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12 Feb 2018
12 Feb. 2018 <br />
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Amman- As part of the "Makani" project, which aims at building the capacities of journalists in the field of child rights and protection, the Jordan Media Institute (JMI), in cooperation with UNICEF, organized a symposium titled "Children and Terrorism." The speakers at the symposium noted that the majority of victims of terrorism are children and young people. Children are also the victims in any society hit by terrorism.<br />
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At the outset, researcher Hassan Abu Haniyah spoke about the role of the media and social media networks in promoting extremism and recruitment for terrorist organizations versus their role in raising awareness among children and their families. He pointed out that our Arab region is afflicted by the growth of the jihadist phenomenon and the emergence of "family jihad." Terrorist children are now following their fathers to conflict zones and joining terrorist organizations. This is a threat that the Arab region is facing, given the rise of a new generation of those children who are imbued with the ideology of these organizations.<br />
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Emad Suheibah, director of the Amman Juveniles at the Ministry of Social Development, said that the ministry centers currently have five children from different environments between the ages of 15 and 18 who are accused of embracing extremist ideology. The centers try to mitigate the effects of their past experiences, conduct preliminary studies about their cases, and then engage with them in ideological discussions, with the help of specialized persons.<br />
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He said that the centers need time to change the extremist ideology embraced by the children as it is not easy to change one's thinking. He said: We fight ideology with ideology, and we provide all means of comfort and peace to the children. He added that the centers cannot do that alone. There is a need for cooperation by the environment around the child to change his thinking, whether at school or in the home or by any person who is in direct contact with the child.<br />
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Lawyer Muhannad Dumur presented a number of terrorism cases examined by the courts, involving children or minors. He said that there were many positive points about amending the Juveniles Law, but there are some negative points or excesses in the procedures to arrest juveniles or the charges brought against them because they are treated like adult defendants, regardless of the fact that they are not mature yet.<br />
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The symposium, which was moderated by Bayan Tal, adviser at the JMI, is the third held by the JMI in collaboration with UNICEF within the "Makani" project, which aims at building the capacities of journalists in the field of child rights and protection.