[News] Israel 'fabricated' child-bomber story

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<http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8C7BCBC3-CA2C-4F33-B27D-80AF0AF830E2.htm>http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8C7BCBC3-CA2C-4F33-B27D-80AF0AF830E2.htm

Israel 'fabricated' child-bomber story

By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank


Thursday 25 March 2004, 15:38 Makka Time, 12:38 GMT

Palestinian leaders have accused Israel of fabricating a story about a 
14-year-old Palestinian boy who planned to blow himself up.

The Israeli army said he was caught wearing an explosive belt at an army 
roadblock in the northern West Bank.

The boy, identified as Husam Abdu from Nablus, was shown on TV screens 
around the world, with an explosive belt strapped to his waist.

The Israeli army said the boy told interrogators that his dispatchers 
promised that he would have sex with 72 virgins in heaven soon after his death.

"We know for sure this is a fabricated story from A to Z. Would you believe 
that a 13 or 14-year old would agree to blow up himself in return for a 
hundred shekels which he would receive after his death?

"It seems to me that the Israelis are bad liars as well," said Yaqub 
Shahin, a director-general of the Palestinian Authority ministry of 
information.

Painting a 'terrorist' picture

In an interview with Aljazeera.net, Shahin accused Israel of seeking to 
justify slaughtering Palestinian children by spreading the false impression 
that they are used as human bombers.

"Their [Israel's] goal is to besmirch Palestinian childhood so that when 
they slaughter the children, the world won’t feel sorry for them," he said.

Arab Knesset member Muhammad Baraka has also voiced "serious doubts" about 
the veracity of the Israeli narrative.

"I have very serious doubts about the whole story. I can't give the Israeli 
army the benefit of the doubt."

However, Baraka urged all parties to "keep children away from this sinister 
and bloody conflict.

"Using children as bombs is infinitely diabolical. It is totally 
inconsistent with all religious, moral and human values."

Fatah denial

The armed wing of Fatah, the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, has denied any 
involvement in the incident, accusing Israel of "concocting the whole story 
for the purpose of justifying the killing of more Palestinian children."

The Israeli newspaper Yedeot Ahranot reported on Thursday that Abdu told 
Shin Beth interrogators that an anonymous person had promised him 100 
shekels if he blew himself up in the midst of Israeli soldiers.

Samir Khiwairah, a Nablus journalist who personally knows the boys family, 
told Aljazeera.net that the boys mental capacity to distinguish things is 
very low.

"I don't completely rule out the possibility that some evil person gave him 
the explosive belt and told him he would become a hero ... but this is a 
very tiny possibility."

Khiwairah said the Israeli army had a history of "fabricating and 
concocting stories" for the purpose of vilifying the Palestinians and 
winning public relations points.

Similar story

A few weeks ago, another boy from Nablus, Muhammad Kuraan, made headlines 
when the Israeli army presented him to the media as a child who had been 
dispatched to blow himself up at an Israeli roadblock.

However, when the boy returned home, he reportedly told his family and 
relatives that the "Jews told me to do this or else they would kill me."

Aljazeera.net asked the Israeli army spokesman in Tel Aviv to explain why 
Abdu would accept 100 shekels to get blown up and what good the money could 
possibly do?

The army was also asked to explain why it had TV cameras ready at the 
roadblock more than two hours before the event.

Despite two hours of waiting, the army failed to provide an answer.

Child-killing

The controversy of using children in the Israeli-Palestinian strife 
underscores the brazen ugliness of the conflict.

According to human rights groups operating in the occupied territories, the 
Israeli army has killed hundreds of Palestinian children since the outbreak 
of the Palestinian Intifada more than three and a half years ago.

According to a spokeswoman for the East Jerusalem-based Palestinian Human 
Rights Monitoring Group (HRMG), the Israeli army and paramilitary Jewish 
settlers have killed 263 Palestinian children from age 0-14 and 236 minors 
from the age of 15-18 during the ongoing Intifada.

The total number of Palestinians killed by Israel since the outbreak of the 
Intifada is estimated at 2670.

The figures for the injured and maimed are believed to be in the thousands.

The number of Israelis killed by Palestinians during the same period is 
around 838, including soldiers, settlers and civilians.

Israel claims its army doesn't target Palestinian civilians deliberately 
but admits, rather grudgingly, that the killing is carried out knowingly.

However, human rights groups argue forcefully that killing knowingly is 
killing deliberately in the final analysis.

Aljazeera


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