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In the Islamic school, children as young as five learn the techniques of urban guerilla warfare, and the rewards of martyrdom and jihad against Jews.
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| By Ellis Shuman June 28, 2002 |
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As nursery schools throughout the world held graduation ceremonies for their young students, a school in Gaza staged a unique ceremony this month. The school's year-end program had its youngsters dressed up as members of a Ramallah lynch mob, their hands painted red to portray the blood of their victims. Nursery school children burned Israeli flags, and marched proudly with toy assault rifles as they pledged to continue holy war until all of Palestine was liberated.
Run by the Islamic Society of the Gaza Strip, the school teaches children as young as five the techniques of urban guerilla warfare, the rewards of martyrdom and jihad (holy war) against Jews, and how to express solidarity with those who disemboweled two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah at the start of the Intifada.
"In the name of the shahid (martyr) Muhammad a-Dura, and in the name of the shahid Iman Hijo, we promise to continue the jihad, the resistance, the Intifada," the children shouted.
One child, dressed up as Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, announced, "The Palestinians will not be alone in their battle with the Zionists. Hizbullah is with you always." The speech was received warmly by parents and teachers.
The school and the Islamic Society that runs it produced a website in Arabic, complete with pictures and a description of a graduation ceremony for elementary-level schoolchildren who are taught to covet the city of Jerusalem, learn about suicide bombers as "martyrs" and to hate "Zionist criminals," World Net Daily reported.
"The children can say 'No, no' to the Israeli occupiers and even though they are but 5 years old, they can say, 'We are not afraid of Israeli bombardment,'" explained Sheikh Ahmed Baher, the headmaster of the school.
World Net Daily quoted Baher in describing the goal of his institution. "The staff hopes it will produce a generation of children able to kick the Zionists out of Palestine and liberate the Palestinians," he said.
Maariv reported that the Islamic Society is inciting young Palestinians to hate Israel. A paper recently prepared for Israel's government warns that the kindergarteners are being raised as the Hamas's future generation of suicide bombers.
The Islamic Society is the largest charity organization in the Gaza Strip, and is identified with the religious segment of Palestinian society. Sheikh Baher, Maariv reported, is the head of a network that runs dozens of nursery schools, provides aid to needy families, and supports the poor, and the children and families of the "martyrs." The society also organizes blood donations, runs medical clinics, and encourages sports, especially volleyball.
The society is supported by donations, and by symbolic contributions from its members. Last year, Maariv reported, the society was visited by representatives of non-governmental organizations from Sweden, and a delegation of Muslims from South Africa. Organizations in Italy and the United States have donated computers and video equipment to the Islamic Society, the paper said.
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