Welcome to Camp Hamas

100 thousand kids and youth spent their summer vacation training in 700
Hamas training camps. The camp's curriculum includes firearm training and
military drills in order to nurture the next generation of militants

Arnon Ben-Dror - IDF Spokesperson's Office 29 August 2009 , 20:50
http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/09/08/2901.htm

700 summer camps, for children and teenagers, operated this summer by terror
organizations along the Gaza Strip - operating under the slogan - A "Victory
for Gaza - The Glory of Jerusalem". The camps are operated by the Hamas in
order to encourage the next generation of this organization. In the same
area many summer camps are operated by UNRWA (United Nations Relief and
Works Agency) - the main "competition" of Hamas's summer camps. The Hamas
reacted by presenting the UNRWA camps as "child corrupters", trying to
discourage the parents from sending their kids to the foreign aid
organization's camp.

According to Arab and Palestinian media, 100 thousand children and teenagers
participated in Hamas camps this year. The budget of these camps is
estimated to be 2 Million Dollars. The youths were guided by 1,500
counselors that went through special training courses. A marketing campaign
of the Al-Aqsa channel of the Hamas and a special internet site encouraged
participation of children in these camps.

The children and teenagers in the summer camps undergo semi military
training. The pictures and commercials published this year and last summer
showed that part of the curriculum included firearm practices and grenades
dismantling as well as military drills for the children, while holding
life-like weapons.

In addition to that, the camp participants undergo an intense process of
political and Islamic indoctrination by counselors and Hamas operatives,
which visit the camps. The camp goal is to train the movement's next
generation. According to Mahmud Abu Aeed, the purpose of the camps is to
prepare the children for leadership of the organization through "Victory and
Freedom".

According to Hamas commercials the camp goal is to "Experience a soldier's
life, serving Islam, locating excelling student groups that can operate in
the preaching of Allah and Islam, in schools and central mosques." Moreover,
the children are taught about the lives of martyrs and carry pictures of
them during processions.