"A Palestinian boy wearing an explosive belt..."

"'Blowing myself up is the only chance I've got to have sex with 72 virgins in the Garden of Eden,' a 14-and-a-half-year-old Palestinian boy told his Israeli investigators after being caught wearing an 8kg explosives belt." (The Jerusalem Post)

News and commentary about Hussam Abdo, the Palestinian 16 year old boy who was caught wearing an explosive belt.

Gallery with pictures from Yahoo! News Photos

March 2004
"The Account of the Palestinian Victim Hussam Abdo from Nablus" (IPC, 2004/03/28)
"Palestinian groups condemn use of children in terror attacks" (Arnon Regular, Haaretz, 2004/03/26)
"Palestinians in backlash at 'baby bomber' horrors" (Uri Dan and Andy Soltis, New York Post, 2004/03/26)
"Family of would-be teenage bomber expresses outrage" (Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/03/26)
"After Teenage Boy Carries a Bomb, Palestinians Protest" (Greg Myre, The New York Times, 2004/03/26)
"Palestinian Authority libel: Israel encourages PA child terror for PR gain" (Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin, 2004/03/25)
"Israel 'fabricated' child-bomber story" (Khalid Amayreh, Aljazeeera.net, 2004/03/25)
"Report: 3 boys arrested for aiding bomb-belt boy" (Margot Dudkevitch, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/03/25)
"Palestinian teenager Hossam Mohammed Abdo has tears in his eyes..." (Atta Hussein, AFP, 2004/03/24)
"Israel/Occupied Territories: Children must not be used by armed groups" (Amnesty International, 2004/03/24)
"A Palestinian boy who was caught with an explosive belt..." (Abed Omar Qusini, Reuters, 2004/03/24)
"Israelis Stop Teen Wearing Bomb Vest" (Ali Daraghmeh, AP/My Way, 2004/03/25)
"A Palestinian boy wears an explosive belt..." (Flash 90/Reuters, 2004/03/24)
"Palestinian boy, 14, captured wearing explosives vest" (Margot Dudkevitch, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/03/24)

 

"The Account of the Palestinian Victim Hussam Abdo from Nablus" (IPC, 2004/03/28)
"The Palestinian National Authority's International Press Center maintains that the capture of Hussam Abdo was an Israeli "fabrication":
"Many of the Palestinian officials, locals and eyewitnesses along with senior sources of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a military wing of Fateh, emphasized that arresting the teen boy Hussam Abdo from Nablus was a fabricated story weaved by the Israeli intelligence to misinform the world purportedly that the Palestinians send their children to cynically kill themselves that is adversely to downgrade the morale of the Palestinian people and waning the world’s sympathy towards the just Palestinian cause.
It is hard to understand such Israeli fabrications due to their secrecy, but a quick glance at the details of the scene of the boy with the belt assured that the intelligence services of the occupying authorities were the authors, directors and the organizers of the script. ...
Hussam's brother, Belal Abdo, said that he was fully convinced that his brother was victimized by such a tainted game perpetrated by the Israeli intelligence services. He added that his brother was suffering growth problems.
"I believe that one of the Israeli intelligence collaborators played with my brother’s mind to carry an explosive belt and to blow himself up on the purpose of being timely invested by Israel," Belal said." (Note: The only brother of Abdo I've heard of before this is Hosni, who was "furious with whoever persuaded his brother to strap on the bomb vest" and doesn't seem to believe it was a fabrication. See also: "Israel 'fabricated' child-bomber story" (Khalid Amayreh, Aljazeeera.net, 2004/03/25))

"Palestinian groups condemn use of children in terror attacks" (Arnon Regular, Haaretz, 2004/03/26)
Abdo XI. "We will not allow such an incident to occur in the future":
"Spokesmen for most Palestinian organizations, including the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which apparently was behind the incident involving Husam Abdo - the teenager who was arrested wearing an explosive belt on Wednesday at the checkpoint south of Nablus - condemned the use of children in terror attacks on Thursday, and denied links to the incident.
Assam Abed al-Hadi, known to many in Nablus as the head of the liaison committee between Palestinian organizations, told Haaretz on Thursday that, "An individual is defined as an adult in Palestinian society when he is capable of analyzing reality. This boy, Abdo, is in no way an adult. All organizations admit that using children is forbidden, and condemn it. We are against the use of children, even if the Israeli occupation robs them of their childhood, and even if they were raised to sacrifice so as to achieve Palestinian national goals." According to al-Hadi, such actions hurt the Palestinian cause, and 'we will not allow such an incident to occur in the future.'"

"Palestinians in backlash at 'baby bomber' horrors" (Uri Dan and Andy Soltis, New York Post, 2004/03/26)
Abdo X: "In 2001, a poll of Palestinian teenagers found that three out of four said they wanted to become shahids, the term for suicidal martyrs.
Three years later, a growing number of youngsters are actually strapping on deadly bomb belts in a disturbing new trend after years of Israeli-Palestinian violence. ...
Some 30 homicide bomb attacks and attempts have been carried out by youngsters under 18, according to the Israeli military. ...
Israeli security officials say the shift to youngsters started nearly two years ago.
They point to an interview by Hamas commander Saleh Shehade in May 2002 on the Islamic Online Web site in which he urged:
"One should prepare children carefully before carrying out attacks and recruit them into a special military section of [Hamas] in order to teach them the culture of jihad," said Shehade, who was later killed by a 1-ton Israeli bomb dropped on his house."

"Family of would-be teenage bomber expresses outrage" (Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/03/26)
Abdo IX: "The boy, in a videotape provided to journalists by the IDF, said he decided to blow himself up because "people do not like me."
Abdu lives in the comfortable Makhfiyeh neighborhood. He has four sisters and a brother. His brother and father run a supermarket. After school, he used to help out in the shop, play with the computer, and occasionally play soccer – but complained that his friends keep mocking him.
"My friends at school make fun of me," he said. "They call me 'Brains ' but they also make fun of me because I'm small and ugly. They call me 'The Ugly Dwarf.' It hurt so much I wanted to kill myself."
He said he learned about the pleasures of heaven from his teacher.
"My teacher in school told us about it," he explained. "He told us to fast, to pray, and to do good deeds to reach paradise. He told us about the life of pleasure which is waiting for us there: a river of honey, a river of wine, and 72 beautiful girls.
"Since I am studying the Koran, I know about the good life which awaits there. The people who gave me the suicide belt told me this was my only chance to have sex."
He said he decided to become a suicide bomber the night before he was caught at the checkpoint.
"On Tuesday night I was sitting with friends, and I made the decision," he said. "When they put the explosives harness on me I was scared. I didn't tell anyone what I was about to do. I didn't tell my mother and I didn't tell my father.'" (Also: "Asked whether she would have supported her son had he been older, the mother replied: 'If he was over 18, that would have been possible, and I might even encourage him to do it. But it's impossible for a child his age to do it.'")

"After Teenage Boy Carries a Bomb, Palestinians Protest" (Greg Myre, The New York Times, 2004/03/26)
Abdo VIII: "At the Abdo home, Hussam's parents described him as an immature teenager manipulated by others.
Asked what she would do if Hussam returned, Mrs. Abdo said, "I would punish him." She waved her hand back and forth in front of her face to deliver a mock slapping. During an interview, relatives presented Mrs. Abdo with a copy of the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, with a large picture of Hussam on the front. She pulled the photo to her face and kissed it, then burst into tears.
The newspaper interviewed Hussam in custody, and he said other students made fun of him because he was quite short. "They hurt me so much that I wanted to kill myself," Hussam was quoted as saying.
When he spoke briefly to journalists on Wednesday after his arrest, he claimed he was 14. But documents provided by the family showed he turned 16 last December.
Hussam's father Muhammad, who owns a grocery store, said the family was well-off financially. He said that Hussam spent hours on the family computer, and liked to play soccer, but was an indifferent student."

"Palestinian Authority libel: Israel encourages PA child terror for PR gain" (Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin, 2004/03/25)
Abdo VII: "The standard policy of the official Palestinian Authority (PA) daily Al Hayat Al Jadida is to twist and distort news stories in order to portray the Palestinians as victims, regardless of the facts. Now, with the world's increased awareness of the role of Palestinian children in suicide terror, the PA has created a libel against Israel that again attempts to turn Palestinians into victims.
Today’s official daily described as a “lie” Israel’s report on yesterday’s suicide terror attempt by a 14 year old. ... According to the PA, Israel creates lies about PA child terror in order to encourage other Palestinian children to be involved in terror, which in turn helps Israeli PR.
The following is the PA explanation of “Israel’s lie” as it appeared in the PA daily:

“The occupation, [Israel] in this situation and with this lie, is playing with its own blood, and it is like they are encouraging children to go from stone throwing to use of explosives, and involvement in actions which are beyond them. Israel’s focusing accusations about children [in suicide terror] is in fact an open invitation to other children to imitate the accusations, because it is characteristic of children to blindly imitate. The occupation's [Israel's] public relations gain through this false accusation may come back as a boomerang, but it is clear in this case that the occupation is striving to plan public relations lies.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida March 18, 2004]

In this way the PA is once again misrepresenting itself as victim instead of perpetrator."

"Israel 'fabricated' child-bomber story" (Khalid Amayreh, Aljazeeera.net, 2004/03/25)
Abdo VI. Palestine fabricated "fabrication": "Palestinian leaders have accused Israel of fabricating a story about a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who planned to blow himself up. ...
The Israeli army said the boy told interrogators that his dispatchers promised that he would have sex with 72 virgins in heaven soon after his death.
"We know for sure this is a fabricated story from A to Z. Would you believe that a 13 or 14-year old would agree to blow up himself in return for a hundred shekels which he would receive after his death?"
"It seems to me that the Israelis are bad liars as well," said Yaqub Shahin, a director-general of the Palestinian Authority ministry of information.
In an interview with Aljazeera.net, Shahin accused Israel of seeking to justify slaughtering Palestinian children by spreading the false impression that they are used as human bombers.
"Their [Israel’s] goal is to besmirch Palestinian childhood so that when they slaughter the children, the world won’t feel sorry for them," he said.
Arab Knesset member Muhammad Baraka has also voiced "serious doubts" about the veracity of the Israeli narrative.
"I have very serious doubts about the whole story. I can't give the Israeli army the benefit of the doubt." ...
The armed wing of Fatah, the Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, has denied any involvement in the incident, accusing Israel of 'concocting the whole story for the purpose of justifying the killing of more Palestinian children.'" (See also: "Gutter journalism" (Melanie Phillips, melaniephillips.com, 2004/03/25): "A reader writes to tell me that both BBC and Channel Four news yesterday reported the boy human bomb who was caught near Nablus (he turned out to be 14, not 12) as if this might be a stunt being pulled by Israel. ... So instead of drawing appropriate conclusions about the demented depravity of a society which turns its own backward children into human bombs to murder Israelis, British journalists try to turn the intended victims of such an attack into cynical and duplicitous manipulators of public opinion. Such are the depths to which the British media has now sunk.")

"Report: 3 boys arrested for aiding bomb-belt boy" (Margot Dudkevitch, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/03/25)
Abdo V: "The IDF arrested three Palestinian boys from Nablus who are suspected of being involved in the suicide bombing attempt Wednesday at Hawara checkpoint, Palestinians reported on Thursday.
The three attend the same school as Husam Abdu, 14, who arrived in Hawara checkpoint near Nablus on Wednesday wearing a belt of explosives, planning to blow himself up and kill soldiers stationed at the checkpoints. ...
"He was fully aware of what he was to do and told us he received NIS 100 and was instructed to blow himself up near soldiers," battalion commander Lt.-Col. Guy told The Jerusalem Post. 'The soldiers' quick action not only saved their lives but those of 200 Palestinian men, women, and children who were at the roadblock.'"

"Israelis stop teen wearing suicide vest at West Bank checkpoint" (AP/The Boston Herald, 2004/03/25)
Abdo IV: "In an interview with the Yediot Ahronot newspaper today, the boy, identified as Hussam Abdo, said he wanted to go to paradise but feared killing himself until he neared the Israeli army roadblock and was stopped.
" When the soldiers stopped me, I didn't press the switch. I changed my mind. I didn't want to die anymore," Abdo said, according to the newspaper. "I'm sorry for what I did." ...
In the newspaper interview, Abdo said he wanted to reach paradise, which he was taught in school was the reward for suicide bombers.
"A river of honey, a river of wine and 72 virgins. Since I have been studying Quran I know about the sweet life that waits there (in Paradise)," the newspaper quoted the boy as saying."

"Palestinian teenager Hossam Mohammed Abdo has tears in his eyes..."
(Atta Hussein, AFP, 2004/03/24)
"Palestinian teenager Hossam Mohammed Abdo has tears in his eyes after being arrested with an explosive belt at the Hawara checkpoint just south of Nablus."

"Israel/Occupied Territories: Children must not be used by armed groups" (Amnesty International, 2004/03/24)
Abdo III: "Amnesty International is gravely concerned about reports that earlier today a 14-year-old Palestinian child was found to be carrying explosives when attempting to pass through the Israeli army checkpoint at Huwara, at the entrance of the West Bank town of Nablus. ...
'Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned suicide bombings and other attacks against civilians by Palestinian armed groups as crimes against humanity. Using children to carry out or assist in armed attacks of any kind is an abomination. We call on the Palestinian leadership to publicly denounce these practices.'"

"A Palestinian boy who was caught with an explosive belt..."
(Abed Omar Qusini, Reuters, 2004/03/24)
"A Palestinian boy who was caught with an explosive belt stands at the checkpoint at the entrance to the Palestinian West Bank city of Nablus March 24, 2004."

"Israelis Stop Teen Wearing Bomb Vest" (Ali Daraghmeh, AP/My Way, 2004/03/25)
Abdo II: "The family of the teenager, identified as Hussam Abdo, said he was gullible and easily manipulated.
"He doesn't know anything, and he has the intelligence of a 12 year old," said his brother, Hosni. ...
Abdo's family said the teenager was not affiliated with any militant group, going to rallies for all of them and identifying with whichever one carried out the latest attack on Israelis.
They said he acted strangely Tuesday, giving candy to his family and neighbors and refusing to explain why.
He got his hair cut in the style his mother, Tamam, likes and told her he would do anything she wants, she said.
"You never are like this," she said "What happened?"
"I just want you to be happy with me," he responded.
Abdo left his house Wednesday morning saying he was going to school, but never arrived there.
Hosni Abdo said he was furious with whoever persuaded his brother to strap on the bomb vest.
"The ones who sent him are stupid, because the army will give him two slaps and he will tell them who sent him," Hosni Abdo said."

"A Palestinian boy wears an explosive belt..."
(Flash 90/Reuters, 2004/03/24)
"A Palestinian boy wears an explosive belt as he is caught at the checkpoint at the entrance to the Palestinian West Bank city of Nablus March 24, 2004. Israeli troops arrested the 14-year-old Palestinian would-be suicide bomber at a West Bank checkpoint before he could detonate his explosive belt, the army said."

"Palestinian boy, 14, captured wearing explosives vest" (Margot Dudkevitch, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/03/24)
Abdo I: "'Blowing myself up is the only chance I've got to have sex with 72 virgins in the Garden of Eden,' a 14-and-a-half-year-old Palestinian boy told his Israeli investigators after being caught wearing an 8kg explosives belt.
Husam Muhammad Bilal Abdu from Masahiya neighborhood in Nablus was captured Wednesday afternoon by IDF troops near the Hawara roadblock near Nablus, the same place an 11-year-old boy was caught with a bomb last week.
"They told me that this was the only way, and they promised that my mother would get one hundred shekels if I did this," Husam told his captors.
The Fatah Tanzim claimed responsibility for sending the would-be bomber, Channel One reported Wednesday night.
The boy aroused suspicions when he reached the Hawara roadblock. Soldiers from the Paratroopers 202 Brigade aimed their weapons at him, and he panicked.
Seeing that the boy was "unusually swollen" around the chest area, he was checked by soldiers at the roadblock, who ordered him to lift his t-shirt, where they discovered a large gray suicide bomb belt on his chest with a detonation device attached to it. Soldiers immediately jumped behind a concrete barrier and trained their weapons on the boy again.
The area was shut down and sappers were brought in to neutralize the explosives belt. A remote- controlled robot was sent out with a pair of scissors to the would-be suicide bomber, who was instructed by sappers to begin cutting the belt off of his chest.
He cut off part of it and struggled with the rest. "I don't how to get this off," he said.
After he dropped the vest, soldiers ordered him to take off his undershirt and jeans, to ensure he had no other weapons on him.
The belt contained 8kg of explosives, and was detonated in a controlled explosion after it was taken off the Palestinian child.
Lt. Tamir Milrad, an officer at the checkpoint said, "We saw that he had something under his shirt."
"He told us he didn't want to die. He didn't want to blow up," Milrad added." (See also: "Soldiers nab Palestinian boy with bomb" (Arnon Regular and Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz, 2004/03/15))

 

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