Children are symbols of innocence and purity, and are employed in jihadi imagery to evoke notions of pride, honor and injustice. Images of young children, usually boys, also suggest the emergence of a new generation of jihadi fighters who will continue to tread down the same path of resistance as their fathers before them. Playing on a Muslim sense of pride, honor and paternal responsibility, the appearance of deceased or injured children is designed to conjure up feelings of injustice, anger and a desire to retaliate, particularly by joining the ranks of a given group. The appearance of an eye is a visual motif that draws its significance from ancient Middle Eastern cultural roots that persist today. Here, the eye of the innocent bears witness to the pain of the community as a whole and expresses the prayer in the caption: “ya Allah, ya rahim” (“O Allah, O merciful one”). The wailing toddlers, deceased baby and shouting figure are all portrayed against an English map of Israel. This designates Israel as an important theater for jihad, and implies a national obligation to join the struggle in order to establish a true Islamic state there.
