Op-ed criticizes sending children to die against Israeli soldiers: “Our children are our national project for the future… Martyrdom-death for nothing is not heroism”
Excerpt of op-ed by Muwaffaq Matar, Fatah Revolutionary Council member and regular columnist for the official PA daily
Headline: "Treason against humanity and a crime against childhood!"
"Our children are our national project for the future. Playing with their lives is treason and a crime, equal to the crime of treason against the national enterprise… Therefore, the national leaders are facing a significant challenge: To put an end to the phenomenon of putting children into direct confrontations with the occupation soldiers. The people will not forgive any regular citizen or senior official who could have acted to prevent the occupation soldiers from implementing their sadism against our children’s heads, chests, throats, knees, legs, and eyes but did not…
Escorting Palestinian children to the sites of confrontation with the occupation, allowing them to reach them, or transporting them to these dangerous sites must be viewed as indirect assistance to the crime against humanity that the soldiers and officers in the occupation army are committing with unprecedented sadism… The protection of our children is a moral, human, and national obligation, which must not disappear from the consciences of those responsible for organizing the demonstrations, activities, and confrontations with the occupation forces…
Martyrdom-death (Shahada) for nothing is not heroism."
Headline: "Treason against humanity and a crime against childhood!"
"Our children are our national project for the future. Playing with their lives is treason and a crime, equal to the crime of treason against the national enterprise… Therefore, the national leaders are facing a significant challenge: To put an end to the phenomenon of putting children into direct confrontations with the occupation soldiers. The people will not forgive any regular citizen or senior official who could have acted to prevent the occupation soldiers from implementing their sadism against our children’s heads, chests, throats, knees, legs, and eyes but did not…
Escorting Palestinian children to the sites of confrontation with the occupation, allowing them to reach them, or transporting them to these dangerous sites must be viewed as indirect assistance to the crime against humanity that the soldiers and officers in the occupation army are committing with unprecedented sadism… The protection of our children is a moral, human, and national obligation, which must not disappear from the consciences of those responsible for organizing the demonstrations, activities, and confrontations with the occupation forces…
Martyrdom-death (Shahada) for nothing is not heroism."