As Long as Israeli Children have “Rocket Days” - by Shoshana Bryen

As long as Israeli children are forced to take “rocket days,” Israel, not PIJ should be making the rules.

Shoshana Bryen..
Jewish Policy Center..
26 February '20..
Link: https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2020/02/26/rocket-days-in-israel/

Some of us have snow days; Israeli children have “rocket days” – if you need an explanation, you haven’t been paying attention. Children in southern Israel had a rocket day Monday, which was fortuitous because a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) rocket slammed into a kindergarten playground. It was only one of dozens launched from Gaza this week.

The fact that the rockets are PIJ, not Hamas, is, in fact, an important point.

While Hamas’s main enemy is the Palestinian Authority (PA), with which it fought a bloody and brutal war, the State of Israel provides a physical barrier between the two. But PIJ is in Gaza and it has become increasingly unhappy with what it perceives to be Hamas’s “softness.” In December, the Israeli Security Cabinet was considering a long-term truce with Hamas. Israel-Hamas Truce talks, brokered by Egypt, have been a staple rumor for years, but this one gained traction in 2020 after PIJ commander Baha Abu al-Ata was assassinated.

Israel holds Hamas responsible for whatever happens in Gaza – which is appropriate – but it is also true that Hamas has never actually governed Gaza; it doesn’t know how and doesn’t want to. The goal for Hamas was to build an asymmetric force to challenge Israel. It tried tunneling under the border fence, rioting at the fence, shooting hundreds of rockets over the fence at Israel. With kites – and an “incendiary falcon” – in 2018, Hamas burned over 7,400 acres of land, an area equal to half of Manhattan. Tire burning produced an ecological catastrophe because tires have carcinogens that are released when they burn. (It isn’t clear whether Hamas considered the health effects on the Palestinian civilians who breathe the same air as Israeli civilians.) The kite fires burned cultivated fields and nature preserves and killed thousands of animals.

It was never going to destroy the State of Israel and it wasn’t designed to. For Hamas, the trick has been to use enough violence to get the world’s attention and to create an Israeli response – preferably one that results in a fair number of civilian casualties, which will bring the UN, the EU, Human Rights Watch, etc. down on Israel – but not enough violence that Israel really punishes It.

For Israel, the goal was to use enough retaliatory force to restore status quo ante, but not enough to cause Hamas to collapse. If Hamas collapses, Israel will have to step in and consider reoccupying Gaza – its worst nightmare.

There was a sort of equilibrium; a sort of slow-motion train wreck – especially for the civilians on both sides.

The intention of PIJ is to upset the equilibrium. Israel expects Hamas to control PIJ but thus far, it doesn’t seem able.

Where is a war crime not a war crime? In NY Times coverage of Hamas - by Gilead Ini

The paper makes a point of enlightening readers on international law — at least when it comes to Israeli actions

Gilead Ini..
CAMERA..
21 June '19..

A story in today’s New York Times refers to Hamas rocket fire into Israel and its imprisonment of two Israelis. But David Halbfinger, the newspaper’s Jerusalem bureau chief and author of today’s article, avoids telling readers that these are both violations of international law.

Writing about a press conference held by the head of Hamas yesterday, Halbfinger notes that the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, “ignored questions about whether Hamas, in launching rockets at Israel, fires them indiscriminately or intentionally at civilians, and whether it endangers its own civilian population by firing rockets from residential neighborhoods.”

Later, Halbfinger references “Israelis being held by Hamas in hopes of a prisoner swap — two soldiers believed to be dead and two civilians thought to be alive,” and explains that Haniyeh during the press conference “refused to say definitively whether the four are alive, a matter of intense interest in Israel.”

It is disingenuous for the New York Times to treat the question of Hamas’s targeting as if it were unanswered. And it is hypocritical for them to avoid explaining the international law implications of those rocket attacks. Haniyeh is free to “ignored questions” about who is being targeted with his rockets. But Halbfinger is certainly aware that those rockets are both indiscriminate and fired toward civilian centers — and that such rocket fire is a war crime.

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What Would It Really Take to Solve the Gaza Problem - by Victor Rosenthal

It’s doubtful that there would be many votes for this idea in the UN, if it were put to a vote. But there are probably two groups of people that would love it: Israelis, especially those that live in the southern part of the country – and Gazans.

Victor Rosenthal..
Abu Yehuda..
13 June '19..
Link: http://abuyehuda.com/2019/06/what-it-would-take-to-really-solve-the-gaza-problem/

A Hamas-related “military unit” called “Sons of al-Zawari” has been responsible for launching countless incendiary and explosive kites and balloons across the border into Israel for more than a year. Recently they even threatened to fill the condoms they use for balloons (apparently they are made of strong latex, so they are less likely to break prematurely) with a payload of some kind of poisonous or carcinogenic material.

Mohammed al-Zawari, in case you are interested, was a Tunisian engineer who developed drones for Hamas; he was assassinated in 2016, probably by the Mossad.

Although it is not so newsworthy outside of Israel, Arabs from Gaza continue to start fires and try to kill people in southern Israel with these devices. Israel responds in various ways, like reducing the size of the area in the Mediterranean in which Gazans are allowed to fish (really). They have also “attacked” the groups launching the devices with drones – but news reports never say that any of their members are killed, so I presume they fire low-yield weapons near, but not directly at, the terrorists.

The “disturbances” at the border fence wax and wane, but they never stop. Every once in a while someone is shot trying to harm Israeli soldiers on the other side, or planting explosives to create a breach in the fence that would allow a large number of terrorists to cross over and attack local civilians. Israel is building a massive barrier, both above and below the ground, to protect local communities against attacks via tunnels dug under the fence, and from shooting – in a recent case, a man was killed when his car was hit by an anti-tank rocket fired from Gaza. This barrier will cost billions, but will not stop the balloons or kites, nor will it prevent rocket attacks as we experienced this May. Recently, Israeli officials said that Hamas has already replenished its stock of rockets after the recent violence.

In a sense, Hamas is already engaged in chemical and biological warfare against Israel. The border demonstrations often involve burning tires, with the smoke darkening the skies over Israeli communities, some of which are only a few hundred meters from the fence. Even more seriously, for years, raw sewage from Gaza has been dumped in the sea and into streams that flow in southern Israel. Garbage is dumped and burned near the border. The Hamas government has received much assistance from international donors to solve its pollution problems, including the World Bank financing a large treatment plant in northern Gaza, which, due to a lack of electricity and other problems, never became operational.

Of course the population of Gaza suffers far more than that of Israel from the air and water pollution. But Hamas has always allocated available resources primarily to its war effort, following the First Principle of Palestinism,™ which is that it’s always preferable to hurt Jews than to help Arabs (although, to be fair, they have built luxurious residences for their leaders).

Clarity: Hamas and Islamic Jihad are Terrorist Organizations and Should be Treated as Such - by Guy Millière

"Firing 600 rockets at civilian targets in a neighboring country is an act of war... and as such it grants the nation-state [Israel] the authority under the international law of armed conflict not just to disable the specific military assets used to carry it out but to destroy those who carried it out... It's time for the world community to stop imposing these double standards on Israel, and start doing what international law requires: holding Hamas responsible for the devastation that results from Israel's legal, necessary, and proper responses to its provocations. Only then will Hamas know that if it sows the wind, it could truly reap the whirlwind..." — David French, National Review, May 6, 2019.

Guy Millière..
Gatestone Institute..
21 May '19..

On May 5 and 6, 700 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israeli territory in less than 48 hours. It was the most intensive rocket offensive on Israel to date. Four people were killed: three Israelis and one Palestinian Arab worker. One of the Israelis was hit in his car by an anti-tank missile. The Israeli military retaliated and resumed targeted killings. One was to a Hamas member, Hamed al-Khoudary, considered responsible for the transfer of Iranian funds to the armed factions in Gaza. On May 6, a spokesman from Islamic Jihad and Hamas announced a ceasefire and said they had got "what they wanted".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a short statement: "We struck a powerful blow against Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The campaign is not finished, and it will require patience and careful judgment. We're prepared for its continuation".

Various Israeli politicians, including members of the parties negotiating to be in the new governing coalition Netanyahu is building, said that the reprisals had been insufficient.

"The ceasefire, in the circumstances it was reached under, has no gains for Israel", noted Likud MK Gideon Saar. "The time between each round of violent attacks against Israel and its citizens is shrinking, and terror organizations in Gaza are strengthening. The fighting hasn't been ended, just pushed off."

Television interviews broadcast by the Israeli news channels show that the population of the south of the country is upset and would apparently like more drastic action.

The Israeli left accused Netanyahu of sparing Hamas in order to keep Palestinians divided, weaken the Palestinian Authority (PA) and prevent the resumption of talks that could lead to the creation of a "Palestinian state". Yoram Yuval, a professor at the University of Haifa, wrote in the daily Yedioth Aharonoth that Netanyahu was keen to continue, "claiming that there is no one on the Palestinian side to talk to, thereby avoiding any peace arrangement that would require the return of territories and the evacuation of settlements".

These accusations are without merit.

(Continue to Full Article)

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The First Lesson to Learn From the 700 Rockets Fired at Israel - by Moshe Phillips

The UN and the rest of these critics of Israel owe the Jewish state an apology. We shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for that, though. Instead, we must remember an important lesson of the Gaza offensives and the 700 rockets: the blockade works, and must remain in place, no matter what.

Moshe Phillips..
Algemeiner.com..
09 May '19..

Terrorists from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired approximately 700 rockets at Israel in a coordinated May offensive. Tragically, four Israelis were killed. But how is that possible? One would think that 700 terrorist rockets would have caused much heavier Israeli losses.

When Israel fires missiles at enemy targets, they strike with deadly, pinpoint accuracy. For example, they have been known to hit a single terrorist in a vehicle, or one apartment in the middle of a dense neighborhood. Yet when Hamas and Islamic Jihad fire rockets into Israel, the vast majority of them land in empty fields, parking lots, or other uninhabited sites.

The difference is not that Israeli soldiers have better aim. The difference is that the Israeli army has the latest equipment and the most sophisticated computer systems necessary to ensure that their missiles hit the desired targets. Meanwhile, the Palestinians are actually trying to cause as much damage and death as possible — but their rockets still don’t make accurate landings. Why? Because the Palestinians don’t have that technology. And the reason they don’t is partly because of the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

And yet, the United Nations has been leading the charge against the blockade for years.

(Continue to Full Column)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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One Could Think There’s Nothing Progressive About Terrorists Targeting Civilians—Except When Israelis Are the Victims - by Aaron Kliegman

...In a great irony, however, these progressive voices are not only anti-Israel, but also anti-Palestinian. After all, Hamas is the same group that, in March, brutally suppressed Palestinian protesters who were demonstrating against Hamas's tyrannical rule, which has left Gaza in an almost apocalyptic state. Unemployment is astonishingly high, there are frequent blackouts, the sewage system is terrible—indeed, Palestinians in Gaza have no hope, and that is because of Hamas. More generally, progressives like Omar, Tlaib, and Sarsour never say a word about Palestinian suffering in Syria, Lebanon, and elsewhere; they only seem to care when Israel is involved. Is it possible that they care more about hurting Israel than helping the Palestinians?

Aaron Kliegman..
Washington Free Beacon..
06 May '19..

On Friday afternoon, a Palestinian sniper injured two Israeli soldiers stationed at the border with Gaza. It appears the sniper's main target was a senior Israeli military officer, who was unhurt. Israel responded by bombing a compound belonging to Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization in control of Gaza, killing two militants. The next day, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or PIJ, another terrorist group operating in Gaza, began barraging Israel with rockets, targeting civilians indiscriminately. Acting in self-defense, Israel launched retaliatory strikes, hitting attack tunnels, military compounds, weapons storage sites, and rocket launching and production facilities.

By the time both sides reached a ceasefire on Monday morning local time, Hamas and PIJ had fired nearly 700 rockets at Israel, killing at least four Israelis and injuring more than 200 others. Israel, meanwhile, launched hundreds of strikes in Gaza, where at least 25 people were killed, including several terrorists. Also among the dead were, most tragically, a pregnant woman and a baby. Anti-Israel forces of course rushed to blame the Jewish state for the deaths, portraying Israelis as bloodthirsty savages. As usual, they were either lying or ignorant. It turns out that Hamas killed the pregnant Palestinian and her infant niece. Indeed, 90 rockets launched by Hamas and PIJ failed to reach Israel and landed inside Gaza, according to reports. It is unclear how many of the Palestinians' deaths were caused by Palestinian rockets, but Hamas and PIJ's violent obsession with destroying the Jewish state only hurts the people for whom they claim to fight.

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Surprise? Dishonest Headlines Parrot Hamas Claim - by Emanuel Miller

As HonestReporting tweeted on Sunday, journalists are responsible for telling the whole story, not just the parts that fit in with their worldview. Anything less is a professional failure.

Emanuel Miller..
Honest Reporting..
05 May '19..

Any journalist worth their salt knows that their work requires describing what has happened, and reporting the whole story. When reporters are unable to determine exactly what happened, standard procedure is to report what the various parties claim, and let the readers make their own judgments.

Those simple standards, however, were repeatedly not met by numerous reporters covering the latest flare-up of violence between Israel and terror organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.

More than 600 rockets have been fired at Israel since Saturday morning, and Israel is responding by targeting terrorists, as well as Islamic Jihad and Hamas’s facilities. Amid the ongoing exchange of fire, a pregnant woman and her 14-month old daughter were killed in unclear circumstances. Despite the IDF refusing to accept responsibility for the deaths, Palestinian sources were predictably swift to blame Israel, and the British media quickly picked up on the story.

The IDF later put out a statement on Twitter, reading: “Today we can say with certainty, after looking into the event, that they were killed as a result of an explosion of combustible materials during the activation of a Hamas explosive device.” A later tweet went further, accusing journalists of complicity, saying they had “amplified the lie.”

Headline Fails

More than any other part of an article, headlines matter the most. The vast majority of people don’t read any given article, only skimming through newspapers and social media feeds. As such, headlines frame the way people read and remember stories.

Despite the paucity of evidence to back up the claim that the IDF was responsible for the deaths, numerous media services parroted the claims put out by the Hamas-run Gazan Ministry of Health – frequently in the most prominent place – the headline.

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A 10th escalation is too much - Gadi Yarkoni

A 10th escalation is too much. It is time for the prime minister to live up to his obligation to the residents of Gaza border communities and the citizens of Israel as a whole.

Gadi Yarkoni..
Israel Hayom..
05 May '19..
Link: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/things-have-to-change/

The citizens of Israel are paying a bitter price for the last 18 years of an absence of a policy on the Gaza Strip and the “containment” approach to the events of the past year.

As deterrence erodes in the face of rocket fire, arson balloons, and terrorism along the border fence, Hamas is raising its head. It is expanding its rocket fire to communities far from the border and lobbing insane barrages at the Israel-Gaza frontier. All this is taking place at a sensitive time for Israel, when the country wants quiet more than anything: Remembrance Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism, Independence Day, and the Eurovision song competition. Hamas knows it.

If the decision-makers had meted out an unequivocal response a year ago, or a year and a half ago, when the border incidents began, this wouldn’t be our reality now. For a year, we near the border issued repeated warnings: “Today, it’s us – tomorrow, it will be you.” And “you” doesn’t just refer to residents of Ashdod and Kiryat Gat, but to all the citizens who are now getting excited for the Eurovision.

Terrorist attacks against residents of the Gaza border communities began more than a year ago. Since then, an entire region of the country has become the victim of a terrorist organization that is extorting our entire nation. This equation has to change.

(update) Once again, world media assumes baby probably killed by Hamas rocket was killed by Israel - by Elder of Ziyon

Mistake #1: Assuming that all Gaza casualties are the result of Israeli airstrikes. Traditionally, the number of Gaza rockets that fall short and never reach Israel, or that explode as they are fired, is over 35% -and sometimes as high as 80%!. Between June 12-25 (2014), terrorists fired 41 rockets at Israel, of which 24 exploded in Gaza, killing one child and injuring six more children. That is a 58% failure rate.

Elder of Ziyon..
05 May '19..

We've seen this happen so many times before.

On Saturday evening, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reported that a 14-month-old Palestinian child, Saba Mahmoud Hamdan Abu Arar, had been killed and her mother, Falastin Saleh Abu Arar, when an Israeli airstrikes hit their house in Gaza City. Several hours later, the ministry said that Falastin had succumbed to her wounds.

On Twitter, the Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic-language spokesman said the mother and child did not appear to have been killed in an Israeli attack.

Adraee indicated that the deaths may have been caused by a failed rocket attack against Israel, noting that many of the projectiles fired at Israel were launched from within populated areas.

“There are more and more indications reaching us from the Gaza Strip that put serious doubt on the truth of the statement from Hamas’s healthy ministry about the death of the baby Saba Mahmoud Hamdan Abu Arar and her mother Falastin Saleh Abu Arar,” Maj. Avichay Adraee wrote in a tweet.

“According to these indications, the death was caused by terrorist activities by Palestinian militants and not by an Israeli strike,” he said.

But AFP headlines the story, "250 rockets fired from Gaza, Israeli response kills four including baby."

The Independent wrote "A pregnant mother and her 14-month-old baby girl have been killed by an Israeli airstrike, as cross-border violence continues near Gaza."

ITV: "Palestinian baby and pregnant mother killed in Gaza airstrikes."

CNN: "250 rockets fired from Gaza at Israel; 1-year-old child among those killed in retaliatory airstrikes."

Reporters have made this mistake before. I listed a bunch of them a few years ago in an open letter to journalists on not making assumptions during these flareups in Gaza:

Mistake #1: Assuming that all Gaza casualties are the result of Israeli airstrikes

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Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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Unsurprisingly, Longtime Israel Critic, Avi Shlaim, Distorts History on Anniversary of Gaza Operation - by Simon Plosker

...One wonders just how far his definition of “lawful resistance” extends given his refusal to define Hamas actions as terror. It appears that ten years after Operation Cast Lead, commentators such as Avi Shlaim are attempting to alter both history and reality in order to attack Israel.

Simon Plosker..
Honest Reporting..
08 January '19..

At the ten-year anniversary of Israel’s 2008/09 Operation Cast Lead, it’s expected that we will see articles in the media critical of Israel’s military operation against Hamas in Gaza.

This was the first of a number of Israeli military operations in response to indiscriminate rocket and mortar fired from Gaza towards Israeli civilian targets.

So it is the case, unsurprisingly, in The Guardian, where UK-based Israeli academic and longtime Israel critic Avi Shlaim launches his own assault on Israel. According to him, Operation Cast Lead:

was not a war or even “asymmetric warfare” but a one-sided massacre. Israel had 13 dead; the Gazans had 1,417 dead, including 313 children, and more than 5,500 wounded. According to one estimate 83% of the casualties were civilians. Israel claimed to be acting in self-defence, protecting its civilians against Hamas rocket attacks. The evidence, however, points to a deliberate and punitive war of aggression. Israel had a diplomatic alternative, but it chose to ignore it and to resort to brute military force.

Casualties as a Moral Barometer

Shlaim begins with a typical case of using casualty figures as a moral barometer. By quoting the mismatch in the deaths and injuries between the two sides stripped of context, Shlaim signals that Israel is the aggressor despite the fact that readers:

- Will not know that Hamas embedded itself in the civilian population leading to higher numbers of civilian deaths.

- Will also be unaware of Israel’s enormous efforts to prevent loss of innocent lives.

- And the reason for the lower Israeli casualty figures? Simply that Israel goes to great lengths to protect its people.

(Continue to Full Article)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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The one option Israel doesn’t have in Gaza - by Evelyn Gordon

...Barring a miracle, Hamas will eventually become overconfident and cause Israel enough anguish to provoke it to reoccupy Gaza. By postponing that day, and thereby allowing Hamas to further arm and entrench itself, Israel merely ensures that when it comes, it will come at a much higher price—in Israeli casualties, in Palestinian casualties and in international opprobrium. But knowing that doesn’t change the political reality that such an operation isn’t possible now. In today’s reality, the most that Netanyahu can do is buy a few more years of quiet. And his only choice is whether to do so via a ceasefire or a limited military operation, each of which carries its own major price tag.

Evelyn Gordon..
Analysis from Israel..
22 November '18..
Link: http://evelyncgordon.com/the-one-option-israel-doesnt-have-in-gaza/

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being assailed by his own base for his restraint last week following Hamas’s massive bombardment of southern Israel. But in considering what Israel’s policy should be, it’s important to realize that for now, the option of permanently ending Hamas terror doesn’t exist—not because it’s beyond Israel’s capability, but because it lacks sufficient public support.

If someone came up with an idea for destroying Hamas that could be executed quickly and with minimal casualties, Israelis obviously would support that, but nobody has. Thus the only plan with proven capability to suppress terror over the long term remains the one Israel executed in the West Bank in 2002 in response to the second intifada: The army goes in, and it never leaves. That’s how Israel defeated the second intifada, and how it has kept West Bank terror within tolerable limits ever since.

But doing the same in Gaza would have very high costs—in soldiers’ lives, in international opprobrium and possibly in saddling Israel with responsibility for Gaza’s civilian problems. It would be far more costly than it was to reoccupy the West Bank because Hamas has used its 11 years of total control over Gaza to become far better armed and far more deeply entrenched than West Bank terrorists were in 2002.

No democracy could undertake such a costly plan without widespread public support, but especially not Israel, because any major military operation requires a massive call-up of reservists, and Israeli reservists tend to vote with their feet. They’ll show up in droves for an operation with broad support, but an operation widely considered unjustified will spark major protests.

That’s exactly what happened when, during the second intifada, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon thought Israelis’ overwhelming support for reoccupying the West Bank created a golden opportunity to do the same in Gaza. He was forced to scrap that idea after a massive public outcry, especially from reservists.

The crucial difference Sharon had overlooked was the level of pain that Israelis were experiencing. The West Bank was wreaking havoc nationwide at that time. A wave of suicide bombings and other attacks in cities throughout Israel killed 452 Israelis in 2002, including 130 in March 2002 alone. But Gaza was causing most Israelis very little pain. Though there were attacks on soldiers and settlers in Gaza itself, there were almost no attacks from Gaza inside Israel. Consequently, most Israelis weren’t willing to pay the price that a major operation in Gaza would have entailed.

Surprise? BBC World Service radio programme presents an inverted portrayal of Gaza rocket attacks - by Hadar Sela

...Obviously the basic editorial aim behind this item – which Ben James had told listeners was “your guide to the important stuff happening now” – was to promote a sense of false equivalence between the actions of terrorist groups deliberately targeting civilians and a regular army targeting the assets of those terrorist organisations. In promoting that aim the producers of this programme blithely sacrificed the accuracy and impartiality to which the BBC claims to adhere as well as the first of the corporation’s public purposes.

Hadar Sela..
BBC Watch..
16 November '18..

As we saw in a previous post, the lead item in the November 13th edition of the BBC World Service radio programme OS – formerly ‘Outside Source’ – was described in its synopsis thus:

“It’s the heaviest exchange of aerial fire between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants since the full-blown conflict in 2014. The violence follows an Israeli special forces operation inside Gaza which went wrong late on Sunday, causing the deaths of Palestinian militants and an Israeli soldier. We hear from local people living in Gaza.”

After listeners had been given some bizarre and entirely one-sided ‘context’ to that story (with no mention whatsoever of the fact that Hamas has been attacking Israeli civilians with rockets and mortars for 17 years), presenter Ben James introduced his first inadequately identified interviewee in what he had previously described as “your guide to the important stuff happening now”.

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Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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NY Times obscures another story about Gaza violence

...Specia’s preface, “Here are some key things to know about the conflict” might more aptly be rephrased, “Here are the points the New York Times wants to emphasize regarding the conflict.”

CAMERA..
14 November '18..

Just a day after a New York Times report obscured key details about Hamas rocket attacks — that they are fired by a terror organization, intentionally target civilian centers, and amount to war crimes — the newspaper published another piece that concealed Hamas responsibility, this time for the situation in the Gaza Strip which it rules.

In today’s story, reporter Megan Specia purports to educate readers on “what to know about Gaza’s latest flare-up” (“Gaza’s Latest Flare-Up: The Implications and the Prospects for Peace,” p. A8, Nov. 14, 2018; Online: “What to Know About Gaza’s Latest Flare-Up,” Nov. 13, 2018).

Specia’s preface, “Here are some key things to know about the conflict” might more aptly be rephrased, “Here are the points the New York Times wants to emphasize regarding the conflict.”

The first question asked is “why did tensions rise?”

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BBC Radio 4's ‘The World Tonight’: nothing to see in southern Israel, move along to Gaza - by Hadar Sela

...throughout this entire seven-minute item and the news bulletin which came before it, BBC Radio 4 audiences heard nothing whatsoever about what was happening to the residents of southern Israel at that very time. A more one-sided portrayal of the story is difficult to imagine.

Hadar Sela..
BBC Watch..
14 November '18..

As we saw yesterday the BBC News website was not interested in telling BBC audiences about the numerous terrorists’ missiles which hit the homes and businesses of Israeli civilians in places such as Ashkelon, Sederot and Netivot on November 12th.

If readers are wondering whether the BBC’s domestic radio audiences got any better coverage, the answer to that question can be found by taking a look at BBC Radio 4’s November 12th edition of ‘The World Tonight’, presented by Ritula Shah.

Near the beginning of the programme listeners heard a news bulletin in which newsreader Chris Aldridge indulged himself with a less than accurate and impartial description of an Israeli Special Forces operation the previous night.

Aldridge: “Around 300 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, prompting a wave of Israeli airstrikes. It follows what appears to have been a botched undercover Israeli operation in Gaza yesterday in which 7 Palestinians and one Israeli were killed. Our correspondent Tom Bateman reports from Jerusalem.”

Bateman: “A 19 year-old Israeli man was seriously hurt when a bus was hit by an anti-tank missile fired from the Strip. Israel said its fighter jets had targeted militant sites in Gaza in response to the barrage. Health officials in the Strip say two Palestinians have been killed – reportedly members of a militant faction. This significant escalation of hostilities makes the immediate prospects of a truce between Israel and Hamas even more unlikely, following a series of violent clashes in recent months which a UN and Egyptian brokered process was trying to calm. Militants in Gaza vowed to take revenge after yesterday’s incident in which undercover Israeli Special Forces were involved in an intense exchange of fire with Gaza based militants.”

By the time Radio 4 listeners heard that report homes in at least four Israeli communities had been hit by the terrorists’ missile fire and at least 34 people had needed medical treatment. Bateman however did not find that – or who fired the anti-tank missile; a detail also known by that time – worth mentioning.

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Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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Anyone surprised that NY Times creates a false equivalence between Hamas and Israeli rockets?

Why does the New York Times pretend Israeli civilians are "caught up in the fighting" between Hamas and Israel instead of acknowledging that Hamas targets Israeli civilians? Perhaps because that gets in the way of the newspaper's preferred "both sides" narrative.

CAMERA..
13 November '18..

The New York Times often downplays Palestinian extremism or violence if the emphasis can’t be placed on Israel, Israeli counterattacks, or Israeli blame for ongoing violence. A case in point is the attention given to the escalating violence from the Gaza Strip.

From start to finish, today’s Times article about fighting between Hamas and Israel downplays the extent of Hamas violence while suggesting Israel is responsible for the group’s rocket attacks. Meanwhile, Israeli retaliatory strikes on Hamas targets are portrayed as being no different than the Hamas’s indiscriminate attacks on Israeli civilians — largely because the article fails to mention even once that Hamas is a terror group, that it is sworn to Israel’s destruction, or that the rockets it fires are indiscriminately lobbed toward Israeli civilians in their towns and cities in violation of international law.

The piece’s opening paragraphs set the tone, with the reporter suggesting Israeli responsibility by insinuating Israel’s prime minister is failing to prevent pointless shooting:

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Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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Massive Missile Attack on Israel after Qatar's $15 Million Cash Grant to Hamas - by Bassam Tawil

What the international mediators need to understand is that there is only one solution to the crisis in the Gaza Strip: removing Hamas from power and destroying its military capabilities. They also need to understand that there is only one language that Hamas understands: the language of force. The assumption that if you pay terrorists millions of dollars, they will stop attacking you -- rather than using the funds to build up their forces -- has proven to be false.

Bassam Tawil..
Gatestone Institute..
13 November '18..

Last week, as efforts were underway to achieve a new truce between Hamas and Israel, this author asked a legitimate and straightforward question: Can Hamas be trusted?

The conclusion was that a real truce between Israel and Hamas can be achieved only after the Palestinian jihadi terrorists are removed from power, and not rewarded for violence and threats.

Days later, Hamas itself provided proof as to why it cannot be trusted with any deal, including a truce.

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Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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Expecting Hamas to honor agreements with the Jewish state it wants to annihilate is inexcusably naive - by

...a crushing and devastating blow to Hamas will pave the way for a truce that would not be a victory for the terrorists. Such a truce would survive much longer than a half-baked truce that survives only several months until another extortion scheme.

Prof. Efraim Inbar..
Israel Hayom..
13 November '18..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/in-the-middle-east-you-win-with-fear/

The past six months have brought us violent demonstrations along the Gaza Strip border, cross-border infiltrations, rocket fire and incendiary kites and balloons. This means that a so-called "agreement" or truce is not a viable option.

We cannot trust Hamas to keep the calm. Only when Hamas is afraid of IDF retaliation, which has yet to come, will calm prevail. Israelis tend to overlook the fact that in the Middle East, it is fear, above everything else, that governs how people act.

Unfortunately, from time to time, we must give our enemies a violent reminder, lest they continue terrorizing us. The very fact that Hamas continues its actions unabated shows a lack of deterrence, without which no truce is worth the paper it is signed on. Expecting Hamas to honor agreements with the Jewish state it wants to annihilate is inexcusably naive. Extortion that leads to an "agreement" is a prelude to more extortion.

The assumption that boosting the quality of life for Gazans will reduce Hamas' violence and hatred is fundamentally flawed. There is no place on this planet where there is a direct correlation between quality of life and terrorism. This holds true in the Palestinian case as well.

Recent polls show that Gazans are actually less hostile toward Israel than are their brethren in Judea and Samaria, where the quality of life is better. Perhaps the suffering in Gaza has taught them that prolonged conflict with Israel comes with great pain. While it is true that it takes time to change the behavior of large groups of people, what ultimately makes a population embark on a new political path is the degree to which it suffers. Germans suffered immensely during the two world wars and have since shed their violent past. Egypt also realized that a peace deal with Israel trumps more violence.

The goal of war is to inflict pain on the other side, to make it change its behavior. There is no point in giving Hamas candy while it fights against us. The exact opposite is true: It should be forced to pay a heavy price for its aggressive behavior. This is the message Israel should be sending Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and other enemies. To survive in the Middle East, Israel has to make it clear that it will inflict unimaginable pain on anyone who attacks it.

Surprise? Hamas issues warning to Ashkelon residents, claiming the entire city is a military target - by Elder of Ziyon

Israel issues warnings to save civilian lives. Hamas issues warnings to terrorize Israelis. It isn't humanitarian - it is part of Hamas' war.

Elder of Ziyon..
13 November '18..

Hamas issued a warning to residents of Ashkelon, telling them to stay away from the entire city since "The army uses the city in its criminal operations against us, and therefore we will respond to that, so it is preferable to stay away from the city as much as possible."

The graphic includes a depiction of an Israel Aircraft Industries facility in the city.

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Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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The Time to Restore Deterrence in Gaza is Now - by Isi Leibler

Hamas has repeatedly pledged that it will not halt the border protests or cease the launch of balloons. Would any other country tolerate this situation, responding only with tit-for-tat destruction of empty Hamas facilities, causing minimal disruption?

Isi Leibler..
Israel Hayom/Opinion..
30 October '18..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/restore-deterrence-in-gaza-now/

Israel was created as a haven for the Jewish people. It has an obligation to protect all its citizens, yet it has failed to do so for the residents living close to the Gaza Strip border.

The time has come to say to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman: Enough is enough.

To summarize the situation:

Hamas' unyielding objective is the destruction of the Jewish state and murder of Jews.

Most Gazan residents are unemployed and impoverished but foreign aid has been diverted to military purposes.

Iranian financial and military support has created a military infrastructure throughout the Strip utilizing mosques, hospitals and schools as weapon storage bases and launching sites.

Hamas dispatches terrorists into Israel to murder Jews. Those who succeed are hailed as heroes and financially rewarded.

Hamas has built many tunnels to infiltrate terrorists behind Israeli lines. The IDF possesses sophisticated equipment that has identified and destroyed most of the tunnels.

Hamas orchestrates a protest campaign that, since March 30, regularly brings thousands to the Israeli border for "peaceful demonstrations" that include hurling firebombs, firing weapons, throwing rocks and storming the border. The IDF seeks to avoid lethal responses, but when endangered, it has taken firm action. Over 200 Palestinians – many identified as Hamas operatives – have been killed.

The Palestinians have been floating balloons into Israel carrying flammable material and bombs. To date, they have destroyed thousands of acres of agricultural land, impoverishing many farmers in the area.

Mutual hostility has led the PA to cut funds for electricity and fuel for Gaza's residents and to threaten the salaries of civil servants in the Strip.

Under such circumstances, Hamas became desperate and intimidated and announced it was willing to enter a temporary truce with Israel if the blockade of goods and services was lifted.

Egyptian-mediated negotiations have led to little progress, although recently, statements have been repeated that a truce was about to be implemented.

In the meantime, the world has become accustomed to the border protests and incendiary balloons. Many – including some misguided Jews – are accusing us of needlessly killing "peaceful demonstrators."

Hamas has repeatedly pledged that it will not halt the border protests or cease the launch of balloons.

Would any other country tolerate this situation, responding only with tit-for-tat destruction of empty Hamas facilities, causing minimal disruption?

Israeli Public Deserves to Know Cost of Destroying Gaza Weapons - by Dr. Aaron Lerner

...It has frequently turned out that the Israeli street has been considerably more willing to bear the costs of military operations than the policymakers anticipated.

Dr. Aaron Lerner..
IMRA Weekly Commentary..
20 October '18..
Link: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=73375


Israeli intelligence has devoted considerable resources to maintaining the "target bank" - a detailed listing that includes the location of every known rocket and other weapon system in the Gaza Strip as well as the location of every known facility engaged in manufacturing these weapons.

To date the Israeli policymakers have declined to order the destruction of these targets.

This is most likely out of concern for the collateral damage that would be associated with hitting targets either protected by human shields or located within sensitive targets such a hospitals, schools, mosques. etc.

To put it brutally: it would appear that Israeli policymakers are convinced that it would take an Israeli bloodbath to justify a truly effective IDF operation against these targets.