In a surreal visit to a Tulkarm safe house, Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Michael Matza discovered that Islamic Jihad’s recruits are getting younger and younger:
A ninth-grade dropout in shiny black jeans and a military-style shirt, Shafi and his two pistol-packing bodyguards paint a portrait of themselves as fierce anti-Israel fighters.
The image sticks – until Shafi’s mother, Ghada, 40, wrapped in a white hijab and hand-embroidered robe, enters the room and reminds him that she twice tried to hand him over to Israeli troops because she would rather see him go to prison than be killed.
“I don’t sleep,” she said. “I pray all night for his safety. I tell him: ‘All the people [in his group] have been killed or arrested. Your turn will be next. Please stay away from them.’ “
At that, Shafi got mad and shooed his mother from the room. It could have been a scene out of Leave It to Beaver, with a deadly twist.
For more about Palestinian terror groups taking advantage of children, see Teach Kids Peace.
