For those who may still be harboring delusions that Hamas is not bent on simply killing Jews, I suggest you take a moment to listen to Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.
Less than two weeks ago (30 Jul. 14), in an interview with Al-Quds TV in Lebanon, Barhoum called on Israeli Arabs and West Bank Palestinians to wage attacks "to avenge the blood of Gaza."
Here are a few choice excerpts:
The Palestinian people has no choice but to wage this battle in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Jerusalem, and in all the cities of occupied Palestine."
Let me say, loud and clear, to our people in the West Bank: Don't you have cars? Don't you have motorcycles? Don't you have knives? Don't you have clubs? Don't you have bulldozers? Don't you have trucks? Anyone who has a knife, a club, a weapon, or a car, yet does not use it to run over a Jew or a settler, and does not use it to kill dozens of Zionists, does not belong to Palestine.
Palestine says loud and clear: Real men are those who avenge the blood of Gaza. Real men are those who avenge the blood of the Gaza Strip. Real men will not sleep until they have avenged the blood of Gaza.
To our people within the Green Line, we say: It is time for you to declare a new phase in this struggle. Political and social considerations are worthless. Blood and martyrdom are the only considerations that matter. The Palestinian people has no choice but to wage this battle in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Jerusalem, and in all the cities of occupied Palestine.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Why doesn't Gaza have bomb shelters?
the executive director of Amnesty International Israel
Yonatan Gher, executive director of Amnesty International Israel, whose brother is an IDF soldier currently fighting in Gaza, wrote an article arguing essentially that Israelis an numb to Palestinian deaths and suffering.
"Israel has one standard for the rest of the world, and another for itself," he writes. "Actions that amount to clear violations of human rights when another country commits them are coined 'political' when they happen here. And if you criticise those actions, you'll be accused of 'ignoring the context,' or 'being anti-Semitic.'"
Gher stated these claims as fact, without presenting any backing. He does not explain what he sees as "clear violations of human rights."
He then goes on to demonstrate that nobody has a conscience, making it difficult for him (a self-styled conscientious objector) to relate to his young son how terribly unfair life is for the children of Gaza.
At night, he writes, my son "asks me whether there are sirens in Gaza too. I explain that kids in Gaza have none. They don't have an Iron Dome either. 'What protects kids there?' he asks."
Gher then suggests that the solution is "the upholding of human rights." In other words Israel is to blame, and Israel should be taken to task.
War is an ugly, horrible thing. Blaming the Jews for the high number of civilian deaths is the easy way to respond. But anyone in Israel's shoes would send in their war planes and heavy artillery (minus the text message and phone calls to warn civilians). I have heard endless complaints about how Israel has conducted the war, but nobody is proposing viable alternatives.
Hamas has made it perfectly clear that their singular objective is to drive the Jews into the sea. And they have also made it clear that they are willing to "martyr" the people of Gaza to achieve this objective.
I wish next time Yonatan Gher's son asks where Gazan children go when the bombs fall that his father has the intellectual integrity to tell him the truth: It would be fabulous if the children of Gaza could go underground to the astonishing number of tunnels built by Hamas, but the problem is Hamas earmarked those tunnels for military activity and left all of Gazans civilians up on deck, knowing exactly what would happen. Why doesn't Gaza have bomb shelters? Because Hamas doesn't want them. Civilian suffering is an inherent part of Hamas strategy.
Gher then offers his solution: "I truly hope that more people around the world take action, to call on all fighting parties to stop targeting civilians, and on their own countries to utilise the International Criminal Court and to impose arms embargoes to keep us safe."
A lovely sentiment. But had the international community imposed an effective arms embargo on Gaza, none of this would have had to happen. Nobody would be dead. But you don't see people rising up in arms to keep Israel safe, so Israel had to do the job, primarily by imposing a maritime blockade.
As for Gher's suggestion that Israel be indicted by the ICC, he would do well to listen to the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, who himself said Gaza has no legitimate claim it could bring to the ICC.
Israel
has one standard for the rest of the world, and another for itself.
Actions that amount to clear violations of human rights when another
country commits them are coined "political" when they happen here. And
if you criticise those actions, you'll be accused of "ignoring the
context", or "being anti-Semitic".
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Moral blindness in the condemn Israel campaign
Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League wrote an excellent article on the lack of moral clarity in viewing the Israel-Hamas conflict and the growing anti-semitism, particularly in Europe.
It's popular to argue that "criticizing Israel is not anti-semitism," but recent events clearly demonstrate that the distinction is quite nebulous. The hatred spewing out of anti-Israel in Europe is partly a result of the large number of Muslims who now live in European countries, but it also points to old-fashioned anti-semitism coming to the surface.
CNN ran Foxman's article, but interestingly added a bold note at the top, rather than below the article, pointing out that the writer represents the Anti-Defamation League.
-----
When Israel is forced to defend its citizens from Palestinian terrorism originating from Gaza, we've come to expect outrage around the world. Critics are quick to condemn Israel's military actions -- some with such heavy-handed charges as "war crimes," "atrocities" and even "genocide," while remaining silent about the terrorists who started the conflict.
At anti-Israel protests around the world, violent anti-Semitism is on full display, thinly veiled as criticism of Israel. Demonstrators in Turkey have attacked Israeli embassies. In Germany, France, Italy and Spain and other European countries, the protests have led to anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish people, community centers and synagogues.
We've seen violence and incitement against Jews rising in Latin America as well.
It has been lost on no one that this pronounced anti-Semitism has its antecedents in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Fortunately, some responsible European leaders are standing up to the hatred and bigotry. But their words may not be enough, as Israel continues to be treated as the international community's whipping boy in the latest conflict.
It is time for moral clarity on Gaza. The facts bear repeating. Hamas intentionally started this conflict. Hamas militants built miles of underground tunnels -- at least 30 tunnels in all -- using about 600,000 tons of cement and other materials that could have built homes or schools for Palestinians. Instead, it went into a sickening subterranean network of tunnels designed to carry out surprise terrorist attacks across the border in Israel.
It has been said that the only real growth industries in Gaza are in rocket-building and tunnel construction. This unconscionable waste of resources has brought about the two crowning "cultural" achievements of Hamas: Thousands of rockets raining down on Israeli towns and cities and terrorists armed to the teeth emerging from holes in the ground, intent on kidnapping more Israeli soldiers and killing Israeli civilians. This culture of death is an essential part of Hamas' identity and ideology and has motivated the Hamas leaders for the more than eight years they have controlled Gaza.
The world knows that Hamas intentionally stores its rockets in homes, mosques, hospitals and schools. No matter how careful Israel tries to be in warning civilians before attacks, no matter how much restraint it exercises, Hamas has guaranteed that civilians will be victims. Children make up nearly half the population of Gaza, and so women and children are among those dying because of Hamas's maximalist strategy against Israel.
In Israel and Gaza, a war against peace
Israel did not want this war, and certainly does not want to see civilians killed. But no matter, the calumny continues to rain down on Israel. What hypocrisy this is.
Has anyone condemned Hamas for the death of over 160 children during the construction of the Gaza tunnels? The Institute for Palestinian Studies reports Hamas uses child labor to build its terror tunnels and prizes their nimbleness and work ethic.
On the news every day there is the macabre body count of how many civilians have lost their lives in Gaza, invariably accompanied by a comparison with the cost of life for Israeli soldiers and civilians. Counts vary, but most put the numbers of Palestinian deaths around 1,800 and Israeli deaths at 65.
All deaths that come about as a result of this conflict are tragic. But who is taking steps to limit casualties? Israel. Who is apologizing for the loss of life in Gaza? Israel. Hamas, on the other hand, tries at every opportunity to inflict as much pain as possible on Israel, trying to kill more Israeli civilians by firing rockets at large population centers, by sending suicide bombers across the border and sacrificing the lives of their own children. They make no apologies for their culture of death.
Look out at the world, there is no shortage of horrific violence and tragic death. Death by the thousands, by the tens of thousands in Syria; human destruction in Libya, in Afghanistan, in Iraq. Muslims slaughtering Muslims. And in Iraq, Muslims are killing Christians. Why have the voices of outrage in response to the more than 170,000 dead as a result of Syria's civil war gone silent?
There are no cameras out there, there are few editorials, and there are even fewer demonstrations in the streets of Paris, of Rome or London.
Here is where moral myopia verges on moral blindness. It seems the world wakes up only when Jews in their own defense -- defending their men, women and children -- are forced to kill Muslims and Palestinians. That's when the world demonstrates.
This is the true hypocrisy of the "condemn Israel" phenomenon.
And there can be no doubt that the anti-Israel campaign that is unfolding around the world is a function of the anti-Semitism that we know lurks just underneath the surface in some European societies and is all-but rampant across the Middle East.
It's popular to argue that "criticizing Israel is not anti-semitism," but recent events clearly demonstrate that the distinction is quite nebulous. The hatred spewing out of anti-Israel in Europe is partly a result of the large number of Muslims who now live in European countries, but it also points to old-fashioned anti-semitism coming to the surface.
CNN ran Foxman's article, but interestingly added a bold note at the top, rather than below the article, pointing out that the writer represents the Anti-Defamation League.
-----
When Israel is forced to defend its citizens from Palestinian terrorism originating from Gaza, we've come to expect outrage around the world. Critics are quick to condemn Israel's military actions -- some with such heavy-handed charges as "war crimes," "atrocities" and even "genocide," while remaining silent about the terrorists who started the conflict.
At anti-Israel protests around the world, violent anti-Semitism is on full display, thinly veiled as criticism of Israel. Demonstrators in Turkey have attacked Israeli embassies. In Germany, France, Italy and Spain and other European countries, the protests have led to anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish people, community centers and synagogues.
We've seen violence and incitement against Jews rising in Latin America as well.
It has been lost on no one that this pronounced anti-Semitism has its antecedents in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Fortunately, some responsible European leaders are standing up to the hatred and bigotry. But their words may not be enough, as Israel continues to be treated as the international community's whipping boy in the latest conflict.
It is time for moral clarity on Gaza. The facts bear repeating. Hamas intentionally started this conflict. Hamas militants built miles of underground tunnels -- at least 30 tunnels in all -- using about 600,000 tons of cement and other materials that could have built homes or schools for Palestinians. Instead, it went into a sickening subterranean network of tunnels designed to carry out surprise terrorist attacks across the border in Israel.
It has been said that the only real growth industries in Gaza are in rocket-building and tunnel construction. This unconscionable waste of resources has brought about the two crowning "cultural" achievements of Hamas: Thousands of rockets raining down on Israeli towns and cities and terrorists armed to the teeth emerging from holes in the ground, intent on kidnapping more Israeli soldiers and killing Israeli civilians. This culture of death is an essential part of Hamas' identity and ideology and has motivated the Hamas leaders for the more than eight years they have controlled Gaza.
The world knows that Hamas intentionally stores its rockets in homes, mosques, hospitals and schools. No matter how careful Israel tries to be in warning civilians before attacks, no matter how much restraint it exercises, Hamas has guaranteed that civilians will be victims. Children make up nearly half the population of Gaza, and so women and children are among those dying because of Hamas's maximalist strategy against Israel.
In Israel and Gaza, a war against peace
Israel did not want this war, and certainly does not want to see civilians killed. But no matter, the calumny continues to rain down on Israel. What hypocrisy this is.
Has anyone condemned Hamas for the death of over 160 children during the construction of the Gaza tunnels? The Institute for Palestinian Studies reports Hamas uses child labor to build its terror tunnels and prizes their nimbleness and work ethic.
On the news every day there is the macabre body count of how many civilians have lost their lives in Gaza, invariably accompanied by a comparison with the cost of life for Israeli soldiers and civilians. Counts vary, but most put the numbers of Palestinian deaths around 1,800 and Israeli deaths at 65.
All deaths that come about as a result of this conflict are tragic. But who is taking steps to limit casualties? Israel. Who is apologizing for the loss of life in Gaza? Israel. Hamas, on the other hand, tries at every opportunity to inflict as much pain as possible on Israel, trying to kill more Israeli civilians by firing rockets at large population centers, by sending suicide bombers across the border and sacrificing the lives of their own children. They make no apologies for their culture of death.
Look out at the world, there is no shortage of horrific violence and tragic death. Death by the thousands, by the tens of thousands in Syria; human destruction in Libya, in Afghanistan, in Iraq. Muslims slaughtering Muslims. And in Iraq, Muslims are killing Christians. Why have the voices of outrage in response to the more than 170,000 dead as a result of Syria's civil war gone silent?
There are no cameras out there, there are few editorials, and there are even fewer demonstrations in the streets of Paris, of Rome or London.
Here is where moral myopia verges on moral blindness. It seems the world wakes up only when Jews in their own defense -- defending their men, women and children -- are forced to kill Muslims and Palestinians. That's when the world demonstrates.
This is the true hypocrisy of the "condemn Israel" phenomenon.
And there can be no doubt that the anti-Israel campaign that is unfolding around the world is a function of the anti-Semitism that we know lurks just underneath the surface in some European societies and is all-but rampant across the Middle East.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Hamas demonstrates new tactics and capabilities; Will Hezbollah follow suit?
Avi Issacharoff is an excellent, seasoned military analyst who writes for The Times of Israel and the Israeli media. The following are some very valuable insights he wrote as the war was winding down.
Almost every soldier I talked to spoke about the unbelievable, even impossible reality that Israeli forces are dealing with in battle zones — an extensive network of tunnels, bunkers and caches, which allow Hamas to fight the Israel Defense Forces and inflict heavy losses with minimal exposure. The Hamas operatives move from one tunnel to another, emerging each time from a different hole, they fire, and then they disappear again.
One of the officers told me about a network of defensive tunnels the IDF faced in Hiz’aa, one of the southern towns in the Strip. He said that Hamas dug three tunnels along three streets, with numerous entrances and exits.
Every time they fired at us from a different place. Small squads of two of three people. We decided to put smoke into one of the shafts, and suddenly saw smoke rising from dozens of places along these three streets.”
Hamas’s fighting style in Gaza, those unconventional Vietcong-style guerrilla tactics, raises many difficult questions about the ability of a conventional army to deal with this new battlefield. Some infantry soldiers undergo training in underground fighting, but not on this scale.
As always, the army trains for the last war — Operation Cast Lead in this case. But since then, Hamas has dramatically improved its capabilities, at least in terms of the array of defensive and offensive tunnels in Gaza: The organization spent 40% of its budget on this project. The best proof of this is the minimal harm that Hamas’s senior leadership has suffered. From within these channels and tunnels, the military and political leadership continues to function, controlling the rocket launches and attacks into Israel.
Issacharoff also notes that Hezbollah invariably learned from Hamas' tactical innovations. Although the ground in the area of Israel's northern border is harder to excavate compared to that of Gaza, he notes, it's always safe to assume that "what Hamas does well, Hezbollah
does better."
So what is the IDF planning to do to confront this new set of Hamas and Hezbollah challenges? According to a report on Debka Files, the IDF is working on a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip.
So what is the IDF planning to do to confront this new set of Hamas and Hezbollah challenges? According to a report on Debka Files, the IDF is working on a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip.
The IDF is carving out a cordon sanitaire from Beit Hanoun to Khan Younis, to be controlled from the outside using special forces and armored units on round-the-clock alert. IDF troops withdrawn from Gaza are redeploying in positions that would enable them to cross back into Gaza for rapid response operations. The no-nonsense plan appears capable of preventing future flare-ups and unchecked rocket attacks, but also brings with it the possibility of a prolonged war of attrition.
Israel's short-term victory a long-term disaster?
In response to an i24 News analysis by Yossi Melman headlined "Israel's victorious withdrawal from Gaza," a commentor by the name of Wim Vincken brought up so many valid points for consideration, that we are re-posting his remarks here.
He took issue with the conclusion of the article, saying it looks like an Israeli defeat to him.
He pointed out that there are still plenty of rockets (apparently several thousand) and a few tunnels left intact, with Hamas operatives safe and sound in their underground bunkers.
Politically Israel will be hit by a big storm, "because they are going to start investigating if Israel performed war-crimes. And you know what? With so many civilians dead and the way they died, they might even have a point. Who, in his right mind, allows [bombing] an area with so many civilians, and allows the international press to monitor every aspect?
"Getting new friends like Egypt is nice, but they lost many current friends."
Vincken goes on to take issue with the IDF strategy of destroying property and killing civilians on a relatively large scale.
"If this is the end of the incursion, just like Lebanon II, this is the biggest defeat," he writes. "In Lebanon II, the political echelon was running the military campaign. It looks like this conflict suffered the same.
"Expectations have not been met. The world and the population in Israel expected to end the rockets fired to Israel. They 'suddenly' discovered the tunnels (which they knew existed) and claim to have them destroyed. Which is obviously not the case.
"Also prepare for the fallout after the conflict. If anyone wants to go on vacation in Europe, Far East, Africa, Australia, and South America (almost the whole world), they might get arrested because of suspicion of war crimes, especially the soldiers. The active hate against Israelis all over the world is slowly reaching its boiling point, meaning Israelis might not be safe anywhere, with a large risk of Israel being declared a pariah-state. If this happens, Israel won't be able to buy a single bullet.
"Then there's the political fallout. Investigations will start in Israel about the conduct of several parties involved here. This current administration will not survive that fallout."
Vincken concludes that Israel neglected the PR battle which will result in "chaos and upheaval in Israel and worldwide."
I find his predictions quite ominous because essentially he is saying the campaign will be the start of a major disaster for the Jewish people worldwide for years to come. And notice when the war came to an end: on Tisha B'Av.
He took issue with the conclusion of the article, saying it looks like an Israeli defeat to him.
He pointed out that there are still plenty of rockets (apparently several thousand) and a few tunnels left intact, with Hamas operatives safe and sound in their underground bunkers.
Politically Israel will be hit by a big storm, "because they are going to start investigating if Israel performed war-crimes. And you know what? With so many civilians dead and the way they died, they might even have a point. Who, in his right mind, allows [bombing] an area with so many civilians, and allows the international press to monitor every aspect?
"Getting new friends like Egypt is nice, but they lost many current friends."
Vincken goes on to take issue with the IDF strategy of destroying property and killing civilians on a relatively large scale.
"If this is the end of the incursion, just like Lebanon II, this is the biggest defeat," he writes. "In Lebanon II, the political echelon was running the military campaign. It looks like this conflict suffered the same.
"Expectations have not been met. The world and the population in Israel expected to end the rockets fired to Israel. They 'suddenly' discovered the tunnels (which they knew existed) and claim to have them destroyed. Which is obviously not the case.
"Also prepare for the fallout after the conflict. If anyone wants to go on vacation in Europe, Far East, Africa, Australia, and South America (almost the whole world), they might get arrested because of suspicion of war crimes, especially the soldiers. The active hate against Israelis all over the world is slowly reaching its boiling point, meaning Israelis might not be safe anywhere, with a large risk of Israel being declared a pariah-state. If this happens, Israel won't be able to buy a single bullet.
"Then there's the political fallout. Investigations will start in Israel about the conduct of several parties involved here. This current administration will not survive that fallout."
Vincken concludes that Israel neglected the PR battle which will result in "chaos and upheaval in Israel and worldwide."
I find his predictions quite ominous because essentially he is saying the campaign will be the start of a major disaster for the Jewish people worldwide for years to come. And notice when the war came to an end: on Tisha B'Av.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Those greedy Jews
A Pakistani journalist has now opened our eyes to the real reason behind the war against Hamas. It wasn't about 3,000 rockets or 30 sophisticated terror tunnels. What was the real reason? Natural gas. Those wicked Jews were out to deprive the poor Gazans of their natural gas resources.
What a beautiful conspiracy theory! The writer, Ms. Najma Sadeque, decided rather than submit her very original piece of research to Al-Jazeera or Iran's Press TV, she wanted it to be published by the western media. Who did the honor go to? The Nation.
In fact, she implies that Operation Cast Lead in 2008 also had nothing to do with eradicating Hamas terrorism.
Want a taste of Sadeque's spectacular investigative journalism and analysis? Enjoy.
What a beautiful conspiracy theory! The writer, Ms. Najma Sadeque, decided rather than submit her very original piece of research to Al-Jazeera or Iran's Press TV, she wanted it to be published by the western media. Who did the honor go to? The Nation.
In fact, she implies that Operation Cast Lead in 2008 also had nothing to do with eradicating Hamas terrorism.
Want a taste of Sadeque's spectacular investigative journalism and analysis? Enjoy.
The Israelis now wanted Gaza’s gas fields immediately to offset short supply – but without paying for it. For them, that meant getting rid of Hamas. Only a harsh military operation could possibly uproot them. An excuse was needed to start a war. There wasn’t any, so they simply provoked. Kidnappings and killings, even of their own kind, are old ‘false flags’ they could blame Hamas or anyone else for.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Gaza death toll: A look beyond the numbers
The international media almost invariably includes the death toll prominently in any article on the war in Gaza. A typical casualty count looks like this:
The reason is painfully obvious, but needs to be reiterated at every opportunity. Hamas has been trying, unsuccessfully, to kill a large number of civilians in Israel.
Instead, they have only managed to kill IDF troops inside Gaza, using guerrilla warfare tactics. Their most effective fighting tactic has been to pop up out of labryinth tunnels in small squads, shoot and retreat back into the tunnel.
Hamas combatants are well protected, while Gaza civilians are left up on deck.
Meanwhile the Western media is obsessed with Gaza, although nothing comes close to the routine brutality of ISIS. As one Yazidi in Sinjar told the New Yorker, “I don’t see any attention from the rest of the world. In one day they killed more than 2,000 Yazidi in Sinjar, and the whole world says, ‘Save Gaza, save Gaza.’ ”
Palestinian casualty figures are likely to be inflated by the inclusion of natural deaths and Hamas executions of suspected collaborators and civilians killed by misfired Hamas rockets. According to Jane's Defence Weekly, at least 850 rockets fired by Hamas landed in the Gaza Strip.
In nearly four weeks of fighting, more than 1,700 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed as well as nearly 70 Israelis, almost all soldiers. (The Toronto Star, 3 Aug. 14)Of course to a whole lot of readers these numbers look extremely lopsided, and are followed by the nagging thought: Hamas is killing IDF soldiers, while the IDF is killing civilians.
The reason is painfully obvious, but needs to be reiterated at every opportunity. Hamas has been trying, unsuccessfully, to kill a large number of civilians in Israel.
Instead, they have only managed to kill IDF troops inside Gaza, using guerrilla warfare tactics. Their most effective fighting tactic has been to pop up out of labryinth tunnels in small squads, shoot and retreat back into the tunnel.
Hamas combatants are well protected, while Gaza civilians are left up on deck.
Meanwhile the Western media is obsessed with Gaza, although nothing comes close to the routine brutality of ISIS. As one Yazidi in Sinjar told the New Yorker, “I don’t see any attention from the rest of the world. In one day they killed more than 2,000 Yazidi in Sinjar, and the whole world says, ‘Save Gaza, save Gaza.’ ”
Palestinian casualty figures are likely to be inflated by the inclusion of natural deaths and Hamas executions of suspected collaborators and civilians killed by misfired Hamas rockets. According to Jane's Defence Weekly, at least 850 rockets fired by Hamas landed in the Gaza Strip.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Should the IDF target Al-Shifa Hospital?
The director of Al-Shifa Hospital categorically denied there were any weapons stored or used at the hospital. Sounds like he was lying.
Yesterday, a Finnish reporter confirmed rockets were being fired by Hamas next to the Al-Shifa Hospital. “Right in the back parking lot of Al Shifa Hospital, a rocket was launched, two o’clock in the morning,” she said. “Really, it happened right in the area, the sound of it was really loud,” she said. “It’s true that rockets are launched here from the Gazan side into Israel.”
Many foreign journalists have reported that Hamas was using the hospital as a headquarters, but typically their reports were withdrawn, deleted on social media or actually taken off their newspaper websites because of fears for their safety and Hamas retribution.
Perhaps the time has come for the UN to conduct inspections of this and other Gaza hospitals. Another idea would be to bring in Doctors Without Borders, a Nobel Prize winning organization whose charter states that it speaks out when hospitals are threatened. In the case of Al-Shifa, the Hamas is creating a threat to the hospital.
The organization issued a strong condemnation, which seemed to point a finger at Israel, making no mention of the hospital's alleged links to terrorist activities.
Meanwhile Wall Street Journal reporter Tamer El-Ghobashy posted a photo from the scene and tweeted that the “low level damage suggests Hamas misfire.” El-Ghobashy deleted and reposted the photo, this time with the message, “Unclear what the origin of the projectile is.”
Once it was established that Israel was not responsible, the media seemed to lose interest in the incident.
One day later a journalist reporting from the hospital is startled as a rocket is launched.
Yesterday, a Finnish reporter confirmed rockets were being fired by Hamas next to the Al-Shifa Hospital. “Right in the back parking lot of Al Shifa Hospital, a rocket was launched, two o’clock in the morning,” she said. “Really, it happened right in the area, the sound of it was really loud,” she said. “It’s true that rockets are launched here from the Gazan side into Israel.”
Many foreign journalists have reported that Hamas was using the hospital as a headquarters, but typically their reports were withdrawn, deleted on social media or actually taken off their newspaper websites because of fears for their safety and Hamas retribution.
Perhaps the time has come for the UN to conduct inspections of this and other Gaza hospitals. Another idea would be to bring in Doctors Without Borders, a Nobel Prize winning organization whose charter states that it speaks out when hospitals are threatened. In the case of Al-Shifa, the Hamas is creating a threat to the hospital.
When [Doctors Without Borders] witnesses extreme acts of violence against individuals or groups, the organization may speak out publicly. We may seek to bring attention to extreme need and unacceptable suffering when access to lifesaving medical care is hindered, when medical facilities come under threat, when crises are neglected, or when the provision of aid is inadequate or abused.
The organization issued a strong condemnation, which seemed to point a finger at Israel, making no mention of the hospital's alleged links to terrorist activities.
Meanwhile Wall Street Journal reporter Tamer El-Ghobashy posted a photo from the scene and tweeted that the “low level damage suggests Hamas misfire.” El-Ghobashy deleted and reposted the photo, this time with the message, “Unclear what the origin of the projectile is.”
Once it was established that Israel was not responsible, the media seemed to lose interest in the incident.
One day later a journalist reporting from the hospital is startled as a rocket is launched.
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