Palestinian Child Abuse - Summer Camp Edition

Hamas celebrates the summer in a way that only it can. It indoctrinates kids into its terror-loving ways by giving them weapons training.

Hamas' next generation displayed various operational abilities honed during the summer such as security of high profile figures in public places.

As part of the ceremony, the trainees were given graduation certificates.

Hamas prime minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh participated in the event and praised the camp's managers for their "political and morale-based guidance." He further noted that the interior ministry is "working to train its soldiers armed both with weapons and Islam and Koran convictions for the benefit of their people."

After the ceremony a source from the ministry said, "Defense and security are a natural need that is meant to protect the Islamic project we are leading against the enemies of the Palestinian people and its religion."

Hamas is indoctrinating the next generation of terrorists, and if Hamas was interested in a better future for the Palestinian people and Gazans in particular, they'd be providing these kids with educational opportunities in starting businesses, learning marketable skills, and otherwise not engaging in the business of violence. But everyone knows that Hamas has no interest in peace with Israel or improving the life of Gazans. They're interested in maintaining their grip on power. And these kids will be the next generation of terrorist thugs.

Brazen Pirates Strike Again

The Somali pirates continue hijacking ships, despite the American operation to free Capt. Phillips that resulted in three shots and three dead pirates. Today, they captured three more boats off the coast of Somalia, including a Greek-managed bulk carrier and two Egyptian fishing boats.

The latest trophy for the pirates was the M.V. Irene E.M., a Greek-managed bulk carrier sailing from the Middle East to South Asia, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

The Irene was attacked and seized in the middle of the night Tuesday — a rare tactic for the pirates.

U.S. Navy Lt. Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said the Irene was flagged in the Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and carried 23 Filipino crew. Choong reported a crew of 21, and there was no immediate way to reconcile the figures.

Apparently the pirates haven't gotten the message that their days are numbered. They continue plundering shipping that comes near the coast.

The message the rest of the world is sending is that they're not going to free all of the hostages held by the pirates, but only those whose navies are in a position to take action (the US and French for example, although the Indian Navy has also engaged and destroyed pirate shipping).

A map indicates where the pirates have struck during 2008, and 2009 looks like it's going to be a banner year despite changes in the shipping lanes away from the Somali coast. It's also not much of a surprise where the pirates call home.

Arming the crews may not be the panacea that everyone thinks since it only addresses a symptom, not the cause. Eliminating the pirates' port of calls will. Eliminate the pirates means of getting into the shipping lanes will (destroying the pirate boats). Sending out notices to all shipping in the region that any craft entering the shipping lanes that is unmarked and unregistered will be searched, seized, or destroyed depending on the actions of the pirates.

UPDATE:
Jules Crittenden has much more on the handling of the volatile situation off Somalia and the need for follow through.

UPDATE:
Make that four ships seized in 24 hours. A fourth ship was seized by pirates today, this one under the flag of Togo. Why would anyone expect the piracy to end after the US and French operations? The pirates know that unless the US or French go after all the pirates, they'll continue operating and attacking shipping under non-US or French flagged vessels.

Also, spare me the drama over how the pirates who captured Capt. Phillips were all teenagers. Outside of the West, many parts of the world routinely turn children into soldiers. Pirates are no different.

They answer to tribal leaders and militia leaders who are older and know that they can sacrifice the teens while not having to absorb any of the risk themselves. It's yet another reason to go after the pirate safe havens - to take out the tribal leaders and militia leaders spurring others to engage in the piracy to support their own situation.

UPDATE:
Hot Air also notes the capture of the four ships and 60 crew members and that it will take more than words to bring the situation to an end.

Flopping Aces notes that actions speak louder than words.

Blackfive concurs on the need to take action against the safe havens onshore.

Congolese Thug Charged In War Crimes; Hamas Does Same Without Worry

A Congolese thug is currently on trial at the International Criminal Court at the Hague for war crimes, including inducting children as young as 15 into his militia.

Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is accused of forcing children under the age of 15 to fight in the military wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots.

"Lubanga's armed group recruited, trained and used hundreds of young children to kill, pillage and rape. The children still suffer the consequences of Lubanga's crimes. They cannot forget what they saw, what they suffered, what they did," ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said as the trial opened on Monday morning.

Lubanga pleaded not guilty. His defense will not begin its opening statement until Tuesday. He sat largely impassively, in suit and tie, as the prosecution opened its case.

This is little different than what Hamas and other jihadi groups has done in Gaza and throughout the world for years on end. Hamas has been indoctrinating children in the jihad against Israel, and repeatedly marches them into battles, using them as human shields and hoping to incite Palestinians to further violence. Photo evidence courtesy of Charles at LGF.

Or see here, here, here, here, or:


That's Hizbullah indoctrinating another generation to hate Israel and seek its destruction. They're busy passing out toy guns to tots and young ones, but before long, they're out throwing rocks at Israelis, but they will be given the real thing soon enough.

Where is the world outcry and demand that Hamas leaders be indicted for war crimes and to stand trial for their actions? Nary a voice will be raised to do so, despite the overwhelming piles of evidence of just that.

UPDATE:
In video form:

Hizbullah Recruiting Yet Another Generation For War Against Israel

The terrorist group Hizbullah is busy indoctrinating yet another generation in the ways of hatred and venom against Israel's very existence, and yet the New York Times reports on this in glowing terms. Hizbullah recruits pre-teens and teenagers to be terrorists.

They may dress like boy scouts for photos, but the terrorists seek to blend in when facing the Israelis so as to maximize the "civilian casualties". The terrorist group is bringing in child soldiers to fight their war with Israel, and it's only a matter of time before the conflict resumes with a shooting war. Hizbullah has fully infiltrated and coopted the Lebanese government, and they have been stockpiling weapons despite UNIFIL and UN mandates to completely disarm and disband.

They talk of being a resistance movement against Israel, but seeing how Israel is no longer in occupation of Lebanon, their actions belie their true intentions. They seek Israel's destruction and are beholden to their Iranian masters.

The similarities between the Hizbullah youth movement and the Hitler youth is startling. The indoctrination is complete, and the schooling and religious training are all devoted to the cause. From the cadre of teens, the next generation of terrorist leaders will emerge.

Far from this being a sign of normalcy, this is a sign of just how diseased the Hizbullah movement truly is. They are dooming yet another generation of Lebanese people to war and violence, since the Hizbullah goal is to destroy Israel.

Al Qaeda Hits Bottom; Keeps Digging

Al Qaeda in Iraq continues to show that the depths of depravity have yet to be fully explored. Their latest efforts are focusing on indoctrinating children as young as six in the methods and tactics of being terrorists and bombers.

But another capture during a December raid in Khan Bani Sad — about halfway between Baghdad and Baquba — gave even greater insight into the organization.

That raid netted five propaganda tapes that would have made Nazi propaganda filmmaker Joseph Goebbels proud. They were training videos showing Iraqi children between the ages of 6 and 14 being taught how to hold AK-47s, how to stop a car and carry out a kidnapping, how to break into a house and how to break into a courtyard and terrorize the individuals living there.

They also are seen being taught to use rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

"These were young boys all masked and hooded, all outfitted with weapons; adults were doing the training," Smith said.

"Al Qaeda is clearly using children to exploit other children to get the interest of Jihad spread among teenagers far and wide. They use this footage on the Internet to encourage other young boys to join the jihad movement."

The group included about 20 children being "trained." At the end of the hourlong video they are sent into their parents’ arms, suggesting the training has parental approval.

"We don't think they were being trained precisely to go out and conduct operations any time soon," Smith said. "But clearly there is a pattern of training and a pattern of indoctrination that is being used by Al Qaeda.

This is all part of the means and methods of indoctrination. These kids are being taught to become terrorists and bombers.

UPDATE:
Via The Jawa Report, here's a copy of the video:



UPDATE:
I should clarify my earlier remarks as al Qaeda has frequently used children and the infirm as suicide bombers or women whose families have been shamed or dishonored as suicide bombers. This is just another recent example and tangible proof that al Qaeda engages in these reprehensible tactics.

Others blogging: Hot Air and AJ Strata.

Forget the Claim; Islamic Terrorists Use Children As Bombers

The AP proffers the headline:

US claims Al-Qaeda using children as Iraq suicide bombers

The factual evidence shows it is more than just a claim. Al Qaeda does use children as suicide bombers. Islamic terrorists have found that taking children, indoctrinated from the cradle into the hatred of all those who do not think like the Islamists, and turning them into suicide bombers is second nature.

It isn't just in Iraq where children were used as suicide bombers. Before Baitullah Mehsud's al Qaeda linked terrorists assassinated Benazir Bhutto last year, they attempted to use bombs strapped to infants to get past security. A teenager was among those arrested in connection with the assassination.

Hamas regularly holds rallies where children are dressed as suicide bombers. Israel regularly intercepts children and teenagers who are sent by the terrorist groups to murder Israelis. Hamas and Fatah regularly use children as human shields - having them run in the very fields where they launch their rockets and mortars so that when Israel returns fire, they are casualties and can be used as propaganda against Israel.

Pakistani Teen Arrested In Connection With Bhutto Assassination

A teenager who said he was part of a team of assassins sent to kill former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was arrested near the Afghan border, Pakistani officials said Saturday.

The teen also confessed to taking part in a plot to attack Shiites during Ashoura, even as police in Pakistan's far south said they had foiled suicide attacks planned for the Shiite Muslim festival.

In Karachi, police chief Azhar Farouqi said officers detained five men who were in the possession of explosives, detonators and a small quantity of cyanide intended for attacks on this week's Ashoura processions.

"With these arrests we have foiled major attacks," Farouqi said.

The intelligence official said the 15-year-old told investigators that the five-person squad was dispatched to Rawalpindi, where Bhutto was killed, by Baitullah Mehsud, a militant leader with strong ties to al-Qaida and an alliance with the Taliban in nearby Afghanistan, on Afghanistan's northwest border.

The senior official from Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the teen was arrested Thursday and was involved in a plot to attack Shiites during an Ashoura festival on Sunday.

Pakistan's Sunni extremists, who regard Shiites as heretics, often attack the community during Ashoura. On Thursday, 11 people died and 20 were injured in a suicide attack on a Shiite mosque in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province.

The Islamists indoctrinate children to take up the cause of jihad, and tribal and familial pressures reinforce the indoctrination so you get instances where children are taught that killing and mass slaughters are acceptable behavior.

Of course, Mehsud's thugs offered up that this is nothing less than government propaganda and that Mehsud's thugs had nothing to do with the assassination. It's always curious how the press is so quick to get feedback from Mehsud and other Taliban thugs. Are they on speed dial?

It also ignores the evidence proffered that suggests that Mehsud's thugs were deeply involved in the assassination. Scotland Yard and the CIA have both pointed at Mehsud's group as being behind the assassination.

Al Qaeda's Child Warriors

We've seen the Palestinians do it. African thugs do it. So why not al Qaeda?

A new propaganda video from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) features small children with AK-47 assault rifles. The narrator of the video refers to these young boys as the "new generation" of mujahedeen.

In one scene, a small child who appears to be around seven- or eight-years-old is holding an AK-47 and reciting what he says are quotes from the prophet Mohammed. Then a group of small children are seen, each holding an AK-47.

The next step is that they'll start using women (even better if pregnant), mentally ill and the infirm to act as suicide bombers. One possible way to look at this development is that al Qaeda is scraping the bottom of the barrel because al Qaeda has run out of military aged men to use as cannon fodder.

Compare and Contrast

Yes, Gal Gadot is included in the video.

This is what passes as improving Hamas's image:

Somali Islamists Relying On Kids To Fight

Via The Jawa Report comes disturbing photos of children being used as soldiers in the Islamists fight against the Somali government. The photos come from the Somali government news agency. The caption for the above image states:

A 10 year-old Somali Islamist boy aims his AK 47 rifle at an Ethiopian military base nearby in North of the capital on Monday April 23, 2007. Fighting between Islamic insurgents and government troops backed by Ethiopian forces continues for the fifth straight day

At the feet of this kid are dozens of spent bullet casings. It's quite likely he's been doing much more than simply aiming his gun at Ethiopian or Somali government forces. He's been firing it.

This is what the Islamists do. They have no problem sending kids to fight in wars and don't give much thought to the consequences of having kids fighting their wars for them. Entire generations are being brought up on the belief that going to war is a normal thing and are deprived of a real childhood. Instead, they're nothing more than cannon fodder.

UPDATE:
Corrected the reference to the news agency involved in obtaining the photos.

Jihadis in Training

Where is the outrage over this? Jihadis training the next generation of jihadis in the art of beheadings.

The boy with the knife looks barely 12. In a high-pitched voice, he denounces the bound, blindfolded man before him as an American spy. Then he hacks off the captive's head to cries of "God is great!" and hoists it in triumph by the hair.

A video circulating in Pakistan records the grisly death of Ghulam Nabi, a Pakistani militant accused of betraying a top Taliban official who was killed in a December airstrike in Afghanistan.

An Associated Press reporter confirmed Nabi's identity by visiting his family in Kili Faqiran, their remote village in southwestern Pakistan.

The video, which was obtained by AP Television News in the border city of Peshawar on Tuesday, appears authentic and is unprecedented in jihadist propaganda because of the youth of the executioner.

This is the enemy we face. They are training kids to hack off their enemies heads, all while we have politicians here in the US who think that if we simply bury our head in the sand that the problems will go away. Never mind that the jihadis will just as soon as hack off our collective heads when presented with the opportunity, but most politicians simply don't understand the threat facing the West and how resolute the enemy truly is. The enemy is not fighting a war for this year or even next year.

They're fighting a war for generations and are dedicated to seeing it through.