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Picture of the "Baby Suicide Bomber"

The 'Baby Suicide Bomber' refers to a photo that received wide media shock and attention. It's been said to be one of the most notorious images of the intifada and arose worldwide disgust. [1]

In 2002, during a search of a house belonging to an alleged Hamas militant in the town of Hebron, The IDF has found a photo showing a Palestinian infant dressed as a Hamas terrorist wearing a suicide bomber's harness.

British broadcaster Sky News, and later the Associated Press (AP) news agency , has reported that Redwan Abu Turki, the baby's grandfather, as saying that dressing the infant baby as a bomber was "just a joke". [2]

The picture shows a boy, about 18 months old, standing wide-eyed in a baby suit.

Red wires are strapped to his waist, which is clad in a pretend explosives belt, and across his head is tied a red bandana of the extremist Islamic group, Hamas.

Israeli newspapers published the photograph under headlines like "Terror in Diapers" (Maariv) and "Born to Kill" (The Jerusalem Post). Sharon advisor Dore Gold said the picture "symbolizes the hatred and incitement which the Palestinian leadership has been feeding a whole generation of Palestinian youths." At the State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher explained that the United States considered the image a "highly objectionable display."

The Haaretz reported that a Palestinian journalist in the Hebron area had expressed surprise at the furor the photo caused in Israel. [3]

"I can find you many, many photos like this," she said. "Many kids imitate adults and wear toy masks and guns, especially during marches. It's not strange at all.

She added that she had seen children as young as the one in the photograph wearing similar costumes:

"In our society it happens a lot. It's a kind of phenomenon."

More pictures, claimed to be authentic, of Palestinian babies holding weapons have been published. [4]

• The CNN report of the incident
• The BBC report of the incident

• Child suicide bombers
• Children and minors in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
• Female suicide bomber
• Hamas
• Islamic extremist terrorism
• Islamikaze
• Military use of children
• Palestinian political violence
• Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement
• Suicide attack
• Terrorism
• Al Fateh website promoting suicide bombing