Palestinian death culture: 16-year-old girl killed in terrorist firefight with IDF

Dear Friend of Israel, Friend of FLAME:

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Israel of killing 16-year-old Palestinian Jana Zakarneh “in cold blood” while she was filming a firefight between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen from a rooftop in Jenin. That was a lie.

Zakarneh was indeed a victim—not of Israeli counterterrorist actions, but of a culture of hate and violence that permeates Palestinian society.

UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres’ office called the incident “shocking” and called for an investigation. He shouldn’t have been shocked.

Not only do Palestinians fail to protect their children from the dangers of armed conflict—by forbidding their presence near the fighting or participating in it—but rather they actually encourage their children to be terrorists who despise Jews and rejoice in their death.

Any anger at Jana Zakarneh’s death should be directed at the uncle who allowed her to go up on the roof, the gunman who allowed her to continue filming with him on the roof, and the entire society for glorifying the Palestinian jihadi conquest of Israel.

Young Palestinians are taught the lie from early childhood that Jews are evil sub-humans who stole their land. This indoctrination takes place through elementary education in TV shows and school materials.

On an episode of the Palestinian children’s show, The Best Home, a girl recites a poem calling for “vengeance”, “liberation”, and a “war that will destroy the Zionist soul.” In the same episode, another girl recites a poem that reads, “A Zionist stole the land of Palestine.”

The Palestinian Authority (PA) school system honors terrorists. Many schools in PA-controlled territories are named after terrorists. Five are named after Dalal Al-Mughrabi, who took part in an attack on an Israeli bus in 1978, killing 37 Israelis, including 13 children.

Palestinian children are taught to idolize terrorists like Al-Mughrabi, and if possible, become “martyrs,” just like her. No surprise, then, that Palestinian children trade “baseball cards” bearing photos of their favorite terrorists. The latest trend among young Palestinians? Wearing necklaces with pictures of their favorite terrorists on them.

The notorious United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)—financed through donations from the U.S. and Europe—runs schools for Palestinians whose curriculum teaches hatred of Jews.

In a documentary film about UNRWA schools, children reveal the results of their training. “Right now, I am prepared to be a suicide bomber,” says a 13-year-old Palestinian boy at an UNRWA-run school. Another student says, “They teach us that Jews are fickle, bad people. I am ready to stab a Jew and drive [a car] over them.”

In fact, despite promises of reform over the years, under pressure from Western donors, the hatred taught in UNRWA schools has only gotten worse. Whereas Israel was vilified by name in textbooks published prior to 2017, it isn’t even mentioned in later material, and doesn’t even appear on maps.

Palestinians train their children at summer camps for armed violence —fighting and carrying out terrorism—with the goal of harming and killing Jews.

Children as young as 7 years old are given military training, including training on how to use firearms. Photos taken at Hamas summer camps show children posing with AK-47 rifles.

Last year, at Hamas’s “Pioneers of Liberation” camp, campers were trained through computer simulations in which they shoot soldiers and policemen at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque. Other simulations include sniper shooting and anti-tank missile launching.

Palestinian terrorists purposely endanger young Palestinians by using them as human shields. This includes placing weapons in or near civilian structures, and encouraging children to participate in violent confrontations with Israeli soldiers. Indeed, participating in a violent confrontation with the IDF was exactly what Jana Zakarneh was doing when she was killed.

When Zakarneh was fatally shot, it was not the first and only time she filmed a firefight between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen. Initial investigations revealed that she served as a photographer for gunmen in her neighborhood on a regular basis. Her cellphone footage is evidence of this.

Just last week, the Israeli military provided aerial evidence of rocket launching sites near schools in the Gaza Strip. Terrorists locate their rocket sites near civilian buildings so there is a greater risk that Israel will unintentionally injure or kill civilians when trying to destroy these sites.

Hamas actually contacted the educators that run the schools to promote the location of their wares there. Thus, the very people who are supposed to be educating Palestinian children and keeping them safe, instead endanger their lives by allowing terrorists to place weapons in their schools.

Two weeks earlier, UNRWA discovered a tunnel that terrorists had dug under one of its own schools. These tunnels are frequently used to smuggle weapons and other terrorist supplies into the Gaza Strip. They are also used to launch attacks inside Israeli territory, such as in 2006, when Hamas terrorists kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

UNRWA condemned the use of its schools as sites for terrorist infrastructure, but the organization’s condemnation is hollow, since this was not the first time such infrastructure has been found in the UN agency’s schools.

As Palestinian children get older, they soon learn that the wages of violent “resistance” are handsome, since Palestinian leaders incentivize harming and killing Jews through their “pay-for-slay” policy.

The PA pays salaries to individuals who perpetrate acts of terror against Israel, as well as their families. In 2020, according to a high-ranking PLO official, the PA spent $187 million paying these salaries. Payments to terrorists and their families can continue for life, and for murder of multiple victims, can be as high as $4,000 per month, more than three times the average Palestinian salary.

By contrast, the rules of engagement for the Israel Defense Forces are designed to avoid civilian casualties, especially those of children. In fact, the IDF Code of Conduct states, “ IDF soldiers will not use their weapons and force to harm human beings who are not combatants, or prisoners of war, and will do all in their power to avoid causing harm to their lives, bodies, dignity and property.”

When you hear the slander that Israel is murdering Palestinian children, I urge you to remind your friends, family, colleagues, elected officials—and in letters to the editor—of the profound truth in the words of former Prime Minister Golda Meir: “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.”

I hope you’ll also take a minute, while you have this material front and center, to forward this message to friends, visit FLAME’s lively Facebook page and review the P.S. immediately below. It describes FLAME’s new hasbarah campaign—”Democracy Thrives in Israel”—which exposes false claims that Israel deprives Arab Israeli citizens and Palestinian Arabs of their rights.

Best regards,

Jason Shvili, Contributing Editor
Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME)

P.S.

Despite Israel’s guarantee of civil liberties and equal treatment for all its citizens—including two million Arab Israelis—Israel is still falsely accused of being an apartheid state. Despite Israel and the Palestinians agreeing that the Palestinian Authority will administer its own civil affairs, including elections, Israel is accused of violating human rights because Palestinians can’t vote in Israeli elections. I think you’ll agree that truth is the only antidote to this lie. FLAME’s new hasbarah message—called “Democracy Thrives in Israel” publicizes a new, independent “Democracy Index” in which Israel is named the world’s 23rd most successful democracy—ahead of the United States, Italy, Spain and 139 other nations. This new editorial message also clarifies that Palestinians’ repression is due overwhelmingly to their two ruling dictatorships. (Palestinians are ranked #109 in the Democracy Index—as “authoritarian.”) I hope you’ll review this convincing, fact-based editorial, which FLAME published nationwide in the New York Times, Washington Post, New York Post, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Los Angeles Times and San Jose Mercury News. This piece will also be sent to all members of Congress, Vice President Harris and President Biden. If you agree that this kind of public relations effort on Israel’s behalf is critical, I urge you to support us. Remember: FLAME’s powerful ability to influence public opinion—and U.S. support of Israel—comes from individuals like you, one by one. I hope you’ll consider giving a donation now, as you’re able—with $500, $250, $100, or even $18. (Remember, your donation in 2022 to FLAME is tax deductible.) To donate online, just go to donate now. Now, more than ever, we need your support to ensure that the American people, the U.S. Congress and President Biden stay committed to fighting antisemitic, anti-Israel actions by individuals, politicians and commercial companies. As of today, more than 15,000 Israel supporters receive the FLAME Hotline at no charge every week. If you’re not yet a subscriber, won’t you join us in receiving these timely updates, so you can more effectively tell the truth about Israel? Just go to free subscription.