Palestinians Still Embrace Spirit of 1947

Palestinians Still Embrace Spirit of 1947: pThe vote to upgrade the Palestinian Authority’s status at the United Nations today is being conducted on the world body’s annual Day of Solidarity with Palestinians. That is, as PA head Mahmoud Abbas helpfully pointed out in his speech to the General Assembly, the anniversary of the 1947 UN vote to partition Palestine. Along with [...]/p

The callousness of Hamas

Richard Cohen, opinion writer for the Washington Post, wrote an excellent piece on Hamas' total disregard for the safety of Gazan residents.

He concludes, "...This war between Arabs and Jews, between Israelis and Palestinians, is well over 100 years old. Both sides have a case and both sides have proved to be indomitable. But both sides are not equally right in all instances. Hamas sent rockets into Israel, not caring if they hit a chicken coop or a group of toddlers jumping in and out of a sprinkler. You want balance? Here’s balance. Hamas didn’t care if its own people died either."

To read the entire column, click here.

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In the same November 19, 2012 edition of the Washington Post, Max Fisher has a good article entitled "Israel, Gaza, and the patterns of the past". He concludes, "...Finding a way out of the patterns of the past would not be easy for Israel or for Gaza, and the cynicism that often follows Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy such as the unofficial peace proposal draft of last week is informed by a long history of disappointments. The foreseeable exits from this cycle would require historic efforts to reach: Gazans rejecting the leadership of Hamas, for example, or Israelis moving West Bank Palestinians toward a political independence that could offer Gaza a better example, as the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg has suggested. At some point, though, the costs of the status quo may begin to exceed the costs of breaking it, if they have not already."

Ceasefire ambivalence

Another good assessment of the latest Israel/Gaza conflict by Jack Cohen:

Normally one would be very happy to have a ceasefire, to stop the firing and save lives.  But, under the circumstances of the situation of Gaza, where a terrorist organization, Hamas, controls a highly armed enclave and lobs missiles into Israel whenever they feel like it, the cessation of fighting of Operation Pillar of Defense leaves me ambivalent. 

 

There were good reasons for PM Netanyahu to accept a temporary ceasefire proposal: 1. A ground invasion of Gaza could have been costly in Israeli soldiers lives; 2. There was pressure from the US and EU to cease fire; 3.  A ground invasion was not popular with the Israeli public (partly because the IDF is a citizen army); 4. A temporary ceasefire may lead to a longer term improvement in the situation; 5. The ceasefire enhances the credibility of Pres. Morsi of Egypt, which might aid future peace efforts; 6. A ceasefire shows that Israel is a reasonable country led by reasonable men.  On the other hand, the main drawback of a ceasefire now is that by not finishing the job and destroying Hamas, the ceasefire will be only a prelude to the next round of conflict.

 

Of course, Hamas lost a lot, both in leaders as well as men (ca. 100 killed) and in terms of infrastructure destruction.  Pres. Haniyeh of Hamas must find new offices and much of the government buildings of Gaza have been destroyed.  He knows that had he continued with the shelling and had the IDF invaded Gaza, the death and destruction wrought on his side would have been much worse.  So they stopped and declared victory.  To what extent Haniyeh and his advisors have internalized the truth that they cannot destroy Israel and they cannot achieve their aims is unknown, but maybe Pres. Morsi of Egypt, who seems to be a more pragmatic Islamist (he needs American money) has talked some sense into them.  If they want to continue to rule Gaza they must come to some pragmatic accomodation with Israel.  At least we hope so.  Otherwise it's back to the old "cycle of violence" again.

 

At present we don't know the details of this ceasefire or what compromises have been made, if any, by either side, and the negotiations are still continuing.  For Israel a continued cessation of missile fire is paramount.  PM Netanyahu has stated that if missile fire resumes then a ground invasion of Gaza is inevitable.  Secondarily Israel needs assurances that another build up of missiles thru the tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border will not be allowed. Hamas has announced that they gave no such committment. According to various sources it is hoped that this ceasefire might last as long as that with Hizbollah on the northern border, that has lasted 6 years since the Second Lebanon War.  But, don't get too complacent.

 

Who are the winners from this ceasefire?: 1. Definitely Pres. Morsi of Egypt who has enhanced his position as guarantor of Hamas; 2. The US, under Pres. Obama and Secty of State Clinton, for their success in achieving the ceasefire; 3. Hamas by facing down Israel and surviving.  Hamas declared a victory, but if that is a victory I'd hate to see what a defeat is like; 4. Israel once again wreaked extensive destruction on a vicious enemy and reestablished its detterence capability, they won't want to go back to being pounded again soon.  Who were the losers? 1. Pres. Abbas of Fatah and the PA, who was essentially irrelevant in this situation and was ignored by all sides (incidentally Hamas announced that they will not support Abbas's application for non-member status at the UN);  2. Iran played essentially no direct role and its position vis-a-vis Hamas has been usurped by Egypt and the Sunni axis;  3. Hizbollah lost credibility, since it failed to react and open a second front with Israel as it had promised to do. 

 

So overall the ceasefire has short-term positive gains for Israel, but with possible long-term negative consequences, hence the ambivalence felt by much of the population.

Media bias exposed again

Amazing how the Western media continually perpetuates anti-Israel images without checking facts.  Thankfully, groups such as HonestReporting.com and others expose the fraud.

Aish.com has a video that compares the photos used by the media with the truth behind the images.  For example, injured children depicted in Gaza are actually images from children injured in Syria.

There is clearly a need to monitor and report bias whenever it appears.

Review of media coverage of Operation Pillar of Defense

HonestReporting.com has provided an excellent analysis of the media during Operation Pillar of Defense.  For the most part, I think that Israel was able to get its message out and the world saw a different picture than the last Gazan offensive.

With a ceasefire in effect, Operation Pillar of Defense appears to be over. Of course there will be plenty of media coverage in the coming days and weeks as the “fog of war” clears. In any event, Israel is rarely out of the news, a situation that will not change in the near future.

It is, however, a good time to take stock and make some observations on how this conflict was conducted and covered from a media perspective.

Read the rest of the commentary here.

Hall of Shame Winners from Operation Pillar of Defense

Honest Reporting.com has listed the top ten media fails on the reporting of Operation Pillar of Defense.

For 1-5, click here.

For 6-10, click here.

Good job Honest Reporting!!

Hamas’s Triple War Crimes

In a November 21, 2012 posting on Commentary, Rick Richman writes about the war crimes of Hamas. The question for me is whether or not the world will actually acknowledge what Hamas has been doing with its civilians.

Richman writes:

Standing beside the UN secretary general yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted again that every rocket from Gaza is a double war crime, since each reflects: (1) an intentional indiscriminate attack on civilians, while (2) hiding behind a civilian population for protection.

It is actually a triple war crime, because the use of civilians as shields is intended not simply for protection of the terrorists, but to ensure that Palestinian civilians are killed — to produce the response from the UN, the New York Times, and others in the “international community” necessary to win the media war that is conducted alongside the military one. In a phone call late last night in Israel, a noted Israeli commentator described the situation that Israel faces as Kafkaesque: 

“The most bizarre part is that Israel is in the position of protecting the Gaza public from its own leadership that is trying to get them killed in order to win points with the New York Times.” 

In another call yesterday, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren said that Israel has so far used more than 10,000 phone calls, text messages, pamphlets, and other public announcements to warn Palestinian civilians of areas to avoid, and inform them of areas where they can safely take shelter. Pamphlets have been dropped from the sky providing directions — complete with roads to use. 

As Netanyahu told the UN head yesterday: “I’m not sure that there is another military on earth that goes to such great lengths to keep innocents out of harm’s way.” It is an extraordinary accomplishment, given the fact that Israel is facing an enemy that uses triple war crimes as the heart of its military/media strategy.

BRATTLEBORO REFORMER: Editorial_A call for diplomacy

BRATTLEBORO REFORMER

Tuesday November 20, 2012
A call for diplomacy

Last week, Israel launched a new offensive against militants in Gaza, firing missiles on at least 20 targets and killing Hamas military commander Ahmed al-Jabari.

Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007 when Israel withdrew from the area, has claimed responsibility for a series of rocket strikes over the past several months. It also last week said it was responsible for detonating a tunnel packed with explosives along the Gaza border with Israel while Israeli soldiers were working nearby.

While we’re not disputing that Israel should exercise its right to defend itself from attack, this most recent assault on Hamas seems like overkill, and comes as a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to ratchet up the rhetoric on Iran and that country’s perceived nuclear aspirations.

It’s a shame, really, that the last three years (or so) of what the New York Times in an editorial last week described as "an informal cease-fire" following the winter war in 2008-09, a more permanent and long-lasting peace agreement for both sides could not be reached through diplomatic means.

Instead, this recent ramping up of attacks will accomplish two things: It will distract from the ongoing Iran saga, as Western leaders continue to attempt to diffuse through politics and sanctions. It will also threaten the tenuous thread of "peace" which has prevented the entire region from spiraling into widespread conflict.

Think it won’t have any effect on us at home?

Not only is does the real threat of a Middle East conflict exploding (no pun intended) into a full-scale World War mean our sons and daughters would be once again shipped off to a foreign land; unlike 1914 and ‘45 it is all but certain nuclear arms will play heavily in the fight.

Or, if you prefer the less extreme: On Monday oil rose toward $111 a barrel as investors feared other countries would be pulled into the conflict between Hamas and Israel, while energy exports from the region were disrupted.

As always in these types of situations, it would be best for everyone involved if this issue could be solved through diplomacy and cooler-heads prevailing.

To the Editor:

With regard to the escalating crisis in the Middle East, I agree with both the need for diplomacy, as well as Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas’ terrorist attacks, as stated in your November 20, 2012 editorial.

However, the Reformer’s depiction of Israel’s response as “overkill” without the full context of the intensified rocket attacks aimed at Israeli civilians by Hamas, is misleading. 

Hamas has been proved to hide its rocket launchers amongst its civilian population as it fires rockets aimed at civilians into Israel.  The brunt of the damage has been in Israel's south, however, Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets are now reaching Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, directly threatening as many as 3 million Israelis – 45% of Israel's population.  These include Israeli Jews, Muslims and Christians.  Since the launch of Israel's current military operation, over 800 rockets have been fired from Gaza.  On November 15, a rocket fell on an apartment building in Kiryat Malachi, killing three.  Over 300 rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome, Israel's mobile defense system.   Since 2001, well over 14,000 rockets and mortar shells have fallen in southern Israel.

Israel has shown tremendous restraint in the face of the unceasing rocket and mortar fire launched from Gaza.  This operation is directly targeting the leadership responsible for these attacks, as well as the warehouses and facilities housing their weapons.   No country in the world would stand by and tolerate such attacks on more than a million civilians.  In light of the unceasing attacks, Israel had no choice but to act against Hamas and eliminate its operational capabilities.

It is important to remember that Israel fully redeployed from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, uprooting Israeli settlers and removing military installations, in the hope that the Palestinians would govern Gaza responsibly and peacefully.  Instead, the Hamas leadership has turned Gaza into an armed camp, creating and maintaining the conditions for a humanitarian crisis, and forcing the isolation of the Gazan population.  Israeli is ensuring that the flow of humanitarian goods into Gaza continues. 

The ‘Kids’ Behind IDF’s Media

Tablet had a great article about the young Israeli soldiers have pushed older commanders into adopting a more aggressive social media strategy.

After the first night of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, now almost a week ago, a photograph began circulating around Twitter of a grinning 11-month-old who had been killed by an Israeli missile that landed on his house. Within hours, Avital Leibovich, an Israeli Defense Forces spokeswoman, posted a reply of sorts: a photograph of another infant, this one an Israeli girl, wounded by a Hamas rocket in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi. It wasn’t the first skirmish of the virtual war being waged across social media networks by both the Israeli government and Hamas—the real-world hostilities were announced Nov. 14 by the IDF in atweet trumpeting the death of Hamas leader Ahmed Jabari—but it was an early indication of how the awful life-and-death stakes of war have been reduced to Internet fodder.

Read the article here.

The fight for public opinion and warfare on the Web - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper

Israel is doing a much better job to inform about the realities of Operation Pillar of Defense.

Since Hamas initiated the latest round of fighting in Gaza, Israel’s critics have been hard-pressed to criticize the country’s need to defend its people against a barrage of hundreds of rockets fired by terrorists.

However, since Hamas is hiding its rocket launches amongst civilians and shooting rockets toward Israeli civilians, it is inevitable that a defense missile from Israel will miss its mark.  Hamas gets propaganda points with its photos of Palestinian deaths.  However, not all the deaths are due to Israeli rockets but rather from Hamas rockets.

Good analysis of media war in today's Ha'aretz.