From July 8 till August 26, 2014 war raged in Gaza. About 2251 Palestinians and 72 Israelis were killed in the conflict.
To remember the war let us take a look at
the opinion columns of Arutz Sheva, an Israeli media outlet that caters for national religious Israeli Jews. A
previous post had an outline of the columns but let us take a look at what was said by this media outlet at the time of this deadly conflict.
May peace soon come to the Holy Land.
***
July 1-5, 2014
One columnist complains that the truces made with Hamas in Gaza grants legitimacy to Hamas.
Israel's frenzied foes, twisted by Jihad, and unwittingly sustained by yet another misguided American president, will never act in the considerate manner of Achilles. The Palestinian aim is not the high-minded revitalization of some respected enemy. It is, rather, the literal "liquidation" of a thing.
Periodically, Israel and Hamas agree to a “ceasefire." But Hamas is a terrorist organization under international law, and not a legal personality with which any sovereign state may properly enter into authoritative war-limiting or war-terminating arrangements. By regularly entering into such an asymmetrical and damaging "truce,” therefore, Prime Minister Netanyahu would continue to enhance the legitimacy and operational effectiveness of Israel's criminal adversaries. (Link.)
One writer said the rise of ISIL means a Palestinian state can never be created as it will become like Iraq. In other words a two state settlement is not wanted. (
Link.)
One writer associates Muslims with terrorists.
Call the enemy what you like – radicals, fundamentalists, Islamic terrorists, jihadists, or, historically, just plain Muslims. (Link.)
One writer expressed hope that Israeli soldiers would kill those responsible for the abduction and murder of the three.
I am a bundle of tears and
anger. One moment, the tears win out. The next, the anger burns so
brightly. I want...I want to hurt them so badly - for the psychological
torture they once again inflicted on Israel and on these three precious
families. For the pain they have caused these precious families. For
changing three families forever. For breaking the hearts of three
mothers, if not their souls. I want to flatten their homes, their
cities, their world. I want to curse their god, in whose name they say
they acted. Endless are the things my brain can think of in these
agonizing hours.
We will cry, we will mourn. We, unlike
them, don't kill innocents; we don't wage war on children. We are not
cowards. We don't hide behind our women and children. We don't - they
do. ...
I hope, I pray, I beg our soldiers to kill you in the firefight that
will come. And so the next message is to Israel's soldiers. Please,
please find a way. I don't care what the world says now - let them die.
We have no death penalty in Israel; the only one we have ever put to
death in 66 years is Adolf Eichmann for crimes against the Jewish
people.
So please, find a way, this time, let them die. Don't
bring them to "justice", to Israel's courts. They'll be convicted and
sentenced to life in prison - where their wives will come visit and
they'll breed more children in hate. They'll study in prison and get a
university degree and they'll watch the World Cup. And then some stupid
Israeli leader will release them for another kidnapped victim...or
worse, the bodies of the kidnapped victims.
In those seconds when the battle rages, may your aim be true. (Link.)
One writer complains about the BDS movement. (
Link.)
Some writers complained that President Obama did not fully support the State of Israel during the search for the abducted three.
So far, the administration's response to the crisis has been deeply
disappointing. Despite the kidnappings, President Obama continues to
recognize and support the Palestinian Authority-Hamas unity regime. The
annual U.S. aid package of $500-million to the Palestinian Arabs
continues, even though Hamas is now indirectly benefiting from that
aid.
Worse, the administration did not fully take Israel's side
in the pursuit of the kidnappers. In the midst of the ordeal, the State
Department called on Israel to show "restraint" in its actions against
Hamas. President Obama, in his statement following the discovery of the
bodies of the three victims, called on "all parties" to refrain from
steps that would "destabilize" the situation. Such language has always
been a thinly-disguised code word for urging Israel to go easy on the
terrorists. (Link.)
One writer talks about an Israeli doctor saying he does not want to treat Palestinians anymore. (
Link.)
One writer complains that a checkpoint was removed in 2013. It is implied that if the checkpoint remained the three would not have been abducted. (
Link.)
Some writers talked about mourning for the three. (
Link.)
One writer talks about Sderot and the problem of rockets shot at them from Gaza. Only a political settlement can end this state of affairs. (
Link.)
One writer reflects on the murder of the three. (
Link.)
July 6-12, 2014
In the early morning of July 2, 2014 Mohammad Abu Khdeir, a sixteen year Palestinian of East Jerusalem, was murdered by Israeli extremists. His burnt body was discovered in a park. Angered by this murder a riot occurred in which a train station was burnt. One would think it was a spontaneous response to a grisly murder of a sixteen year old boy.
One writer asserts the riot was a vast international conspiracy involving the BDS movement in Israel and overseas and as the opening strike of war.
I have no doubt the BDS leaders in the US cooperated with the Arab
Mafia to attack the train and vandalize it. This was done to make the
international owners throw up their hands and leave. Wars are
traditionally fought by destroying the opposition’s infrastructure such
as trains, from the air or with ground troops.
The riots closing down the train for months were no less a military strike, a new manner of warfare - and Israel once again fell for it.
The
riots over the 16 year-old Arab boy were coordinated with the BDS
Movement in Israel and abroad. Watch the BDS leaders in the US and
Israel boast now how they got the light rail system closed down
suggesting they persuaded international corporations to quit the Jewish
state over phony “human rights violations.”
It was nothing less
than a bombing attack with the bombs replaced by the ISM and paid Arab
rioters, and Israel still has n’t understood this. The real losers, as
with the buses, are the Arabs who can’t get to work and who will be
incited by their leaders that it’s the fault of the Jews and that Israel
must become Palestine at all costs. (Link.)
One writer asserted that many journalists are terrorists.
Blame Israel first. Then seek the facts. That is how it works
among reporters covering the Middle East. Better yet, forget the facts.
Appeal to the emotions. This means, play it up for the cameras. So
believe this -- without the cameras there would be no riots, other than
the usual Arab anger about everything worldwide.
The
rioters know when it’s Showtime. Lights, camera, action – and now let
the stampede begin. Ready whenever you are, Mr. DeMille. ... In Israel, terrorists and journalists work as a team. I will go so far a
to say that therefore many of these journalists are themselves
terrorists. (Link.)
One writer complained about the scrutiny concerning the murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir.
The world's reluctance to expose and explicitly condemn the savagery so
prevalent among Arab societies, while zeroing in with a magnifying glass
on Israel's defensive actions, demanding that she maintain an
unsustainable level of respecting human rights - even when it conflicts
with the basic right of self- defense, only perpetuates the racist
bigotry of low expectations from Arab society. (Link.)
One writer complains about calls for restraint.
“Restraint,” begs our State Department, on “both sides.”
Considering that one of the “sides” in this is a horde of bus-bombing,
child-abducting thugs who think “martyrdom” means “dying while
committing mass murder,” it's difficult to imagine what sort of
“restraint” is applicable in any conceivable legal or ethical framework.
Frankly, I think it would show tremendous restraint on Israel's part if
we don't wake up tomorrow to find that Gaza has been turned into a
smoldering glow-in-the-dark crater! ...Not that I'm suggesting a course
of action – the fallout, both literal and political, make this option an
untenable one. (Link.)
One writer called for the Israeli settlements in Gaza to be restored.
Renewal of the "settlements" is the only response that may still deter the enemy. (Link.)
One writer asserted that the State of Israel is the weaker side. (
Link.)
One writer asserted both Fatah and Hamas have been disingenuous in negotiations with the State of Israel from the beginning of the Oslo Peace Process. (
Link.)
One writer warned Israel not to launch a ground war into Gaza because leaving Hamas to rule Gaza is advantageous for Israel, namely Hamas rule over Gaza means Israel does not have to rule the Palestinians in Gaza.
Nevertheless, Israel has no need for or interest in destroying the
Hamas government in Gaza, as that would lead to chaos and force Israel
to take care of one and a half million Gaza citizens, of whom not even a
minyan (quorum of 10 men) are pro Israel. On the contrary, the very
existence of the Hamas government in Gaza seves Israel, as then the
Palestinian Authority divides into two parts that prevent the
establishment of a Palestinian state that may turn out to be a Hamas
state – including Judea and Samaria.
He also mentions that Hamas offered terms for a ceasefire which were rejected by the State of Israel.
The Hamas movement,
gallingly, sets conditions for a ceasefire: free those freed in the
Schalit exchange, free the Hamas leaders that were arrested, remove the
naval siege on Gaza, remove the sea blockade and end the targeted
assassinations.
Israel has to reject Hamas conditions, if
only because an agreement with a terror organization lends it legitimacy
and is a surrender to terror that that invites further pressure. (Link.)
In other words the blockade itself fuels violence and instability. End the blockade and the situation will be different.
One writer complains about Sharon's decision to withdraw the settlers from Gaza in 2005. (
Link.)
One writer complains that Jews have a victim mentality. (
Link.)
One writer complains that Westerners do not know the geography.
Unmindful westerners do not understand the geography of Israel, the
'West Bank' and Gaza. They do not know that Gaza is not part of the west
bank, that there are no Israeli settlements in Gaza, that Gaza is not
occupied by Israel, that Gaza is not ruled by the PA, that Gaza is not
under the control of Abbas, that Gaza is ruled by Taliban-like
Jihadists. (Link.)
July 13-19, 2014
One writer asserts that the world hates Jews and the world loves to demonize Jews. He also writes the following about Baruch Goldstein, the extremist who murdered 29 innocent people on Abraham's grave. It was after this mass murder that Hamas began using suicide bombers against civilians. Hamas began using suicide bombers in 1993. At first it was against military targets. After Goldstein's massacre they began using them against civilians.
On December 6 [1993], Muslim terrorists gunned down Mordechai Lapid, one of
Goldstein's closest friends, as he was driving out through the town's
gate. Dr. Goldstein rushed to his friend and tried to revive him for
forty minutes, long after it was medically hopeless. Mordechai's son
Shalom also died of his wounds that day. Aaron Gross was kidnapped and
stabbed, waiting on a Hevron corner for his ride from yeshiva, and Dr.
Goldstein identified the body in an Arab hospital, where he bled to
death and was stabbed repeatedly. (Link.)
One writer slurs
Jewish Voice for Peace as an extremist organization.
This is a war between good and evil, light and darkness. Every decent
Jewish publication and group must reject this group, even if it means
losing revenue. ...
An organization called the Jewish Voice of Peace (JVP) has issued a
letter which says that the issue in the Middle East is “rooted in the
idea that Jewish lives matter more than Palestinian lives.” The note –
which they plan to place in ads in Jewish newspapers including The Forward – continues “I’ve seen terrified Palestinian children in Hebron and Halhul, sitting on the ruins of their homes.”
Their
so-called “Open Letter” claims that the Israeli government “created
this situation. For weeks, the government knew that the three kidnapped
teenagers were dead. But they instituted a gag order on the media, lied
to Israelis and the world, and falsely claimed the mass arrests and
collective punishment of Palestinians was all in the hopes of finding
the teenagers alive.”
Shameful, hateful rhetoric. Akin to blaming
America for the WTC bombing, these conspiracy theorists must be
rejected. While this shameful organization does not reveal the source of
their funding, they have previously described themselves as the “Jewish
wing” of the Palestinian solidarity movement. ...
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) counts among its objectives an end to U.S.
aid for Israel (because of Israel's "repressive policies") and the
success of boycott and divestment campaigns against Israel.” (Link.)
The topic about what was known about the three young Israelis who were abducted and murdered by a rogue cell of Hamas on June 12, 2014 was mentioned
here and
here.
One writer (Arutz Sheva's founder) asserted that a ground invasion of Gaza was necessary.
I am keenly aware that a ground invasion will expose IDF soldiers to
increased danger. My son recently became an IDF tank commander and may
be among those to enter Gaza. But the lack of a ground invasion empowers
our enemies, diminishes our sovereignty, and will, in the long run,
cost Israel more money, terrorist attacks and blood. (Link.)
One writer says that the United States want to war so Israel should as well. (
Link.)
One writer discusses Sharon's withdrawal from Gaza. (
Link.)
One writer said that what happens to Israel's happens to the entire world. (
Link.)
July 20-26, 2014
One writer complains about Geraldo Rivera saying that Israel had lost moral authority with the war in Gaza. (
Link.)
One writer complains that some Europeans are doctors in Gaza. The writer labels them "warriors, fighters and militants" and compares them with the Nazi doctors who participated in the Holocaust.
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. ...
Fosse, Gilbert and all the other European "humanitarians" are not
exemplary doctors who dedicate their lives to help humanity. They are
not the heirs of Albert Schweitzer who funded a hospital in Lambarenè.
They remind me of Heinrich Willerman, Hans Eisele and Aribert Heim,
three Nazi doctors who made atrocious experiments on the Jews and found
shelter in the Arab-Islamic regimes.
Like Fosse and Gilbert, they
were anti-Semitic executioners in white coats, like the doctors of the
Red Cross, who visited Theresienstadt during WWII and reported that Jews
were treated well. Now the same organization demonizes the Jews
defending themselves in Gaza. (Link.)
One writer complains about Netanyahu negotiating with Hamas.
Israel has made one terrible mistake during Operation Protective Edge by negotiating with Hamas. The discussion of a “cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians” means that Israel has de facto negotiated with Hamas. Publicly Israel won't recognize it, but who exactly did Prime Minister Netanyahu accept a cease-fire proposal from? Is it not Hamas? (Link.)
One writer complains about the BBC's coverage of the war in Gaza. (
Link.)
One writer complains about UNICEF. (
Link.)
One writer complains about Federal Aviation Authority and some European nations ordering civilian aircraft to stop going to Israel to protect them from possible problems caused by the war. (
Link.)
One writer discusses the discovery of tunnels unknown to the Israelis and the cancellation of flights to Israel because of the war. (
Link.)
Some writers complained that Mahmoud Abbas supported the ceasefire terms proposed by Hamas.
And here's what it received in return: Abbas's PLO announced on July 23
that it completely supports all of the extremist conditions that Hamas
has set for a cease-fire: The release of hundreds of Hamas terrorists
imprisoned in Israel; the lifting of the Israeli blockade of Gaza (so
that Hamas can import more Iranian rockets, plus lots of cement to build
more terror tunnels); and huge amounts of international aid, which of
course will go straight into the pockets of corrupt Hamas and PA
officials. (Link.)
One writer complains about an open letter published in the Lancet by doctors present in Gaza.
Just this month, for example, the British medical journal Lancet
further degraded its academic respectability and credibility by
publishing something entitled “An open letter for the people in Gaza,”
signed by 24 doctors and scientists. In the language of propaganda and
politics—as opposed to the reasoned language of science and
academically-based inquiry—the signers had as their purpose “denouncing
what we witness in the aggression of Gaza by Israel.”
These
doctors and scientists, none of whom has had to live under an unceasing
barrage of more than 10,000 rockets and mortars launched from Gaza into
Israel, nevertheless denounced what they see as “the perversity of
[Israel’s] propaganda that justifies the creation of an emergency to
masquerade a massacre, a so-called ‘defensive aggression.’” Instead, the
signers believe there is no basis for Israel’s self-defense, that it is
actually no more than “a ruthless assault of unlimited duration,
extent, and intensity” and an “unacceptable pretext of Israel
eradicating political parties and resistance to the occupation and siege
they impose.” (Link.)
July 27-August 2, 2014
One writer implies that criticism of Israel during the war is motivated by anti-Semitic hatred. (
Link.)
An interview is published which denounces the "extreme bias" of the New York Times against the State of Israel. (
Link.)
The Minister of Agriculture called for the IDF to deliver a knock out blow against Hamas. (
Link.)
One writer talks about anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism in the Netherlands in 2013. (
Link.)
One writer complains that journalists are too harsh to Israeli interviewees.
Occasionally I come across video clips of interviews conducted with Israeli spokesmen by the major Broadcast media such as BBC and CNN.
In most cases, I have been shocked and appalled by the aggressive
hostility displayed against the Israeli interviewee. Such
confrontational interviews are not only a violation of basic rules of
courtesy, but are a violation and perversion of the basic concepts of
journalism taught in an introductory course. A journalist should should
not be displaying hostility and bias against an interviewee who
responded to an invitation to appear on the program. A journalist has
the responsibility of providing unbiased and accurate information to
readers and viewers.
First of all, it isn't a fair
fight to begin with. The media correspondent was chosen for the job
partially because of his superb skills with the English language and
verbal expression. In contrast, the Israeli interviewee usually does
not have English as his dominant language. (Link.)
One writer calls for economic aid to Gaza to be stopped.
The developing international consensus to offer Gaza an economic
package in order to convince Hamas to agree to a ceasefire is immoral
and a strategic folly. It is also unlikely to be effective.The developing international consensus to offer Gaza an economic
package in order to convince Hamas to agree to a ceasefire is immoral
and a strategic folly. It is also unlikely to be effective. ...
It is true that Gazans are suffering. Nevertheless, it is wrong to
argue that the Gazans should not suffer the consequences of Hamas’
criminal actions. Unfortunately, Hamas was popular among the Gazans and
continues to be so. Moreover, all polls show that Gazans support
violence against Israel.
What moral justification exists for
helping people that support an organization intent on destroying the
Jewish state and is actively engaged in killing innocent Israeli
citizens? (Link.)
Some writers expressed hope that
The Washington Post would compel President Obama to be more favorable to the State of Israel. (
Link.)
One writer talks about the humanitarian ceasefire in place. (
Link.)
One writer talked about World War I and its negative effect towards Jews in Europe. (
Link.)
August 3-9, 2014
One writer discussed anti-Semitism in the Netherlands. (
Link.)
One writer mused that the State of Israel was afraid to win the war against Gaza.
Hamas is winning when its heads are safe under a Gaza hospital or a Doha hotel.
Hamas is winning when Israeli commentators and politicians believe that it cannot win the war, but just manage it. Israel is afraid of winning. ...
63 Israelis so far have given their life in this war against Hamas. Look at their faces. They are younger than me, but all of them protected the entire State of Israel and its people.
They are French, American, Moroccan, British, but all of them are Israelis.
It is not that Hamas is stronger than Israel. It isn't. Maybe it is that Israel isn't willing to sustain as many casualties as Hamas is.
The life of a single Israeli soldier is worth more than the lives of 100 terrorists. Brave Jews have been killed by Muslim cowards. They are the heroes of this war. (Link.)
One writer vilified the Obama Administration. (
Link.)
One writer asserts that President Clinton once squandered an opportunity to apprehend the current leader of Hamas' armed wing. (
Link.)
One writer proclaimed Islam to be the enemy of the United States. (
Link.)
One writer condemns Jews who expresses sympathy with the Palestinians in Gaza. (
Link.)
One writer labelled negative coverage of the State of Israel's conduct in the war as a "media pogrom". (
Link.)
One writer condemned President Obama for not being pro-Israel enough for his tastes citing an interview with the
New York Times. (
Link.)
August 10-16, 2014
One writer complains about the foreign doctors operating in Gaza.
Now that a respected international organization of doctors has accused us of war crimes, we will not fall from our chairs if it also embraces the claims of a Hamas spokesmen who said that the IDF was told to obtain the blood of Palestinian children in order to bake bread. Of course, we'll tell them. Of course we have to bake our pitas with Palestinian blood, it's so that the Palestinian spleens and hearts that we reaped in the last blood libel won't be rejected when we use them for transplants.
And if those international doctors hate us, let them. When we report about the rocket arsenals under Gaza's Shifa Hospital, they don't believe us. But if Hamas decides to aim a rocket barrage at an Israeli hospital and hits it, they will contend that it was a legitimate operation against the pocket knives that one can find on patients in the hospital's Emergency Room.
The writer also says arms were found in UNRWA schools.
The UN is simply not a factor in our mindset anymore. Now that rockets
were found under and inside three UNWRA schools, we have a sneaking
suspicion that the organization is arming itself against an attack on it
by UNICEF or UNIFIL. The most the UNWRA people were willing to do up
to now is to hand over the Qassams to the Palestinians and ask to get
them back signed by a parent.
The writer also insinuates that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon is worse than Hamas.
We all know how to parrot the mantra that if Hamas falls, we will get
something worse in its place, but it is quite possible that the
something worse is Ban ki-Moon. (Link.)
One writer complains about Geraldo Rivera saying the State of Israel had lost its moral authority.(
Link.)
One writer talks about Muslims in France. (
Link.)
One writer complains about an advertisiment by a Jewish organization in the Netherlands as being insufficiently pro-Israel. (
Link.)
Some writers discuss Governor Andrew Cuomo's decision not to accept an invitation by the Palestinian Authority for a visit to the West Bank. (
Link.)
One writer talks equates Hamas as worth less than animals.
Israel just came out of another war against terrorists whose value is
less than that of animals. Do you know of any animal species sheltering
behind its own children?
But the Jewish State, despite its media,
its cynical politicians, establishment, once again showed the world it
is the best humanity has to offer. (Link.)
August 17-23, 2014
One writer compared the IDF to various Biblical personages. (
Link.)
August 24-31, 2014
One writer argued that even the IDF had fought a war against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad he asserts that Fatah is the most dire threat. (
Link.)
One writer condemned an ad by Jewish Holocaust survivors in the New York Times that criticized Elie Wiesel's advocacy for the State of Israel. (
Link.)
One writer muses how to stop money being sent to Hamas. (
Link.)
One writer ridicules attempts to gain a ceasefire. (
Link.)
One writer complains that Hamas was the real winner of the war. (
Link.)
***
May peace soon come to the Holy Land.
