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05-09-04, 19:04
Child Martyrom Returns to PA Television
19:45 Sep 05, '04
http://www.israelnn.com/data/images//2004/09/05/shahada%20-%20s.jpg An alarming television segment strongly promoting child “martyrdom” has returned to official Palestinian Authority TV.
The clip has been aired repeatedly in recent weeks after being taken off the air over a year ago following widespread outrage.
At a US Senate Hearing in October 2003, Director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) Itamar Marcus displayed extensive documentary evidence that the PA was indoctrinating children to aspire to heroic death as “Shahids” (martyrs for Allah).
Since then, many PA TV clips that encouraged children to seek martyrdom through involvement with terrorism were removed. The removal was ostensibly due to the inability of the PA representative at the Senate hearing to defend the practice, accompanied by extensive outrage from both the print and TV media.
On such clip, (http://pmw.org.il/asx/Farewell_letter.asx) which presented a child's death in combat as "sweet," because it was Death for Allah (Shahada), was aired regularly up to the period of condemnations following the October, 2003 Senate hearings.
The clip was taken out of PA TV’s rotation and was not aired for almost a year. Suddenly, according to PMW, the clip is being broadcast again – at least three times in the last two weeks.
The segment, known as thee "Farewell Letter" clip, features an Arab child writing a farewell letter to his parents, glorifying his desire to die. The child then goes out to the combat zone, where he is shot and achieves his death wish. As he falls in death, the words of his letter are sung twice: "How sweet is Shahada (Death for Allah) when I embrace you, my land."
"The revival of this clip now may be an indication that the PA, after having its image blackened due to its involvement in suicide terror, wants to portray itself as the victim by having large numbers of dead and injured children to report to the press,” says Itamar Marcus.
The following is the text of the farewell letter sung during the segment:
"Do not be sad, my dear,
And do not cry over my parting,
My dear father,
For my country, Shahada [Death for Allah].
Do not be sad, my dear
And do not cry over my parting,
My dear father,
For my country, I will sacrifice myself!"
[Scenes of children joining violence against soldiers, the boy running with his friends, throwing stones ...]
The letter continues:
"With determination and desire
I long to approach...."
[The boy is shot in his chest and falls to the ground.]
The letter continues:
"How sweet is Shahada [death for Allah]
When I embrace you, my land!"
[Here the boy's mother is seen crying.]
The letter continues:
"My beloved, my mother, My most dear,
Be joyous over my blood and do not cry for me."
[Aired on PA TV Aug. 23, 26, 31, 2004, Translated by PMW]
“The message of this song to Palestinian children is clear,” says Marcus. “[It is that] it should be a child's wish and goal to die in confrontations with Israel, as this death is ‘sweet’.”
PMW’s web site features several other examples of PA TV’s indoctrination of children (http://www.pmw.org.il/tv%20part1.html) to pursue martyrdom through joining the terrorist assault on Israel.
Published: 19:28 September 05, 2004
Last Update: 19:45 September 05, 2004
19:45 Sep 05, '04
http://www.israelnn.com/data/images//2004/09/05/shahada%20-%20s.jpg An alarming television segment strongly promoting child “martyrdom” has returned to official Palestinian Authority TV.
The clip has been aired repeatedly in recent weeks after being taken off the air over a year ago following widespread outrage.
At a US Senate Hearing in October 2003, Director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) Itamar Marcus displayed extensive documentary evidence that the PA was indoctrinating children to aspire to heroic death as “Shahids” (martyrs for Allah).
Since then, many PA TV clips that encouraged children to seek martyrdom through involvement with terrorism were removed. The removal was ostensibly due to the inability of the PA representative at the Senate hearing to defend the practice, accompanied by extensive outrage from both the print and TV media.
On such clip, (http://pmw.org.il/asx/Farewell_letter.asx) which presented a child's death in combat as "sweet," because it was Death for Allah (Shahada), was aired regularly up to the period of condemnations following the October, 2003 Senate hearings.
The clip was taken out of PA TV’s rotation and was not aired for almost a year. Suddenly, according to PMW, the clip is being broadcast again – at least three times in the last two weeks.
The segment, known as thee "Farewell Letter" clip, features an Arab child writing a farewell letter to his parents, glorifying his desire to die. The child then goes out to the combat zone, where he is shot and achieves his death wish. As he falls in death, the words of his letter are sung twice: "How sweet is Shahada (Death for Allah) when I embrace you, my land."
"The revival of this clip now may be an indication that the PA, after having its image blackened due to its involvement in suicide terror, wants to portray itself as the victim by having large numbers of dead and injured children to report to the press,” says Itamar Marcus.
The following is the text of the farewell letter sung during the segment:
"Do not be sad, my dear,
And do not cry over my parting,
My dear father,
For my country, Shahada [Death for Allah].
Do not be sad, my dear
And do not cry over my parting,
My dear father,
For my country, I will sacrifice myself!"
[Scenes of children joining violence against soldiers, the boy running with his friends, throwing stones ...]
The letter continues:
"With determination and desire
I long to approach...."
[The boy is shot in his chest and falls to the ground.]
The letter continues:
"How sweet is Shahada [death for Allah]
When I embrace you, my land!"
[Here the boy's mother is seen crying.]
The letter continues:
"My beloved, my mother, My most dear,
Be joyous over my blood and do not cry for me."
[Aired on PA TV Aug. 23, 26, 31, 2004, Translated by PMW]
“The message of this song to Palestinian children is clear,” says Marcus. “[It is that] it should be a child's wish and goal to die in confrontations with Israel, as this death is ‘sweet’.”
PMW’s web site features several other examples of PA TV’s indoctrination of children (http://www.pmw.org.il/tv%20part1.html) to pursue martyrdom through joining the terrorist assault on Israel.
Published: 19:28 September 05, 2004
Last Update: 19:45 September 05, 2004