IT WON'T GO AWAY

Now that the genie's been let out of the bottle, the blood libel that has become the Gaza School scandal simply won't go away. The more the Jerusalem Post delves into the story (IDF releases names of UN school deaths), the more exposed are those in the media and in UNRWA to claims of complicity with terrorists in helping to create the false impression that Israeli soldiers committed war crimes when they returned fire on Hamas fighters operating near the UN school in Jabalya on 6 January 2009.

Of course, the UN now says it is carrying out its own investigation but that is almost certain to be a whitewash set up to cover the backsides of its own officials who were so prominent in almost carrying out the deception.

What's really needed is a transparent investigation not only of this particular incident and others on the recent conflict involving UNRWA and its officials but also a complete look into the functioning of UNRWA itself. A UN investigation would not be enough although we can virtually be assured that its results would find their way into the otherwise uninterested media if there was opening to attack the Israeli version that came about as a result of some painstaking leg work.

The IDF's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) which carried out the research, is so thorough that it identifies most of the terrorists and their civilian human shields. This story alone is of itself far more newsworthy than most of the unconfirmed reports alleging wrongful behaviour on the part of Israel during the Gaza conflict.

Yet it all remains firmly hidden within the confines of the blank pages.