JEDDAH, 3 April 2003 — A group of sixth grade students from Al-Hijaz International School surprised Arab News staff with their tough and intelligent questions during a visit to the newspaper yesterday.
They came prepared with questions for the reporters, editors, and the editor in chief. They asked direct, simple questions and took notes diligently; an example of a new generation of children who are well-informed and a lot sharper than adults often give them credit for.
Journalists here found the tables turned on them. They were asked what, how, who, where, when and why about everything related to their work.
Inevitably, current events — particularly the war on Iraq — also played an important part.
“I wish war stopped, in Iraq and Palestine. I feel sad about all the killing,” said Nardeen Kamel.
“If only all the Arabs and Muslims united against war, we could have peace for all children,” said Salma Alaa Aldin.
“Do Americans hate children?” asked Ayesha Javed. “Why do they kill them?”
“Don’t they know how it feels to lose a member of the family?” Aya Muhammad asked and added, “I don’t think they want freedom for Iraq, they just want to control its oil.”
“I think America wants to control everything, they are selfish,” commented Menna Mamdouh.
“Americans hate Islam and they don’t know the meaning of peace,” said Hind Ayman.
Sharbano Hassan felt that the whole world was speaking in one voice against America.
“Americans are careless about killing, and we are powerless to stop them,” said Eman Muhammad.
Basma Khan wants to join the war and give shelter and food to the Iraqis, and Rana feels guilty knowing that she is safe and the children in Iraq are not.
Despite their anger toward America, they still blamed Saddam Hussein for this war. They all agreed that without Saddam there would not be a war and the children in Iraq would not be dying because of him. They feel that he is the target for this attack.
At the same time, they cannot believe that President George W. Bush is free of blame, and they are sure he has designs on the entire region.
