Islamic schooling: New cult of Mujahideen

Do you know that jihad starts with Islamic schools? Yes, that is true . They built schools, created textbooks and even developed phone apps to “Mujahideen” children. Many Islamic fundamentalist organizations purportedly developed to teach children things like the alphabet… and tanks and guns. It exposes the children to violence in a routine and daily fashion so much so that it ceases to be shocking and normalizes violence. The terrorist group continuously use their children to carry out raids, engage in fights, and even execute enemies. But the path taken from child to executioner starts in the classroom.

In Jihad, Palestinian children and teenagers have assumed an integral role. As the intensity of the Jihad increased, Palestinian children and teenagers became more directly involved in terror attacks, especially suicide bombings. Children acted as decoys, burning tyres and shooting slingshots to attract the television cameras, often making it harder for the world to identify the gunmen lying in ambush. Knowing that the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces are ordered not to shoot live ammunition at children, Palestinian snipers hid among and behind groups of youngsters, on rooftops, in alleys or orchards, often using kids as shields when aiming at exposed soldiers. It’s clear that the terrorists did not think that by sending these children they would succeed in killing anyone; instead, their criminal thoughts were that the very [likely] deaths [of these children] would give Israel a bad name. These children are being coerced into carrying out jihadi missions through various means including kidnapping, threats to their lives and the lives of their family members, and most commonly, being brainwashed into believing that jihad is a spiritual fulfilment to God. In most cases, these children are unaware of the meaning or consequences of their actions and equally unaware of any alternatives.

Television and radio stations, religious sermons, school textbooks, newspapers and magazines, and even summer camp curricula are all directly or indirectly controlled by the PNA(Palestinian National Authority), which uses them to glorify martyrdom and to convince Palestinian children to engage in life-threatening behaviour. PNA controlled television, with its powerful visual and visceral images, is one medium employed to manipulate children’s minds and emotions. Images of blood and dead children are frequently broadcasted, followed by scenes of children playing, captioned with the slogan, "Seek Death – The Life Will Be Given To You." This slogan encourages children to give up life and seek martyrdom. In an interview, Youssef Jamah, the Palestinian Minister, said that the suicide bombings are a legitimate means through which the Palestinians fight the enemy. On the other hand, in Palestine, PNA appointed clerics play a vital role in the unequivocal calls to violence. In this way, they create an environment for the New Islamic Cult of Martyrdom.