The participation of Palestinian children and boys in acts of terrorism against Israel is not new, this phenomenon began in the First Lebanon War in 1982, when IDF soldiers encountered Palestinian children and boys whom the PLO sent to fire RPG rockets at them, who later received the nickname RPG children, and it continued in the second Intifada as well in 2004 and during the knife intifada in 2015.
In recent weeks, this phenomenon has resurfaced in East Jerusalem, so far 3 Palestinian boys have carried out attacks against Israelis, in one case the 13-year-old boy Muhammad Aliwat also carried out a shooting attack at Israeli civilians with a gun in the village of Silwan in East Jerusalem.
Security officials in Israel are very concerned about the renewal of the phenomenon in East Jerusalem, these attacks usually take place in the Old City or in the Jewish neighborhoods adjacent to East Jerusalem against Israeli citizens and members of the security forces.
The attackers have already received the nickname in Arabic Ashbal al-Quds (boys of Jerusalem) and they have become the new heroes of the struggle of the Palestinians against Israel.
The new young generation in East Jerusalem sees Israel as an enemy that must be defeated through acts of terror and jihad.
His new heroes are the terrorist Udai Altamimi who murdered the late IDF soldier Noa Lazar at the Shuafat checkpoint, the terrorist Khairy Alkam who carried out the massacre in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood in Jerusalem, the terrorist Fadi Abu Shchiedem, a school teacher in East Jerusalem, who murdered the Israeli citizen Eli Kay in the Old City and the terrorist Misbach Abu Sbeich who murdered two Israelis in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem in 2016 and whom the Palestinians call him the Lion of Jerusalem.
According to security officials, the participation of Palestinian boys in terrorist activities in East Jerusalem will increase even more towards the month of Ramadan.
The Palestinians try to give different explanations for the terrorist phenomenon of the children and boys who joined the latest wave of terrorism and shift the blame to Israel, they blame it on the fact that Israel is provoking the Palestinians with its actions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, on the fact that the Jerusalem municipality is neglecting the care of the neighborhoods in the east of the city, on the outrage over the illegal house demolitions and the measures that the IDF is taking against the armed terrorist groups in the West Bank.
However, the main reasons for the recent renewal of this phenomenon in East Jerusalem stems from the following reasons.
A. Wild incitement by the Palestinian Authority and the terrorist organizations against Israel and the Jews on social networks, especially on Tik Tok and Instagram applications.
In the security establishment, the inciting videos that are distributed on social networks are called terrorist porn, shocking images of Palestinian deaths in Jenin and Nablus, Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip, Israeli citizens praying on the Temple Mount and videos of Palestinian terrorists who are presented as heroes.
B. Wild incitement in the education system and home education.
The Palestinian parents also contribute to incitement and instill in their children an abysmal hatred of Israel and the Jews, they allow them to purchase cell phones and do not curb the incitement, on the contrary, they encourage the culture of death in their children and celebrate the death of every child and teenager killed during an attack and call him a martyr.
About 200 schools operate in East Jerusalem, most of them teach according to the PA’s curriculum that emphasizes the Palestinian narrative of the Nakba, ignores the existence of the State of Israel and the Oslo Accords, and emphasizes the importance of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and struggle against Israel.
The Israeli concern now is the expansion of the phenomenon towards the month of Ramadan, the Palestinian boys embark on attacks full of hatred and enthusiasm to take revenge on the Israelis for the death of Palestinian terrorists at the hands of the security forces, they claim that they are acting in the name of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque and most of them want to become local heroes in their places of residence and to bring honor to their family.
The religious leaders in East Jerusalem support this phenomenon, the public leaders in East Jerusalem and PA officials do not call for the children to be taken out of the circle of terror, for them all means are acceptable to fight against Israel, the children are brainwashed with a broad social consensus with religious legitimacy, they cross the barrier of fear with false promises that they will reach heaven.
