Countering Palestinian and Media Misinformation on Gaza

It is always illuminating to follow the machinations of the media, as it stumbles through its coverage of the latest chapter of the Arab/Islamic war against Israel, raising one tired shibboleth after another.  Listening to some outlets, one would think that Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza were all perfect angels with no culpability at all for their current quandary, their intransigence and hatred of Jews, their insistence on lobbing missiles over its border, and now the incursion into Gaza by Israel, which has decided that daily rockets and mortar fire against civilian targets within its nation are no longer tolerable.

And so the same unquestioned banalities pour forth as if axiomatic, the same tallying up of relative casualties between the two sides as if that were an accurate measure of morality, the same stale accusations of "disproportionate" force by Israel (but terrorists do not wear uniforms and mingle with civilians), the same mindless calls for a "ceasefire” (as if they have led to lasting peace in the past), the same stock-in-trade commentary from Palestinian and other Arab leaders decrying the humanitarian crisis created by Israel's actions (but never the provocations of the Palestinians). 

We will even hear that timeless fixture of the region, the o-word for "occupation" being bandied about as if Israel hadn't withdrawn from the Gaza strip more than three years ago, a forced evacuation, mind you, of more than 8000 Israeli settlers, living and dead, achieving the Hitleresque vision of a Jew-free (“Judenrein”) Gaza.  

And then, in an ultimate Orwellian farce (and with obvious abhorrent irony), the democratic, freedom loving Israelis who have made numerous costly concessions in the pursuit of peace and who take great pains to minimize civilian casualties when forced to go to war, are accused of "Nazi" like tactics against Islamic fundamentalists who know nothing of democracy, human rights, or civil liberties and who deliberately target Israeli civilians while using their own innocents as human shields, each act a war crime.

Then, we will hear of the "blockade" of Gaza, the control by Israel of Gaza's borders, airspace, and coast, which, by Palestinian lights, justifies the missile attacks (that Israel exists justifies missile attacks).  That humanitarian aid passes through is not mentioned.  That the purpose of the blockade is to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons to be used against Israeli citizens is also ignored.

Also put forth is the ruse that since Israel continues to “occupy” the West Bank that armed resistance is still justified notwithstanding the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza three years ago.  Forgotten in this account is that Israel had already offered the Palestinians their own state (including the West Bank, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem), which they rejected, opting instead for war, the suicide bombing campaign that killed more than a thousand innocent Israelis; this, of course, prompted the building of the security barrier, the checkpoints, and the retaking of the West Bank.

In the end, it is recognized that there is no reasoning with Palestinian apologists.  They will concede nothing, give credit to no one, refuse to take advantage of opportunities freely given, never contemplate their own role in their suffering or consider other more gainful preoccupations than “martyrdom” and killing Jews.  No, they will have none of it for truly they seek only one thing, the destruction of the Jewish state.

And, so, it is a tiresome but necessary exercise to (repeatedly) point out the deficiencies in the media, as well as to counter the misinformation of Palestinian supporters who ignore the pathologic mindset of a community that is arguably the most radicalized in the world.

Indeed, if ever there were a people that deserved to be left to their own devices, to suffer the aftermath of their ill-advised actions, it is they, if for no other reason than to convince them to cease.

It is precisely that for whatever perverse reasons the Palestinians have become somehow the darlings of the world, their highly questionable "cause" so fashionable in left wing and media circles (while others, far more deserving, such as the Tibetans, Kurds, and Darfurians, receive no attention at all), that the suffering of many ordinary Palestinians is prolonged.  Their every misjudgment is excused, their involvement in terrorist activity is overlooked, their anti-Semitic calls for the killing of Jews are forgiven.  They are, after all, the poor, oppressed Palestinians suffering at the hands of the "evil" Israelis, and cannot be expected to acquit themselves properly.

Such is the perverse (and rather bigoted) worldview of the international community and liberal media, which has chosen to "understand" and even reward Palestinian malfeasance rather than challenge it, thereby enabling, endorsing, and encouraging it.  It is this as much as anything that perpetuates Palestinian fanaticism - and the Palestinians' ongoing suffering.  Never having to account for themselves, they never do - but they must then endure the consequences that inevitably follow.

The lessons of Gaza and the last sixty years of Arab/Islamic warfare against the Jewish state are simple.  Evil cannot be appeased.  Hamas must be defeated.  As must Hezbollah.  As must, ultimately, their sponsors in Iran.  Then, perhaps, a real “peace process” can begin.

 


   
 


 


 



        Moss-Palestinian Misinformation-3