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July 5, 2002
An education to die from
Panelists' comments spur a tirade from the audience.
PAT JOHNSON REPORTER
In a commercial broadcast on Palestinian Authority-controlled television,
a child drops a toy truck and picks up a stone as the voice-over
urges young Palestinians to put aside childish things.
"The time for toys is over," the voice says in Arabic.
"Don't fear death.... Seek it out.... Martyrdom is sweet."
This is an example of murderous propaganda that is forging a generation
of Palestinian suicide bombers, according to speakers at a presentation
in Vancouver last week.
The TV commercial was part of a short documentary film screened
at a panel presentation titled Creating Peace One Letter at a Time:
Teaching Children Hate as an Impediment to Peace. It took place
at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver June 26 and was co-sponsored
by the church's social action committee and by Canadian Jewish Congress.
It was clear, however, that some members of the sponsoring church
were not in agreement with the tenor of the meeting. Audience members
complained that the two-member panel did not represent the Palestinian
side.
The two speakers were Dr. Michael Elterman, a clinical psychologist
and co-chair of the Israel Action Committee of the Lower Mainland,
and Dr. Sally Rogow, professor emeritus in the faculty of education
at the University of British Columbia.
The film that was featured included a range of clips from Palestinian
TV, including a Sesame Street-style program in which children
profess their desire to kill Zionists.
"For me, life has little value because I am returning to my
Lord and my people will know that I am a hero," bellowed a
girl who appeared to be about six.
Other scenes show pre-teens at a summer camp enacting terror attacks
with fake guns. The documentary reports that one study indicated
that 50 per cent of Palestinian children would like to be suicide
bombers.
One segment tells children in Arabic that heaven is filled with
Ferris wheels.
Elterman described these propaganda tools as an "intentional
and systematic method of bringing children into the conflict."
He and co-panelist Rogow characterized the indoctrination of young
people as child abuse.
Elterman explained a psychological theory known as pseudo-speciation,
in which one group of people are systematically depicted as sufficiently
different as to be viewed as less than human. It was the process
used by the Nazis, who depicted Jews in propaganda films as rats
and other undesirable species. It was similarly appropriated under
the apartheid regime in South Africa to maintain separation of whites
and blacks. Elterman cited the propaganda examples in the film as
models of pseudo-speciation, in which Palestinian children are raised
to think that Jews are worthy of killing.
Elterman warned that the scheme, clearly endorsed by Yasser Arafat,
who was seen congratulating a child who had just recited a murderous
tirade and referring to children as "our new generals,"
would eventually backfire on the Palestinian leadership because
hatred is a genie not easily returned to its bottle.
"Right now it is a ticking time bomb for Israel," said
Elterman. "In the long term, it will be a ticking time bomb
for Palestinian society."
Elterman spurred a tirade of outrage from some members of the audience
when he said that Palestinian Arabs do not share the sanctity of
life that the Jewish religion teaches.
"This is hate," yelled one man, leaving the premises as
two police officers stood by.
"This is libelous to the Palestinians," shouted another.
Rogow shared with the audience aspects of the curriculum for Palestinian
high school teachers. Among the expected learning outcomes are that
"Pupils will understand why the nations of the world hate Jews";
"Pupils will find the link between imperialist interests and
Zionist interests"; and "Pupils will compare the principles
of fascism and Nazism with those of Zionism."
Rogow offered one of the few encouraging observations of the evening,
however, when she noted the positive force that proper education
can have even on children who have been indoctrinated with hatred.
After the Second World War, she said, German children who had lived
through the Nazi education system showed a remarkable ability to
shed the genocidal messages with which they had been inculcated.
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