Palestinian children wear “suicide belts” to celebrate Fatah’s 51 years of violence
Palestinian children wear “suicide belts”
to celebrate Fatah’s 51 years of violence
Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
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When one looks at Palestinian Authority education and messaging to its children, it is no wonder that in the last three months, most of the terror attacks have been carried out by young Palestinians. At Fatah's anniversary celebrations in Bethlehem last week, young masked children were dressed with “suicide belts” and equipped with "guns" and "RPGs".
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Palestinian Media Watch has reported that a central part of PA educational messages to children is promotion of violence and glorification of terrorists.
The official PA daily reported on this Fatah event, specifically mentioning the fact that children participated in the procession brandishing toy weapons and “suicide belts,” however the PA mouthpiece did not express any reservation or disapproval over this at all:
“Children were seen carrying models of RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and explosive belts, and they all walked through the alleys of the refugee camp in the procession, during which the sound of songs of the national revolution were heard.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 8, 2016]
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Present at this celebration were top Fatah and PA officials, including Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul, Head of the General Intelligence Services Majed Faraj, and Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Rula Ma’ay’a. (All photos are from Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, Jan. 7, 2016)
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The PA and Fatah violence and terror promotion is not just for parades and celebrations, but is part of their ideology. Abbas' Fatah movement has now expressed official support and approval for the Tel Aviv murderer. Nashat Melhem killed 3 Israeli civilians at the beginning of this month. The movement “opened a mourning tent for the heroic Martyr (Shahid) Nashat Melhem” [Official Facebook page of the Fatah Movement, Jan. 10, 2016] and greeted the terrorist with “congratulations and may Allah receive you in Heaven.” [Official Facebook page of the Fatah Movement, Jan. 8, 2016] Fatah has also glorified another murderer. Muhannad Halabi who stabbed 2 Israeli civilians to death has been called a “hero” and honored as the one who sparked the “Jerusalem Intifada”:
“Igniter of the Jerusalem Intifada
Martyr (Shahid) of the homeland, the hero Muhannad Halabi”
[Official Facebook page of the Fatah Movement, Jan. 10, 2016]
The following is the report in the official PA paper on the rally with children holding weapons:
Headline: “Fatah marked the anniversary of the Launch in Bethlehem”
“The Fatah movement in Bethlehem marked the 51st anniversary of the Launch (Intilaqa) with a huge ceremony in the Deheisheh refugee camp yesterday [Jan. 7, 2015]. Thousands set out from three [different] places in processions that passed through a number of streets in the district and met at the Martyr’s Tower in the Deheisheh refugee camp, where a speech rally was held in the presence of Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul, Head of the General Intelligence Services Majed Faraj, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Rula Ma’ay’a and dozens of the movement’s leaders in the district.
At the head of the procession, which began at the President [Yasser Arafat]’s Airstrip at the top of the Zaher Hill in the Deheisheh refugee camp, stood masked men, and behind them walked children who wore black shirts with pictures of the deceased president Yasser Arafat and Martyr (Shahid) Jihad Al-Ja'afari, called ‘Gaddafi’, under the name ‘death squads.’ Likewise, children were seen carrying models of RPGs (i.e., rocket-propelled grenades) and explosive belts, and they all walked through the alleys of the refugee camp in the procession, during which the sound of songs of the national revolution were heard.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 8, 2016]
Intilaqa - "The Launch" of Fatah on Jan. 1, 1965, when it carried out its first terror attack against Israel, attempting to bomb Israel's National Water CarrierJihad Al-Ja’afari (“Gaddafi”) - 19-year-old Palestinian who threw a Molotov cocktail and was then injured by Israeli soldiers’ gunfire during confrontations in the Deheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem on Feb. 24, 2015. Al-Ja'afari later died of his wounds.
Photos and text posted on the official Facebook page of the Fatah Movement on Jan. 10, 2016
Posted text: “The Martyr Riyad Naif - Jalazone refugee camp branch of the Fatah movement opened a mourning tent for the heroic Martyr (Shahid) Nashat Melhem”
[Official Facebook page of the Fatah Movement, Jan. 10, 2016]
Nashat Melhem - 29-year-old Israeli Arab terrorist who carried out a shooting attack, killing 2 Israelis, Alon Bakal and Shimon Ruimi, and wounding 8 others, at Hasimta bar in Tel Aviv on Jan. 1, 2016. Melhem fled the scene, and later that day killed a taxi driver, Bedouin Israeli Amin Shaaban, in another part of Tel Aviv. A week after the attacks, on Jan. 8, 2016, Israeli security forces tracked down Melhem in a building in his hometown of Arara in the north of Israel. After Melhem opened fire at them, the Israeli security forces shot and killed him.