> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theologic.ca/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Child Terrorists - URL: https://www.theologic.ca/child-terrorists/ - Published: 2026-10-06T18:52:45.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T17:45:31.000Z - Author: Andrew Love - Tags: child terrorists **Woe to You Blog Series** All Christians should be concerned about child prisoners and child soldiers. But when the mainline Christian denominations spend 99% of their focus on this problem specifically targeting Israel, while ignoring the horrific pattern of how Islamic terrorist groups recruit and train children to be terrorists, I have to raise the words of Jesus, “*woe to you hypocrites*” (Matt 23). Since 2013, mainline Protestant churches that have made Palestinian children in Israeli detention a specific institutional advocacy issue. This is especially pronounced among the Canadian, British and U.S. denominations. The subject appears more often in delegation reports, educational resources, ecumenical materials, or broader statements on Palestinian prisoners. The focus on this issue grew from the campaign started in Chicago in 2014 by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Defense for Children International–Palestine (DCIP) and was formally launched nationally in June 2015\. Its explicit purpose was to draw attention to Palestinian children arrested, interrogated and prosecuted under the Israeli military legal system. By the spring of 2014, the [World of Churches ](https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/palestinian-prisoners-day-a-call-to-churches-worldwide-to-pray-and-act-for-justice?ref=theologic.ca)brought this campaign into its Palestinian Prisoners Day and the rest of the liberal Protestant world quickly joined in. The Presbyterian Church ([U.S.A](https://pcusa.org/about-pcusa/agencies-entities/life-witness/ministry-areas/united-nations-ministry/human-rights-children-palestine-and-israel?ref=theologic.ca).) was first to endorse this campaign against Israel followed by the United Church of Christ ([2017](https://www.ucc.org/general%5Fsynod%5Fresolution%5Fseeks%5Fend%5Fof%5Fill%5Ftreatment%5Fof%5Fpalestinian%5Fchildren/?ref=theologic.ca)), Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) ([2017](https://cdn.ga.disciples.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/19000104/GA-1719-Rights-of-Children-Living-Under-Israeli-Military-Occupation.pdf?ref=theologic.ca)), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a [2018](https://digitalarchives.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts%5Fresolution.pl?resolution=2018-C038&ref=theologic.ca) resolution with the Episcopal Church, and similar endorsements followed from the Canadian denominations including the Anglican Church of Canada and the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Not to be ignored, both the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Canada went further by financially supporting the campaign through partner agencies like [Kairos Palestine](https://kairosresponse.org/israel%5Fdetention%5Fchildren.html?ref=theologic.ca) and, the now defunct, Defense for Children International–Palestine (DCIP). Like everything else to do with growing anti-Israel hostility in the liberal Protestant world, this issue has become even more hostile and confrontational. In my research, I can see at least thirteen liberal Protestant denominations that have issued public statements. Before October 7, much church advocacy concentrated on minors. Since October 7, the categories have broadened substantially: children, women, administrative detainees, political prisoners, people arrested in the West Bank, detainees from Gaza, long-serving prisoners, and occasionally essentially the whole Palestinian prisoner population.(*links below*). A lot of attention was given to the case of Layan Nasir, the young Anglican Palestinian from Birzeit who was arrested in April 2024\. The [Church of England](https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2024/05/01/archbishop-of-canterbury-expresses-deep-concern-for-palestinian-anglican-woman-held-by-israel-without-charges/?ref=theologic.ca) prayed for her; the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Anglican bishops advocated for her; the Episcopal Church passed an actual General Convention resolution concerning her; the Church of Scotland raised her with the Foreign Secretary; and the Church of Sweden subsequently made her case part of its broader critique of administrative detention. The Israeli government is not above reproach. Churches have every right to call out Israel for maltreatment of Palestinian prisoners. However, the language of the public statements points to something much more sinister- Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners become moral counterparts. The United Church of Canada moved from calling for release of “hostages, political prisoners, and administrative detainees” in January [2024 ](https://united-church.ca/news/partners-report-public-health-catastrophe-unfolding-gaza?ref=theologic.ca)to the “release of all captives held by Hamas and by Israel” in October 2024 and finally “urge the immediate and unconditional release of all captives, both Israeli and Palestinian” on, get this, [October 7, 2025](https://united-church.ca/news/bring-them-all-home-now-statement-second-anniversary-october-7?ref=theologic.ca). The Methodist Church in Ireland makes the equivalence operational: Hamas should release its Israeli hostages and, “in return,” Israel should release both administrative detainees and some long-serving Palestinian prisoners. Not only have these denominations equated the plight of innocent Israeli (including 47 children) and other citizens kidnapped on Oct 7 with the actions of the Islamic terrorists, they have refused to condemn or bring public attention to the use of children as terrorist militants by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and the Houthis. Apparently, Arab children arrested and/or detained by Israel warrants condemnation (as it should) but the indoctrination, recruitment, training and use of Arab children as weapons raises no concerns. I have not found a denomination-wide statement, resolution, prayer, or advocacy campaign since the launch of “No Way to Treat a Child” that explicitly condemns Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad for recruiting, training, or using Palestinian children as child soldiers. I also did not find such a post–October 7 statement from the principal Palestine-Israel partner organizations including the World Council of Churches, Kairos, or the Middle East Council of Churches. To its credit, the United Nations has [shone a light](https://www.un.org/unispal/document/children-and-armed-conflict-report-of-the-secretary-general-a-75-873-s-2021-437-excerpts/?ref=theologic.ca) on the use of children as soldiers by Hamas and related terrorist groups dating back to 2014 up to [post-October 7](https://www.un.org/unispal/document/unsg-report-children-and-armed-conflict-2023-3jun24?ref=theologic.ca). A recent report from June 17 2026 verified the recruitment and use of 132 boys in Lebanon by groups like Fatah, Hamas and Hezbollah. This summer the UN Human Rights Office specifically [criticized](https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-903657?ref=theologic.ca) the Palestinian Authority for its own version of torture and arbitrary detention of Palestinians, including children, held in the West Bank but that had no resonance in the national offices of the Christian denominations. The [Nahum Bedein Center ](https://www.bedeincenter.org/index.php/videos-1/training-for-terror-how-hamas-recruits-and-trains-its-child-army?ref=theologic.ca)has tracked how Hamas recruits and trains child terrorists through the summer camps organized by UNWRA and the Palestinian Authority. Honest Reporting has also [reported](https://honestreporting.com/hamas-confirms-child-soldier-use-in-october-7-war-after-arabic-media-embraces-tactic/?ref=theologic.ca) on the use of children by Hamas during its Oct 7 attack. Groups like Palestinian Islamic Jihad [publicize](https://honestreporting.com/child-soldiers-announced-by-gazan-terrorists-are-getting-younger-as-media-continues-to-turn-a-blind-eye/?ref=theologic.ca) the death of children as “martyrs” and this is widely distributed and celebrated on Arab social media but the churches seem oblivious. We are now seeing [reports that the Houthis](https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-911090?ref=theologic.ca) "have forcibly recruited children to fight in their war against Saudi Arabia and the Saudi-backed government, threatening families in territories they control and indoctrinating young people to believe they will be fighting against Jews and Zionists". It gets even worse if we broaden our scope to include how Iran actively and openly celebrates its use of children as soldiers. The Jerusalem Post recently [reported](https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-909286?ref=theologic.ca) that Islamic Republic of Iran trains and uses children under the age of 15 in its Janfada (self-sacrifice) campaign. Over the last few decades, mainline Protestant churches and their ecumenical partners have clearly established that the recruitment and use of children by armed groups is morally unacceptable and contrary to international standards. However, since the emergence of “No Way to Treat a Child” in 2014–15, and particularly since October 7, 2023, I can find no comparable sustained or explicit denominational campaign condemning the exploitation of Palestinian children, despite repeated UN documentation of the problem. [https://united-church.ca/news/partners-report-public-health-catastrophe-unfolding-gaza](https://united-church.ca/news/partners-report-public-health-catastrophe-unfolding-gaza?ref=theologic.ca) [https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025-02-04-joint-letter.pdf](https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025-02-04-joint-letter.pdf?ref=theologic.ca) [https://www.episcopalchurch.org/source/public-affairs/episcopal-church-statement-on-layan-nasir-and-detained-palestinians-2](https://www.episcopalchurch.org/source/public-affairs/episcopal-church-statement-on-layan-nasir-and-detained-palestinians-2?ref=theologic.ca)