Thursday, January 24, 2013

Hamas to establish military academy for Gaza schoolchildren to prepare them for "liberating Palestine from the river to the sea"

(JPost) Hamas is planning to establish a military academy in the Gaza Strip for training and educating schoolchildren.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh announced Thursday that the new military academy, the first of its kind in the Gaza Strip, would prepare the children for the "phase of liberating Palestine."

He said that children in grades 7-9 could join the academy and graduate with a Diploma or Bachelor of Arts in military affairs.

Haniyeh was speaking during a ceremony in the Gaza Strip marking the birth of Prophet Mohamed. More than 10,000 schoolchildren attended the ceremony, which included a "military parade" by some of the teenagers.

He said that he has instructed the Hamas-run Ministry of Education to lay plans for the establishment of the military academy.

Haniyeh said that the new academy would educate and prepare children for the establishment of a Palestinian state "from the river to the sea."

The decision to establish a military academy follows Hamas's announcement that it would create its own "Defense Ministry" in the Gaza Strip.

The announcement was made shortly after the IDF's Pillars of Defense Operation in the Gaza Strip last November.