The "Stone Children" Do Not Fear the Bullets of the "Oppression"

The daily newspaper Alhayat Al Jadida (Oct. 30, 2000) printed a story entitled "The Stone Children Do Not Fear the Bullets of the 'Oppression,"
which explains the eagerness with which Palestinian children participate in the clashes with Israel.

The following is a translation of the original Arabic article:

I wish to be photographed in a photo studio, because I have no pictures which will be published after I become a shahid. These were
the opening words of the ten-year-old child Muhamad, from the Alma'azi Palestinian refugee camp, as he awaits his turn to have his
picture taken with his friends, so that it will be published after he is killed and becomes a shahid.

This boy, as all Palestinian children, no longer fear death, and are not scared of the bullets of the oppression, and so at the end of
their school day they make their way to the Dir Akbakah junction, near the settlement of Kfar Darom, where from their mouths are
heard the cries of the nationalist slogans, and in their hands they carry Palestinian flags.

When the child Mahmud, who participates daily in the clashes against Israel, is asked why he carries his school bag, which may be
burdensome to his stone throwing, he puts down his bag and opens it, and the big surprise was that the bag was full of stones.
Mahmad smiled and said, "Now you understand?"

One boy, Mahmad's partner, pointed to his arm on which his name is written, and said, "I wrote my name on my arm so that I will
be identified after I become a martyr (shahid)."

The generals of the stones continue daily the parade of blood, and continue to become shahids, in order to protect the homeland and
the holy places. The bullets of the oppression hit hundreds of children and killed many children, most notably the shahid child
Muhamad Aldura. Do not pity them, as they are not taken into consideration. Because these children stand with their chests exposed
to the Israeli oppression machine, which kills them with premeditation, not because they pose a threat to Israeli lives, as Israel
claims, but because they are Palestinians.

The Motivation of Palestinian Children to Confront IDF Soldiers

The daily Palestinian newspaper Alhayat Al Jadida published on the 31st of October an article depicting the motivation of Palestinian
children to confront IDF soldiers.

Following is the translation of the article:

Death is better than life. That is the belief of 15-year-old Azam who waited patiently at the northern entrance to Elbira in order to
throw stones towards the soldiers of the occupation despite the wound he sustained on his left hand during confrontations last week.

Schoolchildren are eagerly waiting for school to end so they can go to the barren field of death where the snipers of death, who are
attracted to the scent of blood, await them.

Azam misses the school he left as a six-grader, especially when seeing schoolchildren making their way towards roadblocks, as
though searching for life amongst the death that floats in the air.

Azam says, "Ever since I left school I think about what will become of me in the future, but I cannot create a clear picture about my
future. I tried learning to be a locksmith, but I did not succeed."

Azam is the eldest of five brothers in a family residing in a small village west of Ramallah. His father's wages are less than 1,600 NIS
a week.

Azam is used to arriving at the northern entrance of Albira, as he has done for the past month, to participate in the confrontations
with the sources of the occupation. He sees it as a way of escaping the oppression and depravation he has come accustomed to. He
says, "Nothing matters to me anymore. For me life and death are the same thing."

Even though Azam left school early on, he learned how to confront the forces of the occupation, as well as the art of political
speeches. He says, "Al Quds (Jerusalem) should return to the Palestinians and the occupation should end. Then the future will be
better."

Azam loves watching war movies and he follows the events of the Intifada via television broadcasts at night. After he eats breakfast
he joins the field of confrontation. Azam notes that sometimes he comes to Ramallah by foot in order to participate in the marches,
demonstrations and confrontations with the forces of the occupation.

In the battlefield, Azam and his friends prepare to confront the soldiers of confrontation who threw nerve gas grenades towards
them, thereby forcing them to move away from the points of friction.

Contrary to the morning, when the entrance to Albira is relatively quite, youths arrive at noon to the field of confrontation where
they meet scholars, teachers, students and politicians who arrive there to support the youths in the confrontations with the forces of
the occupation. The confrontations worsen as the forces of the occupation begin to play their predator game in the barren field of
death and shoot their guns. In addition, the snipers of the occupation hide and take young souls.

Azam once again remembers his school when he comes across one of his teachers confronting soldiers of the occupation. He says, "I
may have stumbled onto him by mistake, but I learn from him once again though in a way different than in school."

The roles reverse during the confrontations as the student teaches the teacher the art of confrontation.

One of the teachers who participate in the confrontations religiously says that when he sees his students throwing stones and leading
the confrontations against the forces of the occupation, he cant help but join. Furthermore, he says that he threw stones along with
his students many times.

The teacher continues, stating that life is very hard and the only joint concern is that we stand as one in the face of the killing bullets
in the field of confrontation.

Lately, Western media has focused on the issue of children in the confrontations. They blame the parents for pushing their children
to participate in the confrontations in order to justify the killing of children by the forces of the occupation.

One of the chief political activists on the field of confrontation says, "The people who wonder why the children are on the field of
confrontation forget why the children are murdered in cold blood."

Azam returns home at the end of the day seriously thinking of becoming a professional in the mission of resisting the occupation, a
profession in which he seeks a better life between the moments of death.