The PA summer camps for terror and Martyrdom
• PA summer camps teach teens to admire terrorist murderers
• Kids in PA summer camps taught to see terrorists as “moons” and “stars” and “the elite”
• 16 PA summer camps named after terrorists teach kids “their obligations towards the cause”
• Children taught to envision themselves as “Martyrs”
• Kids taught that Israel kills Palestinians randomly –
PA summer camp skit: "Israelis" attack Palestinian kneeling in prayer
• Murderers are presented to kids as role models in PA summer camps – including suicide bomber who murdered 6
The main theme of the PA’s summer camps this year was presenting terrorists and Martyrs as role models for Palestinian children.
Summarizing the overall message of the camps, senior PA and Fatah official Jibril Rajoub, who is also the head of the PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports that ran the camps, stressed that dead terrorists are “moons,” “stars,” and “the elite.” They are “heroes” who are “recorded in our hearts,” he said, adding that it is crucial that they “remain in our memories” and that they are “honored.” Rajoub stressed that the purpose of the camps are in line with the “Palestinian national ideology to ensure the awareness of these children who are the builders of the future.” In other words: The camps are a teaching tool for the PA through which the PA leaders make sure their ideology and values – that terrorists are heroes and role models – continue to live on in the next generation:
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “We established 648 [summer] camps in which 65,000 male and female [child] pioneers participated... These camps were established… on the principle of the Palestinian national ideology to ensure the awareness of these children who are the builders of the future… An additional [camp] topic connected to the shared slogan of these [Martyr] heroes, whose bodies are being held by these new Nazi fascists (i.e., Israelis)... We say to them [Israelis]: They [the Martyrs] are moons, they are stars, they are the elite, and they are the ones who sacrificed their lives. They were and will remain in our memories and in the memory of their children and their grandchildren... These [Martyrs] are recorded in our hearts.”
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page,
July 23, 2023]
Accordingly, the slogan the PA chose this year for all the summer camps was “Moons and Not Numbers,” with the goal to teach 65.000 teens aged 13-17 to admire terrorists. Palestinian Media Watch has exposed that the PA glorifies terrorist “Martyrs” as “moons.” “Not numbers” refers to Israel temporarily burying dead terrorists in numbered cemeteries until the bodies are transferred to the PA at a later date.
The following are examples of how the PA instilled in 65,000 teens this summer the belief that terrorists who attack Israelis – including those who succeed in murdering their victims – are heroes to be admired.
Kids in PA summer camps taught to identify with and see terrorists as “moons”
Text on screen: “Who are you, pioneer?”
Girl: “My sister is Martyr Mai Afaneh (i.e., terrorist).”
Boy 1: “My friend is heroic Martyr Fayez Damdoum (i.e., terrorist).”
Boy 2: “I am the friend of Martyr Fayez Damdoum, who died as a Martyr on Oct. 1, 2022.”
Boy 3: “Martyr Yamen Jaffal and Martyr Nassim Abu Roumi (i.e., terrorists) are my friends.”
Text on screen: “And who are our Martyrs?”
The children repeat the same line one after the other:
Children: “Our Martyrs are moons and not numbers”
[PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Facebook page, July 17, 2023]
16 PA summer camps named after terrorists teach kids “their obligations towards the cause”
Qalqilya District Governor Rafe’ Rawajbeh: “The [summer] camps are establishing a generation that is aware and young people who internalize their cause… what the Palestinian cause is… and what the obligations of this generation are towards this cause, towards the liberation, independence, and establishment of our independent Palestinian state.”
Official PA TV reporter: “Sixteen [summer] camps throughout the district, all of them bearing the names of Martyrs, with a message expressing loyalty to this section [of society] that has sacrificed and watered the land of the homeland with its blood, for freedom and liberation from the occupation.”
Text on sign: “Martyr Daoud Zubeidi group, May 15, 2022
(i.e., terroristand date he was killed)”[Official PA TV News, July 16, 2023]
Children taught to envisionthemselves as “Martyrs” in PA summer camps
In the following video, children participating in PA summer camps in the Gaza Strip are taught to honor past terrorist “Martyrs” and to envision themselves as “Martyrs.” In a procession, children held signs that read: “I am Martyr number,” followed by a different number for each child. Moreover, the PA chose to name a sports event after a terrorist who was involved in the murder of 7 Israelis:
PA summer camp sports instruction board member Mirfat Al-Baitar: “We came to participate in launching the summer camps named ‘Moons and Not Numbers,’ which are dedicated to the Martyrs’ bodies that are being held by the Israeli occupation. For the sports event we picked the name of Nasser Abu Hmeid (i.e., terrorist, responsible for murder of 7), because he is the latest Martyr of medical neglect in the occupation’s prisons, and his body is still being held by the occupation.”
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, July 15, 2023]
PA summer camp skit: "Israelis" attack Palestinian kneeling in prayer
This video shows children participating in a play during their summer camp. Some of the children play the role of Israeli soldiers with rifles who attack a Palestinian kneeling in prayer. This shows that Palestinian children continue to be taught that Israelis will attack them randomly and kill them in cold blood. PMW has exposed that this message is actively taught by the PA. In addition, the video exposes that Palestinian children are taught that terrorist murderers are heroes and should be glorified and admired:
Girl 1: “In your opinion, what are we learning in our summer camps?” …
Girl 2: “In the national education corner, we get to know our land’s prisoners, its history, and its holy sites. The most important thing is that you remember that our Martyrs are moons and not numbers.”
Summer camp participants enact a play in which “Israeli soldiers” with “guns” attack a Palestinian kneeling in prayer.
Children hold signs with the names of terrorist “Martyrs” written on them, including 2 murderers:
“Martyr Baha Al-Awawdeh” (i.e., terrorist)
“Martyr Omar Abu Laila” (i.e., terrorist who murdered 2)
“Martyr Muhammad Al-Faqih” (i.e., terrorist who murdered 1)
[PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Facebook page, July 12, 2023]
Omar Abu Laila – one of the two terrorist murderers presented to kids as heroes in this camp – has been the focus of camps before. PMW exposed that Fatah nameda military camp for high school boys after him. When 19-year-old Abu Laila stabbed two Israelis to death in 2019, the PA and Fatah turned him from an unknown teenager into a Palestinian symbol
A play at another camp also included children holding toy guns:
Posted text: “The hours of joy and creativity continue and are crowned with the talents of our children at the [PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports] children’s summer camp ‘Moons and Not Numbers’”
[Khirbet Al-Adas Youth Center, Facebook page, July 20, 2023]
PMW has exposed similar activities in summer camps in the past, including children posing with automatic rifles to get their picture taken.
Mass murderer of children honored in summer camps
One of the most prominent Palestinian “heroes” of all times, Dalal Mughrabi – who led the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history in which she and other terrorists hijacked a bus and murdered 37 Israelis, 12 of them children– was also honored in the PA summer camps.
The photo below shows an art display at a summer camp featuring several pictures of terrorists. The picture to the left is of terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi. The others are of Uday Al-Tamimi, who murdered 1, and of Wadi’ Al-Houh, Abdallah Abu Al-Tin, and Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi, who all shot at Israeli soldiers. There are two signs on the left side, one of which reads “Jasmine neighborhood group,” while the other reads “Martyr Uday Al-Tamimi group.”
Posted text: “The joy does not decrease for even a moment from the faces of the pioneers of Bethlehem during the National Day activities
#Pioneers’_summer_camps_2023
#Moons_and_Not_Numbers”
[PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Facebook page, July 15, 2023]
The photo shows a group of children holding Palestinian flags. One child in the middle is holding a picture of terrorist Dalal Mughrabi.
The photo shows a boy holding part of the art display in the first photo, in which the pictures of terrorists Uday Al-Tamimi, Abdallah Abu Al-Tin, and Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi are visible.
Terrorist murderer Mughrabi’s status as a role model for Palestinian society in general and for kids in particular was stressed in several camps, as seen in the picture below in which a boy is holding a model of the Dome of the Rock. On the wall behind him are several pictures, including pictures of terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi and terrorist Fatima Barnawi, who placed a bomb in a movie theater.
Posted text: “The flowers of the Gaza Strip glow in the [PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports] summer camp program”
[PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Facebook page, July 20, 2023]
Terrorist Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi was also the subject of another PA summer camp. The picture below shows children participating in one of the PA summer camps. On the whiteboard in the background is written “Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi.”
Posted text: “The [PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports] summer camps’ activities continue in the Nablus and Tubas districts”
[PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Facebook page, July 12, 2023]
Another murderer who Palestinian kids are taught to admire is suicide bomber Andalib Takatka, who murdered 6 and wounded more than 80 in her bombing of a bus in the heart of Jerusalem in 2002. Below, some very young kids are holding a framed photo of her:
Posted text: “Who is like the Martyr, for his virtues are lofty. This is his call to Heaven: Listen to it.
#Pictures… of the Martyrs’ relatives from the Bethlehem district
#Moons_and_Not_Numbers”
[PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Facebook page, July 18, 2023]
Other family members of Takatka, who were also involved in the terror attack, were also honored at the summer camp.
A central part of the PA summer camps seems to have been to teach the participating children about individual terrorists. In this video two girls explain that they were taught “the names of Martyrs” – i.e., dead terrorists:
Children: “At the [summer] camp we learned names of Martyrs, including Muhammad Al-Azizi ‘Abu Saleh’ (i.e., terrorist). Izz Al-Din Salahat (i.e., terrorist) died in 2022 as a Martyr.”
[PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Facebook page, July 17, 2023]
At other camps, children were holding signs with names of terrorists as an act of identification with them. The picture below shows a child holding a sign bearing the text “Martyr Muhammad Al-Faqih,” a terrorist who murdered 1 together with an accomplice:
The following picture shows a child holding a sign bearing the text “Baha Al-Awawdeh,” a terrorist who wounded an Israeli soldier in a car ramming attack:
A teacher stands in front of a whiteboard in the picture below. Her head is partially blocking text on the board, which reads: “the L---- Den,” with the dashes indicating the part of the text that is blocked. Evidently the text reads “the Lion’s Den,” an independent Palestinian terror cell, responsible for many attacks:
Posted text: “We don’t know which picture to start the album of the pioneers of Hebron and Bethlehem with, because all the faces are amazing
#Moons_and_Not_Numbers
#2023_summer_camps”
[PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Facebook page, July 12, 2023]
Part of a creative event at one summer camp was to enter names of terrorists into a self-made table, including that of a murderer of 7:
The picture shows a table made of red string attached to a piece of paper with names written in the boxes, including the names of Khader Adnan, an Islamic Jihad terrorist who killed himself in a hunger strike in prison; former PLO and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat; terrorist Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi, who shot at Israeli soldiers; terrorist Khairy Alqam, who murdered 7; and terrorist Zafer Al-Rimawi, who was killed while participating in violent confrontations with Israeli soldiers north of Ramallah on Nov. 29, 2022.
It seems each camp picked out specific terrorists to teach the children about. In the background of the boys in the photo below are drawings of terrorists with their names, including terrorist Khairy Alqam, who murdered 7; terrorist Uday Al-Tamimi, who murdered 1; and Ramzi Abu Yabes, who wounded 3. In the second photo, the drawing in the background bears the name of terrorist Uday Al-Tamimi:
Text on drawing: “Moons and Not Numbers
Uday Al-Tamimi”
Posted text: “With the start of a new day’s morning, we will draw energy of joy and vitality from the faces of our pioneers in Bethlehem
#2023_summer_camps
#Moons_and_Not_Numbers”
[PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Facebook page,
July 13, 2023]
In other camps, children posed with posters featuring armed Islamic Jihad terrorists who were killed:
Or, as here below, posed with pictures of armed men:
The girl in the black shirt in the center is holding a picture of a man with an assault rifle, and her shirt features a picture of a man holding an assault rifle.[PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Facebook page, July 24, 2023]
The summer campers were also specifically taught about Israel’s numbered cemeteries where dead terrorists are buried temporarily, and children in at least one camp created a model of such a cemetery:
The pictures show a display at a PA summer camp. On the right is a cardboard box with a sign on it.
Text on sign: “The numbered cemetery (i.e., Israeli cemeteries for temporary burial of terrorists)”
On the left is a model of a cemetery with numbers written above the graves.
Text on model: “Closed Israeli area”
Posted text: “Little moons call the names of moons that the occupier attempted to turn into just numbers
#The_summer_camps_of_the_pioneers
#Moons_and_Not_Numbers”
[PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Facebook page, July 10, 2023]
The children were also taught that Israel’s temporary burial of terroists who attacked Israelis is “a war crime”:
Text on sign: “Holding the Martyrs’ bodies is a war crime”
Text on blue sign on left: “Holding the Martyrs’ bodies: An international crime”
Text on sign: “Our duty towards our Martyrs is to bury them in dignity”
[PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Facebook page, July 16, 2023]
The following is additional information about the specific terrorists Palestinian kids are taught to admire in the above summer camp videos and posts, and longer excerpts of the statements cited:
Mai Afaneh – 28-year-old Palestinian terrorist who lightly wounded 1 Israeli soldier during a car ramming and stabbing attack targeting soldiers at a construction site near Hizme north of Jerusalem on June 16, 2021. The soldiers shot and killed her in self-defense.
Fayez Damdoum - 17-year-old Palestinian terrorist who attempted to throw Molotov cocktails at Israeli security forces during violent riots in Al-Eizariya, near Jerusalem, on Oct. 1, 2022. The forces shot and killed Damdoum in self-defense.
Yamen Jaffal – 16-year-old Palestinian terrorist who threw Molotov cocktails at an Israeli military post near Abu Dis on March 6, 2022; Israeli soldiers at the post shot and killed him in self-defense.
Nassim Abu Roumi and Hamouda Al-Sheikh – 14-year-old Palestinian terrorists who stabbed and wounded an Israeli police officer at the Chain Gate of the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem on Aug. 15, 2019. Abu Roumi and Al-Sheikh were shot and killed during the attack; a Waqf guard bystander was wounded by the gunfire.
Daoud Zubeidi – Palestinian terrorist and member of the PA Security Forces who shot at Israeli soldiers in Jenin on May 13, 2022. Israeli Police officer Noam Raz was murdered in the attack. Zubeidi was wounded in the exchange of fire and died of his wounds two days later.
Um Nasser Abu Hmeid (Um Yusuf Abu Hmeid/Latifa Abu Hmeid) – Palestinian woman famous and admired in the PA for being the mother of 5 terrorist prisoners serving life sentences (4 of them serving multiple life sentences), and another whom the PA refers to as a "Martyr." Abu Hmeid is also called Khansa of Palestine, which refers to Al-Khansa from the earliest period of Islam who sent her four sons to battle and rejoiced when they all died as Martyrs. Abu Hmeid was honored by the PA in 2010 and 2015, and was chosen in 2011 to launch the PA’s statehood campaign with the UN. Her terrorist sons: Islam Yusuf Abu Hmeid, murdered 1 on May 24, 2018, and is serving life in prison and an additional 8 months; Muhammad Abu Hmeid, serving 2 life sentences and 30 years for involvement in terror attacks; Nasser Abu Hmeid, serving 7 life sentences and 50 years for murdering 7 Israeli civilians and 12 attempted murders; Nasr Abu Hmeid, serving 5 life sentences for involvement in two terror attacks in which 4 were murdered, and arms dealing; Sharif Abu Hmeid, serving 4 life sentences for involvement in terror attacks in which 4 were murdered; Abd Al-Mun'im Muhammad Yusuf Naji Abu Hmeid, murdered 1 on Feb. 13, 1994, and was killed by Israel on May 31, 1994.
Libel on medical abuse of Palestinian prisoners - The PA claims that Israel abuses Palestinian prisoners through medical neglect, medical experiments, and by intentionally infecting them with diseases. However, the International Red Cross regularly visits these prisoners and has not documented or accused Israel of any of these claims. Likewise, lists of demands occasionally issued by the prisoners during hunger strikes—such as during one in 2011—include no demands relating to these claims. PMW has documented prisoners talking about how they "lack nothing" in the prisons and that "the worst thing about Israeli prison" is riding in a prison vehicle that has no padding on the seat. When PMW contacted the Israeli Ministry of Health in 2007 regarding PA claims of medical experiments on prisoners, the ministry responded: "Clinical testing on prisoners in prison was never approved, never performed, and is most certainly not taking place at present."
Baha Al-Awawdeh – 19-year-old Palestinian terrorist who wounded Druze Israeli soldier Shadi Ibrahim, 20, in a car ramming attack near Negohot west of Hebron on May 14, 2020. Israeli soldiers at the scene shot and killed Al-Awawdeh, thereby ending his attack.
Omar Abu Laila – 19-year-old Palestinian terrorist who stabbed and murdered Israeli soldier Gal Keidan, and shot and murdered Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, a father of 12, at Ariel Junction on March 17, 2019. Abu Laila was killed on March 19, 2019, during an exchange of gunfire with Israeli soldiers who attempted to arrest him.
Muhammad Al-Faqih - 29-year-old Palestinian terrorist and Hamas member who had previously been imprisoned for planning terror attacks when affiliated with the Islamic Jihad. Together with Muhammad Amaireh, a Palestinian terrorist and a member of the PA police force, Al-Faqih murdered Rabbi Michael Mark, a 48-year-old father of ten, in a shooting attack on July 1, 2016 on Route 60 in the southern Har Hebron region. Al-Faqih opened fire on the Mark family's car causing the vehicle to overturn and crash. Amaireh was driving the car from which Al-Faqih shot at them. Rabbi Mark’s wife Chava, 40, was also seriously wounded in the attack, and two of their children were injured – their daughter Tehila, 15, and their son Pedayah, 16. Al-Faqih and Amaireh fled the scene, but were located by the Israeli army on July 27, 2016. Al-Faqih was killed when he shot at Israeli soldiers who came to arrest him. Amaireh is serving 2 life sentences and was also ordered to pay the family 250,000 in compensation.
Dalal Mughrabi – female Palestinian terrorist who led the attack that (until Oct. 7, 2023) was the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history, known as the Coastal Road massacre, in 1978, when she and other Fatah terrorists hijacked a bus on Israel's Coastal Highway, murdering 37 civilians, 12 of them children, and wounding over 70. In text note: (i.e., terrorist who led murder of 37, 12 of them children)
Uday Al-Tamimi - 22-year-old Palestinian terrorist who shot and murdered 18-year-old female Israeli soldier Sgt. Noa Lazar and wounded an Israeli security guard at the Shuafat checkpoint in northern Jerusalem on Oct. 8, 2022. Al-Tamimi managed to escape and later shot and wounded an Israeli security guard at the entrance to Ma’ale Adumim east of Jerusalem on Oct. 19, 2022, before other guards at the scene shot and killed him.
Fatima Barnawi – Palestinian female terrorist who placed a bomb in a movie theater in Jerusalem in 1967. The bomb failed to explode. She was sentenced to life in prison but was released in 1977 after serving 10 years. Following the 1993 Oslo Accords, Barnawi was tasked with establishing the PA women's police force. In 2015, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas honored Barnawi with the Military Star of Honor. Barnawi died on Nov. 3, 2022.
Wadi’ Al-Houh, Ali Antar, Hamdi Qayyim, Mash’al Baghdadi, Hamdi Sharaf – The “confrontation” refers to Palestinian terrorists and members of the independent terror cell “the Lion’s Den” who shot at Israeli soldiers when they raided and destroyed a headquarters and weapons and explosives laboratory of the cell in Nablus on Oct. 25, 2022. During the raid, PA Security Forces shot at the Israeli soldiers, who returned fire in self-defense wounding several members of the PA Security Forces. The soldiers also came under fire from members of the terror cell and returned fire, killing 5 terrorists: Wadi’ Al-Houh, Ali Antar, Hamdi Qayyim, Mash’al Baghdadi, Hamdi Sharaf. Al-Houh was a senior member of “the Lion’s Den.”.
Dr. Abdallah Al-Ahmed Abu Al-Tin and Matin Dabaya – Palestinian terrorists and Fatah members who were killed during a gun battle with Israeli forces in Jenin on Oct. 14, 2022. Dabaya shot at the Israeli soldiers who shot and killed him in self-defense. Despite PA claims that he was shot while treating the wounded, Al-Tin also apparently shot at the soldiers before being killed in self-defense, given that he was found masked and holding a weapon. Al-Tin also had a documented past of involvement in terror, and Fatah Jenin Secretary Ata Abu Rmeileh stated that he died while “fighting shoulder to shoulder with the resistance members.” The Israeli soldiers were in Jenin to arrest 24-year-old Hamas terrorist Diya Salameh, who was involved in recent shooting attacks.
Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi – Palestinian terrorist and member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (Fatah’s military wing) who was responsible for a series of shooting attacks targeting Israeli soldiers. Al-Nabulsi resisted arrest and shot at Israeli soldiers who returned fire and killed him in Nablus on Aug. 9, 2022. Al-Nabulsi was a member of a Fatah terror cell that was attacked while planning an imminent attack on Feb. 8, 2022; while Al-Nabulsi escaped, three other members of the cell were shot and killed: Adham Mabrouka Al-Shishani, Muhammad Al-Dakhil, and Ashraf Mubaslat.
Andalib Khalil Muhammad Suleiman or Andalib Takatka – Female suicide bomber from Fatah who carried out a suicide bombing attack on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem near the Mahane Yehuda outdoor market on April 12, 2002, murdering 6 and wounding more than 80.
The Lion's Den - an independent Palestinian terror cell largely based in Nablus. It has not stated an official affiliation and its members come from a variety of terror organizations, including Fatah's military wing the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. The Lion's Den was responsible for numerous shooting attacks mainly in the West Bank beginning in 2022, with an uptick in shootings during September-October 2022. Two of the main founders of the cell were Fatah terrorists Muhammad Al-Azizi and Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi, both killed in shootouts with Israeli forces on July 24, 2022 and Aug. 9, 2022 respectively.
Izz Al-Din Salahat – Palestinian terrorist, PA police officer, and member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (Fatah’s military wing) who shot at Israeli soldiers during a gun battle in the Jenin refugee camp on Jan. 26, 2023. The soldiers returned fire, killing Salahat. The soldiers were in Jenin to arrest a senior Islamic Jihad terrorist and prevent an imminent terror attack. Salahat’s father is a colonel in the PA Presidential Guard.
Khairy Alqam - 21-year-old Arab terrorist and resident of Jerusalem who shot and murdered 6 Israelis and 1 Ukrainian national - Asher Natan, 14, Ilya Sosansky, 26, Natali Ziskin Mizrahi, 45, Eli Mizrahi, 48, Rafael Ben Eliyahu, 56, Irina Korolyova, 60, and Shaul Chai, 68 - and wounded 5 others outside of the Ateret Avraham Synagogue in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Neve Yaakov on Sabbath eve, Jan. 27, 2023, as some of them were coming out from prayers in the synagogue. Alqam fled the scene in a car and then opened fire on Israeli police officers, who shot and killed him. The attack took place on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Ramzi Adnan Abu Yabes – Palestinian terrorist who rammed his car into Israeli soldiers near Hebron on Nov. 26, 2018, wounding 3. Other soldiers shot and killed him at the scene.
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “There is another topic that is connected to these [PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports] summer camps. I tell you, over the years that have passed the fields of sports and youth, the field of the Olympics, and the field of the scouts have constituted a factor of unity for all the Palestinians. We constitute an umbrella for all the Palestinians in the homeland and the diaspora. We have a duty to defend this message and to protect this very national mission. Regarding these summer camps, under these difficult conditions, under the suffocating siege that is being imposed on us, under our modest capabilities, and under our difficult conditions, we established 648 [summer] camps in which 65,000 male and female [child] pioneers participated and [also] approximately 5,000 activists, with hundreds of supervisors and spokespeople, and the help of the components of Palestinian society, whether official components or unofficial ones. I thank everyone who participated and everyone who contributed to the success of these camps, which were established and will continue to exist on the principle of the Palestinian national ideology to ensure the awareness of these children who are the builders of the future, [on the path of] Palestine, love of Palestine, and love of all the Palestinians, not on hating Fatah or loving Hamas and loving the Popular [Front for the Liberation of Palestine] (PFLP) and hating the Democratic Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] (DFLP). We are Palestinians and our national faith is Palestinian…
An additional [camp] topic connected to the shared slogan of these [Martyr] heroes, whose bodies are being held by these new Nazi fascists (i.e., Israelis), one of them for 30 years and one of them for 40 years. We say to them [Israelis], they are moons, they are stars, they are the elite, and they are the ones who sacrificed their lives. They were and will remain in our memories and in the memory of their children and their children’s children, and what is happening is a mark of disgrace on the forehead of this occupation and the forehead of those who defend this occupation. These [Martyrs] are recorded on our hearts, and therefore we raised the slogan that I think has a national significance, for the families of these heroes and also for this enemy and for this world, because our minds will not rest, neither us nor their families, until we stand by our right to honor them with what is fitting for them and to bury them. They will remain in our hearts until this is achieved.”
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, July 23, 2023]
The slogan for the PA summer camps in 2023 was “Moons and Not Numbers” and is a reference to Palestinian terrorist “Martyrs” who were killed during their attacks. The PA and Fatah praise them as “moons.” “Not numbers” refers to Israel burying dead terrorists in numbered graves:
The Cemeteries for Enemy Casualties (numbered cemeteries) are two burial sites maintained by the Israeli army for burying the bodies of enemy soldiers during wartime as well as terrorists. They are fenced and well-marked. Graves have markers instead of gravestones. Burial is temporary, as the bodies are eventually returned to their countries of origin. No ceremony is held. The bodies are buried in numbered caskets after their identities are documented.
Jibril Rajoub also serves as Chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee, and Chairman of the Palestinian Scout Association (PSA).