The methodology of the report was:
• Quantitative surveys were completed by 400 children (aged 12–17 years, 48% girls), and by 160 parents and caregivers (50% females, 50% males).• Twelve interviews were carried out with eight children and four caregivers.• Ten focus group discussions were conducted with 80 children between the ages of 12 and 17, 40% of whom were girls.• Ten key informant interviews were conducted, including with MHPSS specialists, and relevant civil society and international organisations working in the field.
Reading the report, it appears that there was a lot of both self-selecting bias as well as NGO workers prompting children to answer the way that they want them to answer to maximize sympathy.
The actual questions are not made available, as far as I can tell, so we do not know whether they were filled with leading questions. I am fairly certain that the number of children who knew people who were killed in the 2021 Gaza war, or who were injured themselves, or whose houses were destroyed, is far higher than a random sampling of children would yield.
These Gaza children don't have any hate for Israel or Jews, according to the numerous quotes sprinkled throughout the report. Not one mentioned wanting to become a fighter or a martyr. The words "Hamas" and "Jihad" were not reported once.
But the quotes that they do make seem to be straight from central casting.
The entire forward was supposedly written and edited by five children supposedly during the May 2021 Gaza war. See if this passes the smell test:
We are children who live in the Gaza Strip....We want you to know that Gaza, our home, is being destroyed. Even the nice places like schools and hospitals. There isn’t much electricity for hours at a time. We all have to sleep on the floor or in hallways, and it’s really dark at night. Life is scary and our roofs are falling on our heads....We know that other children around the world lead quiet and calm lives. While other children dream of having video games, we dream that one day this fighting will end. We hope that one day we can open our books again, write in our notebooks and study, that we can go outside and play with friends. The first thing we wish is that the war would end. All children should be able to live in peace. ...Above all, we want to live like children in other countries who can play in playgrounds instead of hiding from bombs. We want Gaza to be a safe and beautiful place where we can live in peace. We still have hope. But we want this war to be the last war.Salma (11), Niveen (9), Zain (12), Samer (13), Khaled (10) and Amal (10) This letter was written by children during the escalation of hostilities in May 2021.
Remarkable!
But wait, there's more. A focus group of children 14-17 are quoted: “The blockade affects us in all aspects of our
lives. It affects our health, ability to move,
the environment. We don’t even have clean
water in Gaza. It’s affecting the economic
situation. We have so much poverty and we
notice increasing child labour as well. It also
makes us have smaller ambitions because
no matter what we dream of we know there
are so many limitations.”
13 year old Ali said, “The blockade limits our dreams. Children don’t
dare to even dream.”
14 year old Salem said, “It’s easier to travel to another country than to
go to the West Bank. It’s like the West Bank
isn’t even an option for children in Gaza.”
These are not words that come spontaneously from children. These words were almost certainly prompted from Save the Children workers, with leading questions.
I can say with certainty that I have never read any quotes that sound remotely like these in Palestinian media.
Perhaps the most obvious example of how a child was prompted to do what the NGO worker wanted was this drawing from "Samar:"
I'm not saying that children in Gaza do not suffer. But this report had a narrative to tell, and the authors made sure that the actors in the drama knew their lines.
Perhaps Save the Children isn't as interested in saving the children as they are in demonizing Israel.
