[Christian Science Monitor] Dan Murphy - It is the Hamas movement's youth focus that sets it apart from Fatah. The basic unit of the Hamas organization isn't cells or political committees - it's families. Hamas has shown that by introducing children early enough to its hard-line Islamic thinking, it can recruit lifelong supporters. Hamas is sending tens of thousands of poor Gazan children to camp this summer where they can enjoy sun, surf, and paramilitary training. In one Gaza City camp, boys practiced field drills with wooden pistols and crawled under barbed wire while being harangued by an adult drill instructor. Teenage boys undergo a tougher regimen that includes hand-to-hand combat and exhausting exercise. Boys that break discipline are sometimes beaten with sticks.
2007-08-21 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive