Palestinian youth take part in a military summer camp organized by Izz ad-Din al-Qassam brigade fighters, the military wing of Hamas, in the east of Gaza City on June 26, 2021 in Gaza City, Gaza. (Photo by Fatima Shbair/Getty Images) A teenager attending a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) training camp in the Gaza Strip can be seen in video footage saying that they believe Adolf Hitler left Jews alive “in order to show us how wicked you are.”
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported that the attendee told Al-Quds Al-Youm TV on June 29, “We did not come here to enjoy ourselves, or to play, or anything like that. We came with our souls, our blood, our martyrs, and our wounded to sacrifice ourselves for Palestine and for our people.”
He then stated: “We asked Hitler why he left some of you alive. He did so in order to show us how wicked you are.” The attendee vowed to “tear your bodies apart with our rockets. Scram into the shelters, you mice, you sons of a Jewish woman!”
Abu Omar, a training commander at the PIJ camp––called the “Sword of Jerusalem” camp––then told the network that the child soldiers attending the camp are “lion cubs” who will “follow in the footsteps of their fathers and take up arms, Allah willing.” He added that “the children of Palestine will sacrifice their blood and their body parts, just like they did during the [Battle of the] ‘Sword of Jerusalem.’”
#ICYMI: Child at Islamic Jihad Gaza Summer Camp: Hitler Left Some of You Alive to Show Us How Wicked You Are; We Will Tear Your Bodies Apart with Our Rockets; PIJ Official: The Children of Palestine Will Sacrifice Their Blood and Body Parts #Gaza #terrorists #antisemitism pic.twitter.com/4q3wRpBA0c
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) July 9, 2021
As previously reported by the Journal, the International Legal Forum, a human rights legal group based in Israel, sent a letter to the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to investigate and take action against Hamas and PIJ’s training camps for child soldiers. “This is an abhorrent form of child abuse, that exposes these children to violence, exploitation and potential death,” the letter stated.
A Hamas spokesperson has defended the terror group’s use of training camps. According to Long War Journal, the spokesperson said during a press conference that Hamas has “the right to self-determination, self-defense, and resisting the occupier by all means available, including armed resistance.”
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.