Baby Björn Launches Ergonomic Human Shield Carrier

Solna, Sweden, August 6 – The manufacturer of one of the world’s most prominent baby carriers has announced a line of products to cater to newly emerging demand in the Middle East, a carrier to serve as a back-friendly way of wearing one’s infant human shield.

Babybjörn, Ltd. will release the Baby Achmed carrier, a special variation of its award-winning Baby Björn product, specifically targeting the burgeoning human shield market in the Gaza Strip. Company executives hope demand will increase in other areas soon, such as the West Bank, where Hamas, the chief prospective customer, has been working to expand its influence recently.

Babybjörn Creative Designer Lillemor Jakobson told reporters today that the company foresees robust sales in the target market, as Baby Achmed brings what she called “synergy” to two important needs. “Our new product solves two problems at once: it offers a convenient way for the noble freedom fighters of Hamas to maintain constant protection on their persons, and it allows them to do so in a way that places minimal stress on the lower back and shoulders,” she explained, joints and muscles already under strain from carrying weapons.

Baby Achmed differs from the classic Baby Björn carrier in several ways. Most importantly, says Jakobson, the design features a Kevlar-reinforced inner panel between the wearer and the baby. The front panel, by contrast, is made of the thinnest, most penetrable material available that nevertheless holds the human shield in position, so that if a projectile does head toward the wearer, it will most likely strike the human shield and provide a PR moment for Hamas to exploit. However, the Kevlar layer will protect the fighter, whose life is primary.

Second, the shoulder and waist straps have been modified to include ammunition clip and grenade holders. Users will be able to select which attachments to wear before deploying, as each unit will come equipped with an array of accessories that can be easily switched between engagements. “Velcro strips along the hip assembly are strong enough to bear the weight of three or four grenades, yet broad enough to securely hold up to two fully-loaded magazines for an AK-47 assault rifle,” says Jakobson.

Alternatively, the wearer can choose the basic human shield setup, with no additional accessories, a configuration that enables maximum mobility and allows for convenient positioning of the human shield facing the enemy with minimal hassle, and only minimally encumbers the wearer in the use of RPG launchers, antitank missiles, and mortars.

Initially, Baby Achmed will be available only in parts of the Gaza Strip, on a trial basis. If that phase proves successful enough for the company’s purposes, the carrier  will be sold throughout the coastal territory, and eventually elsewhere in the Middle East where demand for human shields arises. Already, Baby Björn has representatives in contact with Hezbollah in Lebanon, with an eye toward tailoring a version of Baby Achmed to their needs.

Best of all, says company founder and CEO Björn Jakobson, baby carriers are dual-use products permitted into the Gaza Strip under existing restrictions. “The European Commission will likely sponsor the import into Gaza of thousands of these products, considering the tremendous number of babies. It would be an important market even under other circumstances, but the ongoing conflict with Israel makes Baby Achmed essentially a win-win situation for us and our customers,” he said.

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