New Israeli documentary shows 'Children's Army of Hamas'
In documentary presented to the UN, Hamas appears to acknowledge that it is breaking international law by training and indoctrinating child soldiers.
By JPOST.COM STAFF
A new 11-minute documentary created by Israeli filmmakers depicting senior Hamas figures brazenly discussing the training of child soldiers and exalting suicide bombers at military-style youth camps was presented as evidence at a United Nations Forum held in Geneva Wednesday.The filmmakers intended to show how Hamas was working to exploit the world body's relief arm, the United Nations Relief Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East. The documentary, called "Children's Army of Hamas, funded by the Israel-based Center for Near East Policy Research (CNEPR), in association with the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, showed that the Gaza-based terror organization was breaking international laws by training children to fight in combat roles.Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad makes references to the indoctrination of children, appearing to acknowledge they are being trained to fight.“We are strengthening their religious awareness and inducing solidarity with their country. This solidifies their jihad, and their commitment to being a warrior, a curse to Israel,” Hamas declares. According to the films producers, relevant clauses of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child include: Article 3.1...which requires “in all actions concerning children… the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.”In addition, Article 6 requires UN agencies to recognize “that every child has the inherent right to life,” and, further, that UN agencies “shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.”The film suggest that because “schoolchildren in UNRWA schools follow the host authorities’ curricula and textbooks,” the training of children in military camps may also be dictating what they are taught in schools.