Update

Dear EMET friends,

We believe it is important to keep you updated on the important issues EMET is working on, whether in the form of Action Alerts or granular details on the issues we are discussing with our Capitol Hill contacts.

Like many countries in the Northern Hemisphere, people in the United States are preparing their summer plans: vacations, getaways and camps for the kids. 

People in Gaza Strip are no different, except the camps they send their kids to are special terror camps run by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigade, the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization. Or, as an al-Qassam Brigade spokesman put it in his opening remarks of the summer camp, delivered in English: “The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigade announced the launch of the liberation camps for the youth in Gaza Strip… This program is also intended to protect the young generation from falling into traps laid by the Israeli occupation, and help them acquire a number of skills that will make them competent and conscious through a range of religious, security and [unclear word] programs, including physical training, self-defense skills, first aid program and crisis management skills.” 

The spokesman also underscored, more than once, that one of the missions of this camp is to strengthen the kids’ willingness to “make sacrifices when needed.”

There is an abundance of footage online of their “physical training, self-defense skills and first-aid program” and demonstrations of what constitutes “making sacrifices when needed.” In this video clip, you will see some of the 25,000 kids who attend the camp, some younger than 13, training to operate assault rifles, assault buildings, march in military formations and understand the combat doctrine of Hamas. It is also reported that in the camp, children learn traipsing down buildings and launching shoulder-fired missiles.

We have now heard it from the horse’s mouth, not from an NGO with a political agenda. A spokesman of the al-Qassam Brigades has said it on camera in English, and there is footage to prove it. In what world do parents send their 10-year-old children to become martyrs and terrorists?

The next time you see pictures of children in Gaza who were killed during a round of escalation, ask yourself if these kids are truly innocent bystanders, or perhaps, whether they were placed on the battlefield by Hamas to implement what they have learned in their summer camps.

In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, which is a commitment that, among other things, states and armed groups “should not, under any circumstances, recruit or use in hostilities anyone under the age of 18.” The Protocol entered into force in 2002, and has now been ratified by the majority of countries. 

Furthermore, according to the UN, “Recruiting and using children under the age of 15 as soldiers is prohibited under international humanitarian law - treaty and custom -and is defined as a war crime by the International Criminal Court.”

On June 28, 2021, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council, “the International Community must not allow armed conflict to trample on children’s rights.”

Said the Secretary General, “During 2020, almost 24,000 grave violations were committed against 19,300 children in the 21 situations. This shocking, heart-breaking disregard for children’s rights at times of conflict continues with their recruitment and use, their killing and maiming, and the denial of humanitarian access.” 

Citing new and deeply concerning trends, he pointed to increasing numbers of child abductions and sexual violence. At the same time, schools and hospitals are being attacked, looted, destroyed or used for military purposes, with girls’ educational and health facilities targeted disproportionately.

For years, experts have written reports and warned about these issues. But now, hearing it directly from Hamas, it is time to take action. We can no longer stand on the sidelines and claim it is too absurd to be true. We must take action against Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigade summer camps and against Hamas’s terrorism.

As President John F. Kennedy once said, “Peace does not just exist in signed documents and charters alone, but in the hearts and minds of the people.”

This is just one of the many issues that EMET talks about in our daily meetings with offices on Capitol Hill. To the best of our knowledge, no one else is discussing these issues that are essential if we are ever to see an end to the conflict. That is why we depend on you for your continuous support. 

Please feel free to introduce EMET to your friends and family by sharing this information and everything EMET does. As usual, you are also welcome to use this information to contact your Representative, and your Senators. You can get in touch with them by simply calling (202) 224-3121, and ask for them by name.

If you have any follow up questions, please feel free to reach out to us. We would be more than happy to clarify details and provide further information.

Warm regards,

The EMET Team