Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Hamas creates volunteer program for Gaza's idle youth


Rami Almeghari writing from occupied Gaza Strip, Live from Palestine, 10 August 2010

"Israel's siege has had a disproportionate effect on Gaza's youth. Over half of the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million residents are under the age of 18, and thousands of young Gazans are unemployed. Hamas authorities in Gaza recently announced a voluntary employment program for Palestinian youth to get involved in their communities....

"We have noticed that the energy of Gaza's youth is being depleted by useless things, so we thought that their energy should be directed into useful activities. Hopefully by allowing those youth to work for the various security bodies for a period of six to twelve months, youth will be able to serve their community," explained Ihab al-Ghussein, the spokesperson for the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza....

Al-Ghussein said that the "voluntary draft" [Hey, that is an idea Obama should consider to solve the problem of manpower shortage in the US military!] would not create a financial burden for Hamas. Although he admitted that there would be "some financial responsibility," al-Ghussein explained that the youth volunteers would be "engaged in community service tasks, rather than actual security work."....."

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