Love of the Land: Hamas kids’ TV: “We all wish for Shahada”

Hamas kids’ TV: “We all wish for Shahada”

Itamar Marcus/Barbara Crook
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW)
25 January '10

A Hamas TV program for children is once again promoting Shahada - Martyrdom for Allah - as a positive goal for kids.

In the most recent episode of the show Tomorrow's Pioneers, the child host asks a 10-year-old girl who phones into the program whether she had been afraid of dying during the 2009 Gaza War.

"No, I wasn't afraid," the little girl says. "I wished for Shahada (Martyrdom) - Shahada for Allah."

The host is effusive in her praise that "even this little girl" dreams of Shahada, and adds, "We all wish for this."

The exchange is more than just another example of Hamas's continued promotion of Shahada for children. The young caller's response also proves the success of years of propaganda by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (Fatah) to indoctrinate children to aspire to Martyrdom for Allah, and to believe that seeking death is a greater value than seeking life.



To see more examples from PMW's website about the promotion of Shahada, click here.
For more examples of the success of this strategy, click here.

Following is the transcript of the excerpt from the TV show:

Host to girl on phone: "How was it for you during the [Gaza] war [2009]? Were you afraid that you would die, that you would leave this world?"
Girl: "No. I wasn't afraid. I wished for Shahada (Martyrdom) -- Shahada for Allah."
Host: "How wonderful. Even this little girl - how old are you?"
Girl: "Ten."
Host: "[She] is not more than ten years old, and wants to die as a Shahida (Martyr) for Allah. We all wish for this [Shahada]."

[Al-Aqsa (Hamas) TV, Jan. 22, 2010

Love of the Land: Hamas kids’ TV: “We all wish for Shahada”