18 Year old Abdul-Hadi Fakhri Nazzal was a member of The Islamic Jihad

Save The Children: A Crime Is Being Committed In Palestine, Does Anyone Care?

Details
Jay Engelmayer
Featured Editorials

The Palestinians are getting away with a crime that goes against the very fiber of modern human decency. To date, there has been no pushback by foreign governments or mention of it in the United Nations. Instead, Israel has been blamed for an alarming rise in the deaths of Palestinian children.

A few days ago, the staunch anti-Israel Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, retweeted a Twitter post that claimed Israel has killed 29 children in 26 days and doubled down on the allegation that Israel is targeting Palestinian families. Meanwhile, the news is filled with videos of funeral processions in Palestine, complete with mothers crying over the lifeless bodies of their children.

From the media reports covering these events, one would think these children were gunned down in cold blood, that the life of an innocent aspiring doctor, football player, or teacher was snuffed out by the vicious, bloodthirsty Israel Defense Forces. However, these reports neglect to mention the alarming fact, that these children were actually part of one of the many militant organizations in Palestine, and that they were killed while on the front lines of a battle. 

Even governments that have access to intelligence jump to conclusions and assign blame to Israel for these deaths. Two weeks ago, Britain's Jerusalem Consulate tweeted out a post that calls on Israel to investigate a kid's death at their hands and points out that the was the third child killed by Israeli forces since the start of the year. Meanwhile, the evidence that the previous two were not simply militants, but engaged in battle with the IDF was readily available to them.

As part of an organized campaign, hundreds of Palestinian-controlled social media accounts post pictures of the children at play or innocent school photos. What they do not show are the pictures of the kids in tactical gear, holding automatic weapons, and in some cases, videos of the kids pledging their lives to the Palestinian cause. Militant groups use Telegram as their primary social media platform and many videos and photos within these channels show the true nature of Palestinian society.

Money is the driving force behind the alarming increase in child militants. While the Palestinian Authority’s policy of ‘Pay-To-Slay’ covers salaries for those who are caught committing an attack or compensating a family if the attacker is killed in the act, the militant organizations pay up-front. In a region of the world where $20 is a lot of money to a child when a militant organization offers them $200 plus the opportunity to join ‘an elite fighting force’ and get issued guns, grenades, and tactical gear, the recruitment rate skyrockets.

To prove this, below are a few of the Palestinians killed by Israel this month. You can also see the social media posts that try to paint a different picture, as well as the images the Palestinians do not want the world to see.

On January 2nd, Israeli forces were attacked in the Samarian village of Kfar Dan as they went to destroy the home of a terrorist who killed Major Bar Pelach in September. Two militants were killed, 22-year-old Mohammad Samer Houshiyya who was part of ‘The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade’, and 17-year-old Fuad Abed who was affiliated with Hamas.

This is how the Palestinians want the world to see Fuad Abed.

And here is the real Fuad (on the left)

The next day in the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem, 15 year old Adam Ayyad was killed after throwing a Molotov cocktail at Israeli forces. According to the Popular Front For The Liberation of Palestine, Ayyad wanted to become a martyr.

On January 5th, another child, 16-year-old Amer Abu Zeitoun who was part of The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade was killed while engaged in a shooting battle with IDF forces.

On January 12th Abdul-Hadi Fakhri Nazzal who was 18 from Qabatia was killed in clashes with Israeli security forces. Palestinians claimed the death of this innocent child was in cold blood despite pictures of Nazzal with two assault weapons in hand being widely available and a ‘mourning poster’ glorifying the militant being created by The Martyrs Brigade.

Yazan al-Jabari was 19 (although many Palestinian reports had him at 15) and was shot on January 14th, dying two days later in a hospital. He, along with two other militants from Islamic Jihad was shooting at Israeli forces from a moving car. Islamic Jihad posted a tribute to him (inset of Tweet image) showing him in his tactical gear.

A 14-year-old named Omar Al-Khamour was killed on January 16th. The PFLP recruit was killed as he threw an IED at Israeli soldiers. He left a will that explained his actions as well as his desire to become a martyr.

These are merely a few. If you want to see them all you can simply log onto Twitter and search any of the accounts of the tweets above for clarity. 

In a world where attention spans are more often short, and limited to less than 300 characters, and where many get their 'facts' from unknown people who just happen to have a lot of followers or post a pretty graphic, it is hard to find the truth. Since governments are turning a blind eye to this, it is the job of the media to sift through the narratives and report on the facts.

A crime is being committed in Palestine, will anyone stop it?

Sign Up For The Judean Newsletter

 I agree with the Terms and conditions and the Privacy policy

About Us

The Judean is a weekly digital blog highlighting Israel's vibrant Democracy, rich culture, and complex history. Through compelling op-eds, and featured articles, The Judean brings the real Israel into focus. 'From The River To The Sea' Israel is truly free.
Modi'in, Israel 71702
+975-50-226-6956
info@thejudean.com