Israel has just arrested six terrorists who had planned to run a day camp steeped in Hamas ideology.
Top-notch intelligence work by the Jerusalem Police Department led to the discovery of a bus filled with kids, counselors, and terrorists on its way to the camp. The bus had departed from the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Isawiya, located on the eastern slopes of Mt. Scopus and practically adjacent to Hadassah Hospital. (Note that Isawiya is on the Israeli side of the anti-terror security wall.) The group was headed for the Jericho area.
A day camp is the perfect place to imbue children with ideology – and Hamas ideology is downright dangerous for the West in general and Israel in particular. One clause of the Hamas covenant reads, “Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it eliminated its predecessors.” Another clause states the same from a different angle:
“[The Islamic Resistance Movement] joined its hands with those of all Jihad fighters for the purpose of liberating Palestine… For our struggle against the Jews is extremely wide-ranging and grave, so much so that it will need all the loyal efforts we can wield, to be followed by further steps and reinforced by successive battalions from the multifarious Arab and Islamic world, until the enemies are defeated and Allah’s victory prevails.”
Note that the covenant speaks openly of “struggle against the Jews,” not just Israel.
Hamas has a long history of murdering Israelis. Its military branch, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was created in 1991, and since then it has carried out many hundreds of attacks. Between September 2000 and March 2004, for example, Hamas murdered 377 Israeli.
In 2007, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip and began attacking Israel even more earnestly, with hundreds of suicide bombings, shootings, stabbings, and ramming attacks. Most recently, in May of this year, terrorists launched well over 600 rockets and mortar shells at Israeli towns and cities. Hamas also invented balloon terrorism, setting ablaze close to 10,000 acres of Israeli fields.
Even more dangerous are Hamas’ ties with Iran. It was reported this week, based on Israeli intelligence, that Hamas and Iran have agreed that Hamas will open a war front against Israel from Gaza in the event of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah or Syria.
Hamas today has footholds in several neighborhoods of eastern Jerusalem, specifically Jabel Mukaber, Silwan, and Sur Baher. The fact that the camp bus originated in Isawiya indicates that Hamas is not resting on its laurels, but seeking out spheres of influence in Israel’s capital. This, of course, is in addition to its attempts – thwarted by the Shabak – to establish terrorist cells throughout Judea and Samaria.
At the same time, Hamas’ rival Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority, is also trying to increase its influence in eastern Jerusalem, also via summer camps for children. The camps are often named for terrorist murderers, such as Dalal Mughrabi, who led the worst terror attack in Israel’s history: the hijacking of a bus and murder of 12 children and 25 adults.
As a recent report by Palestinian Media Watch stated, “It’s summer again – when Palestinian summer camps are named after murderers…[and] brainwash Palestinian youth into thinking that using violence and terror to reach political goals is honorable.”
PA Chairman Abbas sent his “blessings” to the Mughrabi camp, praising activities that “strengthen the spirit of national belonging among our sons and daughters.” An Abbas representative specifically praised Mughrabi’s “position in the struggle and the revolution.”
The latest camp, for about 100 children, aged 7-12, featured lessons in contact-battle, nationalist slogans, battle spirit, the Nakba, and Palestinian heritage.
Never mind that “Palestinian heritage” is a fake, as are claims of religious connections between Palestinian Arabs and Jerusalem. Palestinian-Arab ethnic or nationalist classification is only several decades old; the first Palestine National Charter of the PLO was formulated only in 1964 – and it did not even mention Jerusalem! Nor was this “oversight” corrected in the amended charter of 1968. But go tell that to the largely left-leaning western world!
Actually, that is what we at Keep Jerusalem seek to do: explain to the world that Jerusalem has been Jewish for 3,300 years and that Islamic claims are merely political convenience. It’s an uphill battle, but we are confident that the truth will ultimately – and hopefully soon – be universally recognized.
KeepJerusalem.org invites readers to participate in its eastern and northern Jerusalem bus tours. For information, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.keepjerusalem.org.