Around the world, millions of children are the unheard voices of war.
And the horrors they witness today will inform the adults they become
tomorrow. Will they grow up to be the next leaders, teachers, freedom
fighters or terrorists? Children of Conflict is a four-part series
which explores the lives of children whose lives are blighted by
growing up in conflict zones. Nadene Ghouri goes in search of what the
past has created and what the future holds for these young people.She
travels to Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Lebanon
but begins her journey in Gaza, where she meets children growing up in
an environment of frequent violence and constant economic depression.
PART ONE: Gaza
One
of the World's biggest news stories, in one of the smallest and most
claustrophobic strips of land on earth. Gaza is a virtual prison with
no way in and hardly any way out. In an exclusive story, we talk to the
grandchildren of Fatima Al Najar – the oldest female Palestinian
suicide bomber. Bewildered and grieving for their grandmother, the
children say all they want to do is to follow suit and become 'martyrs'
themselves.
"I want to do the same. And I will recruit the other
children of this town for martyrdom," says 14 year old Fatima. When she
grows up she wants to study chemistry and engineering at university.
"That's if I don't become a martyr first," she says.Her views are
contrasted with another girl, 13 year old Rana, who dreams of being a
journalist "so I can tell people how we suffer here. I am a child, I
know what death means, I know what war means, I know what blood means.
Me and all the children here know what it means".
Or Tehal, just 10 years old – and who wants to be the first female Palestinian president.
Her
three wishes? To clean up the mess left behind by Israeli bulldozers,
to give children their rights "because they have no rights here" and
finally, "to build a new Gaza".