On March 25, 2004, a 16-year-old boy Hussam Abdo, was apprehended at an Israeli border checkpoint with live explosives strapped around his waist.
Instead of detonating the bomb, Hussam surrendered, and after the removal of his suicide belt, he was sent to a juvenile detention ward of an Israeli prison for attempted murder.
To explore this troubling phenomenon, filmmakers Brooke Goldstein and Alistair Leyland risked their lives and travelled to the Palestinian towns of Jenin, Ramallah, Tulkarem, and Nablus, seeking out and meeting with leaders of the organizations responsible for recruiting children for these suicide attacks.
The directors found themselves with unprecedented access to Hussam’s home in Nablus, with his mother, father and sister; to the Israeli prison where he is held; to Zakaria Zubeidi, commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Jenin; to Palestinian Television headquarters in Ramallah; to the Islamic Jihad Summer Academy in Tulkarem; and more.
Having spent time covering the "one child policy" in China and its effects on infant girls, Leyland knew the story of a 16-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber was both horrifying and complex.