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Young boy Demonstrators AS 'SUICIDE BOMBERS' HIT in CAPE TOWN
Young boy Demonstrators AS
'SUICIDE BOMBERS' HIT in CAPE TOWN
Author: Elliott Sylvester
Publication: Weekend Argus
Date: November 29, 2002
URL: http://www.hinduvoice.net/MuslimDemonstratorsCall3rdDec02.html
The cynical use of two young boys
dressed as suicide bombers with cardboard cut-out dynamite sticks strapped
to their chests to lead a march in support of the Palestinian cause through
the streets of Cape Town, has sent shockwaves around the country.
The boys, wearing Hezbollah headbands
and dressed in black, marched with military style precision and were followed
by eight others carrying cardboard AK47s as they led a crowd of 300 people
from the Muir Street mosque in District Six to the United States consulate
at the foreshore.
The march came just 24 hours after
the mindless attack on the Israeli-run Paradise Mombassa Hotel in Kenya
in which 15 people, include three suicide bombers, were killed. An Israeli
passenger jet leaving Mombassa airport at the same time narrowly escaped
a missile attack.
During Friday's march, the message
from the children - between the ages of 7 and 13 - leading the march was
simple, but ominous: "DEATH TO AMERICA, DEATH TO ISRAEL," they shouted.
Earlier the marchers also shouted,
"ONE AMERICAN, ONE BULLET." Later, this changed to: "ONE AMERICAN TOURIST,
ONE BULLET" but the organizers then asked the marchers to stop chanting
those words.
The march, which started shortly
after 2:30 PM, was organised by the radical Muslim group, Qibla, to celebrate
International Quds day, the day of the oppressed. Its aim is to show solidarity
with Muslims living in Palestine under Israeli occupation.
The South African Jewish Board
of Deputies slammed the depiction of children as suicide bombers, saying
it was shameful that children should be used to further the aims of terrorists.
Former board chairman, Mervyn Smith,
said he was shocked to hear that the march was led by children in military
style, dressed as suicide bombers, some also supporing mock weapons.
And, in an even more shocking display,
the children staged a mock attack on a bakkie draped in sheets and painted
to look like an Israeli tank. After tearing the sheets from the bakkie,
the group including two girls, ripped apart an Israeli flag before returning
to their neat rows to continue the
march with cardboard guns in hand.
"It is scandalous that murderous
thugs should be portrayed as heroes to young children. The sense of values
appears to have been totally lost," Smith said.
It was hard to believe that the
people of Cape Town could still believe that violence was an answer to
the conflict in the Middle East.
"The whole world, including the
Palestinian authorities, condemns the notion of suicide bombers. Why, in
Cape Town, should they still be admired?" Smith said.
"Children should not be taught
to continue the violence which is already claiming so many lives."
But co-ordinator of the march and
Qibla member, Abdullah Ederies, said the children were vital in driving
home the message that Palestinians were sacrificing their bodies to fight
Israel, "one of the most powerful regimes in the world."
"Using these children is completely
justified...It's time the world sat up and took note..."
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