02 Issues of Al-Ashbal Palestinian Children's Magazine (Syria and Lebanon, 1970–1984, Arabic)

A political magazine for children published by Fatah, Al-Ashbal (“The Lion Cubs”) was the official publication of the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s youth movement. First printed in Damascus in the early 1970s, it sought to educate Palestinian children in exile on themes of resistance, identity, and collective memory, drawing from the lived experience of displacement, military occupation, and ongoing violence.

Through comics, maps, slogans, poetry, educational games, and visual narratives, Al-Ashbal introduced its readers to ideas of national liberation and political solidarity. Its pages reflected both the cultural richness of Palestinian life and the conditions of statelessness imposed by decades of war and forced exile.

One early issue from 1970 memorializes the killing of schoolchildren by Israeli airstrikes:

“Phantom jets struck the School of the Sea of Rage, killing 46 children. The survivors—cubs and blossoms—took up arms. In the fields of blood, a new generation grows.”

Later issues from the 1980s featured illustrated maps of historic Palestine, depictions of refugee camps, dedications to those killed in conflict, and lessons in Arab heritage and geography. Educational and ideological content coexisted throughout, with the magazine offering a lens into how Palestinian political identity was shaped and transmitted to younger generations under conditions of occupation and exile.

Title: الأشبال (Al-Ashbal)
Meaning: “The Cubs” or “The Lion Cubs” – often used to refer to Palestinian youth or child fighters
Publisher: Likely affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
Audience: Palestinian children and youth
Political Alignment: Palestinian nationalism
Language: Arabic
Issues: Vol. 2 Issue 2, dated October 5, 1984 and Vol. 4 Issue 4, dated December 16, 1984
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