Surely this isn’t a question? It’s impossible to ever justify murder, let alone mass murder, of children. How cynical will some Israelis get? And anybody supporting this cruel madness?
I seem to remember that after the 3 Israeli boys were brutally murdered, Israel immediately said Hamas had done it. The day after the funerals a Palestinian boy was burned alive in retaliation by some settlers. Why is it that no-ne asks the Israeli Regev (Aussie) or Lerner (Brit) what evidence they have found for this allegation.
@Fred, the Israelis imposed a complete gag on reporting who was behind the killings of Israeli teen.
However, recently the Israeli police admitted it wasn’t the work of Hamas. The police knew the day after they were kidnapped that they were dead because the found the car riddled with bullets and blood, yet they rallied the Israeli public and kept their hopes up for two weeks that the boys might be alive…in order to shore up support for an operation against Hamas.
The group that was responsible is a well known small faction that defies Hamas and Israel knew of this. Are we allowed to post links on here? I’d love to give you a reference
Both the Israeli prime minister and the leader of Hamas have said that what divides the two sides is the legality of the State of Israel, Hamas obviously denying it.
War will not sort out the truth, which will only be discovered by resorting to the facts in and around the UN vote to establish Jewish and Palestinian areas in Palestine in 1947.
A truly independent commission could be set up to decide this crucial issue.
Not one word about Rockets shot every time there is a hint of a ceasefire, Not a word about rockets in UN Schools (3 times caught in the action by the UN), not one word about death tunnels hidden in children bedrooms, not one word about the entire command center of Hamas under the main hospital (which you know it’s there – that’s where you go to interview them!), not one word about hundreds of Hamas rockets falling inside Gaza killing their own people, not one word about the hamas ideology to kill every single jew alive forever. Not a word about houses booby trapped with their occupants still in them. No human shields. Right.
The situation in Gaza is beyond anything i could ever imagine..for me im desperate to do something to assuage any future guilt i have in doing nothing. However the point i wish to bring up is… the israeli spokespeople refer to the amount of rockets hamas fire (ignoring their iron shield) i would like to know the average total explosive power israel has fired against that of the hamas rockets… i believe the israelis have sent 10000s more weight of ordanance than hamas have.
War is not measured by casualties. It is not the sum of people dead on both sides. It is not statistics based, or data based. War is based on interest. On motivation. On fear and loathing.
.
Hamas encourages Israeli’s fear and anger by firing rockets on Israel’s south for 11 years straight. Does it matter if we can defend against them? Should Israel treat them as Guy Fawkes Day fireworks? Would your country just accept it or try to eliminate the threat?
What measures are deemed “proportional”? I’ll tell you what: Whatever is necessary to eliminate the threat. It’s not like you say, “I’ll fire one small bomb for every rocket Hamas launches”. You fire to eliminate the threat, period. Hamas’ terror tunnels were built with one sole purpose: to cause death and destruction in the villages surrounding Gaza. About 35 tunnels were discovered so far. How many of them is enough to destroy in order remain “proportional”? I’ll tell you how much: every single one of them. Israel will not and should not knowingly allow its citizens to go to bed with a terror tunnel waiting to be exploited underneath their homes. Not a single one.
.
Hamas deliberately uses its own civilians as human shields. Why?
a. To obtain global media attention, thus reassuring donations and aid, partially misused to stock up on missiles for the next round, and to make Hamas’ corrupt leadership extremely rich.
b. To encourage the fear and loathing of Israel among Gaza’s residence, thus reassuring its dictatorship, and to verify its significance and relevance as the “defenders” of Gaza.
c. Because it simply has no regards to human lives – not Israeli, nor its own citizens, or fighters. Encouraging youth to become terrorist bombers is a well-known, common practice by Hamas. This isn’t the same thing as drafting to an army – this is when the sovereign entity sends you into your own certain death. This is their ideology. That’s the basis to their manifest.
.
Speaking of Hamas’ manifest. They are the ones who still today call for the destruction of ALL of Israel. Oppose the two-state solution already embraced by Fatah and Abu-Mazen. Refuse to any initiative, by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt or any other ARAB country.
They simply do not want peace. They do not need it. Motives. Interest.
.
Fear and loathing and interests and extremist ideology. Similar to ISIS (Da’ash). Similar to Al Querida and the Taliban. The difference? The cynical, inhumane, despicable use of civilian population, that – along with a dash of good-old antisemitism, makes Israel seem like the culprit, thus legitimizing a worldly acknowledged terror organization.
.
I don’t know what to say anymore. WAKE UP.
I have been following Paul Mason’s reports on the BBC and his personal blogs and then on Channel4 for a very long time and have always thought them thoroughly honest and reliable. But last night I watched a video report from Sky TV that spoke dot itself and contradicted Paul. From the window of the same beachside hotel that Paul is staying at, a fixed camera showed an Israeli air strike on a stop by a fairly nearby house. Minutes later, about 4 Hamas rocket shot out of that same spot. So, rocket fire on Israel does come from houses in plain sight of journalists and for some fairly obvious reason that feel unable to report this. Obviously there are human shields and the Shifa Hospital, for example, is the one protecting the Hamas high command.
And where are the press photos of Hamas fighters? Would that be, as, say, a now deleted tweet from a NYT journalist said, because the photographer would be shot?
There are reports of Israeli crowds singing “there are no schools in gaza, there are no children in gaza, gaza is a graveyard”.
Opinions polls also show overwhelming Israeli support for the bombardment.
Have Israel gone too far with their propoganda?
Surely this isn’t a question? It’s impossible to ever justify murder, let alone mass murder, of children. How cynical will some Israelis get? And anybody supporting this cruel madness?
I seem to remember that after the 3 Israeli boys were brutally murdered, Israel immediately said Hamas had done it. The day after the funerals a Palestinian boy was burned alive in retaliation by some settlers. Why is it that no-ne asks the Israeli Regev (Aussie) or Lerner (Brit) what evidence they have found for this allegation.
@Fred, the Israelis imposed a complete gag on reporting who was behind the killings of Israeli teen.
However, recently the Israeli police admitted it wasn’t the work of Hamas. The police knew the day after they were kidnapped that they were dead because the found the car riddled with bullets and blood, yet they rallied the Israeli public and kept their hopes up for two weeks that the boys might be alive…in order to shore up support for an operation against Hamas.
The group that was responsible is a well known small faction that defies Hamas and Israel knew of this. Are we allowed to post links on here? I’d love to give you a reference
Do you reckon any nutjob Yank neocon will appear on the Palestinian side of the Wall and say, “Mr. Netanyahu, tear down this wall”?
No, me neither.
Both the Israeli prime minister and the leader of Hamas have said that what divides the two sides is the legality of the State of Israel, Hamas obviously denying it.
War will not sort out the truth, which will only be discovered by resorting to the facts in and around the UN vote to establish Jewish and Palestinian areas in Palestine in 1947.
A truly independent commission could be set up to decide this crucial issue.
Not one word about Rockets shot every time there is a hint of a ceasefire, Not a word about rockets in UN Schools (3 times caught in the action by the UN), not one word about death tunnels hidden in children bedrooms, not one word about the entire command center of Hamas under the main hospital (which you know it’s there – that’s where you go to interview them!), not one word about hundreds of Hamas rockets falling inside Gaza killing their own people, not one word about the hamas ideology to kill every single jew alive forever. Not a word about houses booby trapped with their occupants still in them. No human shields. Right.
The situation in Gaza is beyond anything i could ever imagine..for me im desperate to do something to assuage any future guilt i have in doing nothing. However the point i wish to bring up is… the israeli spokespeople refer to the amount of rockets hamas fire (ignoring their iron shield) i would like to know the average total explosive power israel has fired against that of the hamas rockets… i believe the israelis have sent 10000s more weight of ordanance than hamas have.
War is not measured by casualties. It is not the sum of people dead on both sides. It is not statistics based, or data based. War is based on interest. On motivation. On fear and loathing.
.
Hamas encourages Israeli’s fear and anger by firing rockets on Israel’s south for 11 years straight. Does it matter if we can defend against them? Should Israel treat them as Guy Fawkes Day fireworks? Would your country just accept it or try to eliminate the threat?
What measures are deemed “proportional”? I’ll tell you what: Whatever is necessary to eliminate the threat. It’s not like you say, “I’ll fire one small bomb for every rocket Hamas launches”. You fire to eliminate the threat, period. Hamas’ terror tunnels were built with one sole purpose: to cause death and destruction in the villages surrounding Gaza. About 35 tunnels were discovered so far. How many of them is enough to destroy in order remain “proportional”? I’ll tell you how much: every single one of them. Israel will not and should not knowingly allow its citizens to go to bed with a terror tunnel waiting to be exploited underneath their homes. Not a single one.
.
Hamas deliberately uses its own civilians as human shields. Why?
a. To obtain global media attention, thus reassuring donations and aid, partially misused to stock up on missiles for the next round, and to make Hamas’ corrupt leadership extremely rich.
b. To encourage the fear and loathing of Israel among Gaza’s residence, thus reassuring its dictatorship, and to verify its significance and relevance as the “defenders” of Gaza.
c. Because it simply has no regards to human lives – not Israeli, nor its own citizens, or fighters. Encouraging youth to become terrorist bombers is a well-known, common practice by Hamas. This isn’t the same thing as drafting to an army – this is when the sovereign entity sends you into your own certain death. This is their ideology. That’s the basis to their manifest.
.
Speaking of Hamas’ manifest. They are the ones who still today call for the destruction of ALL of Israel. Oppose the two-state solution already embraced by Fatah and Abu-Mazen. Refuse to any initiative, by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt or any other ARAB country.
They simply do not want peace. They do not need it. Motives. Interest.
.
Fear and loathing and interests and extremist ideology. Similar to ISIS (Da’ash). Similar to Al Querida and the Taliban. The difference? The cynical, inhumane, despicable use of civilian population, that – along with a dash of good-old antisemitism, makes Israel seem like the culprit, thus legitimizing a worldly acknowledged terror organization.
.
I don’t know what to say anymore. WAKE UP.
All I know and see with my own eyes is that the Israeli spokespeople have extremely hard voices and very hard eyes.
I have been following Paul Mason’s reports on the BBC and his personal blogs and then on Channel4 for a very long time and have always thought them thoroughly honest and reliable. But last night I watched a video report from Sky TV that spoke dot itself and contradicted Paul. From the window of the same beachside hotel that Paul is staying at, a fixed camera showed an Israeli air strike on a stop by a fairly nearby house. Minutes later, about 4 Hamas rocket shot out of that same spot. So, rocket fire on Israel does come from houses in plain sight of journalists and for some fairly obvious reason that feel unable to report this. Obviously there are human shields and the Shifa Hospital, for example, is the one protecting the Hamas high command.
And where are the press photos of Hamas fighters? Would that be, as, say, a now deleted tweet from a NYT journalist said, because the photographer would be shot?
Wonderful reporting from you, Mr Mason, but isn’t it traumatic for you? When are you going to get a break?
Great job Paul, keep it up. Keep safe because there are not many journalists out there who are speaking the truth. God bless you and all the Gazans.