New hit song for Palestinian children: When we die as martyrs
Haaretz (Link) (June 22, 2010)
An Arabic children�s choir has been racking up views all over the world with the new YouTube hit �when we die as martyrs, we will go to heaven.�
The song was apparently recorded by the Jordanian-owned production company and television channel �birds of Paradise.�
According to The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), one of the world�s most comprehensive data centers on radical Islamic terrorist groups, the song is a hit on Arabic and worldwide websites and the children�s choir performing it fast is becoming one of the most popular children�s groups in the Arab world.
In the video clip, which can be viewed on the popular video sharing site YouTube, a young brown-eyed girl sings in front of what seems to be a group of children in pre-school the lyrics �Without Palestine, what does childhood mean?�
YouTube has already received dozens of spin-offs and remakes of the video, some of which depict Arabic children mimicking the lyrics while others show Jihadists using it as background music.
Journalist Fawzia Nasir al-Naeem wrote in the Saudi Arabian newspaper Al-Jazirah that �[Birds of Paradise] is one of the most widely distributed children�s song groups in the Arab world, and it seems to have crossed the ocean to Canada and Britain.�
She added that the group represents a new wave in Jihadist youth indoctrination, as it is child-friendly, as opposed to previous Jihadist programs.