Incitement and Hatred against Israel

Below is the Student Instruction Card published and distributed by the Bethlehem branch of the Islamic Student Movement. The Movement, identified with Hamas, operates in high schools and universities (1) where it distributes bulletins, daily newspapers and propaganda material, and recruits young people to participate in Hamas religious and cultural activities.

(1) The organization focuses primarily on high schools. At the university level it calls itself “The Islamic Block” (al-Kutlah al-Islamiyyah), whose activity at al-Najah University was described and analyzed in our Follow-up Report No. 1.

Hamas uses the Card as a tool for strengthening student identification with its members killed in terrorist attacks and to indoctrinate Jihad ideology and death as a shaheed in attacks on Israel.

Calendar with pre-examination “advice” for students

The “instructional” part of the card, relevant to the student’s studies, is a small detailed calendar (for 2002) under which appears pre-examination “advice” for students. This “advice” takes the form of verses from the Qur’an for the students to recite when they enter the examination room, when they receive the examination form and if they find any difficult questions. In addition, however, Hamas exploits the card to indoctrinate the students with extremist Islamic messages favoring violence and to urge them to join the ranks of Hamas as operatives, i.e., terrorists, as explained below.

The Front Cover of the Student Instruction Card

The front cover of the Student Instruction Card (above) shows the insignia of the Islamic Student Movement, Bethlehem, depicting an open Qur’an above two crossed swords and beneath the Mosque of the Dome of the Rock, all on the background of a map of “Greater Palestine.” Above is a green flag with the shahadah (the Islamic creed): “There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is His prophet.” It should be noted, however, that the Palestinian flag does not appear. On the open Qur’an are the following words: “Verily, these youths who believed in their Lord; therefore we have widened the true path for them.”

The Inside Cover of the Student Instruction Card

The inside cover of the student instruction card (above) gives a short explanation of the Islamic Student Movement: “[It provides] a framework for students open to everyone who accepts Allah as his God, Islam as his religion, the Qur’an as his Law and Mohammed as Allah’s prophet, commander and messenger. We represent Islam and not ourselves; we choose Islam as our path. Our motto: Islam is the Solution and the Jihad is our Path.” Beneath the explanation (which reflects Moslem Brotherhood ideology) appear the pictures of young men who were most probably killed in violent confrontation with Israel (although that is not specifically mentioned).

The Back Cover of the Student Instruction Card: The insignia of the Hamas movement (appearing twice in the bottom row) and pictures of movement members who have died for the sake of Allah (shuhada’).

The back cover shows:

a.	The Hamas insignia (appearing twice)

b.	A verse from the Qur’an [Surah 33, Verse 23]: “Among the faithful are those who fulfilled their vows: there are those who indeed fulfilled their vows as well as those who found their death [in battle] as well as those who are still waiting [their turn] but have not in any way broken [their vows].” [Note: This is not a verse with an “innocent” religious message. In context and quoted at length by extremist Islamic organizations, it can be interpreted as relating to Palestinians who vowed (to Allah) that they would engage in terrorist acts and die in battle against Israel. It is a clear political message encouraging the youth to engage in such acts.]

c.	Pictures of Hamas martyrs. Within the circle in the center of the page are pictures of senior Hamas members (such as Yahya ‘Ayyash, known as “The Engineer” (at the left) and Salah Shehadeh (in the center). They are surrounded by Hamas members, apparently from the Bethlehem region, who died while attacking Israel. At least some of the pictures also appear on a poster and on postcards devoted to 1990s Hamas “martyrs” from the Bethlehem region, including those killed while carrying out suicide attacks against Israel (see below).

Student’s timetable published by the Islamic Student Movement – Nablus branch. Above it is a series pictures reflecting the Palestinians’ violent struggle against Israel. The center picture, serving as the focus, is the Dome of the Rock (in Jerusalem). In the lower left-hand corner is a picture of a bus going up in flames and to the right, a bullet-riddled car. Above the time table the legend reads, “Our stormy sea will extinguish their fire / Oh, al-Aqsa, you will last [forever] – as long as Qur’an [verses] from [the Surah] “al-Isra’” are read. [This refers to Surah 17 in the Qur’an, the first verse of which has traditionally been interpreted and associated by the Moslems with al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.]

Poster of Hamas “Martyrs” from the Bethlehem Region

Some of the terrorists appearing on the poster also appear on the “Student Instruction Card” and on postcards dedicated to the memory of Hamas “martyrs.” Two of them [enclosed by boxes], for instance, are the terrorists in the center flanked by the Hamas insignia.

One of the above is Hamzah Mahmud Abu Sroor, a Hamas operative from Bethlehem who died in a major terrorist attack in Jerusalem . On July 1, 1993, he was one of three Hamas terrorists armed with light weapons and explosive devices who tried to take over a bus in Givat Hamivtar, Jerusalem, to use as a bargaining chip. When the bus driver foiled their attempt they hijacked a woman’s car and fled in the direction of Bethlehem. At the Gilo checkpoint (in the south of Jerusalem, leading to Bethlehem) they were killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers. Two women were killed in the attack and the bus driver was wounded.