Israel Matzav: How to spend your summer vacation: 'Experience Life Under Occupation' and 'Palestinian prisoner' camp

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

How to spend your summer vacation: 'Experience Life Under Occupation' and 'Palestinian prisoner' camp

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for innovative ways to keep my kids busy during the summer. This summer, we have two kids in day camp, a third preparing for his Bar Mitzva, and the older kids are all keeping themselves entertained (one still has university exams, one is still in yeshiva and two are married so that just leaves the recent high school graduate who is helping a teacher do lesson plans for next year). In England, the Church of England (yes, really) has come up with an innovative way for your older kids to spend their summer. It's called 'Experience Life Under Occupation.'

The representative organization of British Jewry - the Board of Deputies - said it was "dismayed" by this week's decision by the Church of England’s Synod to pass a motion endorsing the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), which sends "internationals" to the West Bank to "experience life under occupation."

The Board of Deputies criticized what it called a decision to "promote an inflammatory and partisan program at the expense of its interfaith relations, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

"Justifying its decision using the views of marginal groups in Israel and the UK, the Synod has ridden rough shod over the very real and legitimate concerns of the UK Jewish community, showing a complete disregard for the importance of Anglican-Jewish relations," the board said in a statement.

Another thing you can think about doing is sending your kids to 'Palestinian prisoners' camp, a new variant on past 'Palestinian' camps.

Hytham al- Madhun, one of the camp guides, explained that the mock prison set up for the camp is divided into six rooms, each simulating the incarceration conditions of Palestinian prisoners. The first room is an interrogation cell, which is where prisoners are first led once entering the prison. In this room, Madhun describes to the kids "the prisoners' firm resilience in the face of Israeli interrogators' threats and their refusal to admit the charges ascribed to them."

One of the main heroes of the camp is Ibrahim Hamed, who was the head of Hamas' military wing in Ramallah and is responsible for murdering dozens of Israelis. The guides boastfully tell the children how Hamed, who was recently sentenced to 54 life sentences, has continually refused to give his interrogators any information, including his given name.

In the next room, the children get to see what a prisoner's cell looks like, and the guides warn them of Israeli agents who pose as prisoners, trying to get the Palestinian prisoners to talk and admit to their acts. Other rooms include a solitary confinement chamber, a torture den, a room that simulates a prison hospital, and even a small prison courtyard.

Ahmad Rantisi, one of the organizers of the summer camp, said that its goal is to allow children to get a tangible experience of the suffering of Palestinian prisoners, and strengthen their belief in the protection of Palestinian land and the high price that must be paid.

My two younger kids' camp (which is supposed to be a continuation of school with less study time and with trips) went on a trip to an amusement park today. I think they're much better off than these people are. At least they won't be brainwashed.

Labels: England, Hamas, terrorist summer camps