Bomb Boy's Family Mad At Militants
Palestinian Family Angry At Those Who Sent Son On Suicide Mission
AP) A Palestinian family voiced furor Thursday at militants who sent their 16-year-old son on a suicide bombing mission, saying the extremists had exploited a naive boy.
The family's anger reverberated through Palestinian society, where people expressed shame that children had become weapons in the violent Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"We just want them to leave us alone," said Tamam Abdo, the teenager's mother.
Open criticism of militants is rare in Palestinian society, where consensus is valued and questioning the behavior of armed groups is seen as a betrayal. Some Palestinians are silent for fear of retribution.
While many in the West Bank and Gaza Strip still strongly support suicide bombings as a weapon against Israel, they have become critical of the militants' choice of attackers in several incidents this year.
In January, a 17-year-old boy died when his bomb belt exploded prematurely, a week after his 15-year-old brother and a cousin were killed in clashes. No group claimed responsibility.
A few days later, Hamas sent a 22-year-old mother of two young children to blow herself up at a crossing from Gaza into Israel, killing four Israelis.
Earlier this month, two 17-year-olds blew themselves up at the Israeli port of Ashdod, killing 10 Israelis. On March 16, Israeli troops stopped an 11-year-old boy allegedly trying to smuggle explosives through the same checkpoint where the teenager was caught Wednesday.
Israel said militants had given the 11-year-old the explosives without his knowledge. Palestinians denied he was carrying a bomb and claimed the incident was fabricated by Israel.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/...in608523.shtml