Media missing the point of Sheikh march: committee

The boy dressed in camouflage with fake explosives strapped to his body at the protest

The Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) has rejected the media furore surrounding the little boy who took part in a weekend march dressed as a suicide bomber. The boy was part of a crowd of about 300 marchers who protested outside the Israeli embassy in Pretoria on Sunday against the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a Hamas leader.

Pictures of the boy sparked outrage, and the marchers have been accused of child abuse.

Naeem Jinnah of the PSC says they are unhappy that the media has chosen to focus on the little boy, as this gave the wrong impression of what the march was about. "We think it is unfortunate that the media is actually picking up on one little boy out of hundreds of people that were protesting, and making it seem as if that was the central issue of the march."

Jinnah says the central issue of the march was the assassination of Palestinian leaders, the massacre of Palestinian civilians and the ongoing cleansing of Palestinians.

Yassin was killed in a missile attack a week ago.