from the Quran, calling upon true believers to fight and promising them Allah's help to defeat their enemies [i.e. the Israelis] and heal the wounds of those injured in battle.

During recent months, the IDF has thwarted three attempts to use adolescents to perpetrate terrorist attacks or engage in terrorist-supportive activities:

An attempt to 

The exploitation of Palestinian youth by  Palestinian terrorist organizations.

Masked children holding guns. In the background is the emblem of the Fatah military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades; above the emblem is a militant verse from the Quran, calling upon true believers to fight and promising them Allah's help to defeat their enemies [i.e. the Israelis] and heal the wounds of those injured in battle.

 

 

Executive Summary

• perpetrate a suicide bombing attack in Israel proper by a 17-year-old teenager who detonated himself near the village of Jinsafut (east of Qalqilya);
• an attempt to perpetrate a shooting attack in the city of Afula (in central Israel, south of Haifa) by three teenagers aged 13-16 who were detained at an IDF roadblock in Jenin;
• an attempt to smuggle arms and ammunition from Egypt into the Rafiah (Rafah) region (the southern part of the Gaza Strip) by children aged 11-14.
• When this document was about to be completed, two additional attempts by Fatah's Tanzim operatives from Nablus to exploit adolescents to perpetrate terrorist attacks at the Hawara roadblock (south of Nablus) have been thwarted. First, an 11-year-old boy was sent to transfer a bag containing an explosive charge, for NIS 5 (just over $1). When the terrorists who had sent him realized that the boy was apprehended by IDF troops, they attempted (unsuccessfully) to activate the explosive charge (March 15, 2004). Second, a 16 and a half year old boy was equipped with an explosive belt and sent to detonate himself at the roadblock in exchange for NIS 100 (about $20) and with the promise that 72 virgins would be waiting for him in heaven. IDF troops deactivated and detonated the explosive belt without causing any harm (March 24, 2004).
• Once more, these incidents shed light on a widespread trend of Palestinian terrorist organizations' exploitation of adolescents: throughout the entire course of the ongoing violent confrontation, children and teenagers indoctrinated with messages of hatred and incitement against Israel have been recruited to perpetrate terrorist attacks (including suicide bombing attacks), to take part in acts of violence, and engage in terrorist-supportive activities (demonstrations, clashes with IDF troops, smugglings, lookouts, excavation of tunnels).

• More than once, this phenomenon has come under fierce criticism from senior figures in the Palestinian Authority itself and the Palestinian society; what is more, it violates clear-cut Palestinian police guidelines which strictly banned the involvement of Palestinian youth in such activities (see Appendices D and E); however, the Palestinian Authority does little if anything to enforce its own guidelines and eradicate the problem. What is more, the Palestinian Authority itself makes extensive use of the injured Palestinian youngsters to manipulate local as well as global public opinion.

Recent examples of Palestinian adolescents' participation in acts of terrorism

• Recently, three incidents of terrorist organizations exploiting Palestinian adolescents have been detected:
• A foiled attempt to perpetrate a shooting attack in Israel proper (the city of Afula) by teenagers aged 13, 14, and 16. On February 26, 2004, the three teenagers, all of whom were residents of Tubas (a town to the north-east of Nablus), were arrested at an IDF roadblock in the vicinity of the nearby town of Jenin while in the possession of improvised guns. During questioning, they disclosed that they had been on their way to perpetrate a shooting attack against Israeli targets. The eldest of the three, aged 16, stated that he had been recruited to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and that it was him who had recruited the other two youngsters. According to an Associated Press report from Nablus, the three had left a letter asking not to mourn their deaths because, if they died in action, they would become martyrs. In the letter, two of the teenagers identified themselves as members of the Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades while the third identified himself as a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The fact that these three youngsters were sent to perpetrate a terrorist attack was condemned by their families and criticized by senior figures in the Palestinian Authority (see below).

• A 17-year-old teenager's thwarted attempt to perpetrate an act of suicide. On January 11, 2004, Iyad Bilal al-Masri, a high school student from Nablus, detonated himself near an IDF roadblock that was situated in the vicinity of the village of Jinsafut, east of Qalqilya. The IDF force incurred no casualties. Armed with an explosive belt, the unaccompanied teenager was sent to perpetrate a suicide bombing attack in Israel; however, he lost his way and, having detected an IDF force, detonated himself (possibly out of panic, or due to a “work accident”). The Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad jointly claimed responsibility for this suicide act. The death of the teenager was publicly condemned by his family and criticized in the Palestinian media (see below).

• A foiled attempt to use Palestinian teenagers aged 11-14 to smuggle arms and ammunition. On February 12, 2004, a group of four teenagers tried to cross the border from Palestinian Rafah to Egyptian Rafah in an attempt to smuggle arms and ammunition from Egypt into Israel. The smugglers recruited the teenagers, enticing them with a meager sum of money. Three of the teenagers (one of whom was lightly injured by IDF fire) were held for questioning by the IDF. It is worth mentioning that the region where the teenagers operated is a fertile ground for a widespread smuggling industry, in which Palestinian terrorist organizations exploit adolescents for smuggling activities and as tunnel diggers for purposes of smuggling arms and ammunition.

• hether on their own initiative or under the direction of the terrorist organizations, Palestinian children and teenagers continue to take part in anti-Israeli demonstrations and violent rallies. On several occasions, they find themselves caught in the line of fire between Palestinian terrorists and IDF troops. Not long ago (February 11, 2004), Palestinian children and teenagers were wounded while huddling among masked individuals who were engaged in exchanges of fire with IDF forces in the neighborhood of Al-Shaja'iyah in the northern Gaza Strip (see Appendix A).

Characteristics of the Palestinian terrorist organizations' exploitation of Palestinian adolescents

• Throughout the ongoing violent confrontation, the terrorist organizations have had no qualms about exploiting children and teenagers to perpetrate acts of terrorism (including suicide bombing attacks) and drawing them into a wide variety of acts of violence and other terrorist-supportive activities. Thus, children and teenagers have been sent to participate in demonstrations and clashes with IDF troops – on occasion, having taken the children out of schools and interrupting their studies, in violation of strict guidelines of the Palestinian police (see Appendices D and E). What is more, the terrorist organizations draw upon the youngsters' assistance in smugglings, digging tunnels, lookouts, and reconnaissance missions, capitalizing on their innocent appearance (making it easier for them to pass through IDF roadblocks), the intensive anti-Israeli brainwashing these children undergo, and the awareness that IDF troops are ordered not to shoot live ammunition at children. The terrorist organizations are also keen to take advantage of the fact that children by nature are usually easily influenced and manipulated into action.

• It should be noted that the phenomenon of recruiting adolescents to participate in terrorist attacks and drawing them into operative military activity reached its peak in 2002. On the whole, the exploitation of Palestinian youth for perpetrating acts of terrorism has since declined; however, as recently demonstrated, the phenomenon persists. Furthermore, children and teenagers are still exploited for terrorist-supportive activities and are encouraged to participate in demonstrations and clashes with IDF troops, again – in violation of the strict guidelines banning such activities.

• Children and teenagers, who are often used as cannon fodder by the Palestinian terrorist organizations, are brought up in an environment indoctrinating them with deep-rooted hatred and indoctrinating them with the “armed struggle consensus” against Israel. Children absorb these values at home, during games with their friends, in mosques, through television broadcasts (often featuring incitement and agitation programs especially geared toward children and teenagers), through the education system (both formal and informal – such as summer camps), and by a wide variety of other means. Once they have matured, some of these children form the cadre of the terrorist organizations. Consequently, some of them take part in acts of violence and terrorism when they are still minors, owing to nationalistic and religious motivations (i.e. the desire to participate in the violent struggle against Israel and the willingness to die as martyrs for the sake of Allah) as well as financial gain (even meager sums of money entice them in view of their dire poverty and the deplorable conditions the children grow up in, usually in refugee camps).

• The Palestinian terrorist organizations' exploitation of adolescents has frequently come under fierce criticism from the Palestinian society (see below) and even from members of the Palestinian Authority. For according to strict instructions issued by Palestinian police force chief Ghazi al-Jibali in 2002, school children should not be sent to clash sites in order to avoid risking their lives (consult seized documents, Appendices D and E). However, these instructions have not been acted upon: the Palestinian Authority makes no effort at all to prevent children and teenagers from participating in violent activities against Israel. In our assessment, there are three factors that may help explain the Palestinian Authority's reluctance to deal with the problem:

• Yasser Arafat's and the Palestinian Authority's overall strategy of avoiding conflict with the Palestinian terrorist organizations;

• their desire not to slow down the momentum of the ongoing violent confrontation with Israel;

• ndeed, the Palestinian Authority has embraced a media strategy emphasizing the place of children in the Intifada while making a widespread use of accidental injuries inflicted by the IDF or by Palestinian gunmen during to children caught in exchanges of fire. Part of this strategy is the frequent portrayal of Israel as a “ruthless oppressor” that has no qualms about injuring children, accompanied by the broadcasting of gruesome images of wounded and killed children so as to make the strongest impact on the (local and international) media. Some of the children killed at the onset of the violent confrontation (such as Muhammad al-Durrah) have been immortalized in books, articles, poems, and films, thus becoming symbols of the Palestinian armed struggle to be emulated . The accidental deaths of teenagers and children have been well exploited to advance the Palestinian Authority's cause in its campaign for gaining the support of global public opinion, to fan hatred and nurture the notion of violent struggle against Israel on the Palestinian street.

Encouragement versus criticism of the phenomenon

• The Palestinian terrorist organizations in general and the Hamas movement in particular make frequent use of militant Islamic messages, encouraging children and teenagers to take part in the confrontation and participate in military activity, including acts of suicide bombing, against Israel. Several examples follow:

Rasha al-Rantisi ( Al-Jazeerah, June 14, 2003):
Spreading the message of indoctrinating children with martyrdom for the sake of Allah

• In an interview granted to the Islam Online website on May 26, 2002, Salah Shehada, a former Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip (who later died in an Israeli targeted killing), stated that children must be properly trained before being sent to perpetrate suicide bombing attacks. He added that they should be enlisted to a special unit in the military wing of Hamas so that they can be indoctrinated with the values of jihad (holy war) and taught right from wrong.

• A film (in Arabic) titled Children who Love the Homeland and Martyrdom, broadcasted on Palestinian Television, featured an interview granted by Dr. Fadel Abu Hin, a lecturer of psychology. He states that the Palestinian child realizes that martyrdom, through violent struggle and sacrifice for the sake of Allah [i.e. terrorist attacks], is the right and preferred path toward honor and respect. He adds that a martyr's death does not imply that the child's life comes to an end (as they are promised to go to heaven) and claims that martyrdom pushes children to take an active part in the violent struggle against Israel ( Palestinian Television, June 27, 2002).

• In a statement given to the Arab media, Rasha al-Rantisi, the wife of Abd al-Aziz al-Rantisi 1, said that her children were brought up in the spirit of resistance and jihad (holy war). “It is my hope,” she added, “that myself, my husband, and our children will be granted the shahada (martyrdom for the sake of Allah) to prove that we are the first to sacrifice our children for Allah's sake. Allah is kind to us for our children die as warriors; we, too, constantly look forward to joining them in martyrdom for Allah's sake” ( Al-Bayan, June 17, 2003).

• It should be noted, however, that indoctrinating children and teenagers with martyrdom for the sake of Allah (the shahada ) is not the sole province of Islamic terrorist organizations: Yasser Arafat and the secular oriented Palestinian Authority are involved as well. For example, in a televised speech held on the occasion of the Palestinian Children's Day (June 1, 2003), Yasser Arafat delivered a militant Islamic message to the children of Palestine. Rooted in Islamic traditions, it encouraged the children of Palestine to become warriors on the front line ( ribat ) of the Islamic armed struggle who would be willing to die for the sake of Allah, while promising the martyrs (the shahids ) privileged standing.

• Yet, on more than one occasion, the reckless and dangerous exploitation of school children (especially the sending of teenagers to perpetrate suicide bombing attacks) has come under fierce criticism. The criticism was voiced by senior figures in the Palestinian Authority, the children's families, the Palestinian Authority's apparatuses, and publicists in the Palestinian media. Several examples follow:

• The families of the three teenagers who had been sent to perpetrate a shooting attack in the city of Afula (February 26, 2004) as well as senior figures in the Palestinian Authority have expressed their anger over the incident. “Our children must have hope and a future—they must not become suicide bombers; we want them to be doctors or engineers,” said Palestinian minister Saeb Erakat (Associated Press report from Nablus). Family members of one of the teenagers (Tareq Abu Mohsen) were outraged at the Palestinian Islamic Jihad for recruiting the three teenagers to an assignment that would probably lead to their deaths. Addressing a letter left by the three teenagers, Amira Abu Mohsen, the teenager's mother, stated that her son “cannot write such a letter and he has never belonged to any of those organizations. An older person must have written the letter for him ” (Associated Press report from Nablus).

• The family of Iyad al-Masri, the 17-year-old student who was killed near the village of Jinsafut, published a statement in the Palestinian Authority daily Al-Ayyam (January 14, 2002), demanding that the circumstances that had led to the student's death be investigated. The members of the family made clear that they had objected to sending the teenager to his mission, described his death as a “pointless death that raises legitimate questions,” and claimed that he was “ sent to carry out a hopeless suicide bombing attack that [was] doomed from the start. ” It should be noted that the publication of such a statement is a highly unusual occurrence.

• The student's death near the village of Jinsafut was followed by harsh criticism from the Palestinian media. On January 16, 2002, Hafez al-Barghuti, editor-in-chief of the Palestinian Authority's daily Al-Hayat al-Jadidah, stated that the circumstances of Iyad al-Masri's death “raise once more the issue of recruiting adolescents whereas it is known that even the Prophet Muhammad himself refused to allow young children to participate in his raids. ”

• On April 23-24, 2002, three Palestinian school children from Gaza aged 12-14 attempted to infiltrate into the nearby settlement of Netzarim with the purpose of perpetrating a suicide bombing attack. According to the Hamas website (February 24, 2002), these youngsters were sent by Hamas in the wake of the movement's decision to “engage in jihad [holy war] against the Jews.” At the time, their deaths aroused waves of denunciation by residents of the Gaza Strip, who began watching their children in the local schools with concern and even dedicated school lessons to fighting the phenomenon. In January 2003, in the wake of the controversy that arose after three teenagers armed with knives attempted to infiltrate into the local settlement of Elei Sinai, even Hamas seniors spoke out against the exploitation of adolescents for perpetrating terrorist attacks.

• As the phenomenon reached its peak2, the Palestinian Authority daily Al-Ayyam reported (April 31, 2002) that journalists who took part in a convention held by the Palestinian journalists' association in Gaza had spoken out against the use of children and teenagers as suicide bombers. At the convention, methods were discussed that may help deal with the negative tendencies spreading across the Palestinian society, including the phenomenon of women and children turning into “human bombs.”

During the first half of 2002, Israeli security forces have detected numerous incidents of Palestinian teenage boys and girls (aged 12-16) being recruited by such terrorist organizations as the Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad to perpetrate suicide bombing attacks. The problem perseveres despite the protests and the harsh criticism from both the Palestinian society and senior figures in the Palestinian Authority: terrorist organizations continue to exploit adolescents for violent purposes.

Appendices

• Appendix A. Photographs of masked Palestinian adults exchanging fire with IDF forces, allowing children and teenagers to stay near and watch the clashes thus putting the children's lives at risk.

• Appendix B. Photographs demonstrating the indoctrination with the ideals of violent struggle against Israel: photographs of armed and uniformed infants, children and teenagers undergoing military training in summer camps.

• Appendix C. Palestinian educational institutions as hotbeds of incitement to terrorism: photographs demonstrating the “suicide bombing culture” and the “armed struggle consensus” that prevail in the educational institutions of the Palestinian Authority.

• Appendix D. Harsh criticism against the exploitation of Palestinian adolescents as reflected in a official document seized during Operation Defensive Shield: police chief Ghazi al-Jibali's strict guidelines concerning a total ban (dated September 30, 2001) on enticing children out of schools, taking them to conflict zones, and exposing them to possible serious injuries.

• Appendix E. Harsh criticism against the exploitation of adolescents as reflected in a document seized in the course of Operation Defensive Shield: police chief Ghazi al-Jibali's strict guidelines concerning a total ban (dated November 19, 2001) on sending school students and young children to their deaths in exchange for benefits