Palestinian baby picture stirs anger

Associated Press 
June 30, 2002 

Despite denials by the Palestinian Authority that it was 
authentic, the family of a Palestinian baby photographed 
wearing a mock suicide bomber's uniform replete with sticks 
of "explosives" and the traditional martyr's red headband 
confirmed that the photograph was real. 

A man who identified himself as the baby's uncle in a television 
interview with the British Sky News network said, "It was originally
taken during a rally or a graduation party at the university." 
He was filmed from the back in low light to conceal his identity 
at his request. 

"This is cheap Israeli propaganda," said PA Information Minister 
Yasser Abed Rabbo. "They are using this photo to justify Israeli 
crimes against the Palestinian people and to go on with their 
occupation of the Palestinian territories. These photos can easily 
be forged and distributed, and this has been done by the Israeli 
media several times before." 

Dore Gold, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the 
picture "symbolizes the incitement and hatred which the Palestinian 
leadership has been using to brainwash an entire generation of 
Palestinian children." 

But Palestinian Labor Minister Ghassan Khatib insisted it was 
understandable that Palestinians would teach their children violence 
toward Israelis. 

The army, he said, distributed the picture to "tell the world that 
the Palestinians are teaching their children how to hate Israel and 
how to act against Israel and I just want to say this is correct." 

He said he is against suicide bombings, which the PA officially 
condemns, and denied his words were an endorsement of them. Rather, 
he said, suicide bombings are an "unfortunate but inevitable" 
result of the Israeli occupation, noting polls have found a 
majority of Palestinians support them. 

Pictures of older children dressing as suicide bombers are not 
uncommon, and a boy about 10 was seen at a Hamas rally on Friday 
wearing fake explosives around his waist. 

The IDF also released a collection of video footage Friday it said 
came from media in the Arab world, including Hizbullah's Al-Manar 
television station in Lebanon, of children as young as about five 
dressed in play explosives. 

Still, the picture of such a young baby dressed as a suicide bomber 
was unusual. 

Col. Miri Eisin, a senior army intelligence analyst, said the 
ammunition strapped to the baby probably was not real. 

But she said the picture, which was found Tuesday in the family 
album of a senior Hamas fugitive, showed Palestinians were educating 
their children to embrace violence. The army distributed the photo 
to the media on Thursday. 

"I think it's important for the world, as for us, to understand 
the depth of what we talk about when we say Palestinian reforms," 
Eisin said, repeating a call by Israeli and US leaders for the 
Palestinians to reform their leadership. 

Eisin said she did not know if the baby was the Hamas activist's 
son or relative, and said soldiers photographed the picture and 
left the original in the family album. She said the soldiers had 
been looking in the album for an up-to-date picture of the wanted 
Palestinian, whom she refused to identify.