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MARTYR’SKINDERGARTEN

Pictures byNikos Pilos/ZUMA

In the mosque, the children of Martyr’s Kindergarten lis-ten attentively to the sermon of the imam. In the summer camps, those same children pass their days simulating mili-

tary exercises. It would be legitimate to presume that these in-souciant boy scouts will be transformed into the “martyrs” (or suicide bombers) of tomorrow. But is that true?

Even before the landslide victory in the recent Palestinian elec-tions, Hamas enjoyed wide popular support in the Palestinian territories, and especially inside the Gaza Strip. The late Sheikh Ahmed Yasin in Gaza established the organization in the wake of the Intifada in 1987. Hamas is an acronym for Islamist Re-sistance Movement, but the word also signifies zeal. Its aims are the destruction of Israel and the foundation of a Palestinian state “from the sea to the river, from the Mediterranean to Jor-dan,” where the Islamic law, Sharia, is applied.

Hamas, labeled as one of the most lethal terrorist organiza-tions in the world, is responsible for the killing of thousands of Israelis in suicide bombings. Unlike the West Bank, where little activity (legal or illegal) is possible under the Israeli oc-cupation, Hamas is visible in everyday life in the Gaza Strip: streets flooded with gigantic martyrs’ portraits, distribution of pamphlets by the Izzedine al-Qassam, Hamas’ military wing, and public demonstrations with armed gunmen are common.

But in the Palestinian territories and especially in the Gaza Strip, Hamas is seen more as a substitute for the impotent and corrupt Palestinian Authority than as a military organization.

Mahmoud Zahar, 63, who founded Hamas with Yasin in 1987, who was recently elected as the majority leader in the Palestin-ian parliament, defines Hamas in simple terms.

“The military is just one of the branches of the same tree. Hamas is also a political party, an umbrella of social associations, but

most of all, a spiritual guide proposing an Islamic way of life,” says Zahar.

Hamas operates an active network of social institutions and welfare activities that integrate children (boys and girls) from age 5 and up. Hamas offers education through schools, religious instruction through sermonizing at mosques, entertainment for orphans at summer camps and charity through associations that support families without resources. It even runs a volleyball team that used to represent Palestine in tournaments in Arabic countries.

The majority of the families of these children have no spe-cial ties with Hamas. In most cases, families send them to the mosque, the school or the summer camp for reasons that have little to do with politics or even religion. For example, joining a Hamas summer camp fulfills basic needs—food, education, sports and entertainment—that are not met in Gaza due to the constant humanitarian crisis.

Whereas the Fatah establishment is constantly accused of cor-ruption, Hamas people are thought to be humble and incorrupt-ible. It may sound like a paradox, but Hamas provides these families with a feeling of security.

The Gaza Strip is literally a strip of sand by the sea, so life in Gaza has always been connected to the beach. All Palestinian factions organize summer camps across Gaza, but the Hamas

camps are by far the most popular.

Camps and schools use names such as “Flame” and “Light,” or they’re named after famous Hamas martyrs. (Every militant or civilian killed by the Israeli forces is called a martyr.) We visit one such camp in Beit Lahia, a suburb north of Gaza City. Here, admittance is limited to boys who are orphans, sons of martyrs.

The daily program starts at 6 in the morning. Breakfast is a hot falafel (an Arabic pita bread wrap made of chickpeas) and tea. During the day, children learn passages from the Holy Quran by heart, attend the religious sermon in the nearby mosque or listen to lectures by invited scholars of the Islamic University of Gaza.

The mosque is the center of all Hamas activities—this applies to children’s activities too. The word for mosque in Arabic is jame3, but if you change just one letter, it becomes jam3a, which stands for university. Apart from its religious role, the mosque is a place for the mobilizing community. There are even claims that the mosques are used as a point of departure for terrorist attacks. More than a shrine, it serves as a school. According to several studies, there is a constant process of po-litical persuasion and recruiting among believers. But here in Beit Lahia, the boys’ tutors insist that no political messages are conveyed to the children.

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But Dr. Zahar, a leader for Hamas, insists on the clear distinc-tion between the “jihad” (holy war) and the social and educa-tional work.

Every time the political situation with Israel becomes critical, in the mosques known for their close ties to Hamas, young people appeal to the imams to join the military wing. Some of them volunteer for suicide attacks, only to be dissuaded. “Of-fer is bigger than demand,” comments a Hamas teacher. More than once, Hamas had to issue a formal statement that averted children from being martyrs.

For the “scouts” in the Beetlahia camp, military leaders are like idols. They’re invisible idols, since no one ever sees them while they live, but everyone worships their icons once dead. Video footage with speeches, sermons or even the meticulous prepara-tions before a suicide mission goes round from hand to hand.

Each child selects a hero from Arabian history or a recent Hamas exploit and then narrates the story to the other children. In between classes, the youngsters play football, learn martial arts or go to the beach for a picnic.

Hamas encourages children to practice sports, but in the past, the position of the Islamic organizations was more ambivalent. Football was chastised for driving people away from mosques, but today the tutors themselves play ball with the youngsters in the sand fields adjacent to the Beit Lahia mosque.

Hamas provides educational structure for the girls also. Dr. Za-har says that Hamas wants “women to study and work. We want them to participate fully in public life.” The curriculum in these schools tries to reconcile tradition with modernism: female stu-dents learn patriotic poems in English and are taught how to use computers, always under the instruction of female teachers, separate from the boys, and in full accordance with the Islamic dress code.

The Gulf countries affluently funded Hamas. However, after the 9/11 attacks, it has been extremely difficult for institu-tions linked to Hamas to acquire financing from the West. Still, Hamas-affiliated associations operate some of the most mod-ern, newly constructed schools and hospitals in Gaza.

In some Hamas camps, like in the Mawazi area, south of Gaza City, infrastructure is poor. Children often train in slippers, and their trainers carry wooden sticks instead of gym instruments. Water is scarce, and no fixed telephone network is available (but the use of mobile phones is spreading fast).

Back at the Beit Lahia camp, the children are scheduled to climb a hill today. The weather is unbearably hot, but children keep on running or crawling, following their tutors’ orders. One of the natural leaders here is Ramadan. Despite being exhausted, he smiles at me: “We learn how to infiltrate in the settlements.”

Whether a joke or not, Ramadan’s tutor, Samir, insists that the aim of this camp is not military training, nor political propa-ganda. “These children know the situation, they don’t wait for me to teach them about injustice. They listen to their parents.

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“Offer is bigger than demand,” comments a Hamas teacher. More than once, Hamas h a d to i ss u e a fo r m a l stat em en t t h at averted Children from being martyrs.

“That is why we have so many children. As long as they fight us, we will be breeding. I have seven more children to offer to my homeland.”

They watch television. They are the very same children that throw stones at Israeli tanks that invade their land.”

Ramadan lost his father when his was 4. The Israelis killed him, as he was a militant of Izzedine al-Qassam, the military wing of Hamas. Today, Ramadan is 14, and he doesn’t want to be a doctor, a lawyer or even an athlete. He wants to be a fighter, or what some would in the West call a terrorist. His elder brothers have already taken part in the armed struggle against Israel.

Not all children in the camp share Ramadan’s ambition. Hamas’ message is not merely a warlike one. The organization influ-ences Palestinian society in various ways, some of them intel-lectual. The most prestigious educational institution in Gaza is the Islamic University. Formally, it is not connected to Hamas, but in reality, everybody understands the affiliation with the or-ganization.

But the question is not what young people want to do with their lives but what are their alternatives. According to Eyad al-Sar-raj, a renowned psychiatrist and secular political activist in Gaza, “the major problem at the age of 18 is the lack of hope for the future. People ask themselves, What’s the point of studying, when the future seems so uncertain?

We are invited by Ramadan to visit with his family in his home. After five minutes, it becomes obvious who is the real boss: an overweight, imposing granny, who claims to be 60, but looks much older. She gesticulates with fury against Bush and Sha-ron. She has just returned from a visit to her two sons in the prison of Beer-Sheva in Israel. I ask her, “How does it feel to lose a son?” She responds, “That is why we have so many chil-dren. As long as they fight us, we will be breeding. I have seven more children to offer to my homeland.”

Text by Nikolas Leontopoulos/ZUMA

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