Baby Suicide Bomber

The 'Baby Suicide Bomber' refers to a photo that received wide media attention in 2002. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=2049530 Baby bomber photo a horrific symbol] , New Zealand Herald (syndicating the Independent), published July 1, 2002]

During a search done on 29 June, 2002, of a house belonging to a Hamas militant in the town of Hebron, The IDF found a photo showing a Palestinian infant dressed as a Hamas terrorist wearing a suicide bomber's harness.

The picture shows a boy, about 18 months old, standing wide-eyed in a baby suit. Red wires are strapped to his waist, which is clad in a pretend explosives belt, and across his head is tied a red bandana of Hamas.

According to BBC News the baby's grandfather, Redwan Abu Turki, said that the dressing of the infant baby as a bomber was from a rally at the university and that "the picture was taken just for the fun of it". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2075072.stm Baby bomber photo 'just fun'] , BBC News, published June 29, 2002]

Israeli newspapers published the photograph under headlines such as "Terror in Diapers" ["Terror in Diapers" (photo caption), Maariv, as cited by [http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/06/28/baby.photo/index.html Photo of baby suicide bomber called 'a joke'] , CNN, published June 29, 2002] and "Born to Kill". ["Born to kill" (photo caption), The Jerusalem Post, published June 28, 2002] Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's advisor Dore Gold said the picture "symbolizes the hatred and incitement which the Palestinian leadership has been feeding a whole generation of Palestinian youths." ["Argument over baby’s picture", Agence France-Presse, published June 28, 2002] At the U.S. State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher stated that he considered the image as "a highly objectionable display." [ [http://www.state.gov/p/nea/rls/rm/11561.htm Excerpts: June 28, 2002 Press Briefing] , The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs on behalf of the U.S. State Department, published June 28, 2002]

While Palestinian officials dismissed it as a "propaganda trick", Haaretz reported that a Palestinian journalist in the Hebron area said she did not believe the picture was a fake and expressed surprise at the furor it caused in Israel "PA minister: Israelis shouldn't be shocked by 'baby bomber' pic", Haaretz, published June 29, 2002 (online copy, December 6, 2005: [http://web.archive.org/web/20051206195110/http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=181370&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0] )]

blockquote|"I can find you many, many photos like this," she said. "Many kids imitate adults and wear toy masks and guns, especially during marches. It's not strange at all".

She added that she had seen children as young as the one in the photograph wearing similar costumes: "In our society it happens a lot. It's a kind of phenomenon."

Other photos of children dressed up as terrorists have been published since then. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2075072.stm]

References

See also

*Child suicide bombers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
*Children and minors in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
*al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
*Islamic extremist terrorism
*Military use of children
*Palestinian political violence
*Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement
*Suicide attack
*Terrorism
*Indoctrination
*Tomorrow's Pioneers