UNRWA school houses terrorists in Gaza
6 Jan. 2009 - Hamas terrorists hide in a school belong to the UN agency UNRWA and yet again use the Palestinian people as a human shield, IDF Spokesperson Capt. Benjamin Rutland reports.
video courtesy of IDF Spokesperson
And while we are on the subject of United Nations schools in Gaza, last week the headmaster of the UN school in Gaza, a science teacher/headmaster named Awad al-Qiq was killed during a air strike by Israel. The air strike also exposed another side to Awad al-Qiq, that of being a rocket builder for Hamas. The UN and his family denied any knowledge of his Hamas affiliations, but militant leaders allied to the enclave's ruling Hamas group hailed him as a martyr who led Islamic Jihad's "engineering unit" -- its bomb makers. They fired a salvo of improvised rockets into Israel in response to his death.
According to Reuters, "Qiq's body was wrapped in an Islamic Jihad flag at his funeral, pictorial posters in his honour still bedeck his family home this week, and a handwritten notice posted on the metal gate at the entrance to the school declared that Qiq, "the chief leader of the engineering unit", would now find "paradise".
The Israeli army said its April 30 attack at Rafah, close to the Egyptian border, hit a workshop used for making rockets and other improvised weaponry. An Israeli intelligence source told Reuters that Qiq was involved in developing rockets and mortars. At the bombed-out workshop 3 km (2 miles) from the school, damaged cars can be seen through now-locked gates. A 35-year-old man who gave his name as Abu Mohammed said he had found Qiq dying inside after helicopters fired a missile at the building.
"He was still alive, but he died shortly after," he said.
Yet Qiq, a physics graduate with eight years' experience of teaching at UNRWA schools, was also described by colleagues as a rising star in education. Relatives said he was promoted to run the school last year, with the title of deputy headmaster.
I can be E-mailed at outrider@ohnoanotherconservativeblog.com if you have suggestions, questions, or would like to see a particular story written.
Comments