Little Starlet to fight the Occupation

A surprisingly new twist on the resistance against occupation in Palestine comes from Rafah, where a young 11 year old girl, a mouse, and a honeybee are making headway in establishing a metality amongst the the children of Gaza in their struggle for freedom.

Saraa Barhoun, a cute little hijab clad Palestinian girl, is the star of a children's program on Al-Aqsa TV. This young 'spirit of the youth' promotes understanding of Islam in the West, discusses political issues with callers, and promotes brushing your teeth everyday. The young tv personality definitely has staying power. With her near perfect annunciation of Arabic and adult like maturity, it is no wonder this child star is being watched by hundreds of young people and their parents in Gaza.

The ethics behind using a child star as a means to promote hate against Israel is another issue being brought to the fore by critics of the show and of Hamas (who own the station). In an article in the Observer by Conal Urquhart, the girl states, in response to her mother about giving up her life for the resistance, 'We love life, but we are happy to be martyrs.' The use of the word 'martyr' has now become commonplace in many Muslim dominated countries, though it's meaning becomes more vague with each use. It used to be someone who would stand firmly for their beliefs even when faced with persecution, jailtime, or death. But it seems now that more and more young Muslims are taking this to mean the ending of their own lives in kamikaze missions in Israel, with the promise of heaven - (Actually the Quran explicitly says not to kill yourselves).

Hamas needs to rethink its tactics that it's employing here. It needs to spend some time properly educating the youth of Gaza and the Bank in order to set the proper mentality of the resistance. Instead of providing material for the West to exploit, it should be concentrating its efforts on pressuring the other Arab and Muslim nations for help, starting with the Saudi government. The means are there, but the direction is lacking. If the war continues the way it is, Palestinians will continue to drown in their own blood, a reality that we all would like to avoid seeing. And after that, because of the uneducated youth, Israel will write whatever history it sees fit, of how they conquered the Palestinians against all odds. Hamas needs to bring more attention to its plight through the proper Arab channels, not through the US, and not through Abbas, whose method of applying pressure seems non-existent at present. When Hamas sits down and rethinks its policy, then the Palestinians will see reform. We need less brain-washing and more brain-storming and need to allow Saraa Barhoun to live out the few more years of teeth brushing promotion she has, leaving the politics to the big boys.