After being so publicly exposed and humiliated for its publication of Michael Backman’s anti-Semitic trope in its business pages, the Age has been obsessing this week over the issue of the alleged misuse by Israel of white phosphorous. Today, the same story is covered from an albeit different angle with Israel investigates phosphorus claim.
“ISRAEL has admitted — after facing mounting pressure — that its troops might have used banned white phosphorus shells during its three-week Gaza offensive.”
The poorly written piece by Peter Beaumont from the "Guardian" (why am I not surprised?) tells us the IDF is reviewing claims by the United Nations and human rights groups that it improperly used the munition, in contravention of international law.
Israel has of course, never denied using white phosphorous shells, but always say its use is in accordance with international law. The Beaumont article even says that, so why the sensational headline and an opening paragraph that suggests some hitherto sinister cover up by the Israelis?
The IDF is to be congratulated for ordering the investigation. Now, let’s see what results from the enquiry before jumping to conclusions.
Meanwhile, there were many accusations levelled at Hamas both before and during the course of the Gaza War for contravening international law (including the use of phosphorous in its missiles) so when are we going to see some news articles in the Age enumerating the crimes of which Hamas has been accused?
Some examples: the firing missiles into Israel’s civilian population is a recognised war crime; firing missiles from civilian buildings is a war crime; hiding missiles and weapons in mosques, schools and civilian dwellings is a war crime; building tunnels in and under civilian buildings for use by Hamas terrorists is a war crime; intermingling Hamas terrorists with the civilian population is a war crime; the kidnapping of soldier Gilad Shalit is a war crime; denying him ICRC visits is a war crime; carrying out suicide bombings is a crime against humanity; having for goal, as Hamas has, the destruction of the state of Israel is a crime against humanity.
When are we going to read in the Age about Hamas hijacking humanitarian aid material for its own purposes and diverting them away from the people of this war torn territory? When are we going to hear someone from UNRWA denouncing these acts?
And when is the Age going to tell its readers the real truth about the death toll in Gaza?
YNet News [Gazan doctor says death toll inflated] tells of a report in the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera of claims by a doctor working in Gaza's Shifa Hospital that Hamas has been intentionally inflating the number of casualties resulting from Israel's Operation Cast Lead.
"The number of deceased stands at no more than 500 to 600. Most of them are youths between the ages of 17 to 23 who were recruited to the ranks of Hamas, who sent them to the slaughter," according to the newspaper article ...
A Tal al-Hawa resident told the newspaper's reporter, "Armed Hamas men sought out a good position for provoking the Israelis. There were mostly teenagers, aged 16 or 17, and armed. They couldn't do a thing against a tank or a jet. They knew they are much weaker, but they fired at our houses so that they could blame Israel for war crimes."
The reporter for the Italian newspaper also quoted reporters in the Strip who told of Hamas' exaggerated figures, "We have already said to Hamas commanders – why do you insist on inflating the number of victims?"
These same reporters mentioned that the truth that will come out is likely to be similar to what occurred in Operation Defensive Shield in Jenin. "Then, there was first talk of 1,500 deaths. But then it turned out that there were only 54, 45 of which were armed men," the Palestinian reporters told the Italian newspaper.
Previous reports of the number of dead have all come from Hamas sources and The Age has willingly published them without challenge. They might argue that this was not necessary because Israel closed Gaza to foreign journalists during the course of the war. Now that reporters like Lorenzo Cremonesi who wrote the above (and who recently also wrote of Gaza "One thing seems clear. There is no lack of food and there is no hunger,") there is no reason why the Age can't give us some real news instead of treating readers like idiots by recycling old material and reproducing it in a different form.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
BOTH SIDES NOW - TWO VIEWS OF GAZA
Ashraf Khalil and Shashank Bengali look at post war Gaza in the Age - Gaza destruction 'heartbreaking': UN chief. They describe a devastated city in the eyes of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who toured the Palestinian enclave and declared himself "deeply grieved by what I have seen today".
"Speaking in front of the smouldering remains of a UN food warehouse, set ablaze last week by an Israeli tank shell, a sombre Mr Ban said he had witnessed
"Speaking in front of the smouldering remains of a UN food warehouse, set ablaze last week by an Israeli tank shell, a sombre Mr Ban said he had witnessed
'heartbreaking' scenes of destruction."
Tim Butcher's view on Gaza has been hit hard, but has it made any difference? in the London Daily Telegraph seems totally different:
"I knew Gaza well before the attacks, so when Israel ended its ban on foreign journalists reaching Gaza on the day the ceasefire was announced, I was able to see for myself.
"One thing was clear. Gaza City 2009 is not Stalingrad 1944. There had been no carpet bombing of large areas, no firebombing of complete suburbs. Targets had been selected and then hit, often several times, but almost always with precision munitions. Buildings nearby had been damaged and there had been some clear mistakes, like the firebombing of the UN aid headquarters. But, in most the cases, I saw the primary target had borne the brunt."
Butcher's summation makes more sense and even the numbers suggest that the IDF used precision targetting in prosecuting the war and not indiscriminate firing as is alleged by its detractors. I'm not trying to be insensitive to the horrors of war when I say that, given that the number of buildings either damaged or destroyed was 21,000 the fact that as few as 1,300 were killed in a place where the enemy fighters usually don't wear uniforms, most of them hide behind their families and civilian neighbors. it looks like extraordinarily accurate targeting by the Israelis with a kill rate of 1 person for every 16 buildings.
Tim Butcher's view on Gaza has been hit hard, but has it made any difference? in the London Daily Telegraph seems totally different:
"I knew Gaza well before the attacks, so when Israel ended its ban on foreign journalists reaching Gaza on the day the ceasefire was announced, I was able to see for myself.
"One thing was clear. Gaza City 2009 is not Stalingrad 1944. There had been no carpet bombing of large areas, no firebombing of complete suburbs. Targets had been selected and then hit, often several times, but almost always with precision munitions. Buildings nearby had been damaged and there had been some clear mistakes, like the firebombing of the UN aid headquarters. But, in most the cases, I saw the primary target had borne the brunt."
Butcher's summation makes more sense and even the numbers suggest that the IDF used precision targetting in prosecuting the war and not indiscriminate firing as is alleged by its detractors. I'm not trying to be insensitive to the horrors of war when I say that, given that the number of buildings either damaged or destroyed was 21,000 the fact that as few as 1,300 were killed in a place where the enemy fighters usually don't wear uniforms, most of them hide behind their families and civilian neighbors. it looks like extraordinarily accurate targeting by the Israelis with a kill rate of 1 person for every 16 buildings.
HAMAS AND ITS DISCONTENTS
A Newsweek Article - HAMAS AND ITS DISCONTENTS - reveals the truth about one of the notorious incidents during the Gaza War: the shelling on 15 January of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society buildings followed by a shell hitting its Al Quds Hospital next door:
"Asked if there were any militants firing from the hospital or the Red Crescent buildings, hospital director general Dr. Khalid Judah chose his words carefully. "I am not able to say if anyone was using the PRCS buildings [the two Palestine Red Crescent Society buildings adjacent to the hospital], but I know for a fact that no one was using the hospital." In the Tal-al Hawa neighborhood nearby, however, Talal Safadi, an official in the leftist Palestinian People's Party, said that resistance fighters were firing from positions all around the hospital."
It's also becoming quite obvious that Hamas' franchise partner in Gaza, namely UNRWA and its functionaries are in it up to their necks. The article repeats the standard UNRWA line from its head John Ging claiming that the Israeli version about the bombing of the UNRWA-run school on 6 January that the schools were being used as firing positions against them "is implausible." The conclusion that Ging wants us to reach namely, that it was a deliberate unprovoked attack by the Israelis is even more implausible given that the IDF and eyewitnesses quoted by Reuters noted that the dead victims included at least two Hamas operatives who were identified by name and that their shells landed outside the school. Even the Melbourne Age concedes that!
"Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Avital Leibovich, head of the IDF's foreign-press branch, counters that the military has documentary evidence including aerial surveillance tapes of the northern part of Gaza City "in which you can see schools next to [Hamas] training camps, launching sites in or near schools or from the streets themselves …When fire is opened at us and soldiers are in a life or death situation, we protect ourselves and Hamas is accountable for casualties if it chooses to put a launching site near schools and hospitals." She also gave NEWSWEEK a copy of what she said was a Hamas map which paratroopers recovered during ground operations inside Gaza. 'It shows how a neighborhood was taken and divided into three war zones. Hamas centers were scattered over the neighborhood including a gas depot with explosive charges … On the map, you can see the Football Association and Technical School are surrounded by 45 Hamas positions, from which Hamas fired.'"
We still await an explanation from UNRWA about reports of the hijacking by Hamas of humanitarian aid shipped into Gaza from Israel in recent days. It's terribly strange that, during the heat of the conflict just two weeks ago, the UNRWA people were able to investigate incidents and come to a 99% conclusion on who was responsible in time to meet the morning news deadlines of the major media, yet on this serious allegation about Hamas, two days have passed and UNRWA talking heads are none the wiser about the whole thing. There seems to be a breakdown of communication between the franchise partners down there in Gaza - possibly because the Hamas side is too busy celebrating its glorious victory.
"Asked if there were any militants firing from the hospital or the Red Crescent buildings, hospital director general Dr. Khalid Judah chose his words carefully. "I am not able to say if anyone was using the PRCS buildings [the two Palestine Red Crescent Society buildings adjacent to the hospital], but I know for a fact that no one was using the hospital." In the Tal-al Hawa neighborhood nearby, however, Talal Safadi, an official in the leftist Palestinian People's Party, said that resistance fighters were firing from positions all around the hospital."
It's also becoming quite obvious that Hamas' franchise partner in Gaza, namely UNRWA and its functionaries are in it up to their necks. The article repeats the standard UNRWA line from its head John Ging claiming that the Israeli version about the bombing of the UNRWA-run school on 6 January that the schools were being used as firing positions against them "is implausible." The conclusion that Ging wants us to reach namely, that it was a deliberate unprovoked attack by the Israelis is even more implausible given that the IDF and eyewitnesses quoted by Reuters noted that the dead victims included at least two Hamas operatives who were identified by name and that their shells landed outside the school. Even the Melbourne Age concedes that!
"Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Avital Leibovich, head of the IDF's foreign-press branch, counters that the military has documentary evidence including aerial surveillance tapes of the northern part of Gaza City "in which you can see schools next to [Hamas] training camps, launching sites in or near schools or from the streets themselves …When fire is opened at us and soldiers are in a life or death situation, we protect ourselves and Hamas is accountable for casualties if it chooses to put a launching site near schools and hospitals." She also gave NEWSWEEK a copy of what she said was a Hamas map which paratroopers recovered during ground operations inside Gaza. 'It shows how a neighborhood was taken and divided into three war zones. Hamas centers were scattered over the neighborhood including a gas depot with explosive charges … On the map, you can see the Football Association and Technical School are surrounded by 45 Hamas positions, from which Hamas fired.'"
We still await an explanation from UNRWA about reports of the hijacking by Hamas of humanitarian aid shipped into Gaza from Israel in recent days. It's terribly strange that, during the heat of the conflict just two weeks ago, the UNRWA people were able to investigate incidents and come to a 99% conclusion on who was responsible in time to meet the morning news deadlines of the major media, yet on this serious allegation about Hamas, two days have passed and UNRWA talking heads are none the wiser about the whole thing. There seems to be a breakdown of communication between the franchise partners down there in Gaza - possibly because the Hamas side is too busy celebrating its glorious victory.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE HIJACKED UN AID CONVOY
Elder of Ziyon has broken the news from a Jordanian source that "Hamas hijacked Jordanian aid trucks after they crossed into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing on Tuesday. The aid was to go to UNRWA. As the truck drivers started unloading the aid, Hamas gunmen opened fire on them and forced them to go to Hamas-run stores."
The story has now been confirmed by the Palestinian News Agency Ma'an (although Ma'an is careful not to mention that it was Hamas that did this act, as the Jordanian source Petra reported).
A little over a week ago the international news agencies were all over a story about an alleged IDF shelling attack on a UN aid truck. UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness point blank accused the Israelis of responsibility and many willing news outlets were all to quick to echo the accusation. It turned out that one of the wounded Palestinians evacuated by the Red Cross to the Israeli border was being treated for gunshot wounds and not shrapnel from tank shells proving the IDF version that Hamas had carried out the atrocity. Gunness, who comes across in interviews as vehemently anti-Israel and singing directly from the Hamas hymn book, slunk back from whence he came and the story died a painful death.
Now, the Elder wants explanations. He sent this email to Gunness:
"Mr. Gunness:
This morning the Petra news agency of Jordan reported that one or more aid trucks from Jordan, meant for UNRWA,were hijacked at gunpoint byHamas.
Does UNRWA have any comment?
How many times has this happened, to any NGO aid?
Has UNRWA ever condemned Hamas for such actions?
Thanks"
Gunness, who has been ever so quick to shout his condemnation of the Israelis in other instances, shot back this response:
We are looking into this and I hope to have a reply for you soon. Chris
As this is all happening Ban Ki Moon is in town (Gaza) and for once, has no comment to make.
Meanwhile, the international media aren't touching the story.
Perhaps a few people might be interested in passing on this important news story as a "tip" to the Age which told the Australian Jewish News yesterday that they "want to continue to tell great stories," and that their coverage of the conflict is ... ahem "balanced".
The story has now been confirmed by the Palestinian News Agency Ma'an (although Ma'an is careful not to mention that it was Hamas that did this act, as the Jordanian source Petra reported).
A little over a week ago the international news agencies were all over a story about an alleged IDF shelling attack on a UN aid truck. UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness point blank accused the Israelis of responsibility and many willing news outlets were all to quick to echo the accusation. It turned out that one of the wounded Palestinians evacuated by the Red Cross to the Israeli border was being treated for gunshot wounds and not shrapnel from tank shells proving the IDF version that Hamas had carried out the atrocity. Gunness, who comes across in interviews as vehemently anti-Israel and singing directly from the Hamas hymn book, slunk back from whence he came and the story died a painful death.
Now, the Elder wants explanations. He sent this email to Gunness:
"Mr. Gunness:
This morning the Petra news agency of Jordan reported that one or more aid trucks from Jordan, meant for UNRWA,were hijacked at gunpoint byHamas.
Does UNRWA have any comment?
How many times has this happened, to any NGO aid?
Has UNRWA ever condemned Hamas for such actions?
Thanks"
Gunness, who has been ever so quick to shout his condemnation of the Israelis in other instances, shot back this response:
We are looking into this and I hope to have a reply for you soon. Chris
As this is all happening Ban Ki Moon is in town (Gaza) and for once, has no comment to make.
Meanwhile, the international media aren't touching the story.
Perhaps a few people might be interested in passing on this important news story as a "tip" to the Age which told the Australian Jewish News yesterday that they "want to continue to tell great stories," and that their coverage of the conflict is ... ahem "balanced".
THE APOLOGY HOAX
Q: How does the Age apologise for allowing a racist attack on one group of people to be published in its pages?
A: By placing the most obscure, mealy mouthed excuse for an apology in an even more obscure part of the newspaper and then, a day later, publishing another blood libel against the same people.
Days after the International Red Cross confirmed that Israel fired white phosphorus shells in its offensive in the Gaza Strip but said "it has no evidence to suggest that the shells are being used improperly or illegally. They are used to illuminate targets at night, or to create a smoke screen for day attacks," the Age published an article from AFP reporting that Amnesty International "has said that Israel's use during the Gaza offensive of white phosphorus — banned under international law for use near civilians — was 'clear and undeniable'."
It's those sinister Israelis again.
The problem is that nobody's denying its use by the Israelis (although there's a cover up under foot to suppress the fact that Hamas uses phophorous in shells uses to attack Israeli civilians) but everything else underlying the article is either false or downright misleading including the suggestion that Israel breakes the rules about its use and, as usual, it fails abysmally to tell Israel's side of the story.
More evidence of the rancid culture pervading this formerly respectable newspaper.
A: By placing the most obscure, mealy mouthed excuse for an apology in an even more obscure part of the newspaper and then, a day later, publishing another blood libel against the same people.
Days after the International Red Cross confirmed that Israel fired white phosphorus shells in its offensive in the Gaza Strip but said "it has no evidence to suggest that the shells are being used improperly or illegally. They are used to illuminate targets at night, or to create a smoke screen for day attacks," the Age published an article from AFP reporting that Amnesty International "has said that Israel's use during the Gaza offensive of white phosphorus — banned under international law for use near civilians — was 'clear and undeniable'."
It's those sinister Israelis again.
The problem is that nobody's denying its use by the Israelis (although there's a cover up under foot to suppress the fact that Hamas uses phophorous in shells uses to attack Israeli civilians) but everything else underlying the article is either false or downright misleading including the suggestion that Israel breakes the rules about its use and, as usual, it fails abysmally to tell Israel's side of the story.
More evidence of the rancid culture pervading this formerly respectable newspaper.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
AN APOLOGY FROM THE AGE
Nestled away on page 2 of the print edition of the Age is this apology:-
APOLOGY (from The Age)
A column by Michael Backman, headlined "Israelis living high on US expense account" (BusinessDay 17.1.09) was published in error. The Age does not in any way endorse the views of the columnist, apologises for the distress the column caused to many readers, particularly in the Jewish community, and regrets publication of the column.
APOLOGY (from The Age)
A column by Michael Backman, headlined "Israelis living high on US expense account" (BusinessDay 17.1.09) was published in error. The Age does not in any way endorse the views of the columnist, apologises for the distress the column caused to many readers, particularly in the Jewish community, and regrets publication of the column.
The Jews are to blame
Caroline Overington is a senior writer and columnist with The Australian. She is a two-time winner of the Walkley Award for investigative jouralism (2004 and 2006).
She shows us why she's an award winner in her latest blog in the Australian in which she dismantles the Business Age's gutter journalist Michael Backman piece by piece - The Jews are to blame.
[And note the crude gutter anti-Semitism of some her respondents who come to Backman's defence. It's a sick, sick world.]
She shows us why she's an award winner in her latest blog in the Australian in which she dismantles the Business Age's gutter journalist Michael Backman piece by piece - The Jews are to blame.
[And note the crude gutter anti-Semitism of some her respondents who come to Backman's defence. It's a sick, sick world.]
WE NEED TO TALK MORE ABOUT HAMAS
I'm not sure if there are any peace marches for Gaza slated for this weekend.
I'm not sure if Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young will be on hand to deliver another speech replete with more urban myths concocted by Hamas and completely unsubstantiated like the one she told the crowd at Sunday's rally about the mother of three holding a white flag, who upon emerging from her house, was allegedly shot in the head by the Israeli military (although as a parliamentarian she will, in due course, inevitably be brought to account for recklessly making such a statement in public).
I'm not sure how the Greens and many others who took part feel about being part of a nation wide rabble that ignores the environment and destroys valuable plants in an orgy of hate in which racist words and banners played not an insignificant part.
And I'm not sure that any of the demonstrators will be turning out this Sunday to protest against the murders and torture of Palestinians that are taking place in Gaza today - 'Hamas rounding up, torturing Fatah activists in Gaza Strip'.
I'm not sure if Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young will be on hand to deliver another speech replete with more urban myths concocted by Hamas and completely unsubstantiated like the one she told the crowd at Sunday's rally about the mother of three holding a white flag, who upon emerging from her house, was allegedly shot in the head by the Israeli military (although as a parliamentarian she will, in due course, inevitably be brought to account for recklessly making such a statement in public).
I'm not sure how the Greens and many others who took part feel about being part of a nation wide rabble that ignores the environment and destroys valuable plants in an orgy of hate in which racist words and banners played not an insignificant part.
And I'm not sure that any of the demonstrators will be turning out this Sunday to protest against the murders and torture of Palestinians that are taking place in Gaza today - 'Hamas rounding up, torturing Fatah activists in Gaza Strip'.
Monday, January 19, 2009
HAMAS SUPPORTERS DAMAGE THE ENVIRONMENT
According to Sydney City Council's head gardener for Hyde Park, Nathan Gray, a pro Hamas protest at the weekend has caused several thousand dollars worth of damage - Protesters trampled Hyde Park, says gardener
Gray says the demonstrators trampled over several flower beds and left rubbish around the gardens.
"All the annual beds that we are probably supposed to have ready for the Australia Day celebrations have all been crushed so it's a bit disappointing. We're in a bit of a bind because they've crushed probably a few thousand this time."
Meanwhile, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils says it is unsure who organised yesterday's rally.
I'm not sure whether this is because the group wants to distance itself from the eco-vandals or from the racists who were shouting anti-Semitic slogans.
Gray says the demonstrators trampled over several flower beds and left rubbish around the gardens.
"All the annual beds that we are probably supposed to have ready for the Australia Day celebrations have all been crushed so it's a bit disappointing. We're in a bit of a bind because they've crushed probably a few thousand this time."
Meanwhile, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils says it is unsure who organised yesterday's rally.
I'm not sure whether this is because the group wants to distance itself from the eco-vandals or from the racists who were shouting anti-Semitic slogans.
THE AGE'S DESCENT INTO THE ABYSS OF RACISM
I should not have been so staggered to learn of the decision by the Age Business Editor to publish Michael Backman's racist tome against the Israeli people in its business section on Saturday 17 January 2009 - Israelis are living high on US expense account.
The Victorian Jewish community has responded to this hate filled piece of vitriol based on supposition, questionable anecdotes and twisted logic with this media release:
MEDIA RELEASE
18 January 2009
VICTORIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY CONDEMNS AGE’S ANTISEMITIC ARTICLE
John Searle, president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV), and Dr Danny Lamm, president of the Zionist Council of Victoria (ZCV), today jointly called on Melbourne’s The Age to apologise for publishing a blatantly antisemitic article (attached) in the Saturday Age yesterday.
Searle and Lamm stated:
"Sometimes criticism of Israeli foreign policy becomes so irrational and so hate-filled that it spills over into antisemitism. Yesterday Saturday’s Age (17/01) published such a piece wherein its columnist Michael Backman encapsulated centuries of hate speech against Jews in a few hundred words.
Among other things, Backman wrote:
Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians caused the London, Bali and World Trade Centre bombings.
Israel has united the Islamic world against Western nations.
The historical persecution of Jews constitutes punishment for Jesus’ death.
Israelis and Jews are disinterested in the welfare of others, and do not invest financially or socially in the broader community.
It is inexplicable why The Age would publish such a pernicious article, and why by one of its business columnists, a man whose field of expertise is Asian business and art, a man apparently without credentials on the Middle East, international politics or contemporary religion.
Each of the above statements is demonstrably wrong as are other assertions in the article. It is sheer nonsense to claim, for example that "The enmity many Muslims now feel for Israel has nothing to do with religion". Really? Perhaps Backman should read the hate-filled Hamas Covenant which explicitly talks about extermination of all Jews, not merely Israelis.
It is unacceptable that The Age gave a platform to this man’s hatred of Jews and Israelis and incitement against them. The Victorian Jewish community’s experience is that such commentary rouses violence and hatred against local Jews. Indeed, the JCCV and the ZCV made this very point to The Age only two weeks ago. We were assured by acting editor Mark Baker that its reportage was totally even-handed. And yet its editors saw fit to publish this vile piece. We are outraged with The Age for publishing Backman’s disgusting falsehoods.
The JCCV and SZC have complained to The Age today in the strongest possible terms on behalf of the Victorian Jewish community. We have further committed ourselves to further steps, including possible legal action. This is not 1930s Germany. We will not accept this hatred."
I couldn't possibly imagine a similar article about any other group of people gaining publication in any normal news outlet. The Age however, is not "normal" when it comes to Israel and the Jews. Mark Baker should be asking himself whether he would allow such a piece to be published about Muslims, Chileans or any other group. I can tell you now, that it just wouldn't happen.
Unfortunately, in the case of the Age and the Age alone, it came as no surprise whatever that this racist trope was allowed to see the light of day.
I will add nothing further other than to add an anecdote I recently heard about an Australian woman who was badly injured while bike riding on a tour of Argentina. I was told that she was full of admiration for the Israeli tourists - the only ones among her group who took the trouble to look after her and her sister during the woman's hospitalisation. I can vouch for the fact that this is a true story. I can't do the same for a lot of what I read in the Age these days.
PARLIAMENTARIAN JOINS IN THE CONDEMNATION
Age responsible for bigoted stereotypes
by Michael Danby MHR Monday January 19, 2009
Local Al-Qaida franchisee Abu Bakar Bashir insisted Australians were murdered in Bali because "the Crusaders took Muslim lands (he was referring to Australian's intervention in East Timor)".
It is offensive for Age writer Michael Backman to use the blood of 80 Australians for his bigoted theories. Crass stereotypes about young Israelis not paying bills in Nepal feeds into offensive & primitive prejudice about ‘penny- pinching' Jews. Backman's poisonous article in Saturdays business Age has no place in serious commentary, I call on Backman to apologise.
The Victorian Jewish community has responded to this hate filled piece of vitriol based on supposition, questionable anecdotes and twisted logic with this media release:
MEDIA RELEASE
18 January 2009
VICTORIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY CONDEMNS AGE’S ANTISEMITIC ARTICLE
John Searle, president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV), and Dr Danny Lamm, president of the Zionist Council of Victoria (ZCV), today jointly called on Melbourne’s The Age to apologise for publishing a blatantly antisemitic article (attached) in the Saturday Age yesterday.
Searle and Lamm stated:
"Sometimes criticism of Israeli foreign policy becomes so irrational and so hate-filled that it spills over into antisemitism. Yesterday Saturday’s Age (17/01) published such a piece wherein its columnist Michael Backman encapsulated centuries of hate speech against Jews in a few hundred words.
Among other things, Backman wrote:
Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians caused the London, Bali and World Trade Centre bombings.
Israel has united the Islamic world against Western nations.
The historical persecution of Jews constitutes punishment for Jesus’ death.
Israelis and Jews are disinterested in the welfare of others, and do not invest financially or socially in the broader community.
It is inexplicable why The Age would publish such a pernicious article, and why by one of its business columnists, a man whose field of expertise is Asian business and art, a man apparently without credentials on the Middle East, international politics or contemporary religion.
Each of the above statements is demonstrably wrong as are other assertions in the article. It is sheer nonsense to claim, for example that "The enmity many Muslims now feel for Israel has nothing to do with religion". Really? Perhaps Backman should read the hate-filled Hamas Covenant which explicitly talks about extermination of all Jews, not merely Israelis.
It is unacceptable that The Age gave a platform to this man’s hatred of Jews and Israelis and incitement against them. The Victorian Jewish community’s experience is that such commentary rouses violence and hatred against local Jews. Indeed, the JCCV and the ZCV made this very point to The Age only two weeks ago. We were assured by acting editor Mark Baker that its reportage was totally even-handed. And yet its editors saw fit to publish this vile piece. We are outraged with The Age for publishing Backman’s disgusting falsehoods.
The JCCV and SZC have complained to The Age today in the strongest possible terms on behalf of the Victorian Jewish community. We have further committed ourselves to further steps, including possible legal action. This is not 1930s Germany. We will not accept this hatred."
I couldn't possibly imagine a similar article about any other group of people gaining publication in any normal news outlet. The Age however, is not "normal" when it comes to Israel and the Jews. Mark Baker should be asking himself whether he would allow such a piece to be published about Muslims, Chileans or any other group. I can tell you now, that it just wouldn't happen.
Unfortunately, in the case of the Age and the Age alone, it came as no surprise whatever that this racist trope was allowed to see the light of day.
I will add nothing further other than to add an anecdote I recently heard about an Australian woman who was badly injured while bike riding on a tour of Argentina. I was told that she was full of admiration for the Israeli tourists - the only ones among her group who took the trouble to look after her and her sister during the woman's hospitalisation. I can vouch for the fact that this is a true story. I can't do the same for a lot of what I read in the Age these days.
PARLIAMENTARIAN JOINS IN THE CONDEMNATION
Age responsible for bigoted stereotypes
by Michael Danby MHR Monday January 19, 2009
Local Al-Qaida franchisee Abu Bakar Bashir insisted Australians were murdered in Bali because "the Crusaders took Muslim lands (he was referring to Australian's intervention in East Timor)".
It is offensive for Age writer Michael Backman to use the blood of 80 Australians for his bigoted theories. Crass stereotypes about young Israelis not paying bills in Nepal feeds into offensive & primitive prejudice about ‘penny- pinching' Jews. Backman's poisonous article in Saturdays business Age has no place in serious commentary, I call on Backman to apologise.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
CEASEFIRE
They're not too bright, those Hamas rocket launchers.
About 15 minutes after Israel's unilateral ceasefire came into force a group of them tried to launch a missile from Northern Gaza.
The IAF got them.
Clearly, they didn't read the terms and conditions of the ceasefire.
About 15 minutes after Israel's unilateral ceasefire came into force a group of them tried to launch a missile from Northern Gaza.
The IAF got them.
Clearly, they didn't read the terms and conditions of the ceasefire.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
DERSHOWITZ DOES THE BBC
Professor Alan Dershowitz took on Professor Iain Scobbie on BBC's Newsnight in a debate on whether Israel had committed war crimes in its Gaza campaign and absolutely "pantsed" his opponent.
The programme opened in typical BBC style with a list of alleged war crimes committed by Israel and the allegation from UN sources that 40% of 1,000 Palestinian victims were civilians.
Scobble was on the back foot from the start. He wasn’t contesting that Hamas' actions in virtually exclusively targeting civilians are war crimes and he also admitted of the allegations against Israel that they "obviously require investigation"> By this time, the Professor from SOAS* was virtually sending out an SOS for help.
When Dershowitz's claim that Hamas was using civilians as human shields was objected to by Scobble as just an "allegation", Dershowitz said the evidence is available on film he has seen and further, that the figure of 40% was, in fact, an unproven allegation.
The BBC presenter finally saved an embarrassed Scobble by ending the segment.
It was brilliant work by the eminent lawyer who demonstrated that he knows his stuff and further, that the allegations against Israel of committing war crimes - a common mantra from many on the BBC in recent weeks - were unsubstantiated!
* School of Oriental and African Studies London.
The programme opened in typical BBC style with a list of alleged war crimes committed by Israel and the allegation from UN sources that 40% of 1,000 Palestinian victims were civilians.
Scobble was on the back foot from the start. He wasn’t contesting that Hamas' actions in virtually exclusively targeting civilians are war crimes and he also admitted of the allegations against Israel that they "obviously require investigation"> By this time, the Professor from SOAS* was virtually sending out an SOS for help.
When Dershowitz's claim that Hamas was using civilians as human shields was objected to by Scobble as just an "allegation", Dershowitz said the evidence is available on film he has seen and further, that the figure of 40% was, in fact, an unproven allegation.
The BBC presenter finally saved an embarrassed Scobble by ending the segment.
It was brilliant work by the eminent lawyer who demonstrated that he knows his stuff and further, that the allegations against Israel of committing war crimes - a common mantra from many on the BBC in recent weeks - were unsubstantiated!
* School of Oriental and African Studies London.
THE AGE OF DISHONESTY
The Age headline today screams out ISRAELI STRIKES KEEP CEASEFIRE AT BAY and Jason Koutsoukis' report from Jerusalem unquestionable places the onus for the delay in a ceasefire in the Gaza war on the Israelis - who else?
Meanwhile, over at Israel's left wing Haaretz newspaper, you get a clearer picture of the events as they're happening. I wonder what Mr. Koutsoukis and the Age sub editor responsible for the headline would make of this: HAMAS: WE WILL NOT ACCEPT ISRAEL'S GAZA CEASE-FIRE DEMANDS and this CABINET TO VOTE SATURDAY ON UNILATERAL GAZA TRUCE?
And does this information bear any interest to Age readers and is it of any relevance to the three weeks of battles between Israel and Hamas - PALESTINIAN SOURCES: 'IRAN UNIT' OF HAMAS HAS BEEN DESTROYED?
Blank pages stuff - swept under the carpet.
One assumes, Age readers don't need balanced reports of what's happening in the conflict.
Meanwhile, over at Israel's left wing Haaretz newspaper, you get a clearer picture of the events as they're happening. I wonder what Mr. Koutsoukis and the Age sub editor responsible for the headline would make of this: HAMAS: WE WILL NOT ACCEPT ISRAEL'S GAZA CEASE-FIRE DEMANDS and this CABINET TO VOTE SATURDAY ON UNILATERAL GAZA TRUCE?
And does this information bear any interest to Age readers and is it of any relevance to the three weeks of battles between Israel and Hamas - PALESTINIAN SOURCES: 'IRAN UNIT' OF HAMAS HAS BEEN DESTROYED?
Blank pages stuff - swept under the carpet.
One assumes, Age readers don't need balanced reports of what's happening in the conflict.
NGO'S BAGGED
Marty Peretz at The New Republic minces no words about the exaggeration by the media and NGO's of the extent of the devastation in Gaza and their complicity in bolstering the Hamas cause - The Red Cross Retracts Its Outlandish Accusations Against Israel.
Predictably, the press has been exaggerating Gaza death and damage...sometimes as an expression of its own inventiveness, sometimes as a result of historically unreliable informants, including those NGOs that have become, for all intents and purposes, accessories to the crimes of the terrorist gangs and their suicidal intifadas.
Among these is the International Red Cross. Maybe it is compensating for ignoring almost totally the Jewish catastrophe during the Hitler era. In any event, even the I.C.R.C., having made outlandish accusations against Israel, has now, as reported by Ethan Bronner in today's Times, reneged on some of its charges.
For example, Jakob Kellenberger has cleared up the fact that, while the civilian situation is still "dire," "the principal hospital was making do with supplies, and that doctors, working around the clock, were mostly coping with the flow of the wounded." Or "In general, they did not complain about the lack of equipment or material." This is actually scarce consolation. But it is Hamas that has systematically put the Gaza populace in harm's way by installing all of its weapons in the midst of human habitation. This is patented behavior of terrorist groups.
With Durban II coming up in the near future I suspect there will be more lies from NGO's about the Jewish State and more retractions (but only once the damage is done and the retractions will only appear in the blank pages).
Predictably, the press has been exaggerating Gaza death and damage...sometimes as an expression of its own inventiveness, sometimes as a result of historically unreliable informants, including those NGOs that have become, for all intents and purposes, accessories to the crimes of the terrorist gangs and their suicidal intifadas.
Among these is the International Red Cross. Maybe it is compensating for ignoring almost totally the Jewish catastrophe during the Hitler era. In any event, even the I.C.R.C., having made outlandish accusations against Israel, has now, as reported by Ethan Bronner in today's Times, reneged on some of its charges.
For example, Jakob Kellenberger has cleared up the fact that, while the civilian situation is still "dire," "the principal hospital was making do with supplies, and that doctors, working around the clock, were mostly coping with the flow of the wounded." Or "In general, they did not complain about the lack of equipment or material." This is actually scarce consolation. But it is Hamas that has systematically put the Gaza populace in harm's way by installing all of its weapons in the midst of human habitation. This is patented behavior of terrorist groups.
With Durban II coming up in the near future I suspect there will be more lies from NGO's about the Jewish State and more retractions (but only once the damage is done and the retractions will only appear in the blank pages).
Friday, January 16, 2009
GOOD NEWS FROM ISRAEL
Thanks to the folks at Muqata who are doing a live blog of the events from Israel, I can report some good news (not war related) from Israel.
Natural gas has been discovered off the coast of Haifa and new drilling analysis finds that the initial estimates of 109 billion cubic metres were low. It appears there is much more!
The market value of 109 Billions cubic meters of natural gas is approximately 15 Billion dollars. (source, "Calcalist" Financial Website in Hebrew)
Natural gas has been discovered off the coast of Haifa and new drilling analysis finds that the initial estimates of 109 billion cubic metres were low. It appears there is much more!
The market value of 109 Billions cubic meters of natural gas is approximately 15 Billion dollars. (source, "Calcalist" Financial Website in Hebrew)
GROUNDHOG DAY
American novelist, essayist and law professor, Thane Rosenbaum's Op Ed in the Jerusalem Post - For Israel, every day is Groundhog Day is essential reading for those who want a clear and concise summation of Israel's dilemma in dealing with its neighbours.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
U.N. Agency That Runs School Hit in Gaza Employed Hamas and Islamic Jihad Members
OK. I know the source is Fox News and there might be some readers who might question Fox as a news source but this story has a strong ring of authenticity about it - U.N. Agency That Runs School Hit in Gaza Employed Hamas and Islamic Jihad Members.
"The United Nations agency that administers a school in Gaza where dozens of civilians were killed by Israeli mortar fire last week has admitted to employing terrorists to work at its Palestinian schools in the past, has no system in place to keep members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad off its payroll, and provides textbooks to children that contain hate speech and other incendiary information."
The report goes on to say:
In 2004, former UNRWA Commissioner-General Peter Hansen told the Canadian Broadcasting Company, "I am sure that there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll and I don't see that as a crime." He added, "We do not do political vetting and exclude people from one persuasion as against another."
It seems that UNRWA would like us to think that things are different these days because a "spokesman for UNRWA adamantly said that the agency is now free of terrorist connections."
Of course, the tooth fairy still works for UNRWA.
"The United Nations agency that administers a school in Gaza where dozens of civilians were killed by Israeli mortar fire last week has admitted to employing terrorists to work at its Palestinian schools in the past, has no system in place to keep members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad off its payroll, and provides textbooks to children that contain hate speech and other incendiary information."
The report goes on to say:
In 2004, former UNRWA Commissioner-General Peter Hansen told the Canadian Broadcasting Company, "I am sure that there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll and I don't see that as a crime." He added, "We do not do political vetting and exclude people from one persuasion as against another."
It seems that UNRWA would like us to think that things are different these days because a "spokesman for UNRWA adamantly said that the agency is now free of terrorist connections."
Of course, the tooth fairy still works for UNRWA.
WATCHING HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Marc Garlasco, a senior military analyst for Human Rights Watch accused Israel at the weekend of firing artillery shells with the incendiary agent white phosphorus into Gaza. HRW suggested that Israel was not taking all feasible precautions to minimize the impact of white phosphorus on civilians.
"What we're saying is the use of white phosphorus in densely populated areas like a refugee camp is showing that the Israelis are not taking all feasible precautions. It's just an unnecessary risk to the civilian population, not only in the potential for wounds but also for burning homes and infrastructure," said Garlasco in this Associated Press article.
Garlasco's claims were aired widely in the world's media and BBC World ran a story about a Palestinian burns victim in a Gaza Hospital with doctors claiming that the injury was caused by a shell doused in phosphorous.
Less widely aired was the revelation a day or two later in this story - ICRC: Israel's use of white phosphorus not illegal.
"The international Red Cross said Tuesday that Israel has fired white phosphorus shells in its offensive in the Gaza Strip, but has no evidence to suggest it is being used improperly or illegally."
The rebuttal has received a minute amount of coverage in comparison to the original story, providing yet another instance of NGO's and media sensationally attacking Israel followed by near silence when that version gets debunked.
Of course, when there are reports that Palestinian mortar shells which are aimed at civilians and not used to illuminate the sky contain phosphorous, nobody wants to know. Here's one such report - Phosphorus mortar shell detected in Negev.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
TOO LATE FOR PALESTINE
It might be an opportune time to go back more than 50 years to 1958 and visit the archives of The Economist - Too Late for Palestine?
"PRESIDENT Nasser, who has a taste for anniversaries, was expected to celebrate one at Gaza last weekend. It is exactly a year since the Israelis left the strip, and prophets had whispered that he might declare a Palestinian republic there. Instead he made only a weak gesture; perhaps he is not sufficiently sure of his strength in the refugee areas not under his control to claim the allegiance of Palestinians everywhere. He gave Gaza a legislative council dominated by Egyptians and Egyptian-appointed members, and an executive council appointed by the Egyptian minister."
Back in the days before the Israelis came along it appears that not enough was being done by the Arab occupying masters of Gaza and the West Bank. Still, the locals weren't sending suicide bombers and missiles into the streets of Cairo and Amman either. Nor did the "occupation" seem to trouble them even if they had no universities, few schools and hospitals and a miserably low standard of living.
Still, it could have been worse if the federation of Iraq and Jordan would have worked, the Palestinians might have become vassals of Saddam Hussein. That would have been really lovely!
"PRESIDENT Nasser, who has a taste for anniversaries, was expected to celebrate one at Gaza last weekend. It is exactly a year since the Israelis left the strip, and prophets had whispered that he might declare a Palestinian republic there. Instead he made only a weak gesture; perhaps he is not sufficiently sure of his strength in the refugee areas not under his control to claim the allegiance of Palestinians everywhere. He gave Gaza a legislative council dominated by Egyptians and Egyptian-appointed members, and an executive council appointed by the Egyptian minister."
Back in the days before the Israelis came along it appears that not enough was being done by the Arab occupying masters of Gaza and the West Bank. Still, the locals weren't sending suicide bombers and missiles into the streets of Cairo and Amman either. Nor did the "occupation" seem to trouble them even if they had no universities, few schools and hospitals and a miserably low standard of living.
Still, it could have been worse if the federation of Iraq and Jordan would have worked, the Palestinians might have become vassals of Saddam Hussein. That would have been really lovely!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
HUMANITARIAN AID WATCH
Since the beginning of the Israeli operation in Gaza, Israel has overseen:
Since the beginning of the Israeli operation in Gaza, Hamas has:
Where's the proportionality?
- The delivery of 17,793 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza;
- The evacuation of 449 dual nationals from Gaza;
- The delivery of 3,000 units of blood donated by Jordan to Gaza:
- The delivery of 5 ambulances donated by Turkey to Gaza;
- The transfer to Gaza of 5 ambulances from the West Bank on behalf of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and
- The evacuartion of 34 people to Israel for medical needs, including two injured children.
Since the beginning of the Israeli operation in Gaza, Hamas has:
- Announced it doesn't care about the fate of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who until very recently was the only Jew in Gaza.
Where's the proportionality?
Monday, January 12, 2009
NOT FIT TO BE PRINTED
After all that was made of last week's Gaza school incident in which some Hamas people and some Palestinians civilians were killed near and in a school, one would think this story from Haaretz would be attracting interest in all of the world's news outlets - WATCH: IDF uncovers booby-trapped school next to Gaza zoo (that's the zoo where Hamas Al Aksa TV teaches their young kiddies how too bash, taunt and otherwise molest zoo animals just for the fun of it).
"Israel Defense Forces troops this week uncovered a school in the Gaza Strip rigged by Hamas militants with a large amount of explosives."
Today's edition of Haaretz also carried this human interest story - Sources: Hamas leaders hiding in Israel-built Shifa Hospital basement.
"Senior Hamas officials in Gaza are hiding out in a "bunker" built by Israel, intelligence officials suspect: Many are believed to be in the basements of the Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, which was refurbished during Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip."
That's the same hospital where those two Norwegian nuff nuffs from medicines sans etiqutte have been holding court with the pride of Gaza's journalists (mainly Hamas mouthpieces) producing a massive propagandafest so that Annie Lennox can feel good as she stumbles her way through incoherent rants in front of rabid Islamofascist lunatics who then get off invading and severely damaging a Starbucks franchise while calling on the Juices to be gassed.
Look away. There's nothing to see here.
"Israel Defense Forces troops this week uncovered a school in the Gaza Strip rigged by Hamas militants with a large amount of explosives."
Today's edition of Haaretz also carried this human interest story - Sources: Hamas leaders hiding in Israel-built Shifa Hospital basement.
"Senior Hamas officials in Gaza are hiding out in a "bunker" built by Israel, intelligence officials suspect: Many are believed to be in the basements of the Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, which was refurbished during Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip."
That's the same hospital where those two Norwegian nuff nuffs from medicines sans etiqutte have been holding court with the pride of Gaza's journalists (mainly Hamas mouthpieces) producing a massive propagandafest so that Annie Lennox can feel good as she stumbles her way through incoherent rants in front of rabid Islamofascist lunatics who then get off invading and severely damaging a Starbucks franchise while calling on the Juices to be gassed.
Look away. There's nothing to see here.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
THE AGE OF THE HOAX
It seems we are entering the Age of the The Hoax. In the Middle East, we're being fed with a constant stream of hoaxes from the Pallywood studios like the mad doctor escapades, the UN school "investigation" (here's some recently released IDF vision taken from a schoolyard in Gaza on 8 January) and more while, at home, we've had the Quadrant hoax that brought the "Gotcha" revelations in our media this week.
The Age of the Hoax extended this week even into the letters section of the Age Newspaper. On Thursday, it published this piece from a Raya Rusho of Greensborough, an outlying suburb of Melbourne:
WHEN LACK OF 'BIAS' IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE
I HAVE been trying to remain unbiased for many years concerning the continued violence between the Palestinians and Israel, especially as I believe it is imperative to maintain an open mind on such heated issues.
However, I can no longer justify staying unbiased when I read and hear about unjust, inhumane and extremely unreasonable acts of violence against innocent victims who have now clearly a justified moral stance against their Israeli attackers.
I can no longer say "perhaps we should try to consider both sides of the argument". I cannot but abhor the actions of the Israeli Government.
We all now know the Palestinian plight. I only hope we can all begin to take the side of the most oppressed in this situation.
Raya Rusho, Greensborough
Unfortunately for Ms. Rusho and the Age, Vex News smelled a rat and carried out some research on the author of the letter and discovered that she was lying when she claimed to have been "unbiased" and had an "open mind" about the conflict.
A very brief Google search uncovered the fact that she is an Arab who has previously lived in Libya and Syria, an atheist architecture student at Melbourne University and, most probably, an unrepentent anti-Semite. Here's what Raya Rusho wrote on the BBC website in 2001:
"The Israelis have gained enough power and money to prey on those weaker than them. It's only a matter of time before the Jews lose that power and money and they are left to fend for themselves. With this they'll have a taste of their own medicine … "
Judge for yourself whether, nine years later when she penned her letter to the Age, she had an open mind about the conflict.
For its part, the Age which accepted the Rusho letter should now inform its readers that it was also the victim of a hoax perpetrated by someone who clearly lied about being an open minded observer of this tragic conflict.
The Age of the Hoax extended this week even into the letters section of the Age Newspaper. On Thursday, it published this piece from a Raya Rusho of Greensborough, an outlying suburb of Melbourne:
WHEN LACK OF 'BIAS' IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE
I HAVE been trying to remain unbiased for many years concerning the continued violence between the Palestinians and Israel, especially as I believe it is imperative to maintain an open mind on such heated issues.
However, I can no longer justify staying unbiased when I read and hear about unjust, inhumane and extremely unreasonable acts of violence against innocent victims who have now clearly a justified moral stance against their Israeli attackers.
I can no longer say "perhaps we should try to consider both sides of the argument". I cannot but abhor the actions of the Israeli Government.
We all now know the Palestinian plight. I only hope we can all begin to take the side of the most oppressed in this situation.
Raya Rusho, Greensborough
Unfortunately for Ms. Rusho and the Age, Vex News smelled a rat and carried out some research on the author of the letter and discovered that she was lying when she claimed to have been "unbiased" and had an "open mind" about the conflict.
A very brief Google search uncovered the fact that she is an Arab who has previously lived in Libya and Syria, an atheist architecture student at Melbourne University and, most probably, an unrepentent anti-Semite. Here's what Raya Rusho wrote on the BBC website in 2001:
"The Israelis have gained enough power and money to prey on those weaker than them. It's only a matter of time before the Jews lose that power and money and they are left to fend for themselves. With this they'll have a taste of their own medicine … "
Judge for yourself whether, nine years later when she penned her letter to the Age, she had an open mind about the conflict.
For its part, the Age which accepted the Rusho letter should now inform its readers that it was also the victim of a hoax perpetrated by someone who clearly lied about being an open minded observer of this tragic conflict.
THE UN TRUCK SCAM EXPOSED
On Thursday the UN dramatically announced the cancellation of deliveries of humanitatian aid to Palestinians in Gaza because of the death of a Palestinian aid worker contracted to the UN and the wounding of two others after a UN truck was fired on near the Erez Crossing.
Ture to form, the UN accused the IDF of doing the firing (although there is a long history of Palestinian terrorists firing on this crossing) and these reports were widely disseminated in the global media.
A different story is now emerging - IDF: Army didn't fire on UN truck driver.
"On Friday, the Post reported that contrary to foreign press reports, it was not certain that an IDF tank shell hit the aid truck, and that in all probability, the aid workers were hit by Hamas gunfire. The foreign press reports were based on UN sources, who later admitted to the Post that they were not sure in which direction the truck was headed when it was hit, and could also not say with certainty that tank shells were responsible.
"Foreign press reports said the dead Palestinian and two others were hit by tank shells. An MDA medic at the scene told the Post that soldiers in the field had said Hamas snipers targeted the aid workers. A Post probe revealed that the two wounded Palestinians were being treated at Barzilai for gunshot wounds.
"Reacting to the IDF's assertion that it did not fire on the UN convoy last Thursday, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said the UN 'was careful to source its information from eyewitnesses on the ground.'"
Quite.
Mr. Gunness is always very carefult to quote from sources on the ground and damn whether they are credible or reliable or otherwise. A very definite pattern is emerging here and it's time an independent inquiry was carried out into the operations of UNWRA in the region.
Ture to form, the UN accused the IDF of doing the firing (although there is a long history of Palestinian terrorists firing on this crossing) and these reports were widely disseminated in the global media.
A different story is now emerging - IDF: Army didn't fire on UN truck driver.
"On Friday, the Post reported that contrary to foreign press reports, it was not certain that an IDF tank shell hit the aid truck, and that in all probability, the aid workers were hit by Hamas gunfire. The foreign press reports were based on UN sources, who later admitted to the Post that they were not sure in which direction the truck was headed when it was hit, and could also not say with certainty that tank shells were responsible.
"Foreign press reports said the dead Palestinian and two others were hit by tank shells. An MDA medic at the scene told the Post that soldiers in the field had said Hamas snipers targeted the aid workers. A Post probe revealed that the two wounded Palestinians were being treated at Barzilai for gunshot wounds.
"Reacting to the IDF's assertion that it did not fire on the UN convoy last Thursday, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said the UN 'was careful to source its information from eyewitnesses on the ground.'"
Quite.
Mr. Gunness is always very carefult to quote from sources on the ground and damn whether they are credible or reliable or otherwise. A very definite pattern is emerging here and it's time an independent inquiry was carried out into the operations of UNWRA in the region.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
DROP THE DEAD RABBIT
Thanks to the Jawa Report we can meet the new replacement at Hamas' Al Aksa TV, we can all meet the new replacement of the Juice eating Rabbit; "Muslima, the porn queen of Hamas." It's on LiveLeak. Log in carefully but do it very soon before the usual fatwas and death threats are made to the people running Live Leak.
For thos with poor memories, the bunny replaced the bee which replaced Farfour the Mouse. All died at the hands of those nasty zionists.
Muslima's in a different category. She and 71 others are awaiting the next Hamasnik to poke his head out of a foxhole.
For thos with poor memories, the bunny replaced the bee which replaced Farfour the Mouse. All died at the hands of those nasty zionists.
Muslima's in a different category. She and 71 others are awaiting the next Hamasnik to poke his head out of a foxhole.
MORE OF DOCTOR MADS
Norwegian doctors Eric Fosse, right and his colleague doctor Mads Gilbert ham it up in this Associated Press snapshot for an audience of reporters after arriving at the Egyptian border crossing terminal of Rafah from Gaza, where they had been working the media over there. Doctor Mads the Norwegian activist who also apparently is medically qualified is now on tour and has arrived at Rafah after mooching around Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital like a bad smell. Augean Stables does quite a Fisking of the good doctor's latest work in CNN Steps in the Pallywood Doodoo: Heartrending footage Staged by Norwegian Doctors.
Further news is emerging that implicates these actors in an elaborate hoax. The so-called "freelance photographer" who filmed that staged hospital scene, Ashraf Mashharawi, has direct links with Hamas and doctors around the world are lining up expressing the opinion that the video is staged and that the "CPR" shown is an obvious fraud, for many reasons.
Judging by the Keystone Cops manner of care being given to Doctor Mads' patient by that efficient looking assistant, we should be left in no doubt as to why he's losing patients at an alarming rate.
Call in the Red Cross for heaven's sake!
Further news is emerging that implicates these actors in an elaborate hoax. The so-called "freelance photographer" who filmed that staged hospital scene, Ashraf Mashharawi, has direct links with Hamas and doctors around the world are lining up expressing the opinion that the video is staged and that the "CPR" shown is an obvious fraud, for many reasons.
Judging by the Keystone Cops manner of care being given to Doctor Mads' patient by that efficient looking assistant, we should be left in no doubt as to why he's losing patients at an alarming rate.
Call in the Red Cross for heaven's sake!
Friday, January 09, 2009
JUST WONDERING
Israeli cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen tells it as it isThe United Nations Security Council today passed Resolution 1860 calling for an immediate cease-fire in Israel's offensive in Gaza - Haaretz.
Israel's Foreign Minister says Israel will "continue to act only in its interests and according to its own security needs" while Hamas says "the group is not interested in the resolutiom because it does not meet the demands of the movement."
Just wondering how the media will treat this. Will the headlines trumpet that Israel, and Israel alone, is not heeding the Resolution or will they be honest and emphasise Hamas' position that it's simply not interested?
I'm also looking forward to the day when the Age reveals to its readers the fact that Hamas is murdering suspected collaborators at an alarming rate without the benefit of a trial. Remember, this is the Age which wants people to think Hamas is a boy scout troup and a democratic beacon for the Palestinian people. The latest journalist to report on these summary executions is an unlikely character - far left wing Israeli Amira Hass in Hamas executes collaborators and restricts Fatah movement.
"Estimates of the number of suspects executed range from 40 to 80, but amid the prevailing conditions shelling, fear of walking the streets and media blackouts it is virtually impossible to verify the numbers or identities of the dead."
My bet is that along with the UN and the Red Cross, the usual suspects in the media will be true to form, look the other way and add 80 to the number of Palestinian civilian dead in this conflict and just blame Israel without checking any of the facts.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
INVESTIGATE UNWRA: 99.9% CERTAIN IT HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE
A debate took place on CNN last night between Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor and UNWRA's Christopher Gunness about the incident in which more than 40 Palestinians were killed following Hamas mortar fire and IDF return shelling in the area of an UNWRA school in which Palestinian civilians were taking refuge.
Palmor told CNN's Finnouala Sweeney that Israel "know(s) for a fact that a Hamas squad was firing mortar shells from the immediate vicinity of the school, from the school grounds."
At this point Gunness objected asking Palmor to clarify the point as to whether Hamas were "in an UNRWA compound or not?"
When Palmor clarified that "the immediate vicinity" meant "right next to the wall," a sneering Gunness appeared to be in raptures as if he had won some major point in a PR battle against the Israeli. Gunness said based on UNRWA's investigation, the agency is "99.9 percent certain" there were no Palestinian militants in or on the grounds of the school that was sheltering civilians when it was shelled by Israeli forces.
Of course, Gunness' was being far to cocky because it is also clear that the IDF did not fire shells into the school grounds and that Palmor's version that Israel was targetting terrorists by returning their fire and not the school is therefore correct. According to Jason Koutsoukis in the Melbourne Age, "three tanks shells exploded just outside the school grounds, causing pandemonium inside." The IDF has suggested that the "pandemonium" is the likely result of secondary explosions.
UNWRA says it wants a "full, transparent and independent inquiry" to determine exactly how this occurred and I agree. The inquiry should however, not be confined to this single incident but should also cover allegations made in the past that UNWRA employs Hamas operatives, that UNWRA facilities and schools are used as cover for terrorists and as places in which they store weapons.
Hopefully, such an enquiry will not take as long as the United Nations itself takes to conduct enquiries. Speaking on the same CNN programme, Palmor noted that a U.N. inquiry into a 2007 incident in which terrorists used a UN compound to fire on Israeli forces has still not been fully investigated.
"How can we be sure that a new investigation will be credibly held by the same people?" Palmor asked.
The same people can't hold any investigation.
I'm 99.9% certain they have something to hide.
Palmor told CNN's Finnouala Sweeney that Israel "know(s) for a fact that a Hamas squad was firing mortar shells from the immediate vicinity of the school, from the school grounds."
At this point Gunness objected asking Palmor to clarify the point as to whether Hamas were "in an UNRWA compound or not?"
When Palmor clarified that "the immediate vicinity" meant "right next to the wall," a sneering Gunness appeared to be in raptures as if he had won some major point in a PR battle against the Israeli. Gunness said based on UNRWA's investigation, the agency is "99.9 percent certain" there were no Palestinian militants in or on the grounds of the school that was sheltering civilians when it was shelled by Israeli forces.
Of course, Gunness' was being far to cocky because it is also clear that the IDF did not fire shells into the school grounds and that Palmor's version that Israel was targetting terrorists by returning their fire and not the school is therefore correct. According to Jason Koutsoukis in the Melbourne Age, "three tanks shells exploded just outside the school grounds, causing pandemonium inside." The IDF has suggested that the "pandemonium" is the likely result of secondary explosions.
UNWRA says it wants a "full, transparent and independent inquiry" to determine exactly how this occurred and I agree. The inquiry should however, not be confined to this single incident but should also cover allegations made in the past that UNWRA employs Hamas operatives, that UNWRA facilities and schools are used as cover for terrorists and as places in which they store weapons.
Hopefully, such an enquiry will not take as long as the United Nations itself takes to conduct enquiries. Speaking on the same CNN programme, Palmor noted that a U.N. inquiry into a 2007 incident in which terrorists used a UN compound to fire on Israeli forces has still not been fully investigated.
"How can we be sure that a new investigation will be credibly held by the same people?" Palmor asked.
The same people can't hold any investigation.
I'm 99.9% certain they have something to hide.
THE AGE OF PERFIDY
If the Melbourne Age were a responsible newspaper, then the head of whoever was responible for this latest outrage in its war on Israel would be rolling tomorrow:-
World
Israel shells Lebanon after rockets fall
That's right!
Terrorists in Lebanon fire rockets at Israeli civilain targets and the headline tells us that it's those nasy Israelis doing the shelling again. Firing back at the war criminals who initiated the incident.
Is it possible for people to get any sicker than this?
(Sorry, rhetorical question - the answer is probably, yes)
World
Israel shells Lebanon after rockets fall
That's right!
Terrorists in Lebanon fire rockets at Israeli civilain targets and the headline tells us that it's those nasy Israelis doing the shelling again. Firing back at the war criminals who initiated the incident.
Is it possible for people to get any sicker than this?
(Sorry, rhetorical question - the answer is probably, yes)
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
THE AUSTRALIAN HELPS FILL IN THE BLANKS
You wouldn't know about it if you read the Fairfax Press which now appears to be acting like a willing helper for the callous Hamas of using Palestinian civilians as pawns in their public relations warfare against Israel and the Jewish people, but thanks to the The Australian newspaper, readers are able to understand just the depths and the depravity of this terrorist organisation. John Lyons' bloodcurdling report [Hamas terror: every Jewish child now a target]should be compulsory reading for its cheerleaders over at Fairfax who continue to suppress any part of the role of Hamas in a litany of war crimes including its criminal use of Palestinian civilians inside Gaza's schools.
"Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar has warned that Jewish children are now legitimate targets, in a bloodcurdling precursor to tanks rolling into the Islamic militant stronghold of Khan Younis yesterday."
Just in case you didn't get it the first time, this beast is not talking about Israelis or Zionists. He's talking about Jews.
Jewish children anywhere.
The Australian also carries an Op Ed by New Republic editor Marty Peretz West must guarantee Gaza resolution in which he succinctly covers most of the major issues of this war in a nutshell including most of the salient issues that the Age refuses to cover when reporting on events from the region.
"Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar has warned that Jewish children are now legitimate targets, in a bloodcurdling precursor to tanks rolling into the Islamic militant stronghold of Khan Younis yesterday."
Just in case you didn't get it the first time, this beast is not talking about Israelis or Zionists. He's talking about Jews.
Jewish children anywhere.
The Australian also carries an Op Ed by New Republic editor Marty Peretz West must guarantee Gaza resolution in which he succinctly covers most of the major issues of this war in a nutshell including most of the salient issues that the Age refuses to cover when reporting on events from the region.
GAZA NEEDS TO BE FREED FROM TERRORIST CONTROL
Ambassador Reda Mansour - January 6, 2009
Some of the Arab and Muslim demonstrators who recently came to our offices were holding signs that said "Free Gaza." Many Israelis would raise that same sign, me included, but for different reasons.
People tend to forget that as of August 2005, Israel has not been in Gaza, and that the Gazans have been under Hamas control since June 2007. Indeed, Gaza needs to be freed from many different extremist forces.
Gaza should be freed from Hamas, a terrorist organization that seized the strip by force. Since the takeover, Hamas has run Gaza's economy into the ground and now nearly half of the work force is unemployed. Hamas has built a Taliban-style state in Gaza and introduced many of the Islamic Shari'a laws, institutionalizing the persecution of women and minorities.
Hamas has transformed Gaza from a free territory to a large bunker, a place where rockets are stored under families, schools and places of prayer.
Unfortunately, Gazans not only live among this militarization but are now a tool in Hamas' aggression. The terrorist organization has developed a strategy of using innocent civilians as human shields. When Israel warns that the houses of Hamas operatives and commanders will be targeted, the terrorists bring in innocent citizens, often by force, in an effort to increase the likelihood of civilian casualties. Hamas' leaders rely on the strict Israeli moral code, hoping to avoid being attacked or that a strike will allow them to score points in the media by sacrificing their own people, creating what looks like acts of Israeli military aggression.
Gaza should be freed from the intervention of Iran, a state that openly admits to financing Hamas. Iran is also helping Palestinian terror organizations with training, intelligence and equipment. Some of this "aid" is channeled through Hezbollah in Lebanon — yet another Iranian proxy organization. Hezbollah and Iran use the Gazans to maintain regional political relevance in their empty agenda against Israel.
Gaza should be freed from some of the Arab satellite channels like Al-Jazeera. These television stations engage in the direct incitement of the Arab and Muslim world. Everything is acceptable in their eyes to raise their ratings, including long shots of bodies and injuries. Some of these channels do not dismiss any editing trick and consider propaganda as a normal part of their news reporting.
As far as Israel is concerned, Gaza is free and it is the decision of its inhabitants as to what the area's destiny will be. They can continue to buy into the self-defeatingpromises of terrorist organizations and extremist ideologies.
Even worse, they can continue to let these organizations use them as human shields and demolish their hopes and futures.
Gazans can truly be free only by declaring Gaza a terror-free zone. The people of Gaza have many resources in their hands to achieve success. Gaza could use its beautiful Mediterranean coast to attract Israeli and Egyptian tourists.
It can renew the flower and fruit exports to Europe that Israel left behind. The airport that was built there can be reopened. The seaport that is planned and even the natural gas fields in its waters could be built.
The people of this region need to make the decision that Gaza will become a model of peace and stability and, hopefully, the beginning of the two-state solution: Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace.
Ambassador Reda Mansour is an Israeli Druze and the current consul general of Israel to the southeastern United States. Mansour is also an accomplished author, having published a number of award-winning poems and short stories. The ambassador is a longtime activist for dialogue between Israelis and Arabs.
This article appeared in The Tennesean on 6 January 2008 at http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090106/OPINION03/901060315/1008/OPINION01
Some of the Arab and Muslim demonstrators who recently came to our offices were holding signs that said "Free Gaza." Many Israelis would raise that same sign, me included, but for different reasons.
People tend to forget that as of August 2005, Israel has not been in Gaza, and that the Gazans have been under Hamas control since June 2007. Indeed, Gaza needs to be freed from many different extremist forces.
Gaza should be freed from Hamas, a terrorist organization that seized the strip by force. Since the takeover, Hamas has run Gaza's economy into the ground and now nearly half of the work force is unemployed. Hamas has built a Taliban-style state in Gaza and introduced many of the Islamic Shari'a laws, institutionalizing the persecution of women and minorities.
Hamas has transformed Gaza from a free territory to a large bunker, a place where rockets are stored under families, schools and places of prayer.
Unfortunately, Gazans not only live among this militarization but are now a tool in Hamas' aggression. The terrorist organization has developed a strategy of using innocent civilians as human shields. When Israel warns that the houses of Hamas operatives and commanders will be targeted, the terrorists bring in innocent citizens, often by force, in an effort to increase the likelihood of civilian casualties. Hamas' leaders rely on the strict Israeli moral code, hoping to avoid being attacked or that a strike will allow them to score points in the media by sacrificing their own people, creating what looks like acts of Israeli military aggression.
Gaza should be freed from the intervention of Iran, a state that openly admits to financing Hamas. Iran is also helping Palestinian terror organizations with training, intelligence and equipment. Some of this "aid" is channeled through Hezbollah in Lebanon — yet another Iranian proxy organization. Hezbollah and Iran use the Gazans to maintain regional political relevance in their empty agenda against Israel.
Gaza should be freed from some of the Arab satellite channels like Al-Jazeera. These television stations engage in the direct incitement of the Arab and Muslim world. Everything is acceptable in their eyes to raise their ratings, including long shots of bodies and injuries. Some of these channels do not dismiss any editing trick and consider propaganda as a normal part of their news reporting.
As far as Israel is concerned, Gaza is free and it is the decision of its inhabitants as to what the area's destiny will be. They can continue to buy into the self-defeatingpromises of terrorist organizations and extremist ideologies.
Even worse, they can continue to let these organizations use them as human shields and demolish their hopes and futures.
Gazans can truly be free only by declaring Gaza a terror-free zone. The people of Gaza have many resources in their hands to achieve success. Gaza could use its beautiful Mediterranean coast to attract Israeli and Egyptian tourists.
It can renew the flower and fruit exports to Europe that Israel left behind. The airport that was built there can be reopened. The seaport that is planned and even the natural gas fields in its waters could be built.
The people of this region need to make the decision that Gaza will become a model of peace and stability and, hopefully, the beginning of the two-state solution: Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace.
Ambassador Reda Mansour is an Israeli Druze and the current consul general of Israel to the southeastern United States. Mansour is also an accomplished author, having published a number of award-winning poems and short stories. The ambassador is a longtime activist for dialogue between Israelis and Arabs.
This article appeared in The Tennesean on 6 January 2008 at http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090106/OPINION03/901060315/1008/OPINION01
THE AGE SLAUGHTERS THE TRUTH
The Age on line edition is carrying this one-sided AFP report headlined on its home page as follows:-
Israeli school slaughter
6:04am Air strike kills 45 taking refuge inside Gaza Strip school flying UN flag, medics say.
The story carries a different headline - Israeli strike kills 40 in UN school. It tells about the deaths of up to "45 people seeking refuge in a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip" (i.e. the school was run by UNWRA - one of the largest employers of Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip) is a totally one-sided version of the incident suggesting this was a callous attack on innocents. This version is typical of AFP fairness and balance in that the 490 word article written by an unamed "journalist" ends with the following 22 words which is the only part of the story that deals with the Israeli side of the story:-
Israel said it would investigate the attacks on the schools. It accuses Hamas of using schools, mosques and residential areas for cover.
For some more balance, let's see what the Jerusalem Post report 30 reported killed in blast at UN school says:-
"At least 30 people were reportedly killed and 53 wounded in an explosion in a UN-run school in the town of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinians. The IDF issued a statement saying the school grounds were used by terrorists to fire mortar shells at the troops. According to the IDF, among the dead were members of a Hamas launching cell, including operatives Immad Abu Askar and Hassan Abu Askar."
And this:
"Defense officials told The Associated Press that booby-trapped bombs in the school triggered the secondary explosions which killed scores of Palestinians on the site."
The fact that Hamas uses schoolyards to fight its wars is nothing new and comes as no surprise. Nor is the fact that the Age has chosen to ignore many reports in the past of this phenomenon. - to its everlasting shame, they're all there in its blank pages. And to make matters worse, it opens its opinion pages to an arch terrorist who has genocidal intent towards the Jewish people - Gaza: the great divide - 1
And to understand the extent of the Age's bastardry in publishing lop sided report after lop sided report on what's happening in Gaza, Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic is a good read - The World's Pornographic Interest in Jewish Moral Failure. For good measure, he also discusses the pornography of Hamas and others using and recycling photographs of dead Palestinian children for propaganda - a practice that continues because so many in the media let them get away with it!
FOOTNOTE: The Australian Newspaper is not afraid to avail its readers of the truth about the Hamas leadership in hiding. Today's reporting on the situation in Gaza by the Oz is a case in point - more later.
Israeli school slaughter
6:04am Air strike kills 45 taking refuge inside Gaza Strip school flying UN flag, medics say.
The story carries a different headline - Israeli strike kills 40 in UN school. It tells about the deaths of up to "45 people seeking refuge in a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip" (i.e. the school was run by UNWRA - one of the largest employers of Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip) is a totally one-sided version of the incident suggesting this was a callous attack on innocents. This version is typical of AFP fairness and balance in that the 490 word article written by an unamed "journalist" ends with the following 22 words which is the only part of the story that deals with the Israeli side of the story:-
Israel said it would investigate the attacks on the schools. It accuses Hamas of using schools, mosques and residential areas for cover.
For some more balance, let's see what the Jerusalem Post report 30 reported killed in blast at UN school says:-
"At least 30 people were reportedly killed and 53 wounded in an explosion in a UN-run school in the town of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinians. The IDF issued a statement saying the school grounds were used by terrorists to fire mortar shells at the troops. According to the IDF, among the dead were members of a Hamas launching cell, including operatives Immad Abu Askar and Hassan Abu Askar."
And this:
"Defense officials told The Associated Press that booby-trapped bombs in the school triggered the secondary explosions which killed scores of Palestinians on the site."
The fact that Hamas uses schoolyards to fight its wars is nothing new and comes as no surprise. Nor is the fact that the Age has chosen to ignore many reports in the past of this phenomenon. - to its everlasting shame, they're all there in its blank pages. And to make matters worse, it opens its opinion pages to an arch terrorist who has genocidal intent towards the Jewish people - Gaza: the great divide - 1
And to understand the extent of the Age's bastardry in publishing lop sided report after lop sided report on what's happening in Gaza, Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic is a good read - The World's Pornographic Interest in Jewish Moral Failure. For good measure, he also discusses the pornography of Hamas and others using and recycling photographs of dead Palestinian children for propaganda - a practice that continues because so many in the media let them get away with it!
FOOTNOTE: The Australian Newspaper is not afraid to avail its readers of the truth about the Hamas leadership in hiding. Today's reporting on the situation in Gaza by the Oz is a case in point - more later.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
BAD MEDICINE
Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert (pictured above) recently arrived in Gaza ostensibly to support the humanitarian aid effort at Al Shifa Hospital. According to Wikipedia he is also "solidarity worker and politician" with "broad range international experiences, in particular from locations that merge medical and political issues."
If we cut the bullshit out of that description, we're left with the fact that he's out there to act as a propaganda mouth piece for the Hamas regime. Gilbert is not simply the medicine man who arrived out of the blue but a partisan observer who has long been active in pro Palestinian organizations in Norway, a member of a revolutionary socialist party and an apologist for the 9/11 mass murderers: -
"I am upset over the terrorist attack, but is equally upset over the suffering which the United States has created. It is in this context 5,000 dead people must be seen. If the U.S. government has a legitimate right to bomb and kill civilians in Iraq, they have also suppressed a moral right to attack the United States with the weapons they had to create. Dead civilians is the same whether they are Americans, Palestinians or Iraqis."
I highlighted the word "but" because apologists for war criminals almost always have a "but" with which to justify criminal acts. "Suicide bombings are terrible but the bombers are under occupation". Get the picture?
It's also ironic that the doctor also seems to promote the cycle of violence theory which can be used to justify any futher violence after the initial act. For some reason however, this doesn’t give Israel the right to defend its own citizens from Hamas rocket attacks.
These days, although Gilbert is supposed to be operating on patients at Al Shifa Hospital (where Hamas leaders have been in hiding disguised as doctors and nurses), the peripatetic Doctor Mads is becoming quite a media celebrity as the front man for the Hamas media road show. He is not only in contact with Norwegian media but is fast becoming a regular on CNN, BBC, ABC and Al Jazeera and is appearing daily accusing the Israel of murder and making a diverse range of other unsubstatiated and fanciful claims including that the Israeli’s are using "fuel air explosives and depleted uranium" in missions against Hamas - Attacks condemned as supplies dwindle and deaths rise.
Gilbert is playing games with his readers here because there is no evidence to support his statements. Nor is there any record of Israeli use of depleted uranium which is used only for anti-tank kinetic energy penetrators. Since Hamas does not have a single tank, the Israelis certainly have no use for depleted uranuim in Gaza.
Further, the claim that Israel has a depleted uranium tipped bomb is a fiction – no such weapon exists except in the fertile imaginations of pro-Hizbullah propagandists from back in the Second Lebanon War days. And now, it seems in the mind of Dr. Gilbert who made his mind up about these imaginary weapons within days of arriving in Gaza and without any apparent scientific analysis of anything to support his nonsensical conclusions.
I have no problem with Gilbert, the international humanitarian aid worker, but he is also a propagandist who has shown with his fantasising about depleted uranium and other wild accusations levelled at Israel that he can't be trusted. As such, should not be given the credibility associated with appearances on international news services.
If we cut the bullshit out of that description, we're left with the fact that he's out there to act as a propaganda mouth piece for the Hamas regime. Gilbert is not simply the medicine man who arrived out of the blue but a partisan observer who has long been active in pro Palestinian organizations in Norway, a member of a revolutionary socialist party and an apologist for the 9/11 mass murderers: -
"I am upset over the terrorist attack, but is equally upset over the suffering which the United States has created. It is in this context 5,000 dead people must be seen. If the U.S. government has a legitimate right to bomb and kill civilians in Iraq, they have also suppressed a moral right to attack the United States with the weapons they had to create. Dead civilians is the same whether they are Americans, Palestinians or Iraqis."
I highlighted the word "but" because apologists for war criminals almost always have a "but" with which to justify criminal acts. "Suicide bombings are terrible but the bombers are under occupation". Get the picture?
It's also ironic that the doctor also seems to promote the cycle of violence theory which can be used to justify any futher violence after the initial act. For some reason however, this doesn’t give Israel the right to defend its own citizens from Hamas rocket attacks.
These days, although Gilbert is supposed to be operating on patients at Al Shifa Hospital (where Hamas leaders have been in hiding disguised as doctors and nurses), the peripatetic Doctor Mads is becoming quite a media celebrity as the front man for the Hamas media road show. He is not only in contact with Norwegian media but is fast becoming a regular on CNN, BBC, ABC and Al Jazeera and is appearing daily accusing the Israel of murder and making a diverse range of other unsubstatiated and fanciful claims including that the Israeli’s are using "fuel air explosives and depleted uranium" in missions against Hamas - Attacks condemned as supplies dwindle and deaths rise.
Gilbert is playing games with his readers here because there is no evidence to support his statements. Nor is there any record of Israeli use of depleted uranium which is used only for anti-tank kinetic energy penetrators. Since Hamas does not have a single tank, the Israelis certainly have no use for depleted uranuim in Gaza.
Further, the claim that Israel has a depleted uranium tipped bomb is a fiction – no such weapon exists except in the fertile imaginations of pro-Hizbullah propagandists from back in the Second Lebanon War days. And now, it seems in the mind of Dr. Gilbert who made his mind up about these imaginary weapons within days of arriving in Gaza and without any apparent scientific analysis of anything to support his nonsensical conclusions.
I have no problem with Gilbert, the international humanitarian aid worker, but he is also a propagandist who has shown with his fantasising about depleted uranium and other wild accusations levelled at Israel that he can't be trusted. As such, should not be given the credibility associated with appearances on international news services.
While Gilbert is in the spotlight ranting about a shortage of medicine available to Gazans, perhaps the media might deign to investigate reports that Hamas has set up an independent hospital in the Gaza Strip to treat operatives wounded in fighting with the IDF. According to this report in the Jerusalem Post, Hamas "is pilfering a significant portion of the medicine allowed into the strip."
Sadly for the people of Gaza, I somehow doubt that the thought of Hamas stealing medicine from them is going to make this doctor mad at all.
Sadly for the people of Gaza, I somehow doubt that the thought of Hamas stealing medicine from them is going to make this doctor mad at all.
DATELINE: 1944
Meet The Old Dross - Same As The New Dross...
STOP THIS VICIOUS SLAUGHTER! ENGLAND MUST STOP WAGING WAR ON THE NAZIS! - so says Martin Lewis writing in the Huffinton Post
To be honest - if more English women and children were dying - we wouldn't feel quite so bad about the number of Germans dying. But it's just so UNFAIR that more Germans are dying...
Bottom lines:
"I will carry on the fight until the last traces of the Jewish-Communist European hegemony have been obliterated." Adolf Hitler - 28th November 1941 to Mohammad Amin al-Husayni (The Grand Mufti) - seen in the photo at the top of this page saluting his SS buddies in 1941. Oh the ties that bind...We will not rest until we destroy the Zionist entity" - Hamas leader Fathi Hammad in Gaza - January 2nd 2009
"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." - Article 7 of the Hamas Covenant
"F**k 'em" Martin Lewis - January 2009
H*A*M*A*S*H
A Jerusalem Post report quotes Israeli defence officials who said yesterday that "it was likely that a number of senior Hamas operatives and terror chiefs were hiding and conducting their operations from within Shifa Hospital in Gaza City" - IDF cuts Gaza Strip in two as it readies expanded ground operation.
Thanks to blogger Yid With Lid who provided the above identikit photo of a suspected Hamas leader in the organisation's new uniform.
YWL is quite right in also pointing out that it is "easy for these cowards to fan the flames of hate, and kill Jewish and Palestinian children, while they hide out."
Meanwhile, a little more than 100 "Jewish" opponents of Israel's strike into Gaza, led by athiest Aussie anti-Zionist pinhead Antony Loewenstein, made a statement in today's Melbourne Age which, to me, reads very much like a declaration of support for Hamas from the desperate and ever dwindling IAJV movement.
And given Hamas' genocidal intention towards Jews (even useful tools like these idiots), this is an even stranger phenomenon than the sight of the Hamas leadership nursing patients at Gaza's Al Shifa hospital (for more snapshots see Camera Snapshots).
Monday, January 05, 2009
THE TRUTH ABOUT GAZA
Two articles from The Jerusalem Post help give clarity to the events in Gaza. One is by veteran journalist Amotz Asa El entitled The Truth About Gaza:
"... no military surprise, commando infiltration, aerial bombardment, armored flanking or infantry outflanking will make Gaza fade or its wrath vanish. Only the constant sight of the Jews across the border building, planting, multiplying and fending off enemies will eventually make them realize that the civilization with which they have chosen to clash also knows a thing or two about stubbornness, and that the nation with whom they picked a fight is the one that God Himself called stiff-necked."
And veteran jurist Alan M Dershowitz in Israel's actions are lawful and commendable not only explains the legality of what Israel is doing in Gaza but exposes the double standards of many commentators who misuse terms such as "proportionality" in attacking the manner in which it is defending its citizens against a regime that is bent on genocide.
Another discernible double standard in the manner of reporting of the conflict is the use of Palestinian sources to establish the number of so-called "civilian" casualties in the conflict. A report filed late last night in one newspaper's on line edition claimed that 17 of the 21 Palestinian dead were civilians (according to Palestinian sources). The report has since been changed and rightly so in view of the fact that most media sources were aware that most of the casualties were indeed, aremd Hamas gunmen. In the fog of war, it's hard for the truth to get out.
"... no military surprise, commando infiltration, aerial bombardment, armored flanking or infantry outflanking will make Gaza fade or its wrath vanish. Only the constant sight of the Jews across the border building, planting, multiplying and fending off enemies will eventually make them realize that the civilization with which they have chosen to clash also knows a thing or two about stubbornness, and that the nation with whom they picked a fight is the one that God Himself called stiff-necked."
And veteran jurist Alan M Dershowitz in Israel's actions are lawful and commendable not only explains the legality of what Israel is doing in Gaza but exposes the double standards of many commentators who misuse terms such as "proportionality" in attacking the manner in which it is defending its citizens against a regime that is bent on genocide.
Another discernible double standard in the manner of reporting of the conflict is the use of Palestinian sources to establish the number of so-called "civilian" casualties in the conflict. A report filed late last night in one newspaper's on line edition claimed that 17 of the 21 Palestinian dead were civilians (according to Palestinian sources). The report has since been changed and rightly so in view of the fact that most media sources were aware that most of the casualties were indeed, aremd Hamas gunmen. In the fog of war, it's hard for the truth to get out.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
HAMAS GETS PROPORTIONAL
Khaled Abu Toameh reports in the Jerusalem Post that "sources close to Hamas revealed over the weekend that the movement had 'executed' more than 35 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel and were being held in various Hamas security installations" - Hamas moves on Fatah 'collaborators'.
"Fahmi Za'arir, a Fatah spokesman in the West Bank, accused Hamas of 'executing' a number of Fatah detainees. He said the Fatah leadership knew of at least two Fatah men who were shot dead by Hamas after being released from prison. He named them as Nasser Muhana and Saher al-Silawi.
"Za'arir said that several Fatah members who attended funerals of victims of the IAF strikes were severely beaten by Hamas militiamen who accused them of collaboration with Israel.
"It was 'shameful' that Hamas was directing its weapons and energies against its own people instead of fighting against Israel, the spokesman said."
Now, let me see.
This means the current death toll in the Hamas war on Palestinians is:
Hamas 0
Rest 35
I'll leave it to the mathematicians to work out the score in terms of proportionality as well as the odds that this massacre will make it into the mainstream media by tomorrow.
"Fahmi Za'arir, a Fatah spokesman in the West Bank, accused Hamas of 'executing' a number of Fatah detainees. He said the Fatah leadership knew of at least two Fatah men who were shot dead by Hamas after being released from prison. He named them as Nasser Muhana and Saher al-Silawi.
"Za'arir said that several Fatah members who attended funerals of victims of the IAF strikes were severely beaten by Hamas militiamen who accused them of collaboration with Israel.
"It was 'shameful' that Hamas was directing its weapons and energies against its own people instead of fighting against Israel, the spokesman said."
Now, let me see.
This means the current death toll in the Hamas war on Palestinians is:
Hamas 0
Rest 35
I'll leave it to the mathematicians to work out the score in terms of proportionality as well as the odds that this massacre will make it into the mainstream media by tomorrow.
WE NEED TO TALK MORE ABOUT HAMAS
As the Israeli ground offensive begins in Gaza, it is inevitable that the death toll on both sides will continue to grow and it’s worth reflecting on the reasons why Israel has had to enter territory, which it left more than three years ago in the hope that the Palestinians would grasp the opportunity to show the world and their neighbours that they could turn this no longer occupied territory into an example of a well-conducted peaceful society.
Surely, such a course would have convinced all and sundry that it was time for the Israelis to also leave the West Bank and, in this way an independent Palestinian state could be established alongside Israel bringing an end to "the cycle of violence", to the "occupation" and to Hanan Ashrawi's repeated ranting on the subject?
We’ll never know the answer to that because Hamas, Islamic Jihad and various others used the opportunity to fire rockets at Israel even as the last Jewish settlements in Gaza were being dismantled. Ultimately, Hamas took control of Gaza and turned it into a terrorist base. Recently, it imposed Sharia Law on its population.
In June 2008, Hamas agreed to an Egyptian brokered truce, which it never honoured from the very beginning. There was a lull in the number of missiles fired at Israeli populated centres but they never stopped and Hamas took no steps to prevent them from being fired. Contrary to the requirements of the truce, Hamas used the lull period to re-arm through tunnels from Egypt.
I’ve been alerted by ICJS research into an interesting article in the International Herald Tribune by Steven Erlanger In Egyptian border town, commerce via tunnel halts. The article is by no means sympathetic to Israel but it clearly demonstrates how the Israelis are focussed on attacking military targets i.e. the tunnels used for smuggling weaponry and not the commercial targets.
"Hamas, the residents said, controls other tunnels, conduits for guns, cement, explosives and fertilizers for explosives."
"Muhammad al-Zarb said that the Israelis somehow seemed to know which tunnels were commercial and which were run by Hamas, and that they seemed to be selective in their bombing. 'If someone has a tunnel for Chipsy, it seems O.K.,' he said. 'When a Hamas guy has a tunnel for weapons, they bomb it.'"
It’s clear that much of the sophisticated missiles used to attack Israeli civilian centres came into Gaza in this way and why the setting up of a legitimate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been complicated by Hamas duplicity and lies.
This duplicity also goes far beyond the thugs in Hamas and extends to some in the media. Fairfax correspondent Paul McGeough was shilling yesetrday for Hamas in an opinion piece Incursion in November was the last straw blaming Israel's November 2008 attack on terrorists for the collapse of the truce and sneeringly suggesting that the country's "global PR machine" (that's right - the international conspiracy again!) was behind its claim that "the objective was to destroy a tunnel which they feared Hamas might use to abduct an Israeli soldier - as they had done in the past."
This simplistic view defies logic when you consider that the tunnel really existed and it was being dug from Gaza into Israel and there was no other possible use for such tunnel apart from the entry into Israel for sinister, terrorist purposes. Certainly, neither McGeough nor any other military expert, commentator or journalist can come up with any other explanation. Further, in these circumstances, any sovereign state would be entitled to prevent that activity although there are some who would have you believe that "any sovereign state" does not include the Jewish State.
That's one of the many reasons why the current ground offensive, as undesirable as that might seem to many, has had to be undertaken. For the safety of Israel's citizens and ultimately, for the safety of the Palestinians and the rest of the world.
Finally, if you think McGeough is a nasty piece of work then, for its sheer bastardry, it's worth contemplating this fairy floss obituary of a would-be mass murderer from the Guardian.
Surely, such a course would have convinced all and sundry that it was time for the Israelis to also leave the West Bank and, in this way an independent Palestinian state could be established alongside Israel bringing an end to "the cycle of violence", to the "occupation" and to Hanan Ashrawi's repeated ranting on the subject?
We’ll never know the answer to that because Hamas, Islamic Jihad and various others used the opportunity to fire rockets at Israel even as the last Jewish settlements in Gaza were being dismantled. Ultimately, Hamas took control of Gaza and turned it into a terrorist base. Recently, it imposed Sharia Law on its population.
In June 2008, Hamas agreed to an Egyptian brokered truce, which it never honoured from the very beginning. There was a lull in the number of missiles fired at Israeli populated centres but they never stopped and Hamas took no steps to prevent them from being fired. Contrary to the requirements of the truce, Hamas used the lull period to re-arm through tunnels from Egypt.
I’ve been alerted by ICJS research into an interesting article in the International Herald Tribune by Steven Erlanger In Egyptian border town, commerce via tunnel halts. The article is by no means sympathetic to Israel but it clearly demonstrates how the Israelis are focussed on attacking military targets i.e. the tunnels used for smuggling weaponry and not the commercial targets.
"Hamas, the residents said, controls other tunnels, conduits for guns, cement, explosives and fertilizers for explosives."
"Muhammad al-Zarb said that the Israelis somehow seemed to know which tunnels were commercial and which were run by Hamas, and that they seemed to be selective in their bombing. 'If someone has a tunnel for Chipsy, it seems O.K.,' he said. 'When a Hamas guy has a tunnel for weapons, they bomb it.'"
It’s clear that much of the sophisticated missiles used to attack Israeli civilian centres came into Gaza in this way and why the setting up of a legitimate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been complicated by Hamas duplicity and lies.
This duplicity also goes far beyond the thugs in Hamas and extends to some in the media. Fairfax correspondent Paul McGeough was shilling yesetrday for Hamas in an opinion piece Incursion in November was the last straw blaming Israel's November 2008 attack on terrorists for the collapse of the truce and sneeringly suggesting that the country's "global PR machine" (that's right - the international conspiracy again!) was behind its claim that "the objective was to destroy a tunnel which they feared Hamas might use to abduct an Israeli soldier - as they had done in the past."
This simplistic view defies logic when you consider that the tunnel really existed and it was being dug from Gaza into Israel and there was no other possible use for such tunnel apart from the entry into Israel for sinister, terrorist purposes. Certainly, neither McGeough nor any other military expert, commentator or journalist can come up with any other explanation. Further, in these circumstances, any sovereign state would be entitled to prevent that activity although there are some who would have you believe that "any sovereign state" does not include the Jewish State.
That's one of the many reasons why the current ground offensive, as undesirable as that might seem to many, has had to be undertaken. For the safety of Israel's citizens and ultimately, for the safety of the Palestinians and the rest of the world.
Finally, if you think McGeough is a nasty piece of work then, for its sheer bastardry, it's worth contemplating this fairy floss obituary of a would-be mass murderer from the Guardian.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
THE TRUTH ABOUT GAZA
Marty Peretz in The New Republic writes about the lies being disseminated about Gaza. In the Arab world, the word "genocide" is used freely to describe what is happening in the Gaza Strip but, of course, there is no genocide in Sudan - The Truth About Gaza:
"This lying also extends to details that can be quickly checked by reporters who don't.
Would you not think that, with the hysteria about starvation, you'd see some bloated bellies on the TV? Instead, you see healthy children and strong young men in the rituals of resistance.
And sneakers. You have to look closely at the sneakers, seemingly new and, of course, costly.
In the midst of all this catastrophe propaganda there are some facts. These were provided to me by Jacob Dallal, an old and trusted friend who happens to work for the spokesman's unit of the I.D.F. He has been my informant in several comparable situations: he has never told me a lie or even a fib.
"This lying also extends to details that can be quickly checked by reporters who don't.
Would you not think that, with the hysteria about starvation, you'd see some bloated bellies on the TV? Instead, you see healthy children and strong young men in the rituals of resistance.
And sneakers. You have to look closely at the sneakers, seemingly new and, of course, costly.
In the midst of all this catastrophe propaganda there are some facts. These were provided to me by Jacob Dallal, an old and trusted friend who happens to work for the spokesman's unit of the I.D.F. He has been my informant in several comparable situations: he has never told me a lie or even a fib.
- Today (Wed.), 93 truckloads with 2,500 tons of food and medical supplies were transferred to Gaza.
- Since the beginning of the operation in Gaza Saturday, 6,500 tons of food and medicine were transferred to Gaza.
- The World Food Program has informed Israel that they will not be resuming shipment of food into Gaza because their warehouses are at full capacity, with enough supplies for at least 2 weeks.
- 12 Palestinians from Gaza entered Israel today (Wed.) for medical treatment."
So while UNWRA tells us there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza as a result of Israel's so-called "siege" of Gaza (which is in fact part of a much wider initiative against the thugs of Hamas) and parts of the media and handwringing letter writers drone on ad infinitim about "stavation" and even "genocide" and crazed cartoonists hateful and deceptive images about the Israelis who are the only people on earth willing to feed citizens of its enemies, the World Food Program (which should know better) has plenty of supplies of food and doesn't want more shipped in at this stage.
What more do you need to prove that UNWRA is a totally corrupt and shameful tool for the Hamas propaganda machine and that the deception being perpetrated by its lies and repeated endlessly in the media constitutes a danger to the Palestinian people.
Friday, January 02, 2009
THE CHAOS THEORY - A CIVILIAN IN GAZA DIES
Several months ago, a butterfly flapped its wings in the Amazon and overnight a civilian died in Gaza.
The above is a photograph of the late Sheikh Nizar Rayyan who passed on from this mortal coil yesterday after an Israeli air force attack on his home. Those friends of his in the casual snapshot are top blokes - typical of Gaza's civilian population. Several members of Rayyan's family were also killed. The dead included two of the Sheikh's four wives (presumably there's 18 times that much waiting for him where he's going) and several of his children. The IDF warned of the attack but the Sheik decided to stay along with his family of human shields. In other words, this animal forced his wives and kids to die with him - Palestinian Maan Newsagency.
Those in the mainstream media who are looking after the Hamas interests are falling over themselves to paint this nasty piece of work as a political leader of Hamas rather than a military leader.
BBC claims Hamas considered Rayyan "to be a political leader, but he often wore a military uniform and was close to the group's armed wing," and added that "until now, political leaders have not been killed." - Hamas leader killed in air strike
Reuters says the 49-year-old cleric was "regarded as one of Hamas's most hardline political leaders" in Sights and sounds of Israel's Gaza offensive. The Melbourne Age describes Rayyan as "a hardliner within the Islamist group".
Judge for yourself whether you think the Sheik, who advocated the reintroduction of suicide bombing, is a civilian or otherwise. If you believe he was a civilian who bore no responsibility for the deaths of his family, then you probably also believe that the assorted weaponry in the photo above is available from your local Toyworld store (hat tip: Israellycool)
The media campaign to disinfect and cleanse Hamas and to demonise Israel in the eyes of the world continues unabated notwithstanding the Islamic organisation's campaign of genocide against the Jewish State and notwithstanding its policy of indiscriminately attacking Israeli civilians. Thanks to the eagle eye of blogger Elder of Ziyon we know that Hamas tells a lot of fibs (no surprise there). The Elder has come upon a question and answer section on a Hamas message board site called http://www.almoltaqa.ps/ containing this interesting Q&A:
What is the justification behind the martyrdom operations against the " Israeli" civilians? There is no justification for targeting civilians. It is against Islam to deliberately kill unarmed civilians during jihad. In addition, our doctrine is to target the enemies army, security services, and support apparatus. But it is known that Zionist society is a militarized society. Service in the army is mandatory; and reserve duty continues past the age of 40. Our determined stance is that unarmed persons on both sides of the conflict should be left out of the fighting. However, we will not accept giving the enemy a free hand against our civilians.
Pigs can fly too!
There's no shortage of those in the media making excuses for Hamas and suggesting that Israel should talk to them despite their avowed intention to slit as many Jewish throats as they can find. The Age's David Bernstein got into the act today with this piece - Inadvertent martyrs to the cause of Hamas. Unfortunately, the writer is so mixed up and confused in his attempt to be even handed that he loses the plot half way through to the point where he's making as much sense as the newspaper's cartoonist Leunig whose work is highly regarded by the Iranian regime as the leading edge in anti Semitic daubing.
And while there is no shortage of Arabs who criticise Hamas for starting the fray, some of our nastiest letter writers froth at the mouth in disgusting displays of ignorance and racism. Frothing at the mouth, Elizabeth Attard of North Fitzroy wrote to the Herald Sun that "Israel is now the new Hitler" for acting in self defence against the Hamas fascistas. In the same newspaper a few days ago, the thankfully long forgotten former far left ALP person Joan Coxedge and a family member named Cedric also weighed in with similar attacks on the Jewish State. Does anyone know when she changed her political allegiances to where she now obviously stands well to the right of Atilla the Hun?
So what next?
Over at the Augean Stables they're predicting that a big Pallywood production is about to be unleashed by Hamas to rival Kafr Qana. It would not surprise if some of Gaza's remaining "journalists" are writing their first draft as we speak for publication in the usual places. Canada's National Post is right onto this with Why Israel can't afford to hold back.
"In other recent “massacres” — Jenin, Bethlehem and Qana, for instance — Palestinian and Hezbollah estimates of the number of dead turned out to be grossly exaggerated. Israel’s opponents have mastered such techniques as digging up graves and stealing bodies from morgues to inflate the carnage on the ground, and much of the Western media has reported casualty figures uncritically."
And in a late news flash we can reveal that the man with the green helmet is on his way to Gaza to add to the chaos.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
THE DARK SIDE OF THE AGE
Tragedy was averted when authorities closed this Beersheba school subsequently hit by an Iranian made Grad missile fired by Hamas. It appears in the Blank Pages of the Age but you won't find it in the newspaper. Why?The Melbourne Age continues to wage the battle for Hamas and against the Israeli and Palestinian people with its jaundiced coverage of the news from the embattled region.
The headline from today's story by Jason Koutsoukis is "Israeli PM rejects ceasefire proposal" as if the onus of stopping the shooting lies with Israel rather than Hamas which deliberately provoked the current conflagration when it declared the so-called June 2008 truce dead and buried on 19 December 2008 and then initiated a barrage of missile file at Israeli civilian areas. As usual the emphasis is solely on the hurt felt by the Gazans as a result of Israel's targeting of Hamas terrorist operations and the Israeli civilians under fire are completely ignored.
There's no mention of the fact that Israel's largest cities in the nearby Negev have been targeted by Hamas or that Hamas has increased the range of its weapons during the period of that so-called "truce". Unreported was the story of the Iranian built Grad missile which hit a school in Beersheba and the fact that disaster was averted by a decision to close the school that day.
The message of these attacks is an inconvenience for anyone who wants to portray the war as one of Israel as an oppressor breaching all norms of behaviour against the oppressed Gazans because it demonstrates clearly the murderous motives of a Hamas that never intended to honour the "truce", that deliberately provoked the Israelis into their action and that, in all likelihood, will not honour any similarly negotiated truce in the future.
Backing up the Age's slanted reporting is an Op Ed from the appalling Michael Shaik, a mouthpiece for Australians for Palestine, better known for embarrassing itself while hounding Jewish ALP candidates at the 2007 Federal election. The writer is on decidedly shaky ground factually in his piece- The deadly consequences of the games that Israel plays.
Shaik starts off well enough by quoting Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard's statement:
"Hamas has broken the ceasefire and engaged in an act of aggression against Israel. Israel has responded."— Julia Gillard
However, after that, he finds himself challenged by the truth. He claims the Gaza Strip is the most densely populated part of the world today which is rubbish. Tel Aviv is slightly more densely populated as are many other cities across the world. Hong Kong is 50% more densely populated than Gaza.
However, Shaik's big lie (if any one of them can be said to be bigger than any other in this encyclopaedia of drivel) is this one:-
"On November 4, the ceasefire was shattered by the Israeli Army when it crossed into Gaza to destroy a tunnel and kill six Palestinian militants ..."
Shaik's nose must have been growing longer by the second when he wrote that piece of nonsense but even there he was aided by the Age in his ability to try to pull off the deception.
Back on 1 November 2008, Jason Koutsoukis produced this puff piece on how the 800 tunnels between Gaza and Egypt were being used to smuggle vital supplies like food and petrol for the poor suffering Gazans - Blockade forces Gazans underground to survive. The tunnels might well serve this purpose but Koutsoukis was being hoodwinked by his subjects because, in fact, their primary use is for smuggling lethal rocketry into Gaza. These missiles are now being poured onto the heads of Israel's civilian populations and are indiscriminately killing Arab and Jew alike.
But what of the operation of 4 November? Koutsoukis described the operation in Ceasefire in danger of collapse (notice, it's the Israelis who he claims are endangering the ceasefire). The story is about the IDF uncovering the construction of a cross-border tunnel between Gaza and Israel and given that this happened only three days after his 1 November story about tunnels appared in the same newspaper, wasn't it just a little strange that no mention was made of the sinister nature of this particular tunnel?
This tunnel was heading into Israel, not Egypt. This tunnel could only have been used for the dangerous purposes which the IDF claimed it was being used for and accordingly, the IDF was acting quite properly in attacking the terrorists involved.
All this went completely over the heads of Koustouskis, the Age and naturally Mr. Shaik but the truth is that the very existence of this tunnel is proof of a breach from the Palestinian side of the "truce/ceasefire/lull/whatever" and the full story of the tunnels (including their use for arms smuggling) is proof that Hamas never intended to honour that "whatever". Further, it demonstrates how newspapers and journalists can be used by evil forces to further their nasty designs.
Apart from their dishonesty, Shaik and his AFP group are apologists for the fascistic policies of Hamas. Little wonder therefore that they don't see eye to eye with Julia Gillard and her government's principled stand on the subject.
An excellent aid to understanding how some within the media of the West are working to do further damage to the prospect of peace and the lives of Israelis and Palestinians, is Melanie Phillips' Groundhog day for the fifth column of malice. She explains how some in the media are playing a role in defending the terrorism of Hamas in Gaza and I agree fully with her conclusion in which she asks:-
"Isn’t there a case for legal action against these media outlets on account of their blood libels, for indirectly aiding the perpetrators of attempted genocide?"
The headline from today's story by Jason Koutsoukis is "Israeli PM rejects ceasefire proposal" as if the onus of stopping the shooting lies with Israel rather than Hamas which deliberately provoked the current conflagration when it declared the so-called June 2008 truce dead and buried on 19 December 2008 and then initiated a barrage of missile file at Israeli civilian areas. As usual the emphasis is solely on the hurt felt by the Gazans as a result of Israel's targeting of Hamas terrorist operations and the Israeli civilians under fire are completely ignored.
There's no mention of the fact that Israel's largest cities in the nearby Negev have been targeted by Hamas or that Hamas has increased the range of its weapons during the period of that so-called "truce". Unreported was the story of the Iranian built Grad missile which hit a school in Beersheba and the fact that disaster was averted by a decision to close the school that day.
The message of these attacks is an inconvenience for anyone who wants to portray the war as one of Israel as an oppressor breaching all norms of behaviour against the oppressed Gazans because it demonstrates clearly the murderous motives of a Hamas that never intended to honour the "truce", that deliberately provoked the Israelis into their action and that, in all likelihood, will not honour any similarly negotiated truce in the future.
Backing up the Age's slanted reporting is an Op Ed from the appalling Michael Shaik, a mouthpiece for Australians for Palestine, better known for embarrassing itself while hounding Jewish ALP candidates at the 2007 Federal election. The writer is on decidedly shaky ground factually in his piece- The deadly consequences of the games that Israel plays.
Shaik starts off well enough by quoting Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard's statement:
"Hamas has broken the ceasefire and engaged in an act of aggression against Israel. Israel has responded."— Julia Gillard
However, after that, he finds himself challenged by the truth. He claims the Gaza Strip is the most densely populated part of the world today which is rubbish. Tel Aviv is slightly more densely populated as are many other cities across the world. Hong Kong is 50% more densely populated than Gaza.
However, Shaik's big lie (if any one of them can be said to be bigger than any other in this encyclopaedia of drivel) is this one:-
"On November 4, the ceasefire was shattered by the Israeli Army when it crossed into Gaza to destroy a tunnel and kill six Palestinian militants ..."
Shaik's nose must have been growing longer by the second when he wrote that piece of nonsense but even there he was aided by the Age in his ability to try to pull off the deception.
Back on 1 November 2008, Jason Koutsoukis produced this puff piece on how the 800 tunnels between Gaza and Egypt were being used to smuggle vital supplies like food and petrol for the poor suffering Gazans - Blockade forces Gazans underground to survive. The tunnels might well serve this purpose but Koutsoukis was being hoodwinked by his subjects because, in fact, their primary use is for smuggling lethal rocketry into Gaza. These missiles are now being poured onto the heads of Israel's civilian populations and are indiscriminately killing Arab and Jew alike.
But what of the operation of 4 November? Koutsoukis described the operation in Ceasefire in danger of collapse (notice, it's the Israelis who he claims are endangering the ceasefire). The story is about the IDF uncovering the construction of a cross-border tunnel between Gaza and Israel and given that this happened only three days after his 1 November story about tunnels appared in the same newspaper, wasn't it just a little strange that no mention was made of the sinister nature of this particular tunnel?
This tunnel was heading into Israel, not Egypt. This tunnel could only have been used for the dangerous purposes which the IDF claimed it was being used for and accordingly, the IDF was acting quite properly in attacking the terrorists involved.
All this went completely over the heads of Koustouskis, the Age and naturally Mr. Shaik but the truth is that the very existence of this tunnel is proof of a breach from the Palestinian side of the "truce/ceasefire/lull/whatever" and the full story of the tunnels (including their use for arms smuggling) is proof that Hamas never intended to honour that "whatever". Further, it demonstrates how newspapers and journalists can be used by evil forces to further their nasty designs.
Apart from their dishonesty, Shaik and his AFP group are apologists for the fascistic policies of Hamas. Little wonder therefore that they don't see eye to eye with Julia Gillard and her government's principled stand on the subject.
An excellent aid to understanding how some within the media of the West are working to do further damage to the prospect of peace and the lives of Israelis and Palestinians, is Melanie Phillips' Groundhog day for the fifth column of malice. She explains how some in the media are playing a role in defending the terrorism of Hamas in Gaza and I agree fully with her conclusion in which she asks:-
"Isn’t there a case for legal action against these media outlets on account of their blood libels, for indirectly aiding the perpetrators of attempted genocide?"
Quisling writes for the Times
Writing in the Times, William Sieghart snuggles up close to Hamas - We must adjust our distorted image of Hamas.
Wonder if the boys at Hamas would be so accommodating to this buffoon if his name was "Cohen" and didn't sound so much like "Sieg Heil"?
Wonder if the boys at Hamas would be so accommodating to this buffoon if his name was "Cohen" and didn't sound so much like "Sieg Heil"?
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