In making arguments related to the War on Terror, conservatives
sometimes run the risk of preaching to the choir rather than
convincing others at home and abroad of the true nature of the
Islamist threat. Earlier today, I saw a screening of the film the
Making of the Martyr, in which director
Brooke Goldstein traveled to Israel and the Palestinian territories
and interviewed Palestinian children about their aspirations to be
martyrs. At the screening, Goldstein argued that the best way to
reach liberals as well as foreign governments is to emphasize that
Muslim children being raised to be suicide bombers are in fact
victims of child abuse and their indoctrination constitutes a major
human rights violation. The focal point of the film is Hussam Abdu,
a Palestinian teenage dwarf, who was sent on a suicide bombing
mission when he was 15, but he became scared and surrendered to the
Israelis before detonation. Goldstein interviewed him as he was
serving a sentence in an Israeli prison. Almost like Henry Hill in
Goodfellas recalling, "As far back as I can
remember, I've always wanted to be a gangster," Hussum gloats about
how much respect is given to families of martyrs back home. As the
film documents, suicide bombers are treated as rock stars in the
Palestinian territories, with their posters plastered across their
villages. One young Palestinian girl who was interviewed casually
observed, "Every girl wants to be a martyr," while a young boy at a
summer camp declared there are only two choices, "victory or
martyrdom." All in all it's a scary but eye-opening look at how the
next generation of terrorists is being raised, which has
implications not only for Israelis, but for Americans, given that
similar incitement is common throughout the Muslim world.
If you have the time, you can watch the film online for free
here.
topics:
Islam, Movies, Israel
