| Fighting amongst young people is becoming an every day occurrence and much of it still stems from sectarian hatred. |
Last week a young 14-year old Palestinian boy ran towards Israeli troops with explosives strapped to his chest. Only a fortnight ago an 11-year old was found with a bomb hidden in his bag. The question is, what made a boy at 14 with his whole life still ahead of him want to turn himself into a human bomb?
As you all know Israel was responsible for the death of a well-respected religious leader of the Palestinians, which caused outrage across the nation of Palestine. The people of Palestine later announced that the Israeli government would pay for the murder they committed and it now seems they meant it. Could the young suicide bomber be proving that even children are willing to give their lives in the name of revenge?
We all know that Israel and Palestine have never been the best of friends. You now hear about the situation in Israel on a daily basis. Both sides have lost so many lives but who is to blame? If you go back into history, Israel was called Palestine so it was originally the land of the Palestinians. Their land was taken from them, the Israelis treated them cruelly and most times the Israelis were often accused of being the first to attack Palestinian lands and on occasion they even invaded them.
The Palestinians are not innocent however. Their so called "suicide bombers" do not attack military targets, they attack school buses, civilians etc. It is under these terms that they are labelled as terrorists. In my opinion the answer is simple; the hostilities between these two sides will not stop until one of them gets what they want.
In many ways it is similar to the situation in Northern Ireland. Both young people there and young people here are being raised into conflict. I admit that children in Northern Ireland are not being told to strap explosives to their chests but even though there are ceasefires and peace processes I, as a young person, see the raw hate building up each day. Any one growing up in Derry can see the streets cry out with hatred.
Fighting amongst young people is becoming an every day occurrence and much of it still stems from sectarian hatred. It shows that even though there is a peace process, it is hanging on a thread and is slowly waiting to explode. The way I see it the young suicide bomber has shown us this at a new extreme level.
Many of the issues are based on political rivalry. Nowhere is safe from it. The people of Northern Ireland, like the Palestinians and Israeli's, continue to fight each other rather than try to live side by side. The rivalry and hatred goes back hundreds of years and shows no signs of ending soon.
What, as young people, are we to do? Children should not be dragged into conflicts in anyway, never mind attempt something so terrible as a suicide bombing. How many more children will turn up with explosives attached to them before something is done?
About the team
This story was produced by Owen Shields, 17. It was published by the Derry News.
