No to the siege: Hamas summer camps teach children to face their fears

July 12, 2006

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Beatriz Lecumberri

RAFAH, Gaza Strip: A hundred boys march military style to the orders of "Forward, One, Two, Three" in the southern Gaza Strip. Under the full glare of an Israeli offensive, Hamas summer camps are teaching children to battle their fears.

"We are strong, Allah, Allah, Allah!" shout back the children in unison, marching around a mosque in the Gaza town of Rafah, sporting green baseball caps and white T-shirts emblazed with the words "No to the siege."

For a week, scores of boys aged between seven and 12 learn how to pray, exercise, go on excursion and apply the basics of civil education to their young lives.

"It's not just coaching. We're not molding suicide bombers. It's simply a way to make them forget the violence and help them feel better," says Mohammad, a religious cleric and one of the instructors overseeing the camp.

The Palestinian Authority has cancelled all the camps it organizes in the Gaza Strip citing lack of money and security.

Hamas, however, says funds for its camps come from Palestinian donors and contributions from children's families.

The camps, once organized on beaches in the Mediterranean coastal strip are now taking place in mosques since eight civilians were killed in an explosion on a Gaza beach on June 8. Palestinians and international investigators blamed the deaths on Israeli ordinance, although the military has officially denied any involvement. Palestinians and international investigators blamed the deaths on Israeli ordinance, although the military has officially denied any involvement.

"The mosques are the only safe place in all the Gaza Strip. Schools are targets of Israeli fire and beaches exposed to air raids," charges Saad Odwan, one of the instructors on the Hamas summer camp in Rafah.

But even in the cool confines of the mosque, children are fearful. "They are frightened because we hear firing all day. They were the first not to want to go to the beach because they saw pictures of the family killed in the attack," he explains.

"The big problem is to find ways to keep the children occupied when there is no electricity. We can't even use computers to play at the moment," complains Odwan.

Sitting around Mohammad, one group of children listen attentively to the teachings of the Koran. In another room, children are being taught judo.

For several days, 8-year-old Iyad Abdel-Jawad has been unable to sleep, frightened by helicopter fire and missiles during a two-week nightly Israeli offensive over the Gaza Strip.

"I prefer it here to playing in the street," he says. "When we grow up, we will attack and kill the Israelis," he adds, his voice suddenly serious.

"The Israelis come to kill us and destroy our homes," says 7-year-old Abdullah Hamed.

But 11-year-old Mohammad Sobeh sees the need for clarification. "But if they change one day and start to think that the Muslims we are good people, then we will be peaceful with them," he says.

"Here, we're not teaching young fighters. We only want children not to keep roaming in the streets where they are exposed to danger during the summer holidays," says Mohammad the cleric.