Incitement and Hatred against Israel

The area in and around Bethlehem, which is steadily losing its Christian status and identity, is characterized by widespread Islamic activity. It takes place in the mosques as well as educational and religious institutions, and focuses on charity, health and social welfare. Called the da’wah, it is central to the radical Islamic movement’s strategy, especially that of Hamas (and to a lesser extent of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.) It is aimed at influencing the population – especially the younger generation’s awareness and daily lives -- to reshape Palestinian society with radical Islamic values so that it will actively participate in the struggle to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic Palestine.

Hamas, which was originally the Palestinian branch of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood Movement, considers “education” (i.e., religious-political indoctrination) centrally important to forming the political awareness of Palestinian youth in the territories administered by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Therefore, Hamas invests its efforts in the regular PA-administered educational system and in its own alternative schools, without any effective measures being taken against it by the PA. Hamas’ widespread “educational” activity requires extensive financing, which it receives from “charitable institutions” operating in Arab (particularly Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States) and Western countries and even from Israeli Arabs.

Material which fell into Israel army hands in Bethlehem during Operation Defensive Shield sheds light on the ideology Hamas is working to instill into the minds of the younger generation. In the information bulletin presented here, “educational aids,” postcards bearing pictures of those who died in suicide attacks against Israel, a picture drawn by a student and Islamic booklets are examined and analyzed. They are all linked to the Islamic Student Movement of Bethlehem, which is a Hamas-backed umbrella organization. It operates mainly among high school students both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Therefore, similar “educational material” is distributed not only in Bethlehem but also in schools throughout the PA-administered territories (See below, material from the Nablus branch of the Islamic Student Movement).

The influence of extremist Islamic views, imported for the most part from Saudi Arabia, is evident in other materials distributed to school children. Such materials highly and extensively praise the Jihad (Holy War) and encourage identification with those who died “for the sake Allah” as “martyrs.” They reflect particular admiration for those “martyrs” who died while carrying out terrorist attacks against Israel (and are suitably called shaheeds), particularly Hamas members who died in the confrontation with Israel. They encourage Palestinian youth to continue the violent struggle against Israel to attain the final objective, i.e., the establishment of an Islamic Palestinian state to replace Israel.

The radical Islamic indoctrination to which Palestinian youths are exposed in high schools and universities is an integral part of the Hamas-based da’wah infrastructure, which also supports needy students by providing them with grants. The results can be seen in the strength of the Hamas-supported student unions, which control most of the important universities in the PA-administered territories. The universities, attended by high school graduates fully indoctrinated with Hamas propaganda, serve as recruiting agencies for terrorists, many of whom have already died as suicide bombers in recent years. The most prominent of these universities are al-Najah in Nablus, the Polytechnic University of Hebron (where the suicide bomber who blew up a bus in Haifa in March, 2003, was a student) and al-Quds [Jerusalem] Open University (the alma mater of Hiba Sa’id Daraaghmeh, who blew herself up at the entrance to the mall in Afula, in northern Israel, May, 2003).