Check this out. I’d have never thunk it, but some Paleos seem to have been finally hit with the cluebat. (Or "thought club" as our Kemalist friends might call it....)
[Slightly EFL, but still long]
Family of would-be teenage bomber expresses outrage
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
The family of Husam Abdu, 16, of Nablus, who was caught on Wednesday at an IDF checkpoint with an explosive vest strapped to his body, has reacted with fury to reports that he had been dispatched to carry out a suicide attack. His mother, however, said she would not have opposed the decision to send her son on the suicide mission had he been over 18.
| Well, in that case why not let him go now? What's a couple years? |
Many Palestinians expressed shock at the internationally televised footage showing the boy removing the explosive vest at the Huwara checkpoint south of Nablus. "If I find out who sent him on this mission, I will not hesitate to fire two bullets at his head," said Abdu’s uncle, Abu Muhammad. "I don’t even mind spending the rest of my life in prison. Those who did this are criminals." He said he strongly condemns the recruiting of Abdu as a suicide bomber, noting that no one from the family had ever been involved in terrorism.
| Except for Mom, apparently... |
"We were completely surprised to hear about this incident," he said. "We condemn those who sent the boy to blow himself up. He was an innocent and quiet boy. He was a short, naive boy who had been struck in the head when he was a child and has been suffering from an illness since then. We always kept an eye on him because we knew he was a small child. Although he’s 16, he thinks like a 10-year-old."
Abu Muhammad said those who sent his nephew on the suicide mission had manipulated him by promising him 72 virgins in heaven and NIS 100. "They deceived him," he said. "He’s a boy who doesn’t know good from bad." The boy, in a videotape provided to journalists by the IDF, said he decided to blow himself up because "people do not like me."
| I'd guess nine out of ten teenagers think that at some point. Some are even correct... |
Abdu lives in the comfortable Makhfiyeh neighborhood. He has four sisters and a brother. His brother and father run a supermarket. After school, he used to help out in the shop, play with the computer, and occasionally play soccer – but complained that his friends keep mocking him. "My friends at school make fun of me," he said. "They call me ’Brains ’ but they also make fun of me because I’m small and ugly. They call me ’The Ugly Dwarf.’ It hurt so much I wanted to kill myself."
| Coulda found a less destructive way... |
"Since I am studying the Koran, I know about the good life which awaits there. The people who gave me the suicide belt told me this was my only chance to have sex."
| I dunno. I've seen some pretty ugly guys manage to get laid. Occasionally I've been one of them... |
"On Tuesday night I was sitting with friends, and I made the decision," he said. "When they put the explosives harness on me I was scared. I didn’t tell anyone what I was about to do. I didn’t tell my mother and I didn’t tell my father. When I reached the checkpoint, I became less scared. But when the soldiers stopped me, I didn’t pull the detonator cord. I changed my mind. I didn’t want to die any more. I took the battery out of the bomb harness."
| That's why the call him "Brains." |
He said he didn’t usually join in demonstrations against the Israelis. "I’ve never thrown any stones, either. What use is a stone? Anyway, I’m frightened of getting into trouble with soldiers."
| Not as dumb as he's made out to be, is he? |
He said he wasn’t motivated by economic distress. "We don’t have any problems. I have a computer, and I like playing ’Terrorist and the Policeman.’ I’ve heard a lot of music on the Internet. At one time I wanted to work in electronics when I grow up – open a store in Nablus and repair radios and televisions."
Many residents of Nablus expressed outrage at Abdu’s story, accusing the local armed groups of exploiting innocent children in a cynical and ruthless manner. "This is one of the worst cases I have seen," said a Nablus municipal official. "Whoever recruited this boy should be put on trial. This is a big crime."
Khawlah Khalil, a nurse at a local hospital, said she was shocked when she saw the boy on TV removing the eight-kilogram bomb from his body. "This is a barbaric act," she said. "I wasn’t able to sleep all night after watching the boy on TV. This is very harmful to the Palestinian cause."
| Not nearly as harmful as it would have been to the kid... |
Meanwhile, 60 prominent Palestinian officials and intellectuals called on the public to refrain from retaliatory attacks following the assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, saying it would ignite a new round of violence that would bring glory to our brave shaheeds only hurt Palestinian hopes for independence. A half-page advertisement in Al-Ayyam urged Palestinians to lay down their arms and turn to peaceful means of protest to end the occupation.
"But... but... What about the Dire Revenge (tm)???"
| Yasser doesn't want to try and catch a Mav... |
Those who signed the petition – including legislator Hanan Ashrawi and Abbas Zaki, a leading member of Fatah – said revenge attacks would lead to a strong Israeli retaliation.
Did the cycle of violence blow a tire?!?
The group called on the public to "rise again in a peaceful, wise intifada." They appealed to the Palestinians to reconsider what are the benefits of a violent struggle.
| Blowing up short bus 16 year olds seems to be one of them... |
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