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Monday, July 21, 2014

NEWS ROUNDUP FROM ISRAEL - JULY 21, 2014

Today's selection of news is from  Elder Of Ziyon, one of the best Israeli news sites on the web. 
 
Click on the headlines to access the original articles.

IMAGE BELOW was posted by the IDF. The caption reads: "After we fired a warning shot at this target, Hamas ordered civilians to form a human shield on the roof." We assume every one of the men and boys in yesterday's snapshot is alive today. We also assume some of the injured and killed IDF servicemen owe their fate to the IDF's moral standpoint and unwillingness to unnecessarily endanger the lives of non-combatants.
 
HUMAN SHIELDS IN GAZA  -  NOTICE THE CHILDREN IN THE CROWD -  Photo This Ongoing War Blog
The Times of Israel is liveblogging events as they unfold through Monday, the 14th day of Operation Protective Edge. Israel thwarted early morning attacks by Hamas gunmen emerging from tunnels. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Israel’s actions in the Hamas stronghold of Shejaiya were “atrocious.”

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians: The Arabs Betrayed Us - Again
Since 1948, the Arab countries and government have been paying mostly lip service to the Palestinians.
"They have money and oil, but don't care about the Palestinians, even though we are Arabs and Muslims like them. What a Saudi or Qatari sheikh spends in one night in London, Paris or Las Vegas could solve the problem of tens of thousands of Palestinians." — Abdel Bari Atwan, Palestinian editor.

 "Some Arabs were hoping that Israel would rid them of Hamas." — Ashraf Salameh, Gaza City.
"Some of the Arab regimes are interested in getting rid of the resistance in order to remove the burden of the Palestinian cause, which threatens the stability of their regimes." — Mustafa al-Sawwaf, Palestinian political analyst.  "Most Arabs are busy these days with bloody battles waged by their leaders, who are struggling to survive. These battles are raging in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Libya and the Palestinian Authority." — Mohammed al-Musafer, columnist.
"The Arab leaders don't know what they want from the Gaza Strip. They don't even know what they want from Israel." — Yusef Rizka, Hamas official.
Three years ago there was a hope that a growing movement for democracy might make Arab countries more supportive of the Palestinians, as governments grew more responsive to the people and their demands.   But during the latest bloodshed in Gaza, the opposite has occurred, according to supporters of the Palestinians, who found the official Arab reaction incoherent, at times providing cover for the Israeli military assault.

 The governments were accused of dithering at critical moments during the recent Israeli military offensive, where in the past, Palestinians counted on them to at least muster some diplomatic pressure to make it stop. Their feuds broke out in public, and Egypt even blamed Hamas, the Islamist movement in Gaza, rather than Israel, for dozens of Palestinian deaths.
 
Yet the most helpful role that the media plays for Hamas—and the worst disservice for Palestinians—is in demoralizing Israelis. They are willing to pay a high operational price, even to endanger their own soldiers, to avoid hurting Palestinian civilians.  Yet, in spite of these unprecedented efforts, the Jewish State is often depicted by the media as indiscriminate and callous. By calling them killers even when they take risks to save lives, the media discourages Israelis from showing restraint in the face of ceaseless Hamas attacks. And Hamas, which wants to drag Israel into a ground war in which even more civilians are killed, welcomes the media's role in convincing Israelis that image-wise they have nothing to lose by escalating.

Former President Bill Clinton recently told Indian television that Hamas "has a strategy designed to force Israel to kill their own [Palestinian] civilians so that the rest of the world will condemn them." A crucial means through which Hamas accomplishes this is the international media.  
 Just as Israel must relentlessly scrutinize its military actions in Gaza and their consequences, so, too, must journalists take a hard look at the way they cover this conflict. They must not allow themselves to act as accessories to Hamas's murderous strategy that delegitimizes Israel and prolongs the Palestinians' suffering.
 
As Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Daniel Taub, said recently: “We don’t have to apologise for Israelis not being killed.” Indeed, one wonders quite how the media would want to even up the scores. Perhaps Israel should switch off the early-warning systems that notify Israelis of missiles, and stop using Iron Dome until more Israelis have been killed than Palestinians? Only then, having satiated the media thirst for Israeli blood by dying in sufficient numbers, would Israel be “allowed” to resume its protective operation to let Israelis live peaceful lives free from terror.
Israel both has the right to defend our citizens with military operations, and to protect the lives of our citizens with bunkers and anti-missile systems. Until our operations are over, the media ought to drastically rethink the irresponsible way they are discussing proportionality.
 
It all has the look and feel and sound of moral pornography, designed less to enlighten people about what is going in Israel-Gaza – war harms children? Who didn’t know this? – than to provide something shocking for us all to stare at and be collectively horrified by. There is a terrible irony to this widespread publishing of photos of battered Palestinian children – the aim seems to be to show that we the right-minded folk of Twitter and the Western media really care, but the question it immediately raises in my mind is this: “Well, if you care about children so much, why didn’t you publish photos of dead kids from the Congo? Or Aleppo? Or Sri Lanka? Do you only care about one group of children – Palestinians – and no others?” So a photo-sharing frenzy aimed at advertising our caring tendencies actually has the opposite effect: it makes one wonder why this alleged caring instinct is so picky, so partial , attaching itself firmly to the child-victims of one conflict but rarely finding expression in relation to any other conflict.
 
Despite that incident in Manchester, when “Heil Hitler!” was shouted at Jews in the street and garbage was thrown at them too. And despite the fact that Hitler memes have been popping up on the Facebook page of an anti-Israel rally outside the BBC.   Despite that Facebook post in South Africa by an ANC social media manager, of a picture of Hitler with the caption: “I could have killed all the Jews, but I left some of them to let you know why I was killing them.”

Despite that demonstration in Boston, when a protestor said the “Jews will go to hell” when Palestine ‘reclaims’ Jerusalem, and when Jews were called ‘Jesus killers‘.  Despite that rally in Sydney, with the flags superimposing swastikas over Stars of David (among the sea of ISIS flags). And despite that lynching of a Jew in Melbourne by thugs shouting, “Jewish dog!”


Despite that rally in Antwerp, where protestors chanted, “Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning!” And despite that pro-ISIS rally in The Hague, where protestors also shouted the same thing. And despite the fact that a Jewish woman was refused service in a shop in Antwerp “out of protest”.  Despite that rally in Frankfurt by neo-Nazis and Islamists, with the placards reading “You Jews are Beasts”.  Despite the fact that ‘#HitlerWasRight’ and ‘#IfHitlerWasAlive‘ have been doing the rounds on Twitter.


Everyone knows that anti-Zionism has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. 
 
The military wing of Hamas, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, announced that it had captured the Israeli in Shejaiya.   During a press conference, the group gave a name for the ostensible prisoner and even presented a military ID number.  The name given by Hamas was very similar to the name of one of the soldiers confirmed killed in the fighting in Shejaiya early Sunday morning.
 
The official Facebook page of Fatah, the terror movement and political organization headed by Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, has published photos from Tulkarem, in Samaria, showing Fatah activists passing out sweets to people in the street to celebrate the alleged abduction of an IDF soldier in Gaza.   The claim regarding the abduction was circulated by Hamas early Monday morning, but has been denied by Israel.
 
Israel hopes to restore a level of deterrence while seriously damaging Hamas’s system of tunnels, at least those closest to the border with Israel.
Admittedly, Israel’s objectives are modest – a return to a tense status quo in which Israelis are able to live their lives without being under the constant threat of rocket fire or being whisked away into Gaza via a tunnel to be used as a bargaining chip for the release of murderous Hamas terrorists being held in Israeli prisons.   Unfortunately, the price Israel is being forced to pay is exorbitantly high – the lives of some our very best men.

 Nevertheless, this is an eminently just war that pits Israel, a country that values life, intellectual and artistic freedom, and innovation against Hamas, a terrorist organization that glorifies death, exalts violence, and demands of its followers submission and self-abnegation, all in the name of irrational, reactionary religious fanaticism.  History has proven that totalitarian regimes like Hamas’s are ultimately self-destructive, while the forces of freedom have an inner resilience that make them indomitable. It is a tragedy that so many good people must give their lives before such evil is eradicated.
 
As Hamas rockets continue to rain down on Israeli civilians, Israel has once again begun to find itself being portrayed internationally as the villain for defending itself. Lest there be any doubt, Hamas is a band of terrorists. Israel on the other hand is a sovereign nation, and, like every nation, has a natural right of self-defense.  Unlike virtually every other nation, however, Israel pursues this natural right in arguably the most morally upright and forthright manner in the annals of history. Regrettably, the United States has not done nearly enough to stand with Israel and give the Israeli government a diplomatically protective “green light” to once and for all neutralize the Hamas terrorist threat.
 
The lack of action over the fate of Palestinians in Syria suggests the death and suffering of Palestinians alone is not enough to get people onto the streets
The demonstrations that have been glaringly absent from Britain’s streets during the Syrian civil war reappeared this weekend to protest against the latest round of fighting began between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.  The Stop The War Coalition, who months ago told the Guardian that protesting over Syria isn’t their job as they only focus on “what Britain and the US are doing”, made their usual exception for Israel by helping to organising Friday’s demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy in London.   As for Syria, STWC was only interested when it looked like Britain and the US might intervene military to stop President Assad using chemical weapons against his own people.
 
Violence and conflict associated with war is a classic cause of stress among civilians and military personnel. In some cases, the stress and strain is such that it is not easily resolved, leading to what clinicians have called “post-traumatic stress syndrome” or PTSD.
In the Israel-Gaza conflict, civilians are being exposed to the classic precipitants of stress-related issues during war, namely, unpredictable violence which threatens one’s physical well-being. While many eventually adapt and habituate, repeated direct exposure to threats of violence and actual attack has been shown to result in higher than normal rates of PTSD, with Sderot residents having multiple symptoms and consequences.
 
UNRWA is funded by the voluntary contributions of a relatively narrow donor base. Therefore, Western donor countries are in the most effective position to influence and direct UNRWA leadership to prevent the humanitarian agency from being further exploited for the promotion of extremist agendas, the backing of terrorist groups, and the growing involvement of its officials in political speech and public pronouncement. As one commentator put it recently, paraphrasing Clausewitz: “humanitarianism, not just war, has now become the continuation of politics by other means.” Indeed, if we are to judge according to some of UNRWA activities and policies within the last few decades, accountable, restrained leadership and more determined action on the part of donor states, are required in order to prevent the Agency from further exemplifying this.
 
It is thus far presumed UNRWA did not act in any way contrary to their orders. The UN has not as yet condemned a mutiny from one of its agencies. Therefore it is quite clear that the arming of a terrorist group was a deliberate act, endorsed by the secretariat.   If this is not the case, if you, Mr Ban, do not wish your organisation to be party to terrorism, now is your opportunity to disband UNRWA, cut off its billion-dollar funding and pave the way for a world in which terrorists are isolated and condemned, rather than armed and facilitated by UN agencies.  And in the end, you, Mr Ban, will be heralded for having rooted out the worst of the United Nations. You will leave an idealistic organisation that has been hi-jacked a slightly less soiled place than you found it.
 
Of course, the unnamed diplomat knows all this quite well; nobody who’s been conscious for the past seven years could be ignorant of who really rules Gaza. The diplomat was simply contorting the facts to avoid admitting that UNRWA gave lethal weapons to Hamas–which both America and Europe deem a terrorist organization–because financing an agency that gives arms to terrorists would violate both American and European law. In other words, admitting the truth would require them to stop funding UNRWA, which neither America nor Europe wants to do.  In reality, UNRWA should have been defunded long ago, given both its role in perpetuating the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the fact that its enormous budget comes at the expense of other refugees, like the Syrians, whose need is far greater. But by turning rockets over to Hamas, UNRWA has lost its last shred of pretense to being a “humanitarian” agency. It’s high time for Congress to pull the financial plug.
 
Doctor Erik Fosse arrived in Gaza last week with an Israeli visa. Along with Doctor Maids Gilbert, he has become the benign face of the last Hamas war against the Jewish State.  These doctors are not humanitarians, but warriors, fighters and militants. They stand with Hamas in the Gazan Shifa hospital with the complicity of Norway's institutions and the European Union, knowing that Hamas leaders and weapons are hidden in a bunker under the hospital.  During the Cast Lead Operation, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas terrorists took over an entire ward of Fosse's hospital during the war in order to stay safe. 10 Gaza hospitals were used by Hamas during Operation Cast Lead to shelter weapons and terrorists.
 
Max Steinberg, a Golani brigade sharpshooter enlisted in the IDF in December 2012. He was originally from Los Angeles, California and was living in Beersheba.   Steinberg was killed in action overnight on Sunday when the Golani Brigade operated extensively in the Gaza Strip.
 
The Jewish community of a south Texas beach town was in mourning on Sunday after it was informed that one of its sons was among the Israeli troops that fell in a bloody Gaza battle on Saturday night.  Sergeant Nissim Sean Carmeli, 21, had moved to Ra’anana from South Padre Island (population 2800, Jewish population 75), where his family moved from Israel over twenty years ago. His parents are Alon and Dalya Carmeli.
 
Staff Sgt. Moshe Malko named as one of the 13 Golani soldiers killed in action  (Sgt. Malko was from African descent, a Black Jew - Apartheid?)
The IDF on Monday announced that Staff Sgt. Moshe Malko, 20, from Jerusalem, was among the 13 Golani soldiers killed in action in Gaza early on Sunday morning.   Malko will be laid to rest at 4 p.m. Monday at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem. Malko was promoted to Staff Sgt. from the rank of Sgt. following his death.  Yosef Hailo, a brother-in-law of Moshe, described him as “a courageous young man” who was always ready to support others.
 
For two decades, Israel has somewhat accepted civilian casualties as a result or rocket fire or terror attacks, but it has had a tough time accepting the loss of soldiers on the front line. Despite the heartbreaking pain over these soldiers' deaths, Operation Protective Edge has, in a way, set things straight -- soldiers protecting civilians, not vice versa.   In that respect, the Golani Brigade has always been at the forefront -- the first to fight and first to pay the price. This has been true for the Yom Kippur War, for the first and second Lebanon wars, for Operation Defensive Shield and for Operation Cast Lead, and this was true on Sunday as well.   The Golani Brigade was the last to enter Gaza this time, but naturally, it was assigned the most complex and dangerous mission. Sunday saw the brigade undertake a dual effort: on the front line, fighting in Gaza; and on the homefront, preparing for 13 funerals.
 
(This is an Arab commander in the Israeli Armed forces. How's that for Apartheid?)
Overnight Alian lost 13 of his fighters and sustained light to moderate wounds in fierce fighting in northern Gaza’s Shuja’iya area, a Hamas stronghold and the source of no less than 10 tunnels and some 140 rocket strikes against Israel.
“I have a lot of soldiers over there and I need to get back to them,” Alian told doctors at Beersheba’s Soroka Medica Center, according to Israel’s Ynet news site.
“My son asked me, ‘why did he (Raslan) go into Gaza?’”, Shirin said, and answered, “because he has to serve as an example.”
 
The IDF operation in the Gaza Strip is progressing according to plan, and the army's achievements “are better than expected,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday.   Netanyahu';s comments came during security deliberations with Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gatnz, and OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Sami Turgeman at an IDF base in the south.
 
At a press conference shortly before news of the deaths of 13 IDF soldiers overnight Saturday was released, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said that the army was determined to complete its mission of restoring quiet to southern Israel by delivering a devastating blow to Hamas' military capabilities.
A substantial blow had already been delivered, Gantz told reporters. Responding to questions about what the IDF had accomplished in its ground invasion of Gaza, Gantz said that Saturday had been a difficult day for Israel, with heavy losses, but that things were much worse for Hamas. The terror organization has been badly hit, and is rapidly losing its ability to inflict harm on Israel. “We intend to continue the campaign until Hamas is no longer able to harm us,” Gantz said.


Gantz added that the IDF had done everything possible to protect civilians, including warning them four days in advance that the army planned to enter the neighborhood. “I truly feel bad for the civilians who are in harm,s way,” Gantz said. “We have to do the moral thing by them and warn them in advance to give them an opportunity to get out of harm's way, but if they refuse to do so we cannot allow their presence to prevent us from carrying out our missions. We also have a moral obligation to Israelis to protect them, and we intend to accomplish that.
 
In a press conference Sunday evening, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz discussed how IDF soldiers warned residents of the Shejaiya neighborhood in Gaza to evacuate the area, providing Hamas with advance information on where the IDF would strike.   As a result, Hamas terrorists had time to prepare to “greet” soldiers, preparing traps, ambushes, and attacks - essentially sacrificing Israeli soldiets for the safety of Gaza civilians. That, said Likud MK Moshe Feiglin, is unacceptable; Israel should not be sacrificing its soldiers for the safety of Gaza residents, supporters of Hamas who voted to put the terror group in control of Gaza.  “The blood of ours sons is precious and we must not endanger it for nothing,” said Feiglin. “We must force the enemy to surrender. We have to stop supplying them with electricity, food, and all other supplies until they surrender and disarm.
“We hope and pray that the injured soldiers who sacrificed themselves will get better,” said Feiglin. “These are the times when we must demand that the illogical pity we have for our enemies is put to an end,” he added.
 
The IDF on Monday released photos and videos that offered irrefutable proof that Hamas terrorists were indeed using civilian neighborhoods and facilities – including hospitals – to fire rockets at Israel. The IDF spokesperson released the materials on its Twitter account Monday afternoon.   Israel has long insisted that Hamas uses Gaza civilians as human shields, forcing them to remain in the line of fire so that they could be killed or injured by IDF troops. Hamas denies these charges, despite numerous photos and videos released by the IDF proving them.   A declassified photo posted on Twitter shows some locations of rockets and rocket launchers in the Shuja'iya neighborhood, placed on playgrounds, inside mosques and homes, and even in a cemetery. In addition, the photos show a missile launcher at the entrance to Al-Wafa Geriatric Hospital in the neighborhood.
 
The squads surfaced in Israel shortly after six in the morning. One squad, clad in what looked like standard military gear, emerged near Erez, on Israeli territory, several kilometers northeast of the Gaza city of Beit Hanoun. Surveillance soldiers spotted the infiltrators and summoned an aircraft to the area, the army said.   The aircraft opened fire, killing the gunmen. No Israelis were hurt in the battle.  “My understanding is that the Shin Bet security service provided an alert,” Lt. Col. Peter Lerner of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said of both cross-border attacks.

At the same time, a second squad of operatives emerged from either a separate tunnel or a more southeasterly branch of the same one. The squad surfaced near Kibbutz Niram and was not immediately detected. The squad fired an anti-tank missile at a passing Israeli army vehicle, apparently a jeep, and hit it, inflicting casualties on the soldiers within. The IDF did not initially provide details on the number of casualties and their severity. 
 
 
Photo of human shields - http://thisongoingwar.blogspot.ca/2014/07/21-jul-14-war-civilians-children-what.html

More breaking news on the Protective Shield war against Hamas terrorists launching rockets
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Tag.aspx/32846

IDF Blg - http://www.idfblog.com/
 
 
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