Tuesday, August 09, 2022
- Tuesday, August 09, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- algeria, Allah, Arab antisemitism, Arab media, Arab media antisemitism, Echorouk Online, Israel, kill jews
Monday, August 08, 2022
David May and Richard Goldberg: With Israel under attack, Biden must fight UN anti-Semitism
Pillay’s defense of anti-Semitism is nothing new. In 2008, as the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Pillay lashed out at “certain lobby groups focused on single issues,” a coded reference to Jewish organizations, which were trying to block a follow-on to the wildly anti-Semitic (and ironically named) 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. The event led to calls to make Israel a pariah, prompted a walkout by the United States and “disintegrated into an anti-American, anti-Israeli circus,” according to Holocaust survivor Rep. Tom Lantos, who was in attendance.The European ties with terror-linked Palestinian NGOs - opinion
Pillay’s defense of her fellow commissioners’ remarks hasn’t prevented withering condemnation from the United States. Ambassadors and envoys criticized the “antisemitic, anti-Israel comments” and expressed indignation that a UN official questioned Israel’s legitimacy as a UN member. Other countries and organizations chimed in, too.
These condemnations are appropriate and welcome. But without decisive action, when the Human Rights Council convenes in September, the “Jewish lobby” commission will take Israel-bashing to a new level.
Kothari also made clear the commission is working to label Israel an apartheid state — widely expected based on its mandate to probe “systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity.”
The apartheid accusation against Israel, besides being absurd, manifests an anti-Semitic goal of denying Jews the right to self-determination by claiming that Israel’s existence is a racist endeavor. In fact, that’s a textbook example of anti-Semitism put forward by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental group of dozens of countries committed to fighting the scourge of Jew-hatred.
In June, during the Human Rights Council’s 50th session, 21 countries joined the United States in condemning the commission’s bias against Israel. But America and its allies did not press for terminating the commission’s mandate. As events of the last days make clear, their warning shot went unheeded.
When the council reconvenes in September, the commission may try to expand its probe into Israel’s latest counterterrorism operations. Nations that stand opposed to anti-Semitism should instead join the Biden team in voting to dissolve it. This should be a high diplomatic priority for both the National Security Council and State Department — deploying National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken as needed to lock down the votes.
It’s also major test for the Biden administration’s belief that it could reform the Human Rights Council by rejoining it. If America proves unable to terminate the “Jewish lobby” commission’s mandate, both the administration and Congress must re-evaluate the utility of US participation in a Jew-hating circus.
SO, HOW can Europe – especially the Netherlands – pretend that there’s no reason to discontinue its support for the designated NGOs?Liz Truss: As PM, I would consider moving embassy to Jerusalem
The first clue is the sheer scope of European funding for these NGOs. In the last decade, Europe has allocated more than €200 million for the PFLP-linked NGO network. Financial support is merely one component in a much more intricate and intimate relationship that European countries maintain with these NGOs. Although European funders justify funding policies on the basis of supporting human rights, civil justice, and peace, the reality is that political goals stand at the center.
Indeed, as opposed to maintaining a disinterested relationship, these NGOs play the role of intermediaries and subcontractors, providing important services to the funders. For instance, Europe’s NGO partners are crucial sources of information and influence, particularly regarding foreign policy issues. Selected organizations can serve as influencers in public policy discourse and generate political pressure on Israel – most particularly when it comes to the future of the West Bank, Gaza and more.
Europe’s willingness to overlook, and refusal to act on, Israel’s terror-designation of six Palestinian NGOs reflects this long history and the lack of independent oversight involving millions of euros. These so-called “civil society movements” serve as a means for European officials to perpetuate one-sided policies and attempt to gain more influence regarding Israeli-Palestinian issues.
At the same time, European governments have a responsibility to examine the actual results of their continued funding for terror-linked NGOs. In the face of clear evidence of the PFLP links, the illusions of “promoting democratic values” and creating “a free and strong civil society” among Palestinians is no longer sustainable.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss would consider moving her country’s embassy to Jerusalem if she becomes prime minister following next month’s Conservative Party leadership election, she wrote in a letter to Conservative Friends of Israel on Friday.
“I understand the importance and sensitivity of the location of the British Embassy in Israel,” Truss wrote. “I’ve had many conversations with my good friend Prime Minister Yair Lapid on this topic. Acknowledging that, I will review a move to ensure we are operating on the strongest footing within Israel.”
Truss also supported Israel, separately, at the launch of Operation Breaking Dawn on Friday, with the Foreign Office tweeting that she said: "The UK stands by Israel and its right to defend itself. We condemn terrorist groups firing at civilians and violence which has resulted in casualties on both sides. We call for a swift end to the violence."
In the letter to Conservative Friends of Israel, Truss wrote that she “remain[s] committed to standing up to Iranian hostility and their pursuit of nuclear weapons,”
What about Iran?
“I have been clear that progress on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is not moving fast enough and I assure you that if the JCPOA collapses, all options are on the table,” Truss stated.
Israel opposes a return to the JCPOA, seeking more robust and longer-lasting limitations on Iran’s nuclear program.
In contrast to Truss, Rishi Sunak, the other Conservative candidate who was chancellor of the exchequer until recently, wrote in his letter to the pro-Israel group that he would seek “a new, strengthened nuclear deal that extends the sunset clauses, lengthens the breakout period and curtails Iran’s ballistic missile program. The credible threat of snapback sanctions, which has so far been missing from the negotiations, is the only way we can force Iran to seriously engage with these proposals.
- Monday, August 08, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- civilian casualties, defending terrorism, Francesca Albanese, hamas, Human Rights, Hypocrisy, Islamic Jihad, Operation Breaking Dawn, PIJ, resistance, Terrorism, UN, UN Special Rapporteur
Palestinians' right to resist is inherent to their right to exist as a people. An unlawful act of resistance does not make the resistance unlawful. An unlawful act of an unlawful occupation makes the occupation more unlawful (and the list on the desk of the ICC Prosecutor longer)
- Monday, August 08, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- Hani Almadhoun, Hypocrisy, Islamic Jihad, Mohamed Ahmed Abdel-Fattah Al-Madhoun, Operation Breaking Dawn, PIJ, Terrorism, UNRWA-USA
For my family, word got out that a 26-year-old relative lost his life. In a rush to report the news, they shared an image of his younger brother, and confusion followed. Later it was confirmed that our cousin was indeed the victim of the unprovoked attacks.
Israel Surprised the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza
Fearing an imminent terrorist attack in early August, Israel declared four days of restrictions and a shutdown of the Israeli communities along the Gaza border. On August 5, 2022, Israel seized the initiative and struck a preemptive blow against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad centers and leaders in Gaza.Melanie Phillips: Israel pre-empts further Iran proxy attack
The Breaking Dawn operation aimed to thwart imminent Islamic Jihad terror attacks on Israeli targets using antitank missiles and sniper fire in response to the arrest of senior Islamic Jihad official Bassam al-Saadi in Jenin in the West Bank.
In recent days Islamic Jihad had sought to change the rules of the game and create a new linkage equation between the IDF's arrest of its operatives in the West Bank and continued quiet along the Gaza border.
The Islamic Jihad leadership sought to create a standoff whereby any harm to its operatives in the West Bank, their arrest, or the endangerment of the lives of security prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli prisons, would spark an escalation at the Gaza border.
The Israeli political echelon decided to launch the operation once it was clear that the efforts by Egypt and Hamas to restrain Islamic Jihad had failed. The terror group was at an advanced stage of preparations for attacks along the border.
Iran orchestrated everything that happened inside and along the Gaza borders. Ziad al-Nakhalah, the Islamic Jihad leader, visited Tehran’s leaders and ran the campaign in coordination with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Israel succeeded in surprising Islamic Jihad using remarkable intelligence and technological capabilities. Israel thwarted the attacks that Islamic Jihad was planning and killed the group's entire military leadership in Gaza. Rehabilitating the IDF's deterrence against Islamic Jihad is very important.
Even in the most precisely targeted airstrikes against military targets, there will inevitably be some civilian casualties. The death or injury of any child in these circumstances is a tragedy, whoever is responsible. But what the western media wilfully misses time and again in its reporting of Israel’s military campaigns are two crucial points.Jonathan Tobin: Gaza fighting changes nothing about Israel’s image struggle
First, that Israel’s defence forces go to lengths unmatched by any other military force — including the British and American — to avoid civilian casualties.
Second, while Israel targets terrorists and their infrastructure with rare precision and only ever as a defensive measure, the PIJ, Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups in Gaza deliberately target Israeli civilians. That is a war crime — as is also their strategy of siting their missiles and other terror infrastructure within civilian areas, thus using Gaza’s civilians, including their children, as hostages and human shields.
Israel’s enemies also point to the relative absence of Israeli casualties, as if this proves a “disproportionate response”. Not only does this grossly misunderstand proportionality in warfare (the response to aggression needs to be in proportion to the threat, not to the number of casualties sustained). There’s also this. When missiles rain down on southern Israel, the population takes cover in air-raid shelters. In Gaza, the Palestinians don’t build air-raid shelters to protect their people against war. Instead, they build terrorist tunnels from which to launch yet more murderous attacks on Israeli civilians.
This distinction is, of course, lost on the United Nations whose perverted and obsessive animus against Israel cannot be exaggerated. Thus the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said he was:
deeply concerned by the ongoing escalation between Palestinian militants and Israel, including the targeted killing today of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader inside Gaza…I am deeply saddened by reports that a five-year-old child has been killed in these strikes. There can be no justification for any attacks against civilians.
But he doesn’t seem to have been “deeply saddened” by the hundreds of missile strikes against Israeli civilians; nor by the murder of Israelis in March and April.
And let’s not overlook Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur to the “Palestinian territories,” who tweeted:
A short time ago, Israel reportedly accepted an Egypt-brokered cease-fire. PIJ rejected it and unleashed another barrage of rockets, one of which fell in an open area next to the Ashkelon marina.I condemn Israel's airstrikes in Gaza to allegedly 'deter' Islamic Jihad's possible retaliation for its leader's arrest.
— Francesca Albanese, UN SRoPt (@FranceskAlbs) August 6, 2022
As Int'l Law only permits the use of force in self-defense, Operation Breaking Dawn is a flagrant act of aggression.
Illegal. Immoral. Irresponsible.
Let’s hope for a speedy end to this latest outbreak of hostilities. But to the malice of the western media or the UN against Israel, there is, alas, no cease-fire in prospect.
If you check the Twitter pages of Israel bashers in politics, the media or the chattering classes, you’ll find the same tired arguments treating the Palestinians as the victims of Israeli aggression, as if 30 years of Israeli peace efforts and Palestinian rejectionism and terrorism had never happened. Not one anti-Zionist course being taught on an American college campus will be altered. Nor will the advocacy of groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voices for Peace or IfNotNow, all of which falsely claim that Israel is an “apartheid state,” be changed as a result of the actions of Islamic Jihad and their Iranian sponsors.
Arguments about the anti-Semitic BDS movement, efforts to restrict U.S. military aid to Israel, or the unreasonable and criminal behavior of Hamas, PIJ or their “moderate” Fatah rivals running the West Bank who reward terrorists and their families with pensions aren’t affected by the facts about the conflict.
If you accept the false Palestinian narrative about Israel being born in sin as an expression of Western imperialism and colonialism, as those who buy into intersectionality and critical race theory do, then it doesn’t matter what the Israelis or their terrorist opponents actually do.
That’s important not just because it speaks volumes about those who regularly libel Israel from the editorial pages of major newspapers or from platforms on liberal cable news networks. It’s also something that both those who speak for Israel—and those groups and individuals who support it—must draw the correct conclusions from.
Talking about the need to ensure Israeli security or the tremendous care that the IDF takes to avoid civilian casualties, which is almost certainly unmatched by any army in the world, seem like important debating points in the discussion about the conflict. The same is true when you remind people about the withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. But none of that matters to those who think ill of the Jewish state.
There isn’t even much evidence that it does much to rally Jewish opinion behind Israel, which is heavily influenced by biased media outlets and ignorance about the facts of the conflict. If you accept, as so many Jews have, that it’s somehow unfair that Palestinians don’t have an Iron Dome, or that the perceived imbalance of power means that the terrorists and those they exploit are the underdogs, then history or the true reason for the stalemate is forgotten.
All of this means that while defenders of Israel should always debunk the lies of their opponents, they must also understand that their purpose should be to remind people that Israel has a right to exist and that the goal of its enemies is to deny that right. Once you establish that basic truth, you’re making clear that those who question the right of the Jews to one state aren’t merely wrong but practicing discrimination. Which is to say that they are anti-Semites.
So, rather than being bogged down in security arguments or bragging about the sacrifices Israel has made for peace, which only convince its critics that it is a thief returning stolen property rather than a country whose cause is just, friends of the Jewish state must speak primarily of Jewish rights and about how anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. Everything else is generally a waste of time and effort.
- Monday, August 08, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- Abu Ali Express, Beit Hanoun, civilian casualties, failed rockets, human shields, Islamic Jihad, Operation Breaking Dawn, PIJ
1- Imad Abd al-Rahim Shallah, 50 Gaza. | With PIJ |
2- Youssef Salman Qaddoum 24 Gaza. | PIJ |
3- Tayseer Mahmoud Al-Jabari, 50 Gaza City. | PIJ |
4- Salama Muharib Abed 41 Gaza. | PIJ |
5- Alaa Abdullah Qaddoum, 5 Gaza City. | With PIJ |
6- Donyana Adnan Attia Al-Amour 22 Gaza. | Likely PIJ rocket |
7- Mohamed Ahmed Abdel-Fattah Al-Madhoun, 26 Al-Nada Towers. | PIJ |
8- Fadl Mustafa Zorob 30 Khan Younis. | PIJ |
9- Muhammad Hassan Al-Bayouk, 35, Khan Younis. | PIJ |
10- Ahmed Mazen Azzam, 25 Gaza Strip. | PIJ |
11- Tamim Ghassan Abdullah Hijazi, 23 Al-Zana. | PIJ |
12- Osama Abdul Rahman Al-Suri, 27, Bani Suhaila. | PIJ |
13- Hassan Mohamed Mansour, 26, Jabalia. | PIJ |
14- Naama Muhammad Abu Qaida 62 Jabalia. | Likely PIJ rocket |
15- Nour El-Din Ali Al-Zubaidi 19 Jabalia | Likely PIJ rocket |
16- Hazem Muhammad Salem 12 Jabalia. | Jabalia rocket |
17- Ahmad Muhammad Al-Nayrab 13 Jabalia. | Jabalia rocket |
18- Moamen Muhammad Al-Nairab 4 Jabalia. | Jabalia rocket |
19 - Khalil Iyad Abu Hamadeh, 19, Jabalia. | Jabalia rocket |
20- Ahmed Walid Al-Fram, 18 Jabalia. | Jabalia rocket |
21- Misbah al-Khatib 50 Jabalia agreed. | Jabalia rocket |
22- Muhammad Muhammad Ibrahim Zaqout 19 Jabalia. | Jabalia rocket |
23- Ziad Ahmed Al Mudallal, 36 Rafah. | PIJ |
24- Muhammad Iyad Hassouna, 14 Rafah. | With PIJ in Rafah |
25- Ismail Abdel Hamid Mohamed Salameh, 30 Rafah. | With PIJ in Rafah |
26- Hana Ismail Ali Salameh, 51, Rafah. | With PIJ in Rafah |
27- Rafat Saleh Ibrahim Al-Zamili, 45, Rafah. | PIJ |
28- Khaled Saeed Mansour 47 Rafah. | With PIJ in Rafah |
29- Alaa Saleh Al-Tahrawi, 30, Rafah. | With PIJ in Rafah |
30- Ahmad Muhammad Afana, 31, Jabalia. | Hamas (but not target) |
31- Dia Zuhair Al-Borai, 30 Jabalia. | Likely PIJ rocket |
32- Jamil Ehab Najm 15 Jabalia. | Likely PIJ rocket |
33- Jamil Najm Najm 6 Jabalia. | Likely PIJ rocket |
34- Nazmi Fayez Abu Karsh 16 Jabalia. | Likely PIJ rocket |
35- Hamed Haider Najm 17 Jabalia. | Likely PIJ rocket |
36-Mohamed Salah Negm 17 Jabalia. | Likely PIJ rocket |
37- Muhammad Yasser Nimr Al-Nabahin 13 Al-Bureij. | With Hamas (son) |
38- Ahmed Yasser Nimr Al Nabahin 9 Al-Bureij. | With Hamas (son) |
39- Dalia Yasser Nimr Al Nabaheen 13 Al Bureij. | With Hamas (son) |
40 - Yasser Nimr Mahmoud Al Nabahin 45 Al-Bureij. | Hamas |
41 - Khaled Ayman Yassin, 27 Zaytoun | Unknown |
42- Shady Emad Nimr Kahil, 27 Zaytoun | Unknown |
43- Abd al-Rahman Jum’ah al-Silk 19 al-Shuja’iyya. | Unknown |
We know seven people were killed by an errant Islamic Jihad rocket in Jabalia. There was another set of deaths, five children, in the Fallujah cemetery in Jabalia that look to be from an errant rocket as well based on photos of the damage. I am counting several other likely errant rockets based on the descriptions of their deaths in PCHR as being from "shrapnel" or, in some cases, in an "open field" where it would make no sense for the IDF to attack.
The Palestinians, however, reported a total of 35 deaths out of which 26 were innocent bystanders. Of the 26, 11 were killed in Israeli airstrikes, and 15 were killed by Islamic Jihad rockets that failed to clear Gaza.
UPDATE: Here is a photo of the room where Donyana al-Amour (#6) was killed. The spray patterns on the walls (small shrapnel holes) indicate it was a PIJ rocket. (h/t Abu Ali Express)
- Monday, August 08, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- Al-Shuja’iyya, Al-Zaytoun Sports Club, gaza, Gaza Brigade, Islamic Jihad, karate, Operation Breaking Dawn, Palestinian propaganda, PIJ, propaganda, The New Arab, Youssef Qaddoum, Youssef Salman Muhammad Qaddoum
A Palestinian karateka has been identified as among those killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza on Friday, with the bombardment continuing into its third day on Sunday.Youssef Qaddoum, who was a member of the Palestinian Al-Zaytoun Sports Club, was reportedly killed during Israeli strikes on the neighbourhood of Al-Shuja’iyya, east of Gaza city.The Palestinian Shehab news agency quoted the sports club in a statement saying that "the young martyr Youssef Qaddoum was present at his house with a number of his neighbours before they were caught by the missiles of the Zionist enemy planes".The club went on to state that the karate player was immediately martyred after the targeting, and that prayers will be sent to comfort the deceased’s family. They also urged all human rights organisations to intervene in the series of daily crimes carried out by Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian athletes.Qaddoum, who was 24 years old, was described as one of the club’s most distinguished karate players and has participated in many sports tournaments.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. Read all about it here! |
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- Monday, August 08, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- Al Monitor, antisemitism, AP, Bassem Saadi, Ben Caspit, conspiracy theories, gaza, Iron Dome, Islamic Jihad, Israel, Jenin, media bias, Operation Breaking Dawn, PIJ
Israel said it took action against the militant group because of concrete threats of an imminent attack, but has not provided details. Caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who is an experienced diplomat but untested in overseeing a war, unleashed the offensive less than three months before a general election in which he is campaigning to keep the job.There two sentences meant to give the impression that the fighting wasn't necessary and the caretaker government made up an excuse to look macho and gain power in the next elections.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation came after several days of tension on the Gaza border, over the arrest of in the West bank of a senior Islamic Jihad member.In fact, at the start of the week, Israeli security forces appeared to have scored yet another victory over terrorism with the arrest of the Islamic Jihad’s West Bank commander Bassem Saadi. The Aug. 1 raid by Israeli commandos and Shin Bet agents in the Jenin refugee camp was complex, with Israeli forces coming under brutal fire that forced them to hole up with Saadi in his home until a rescue team arrived to extricate them unharmed.Saadi’s arrest was intended to deal a severe blow to the terrorism that swept through Israel from late March to early May, much of it carried out by Palestinians from the Jenin area. In political terms, the successful raid appeared to signal yet another upbeat week in the fortunes of Yair Lapid, the caretaker neophyte prime minister struggling to position himself as a viable alternative to “Mr. Security,” former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the Nov. 1 elections.However, as always in Israel and the Middle East, any victory can turn into a fiasco within a heartbeat, every ending is a new beginning and nothing ever turns out the way it was meant to. The footage of Saadi being dragged on the floor by Israeli troops accompanied by an attack dog generated a widespread storm, especially in the Gaza Strip, where Islamic Jihad is headquartered....Hours later, Israeli intelligence had already detected the deployment of Islamic Jihad teams along the Gaza border, toting anti-tank rockets and other weapons, in search of targets on the Israeli side. The head of the military’s Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano, ordered the closing of all roads along the border vulnerable to rocket attack. Residents of the kibbutzim and other communities in the area were instructed to remain indoors until further notice.
The spring terror attacks, Israel's going after Islamic Jihad leaders in Jenin to stop them, the events of this past week in the "Gaza envelope," Islamic Jihad's open threats over the past week - none of this is mentioned by AP.
And this is just what we know. Why would Israel reveal intelligence information about an imminent attack?
At the same time, how does it make any sense that Israel would start a potential war for political purposes? Most citizens are reservists in the army - no one would be happy if they thought they'd have to go away from home and potentially fight for a mere political stunt. That would backfire pretty spectacularly.
Similarly, no Israeli government would put its residents at risk from hundreds of rockets - Iron Dome is good but not perfect and people get injured scrambling for shelter even if it was perfect. Israelis wouldn't stand for that, either.
To float such an idea is to say that Israeli politicians are willing and eager to put their own constituents' lives at risk for political gain.
Practically, Lapid's party Yesh Atid has 17 seats in the Knesset; it is part of a coalition with other parties who also want to lead the next government. Why would they go along with this conspiracy to keep Lapid in office? Why would they remain silent about it?
AP is publishing an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
But this is the subtle antisemitism that pervades international media coverage of Israel. If the reporter can't figure out why Israel is doing something, or is offended that Israel doesn't share enough intel, it must be that Israel is up to something underhanded. Certainly Israel cannot be telling the truth, even though lying would hurt them far more.
And as with other cases like the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, the media does not look for any evidence that would contradict their gut feeling that the Jews are certainly the guilty party and are always up to something. The only theories worth exploring are the ones that suggest that the Jews are acting odiously.
(h/t Irene)
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. Read all about it here! |
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Sunday, August 07, 2022
- Sunday, August 07, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- @IsraeliPM, AFP, Al Jazeera, analysis, AP, Bild, CNN, Daled Amos, failed rockets, gaza, Islamic Jihad, Karen Hajioff, Lahav Harkov, Lior Hiaat, media bias, New York Times, Operation Breaking Dawn, PIJ
By Daled Amos
In the midst of Operation Breaking Dawn, on Saturday night, at about 9pm, a rocket explosion in Jabaliya in Gaza killed 4 children.
As expected, Israel was blamed.
But this time, unexpectedly, Israel was able not only to present its case that it was not responsible, but also to get the media to present a balanced report that presented Israel's contention that the explosion was the result of a misfired rocket from Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Israel Gets The Media To Notice
The results were media reports that actually were balanced. The Times of Israel had a survey of some of the reporting:
In one incident Saturday, four children were among seven people killed in an explosion in Jabaliya. The Palestinian Health Ministry initially said the blast was caused by an Israeli airstrike. Israel rejected the claim and said it was the result of errant rocket fire, and released a video showing what it said was the Islamic Jihad rocket sharply changing course in the air and hitting the building.
The New York Times referred to the incident twice. First, on Saturday:
Three children were also killed on Saturday, though it was not immediately clear whether they were hit by an Israeli strike or a misfired Palestinian rocket. The Israeli military said they were killed by a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch.
Israel said some of those children were killed on Saturday night when an Islamic Jihad rocket misfired and fell short in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said it had not been operating in that area at the time. Islamic Jihad has not commented on the Israeli claim.
France's AFP quoted Israeli sources that “it had ‘irrefutable’ evidence that a stray rocket fired by Islamic Jihad was responsible for the deaths of several children in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Saturday.”
Al Jazeera reported:
At least four children were killed in a blast close to the Jabaliya refugee camp on Saturday, according to Hamas, the group that governs the Gaza Strip. It blamed Israel for the deaths, but the military denied any responsibility, saying the explosion was caused by a failed rocket launched by Islamic Jihad. Al Jazeera could not verify the claims immediately.
On Saturday, The Associated Press reported
The Israeli military said an errant rocket fired by Palestinian militants killed civilians late Saturday, including children, in the town of Jabaliya, in northern Gaza. The military said it investigated the incident and concluded ‘without a doubt’ that it was caused by a misfire on the part of Islamic Jihad. There was no official Palestinian comment on the incident.
However, by Sunday the AP apparently decided that in the interests of balance, instead of presenting the two sides as to who was responsible, it would not address the question of responsibility at all and merely reported “among the dead were six children and four women” -- without any mention the possibility that some of them may have been killed by misfired PIJ rockets.
On the other hand, is the German news site Bild, whose headline was straightforward without hedging, "Palestinian missile kills civilians in Gaza."
What Did Israel Do Differently This Time?
One of the criticisms of Israel when it comes to getting its side of the story out to the world is that it is just too slow, allowing the terrorists and Israel-haters plenty of time to get their version of things out and presented before the world audience. Israel just does not react quickly enough.
Not this time.
Lahav Harkov addresses this in her article How Israel shot down false reports on Jabaliya explosion. Israel already started responding on the same day -- Saturday.
“We identified the potential for damage from this incident very quickly,” Head of the Public Diplomacy Directorate Lior Haiat said on Sunday. “We understood it could be a public diplomacy catastrophe that could lead to diplomatic harm that could change the direction of the campaign.”
Within minutes, Haiat, IDF Spokesperson Ran Kohav, representatives of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry discussed the incident. Defense officials were quickly able to determine not only that the IDF was not responsible, but that Islamic Jihad very clearly was.
Haiat was able to coordinate a media plan with the others within an hour. [emphasis added]
Here is Israel's statement that came out the very same day, via Twitter:
And that was only the beginning.
The statement was translated into multiple languages and delivered to Israeli embassies worldwide, which then passed the statement on to local media.
The IDF posted a statement as well:
Keren Hajioff, PM Lapid's International Spokeswoman made a video for TV and social media, where she made a similar statement:
Tonight, Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza fired a rocket towards Israeli children, but ended up killing Gazan children instead.
— Keren Hajioff (@kerenhajioff) August 6, 2022
This is the truth about what happened ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/sLVLWlU0tS
Another welcome step, considering Israel's reputation of not dealing well with the media, was Culture and Sports Minister Chilli Tropper being released from an ongoing Security Cabinet meeting so that he could speak to Israeli media on behalf of the government.
Of course, it helped that Israel was able to provide videos to support its claim:
Palestinians accusing Israel of killing 5 kids yet at 20:40 a rocket barrage was reported into Israel. At the same time, the news broke of massacre in Jabaliya in which 5 children were killed. The IDF confirmed NO ATTACKS were carried out in the area at that time by Israel. pic.twitter.com/kIX72TnxR5
— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר (@emilykschrader) August 6, 2022
Now that Israel has demonstrated the ability to get its message across and reported in the media, what Israel needs is the ability to do this consistently.
- Sunday, August 07, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- gaza, Islamic Jihad, Operation Breaking Dawn, PIJ, Ukraine, Yevhen Korniichuk
Israel haters have been trying to compare the current Gaza fighting to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevhen Korniichuk on Sunday expressed his solidarity with Israel in its military campaign against the Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
"As a Ukrainian, while our country is under brutal attack from a close neighbor - I feel great sympathy towards the Israeli public," the Ukrainian ambassador wrote on his Twitter account."Terror and malicious attacks towards citizens have become daily matter for Israelis and Ukrainians," he added. "We have to put an end to it. We pray for peace and hope the escalation ends soon."