November 27, 2008.
Almost 300 children have been killed while taking part in terrorist attacks over
the past eight years, a new study conducted by Palestinian Authority researcher
Mahdi Jaradat has revealed. A total of 3,973 PA Arabs died in the past eight
years while committing acts of terrorism, he found.
Fatah had the most fatalities, with a total of 1,437 terrorists, 128 of them
children, killed since September 28, 2000. Hamas was in second place with
1,410 killed in the same time period, 96 of them minors. Fifty-three children
were killed while taking part in Islamic Jihad operations, five were killed as
members of the PFLP, four died with the DFLP, and three with PRC.
Women, too
Women were increasingly numbered among terrorists as well. A total of 95
women were killed while carrying out attacks, Jaradat found. Thirty-four
women were killed working with Hamas, and 30 with Fatah. Islamic Jihad,
which had a much lower casualty rate than Hamas and Fatah overall, counted
24 women among its casualties.
Hamas carried out more suicide bombings than any other group over the past
eight years, with a total of 72. Islamic Jihad was next with 48 suicide
bombings, and Fatah was third with 42. Each of the three groups used women
as suicide bombers, a move that was initially controversial due to traditional
Muslim views that saw warfare as out of bounds for women.
According to the IDF, 29 suicide bombers were PA youths under the age of 18.
Several youths as young as 14 and 15 have been caught attempting to
approach checkpoints with bombs. One such would-be bomber told soldiers
that terrorists offered him NIS 100 to transport explosives; another said
terrorists had threatened him and told him they would accuse him of providing
information to Israeli security forces-a capital offense in PA-controlled areas-if
he did not do as they said. A third youth arrested while wearing a bomb belt
was mentally disabled. He was safely disarmed.
Incitement
Israeli and American researchers have warned that many PA youths are
encouraged to die as terrorists. While more blatant incitement to murder and
death as a terrorist can be found in media outlets such as Hamas’ TV station for
children, another common source of incitement and hate is PA textbooks,
which often leave Israel off of Middle East maps and hail slain terrorists as
“martyrs.”
Respect for child suicide attackers can be found within the PA parliament as
well: Legislator Maryam Farhat, more commonly known as Umm Nidal, sent
three of her sons to commit suicide attacks. One was only 17 when he took
part in a suicide attack in the town of Atzmona in which five Israeli teens were
murdered.
