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NGOs Call to End Use of Palestinian Child Soldiers
(Jerusalem Post) Donna Rachel Edmunds - On Feb. 18-21, the Coalition to Save Palestinian Child Soldiers is holding a Solidarity Week, urging the public to sign a letter condemning the use of Palestinian children as soldiers. The letter states that Palestinian children "have fulfilled the role of combatants, human shields, rioters, laborers, support staff, and even as suicide bombers, and as a result, their childhoods have been shortened by death, severe injury, or imprisonment." Unwillingness to address the issue "has emboldened organizations such as Hamas, Fatah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and PFLP in their exploitation of children as war resources. These organizations expose them to inciteful and violent children's shows, and flood social media with calls for jihad and terrorism. When the children are older they're sent out to partake in violent riots and to act as human shields." An estimated 10,000 children are trained in Gazan terrorist camps each year, while at least 160 have died digging terror tunnels into Israel.