* Complete, as much as possible, the research we are doing
* Hopefully, create a comprehensive report of the findings and analysis, including pictures of the "civilian" terrorists
* Publicize it to media outlets
If anyone out there is better than I am at this stuff, especially at organizing and double-checking the data, please volunteer to help out.
Here's a draft press release I wrote, all critiques are appreciated:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In the wake of worldwide accusations of widespread Israeli atrocities towards civilians in Gaza, an ad-hoc team of researchers has discovered that many of the so-called "civilian" casualties in Gaza were, in fact, Arab terrorists.
In March, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights released a seemingly comprehensive list of people killed in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. This list described the victims as either "militant" or "civilian," and determined that out of 1417 dead, 926 were civilians. These numbers were publicized widely throughout the world as the definitive list of casualties, and were used as proof that the Israel Defense Forces were using indiscriminate and disproportionate force.
A team of independent researchers from the United States, Germany and the Netherlands has been finding many problems with the PCHR methodology. Using newspaper articles, descriptions of the victims on Hamas websites and other sources, this team has so far identified that over 125 of the so-called "civilians" were, in fact, active members of terror groups.
"The PCHR seems to have used a deliberately narrow definition of 'civilian,'" says the pseudonymous Elder of Ziyon, leader of the team, who has been publishing their findings on his website. "Hamas military commanders and leaders who were clearly legitimate targets are not being counted as "militants" by the PCHR, even as Hamas lauds them as long-time members of the Qassam Brigades terror group."
Further analysis from the team reveals that the initial claims by the UN, PCHR, Palestinian Health Ministry and others that there were 30-50 victims of Israeli shelling outside the Jabalya UNRWA school in January were untrue. The PCHR's list agrees with the IDF's claims of only 12 victims. Even so, the claim of dozens of phantom victims is still on the PCHR website.
The team is compiling the results of their research in real time, fully transparently, on the Elder of Ziyon website at http://elderofziyon.com. The centerpiece of the research is a living document that is listing all of the terrorists that the PCHR considers "civilian" along with links to the webpages that prove their affiliation to known terror groups, often with biographies and photos. The final results will be published and available for review.
For more information, contact Elder at coolboardpresident @ yahoo.com.