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Palestinian Women Demand Arafat Stop 'Sending Children to Die'

A Palestinian womens' group has demanded that the Palestinian Authority stop using children as cannon fodder in its intifada against Israel.

USA TODAY reported on Friday that the Tulkarm Women's Union recently wrote to PA chairman Yasser Arafat: ''Our children are being sent into the streets to face heavily armed Israeli soldiers… We urge you to issue instructions to your police force to stop sending innocent children to their death.''

One woman from Tulkarm, who refused to give her full name for fear of reprisals, told USA TODAY, ''We don't want to send our sons to the front line, but they are being taken by the Palestinian Authority." She added that Arafat's Fatah movement and the Palestinian security forces provide transportation and encouragement to children who wish to take part in the current intifada.

''When school finishes, Palestinian Authority security cars go around collecting children from the streets and sending them to the killing fields,'' she said. PA television constantly broadcasts images of children carrying weapons and staging mock attacks on Israelis, and the media "exalt not only those killed, but also their willingness to die as martyrs… emphasizing that [this] was the realization of their hopes,'' according to Itamar Marcus, director of the Palestinian Media Watch monitoring group.

Used with Permission from International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.