(Telegraph-UK) Phoebe Greenwood - Palestinian schoolboys are learning how to fire Kalashnikovs, throw grenades and plant improvised explosive devices as part of a program run by Hamas' education ministry. Hamas authorities introduced the "Futuwwa," or youth program, into the state curriculum last September for 37,000 Palestinian boys aged between 15 and 17, to initiate a new generation of Palestinian men in the struggle against Israel. Izzadine Mohamed, 17, attended the weekly school classes and signed up for an optional two-week camp held at a Hamas military base. "I was excited to learn the right way to use a weapon," he said. A YouTube video posted on April 5 shows a mock Israeli military post erected in a school playground, where Palestinian militants enact a battle during which an Israeli soldier is killed and another captured. A shoulder-held rocket launcher is then fired at the military post, leaving only a smoking metal frame.
2013-04-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive