A U.S. CNN news anchor recently tried to blast Ron Dermer, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, concerning the claim that the IDF had purposefully shot at a United Nations school causing huge civilian casualties. To the ambassador’s credit, the anchor had to back down. Criticism concerning the school attack ensued before any definitive investigation. Of course, it’s always “Blame Israel First!” Once the public hears the claim, public opinion gels against Israel. Is this an intentional strategy of news services to bias public opinion against Israelis and Jews, a strategy to foster anti-Semitism around the world? Why not just stick to reporting facts?
What is Israel up against? Is the IDF in Gaza to fight citizens of Gaza, families whose desire it is to simply live, work, and play? Do Gazans even have choices even when there is no conflict? No, they do not. The IDF is fighting hardened, we-don’t-care-who-dies, as long as we get our way, terrorists. Hamas and Fatah, the governing bodies of Gaza, have reduced the Palestinian population to living according to their brand of slavery. Hamas and Fatah are the enemies of free people, whether to Israelis or their own. They are deliberately placing women and children in harms way, even prohibiting them to leave areas where Israeli security forces warn them in advance to evacuate for their own safety.
Here’s how Hamas operates in Gaza. You cannot tell me that you think this is normal. Elite Israeli operatives behind enemy lines have detected and destroyed many bomb-laden and booby-trapped homes. These homes contain large quantities of weapons inside. Rocket launchers and weapons are also hidden in heavily populated areas, deep inside spaces where civilians try to go about their daily lives. Buildings and tunnels surround orchards. The homes of Hamas operatives, area commanders, and rocket cell members are divided: part for family living and part for a military command center. Tunnels also originate inside these homes. Booby traps can sometimes be seen from the outside of a home. In Gaza today, daily life and military infrastructure are totally interwoven. This is a complex and dangerous situation for Israel’s elite force and ground troops and for Gaza residents.
Since 2006, Hamas has turned “tunneling” into a national profession, said a senior member of an Israeli elite force. A network of sophisticated highly engineered tunnels begins a few kilometers away from the Israeli border. These tunnels pass under the frontier so that dozens of terrorists can infiltrate Israel in order to bomb and kidnap Israeli men, women and children.
But it’s worse than that! It is being reported that there were plans for a massive New Year’s attack! Thousands of terrorists were reportedly set to invade Israel via tunnels during upcoming Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year beginning September 24) so that they could kill and kidnap as many Israelis as possible. According to reports, Prime Minister Netanyahu informed his cabinet about this foiled plot during a recent cabinet meeting. He said that if this attack had not been discovered and stopped, Israeli fatalities could have exceeded the 2,200 killed during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. As further substantiation of the purpose for tunnels, an article by General James T. Conway, USMC (ret) posted in the Wall Street Journal July 24th is of interest. He said after examining one tunnel, “Unlike tunnels that I had seen during the Iraq war that were designed for smuggling, this Hamas tunnel was designed for launching murder and kidnapping raids. The 3-mile-long tunnel was reinforced with concrete, lined with telephone wires, and included cabins unnecessary for infiltration operations but useful for holding hostages.”
Thankfully, the IDF, in spite of being fired upon by terrorists, being booby trapped and suffering casualties, they have been successful so far and report that Hamas combat battalions appear to have become demoralized and less determined. Apparently Hamas operatives were less prepared for a ground offensive than for Israeli air power. They could deal with air power, because they had gone “underground.” A ground offensive was Israel’s primary option to counter tunnels, the hiding of military assets in homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals. That was the only way to protect as many civilian lives as possible. Yet, this choice undoubtedly exposed more Israeli soldiers to injury and death than air power would have.
If news is the goal of CNN or any other news provider, there are plenty of sources for truth in reporting concerning the Hamas/Israeli conflict. When you dig out truth, the good guys and the bad guys are obvious. Again I ask, is there a strategy to “Blame Israel First” so as to bias public opinion against Israel? Anti-Semitism is serious business with possible horrendous consequences. Truth is that the, “Israeli military prides itself on halting raids when women and children are found inside, holding fire and allowing the women and children to leave before continuing a raid is the rule, not the exception,” a senior source said. “That’s who we are and this is the source of our strength.”