Muhammad ordered kids to throw rocks at Jews,

according to PA-funded PLO magazine for children

By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

A poem in the Palestinian youth magazine Zayzafuna teaches children that throwing rocks at Jews is something mandated by Muhammad, Islam's prophet. The funders of the magazine include the Palestinian Authority.



The following lines were part of the poem printed in the magazine's October issue together with the image above of a kid throwing rocks:



"O children of my country, sing to the occupied homeland so it will be liberated...

Sing by the order of Prophet [Muhammad]

that we carry a rock

that we will throw at the people of the Gharqad [tree]"

[Zayzafuna, October 2017]



That Jews are the intended target is clear from the reference to the Gharqad tree - "the tree of the Jews." According to Muslim tradition Jews will try to hide behind the Gharqad tree when the Muslims come to kill them on Judgment Day.



The story of a stone or tree beckoning a Muslim to kill a Jew appears in numerous Islamic texts. One example is the following Hadith from the Sahih Muslim book of Hadith:

"The last Hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them until the Jews hide behind a stone or a tree, and the stone or a tree will say: 'Muslim, or servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him'; but the Gharqad tree will not say [this], for it is the tree of the Jews."



Palestinian Media Watch has documented problematic content in the magazine before. One story, allegedly a dream by a young Palestinian girl, glorified Hitler and presented his killing of Jews as a positive accomplishment for the benefit of humanity. Another issue of Zayzafuna published sayings that it attributed to Hitler.



Click to read PMW's study of Zayzafuna from 2011



Zayzafuna is a PLO magazine for children partially funded by the PA. The magazine, which includes material written by both the magazine's staff and child readers, shows the kind of messages the publishers deem suitable for youth and also serves as a window into the minds of the Palestinian children submitting material to the magazine. Zayzafuna's website no longer exists but stated (in May 2016) that the magazine's advisory board is comprised of PA officials and educators, including Jihad Zakarneh, PA Deputy Minister of Education, and Abd Al-Hakim Abu Jamous, Head of the Media Department at the PA Ministry of Education. Zayzafuna included a note on its third page acknowledging the PA Ministry of Culture for its financial support of the printing of the magazine. It also included a disclaimer, stating that: “The opinions and texts in the magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Zayzafuna Association. In May 2011, the Deputy Chairman of the Zayzafuna organization Abd Al-Karim Ziyada explained on PA TV that the PA gives "a monthly payment of 10,000 shekels ($2,700) to cover the magazine's [costs]." [Official PA TV, May 9 and 13, 2011]



The following is the full version of the poem in the youth magazine:



A poem by Syrian poet Sulaiman Al-Issa

Headline: "The children of my country"

"O children of my country, sing to the occupied homeland so it will be liberated

Sing for a wide space that will inspire the revolutionaries and the revolution

In the field so they will strike roots

Sing to the sun so it will send light for freedom

Sing to the moon so we will remain awake at night

Together with those who love my country

On summer nights

Inspiring those who love Allah

To hold the morning prayers

Together with those who come to the mosque

Sing by the order of Prophet [Muhammad]

that we carry a rock

That we will throw at the people of the Gharqad [tree]