This year, as in previous ones, Hamas has been operating summer camps throughout the Gaza Strip; the camps are attended by over 100,000 boys and girls from fifth grade to high school age. This year's name for the camps – "Beacons of Liberation" – was, according to camps coordinator Mussa Al-Samak, aimed at enhancing the campers' awareness of the liberation of "all of Palestine."
Al-Samak said that the summer camps are emphasizing topics such as the right of return, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the resistance, and added that it is the movement's responsibility "to sow the love of the homeland and the liberation of Palestine in the souls of the youth, so that this generation brings us to the stage of liberation."[1]
At the opening ceremony for the summer camps in western Gaza, Hamas Political Bureau deputy head Ismail Haniya said that the movement would continue "to call and educate for the liberation of all of Palestine, for actualizing the return of the refugees and the release of the prisoners, and for establishing a state on all Palestinian lands with Jerusalem as its capital." He said that these camps focus on building a generation that could liberate the homeland and Jerusalem and bring the refugees back to their homes.[2]
Ismail Haniya with campers (Facebook.com/Camp.west.Gaza2014)
Paltimes.com, a website close to Hamas, reported that the logo chosen for the camps this year has symbolic meaning and that it features "a map of Palestine from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea, next to an image of the Dome of the Rock, as well as a beacon with a flame in the colors of the Palestinian flag... Beneath this is the motto 'Prepare Against Them,' from Allah's words [Koran 8:60] 'And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war,' to stress that the preparation and nurturing [of children] from a young age, in all areas, will have an impact in the liberation of land and of man."[3]
This year's logo of the summer camps.
The following are images from Hamas summer camps posted on various Facebook pages belonging to the individual camps.
Military Training As Part Of Camp Activity
Child carrying dummy rocket; sign advertises the summer camps (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 17, 2014)
Children carrying dummy rockets and rifles (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 22, 2014)
Armed boy running obstacle course (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 21, 2014)
Children practicing with dummy rifles (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 17, 2014)
Children practicing with rifles (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 16, 2014)
Children training in tunnels (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 21, 2014)
Combat training with handguns (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 19, 2014)
Practicing with dummy rifles (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 21, 2014)
Children training in rifle use (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 19, 2014)
Armed children during parade (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 19, 2014)
Practicing with rifles (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 21, 2014)
Masked child armed with rifle (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 21, 2014)
Military-style training; instructor's face blurred (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 18, 2014)
Children giving Nazi-style salute (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 18, 2014)
Anti-Israel Indoctrination At The Camps
Stepping on the Israeli flag (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 19, 2014)
Children in a pool next to picture of former head of Hamas's military wing, Ahmed Al-Ja'bari (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 19, 2014)
Children next to pictures of Hassan Salameh and Abbas Al-Sid – officials in Hamas's military wing, who were responsible for a series of devastating terrorist attacks in Israel (Facebook.com, June 17, 2014)
Playing Chutes and Ladders – Snakes with Jewish heads and images of Hamas fighters (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 17, 2014)
Children with the caption "Hebron Resists", supporting the kidnapping of Israeli teens (Gazacamps2014, June 21, 2014)
Children with the caption "Hebron Resists" (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 19, 2014)
Children with the caption "Together with Hebron" and a model rocket launcher on the left (Facebook.com/Gazacamps2014, June 22, 2014)
Hamas Summer Camps For Girls
Girls in uniform (Kotla.ps, June 21, 2014)
Girls holding keys – the symbol for the Right of Return (Kotla.ps, June 21, 2014)
Girls with camp counselor next to model of Al-Aqsa mosque (Facebook.com/Camp.west.Gaza2014, June 15, 2014)
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