Monday, July 27, 2009
Gaza campers stage 'Schalit abduction'
Children in Hamas summer camps reenacted the abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit in the presence of top Hamas officials, according to pictures obtained by The Jerusalem Post.
According to Israeli defense officials, more than 120,000 Palestinian children are spending the summer in Hamas-run camps. In addition to religious studies, the children undergo semi-military training with toy guns.
At a recent summer camp graduation ceremony, the children put on a show reenacting the June 2006 abduction of Schalit. Present was Osama Mazini, a senior Hamas political leader, who is in charge of the Schalit negotiations with Israel on behalf of the terrorist group.
In one picture, obtained by the Post, Mazini is seen standing next to Ahmad Bahar, the acting speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, distributing Korans to camp counselors.
"This sends a message," one Israeli defense official said, regarding Mazini's participation at the ceremony. "This is Hamas's way of showing Palestinian children that kidnapping soldiers is the correct way of life."...
My kid's been spending the summer playing dodgeball and tying gimp. It's all about the values and our hopes for the future.
Here is a link to the ICRC International Red Cross webpage announcing its denial by hamass to VISIT captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to verify that he is being treated humanely in accordance to International law.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/israel-interview-111208
"The parties to an armed conflict, be they States or non-State groups, have to uphold the law. "
Will the UN, NGOs, progressives, leftists, socialists, DEMAND that hamass OBEY International law, demonstrate the respect for human life by islamists?
So far the answer is a thunderous NO.
"Cute kids" at summer camp doesn't quite apply here, does it ...
But perhaps they'll be accorded Constitutional rights at some point in their career, as Obama administration appointees David Kris (Asst. Attorney General) and Jeh C. Johnson (DOD General Counsel) appear to be having their way, as this exchange with Senators Lieberman and McCain reveals. "Progressives," or so we're to believe, and another teachable moment ... Excerpt:
"So you are saying that these people who are at Guantanamo, who were part of 9/11, who committed acts of war against the United States, have constitutional rights under the Constitution of the United States of America?" McCain asked.
"Within the framework I just described, the answer is yes ..." Kris said.
This is a very sick society we're seeing.
What are the chances that it will evolve into a healthy society -- one that lets kids be kids, that doesn't promote suicide as a career goal, that doesn't demonize its neighbor (and provider of essential services) hundreds of times per day?
And what would need to happen to transform into that society from what we have today?
I don't see any gradual way of making it happen. I feared, years ago, that the late unlamented Arafat had painted the Palestinians into a corner -- whereby anyone perceived as supporting a peace process would be sidelined and replaced by a new fire-breathing group. Hamas, in displacing the supposedly 'moderate' Fatah in Gaza, has done just that.
This doesn't leave much room to give Israel someone to talk to, does it?
respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline
I also used to enjoy playing "capture the flag" at summer camp. No Islam, know peace.
Btw, to get an idea of what Hamas replaced in Gaza, there's a sixty minute film/documentary titled "Home Game" that is very much worth viewing. Subtitled, but very accessible and poignant in a simple, human, unbeguiling way, shorn of any treacle, shorn of any artifice whatsoever.
I recommended it highly. Difficult to watch at times, and I'm not alluding to technical difficulties.
I still don't blame Sharon or Kadima overly much for what they did in 2005, I blame "the world community" far, far more, but that begins to address a much larger and much more problematic set of topics.