Developments in the info-war:
- Palestinians claim that most Gaza casualties were civilians, more than 900 out of 1400, while the IDF puts the figure at about 300 out of 1200.
- Ha’aretz publishes a series of articles containing ‘testimonies’ of IDF soldiers about improper behavior in Gaza. In most cases the reports are hearsay, in some cases by soldiers who were not in Gaza; and the person collecting the stories is a reserve soldier who was punished for refusing to serve in the territories.
- The Guardian pushes a propaganda film about ‘war crimes’ disguised as reportage.
- And now the UN weighs in:
IDF soldiers used an 11-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield during the Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in Gaza, a group of UN human rights experts said Monday. The army ordered the boy to walk in front of soldiers being fired on in the Gaza neighborhood of Tel al-Hawa and enter buildings before them, said the UN secretary-general’s envoy for protecting children in armed conflict.
Radhika Coomaraswamy said the incident on Jan. 15, after IDF tanks had rolled into the neighborhood, was a violation of Israeli and international law. It was included in a 43-page report published Monday, and was just one of many verified human rights atrocities during the three-week war between Israel and Hamas that ended Jan. 18, she said. Coomaraswamy accused IDF soldiers of shooting Palestinian children, bulldozing a home with a woman and child still inside, and shelling a building they had ordered civilians into a day earlier. — Jerusalem Post
Although I have so far been unable to find the actual report, one wonders exactly how the UN ‘verified’ the above stories. Did they just take Hamas’ word for it?
The war-crimes frenzy is even worse than I had imagined it could get, with every accusation — no matter how absurd — getting headlines in a gleeful anti-Israel press.
Meanwhile, at least 45 Qassam or Grad rockets have hit Israel so far this month, in a real, verifiable, honest-to-goodness war crime — one which seems to have gone completely unreported in the press.
You are good at reporting.
Even the impetus to investigate Israel for international war crimes is more of an injustice than your upbeat tone belies, however, a positive spin is always super.
Yah, really! Are they just taking the Palestinian’s words for it or what?
This is all part of the nefarious ongoing increasingly widespread campaign to delegitimize Israel and destroy it.
To my mind one of the most disturbing and important elements in this campaign is the work done by staff- members of the Israeli newspaper ‘Haaretz’. Gideon Levy is a vicious detractor of Israel who will always give total credibility to any anti-Israel claim. The same might be said of Amira Hass. Behind them is the long- time publisher of ‘Haaretz’ Amos Schocken whose support of extreme anti- Israel journalists has brought untold damage to Israel. The ‘Haaretz’ sources feed the mainstream media with an unending stream of accusations against Israel.
I do not believe there is any other country in the world in which this kind of hate- filled journalism against the country itself has such prominent place.
This is not simply a media curiosity but a real danger to the society.
Any billionaire who has real concern for Israel should buy out Schocken and his partner, and make the newspaper into a reasonable , balanced one which concern for the well- being of the country it is part of.
The posted blog is a de-briefing without substantiation. It is fluffy and summarizes Caroline Glick’s article,, “Our World: Israel media star chambers,” except that Caroline cited sources.
“PALESTINIAN” “INDUSTRY”
= DECEPTION, DESTRUCTION, DEATH
The lying has been exposed in many places, this being one of the best…
http://www.seconddraft.org/movies.php
The truth is so available on the net, that if anyone can’t find it, he’s not looking, and if he can’t evaluate it, he’s willfully blind.
Also see…
http://www.israel-wat.com/pics1_eng.htm
http://markhumphrys.com/israel.html
http://www.geocities.com/palestiniansarelies/
(that last is very thorough)
How they are aided and abetted by the MSM…
http://tampabayprimer.org/index.cfm?action=leftNav&drill=antiIsrael
http://www.zombietime.com/reuters_photo_fraud/
…THERE IS SO MUCH INFORMATION THAT THERE IS NO EXCUSE TO NOT KNOW THE TRUTH.
WHY “PALOSTINIAN” CIVILIANS GET KILLED
…That, and a LOT of terrorists ARE civilians.
They commit the war crime of perfidy, and yet Israel is vilified for defending herself, which, even under these circumstances, is not forbidden.
http://www.freeman.org/m_online/sep03/beres1.htm
This link deals specifically with Cast Lead “war crimes”
http://www.geocities.com/palestiniansarelies/CastLead.html
…ain’t nuthin “fluffy” ’bout it!
On how to lose interested blog readers . . . .
I was actually commenting in response to Shalom’s extensive comment about Haaretz. In order to highlight the inapplicable juxtaposition of the comment in light of the titled blog, I purposely described the blog in a diminished fashion.
Comments that have nothing to do with a blog that is really just serving as a brief of larger principles and articles . . . should accompany some disclaimer.
So, my statement was an explanation.
Thanks for the reference, although it does not really substantiate the blog. The blog is still just a synopsis and summary.
If it was meant to be referenced, or if you are the author, you should highlight as such and reference in the material if you want to support or dispute comments on it at a later point.
Otherwise, thanks for providing an unsubstantiated link about something that had no documented reference to the blog.
What is going on with the blog? It used to be good, with articles by Barry Rubin and other scholars, now it seems like it has been ramroded by private sector interests and totally dismisses the significance of the subject matter to which it relates, which by the way is strictly ISRAELI ZIONISM from Central CA perspective with contributing authors on the subject.
To ME:
1) The UN report mentioned was not linked because it wasn’t available. I’ll update the post with a link to it — and undoubtedly it will show that the UN based its comments on Palestinian sources alone — as soon as I can find the text of this report.
2) The link in the comment above yours was provided by a commenter, ‘yonason’, not me.
3) Any blog posts that do not have a byline are written by Vic Rosenthal.
On keeping readers captivated and engaged . . . while saving the day, Ladies and Gentlemen . . . Vic Rosennnnnnthallllll!
Alright. Thanks. Good to know. I know it is usually you if no byline is present.
Whew . . . change is good but the integrity of this blog is significant.
And, I know this blog does a great job of incorporating broad interests and opinions, in general, and so I did not really mean the absolutist “strictness” remark or try to characterize someone elses’ blog.