Suffer the Children
Soon after the Palestinian vote brought in a hefty victory for Hamas at the expense of Fatah, it was made abundantly clear by the spokespeople for Hamas that it was their intention to govern in the name of Allah to bring the sacred territory occupied by Israel back into the purview of Islam. When prodded by western interlocutors about the potential of a change in Hamas's policy in light of their new political responsibility to the Palestinians, that they might reconsider the utility of making peace with their neighbours, it was rejected outright and the founding principles of Hamas quoted fondly.But it was pointed out that Hamas had enacted a truce and maintained it for a full year, and was prepared to extend it, if need be, the better to serve out their mandate on behalf of the Palestinians, before the execution of its full purpose in expunging the State of Israel from the map of the Middle East. They might, it was conceded, be amenable to extending the truce, and that was as far as "peace" could be expected to exist. And of course the extended truce would only become a reality once Israel agreed to two firm demands: a) to accept all Palestinian returnees to their former land, and b) to hand over Jerusalem in its entirety to the new Palestinian Authority so that when the new Palestinian State is established Jerusalem would become its capital.
Barring that, nothing. Of course, even if the truce were extended under those circumstances, it would be a truce, nothing more, nothing less. Not to be confused with peaceful co-existence in perpetuity. For, it was explained, the ultimate decision would be made by the Palestinian people themselves. For the time being the Palestinians may feel like living however uneasily, under the truce. But who could tell, they averred, what the future might bring in that a future Palestinian population (children now, adults later) might determine otherwise. In that case, the truce would be lifted, the holy war continued.
Such confidence in the ability of present-day Palestinian children to make the "right" decision in the name of Allah, to commence deadly hostilities. And why would that be? Talk about long-range planning. For, as Matthew Levitt, author of HAMAS: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad writes:
This deliberate grooming of children is termed by Levitt "early education radicalization", and it has proven to be eminently successful. For Hamas has an invaluable ally in these plans and that ally is the mothers of these children, themselves enamoured of Hamas's vision and utterly dedicated to the Islamist cause. This is what one woman, speaking to a group of Muslim women at a conference had to say:In the Islamist society idealized by Hamas, the martyr is the most revered citizen: Palestinian children who are caught up in the Hamas movement are taught to recognize the supreme virtue of death-for-Allah. Once indoctrinated into this belief system, they are more easily exploited as grade-school terrorists.
It's important that our children have a passion for jihad. Make sure that you nurture your children. A Muslim woman will say to [the children]: "We don't have friendship with the infidel. We want to put fear into the hearts of the enemy. We want to make sure that our children carry the spirit of jihad in their hearts".
There is one Muslim woman in the new Hamas governing council. This is Mariam Saleh, named Women's Affairs Minister. This new guiding light for Palestinian women and by extension their children practices what Hamas preaches. She groomed her children as martyrs and takes pride in their deaths as suicide bombers. Who better than she to take over as the authoritative voice of Hamas for women?
Pity the children.
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, March 30, 2006
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