Indoctrination & Militarization of Gaza’s Children
This report examines the systematic indoctrination and militarization of Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip, primarily orchestrated by Hamas. Through educational institutions, media, summer camps, and direct involvement in military operations, Hamas has created an environment where children are psychologically conditioned, trained, and, in many cases, recruited for armed conflict. These practices constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), international criminal law (ICL), and international human rights law (IHRL)
Read the full report here.
REPORT OF THE “STATE OF PALESTINE”
Jerusalem Institute of Justice written submission
TO THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
ON THE REPORT OF THE “STATE OF PALESTINE”
Executive Summary
Press this link for the full report
The Jerusalem Institute of Justice (JIJ) submitted a report to the Human Rights Committee of the UN regarding Palestinian adherence to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). JIJ’s report exposes inadequate law enforcement, incitement to violence, and acts of torture and inhumane treatment by the Palestinian government, directly contradicting Palestinian claims of compliance with international law.
The Human Rights Committee is a United Nations treaty body comprised of 18 international law experts tasked with ensuring that countries adhere to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Countries self-report their adherence to the treaty to legitimize their sovereignty and prove their benevolence. The State of Palestine used its report to deceive the international community and attack the State of Israel while claiming they uphold International Law.
Article 2 of the ICCPR prohibits discrimination. However, the Palestinian educational curriculum promotes violence, excludes peace education, and fosters a biased narrative. Palestinian textbooks legitimize violence, glorify terrorists, erase Israel from maps, and demonize Israelis. This indoctrination of violence among children has long-lasting effects and obstructs peace initiatives, and it can manifest itself in acts of terror perpetrated by children and adults. In the State of Palestine, terrorists are rewarded with glory. Their families receive a payment if the terrorist dies or is arrested; the price increases corresponding to the severity of the crimes. Alongside monetary incentives, terrorists are treated like martyrs. Summer camps where Palestinian children are trained to fight Israel through acts of violence are named after killed terrorists.
Article 6 of the ICCPR safeguards the right to life. The use of human shields by the Palestinian authorities is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and breaches Article 6. This concerning practice has been observed in various conflicts, including Operation Protective Edge and the March of Return protests. Moreover, evidence suggests the concealment of rocket production facilities, armories, and combatants in or near residential areas, further jeopardizing civilians and disregarding international norms.
Article 7 of the ICCPR prohibits torture and cruel treatment. However, the Palestinian authorities have a significant gap between their legal framework and practical enforcement in preventing such acts. The Committee Against Torture (CAT) has expressed concerns over incidents of torture and mistreatment in custody, including the lack of confidentiality in complaint handling and the insufficient independence of investigation bodies. Former detainees’ testimonies provide clear evidence of inhumane treatment, torture, denial of rights, and various forms of abuse. Arbitrary arrests and torture are used against Palestinians exercising their fundamental rights, like peaceful protests or criticizing the regime. These abuses appear to stem from higher authorities’ directives. From 2016 to 2021, the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights received 4,279 claims. Palestinians commit these acts of torture onto Palestinians.
Article 20 prohibits war propaganda and advocacy for hatred; JIJ’s report highlights the notable discrepancy between the legal measures established by the Palestinian authorities and their practical enforcement. Despite legal restrictions, instances of incitement and hate speech persist. Palestinian television broadcasts content, such as the series “The Path of Sacrifice,” glorifying terrorists and their acts of terror. Social media platforms like TikTok and Telegram are also utilized to spread messages of hate and incitement, including simulated attacks by young children against Israeli soldiers. Palestinian leaders publicly encourage lone-wolf attacks and the procurement of weapons, fostering hatred instead of promoting peace. School textbooks and cultural events are utilized to propagate hate, as seen in a musical production featuring dancers in military attire glorifying combat against the perceived “enemy.”
Lastly, Article 24 safeguards the rights of children. Despite international laws protecting children’s vulnerability, Palestinian children continue to be recruited and involved in violent acts, including clashes, shootings, and stabbings. Organizations like Hamas run summer camps that promote aggression and hostility, jeopardizing these children’s safety, rights, and development. This perpetuates a culture of violence with far-reaching consequences for individuals and society.
Based on the information provided, JIJ recommends that the Human Rights Committee issue the following calls to the “State of Palestine”: expunge textbooks advocating violence and terrorism, adopt an internationally accepted definition of terrorism, cease financial support to terrorism, refrain from using human shields or concealing military targets in civilian areas, end the use of torture and ensure thorough investigations, discontinue the promotion of hatred and violence through media and social media platforms, and take measures to prevent the recruitment of children in hostilities and protect their rights. These recommendations aim to promote peace, tolerance, and the protection of human rights.
REPORT OF THE “STATE OF PALESTINE”
Jerusalem Institute of Justice written submission
TO THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
ON THE REPORT OF THE “STATE OF PALESTINE”
Executive Summary
Press this link for the full report
The Jerusalem Institute of Justice (JIJ) submitted a report to the Human Rights Committee of the UN regarding Palestinian adherence to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). JIJ’s report exposes inadequate law enforcement, incitement to violence, and acts of torture and inhumane treatment by the Palestinian government, directly contradicting Palestinian claims of compliance with international law.
The Human Rights Committee is a United Nations treaty body comprised of 18 international law experts tasked with ensuring that countries adhere to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Countries self-report their adherence to the treaty to legitimize their sovereignty and prove their benevolence. The State of Palestine used its report to deceive the international community and attack the State of Israel while claiming they uphold International Law.
Article 2 of the ICCPR prohibits discrimination. However, the Palestinian educational curriculum promotes violence, excludes peace education, and fosters a biased narrative. Palestinian textbooks legitimize violence, glorify terrorists, erase Israel from maps, and demonize Israelis. This indoctrination of violence among children has long-lasting effects and obstructs peace initiatives, and it can manifest itself in acts of terror perpetrated by children and adults. In the State of Palestine, terrorists are rewarded with glory. Their families receive a payment if the terrorist dies or is arrested; the price increases corresponding to the severity of the crimes. Alongside monetary incentives, terrorists are treated like martyrs. Summer camps where Palestinian children are trained to fight Israel through acts of violence are named after killed terrorists.
Article 6 of the ICCPR safeguards the right to life. The use of human shields by the Palestinian authorities is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and breaches Article 6. This concerning practice has been observed in various conflicts, including Operation Protective Edge and the March of Return protests. Moreover, evidence suggests the concealment of rocket production facilities, armories, and combatants in or near residential areas, further jeopardizing civilians and disregarding international norms.
Article 7 of the ICCPR prohibits torture and cruel treatment. However, the Palestinian authorities have a significant gap between their legal framework and practical enforcement in preventing such acts. The Committee Against Torture (CAT) has expressed concerns over incidents of torture and mistreatment in custody, including the lack of confidentiality in complaint handling and the insufficient independence of investigation bodies. Former detainees’ testimonies provide clear evidence of inhumane treatment, torture, denial of rights, and various forms of abuse. Arbitrary arrests and torture are used against Palestinians exercising their fundamental rights, like peaceful protests or criticizing the regime. These abuses appear to stem from higher authorities’ directives. From 2016 to 2021, the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights received 4,279 claims. Palestinians commit these acts of torture onto Palestinians.
Article 20 prohibits war propaganda and advocacy for hatred; JIJ’s report highlights the notable discrepancy between the legal measures established by the Palestinian authorities and their practical enforcement. Despite legal restrictions, instances of incitement and hate speech persist. Palestinian television broadcasts content, such as the series “The Path of Sacrifice,” glorifying terrorists and their acts of terror. Social media platforms like TikTok and Telegram are also utilized to spread messages of hate and incitement, including simulated attacks by young children against Israeli soldiers. Palestinian leaders publicly encourage lone-wolf attacks and the procurement of weapons, fostering hatred instead of promoting peace. School textbooks and cultural events are utilized to propagate hate, as seen in a musical production featuring dancers in military attire glorifying combat against the perceived “enemy.”
Lastly, Article 24 safeguards the rights of children. Despite international laws protecting children’s vulnerability, Palestinian children continue to be recruited and involved in violent acts, including clashes, shootings, and stabbings. Organizations like Hamas run summer camps that promote aggression and hostility, jeopardizing these children’s safety, rights, and development. This perpetuates a culture of violence with far-reaching consequences for individuals and society.
Based on the information provided, JIJ recommends that the Human Rights Committee issue the following calls to the “State of Palestine”: expunge textbooks advocating violence and terrorism, adopt an internationally accepted definition of terrorism, cease financial support to terrorism, refrain from using human shields or concealing military targets in civilian areas, end the use of torture and ensure thorough investigations, discontinue the promotion of hatred and violence through media and social media platforms, and take measures to prevent the recruitment of children in hostilities and protect their rights. These recommendations aim to promote peace, tolerance, and the protection of human rights.
Indoctrination – Lasting Effects on Children and Conflicts
Indoctrination as a concept can be divisive and problematic. To an extent it can be positive, as this allows for the creation of communities that share the same values, giving stability to the people of those groups. However, it can also be dangerous
To differentiate between the positive and negative sides of indoctrination, Tom Nachtigal’s definition[1] will be used. As such, in this context, indoctrination will be defined as “teaching with the intention of instilling certain beliefs and propositions among pupils, by disregarding evidence, reasoning, and logic in the teaching process”. More specifically, this article will focus on systematic indoctrination into hatred and violence and its lasting consequences.
As referred above, vulnerable groups such as children (which according to the Rome Statute are persons below 15 years old) are more sensitive to these influences, as their associated naivety makes them more likely to process information without questioning it.
The resulting consequence of indoctrination can be catastrophic. Children of all ages can suffer unimaginable amounts of pain simply by trusting the teachings of a wrong adult. And from all the possible horrors they could face, it is in becoming a soldier that this article will focus on. Throughout conflict areas in the world, from Colombia to the Philippines, children have been sought and used as tools for war.[2]
Such was the case with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the ultra-nationalist heterodox group that terrorized Uganda from the 1980’s. Currently dispersed between the borders of the DRC, Central African Republic and South Sudan, this group is known for abducting the majority of their top leaders while they were kids.
After weaponizing these children, they were then used to cause mayhem, killing and abducting tens of thousands of other children along the way. By continuing this practice, conflict ensued, displacing almost 500,000 people in the Ugandan plains during the group’s active years[3]. Even though they are largely inactive in currently, the story of the rebel militia is still being mirrored throughout our world. And the effect of such practices is felt to this day.
As reported by the Washington Post[4], abducted children that manage to defect from the LRA face an arduous uphill battle for reintegration. After serving under uneducated authoritarian superiors, who mercilessly kill any caught defector by way of a firing squad, the surviving children face the mental adjustment to day-to-day life. This is compounded by the added paranoia-like pressure of seeing comrades get promoted through informing on each other, and “commanders” being punished for doing acts of kindness. This results in severe mental health issues that surface many months after their release. PTSD is common and in extreme cases, suicide is an escape from the horrors faced during their time as conscripted soldiers.
This fear-based indoctrination of children by the LRA finds its direct counterpart in Hamas’s indoctrination. The terrorist organization has a reported use of 17,000 children, directly or indirectly, throughout the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rather than abducting, Hamas ensures that from an early age the children of the Gaza Strip are slowly pushed to dehumanize and stigmatize the Israeli citizen.
In kindergarten, through their considerable influence in the region, Hamas uses the public Al-Aqsa channel to broadcast anti-Semitic shows that promote a jihadist mindset and violence against the Israeli forces.[5]
This is then furthered by the dubious curriculum employed in the Gaza Strip (and in many cases, the remaining Palestinian territories).[6] There are reported uses of clear ennoblement of martyrdom, in particular against the Israeli enemy, and incitement to violence.[7]
Despite all this, Hamas further organizes summer camps each year whereby teenagers reportedly use and practice gunplay and military-like exercises. [8]In addition, preachers (religious authorities of the region) stimulate the aforementioned feelings towards martyrdom and against Israel.[9]
It is through this systematic, determined effort that the infamous terrorist group ensures the continuation of their own war efforts. Children can be used to bolster their army and kill if needed[10]. If successful in a military endeavour, these kids are then encouraged and hailed as heroes, further cementing in their minds that their behaviour was/is correct[11]. Even when building dangerous tunnels to cross the border of Gaza with Israel, children are used as builders.[12]
Whilst these practices were several times noted during Haniyeh’s tenure as de facto and de jure leader of the group, there is no sign that ensures they have all summarily stopped and been reversed under Sinwar’s rule. As explained above, the scars left on rescued child soldiers can remain for a long time after they leave their military service. More so, they are ruthlessly effective in promoting warmongering and belligerence. Thus, they make sure that the next generation will perpetuate conflict and that a polarizing mentality is the norm in an already precarious society.
As a matter of fact, the tendency is that the militarization of children will be increased. From 2013 onwards, Hamas has purportedly included military training in the Gazan high school curricula[13]. Moreover, the increasingly hostile summer camps – such as the “Pioneers of Liberation”[14] camps – ensure that this military education is year-round, as is the spread of violence towards their “Zionist Enemy”. In fact, Abu Muhammad, responsible for the recruitment unit of the camps was recorded stating that the goal of the camps was to provide educational and military activities to train the coming generations to fight the [Israeli] “occupation”[15]. He then continued, stating the generation in front of him was “determined to put an end to the Israeli entity”.[16]
A very important question is then to be asked – what can we do? Any individual effort is unlikely to succeed in the face of such atrocities. As such, it is highly recommended that we take a look at successful preventive programs[17] and reintegration programs[18]. Only through this can the Children of today, not become the Soldiers of tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Nachtigal, T. (2019). Responsible Education: Responsibility under International Law for Indoctrination to Hatred and Violence in Education Systems. Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. [online] Available at: //jtl.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/09/Nachtigal_CJTL-57-600.pdf (Accessed 23 Sep. 2019].
[2] Information retrieved from //childsoldiersworldindex.org/hostilities (Accessed 21 Sep. 2019)
[3] Retrieved from //childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/the-lords-resistance-army-and-children/ (Accessed 21 Sep. 2019)
[4] Retrieved from //www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/kidnapped-as-children-they-escaped-from-konys-lra-to-be-reunited-with-their-families-in-uganda/2018/08/10/625e5b12-8f67-11e8-ae59-01880eac5f1d_story.html (Accessed 21 Sep. 2019)
[5] Israeli Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center, Educating for Hatred and Violence Against Israel in a Performance Held in a Kindergarten Sponsored by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, (December 31, 2017); available at //www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/educating-for-hatred-and-violence-against-israel-in-aperformance-held-in-a-kindergarten-sponsored-by-the-palestinian-islamic-jihad-pij/ (Accessed 22 Sep. 2019)
[6] Groiss, A. and Shaked, R. (2017). Schoolbooks of the Palestinian Authority (PA): The Attitude to the Jews, to Israel and to Peace. [online] Center for Near East Policy Research Available at: //israelbehindthenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Schoolbooks-PalestinianAuthority2017.pdf [Accessed 23 Sep. 19].
[7] P. 62 ff. (n6)
[8] ITV News, Inside the Hamas Summer Training Camp for Gaza Teens, (added on July 27, 2016); video available at: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD2FezhJgqA ; 4 Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Incitement to Terrorism and Hatred, (June 8, 2017); //www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/21218/
[9] Hamas’s new way of poisoning the minds of Palestinian Children, Gatestone Institute, 1 April 2016. //www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7804/palestinian-children-torture (Accessed 23 Sep. 19)
[10] Riley Clafton, At Summer Camp, Hamas Raises the Next Generation of Killers, The Tower (August 2016); available at: //www.thetower.org/article/at-summer-camp-hamas-raises-the-next-generation-of-killers/ (Accessed 23 Sep. 19)
[11] IDF Website, The Status of Children in Gaza; //www.idf.il/en/minisites/facts-and-figures/hamas/thestatus-of-children-in-gaza/ (Accessed 23. Sep 19).
[12] Lea Spyer, How Child Labor in the Terror Tunnels is Killing Palestinian Children, (July 27, 2014); available at: //www.breakingisraelnews.com/18992/child-labor-terror-tunnels-killing-palestinian-children/; Myer Freimann, Hamas Killed 160 Palestinian Children to Build Tunnels, (July 25, 2014); available at: //www.tabletmag.com/scroll/180400/hamas-killed-160-palestinian-children-to-build-terror-tunnels
[13] Retrieved from //www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/20511/
[14] Summer Camps in the Gaza Strip: A tool for indoctrinating the younger generation with radical ideologies and training them to become future operatives in the terrorist organizations, especially Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. (14 July 2019). The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre. Available at: //www.terrorism-info.org.il/app/uploads/2019/07/E_156_19.pdf [Accessed 26 Sep. 2019].
[15] Page 8 (n15)
[16] Ibid.
[17] As the “Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative” (//www.childsoldiers.org)
[18] As “The Save Children Fund” (//www.savethechildren.net)