Tuesday, May 15, 2018

05/15 Links Pt1: Ben Shapiro: Hamas Planned The Violence On The Gaza Border. The Media Act As Their Propaganda Arm; Col. Kemp: "IDF is defending border as UK or any other soldiers would"

From Ian:
Ben Shapiro: Hamas Planned The Violence On The Gaza Border. The Media Act As Their Propaganda Arm.
The media coverage of terror group Hamas’ deliberately-crafted border assault on Israel has been egregious: from CNN to MSNBC to The New York Times, mainstream outlets have acted as propaganda vehicles for one of the worst regimes on the planet. Hamas has spent weeks ginning up attacks on the border with the Gaza Strip — an area completely controlled by Hamas, which was elected to power in 2006 after Israel’s withdrawal from the area — and yet the media treat Israel as the aggressor.

That’s insane.

Here’s the proof.

First, meet senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar.

He explains openly on Al Jazeera (translation via MEMRI):

When you are in possession of weapons that were able to withstand the occupation in the wars of 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2014, when you have weapons that are being wielded by men who were able to prevent the strongest army in the region from entering the Gaza Strip for 51 days, and were able to capture or kill soldiers of that army is this really ‘peaceful resistance’? This is not peaceful resistance. Has the option [of armed struggle] diminished? No. On the contrary, it is growing and developing. … So when we talk about peaceful resistance, we are deceiving the public. This is peaceful resistance bolstered by a military force and by security agencies and enjoying tremendous popular support. … This deception does not fool the Palestinian public.


Ben Shapiro: Media goes wild in anti-Trump, anti-Israel fervor
On Tuesday, the New York Daily News ran with another of its desperate appeals for circulation. This time, it blamed Ivanka Trump for Hamas-generated violence in the Gaza Strip.

The cover featured a grinning Ivanka, dressed to the nines, at the inauguration of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. But instead of her gesturing to the placard featured on the new embassy, the Daily News photoshopped in a photo of a wounded Palestinian on the Gaza border — so now Ivanka was gesturing at Palestinian suffering, a smile spread broadly across her face. The headline: “DADDY’S LITTLE GHOUL.”

This is absolutely abhorrent. It’s also reflective of the media coverage of both the Trump administration and Israel overall. The media have been repeating Hamas propaganda — and, presumably, they know it. They’ve been claiming that Israel is killing “protesters,” even though these are Hamas-led riots. They’ve been claiming that Israel has been targeting civilians, when it is clear this is not the case. And now they’re claiming that the Trump administration is to blame. The Washington Post headlined, “Israelis kill dozens of Palestinians in Gaza protesting U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem.”

The violence in the Gaza Strip has been ongoing for weeks, and has been entirely orchestrated by Hamas. Palestinians, including Hamas terrorists, have been throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli troops, as well as explosive devices and stones; they’ve been burning tires and attempting to cut through the border fence with wirecutters. The Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, Ronen Manelis, says Hamas is paying families to protest, and that they have intelligence that Hamas seeks to kidnap an Israeli soldier.
Col. Kemp: "IDF is defending border as UK or any other soldiers would"


You Are Wrong. The Media Is Not Falling for Hamas Propaganda
The media is a knowing accomplice in helping a terrorist group push out its propaganda.

Here is a delightful video of one of those peaceful Palestinians caught on camera walking with crutches to the Israeli border fence. Miracle of miracles, he suddenly walks just fine.

There are lots of people accusing the media of falling for Hamas propaganda. Obviously, several dozen people lost their lives as they tried to storm through the Israeli border with the stated purpose of making their way to Jerusalem to disrupt the opening of the American embassy. And obviously they died because Israeli soldiers shot them. And obviously the media is making a big deal of this.

But no, the media is not falling for propaganda. The media has gone into this as a willful, knowing accomplice with Hamas, a terrorist group. The media has gotten played so much, the media knows exactly what is happening and the media is allowing it to happen. Many of those killed turned out to be directly working with Hamas, a terrorist group. It was that terrorist group that organized the storming of the border knowing people would get killed. It is the media passing by this story suggesting Israel has no other choice but to let people storm its border and oppose an embassy the media itself has a subtle editorial bias against.

There is no campaign to fool the media here. The campaign was waged long ago to get the media on the side of the Palestinians and their terrorist allies. Ever since, the media has just been doing their bidding.


Journalists Should Stop Falling For Hamas’ Deadly PR Efforts Against Israel
Hamas isn’t merely a terrorist organization committed to murdering Jews, it’s a terrorist organization that urges its own people to become cannon fodder as a means of appealing to Western journalists and intellectuals. The higher the death toll, the happier Hamas will be. And few things have more of a detrimental effect on the Palestinian cause than the media’s asymmetrical coverage of this conflict with the Jews.

Until Palestinians shed their hatred, turn from the Israeli fences, and march towards their own governments, they will remain pawns and saps in a decades-long suicide mission. That’s because no amount of bad press about Israel’s efforts to stop violence coming from Gaza will impel that nation to create a terror state on its borders. It’s untenable, not to mention immoral. We would never contemplate such a thing. Nor would any rational country.

Despite what you’ve heard, the 35,000 Palestinian “demonstrators” massed along the security fence between Israel and Gaza — the ones throwing firebombs and other explosives, burning tires, chucking rocks (if you think these are aren’t deadly, you should see one landing; I have), and those attempting to light fires to burn crops and vegetation — are only ostensibly protesting the United States moving its embassy to Israel’s capital. I know this because Hamas doesn’t accept a U.S. embassy anywhere in Israel, as it doesn’t recognize Israel at all.

Hamas has openly asserted that it’s attempting to create incursions into Israel, and that has absolutely nothing to do with East or West or North or South Jerusalem. For Palestinians this is about the 70th anniversary of Israel — or, as they see it, Nakba. It’s about an ongoing historic effort — an intermittently theocratic or nationalistic effort, depending on the trends — to play victim.





A Stark Juxtaposition Marks the Opening Of Jerusalem Embassy
The stark juxtaposition of the celebratory opening of America’s new embassy to Israel in Jerusalem and deadly Palestinian riots in Gaza has led some to conclude that one has something to do with the other.
Click Image to Enlarge

As New York Times columnist Max Fisher put it in a tweet, “Now up to 37 people killed. Hope Jared and Ivanka are having lots of fun at the embassy opening!”

A journalist for the Economist described the Palestinian fatalities as the “Awful but not unexpected result of America abandoning all semblance of fair-dealing in Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

By this narrative, Palestinian hopelessness leads to violence. That could be. The thing is, though, Arab or Islamist violence has been remarkably consistent for nearly a century.

Nearly 70 Jews were killed in the 1929 Hebron riots. Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Another 25 Israelis were killed by Palestinian terrorists in the Ma’alot Massacre in 1974. The 1990s and 2000s saw a series of Palestinian suicide attacks on Israeli passenger buses, at the Dolphinarium disco, at the Sbarro restaurant.

These attacks happen when Washington sides with Israel, as it has during the Trump administration, and when it tries to pressure Israel or mediate more even-handedly, as it did in other administrations. The attacks target America, as they did on September 11, 2001, and they target European capitals with foreign policies that are more tilted toward the Arabs. More than 190 were killed in the Madrid train bombings of 2004, more than 50 in the 2005 London transit bombings, hundreds more in the attacks in Paris and Brussels in 2015 and 2016. America’s embassy in Iran was seized in 1979 and Pan Am Flight 103 was downed in 1988.
Sohrab Amari: The Media War on Palestinian Agency
Palestinian Arabs are human beings, which means they are possessed of free will, agency, and the natural capacity to reason like any other people. This basic, incontestable anthropological reality needs to be frequently restated today since our media and foreign-policy establishment has apparently concluded the opposite.

The latest media assault on Palestinian agency came Monday, as Israelis celebrated the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, while Palestinians attempted to infiltrate en masse the barrier fence that separates the Jewish state from the terrorist-run Gaza Strip to the south.

By the Western media’s dim lights, the blame for Hamas’s criminal stunt and the casualties it caused lay with . . . anybody and everybody but Hamas and the Palestinians.

The narrative emerged early on Twitter, and the social-media platform’s deplorable tendency to flatten reality into cheap, emotive images no doubt accelerated its dissemination. The juxtaposition–of “Jivanka” and Benjamin Netanyahu celebrating in Jerusalem while Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians at the Gaza border–proved irresistible to reporters. The BBC’s Katty Kay, for example, was quick to point out that President Trump’s warm words for the Jewish state came while there were “41 dead on the Israel Gaza border today.” An AFP White House correspondent posted the two sets of images side-by-side–a smiling and clapping Bibi next to a photo of fire and smoke from Gaza–with the words: “Quite the disconnect.” He had garnered more than 2,600 retweets as of this writing.
Ben Shapiro: 'The New York Times' Cites The United Nations To Condemn Israel. Here's What They're Not Telling You.
On Tuesday, the United Nations Human Rights Office issued a series of brutal statements targeting the Israeli government – statements parroted uncritically by The New York Times.

According to the Times, “A spokesman for the United Nations Human Rights office criticized Israel, saying, ‘It seems anyone is liable to be shot dead or injured.’” The Times continued:

United Nations human rights officials said on Tuesday that Israel’s use of lethal force against Palestinian demonstrators was unjustified and called for an independent investigation into what could be grave breaches of international law. “We condemn the appalling deadly violence in Gaza yesterday,” Rupert Colville, the spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, told reporters. “We are extremely worried about what may happen later today,” he said. “We urge maximum restraint. Enough is enough.”

So, who exactly is on the UN Human Rights Council? According to their website, the commission is comprised of “African States 15, Asian States 12, Eastern European States 5, Latin American & Caribbean States 11, Western Europe & Other States 10.” The African group is chaired by the representative from Morocco; the Asian group is chaired by the representative from Saudi Arabia; the Eastern European group is chaired by the representative from Azerbaijan. All of these countries are effectively dictatorships. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, al-Hussein, is a member of the Jordanian royal family who has spent the last several years attacking President Trump personally, using the Commission website to do it, and has called for the prosecution of Bush administration officials. He has called Jews living in East Jerusalem a “war crime.” The Human Rights Council has issued 135 critical resolutions from 2006 to 2016, and 50 percent were directed at Israel. The United Nations has long been a repository for anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment. So it’s no shock that they’re upset at Israel for defending itself.

But you won’t find any of that information in the pages of The New York Times.
Melanie Phillips: Who’s responsible for these Gaza deaths? The Hamas and their western media enablers
And that goes for everyone else demanding that Israel now desists from doing what every other country on earth would do if facing a potential mob of 250,000 invaders bent on conquest and mass murder: defending itself as best it can.

Not a word of condemnation of the Hamas for attempting a violent invasion. Instead, Amnesty screams that Israel is breaking international law. Israel is breaking no law by defending itself. It is Hamas which is guilty of multiple war crimes in using unarmed Arab civilians as cannon fodder behind whom it hides its weapons.

An estimated 40,000 Arabs took apart in today’s riots. It’s being claimed that Israel killed a disproportionate number. All deaths are to be regretted, especially of the young who are being so cynically used; but 55 dead out of an attack force of 40,000? That’s a disproportionate number, all right: disproportionately low.

But here’s the really revolting thing about the west’s Israel-bashers. What really gets them is that no Jews have been killed today. They think it’s outrageous that 55 Arabs were killed and not one Israeli. So just how many Jews need to be killed in order to even up this debauched notion of equivalent worth?

Jews have died in their millions over the centuries at the hands of those who simply hate Jews. Hamas are the latest manifestation of this evil. But in Israel, the Jewish people now has the means to defend itself; and it goes to enormous lengths to guard every life because so many have been lost.

Yet these Israel-bashers complain that this is somehow not cricket, that the Jews need to die – because it’s not fair that they are killing their would-be killers instead. So they portray the Jews as the killers and their genocidal Arab attackers as their victims. Just how disgusting is this?

At times like this we can see how these parts of the west are signing their own death warrant. Well guess what – in Israel, the Jewish people said “never again”. This is what that looks like.
US quashes Security Council call for probe of Gaza deaths
Several countries condemned the violence, including members of the Security Council.

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman urged “calm and restraint”.

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the violence, emphasizing that “Palestinians have the right to peace and security” and reiterating his commitment to a two-state solution.

The Security Council is due to hold an emergency meeting on the violence Tuesday, called at the request of Kuwait.

The Palestinian UN envoy wants the Security Council to condemn the killings.

Meanwhile, Israeli ambassador Ddanny Danon called on the council to condemn Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules the coastal Gaza Strip and led the protests.

It’s not immediately clear what will come out of the discussion. At an emergency meeting after similar protests in March, council members urged restraint on both sides but didn’t decide on any action or joint message.

The draft statement seen would expressed “grave concern regarding recent developments in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the context of the peaceful protests in the Gaza Strip and the tragic loss of civilian lives.”

“The Security Council calls upon all sides to exercise restraint with a view to averting further escalation and establishing calm,” it said.

“The Security Council calls on all States not to undertake any steps that further aggravate the situation, including any unilateral and unlawful measures undermining the prospects of peace.”

It also said that any decisions and actions “which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect” — a reference to the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Haley Defends Israel at U.N.: ‘No Country in This Chamber Would Act With More Restraint’
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley strongly defended Israel Tuesday in the face of international criticism of its response to violent demonstrations at the Gaza border, saying no other country in the chamber would act with more restraint than the Jewish state.

Speaking the day after Israeli forces killed more than 50 Palestinians in Gaza, Haley castigated Hamas—the Islamist terrorist organization governing Gaza—for inciting violence. She also defended the move of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, calling it the right thing to do and a reflection of the will of the American people.

Haley relayed media reports on Hamas maps and social media showing the quickest routes to reach Israeli communities if demonstrators breached the Gaza security fence, as well as urging crowds on loudspeakers to get closer to the fence.

She also noted the report on Hamas falsely claiming to their people that Israeli soldiers were abandoning places along the fence, when in fact they were reinforcing them.

"This is how determined they are to make the lives of the Palestinian people miserable," she said. "They light Molotov cocktails, attached to kites on fire, and attempt to fly them into Israel to cause as much destruction as possible."

Make no mistake, she said, "Hamas is pleased with the results from yesterday."


Seth Frantzman: Inside look: How Gaza protesters attempted to breach the border fence
Hamas members, unarmed but clearly directing some of the young men, are in the crowd. They watch for an area of burning tires and protesters where the protesters have managed to get close to the fence or breach the first line of barbed wire. Some of these professional activists are on motorcycles and they may come and go or drive along the line of protests or observe them from a high point. When they sense that a breach can be made they gather together groups of young men, men who have prepared beforehand for the assault. Like some kind of First World War charge of death, the young men then rush as a group toward the fence.

During the April 27 events up to 700 men were reported by the IDF spokesman Col. Jonathan Conricus to have assaulted the fence “in a way that we have not seen them assault it before,” according to a New York Times report. An earlier Times report titled “300 Meters in Gaza: Snipers, Burning Tires and a Contested Fence,” summarized well the planning and details of the protests and confirmed later accounts.

Planning began ahead of Monday’s protests. Joe Dyke, the AFP correspondent in Gaza, wrote last Thursday that at a “briefing to foreign media, Gaza head of Hamas told journalists on Tuesday he would support thousands of Palestinians breaking through border fence next week.”

On Sunday, the IDF dropped leaflets on Gaza warning protesters to stay away from the fence. On Monday, Dyke, in Gaza, tweeted: “literally as the US embassy inauguration is beginning, loudspeakers east of Gaza City are calling on protesters to prepare to seek to breach the border fence.”

By the end of the day 60 had been killed.

IDF says it thwarted 8 Hamas gunmen attempting to breach fence Monday
Israeli troops fended off an attempted incursion into Israeli territory by a cell of eight armed Hamas operatives in the northern Gaza Strip during Monday’s border clashes, the army said Tuesday.

All eight suspected terrorists were killed in the gun battle with soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces’ elite Maglan Unit, the military said.

On Monday, some 40,000 Palestinians participated in violent riots along the Gaza security fence. As of Tuesday, 60 Palestinians were reported killed in the clashes by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, and another 2,771 injured to varying degrees.

On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said that, in total, at least 24 of the people killed by Israeli troops on Monday were later identified as known members of terrorist organizations.

“Most of the people killed belonged to the Hamas terror group, and some to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” the army said, citing the findings of a joint investigation with the Shin Bet security service.
IDF Blog: Unprecedented Violence on the Security Fence
40,000 rioters have amassed on the border, using explosives, guns, molotov cocktails, and even arson kites to breach the security fence. The IDF has dropped leaflets warning Gazans against approaching the fence - a clear breach of Israel’s sovereignty - but in order for Hamas to continue carrying out its activities, they must continue inciting these riots. Destitute Gazans are receiving $100 per family, bankrolled by Iran, to approach and dismantle the security fence. Those who do not participate are threatened by the terror organization. Hamas is coercing Gazans to risk their lives.

Thus far, three Hamas cells have used the cover of these riots to fire at IDF soldiers and seven have attempted to dismantle the border fence. Facebook pages affiliated with Hamas are uploading maps that show the proximity of the riots to Israeli communities. “There’s no other way to understand these pictures than as a threat against these communities,” Brig. Gen. Manelis said. “There’s no other way to interpret them.”

Ismail Haniyeh, the senior political leader of the terror organization, has repeatedly stated that Hamas' intentions in dismantling the security fence is to infiltrate Israeli territory. Their goal is to wound, kill, and kidnap Israeli soldiers and civilians alike. “A sovereign nation cannot allow this,” Brig. Gen. Manelis stated.

The IDF has responded to the attempted infiltrations with seven strikes on Hamas military targets, located far from the 12 central locations in which Hamas has incited the riots. The IDF will continue to protect its territory form Hamas' threats.
List of Palestinian Attacks on Israel's Gaza Border on Monday
During the rioting, 25 kites were flown from Gaza into Israel, 17 of them affixed with flammable materials, causing fires in 23 locations.

The IDF also released a list of incidents that took place during the violent rioting on the Gaza border:

11:30am - Hundreds of rioters ran towards the border fence in northern Gaza, with some climbing the fence in several places.
12:53pm - Five pipe bombs went off in the northern Gaza.
12:58pm - Explosive device went off in northern Gaza.
1:15pm - IDF thwarted an attempt by a terror cell to plant explosive devices by the border fence in the southern Gaza Strip; terror cell, made up of 4-6 members, opened fire at IDF forces, who returned fire.
1:30pm - Fire opened at IDF forces in the northern Gaza Strip.
1:45pm - Fire opened at IDF forces in the northern Gaza Strip by eight terrorists under the cover of the protests, troops returned fire.
1:50pm - IAF aircraft attacked Hamas position in the northern Gaza Strip.
2:09pm - Three explosive devices went off in the southern Gaza Strip.
2:10pm - IAF aircraft attacked Hamas position in the northern Gaza Strip.
2:13pm - Molotov cocktail thrown at IDF forces in the southern Gaza Strip.
2:15pm - IDF tanks attacked Hamas position in the northern Gaza Strip.
2:49pm - Molotov cocktail thrown at IDF forces in the southern Gaza Strip. The troops returned fire.
3:10pm - Explosive device went off in the northern Gaza Strip.
3:26pm - IAF fighter jets attacked five Hamas targets in the northern Gaza Strip.
5:04pm - IDF tanks attacked Hamas position in the northern Gaza Strip.
5:25pm - IAF fighter jets attacked three Hamas targets in the northern Gaza Strip.
7:02pm - Terrorists opened fire at IDF troops in the southern Gaza Strip, IDF tanks fired at observation post in response.






It is up for Hamas to put an end to the violence


Gaza violence is a direct outgrowth of the Palestinian rejection of Israel


Imagine what would happen if Israel did not protect its citizens



Hamas Encourages Rioters on Israel-Gaza Fence to Kidnap Israelis


Minister threatens to kill Hamas’s Gaza leader Sinwar
Housing Minister Yoav Galant on Tuesday directly threatened Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip after a day of violence in which 60 Palestinians were killed in clashes along the territory’s border with Israel, according to Palestinian sources.

“If Hamas continues to make mistakes — Yahya Sinwar and [Hamas] senior officials will be signing their own death warrants,” he said, referring to the Hamas leader in Gaza. “Hamas is an angel of death to the innocent residents of the Gaza Strip.”

Speaking at a security conference, Galant, a member of the high-level security cabinet and a former IDF general, said that improving the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip would be beneficial to Israel’s security.

“An improved humanitarian situation in Gaza is a security interest for Israel,” he added. “The better the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the more the security situation will improve. We need to be proactive and act accordingly,”
White House: Hamas Responsible for Deaths Along Gaza Border
The White House asserted Monday that Hamas was responsible for the violence that erupted at the border between Israel and Palestinian-occupied Gaza in response to the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.

During a press briefing, White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah fielded questions from reporters about the violence that unfolded in Gaza this morning when Palestinian demonstrators gathered along the border fence between Israel and Gaza. The deadly demonstration, one of the largest to date, has left more than 50 Palestinians dead, according to the Washington Post.

A reporter attending the briefing asked Shah if the president was troubled by the demonstrations and Israel's response.

"At the same time there was a celebratory air in Jerusalem as the U.S. was moving its embassy in the south of Israel along the border with Gaza, there was a lot of violence that resulted in more than 41 people losing their lives," a reporter said. "Is the president concerned about the demonstrations there and Israel's response to people trying to climb over the fence?"

Shah did not equivocate in his response, stating that Hamas, the militant terrorist group that governs the Palestinian territory, bore full responsibility for the violence.

"We're aware of the reports of continued violence in Gaza today," Shah said. "The responsibility for these tragic deaths rests squarely with Hamas."

Shah added that Israel's response was fully appropriate and well within the bounds of self defense.


Australian PM: Hamas is to blame for Gaza deaths
Australia’s prime minister on Tuesday blamed Hamas for the dozens of deaths in Gaza in violent clashes the previous day between Palestinians protesters and Israeli forces along the border.

It was the bloodiest day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the 2014 Gaza war, with at least 58 Palestinians killed and more than 2,700 Palestinians wounded, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gazan health ministry. The dead included six minors, the health ministry said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Melbourne Radio 3AW the loss of life was “tragic” but that “Hamas’s conduct is confrontational. They’re seeking to provoke the Israeli Defense Forces.”

Turnbull said the terror group was “pushing people to the border. In that conflict zone, you’re basically pushing people into circumstances where they are very likely to be shot at.”

Meanwhile Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called on Israel to be proportionate in its response and refrain from excessive use of force. She added in a statement that Israel had the right to protect it population and called on Palestinians “to refrain from violence and attempting to enter into Israeli territory.”
Europeans call for independent inquiry into Gaza violence
Germany, the United Kingdom and Belgium signaled on Tuesday their support for an independent probe into the deadly violence on the Israel-Gaza border, after the United States blocked a UN Security Council statement calling for such an investigation.

“It is our view that an independent investigation commission can clarify the violent incidents and the bloody violations at the border area,” said German government spokesman Steffen Seibert.

Germany also blamed the Palestinian terror group Hamas which controls Gaza for stoking the flames.

“It is clear that everyone has the right to peaceful protest, but it is just as clear that this right to peaceful protest should not be abused in order to provoke violence. And Hamas has been pushing for an escalation of violence,” added Seibert.

“The United Kingdom supports an independent investigation into what has happened,” Alistair Burt, a minister at the Foreign Office responsible for Middle East affairs, told parliament.








Gazan doctor, Israel cast doubts over Hamas claim infant died from tear gas
A Gaza health official cast doubt Tuesday on initial claims that an 8-month-old baby died from Israeli tear gas fired during mass protests on the Gaza border with Israel.

A Gazan doctor told the Associated Press that the baby, Layla Ghandour, had a preexisting medical condition and that he did not believe her death was caused by tear gas. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to disclose medical information to the media.

Layla’s family claimed Tuesday that the baby had ended up in the area of the protest as a result of a mixup, the AP reported added. The Gaza Health Ministry initially counted her among several dozen Palestinians killed Monday.

A Gaza human rights group, Al Mezan, said it was looking into the circumstances of the infant’s death.

The IDF’s Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee also tweeted that Israel has “several testimonies” that called into question the authenticity of claims regarding the circumstances of the baby’s death.
Gazan Boasts to NPR About Driving Israelis ‘Crazy’ by Putting Swastikas on Firebomb Kite: ‘We Want to Burn Them’
A young Palestinian man boasted to National Public Radio on Tuesday about putting swastikas on incendiary kites and flying them into Israel, saying that "Jews go crazy" when they see it and "we want to burn them."

NPR host Steve Inskeep reported live from the Gaza Strip after a wave of violence on Monday following mass violent demonstrations at the border fence with Israel. He spoke with a 19-year-old Gaza resident, who was holding a homemade white kite.

"This is a kite that's going to go to the Jews," the Palestinian said through a translator.

The incendiary kite, designed to catch fire, was decorated with "writing claiming Jerusalem for Palestinians" and with swastikas, the primary symbol of Nazism.

"Why do you put that on there?" Inskeep asked.

"The Jews go crazy for Hitler when they see it," the Gazan said.

"The Israelis know that people are flying kites with swastikas," Inskeep said. "They know this, and they use it to discredit you, to say this shows you're bad people. What do you think about that?"

"This is actually what we want them to know, that we want to burn them," he replied, according to Inskeep.


Israel reopens Gaza crossing, but Palestinians turn back some trucks
Palestinian officials on Tuesday refused to allow trucks loaded with goods into the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing, which Israel had reopened in the morning after rioters from the coastal enclave set fire to parts of the facility three times over the past month.

Shipments of medical supplies, food and diapers arrived at the crossing in the morning. But officials on the Palestinian side said they could only allow through the medical supplies and sent back 14 trucks full of food and diapers, The Times of Israel has learned.

It was not immediately clear why the border officials, who are employed by the Palestinian Authority, would not accept the shipments.

Israel had closed the crossing late last week in order to assess and repair significant damage caused by rioters there last Friday evening.

On Monday night — hours after Gazans again ransacked the facility — the army announced that Israel would be reopening Kerem Shalom on Tuesday.

“Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman approved the recommendation of the Israel Defense Forces and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) to reopen the Kerem Shalom Crossing tomorrow,” the army said in a statement.
ON MSNBC, DIANA BUTTU FALSELY CLAIMS GAZA FENCE IS ELECTRIFIED
Former PLO adviser Diana Buttu, who several years ago infamously repeated on numerous media interviews that Palestinian rockets “do not have explosive heads,” is at it again. Yesterday, she falsely claimed on MSNBC that Israel’s border fence is electrified. “There is an electrified fence there,” she said on “Morning Joe First Look” when MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin asked about the Israeli need for defense. “So what Israel is quote, unquote defending is an electrified fence.”

Israel’s border fence with Gaza is outfitted with electronic monitoring sensors; it is not “electrified,” and thus causes no harm to those who touch it. As a May 2, 2018 New York Times correction noted: “An article on April 28 about Palestinians protesting along the fence between Gaza and Israel referred imprecisely to the fence. While the fence is fitted with electronic sensors to detect infiltrators, it is not an electrified fence.” Mohyeldin did not challenge or correct Buttu’s misinformation.
NBC Reporter Asks White House if It’s Acceptable for Israel to ‘Kill at Will’ in Gaza
NBC White House correspondent Peter Alexander asked the White House Monday if it believed Israel should "kill at will" during questions about violence at the Gaza Strip.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said responsibility for the violence along the border fence "rests squarely with Hamas," the militant terrorist organization that governs the Palestinian territory. Mass protests have broken out again in response to the moving of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recently recognized by the U.S. as Israel's capital.

Alexander quoted French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who issued a statement Monday calling on Israel to use proportionate force and "exercise discernment and restraint."

"So, to be clear, does the U.S. not agree with the French, that Israeli authorities should exercise discretion and restraint?" Alexander asked Shah.

"We believe that Hamas is responsible for what's going on," Shah said.

"So there's no responsibility beyond that on the Israeli authorities, kill at will?" Alexander asked.

"What I'm saying is that we believe that Hamas as an organization is engaged in cynical action that's leading to these deaths," Shah said.


Does the Media Really Understand the Gaza Violence?
Following scenes of violence at the Gaza border on Monday, Israel now stands accused by its critics of various crimes against the Palestinian people.

Who benefits from the images of dead and injured Palestinians? There is only one winner in this situation and Israelis are certainly not celebrating the bloodshed. The images of Israelis celebrating the US Embassy move at the same time, however, create a false image of Israeli insensitivity.

For the Hamas terrorist organization, it was always likely to be a win-win situation. Succeed in overwhelming Israeli military forces by breaching the Gaza security fence enabling Palestinian terrorists to carry out attacks against Israelis is a win. Failing that, scenes of carnage bringing the world’s opprobrium on Israel would be a public relations victory enabled by a willing media.

It appears that the latter scenario has been achieved in blood by Hamas and its supporters.

Facebook posts in Arabic (translated here) made it crystal clear what Hamas intended:

NY Times accused of vicious anti-Israel bias in coverage of Mideast violence
Critics on social media accused The New York Times of anti-Israel bias in the newspaper's reporting on riots in the Gaza Strip that left dozens of Palestinians dead Monday.

At the height of the violence, the headline on the Times' website read: "Israel Kills 58 and Injures Over 1,300 by Gunfire at Gaza Border." As of Monday evening, the slightly edited headline read: "Israeli Soldiers Kill Scores at Gaza Border; Thousands Hurt."

A subhead described "[a] mass attempt by Palestinians to cross the border fence" that "quickly turned violent, as Israeli soldiers responded with rifle fire."

An Israeli military spokesman said protesters carried out "concerted, coordinated" attacks on the border fence separating Gaza from Israel, causing "significant damage."

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus also told The Associated Press that Hamas militants disguised as protesters tried to infiltrate, and there were at least three instances of armed Hamas gunmen trying to carry out attacks. The Times did not mention those claims until the 42nd paragraph of its main story Monday night.

Some Twitter users accused the Times of ignoring the Hamas angle. One user tweeted that "Hamas organized and sacrificed these poor people. They are pawns who the Palestinians [sic] powers give less than a damn about."
MSNBC Reporter Calls Gaza Protesters ‘Unarmed,’ Then Immediately Says They Had ‘Some Light Weapons’
NBC News reporter Matt Bradley on Monday called Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip "unarmed" before immediately acknowledging they "had some light weapons," adding they were "not peacefully demonstrating" but were peaceful in comparison to the more heavily armed Israeli military.

Bradley reported on MSNBC about the bloodshed at the border fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip. On the day of the U.S. embassy opening in Jerusalem, violent demonstrators urged on by Hamas, the terrorist group in control of Gaza, sought to breach the fence to penetrate Israeli territory. The Israeli military, which seeks to limit civilian casualties, fired on some of the demonstrators.

Bradley took a stridently pro-Palestinian tone in his coverage, saying the Israelis should not have felt threatened by the violent demonstrations. One Palestinian told the Washington Post that he would try to kill people if he got into Israel.

"You saw tens of thousands of young people crossing fields between the urban part of Gaza and the Israeli border, essentially trying to walk across this heavily militarized border unarmed," Bradley said.

Then, without skipping a beat, he said the demonstrators were in fact armed.



Sanders Condemns Israeli Response to Gaza Riots: ‘Israel Should Be Condemned’
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) condemned the Israeli response to riots in Gaza and criticized President Donald Trump’s foreign policy during an interview Monday.

Speaking to Mehdi Hasan of the Intercept, Sanders maintained that America needs to dial back its involvement abroad and argued Israel is to blame for violence in Gaza. Hasan said various "human right groups" have accused the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) of committing war crimes.

"Do you believe, as many human rights groups — American, Israeli, Palestinian, European — are saying, that the IDF snipers shooting kids, people in wheelchairs, are those war crimes?" Hasan asked.

"Those are terrible actions," Sanders said, stopping short of calling them war crimes. "Instead of applauding Israel for its actions, Israel should be condemned. Israel has a right to security, but shooting unarmed protesters is not what it is about."

The terrorist organization Hamas directed the riots Hasan spoke about, according to the Israeli internal security service Shin Bet. The purpose of the riots is to use civilians to breach a border fence so that Hamas terrorists can enter Israel with cover from the rioting crowd, but Sanders did not address Hamas in his response except when he accidentally referred to Hamas’ "unemployment" crisis.

"When you have a situation in Hamas, where youth unemployment is somewhere around 60 percent," Sanders said, prompting Hasan to interject.

"Gaza," Hasan said, correcting Sanders for saying "Hamas."
Bernie Sanders Condemns Israeli Response to Hamas-led Riots: 'Israel Should Be Condemned'


'My condolences to the martyrs' killed in Gaza protests, Erdogan says
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday called Israel a "terrorist state" after the Israel Defense Forces shot and killed over 50 Palestinians taking part in protests along the Gaza border.

Erdogan called for three days of mourning in solidarity with those killed by the IDF in Monday's protests, which coincided with the dedication of the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

Those killed, he said, were civilians practicing their democratic rights. He gave his "condolences to the martyrs" and reiterated Turkish support for their "Palestinian brothers and sisters."

At least 55 Palestinians were killed and over 2,000 wounded in Monday's protests along the Gaza border. The IDF also employed tear gas to deter Gazans from attempting to breach the fence that delineates the Strip from Israel proper.

"What Israel is doing is a genocide," he said, adding that this "genocide and occupation" have been ongoing since 1948.

In the speech, Erdogan also called for a meeting of the pan-Muslim Organization for Islamic Cooperation to discuss the escalating situation. In addition, he called for an aid campaign to be started to assist Palestinians and said that the Turkish Red Crescent had made an emergency $100 purchase of aid materials to send to hospitals in Gaza.
Turkey recalls envoys from Israel, U.S. over Gaza deaths, embassy move
Turkey on Monday recalled its ambassadors from Israel and the United States to demonstrate its anger over the mounting Gaza death toll and the relocation of the American Embassy to Jerusalem, according to the Turkish newspaper the Daily Sabah.

Already in December Turkey had warned that it would recall its ambassador should the US make good on its pledge to open relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the removal of the envoys at a speech he delivered in London. Israel’s Foreign Ministry has yet to confirm the report.
Netanyahu: Erdogan knows all about ‘terrorism and slaughter’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to accusations from Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Israel is committing “genocide” in the Gaza Strip, saying on Tuesday that as prime support of Hamas, the Turkish leader was himself involved in “terrorism and slaughter.”

The verbal clash came in the wake of a day of deadly violence in which dozens of Palestinians were killed during Hamas-organized confrontations with Israeli security forces on the Gaza border.

Erdogan said Monday that Israel is a “a terror state” that has committed “a genocide.” Turkey also recalled its ambassadors to Israel and the US for consultations on the situation.

In a response statement, Netanyahu said that “Erdogan is among Hamas’s biggest supporters and there is no doubt that he well understands terrorism and slaughter. I suggest that he not preach morality to us.”

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said Tuesday that 60 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,700 were wounded the day before amid the biggest riots and rallies in a weeks-long campaign of protests against Israel, known collectively as the “March of Return.”
Egypt condemns Israeli deadly force in Gaza; Turkey says US also to blame
Egypt issued a rare condemnation Monday of Israel’s deadly response to clashes along the border with the Gaza Strip, while Turkey said the United States also bore responsibility for the “massacre” there.

The statement by Egyptian Foreign Ministry condemned what it said was “the use of force against peaceful marches.”

It also warned of the “negative repercussion of such serious escalation in the Palestinian occupied territories.”

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said 55 Palestinians were killed and nearly 1,000 were injured in violent clashes with Israeli forces along the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel.

Israeli security forces said they were responding to deliberate attempts, spurred by Hamas, to overwhelm and breach the boundary fence to launch terror attacks in Israel.

In addition to protesting the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Palestinians were also marking the 70th anniversary of what they call the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” of Israel’s creation in 1948.

The Egyptian statement did not mention the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Ireland dresses down Israeli ambassador over Gaza border deaths
Ireland summoned the Israeli ambassador Tuesday to communicate its “shock and dismay” over the deaths of dozens of Palestinians during clashes with Israeli security forces along the border with the Gaza Strip the day before.

Foreign Minister Simon Coveney “summoned the Israeli ambassador to Ireland… to express Ireland’s shock and dismay at the level of death and injury yesterday on the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said in a statement.

Coveney also asked for “restraint from Israel in the hours and days ahead,” the foreign ministry said. “The ambassador has been informed of Irish demands for an independent international investigation into yesterday’s deaths led by the UN.”

The ministry said Irish officials in Ramallah reported that health services in Gaza, already stretched because of a lack of equipment and essential medicines, were “overwhelmed with the level of casualties.”

Boker has been informed of Ireland’s demands for an independent international investigation led by the UN, the ministry spokesman said, noting that the minister was “very disturbed” by injuries to health workers tending to the injured in the clashes.
Guardian editorial on Gaza riots again illustrates its unbridled hatred towards Israel
The first thing that stands out in the Guardian’s latest official editorial on the Gaza border riots is the absence of
even one use of the word ‘Hamas’ in over 600 words of text, despite the fact that the mass riots since March 31st have been organized and funded by the terror group. This is part of a long Guardian pattern of erasing Palestinian actions from the moral calculus of the conflict.

The anti-Israel agitprop and lies masquerading as progressive thought begins in the headline

The Guardian view on Gaza shootings: stop killing unarmed civilians

First, contrary to the headline’s claim, hundreds of demonstrators have in fact been ‘armed’ with molotov cocktails and other weapons and incendiary devices. Further, it’s not only civilians ‘protesting’, as Palestinian terrorists from Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been present and among the key instigators of the clashes.

Then, there’s the strap line:

Channelling a reckless Donald Trump, Israeli ministers appear to have adopted a dangerous mindset: to destroy the national aspirations of the Palestinians by military force

The suggestion that the IDF response demonstrates that the leadership is “channeling…Donald Trump” is nonsense, words without meaning likely written by a Corbyn-supporting editor designed purely to incite the insatiable anti-American and anti-Trump appetites of the Guardian base. It’s also completely counter-factual to suggest that the riots based on the ‘right of return’ have anything to do with “the national aspirations of the Palestinians”. Israel left the territory in 2005, and since then Gaza has been a Palestinian-run polity. Gazans’ lack of freedom is owed to the fact that they voted in an Islamist extremist group which rejects liberalism, human rights and democracy.

The lies continue in first paragraph:
It is inexcusable for soldiers of a military, especially those under democratic civilian control, to shoot and kill protesters, almost all of whom were unarmed, and who pose no credible threat.

IsraellyCool: But Mr. Haniyeh, Why is My Bus Ticket to the March of Return Only One-Way? (satire)
Mr. Haniyeh, it is a great honor to join you in the heroic struggle to end the Occupation of Gaza! We will drive the Jews out of Gaza….. Wait. They all left in 2005? But we are still Occupied! Because!

But our struggle is not just about the Occupation. It is about breaking down the Walls that separate Gaza from the World! Wait. We border the largest nation in the Arab World, and they say that we are Brothers! Maybe Egypt can open its 20 Kilometer-long border to us! Then we won’t be under a Blockade! And if they refuse, we could hold a protest there also! Wait, you say they would just shoot us? And that nobody would care? Because they’re not Israelis? OK, I see your point.

So where was I? Oh yes…. Mr. Haniyeh, I was thinking that maybe after this protest is over, I could find a new way to serve the Resistance. What? You say that there are a lot of job openings? Hamdullah! Let me see the list of openings! OK…. Tunnel digger? Four vacant positions? Wait, didn’t the Zionist Entity collapse a Resistance tunnel in South Gaza last night? Well I guess that explains the vacancies. Hmmm, perhaps there is something else I could do. Maybe I could work with you in the Hamas Headquarters Bunker underneath Gaza Hospital! That seems like a nice job. No? OK, maybe I could work for Khaled Mashal in Qatar? No openings there either? OK, I understand.

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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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