Friday, August 08, 2014

Common-sense Zionism pops up in the Philippines

An op-ed in the Sun Star newspaper from Cebu, Philippines, by Mel Libre:

ON May 15, 1948, upon the recommendation by the United Nations General Assembly of the partition plan of Mandatory Palestine, present-day Israel was established as an independent state. The next day, five Arab neighbors, in support of Palestinian Arabs, pursued a war against the young nation.

But the early Zionist settlers fought back and, in many instances, defeated its enemies, some of which made peace, especially Egypt and much later the once-terrorist Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) of Yasser Arafat.

God’s Promised Land, given to the Israelites after Moses led them out of Egypt, has been occupied, if not ruled by different peoples including the Egyptians, Canaanites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arab Caliphates, Crusaders, Ottomans and finally the British from 1923–1948.

It was thought that the Israel-Palestine peace accord signed by Israel Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO foreign policy official Mahmoud Abbas (the current president of Palestine) on Sept. 13, 1993 would finally end the animosity of the two enemies.

Israel willingly allowed the Palestinians to establish a government in a defined territory that included Biblical towns such as Jericho and Bethlehem. In 2005, Israel gave full control of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians. In 2012, with UN approval raising Palestine's status to that of observer state, Abbas decreed the use of the name, “State of Palestine.”

I am of the belief that the people of Israel have come to the acceptance of the State of Palestine that would exist for the attainment of peace in the region. But Abbas could not contain the Hamas, a terrorist group that has no love for Israel, with a declaration that "Hamas will not recognize Israel...this is a red line that cannot be crossed."

With Hamas controlling the Gaza Strip and having initiated recent attacks on the civilian population of Israel, the Jewish state retaliated with intent to destroy the enemy. The result: more than 1,800 Palestinians dead and 2,502 injured and 67 Israelis killed. Some $6 billion worth of properties were destroyed.

It is said that the Gaza Strip, with a land area of 365 square kilometers, has a population of 1.82 million people (mostly Sunni Muslims) and is one of the most densely populated parts of the world. Hamas has embedded itself in the area like a ticking bomb strapped to Israel.

The act of Israel is one of self-preservation, as it had done so from the time of its establishment in 1948. Hamas and its supporters have blood in their hands, and the world must condemn not just their acts, but the very purpose of the group.

Israel has a right to exist. Its people didn’t cower in the past. They won’t cower now, not in the future.

It is nice to see something like this, and it is sad that it seems so anomalous.

Indeed, Israel's relations with the Philippines have been mostly warm, and in 1939 the president of the Philippines saved over 1300 Jews from the Nazis, and endeavored to save far, far more.

08/08 Links Pt1: BBC and NYT Admit Gazan Civilian Casualty Stats Not Credible; Some truly hated truths

From Ian:

Sarah Honig: Some truly hated truths

The truth is that Israel’s cardinal sin is not allowing its genocidal enemies a deluxe war. This has earned us wrath in censorious capitals and yet another preposterous summons from the UNHRC’s kangaroo court.
The truth is that none of the moral relativists out there will admit that the only imbalance in our equation is between the morality of an ultra-liberal democracy and the immorality of the primeval fanatics who beleaguer it.
The truth is that Gaza’s piteous plaintiveness must be juxtaposed with the riotous rejoicing over a single Israeli’s “capture.”
But these unvarnished truths are unwanted in the smug societies that turn up their sneering noses at us. As George Orwell is reputed to have warned mankind, "the further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it."

BBC and NYT Admit Gazan Civilian Casualty Stats Not Credible

Since the conflict in Gaza began, many in the media have become obsessed with publishing “body count” casualty statistics, especially showing the number of Gazan civilian casualties. This data has been used to support those accusing Israel of committing “war crimes.” They say that the huge numbers of “civilian” deaths proves that Israel is being indiscriminate in its military operations.
Now both the BBC and the New York Times (which has been particularly fixated on the daily casualty stats) are admitting that there are serious problems with these numbers.
The BBC’s head of statistics Anthony Reuben, asks:
"If the Israeli attacks have been ‘indiscriminate,’ as the UN Human Rights Council says, it is hard to work out why they have killed so many more civilian men than women…
…In conclusion, we do not yet know for sure how many of the dead in Gaza are civilians and how many were fighters. This is in no sense the fault of the UN employees collecting the figures – their statistics are accompanied by caveats and described as preliminary and subject to to revision.
But it does mean that some of the conclusions being drawn from them may be premature.

UN Watch: Letter to Navi Pillay about her silence on Hamas

Dear Navi Pillay,
Every minute of your silence since Hamas attacked Israel this morning and broke the ceasefire only confirms what we already knew: You are a fraud.
Sincerely,
Hillel C. Neuer UN Watch

Deleted post from Forbes: The 20 Most Ridiculous Things People Believe About The Hamas/Israel Conflict

Jeff Ballabon published this in a Forbes blog, and then Forbes took it down. I haven't followed all the links so I don't know if one of them is problematic, but for now, here is the article that was taken down: If someone finds out why it was taken down, or one of the links points to something ridiculously offensive or wrong, let me know.)

The 20 Most Ridiculous Things People Believe About The Hamas/Israel Conflict

Israel started it! http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/07/22/self-defense-or-atrocties-in-gaza/look-carefully-at-who-started-the-current-israel-hamas-conflict; http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28371966;
War Crime! Israel should have provided Iron Dome to Hamas!http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/1/un-condemns-israel-us-not-sharing-iron-dome-hamas/
Israeli conspiracy! Hamas is innocent!http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/181596/buzzfeed-gets-a-big-story-wrong#undefined; http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/180617/did-israel-say-hamas-didnt-kidnap-its-teens-no
It’s all an Israeli marketing campaign for Iron Dome!http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/07/war-market-iron-dome-201472911136812616.html
Hamas! Democratically elected terrorists with a heart of gold!http://www.theweek.co.uk/middle-east/gaza/59659/understanding-hamas-part-terrorism-part-good-works
Hamas doesn’t want to eradicate Israel; they’re just frustrated by the occupation…that, uh, ended in 2005! http://www.jcpa.org/brief/brief005-3.htm;http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Is-Gaza-still-occupied;http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2014/07/is-gaza-legally-occupied-by-israel-no.html#.U-IauFYRXss; http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2012/01/hamas-leader-admits-gaza-isnt-occupied.html#.U-Ia81YRXst
Want peace? Send Hamas more concrete now!http://www.nationalreview.com/article/384274/legitimizing-hamass-war-criminality-charles-krauthammer; http://www.timesofisrael.com/kill-all-jews-urges-hamas-tv-host/; http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/03/24/we-must-massacre-them-hamas-politician-says-palestinians-must-kill-humiliate-and-tax-the-jews/
War Crime! Israel has bomb shelters & Gaza doesn’t!http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0901/01/cnr.03.html;http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4550733,00.html;http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2014/07/12/why-gaza-doesnt-have-bomb-shelters-hamas-israel-terrorism/;http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0717/Why-Gaza-doesn-t-have-bomb-shelters-video
It’s a “cycle of violence”…which ends if the Palestinians get more power!http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-moral-clarity-in-gaza/2014/07/17/0adabe0c-0de4-11e4-8c9a-923ecc0c7d23_story.html
No human shields, here…it’s just that Gaza is, y’know, small!http://freebeacon.com/national-security/hillary-hamas-uses-human-shields-because-gaza-is-pretty-small/; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_cAFbHZNcU&feature=youtu.be; http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=2&x_article=2768;
Apartheid! http://archive.adl.org/israel/apartheid/behind_the_line.html#.U-FA9FYRXss
Genocide! http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/douglas-anthony-cooper/genocide-libel-ii_b_1146096.html
Hamas: fighting for freedom! http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/180382/students-justice-palestine; http://jcpa.org/hamas-threat-no-different-from-isis/
PLO + Hamas “Unity Government”: bold step for peace!http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/08/04/how_to_fix_it_jimmy_carter_mary_robinson_israel_palestine_gaza_hamas?wp_login_redirect=0
Just critics of Israeli policies; no anti-Semitism here!http://everydayantisemitism.tumblr.com; http://newsbusters.org/blogs/walter-e-williams/2014/08/05/walter-e-williams-column-western-anti-semitism-rages-again-beleag;http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/world/europe/anger-in-europe-over-the-israeli-gaza-conflict-reverberates-as-anti-semitism.html?_r=0;
There’s no difference between Republicans and Democrats on Israel!http://www.gallup.com/poll/161450/democrats-republicans-differ-views-cuba-israel.aspx; http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/08/why-dont-more-democrats-support-israel.php;http://www.commentarymagazine.com/topic/national-jewish-democratic-council/; http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2011/10/adl-backs-down-on-pro-obama-pledge.html
Duh they’re good guys – Human Rights is in their name!http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/opinion/20bernstein.html;http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-turn/2010/12/morning_bits_16.html;http://www.jpost.com/International/HRW-appoints-alleged-terrorist-to-Mideast-Board; http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/07/25/human-rights-watchs-ken-roth-goes-to-bat-for-hamas-war-crimes/
But, but – UNWRA says! http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-unrwa-is-hamas.html;
If you can’t trust genocidal terrorists, who can you trust?!?http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/07/09/Pro-Hamas-Use-Pictures-From-Syria-Haiti-Against-Israel;
It’s the Occupation, stupid!http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/309750/israel-truly-occupying-power-david-french; http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/07/17/does-the-levy-report-doom-israel/#more-799921; http://www.al-rassooli.com/tiny-israel.html; http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/the-illegal-settlements-myth/

S. E. Cupp slams media coverage downplaying Hamas goals on CNN (video)

It is so nice to hear someone who gets it.

And it is so maddening that such simple truths are so rarely heard.

(h/t dabney)

The BBC just published a cautionary article about Gaza, pointing out what bloggers have been saying for weeks:

[I]f the Israeli attacks have been "indiscriminate", as the UN Human Rights Council says, it is hard to work out why they have killed so many more civilian men than women.

Matthias Behnk, from OHCHR, told BBC News that the organisation would not want to speculate about why there had been so many adult male casualties, adding that because they were having to deal with a lot of casualties in a short time, they had "focused primarily on recording the casualties".

"As such, we have not at this stage conducted a detailed analysis of trends of civilian casualties, for example in relation to the reasons why different groups are affected and the types of incidents, but hope to carry this out at some point in the coming future," he said.

"However, even in the compiling of these preliminary figures, we cross-verify between different sources, not only media and several different human rights organisations, but also use other sources, including, for example, names of alleged fighters released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and notices by armed groups in Gaza claiming someone as a member."

A number of other news organisations have been considering the civilian-to-fighter ratio.

An analysis by the New York Times looked at the names of 1,431 casualties and found that "the population most likely to be militants, men ages 20 to 29, is also the most overrepresented in the death toll. They are 9% of Gaza's 1.7 million residents, but 34% of those killed whose ages were provided."

"At the same time, women and children under 15, the least likely to be legitimate targets, were the most underrepresented, making up 71% of the population and 33% of the known-age casualties."

Better late then never? Hardly.

After weeks of headlines blaring "indiscriminate bombings" and photos of dead babies, the world has been conditioned to believe Israel is evil and murders children wantonly. Even if there was a month of headlines showing that the original assumptions were wrong, it is too late - people internalize the first thing they read and it is very difficult to dislodge them of their initial beliefs.

The world has already been brainwashed by news media that made sweeping, false generalizations and tugged on heartstrings to take IDF actions way, way out of context. A few tiny articles several weeks later are more geared towards the news organizations pretending to assert their objectivity after the fact, knowing quite well that they have already poisoned the minds of millions with their irresponsible reporting.

The media should not be let off the hook this easily. Every single tactic that Hamas did to manipulate the media has been done before, in 2009 and 2012. There were the same threats against reporters, the same false statistics, the same manipulated photos, the same hiding among civilians, the same rockets from school and hospital and mosque grounds, the same lie about civilian casualties that were from terror rockets and explosives, the same collaborator murders being hidden as civilian casualties. There was nothing new here.

The media willingly ignored any lessons from history and happily took pages from a playbook written by terrorist organizations.

Now they are pretending to be daring and bold by questioning the lies that they have been in the forefront of pushing - lies that any news professional should have been quite aware of (if they weren't, then they should not be in that business.)

The media is not engaging in a re-evaluation of their coverage. They are engaging in the deception that they are being objective after the fact. Articles like this - while welcome - are more cynical than they are an admission of four weeks of unquestioning reporting of official lies. The skepticism should have occured in real time, not weeks after when the world has moved on.

The damage has been done, and the news media is what caused the damage.

Video of NYC rally against media bias, with interviews

I attended the Support Israel Rally Against Biased Media in New York on Thursday evening, in front of the CNN building.

I managed to stay backstage and I interviewed many of the speakers, including Joe Hyams of Honest Reporting, Hasby Award winner Ari Lesser, Daniel Mael, Lauri Regan, Daniel Pipes and Chloe Valdary, most of whom I had never met before.

The spirit of the crowd was infectious. There was lots of music besides the speeches. It was actually a lot of fun.

Work accident!

From Ma'an:

Four Palestinian fighters were reported killed in an accidental explosion east of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip late Thursday.

Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said that the four bodies had been taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip following the explosion, which took place on land.

No information was immediately available regarding the political or military affiliations of the fighters.

Of course, for the "work accidents" that must have happened over the past few weeks, the victims were counted as "civilians" who were killed by Israel.

Dozens of terrorists were killed in "work accidents" this year before the Gaza fighting. And that was when they weren't in a hurry to put their booby traps and rockets together.

Add together the "work accidents," collaborator murders, double-counted deaths, natural deaths counted as killed, those killed in secondary explosions, those killed from the hundreds of Hamas rockets that fell short, and those killed by Hamas mortars aimed at the IDF, and chances are good that the official death toll is as much as a couple hundred over the reality.

(h/t Josh K)

08/07 Links Pt2: Media Suddenly Discover Hamas War Crimes; The slaughter of the Yazidi

From Ian:

Why I Can’t Forgive The Jews…

But these irksome Jews, with their raising the bar ever higher, are attempting to civilize war itself, resisting the temptation to carpet bomb and visit hell on the enemy once and for all, relinquishing the crucial element of surprise by leafleteering and calling Palestinians on their cell phones first.
And the torn metal from the missiles which land in Israel? Transformed into works of art to adorn your mantlepiece. They seek to bring order and civilization right up to the gates of Gehenna. If it were possible, hell itself would be abolished by these sons of David.
Col. Kemp, a British officer who served in all the major conflicts between 1977-2006, said of the Israelis, “Based on my knowledge and experience, I can say this: during operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Defense Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in the combat zones than any other army in the history of warfare.”
The Jews are again leading the way to higher ground, making us uncomfortable with our double standards and our odious hypocrisy.

No war reporting in Gaza

The danger that lurks in the power of the press, we have previously noted, is probably less in what it publishes than in what it does not publish. A new aspect, however, has emerged from the recent military confrontation between the State of Israel and the Hamas terror group controlling the Gaza Strip: the truly dangerous press is the one which prostitutes itself.
Blogger Elder of Ziyon wrote, “Every single report on TV from Gaza should have this disclaimer: ‘Our reporters have been threatened, implicitly and perhaps explicitly, by Hamas to report only one side of the story. Viewers must not trust anything they are saying.’”
The press debacle in Gaza implies that although truth-in-advertising is an important media issue, the really disconcerting issue is truth-in-reporting. The international media is making money from lies and distortions presented as news – this is nothing but prostitution.

Media Suddenly Discover Hamas War Crimes

Throughout the war between Israel and Hamas, western journalists in Gaza failed to report anything other than civilian casualties caused by Israeli air strikes. It took the accidental, frightening appearance of Hamas rockets being fired on live TV--using journalists as human shields--for the media to report that Hamas was, as Israel had alleged, firing rockets from civilian areas. Now, with the ceasefire, journalists are finally reporting the truth.
On Wednesday, CBS News aired a report by Clarissa Ward on postwar Gaza. She noted that many civilians had lost their homes, including a man who claimed, "There is no Hamas here." She then showed viewers the Israeli military's map of Hamas tunnels in the area, and the camera panned across concrete tunnel archways being stored in the alley next door, next to a mosque. Ward noted that CBS had been denied entry to the mosque.

More from the humor site PreOccupied Territory:

Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, August 6 - Among the many troubles plaguing this battered coastal Palestinian enclave, local confectioners are lamenting a lack of the right color sprinkles with which to decorate the sweets they will distribute when an Israeli is kidnapped.

It has long been customary among Palestinians, and among Gazans in particular, to hail Palestinian-inflicted casualties among Jewish Israelis with a spontaneous festive outpouring, often featuring the distribution of candy or other sweet treats. However, the fighting over the last month has made restocking all the necessary ingredients for such confections next to impossible, as Israel has allowed in only basic necessities through the Kerem Shalom crossing, and Egypt has all but closed the crossings from its side.

"We used up all of our red sprinkles ages ago, when those three Israelis were kidnapped and killed," recalled confectioner Mustafa Massikr, referring to three teenage hitchhikers shot to death more than a month ago near Hebron. "We used massive amounts of red sprinkles when we heard about those Zionists being captured, and then another huge load of them when we found out they'd been killed." However, Israel's Operation Protective Edge began soon afterwards, and that entailed restrictions on what goods had priority to cross into the Gaza Strip. Despite their dangerously low inventory, red sprinkles did not qualify.

"We almost had a difficult choice to make a couple of times over the last few weeks," agreed Rafah sweets producer Awil Killemal. "More than once there were reports that Hamas had succeeded in kidnapping a soldier, but it turned out not to be true. I'm not sure what we'd have done if there were actually something to celebrate. The green sprinkles are reserved for cakes decorated with the Hamas flag, and as far as Hamas is concerned, no other colors exist, so we're not allowed to import anything else."

"I almost find myself wishing for no Israelis to be captured," muses Massikr. "Is that perverse or what?"

"Killed" Pallywood girl is alive (update - maybe not)

On Monday I reported on the Pallywood scene in Rafah, where I found video of people placing what appeared to be a dead girl next to jihadis who had been dragged closer to the UNRWA school, purely for photo-ops.

Photo of her being placed on the ground:

Video:

After she was used for one photo-op she was then used for a second one, with someone running with her down a street away from where any ambulances would be dispatched to, but in front of the cameras:

Here's AP, saying the girl was dead:, with the photo of that man down the block, slowing down after most of the cameras were behind him.

Miraculously, after being used as a prop twice, the girl was photographed dazed but alive in the hospital.

You can see the same wound on her left hand, same pants, same shirt: (from the Hamas Ministry of Interior Facebook page):

Clearly she is injured, although it is unclear how. No visible wounds on her upper body, the second photo shows some sort of dressing on her injured hand.

So instead of getting her as quickly as possible to an ambulance, the Gazans felt it was more important to parade her around for the cameras - twice. (And maybe three times, if you count the hospital pictures.)

(h/t Irene)

UPDATE: Commenters are making a case that she is dead in these photos. I don't know enough either way. However, PCHR listed 11 names of victims outside the school. Only one of them seems to be the right age as this girl - she looks around 7 or 8 - and that is (from what I can tell) a boy's name.

1. Aya Mohammed Abu Rejel, 3, a displaced child;
2. Munther Mohammed Abu Rejel, a displaced child;
3. Saqer Bassam al-Kashef, 7, a displaced child;
4. Tariq Ziad Abu Khatla, 15, a displaced child;
5. 'Amru Tariq Abu al-Rous, 15, a displaced child;
6. Hazem 'Abdul Basset Abu Hilal, 25, the guard of the school;
7. Mohammed 'Omar 'Awaja, 30, a volunteer in the shelter;
8. Ahmed Khaled Abu Harba, 14, a peddler;
9. Yousef Akram al-Eskafi, 16, a peddler; and
10. Ahmed Kamal al-Nahhal, 25; and
11. Ismail Sameer Shallouf, 17, both were traveling on a motorbike.

I did not see any mention of a child in Rafah succumbing to wounds on the following day's list.

If she is really dead, it looks like she wasn't killed at the school.

08/07 Links Pt1: Bishop: Hamas fired rockets from Gaza church; Hamas Hide Behind ISM Activists

From Ian:

Gaza Bishop: Hamas fired rockets from church compound

Israeli missiles targeted an area close to the church sanctuary.
In this video released today, Archbishop Alexios of Gaza describes how Hamas had fired rockets from the church compound (at 1:12)(h/t ColRichardKemp)
"Alexios took CBN News to the roof terrace outside his office to show how Hamas used the church compound to launch rockets into Israel. He refused to discuss details on camera for security reasons, but days after the war started, Israeli missiles targeted an area close to the church sanctuary."

Gaza Bishop: Hamas Used Church to Fire Rockets

Hamas Leaders Hide Behind ISM Activists

This first was apparent at the WAFA hospital where Hamas command and control leaders and weapons caches could be found being guarded by ISM human shields. The ISM sent out emails to its world members to contact the foreign ministries from the many EU countries from whence they came asking their pro-Hamas colleagues to write and call, urging them to demand the IDF not attack the hospital because to do so would violate “international law.”
Good sense prevailed though, and after the IDF gave warnings to allow the ISM-ers and their Hamas charges to flee and escape, the hospital was destroyed. Rumor had it that as they evacuated the hospital, local Arabs threw garbage and insults at the ISM and Hamas for bringing a bombing down on their neighborhood.
The ISM and their Hamas charges then went by ambulances to the Beit Hannoun hospital. They started the same scenario, writing ISM supporters worldwide that they needed to write foreign ministers and demand Israel be criticized for bombing hospitals. This time the issue was protecting “medical personnel” at Beit Hannoun hospital. According to the ISM itself, there was only one patient there attended by 60 “doctors” and the rest were ISM activists from all over Europe, and one in particular, Joe Catron from the USA.

GAZA DOME

NDTV journalist: "How long do we self-censor because of fear" of Hamas?

The NDTV journalist who aired the video of a Hamas rocket being built and fired right next to his hotel room in Gaza has written about the episode, and it proves that most journalists in Gaza deliberately kept the truth from their audience.

Which sort of defeats the point of trusting journalists.

There is an important detail about that spot which I mention in our video report which may not have fully registered - this was the exact location from where a rocket was fired five days prior. It happened around midnight, so it was impossible to film. Panic ensued. The Israel Defence Force (IDF) sent a warning to two hotels across the road to evacuate; within minutes they were empty. Those in our building slept in a safe room on the ground floor. And so that spot was seared in our memory.

And not reported by any of the reporters who witnessed the rocket fire.

So when we saw the tent on the same location with two men (later three) moving in and out, working on something inside which they seemed to be burying into the ground, it wasn't hard to conclude what this was. When they started running wires out of the tent, the final steps before covering the earth with a spade, moving some shrubbery on top and then slinking away, it was even clearer.

We had all of it on tape, but wrestled with the dilemma of what to do with it. Two considerations weighed on our mind. One, the fear which hobbles the reporting such material: fear of reprisals from Hamas against us and those who worked with us, fear of inviting an Israeli response on the spot (these have been known to miss). Two, we needed to be 100 % sure that this was a rocket launch site. So we did nothing, setting off on our assignment for the day, mulling over the material in our possession.

The next morning was meant to be our last in Gaza, and the day when a 72-hour ceasefire was meant to bring some relief to the area. As we woke early to pack - stealing tense glances at the 'rocket' patch - the final step was enacted. With minutes left for the ceasefire to kick in, flurries of Hamas rockets were fired. At about 7:52 am, this patch of earth was activated; the rockets took off with a bang and a plume of smoke. We managed to catch it on video just seconds after. By then the men who assembled it had long gone.

We knew then we had to air the story. For us to have filmed how a rocket was assembled next to us, on a site used twice to launch a rocket, endangering the lives of all those around us on two occasions -to not have reported it would have been simply wrong.

Meaning, every other journalist in the area was effectively a Hamas lackey.

But we did take precautions - we aired the report a good five hours after the rocket was launched, well into the ceasefire. By then it was clear that Israel was not responding, at least for the period of the ceasefire. (Incidentally, given Israel's extensive surveillance of rockets launched from the Gaza Strip it hardly seems they would need the media to point out to them where rockets are fired from.)

There was the question of possible reprisal by Hamas; to this one, there are no easy answers other than to ask: how long do we self-censor because of the fear of personal safety in return for not telling a story that exposes how those launching rockets are putting so many more lives at risk, while the rocket-makers themselves are at a safe distance? More so when we have rare, first hand proof of how it works?

NDTV is the exception that proves the rule: you could not trust any reporter in Gaza to be willing to report anything Hamas did not want them to report.

See also my previous posts on this topic.

Iraqi site Kitabat has an interesting theory about why ISIS is destroying so many mosques and tombs in Iraq.

If we look at history, the article says, "we find this culture - a culture of vandalism - in the philosophy of the hostile Jew who calls his companions to sabotage Temples of others because they are offenders to their creed, In the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, we find these commandments, to perform revenge attacks. The Elders of Zion told their Jewish followers to destroy Christian churches and temples and idols. Evidence of this culture is rooted in the hearts of the Jews, and they still practice it."

The Jews leaked this culture to the Arabian Peninsula and influenced the polytheists there.

The ISIS jihadists in Iraq and Syria are simply descendants of the polytheistic vandals who got their psychotic hate from the Jews, the original source of all evil, as the Protocols prove. QED.

After all, Muslims wouldn't disrespect and usurp and destroy religious sites of other faiths, right? That's a Jewish thing.

Amnesty can't find any evidence of Hamas using hospitals and ambulances???

Amnesty released a report claiming that Israel "deliberately" targeted ambulances and hospitals, based entirely on witness accounts.

As one might expect, they completely discount the possibility that "eyewitnesses" in Gaza often lie to push an anti-Israel narrative.

After all, Amnesty has admitted that Palestinian Arabs often lie about attacks they "witnessed." Their researcher even admitted that NGOs are sometimes swept up in events and cannot look at the situation objectively.

Too bad they do not follow their own advice, because this report is as biased as they come.

This is clear from this paragraph:

Amnesty International is aware of reports that Palestinian armed groups have fired indiscriminate rockets from near hospitals or health facilities, or otherwise used these facilities or areas for military purposes. Amnesty International has not been able to confirm any of these reports.

To anyone who thinks Amnesty is unbiased, this must come as an astonishing claim. While Amnesty believes, without question, the testimony of people who hate Israel, they cannot find a shred of evidence that terror organizations use hospital workers as human shields and use hospitals as bases of operation.

Here is video showing not only a terrorist shooting directly from Wafa Hospital,but also the secondary explosions that show that explosives were kept there:

Here are two videos of terrorists using ambulances to avoid IDF fire:

If the IDF was targeting ambulances, why is Hamas using them to escape?

The Washington Post reported that Shifa Hospital was the de facto headquarters for Hamas,and everyone knew it.

French-Palestinian journalist Radjaa Abu Dagga described in detail about how he was interrogated by armed Al Qassam terrorists in an office next to the emergency room of Shifa Hospital.

Here's a photo of Hamas spokesman Mushir al Masri using Shifa Hospital as a Hamas media center, complete with fake backdrop.

Another reporter noted that damage to Gaza's main hospital seemed to come from Hamas, not Israel.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society - whose employees are quoted uncritically by Amnesty - has published outrageous claims form a proven conspiracy theorist that Israel uses depleted uranium weapons

A Hamas member captured by Israel admitted that the tenth floor of a PRCS building was being used as a sniper position.

Hamas booby-trapped a health clinic that was used as a tunnel entrance.

Yet Amnesty cannot find a shred of evidence that Hamas uses hospitals and ambulances and other medical facilities.

Amnesty illustrates its press release with this photo of a heavily damaged ambulance.

Even this is deceptive. Amnesty wants its readers to believe that this ambulance was deliberately targeted, yet this photo was taken in Sheja'eya which was a Hamas stronghold. The ambulance here was just parked there and ws damaged in the airstrikes at Hamas targets, it was clearly not targeted. For some reason, Amnesty couldn't find any photos of the ambulances they claim were actually targeted in their report, so they have to find the best photo they can with the knowledge that most people won't look too carefully at it.

Amnesty goes out of its way to believe any anti-Israel evidence without skepticism, and it goes out of its way to discount overwhelming evidence that shows how Hamas has used medical facilities for war. Then it goes out of its way to find a way to illustrate the press release with a completely irrelevant photo that they imply is evidence.

Why don't Amnesty's donors find this to be a problem?

(h/t Bob Knot)

450 news correspondents in Gaza, but very few journalists

JTA reports:

Some 705 journalists from 42 countries came to Israel specifically to cover the Gaza conflict, according to Israel’s Government Press Office.

The correspondents for the Israeli military’s Operation Protective Edge joined approximately 750 journalists who are stationed in Israel on a regular basis.

In contrast, some 303 foreign journalists arrived in Israel during Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012.

Following the ceasefire that went into effect Tuesday morning, the press office said it gathered testimony from foreign journalists regarding harassment by Hamas activists while trying to carry out their assignments.

“Journalists said that during their coverage of the fighting they received threats and – in several cases – were the victims of violence that included destruction of their equipment because they had documented criminal activity by Hamas such as the launching of rockets from the heart of civilian areas,” the press office statement said.

Haaretz adds:

Two thirds of the visiting media teams don’t report from the Israeli side but make their way to Gaza via the Erez crossing.

This means that over 450 correspondents were in Gaza - and yet almost none of them managed to film a Hamas rocket being launched, or seeing the damage from one falling short, or even any Hamas member, until the ceasefire.

None of them reported about Hamas killing "collaborators" and making it look like they were killed by Israel. None of them reported about how Hamas was using the war to injure and eliminate its political rivals - something they've done before.

Their reporting, by and large, was only parroting Hamas talking points.

Hundreds of corespondents either too lazy to report on both sides of the story or too scared to stand up to Hamas threats - and to tell their audiences about them. Behind these reporters were scores of news agencies who refused, until the very end, to even acknowledge that there were rockets being fired from civilian areas. They still deny that anyone was threatened, even after so many articles and tweets were removed after obvious threats.

Only now, under pressure from bloggers and tweeters and Israeli government officials, are so-called "journalists" starting to reluctantly mention what they were silent about for so long. No mea culpas, of course - they are now pretending to have the courage that they didn't show when it mattered, when public opinion was being formed.

Today's Washington Post has one such belated story of Hamas media manipulation, although more of the 2006 Hezbollah variety than then naked threats that reporters still don't want to admit:

The scene was too neat.

I had just arrived outside the shattered remains of a large mosque in central Gaza City last week. It had been pulverized by an Israeli airstrike. There was rubble, glass and metal everywhere. But on a patch of ground in front of the structure, visible for everyone to see, was a small, dusty carpet.

On top lay piles of burned, ripped copies of the Koran, Islam’s holy book. The symbolism was obvious, almost too perfect. It was clear that someone had placed them there to attract sympathy for the Palestinian cause. A television crew spotted the pile and filmed it. Mission accomplished.

...Take the attack in the Beach Camp neighborhood of Gaza City last week. Hamas militants blamed an Israeli strike; Israel declared that Hamas accidentally fired a mortar into the neighborhood. Children had died.

In the middle of the road, where the kids were killed, was a small pool of blood. At first glance, it evoked a sense of sadness and outrage. As I looked closer, I noticed a child’s slipper in the middle of the blood. The slipper was intact. There were no bloodstains. And next to the slipper, a black plastic toy gun.

Again I noticed a television cameraman drawn to this powerful image. I moved on.

Earlier that day in Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, as the dead and wounded were being rushed into the building, I saw a girl, no older than 7, dressed in a yellow and blue dress, speaking in front of a television camera.

“Bring back my brother and father,” she cried, visibly upset.

Her mother, seated next to her, whispered into her ear and nudged her.

“They were kids,” the girl continued, following her mother’s coaching. “They were just playing. What is their crime, for Israel to target them? They are just kids.”

That last vignette points to other shortcomings of the media: they would prefer to film the obviously coached girl than to report the coaching.

Moreover, that story shows that Gazans - and Palestinian Arabs in general - are brought up to playact to Westerners. I can't count the number of times I have reported "eyewitnesses" to Israeli airstrikes that never happened. The ghoulish manipulation of a dead girl for the cameras on Sunday probably wasn't done by Hamas, but by ordinary Gazans conditioned to play for the cameras.

Real journalists would look a little beyond the story to find the truth. Real journalists would ensure that the reality would get reported, even if not directly from them. Real journalists wouldn't just follow the crowd. Real journalists have ethics.

There were very few real journalists among the 450 in Gaza this past month.