What really happened?
Several incidents have occurred during the fighting in Gaza that have been labeled "war crimes" by UN agencies and that have been used to batter Israel in the media. If you read or watch some of the Western media you might think that one day the Israel Government woke up and decided to attack Gaza in order to kill as many civilians as possible. Of course, the fact that the blame actually lies with Hamas for initiating the war with rocket barrages and using civilians as human shields is almost completely ignored.
Some incidents that have happened have been obscured by the "fog of war" but nevertheless have been turned by clever pro-Palestinian PR, often by UN agencies, into anti-Israel propaganda. Consider one example, there was a story that ca. 120 civilians had been "rounded up" by the IDF and sent into a large building that they were told was "safe", that was shelled 24 hr later killing 30 (or 40) of them. What actually happened according to an investigative report in the Jerusalem Post (Jan 11) is that an IDF soldier knocked on the door of a Samouni family in Zeitoun and advised them to leave their house since it was not safe to remain there. They left and wandered for a while and then joined other members of the clan for a total of ca. 40 in a warehouse owned by one of the Samouni clan. The next morning several of the men of the clan opened the front gate of the warehouse to go and look for food. Apparently they were seen by IDF soldiers, who fired on them killing two and subsequently the building was hit by IDF ordnance. Of those in the building about 15 were killed and others were moved by the Red Cross to several hospitals. Noone really knows the actual numbers, but at no time did the IDF "round up" or tell civilians that a particular building was "safe" (the IDF denies ever doing this type of thing). This information was obtained by interviews of two members of the Samouni clan in hospitals in Gaza who were in the warehouse that was hit. It was the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) that was the source for the original story and accusations. They offered no actual evidence for their version. They also claim that the IDF deliberately prevented Red Cross workers from reaching the building after the incident, which the IDF denies.
Another example of media distortion is the killing of an UNRWA aid worker on a truck last Thursday, that caused the UN to halt all deliveries of food and medical supplies throughout Gaza. According to the UN account the IDF fired a shell into one of the trucks at the Erez crossing. However, two injured aid workers sitting near the dead man were shot with bullets and not injured by a shell. Further, the IDF found no evidence that any of its members fired on the convoy, which would be very unlikely anyway since the convoy was just leaving the Erez crossing with the cooperation of the IDF. At present noone knows for sure who fired at the convoy, but it was not the IDF and was probably Hamas. However, for this incident the UN agency stopped all convoys and all deliveries and of course accused Israel of the attack, which was widely reported. As of today after discussions with the IDF, the UN has decided to restart convoys of trucks to deliver supplies in Gaza.
Another incident is the shelling of a UN school where 30 (or 40) were killed, that the UNRWA denies was being used for firing at IDF troops, while the IDF maintains that a crew were firing mortars at them from the school yard. However, the video the IDF released was of a mortar being fired from a UN school yard in 2006. Although it is well known that Hamas and other terrorists have operated from UN schools in the past and have used them for weapons storage, in this case there is no definite evidence either way so far.
In another kind of media distortion, it has been reported by several reputable media organizations, including the Guardian newspaper, that Pres. Obama when in office will deal with Hamas by opening a dialog with them as the only means to come to terms with them. This has been officially denied by the chief Obama spokeswoman, Brooke Anderson, who pointed out that Pres.elect Obama has stated repeatedly that he will not deal with terrorist organizations like Hamas, and that the original story was "unsourced."
So beware, everything you read or see in the media is not necessarily what it appears to be ("it ain't necessarily so") and might be tainted by the prevalent anti-Israel bias.
Some incidents that have happened have been obscured by the "fog of war" but nevertheless have been turned by clever pro-Palestinian PR, often by UN agencies, into anti-Israel propaganda. Consider one example, there was a story that ca. 120 civilians had been "rounded up" by the IDF and sent into a large building that they were told was "safe", that was shelled 24 hr later killing 30 (or 40) of them. What actually happened according to an investigative report in the Jerusalem Post (Jan 11) is that an IDF soldier knocked on the door of a Samouni family in Zeitoun and advised them to leave their house since it was not safe to remain there. They left and wandered for a while and then joined other members of the clan for a total of ca. 40 in a warehouse owned by one of the Samouni clan. The next morning several of the men of the clan opened the front gate of the warehouse to go and look for food. Apparently they were seen by IDF soldiers, who fired on them killing two and subsequently the building was hit by IDF ordnance. Of those in the building about 15 were killed and others were moved by the Red Cross to several hospitals. Noone really knows the actual numbers, but at no time did the IDF "round up" or tell civilians that a particular building was "safe" (the IDF denies ever doing this type of thing). This information was obtained by interviews of two members of the Samouni clan in hospitals in Gaza who were in the warehouse that was hit. It was the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) that was the source for the original story and accusations. They offered no actual evidence for their version. They also claim that the IDF deliberately prevented Red Cross workers from reaching the building after the incident, which the IDF denies.
Another example of media distortion is the killing of an UNRWA aid worker on a truck last Thursday, that caused the UN to halt all deliveries of food and medical supplies throughout Gaza. According to the UN account the IDF fired a shell into one of the trucks at the Erez crossing. However, two injured aid workers sitting near the dead man were shot with bullets and not injured by a shell. Further, the IDF found no evidence that any of its members fired on the convoy, which would be very unlikely anyway since the convoy was just leaving the Erez crossing with the cooperation of the IDF. At present noone knows for sure who fired at the convoy, but it was not the IDF and was probably Hamas. However, for this incident the UN agency stopped all convoys and all deliveries and of course accused Israel of the attack, which was widely reported. As of today after discussions with the IDF, the UN has decided to restart convoys of trucks to deliver supplies in Gaza.
Another incident is the shelling of a UN school where 30 (or 40) were killed, that the UNRWA denies was being used for firing at IDF troops, while the IDF maintains that a crew were firing mortars at them from the school yard. However, the video the IDF released was of a mortar being fired from a UN school yard in 2006. Although it is well known that Hamas and other terrorists have operated from UN schools in the past and have used them for weapons storage, in this case there is no definite evidence either way so far.
In another kind of media distortion, it has been reported by several reputable media organizations, including the Guardian newspaper, that Pres. Obama when in office will deal with Hamas by opening a dialog with them as the only means to come to terms with them. This has been officially denied by the chief Obama spokeswoman, Brooke Anderson, who pointed out that Pres.elect Obama has stated repeatedly that he will not deal with terrorist organizations like Hamas, and that the original story was "unsourced."
So beware, everything you read or see in the media is not necessarily what it appears to be ("it ain't necessarily so") and might be tainted by the prevalent anti-Israel bias.
posted by Jack Cohen at 6:24 PM
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