4/3 Extra: Palestinian Girl

I'm not going to bother re-writing what MSNBC said. Here's the caption.

The daughter of a Palestinian gunman killed during an attack on a Jewish settlement in Gaza salutes April 1 at a rally of the militant group Islamic Jihad. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pursued his drive to crack down on militants after sending tanks into another West Bank town in response to a wave of suicide bombings.

The first thing I thought was "She's not saluting. She has no clue what the hell's going on." Look at her. She must be two years old, <b>maybe</b> three. <b>Maybe</b>. Some guy's even holding her hand up. I'm not sure what purpose these pictures serve or why Palestinian militants keep taking them. About the only effect it has on myself (and most people, I assume) is to instill thoughts like "Wow, those Palestinian extremists are pretty fucking nuts, turning their kids into soldiers." The mind boggles.

[Undertoad]

I saw for the first time yesterday a suggestion (it wasn't backed up) that the families of suicide bombers get a nice stipend (the suggestion was $25,000).

That would explain a lot.

Thanks for posting the pic.

[datalas]

What bothers me is the guys in the background..

The one on the left is auditioning for the next Matrix sequel.

Next to him is what looks like a Quake model (no real features)

The guy just to the right of the arm looks like he was expecting this to be something usefull rather than a bunch of loonies

and as for the two blokes on the far right, do they look like their students waiting for the bar to open or what?

On a more serious note, when we (royal, refering to humans in general) are trying to persuade two / three year olds to kill someone I think it is about time to let go of our claims to being the most evolved species on the planet.....

Datalas

(not entirely amused)

[Undertoad]

Update: that "suggestion" yesterday was talked about in today's Rumsfeld press conference. Still don't know whether it was verified.

Eh, it's been known for quite some time that familes are rewarded for producing a "martyr". I first read about it probably a year ago - some guy was going to blow himself up and one of the "bonuses" of doing so was that the money his family would get would help them out. Most suicide bombers are poor and come from families that live in abject poverty. The organizations (like Hamas, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, etc) raise funds to build the bombs and whatnot. Then they recruit some poor kid to go detonate himself in a supermarket or whatever. His family is paid accordingly.

Same planet, but we live in totally different worlds.

[ Edit - Oops! ]

[juju]

Originally posted by dhamsaic
the family his money would get would help them out.

Heh heh heh heh..

Linkage to more information - http://www.msnbc.com/news/733574.asp

[Mr. Option]

The most moderate among them may have more hatred inside them than anyone you will ever meet in your life, but they are not crazy. They're reacting to events in a rational way - the same way you might, perhaps. Truthfully I'm glad you can't imagine what would drive a person to this. It's not the sort of knowledge that makes life easier to live.

I don't want to say it's anyone's fault - all this is is a fight over land; oldest sort of fight around, after fighting over spouses. It's just been prodded and poked and carefully fostered by a variety of people (U.S., Soviets, Gulf states) to serve various ends, and now it's hit a certain critical mass.

Ironically Bush's amateur night foreign policy is most directly responsible for this latest round of escalation; Clinton had been putting unprecedented pressure on the Israelis to cut a deal, and seeing an opportunity, succeeded in getting them to the table. They were within months of clinching something plausible. Then, rapid-fire, Clinton and Barak were gone. Bush's people put the word out that Israel had carte blanch, and Sharon built his election campaign on starting that riot at Al Aqsa. 10 years of progress down the tubes. Leave it to the oil barons.

FYI, the suicider's family usually does get money from the organzations, sometimes a lot depending on who'se paying. But most of them would do it for nothing. They've been brought up for three generations to believe murdering a Jew will get you straight into heaven. Even if we wake up tomorrow and start doing everything right, it's going to take a long time for that to fade...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...bomber_money_3

I don't think they're crazy as in "mentally insane". As a matter of fact, I have a lot of sympathy for the Palestinian cause. But stuff like this does nothing to help them - it only hurts them. The rest of the world looks at this picture and says "What a bunch of savages." Admittedly, I can't say that I feel differently. Steering children into extremism is disgusting, whether it be the KKK here at home or Islamic Jihad in Palestine.

[Griff]

The IRA used to raise a lot of money in the States for widows and orphans, of course they siphoned more than a bit off the top for arms.


Maybe we should stop funding funding the various thugs? $3 billion a year translates into an awful lot of wind mills and solar panels.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul26.html

From what I've read, it's more near $10 billion. :\

[Griff]

A billion here a billion there pretty soon you're talking about real money.

[Bitman]

Awww, look at the cute wittle machine gun .. complete with twin magazines stuck together. That's really nice that companies are willing to make such wide range of product. No matter your size, we have a gun for you. Of course, a fully loaded gun might be a bit heavy for a two-year-old, but we have a complete range of tripods too.

-B

[jaguar]

I think the idea is just a show of solidarity, otherwise its pretty meaningless. Some kinda of swearing in or something.

And jsut because MSNBC doesn't show picture of Isreali protests with kids covering their hands with red paint symbolising thier calls for more blood doesn't mean it doesn't happen, i've seen it.

[tw]

Originally posted by dhamsaic
As a matter of fact, I have a lot of sympathy for the Palestinian cause. But stuff like this does nothing to help them - it only hurts them. The rest of the world looks at this picture and says "What a bunch of savages." Admittedly, I can't say that I feel differently. Steering children into extremism is disgusting, whether it be the KKK here at home or Islamic Jihad in Palestine.

Most of the world is saying the Palestinians have so little left as to commit suicide. Throughout most of the world, suicide bombing is no longer considered terrorism. In most of the world, suicide bombing is considered a Palestinian self defense act. There is only one nation left on earth in support of the Israeli invasion - the US as noted by both ABC and CBS news. Most of the world is not openly condemning Israel, but only the US is encouraging the invasion.

Throughout the entire Middle East, this statement is so commonly acknowledged as to be considered fact. George Jr has given Sharon the Green Light to annex the West Bank and ethnic cleanse the land. There are no reasons to believe this is not true.

Today the Vatican called in diplomats of the offending nations for a dressing down. The Vatican outrightly blames only the Israelis and the US for the current violence. Rarely does the Vatican respond to such world events so forcefully.

Ironically, the State Department had recalled diplomats from throughout the world in a conference on why the US has such a poor reputation lately throughout the world. Duhhhhh. Makes one wonder what mental midget is framing US foreign policy.

Let's see. Rumsfeld suggests torture may be necessary to get information from a recently captured leader of al Qaeda. Only right wing ultra extremists would imply such things. Curious this is the same man who fears to see naked statues. Where did he get his morality? He fears a naked statue but cuddles up to a dichead.

Last year, noted was that extremists drive moderates (the source of most intelligent people) into the arms of adversary extremists. That picture of a little girl in fatigues and carrying a rifle is just what happens when a dichead advocates the murder of a peace seeking Prime Minister, then creates an intafada, then escalates violence - all with a single adgenda - to destroy UN 242, UN 338, and the Oslo Accords.

None of us would be here today if the dichead had his way. He, more than any other person, is directly responsible for bringing the world closest to nuclear world war. He did so by outright lying, insubordination, and a 'screw everyone else' attitude. So what has changed? Now that he is Prime Minister, he has become an honest man?

That picture is exactly what happens when the world does not prosecute a dichead who massacres 5,000 women and children in a refugee camp, and when a naive people elect him their Prime Minister.

Listen to the BBC, et al. Most of the world, outside of official channels, really does not comdemn the Palestinians for suicide bombings. The dichead has obtained exactly what his plans called for years ago when he intentionally started Intafada II.