(San Francisco Chronicle) Matthew B. Stannard - Prime Minister Sharon's spokesman, Ra'anan Gissin, described Hamas summer camps as "indoctrination camps" comparable to the Hitler Youth camps, and accused Hamas of taking advantage of Gaza parents' desperate economic straits by offering to care for and feed their children while concealing the organization's true motives. "This is where you create cultural hatred, so by the age of 15 or 16 you can send them out as suicide bombers. That's the whole purpose of them," he said. At one camp, a group of younger children - most between 10 and 12 - sat in a circle singing one of the "intifada songs" they learn at camp: "We want revenge....If it will take a thousand martyrs....Kill Zionists.... Wherever they are....In the name of God....Hamas!" Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said in a recent interview that the group will continue to attack Jewish settlements in the West Bank and that he remains devoted to the elimination of the State of Israel altogether.
2005-08-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive