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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Hamas Admits to Using Women, Children As Human Shields |
| 2008-03-15 |
| A Hamas parliamentarian has openly admitted to developing a "death-seeking" culture that uses women, children and the elderly as human shields against Israeli military attacks. "[The enemies of Allah] do not know that the Palestinian people have developed [methods] of death and death-seeking," Hamas parliamentarian, Fathi Hammad said in a speech televised on Hamas' Al-Aksa television station two weeks ago. (A transcript was made available by the Middle East Media Research Institute on Thursday.) "For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel, and so do all the people living on this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the mujahideen and the children," Hammad said. "This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly, and the mujahideen, in order to challenge the Zionist [Israel] bombing machine. It is as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: 'We desire death like you desire life,'" he said. Days after that speech, Israel launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip to halt rocket fire against its civilian population. More than 100 Palestinians were killed during that operation. Israel said 90 percent of them were armed militants, but Palestinians complained that half were civilians, many of them children. Israel was severely criticized by the international community for the military operation. "Israel is faced with moral challenges unprecedented in their complexity," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said at the time. In a statement on its Web site, the Israeli Foreign Ministry accused Hamas of deliberately launching rockets from areas populated with civilians; using civilian homes to shield its arms and explosives manufacturing facilities; and using civilians as human shields at places where air strikes were anticipated. "In order to avoid civilian casualties, Israel sends warning messages before attacking terrorist targets, advising civilians to leave. Israel prefers to attack empty buildings used to manufacture rockets, even taking into consideration that the terrorists too will be warned and their lives spared," the Foreign Ministry said. "Hamas, on the other hand, calls on civilians to come and to protect with their bodies the precise locations they expect Israel to attack. Since they know that Israel will usually strike from the air, they send the children to the roofs to prevent the air force from targeting that building." The human shield tactic is not new. In November 2006, at least a dozen Palestinian gunmen avoided Israeli capture in Gaza when they took refuge in a mosque and called on women and children to shield them so they could escape. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #16 Hamas wants death? Give them death till their bellies are stuffed full of it. Then shove a wafer thin Mint Of Death down their throats. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-03-15 22:30 |
| #15 "[The enemies of Allah] do not know that the Palestinian people have developed [methods] of death and death-seeking," Hamas parliamentarian, Fathi Hammad said in a speech televised on Hamas' Al-Aksa television station two weeks ago. Wrong, goat breath. We've all known for quite some time that Islam is a death cult. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2008-03-15 17:46 |
| #14 How can a culture in which the males ADMITTEDLY hide from their enemies behind the defenseless bodies of their women and children be considered anything better than completely degenerate? Btw, not just hams; IIRC, and JFM could correct me, this has been SOP for arab demonstrations that turned violent, in morocco (where the army used to machinegun the crowds) as well as in France during the algeria war. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-03-15 13:38 |
| #13 Ah, yes, the "apes and pigs" thing. When in doubt, always go with the old standards. They're a big hit everytime. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-03-15 11:37 |
| #12 Fathi Hamad is the director of the board of Al Aqsa TV. Here's alittle sample of his rhetoric. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2008-03-15 11:29 |
| #11 I take it Fathi is one of the Pali's "idea men"? Well aren't they lucky. He is right about one thing. Death is about the only "industry" they "excel" at. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-03-15 11:19 |
| #10 Sort of justifies a Carthaginian solution doesn't it? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-03-15 11:17 |
| #9 Pancho - calling them "total cowards" and sissies works for me. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-03-15 10:19 |
| #8 Israel said 90 percent of them were armed militants, but Palestinians complained that half were civilians, many of them children. But he just said this is what they want, why is he complaining? |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-03-15 09:59 |
| #7 Oh yeah! Give them a STATE! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2008-03-15 09:56 |
| #6 It is as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: 'We desire death like you desire life,'" he said. OK, turn off the water, turn on the DEATH. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-03-15 09:31 |
| #5 How can a culture in which the males ADMITTEDLY hide from their enemies behind the defenseless bodies of their women and children be considered anything better than completely degenerate? I would have thought that the Muzz would have rather had their throats cut than publicly admit such a fact. No wonder they've got to physically beat their women into submission; how could their women NOT hold them in uttermost contempt? To call Muzz males craven, cowardly bastards is to be guilty of incredible understatement. |
| Posted by: Pancho Elmeck8414 2008-03-15 09:26 |
| #4 Win-win. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-03-15 09:09 |
| #3 'We desire death like you desire life,' We seem willing to give them pretty much everything else they desire, why not death? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2008-03-15 09:05 |
| #2 'We desire death like you desire life,'" he said That can be easily arranged. |
| Posted by: Nesvarbukas 2008-03-15 08:16 |
| #1 And the World rises in wrath! |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-03-15 07:36 |