Israel Gaza
Hamas Children Cyber Facebook Memorial
By
Monique Lester
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem
--- January 17, 2009...... An online, Internet Web 2.0 memorial
for all Jewish and Arab children who have been killed in the
Israel Hamas Gaza conflict is now being organized on Facebook.
The
Israel Gaza Children's Cyber Memorial,
in memory of the Israel and Palestinian children killed in the
Gaza conflict will be held online next Saturday, January 24,
with an Internet ceasefire taking place for one day.
"Jews
and Arabs have succeeded in using new Web 2.0 cyber technology
and social working to get messages out from both sides of the
Gaza conflict," said Joel Leyden, an Internet marketing
pioneer who is based in Israel, London and New York.
"Israel
has used a variety of social networking tools to explain her
defensive actions for going into Gaza. These include Facebook,
YouTube and Twitter. Both supporters of Israel and Hamas have
gone to great lengths to inform their communities of their actions
on the Internet. They have reached millions of people on the
Internet. But what has been overlooked are the hundreds of children
in both Israel and Gaza who have been killed and injured by
Hamas Qassam rockets and IDF defensive action."
Leyden
states that regardless if one is a Zionist who wishes to live
in peace in Israel or a member of Hamas who declares the total
destruction of the State of Israel, both Israel and Hamas have
children.
"Hamas
has stated that they would sacrifice their women and children
in a war with Israel,"says Leyden, a native of New York
who has three young children of his own. "But we know,
even as some members of Hamas use their children and other women,
children, the UN and the press as human shields in Gaza, the
majority of Palestinians value life, not death. That most Arabs
who seek a state called Palestine, seek peace and have been
intimated by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. You can see
the tears in their eyes when their children have been hurt.
They are not callous. Most civilians in Gaza do not want their
children becoming shahids or martyrs. They don't want this war.
They want peace, democracy and security for their children."
The use
of children as soldiers is a war crime.
The
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
clearly states that all parties recognize that every child has
the inherent right to life. Even those Hamas is not one of the
parties obligated to the United Nations, many Arab nations are
and as such have every responsibility to make certain that children
in Gaza are not being used as human shields.
The
UN clearly states: "One of the most alarming trends relating
to children and armed conflicts is their participation as active
soldiers. Children as young as 8 years of age are being forcibly
recruited, coerced and induced to become combatants. Manipulated
by adults, children have been drawn into violence that they
are too young to resist and with consequences they cannot imagine."
"It
is a war crime
to use children in a war," says Leyden.
"Whether
Hamas is illegally using the lives of their children to wage
an Islamic Jihad, attacking Israel children with cross-border
attacks using Kassams, Grads and Katusha rockets and Israel
is defending herself - the world community must protest the
use of children in war and remember those who have died in it.
We ask every room on Facebook to close to their discussion walls
for one day. Replace your Facebook picture with a lit memorial
candle. And rather than taking the role of a keyboard warrior,
take the role of a cyber peace maker. To light one candle and
reflect on why Israel has been forced to defend herself in Gaza,
a place she left three years ago and why Hamas cherishes death
over life. We need to step back. Take a deep breath and stop
the cyclical accusations. We need to place children first. If
Hamas in Gaza cannot do it, then it is the responsibility of
the world community to protect the lives of innocent children
- both in Gaza and Israel."
Facebook
has over 160 millions users worldwide and is ranked as the fifth
largest Website on the Internet. Through Facebook, one can chat
with people thousands of miles away, post pictures and videos,
and stay connected to issues from health, entertainment, business
to human rights, sports and family.
"If
we can gather close to 100,000 people to stop terror attacks
on Israel, then how many people can we secure to stop the use
of children as human shields, how many people can we secure
to protest the deaths of children in both Israel and Gaza?"
The
above news content was edited and SEO optimized in Israel for
the Internet by the Leyden Communications Internet Marketing
SEO Group - Israel, London, New York.