And just in case you thought all things were quiet from the Gaza Strip. Ynet News:
Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing claimed responsibility for the mortar shells fired at Israel Wednesday morning. The shells exploded near the border fence in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council
No reason for the mortar shells were given so I expect it’s the old standby – because the Jews are over there. And remember the UN just released a report highly critical of Israel’s conduct of Operation Cast Lead based mostly on unsubstantiated claims and allegations from Gazans. The UN report was mostly silent on Hamas’ conduct during Operation Cast Lead and deftly avoided all the evidence which would cast Hamas in a less than a stellar light. No doubt the UN will conveniently ignore this barrage just like all the other barrages…
This morning I had another post all ready to go when I decided at the last minute to skim the headlines and found this one at the Globe and Mail.
JABALYA, GAZA STRIP — Most people remember the headlines: Massacre Of Innocents As UN School Is Shelled; Israeli Strike Kills Dozens At UN School.
They heralded the tragic news of Jan. 6, when mortar shells fired by advancing Israeli forces killed 43 civilians in the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The victims, it was reported, had taken refuge inside the Ibn Rushd Preparatory School for Boys, a facility run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
The news shocked the world and was compared to the 1996 Israeli attack on a UN compound in Qana, Lebanon, in which more than 100 people seeking refuge were killed. It was certain to hasten the end of Israel’s attack on Gaza, and would undoubtedly lead the list of allegations of war crimes committed by Israel.
There was just one problem: The story, as etched in people’s minds, was not quite accurate.
No doubt the ‘etching in the minds’ was caused by these kind of reports – like this one from France 24 when placed within the grasp of Jew-haters everywhere.
But the shorter story is there was no attack launched by the IDF on the Jabalya UN run school. No one inside the UN school compound was killed. Did the IDF public relations department fumble the ball when the first reports surfaced on an attack on a school where Gaza civilians had taken refuge? Absolutely, and in the fog which is war – it will always do so when it reacts to allegations rather than waiting for the smoke to clear and cooler heads to prevail. Think massacre at Jenin any one? The Israelis are in the untenable position of not only having to fight a battle in a war zone but also having to wage a PR battle simultaneously in the world’s media.
In other news, The Elder of Ziyon digs out a Palestine Press Agency report from April 2008 about tunnels being dug under a UNRWA school in the Gaza Strip. What an odd the world we live in.
In report meant to highlight the innate racism displayed by IDF soldiers in Operation Cast Lead Ynet News is reporting this:
A painful reminder for Operation Cast Lead remained evident in Gaza in the form of blatant, racist graffiti sprayed on houses’ walls by IDF soldiers. Residents of the Zeitun neighborhood who returned to their homes once the fighting in the region was over discovered that their walls had been sprayed with slogans such as “Die you all,” Make war not peace,” “Death to Arabs,” “Arabs must die,” and “One down, 999,999 to go.”
The IDF is currently conducting an investigation and promises to severely reprimand the ‘offender(s)’ but this smells surprisingly suspicious to me. While I am not suggesting it is out of the realm of possibilities for IDF soldiers to write racist graffiti. Although, this does suggest some Israeli soldiers had far too much time on their hands while allegedly engaged in fighting in hostile fire zone.
What does surprise me is the writers did so in English rather than in Hebrew or Arabic – the two official languages of the state of Israel. Israel does have a rather large well-educated population with a fluency in a multitude of languages but isn’t the point of the alleged soldier’s graffiti meant to convey a message to the predominately Arab residents of the Gaza Strip who overwhelmingly speak and read only in Arabic?
But it does make for a nice photo op for the international press. Let’s call it Pal-ffiti.
The story making waving in all the Israeli papers yesterday concerns the Golani commander of the 51st Battalion, who on the eve of leading his men in battle in the Gaza Strip, orders them to kill themselves rather than be kidnapped by Hamas et al. The IDF has finished its investigation of the commander’s ‘indiscretion’ and declined to prosecute the commander. Jerusalem Post
The IDF does not plan to bring disciplinary charges against a battalion commander from the Golani Brigade who told his soldiers that they needed to do everything possible to prevent being kidnapped during the recent operation in Gaza including blowing themselves up with a grenade.
In a tape recording of a briefing the commander of Battalion 51 gave his soldiers before entering Gaza during Operation Cast Lead the senior officer was heard saying: “Hamas’s strategic weapon is to kidnap a soldier and I don’t have to tell you but no soldier from Battalion 51 gets kidnapped at any price and under any situation even if it means that he has to blow up his grenade together with those who are trying to kidnap him.”
Kol HaKavod to the unnamed commander and why isn’t this man Prime Minister of Israel? Any man who can speak plainly to prevent a disaster which ruins or weakens the morale of the nation or the army should be.
If you have not tossed (or recycled) your ‘End the Gaza Holocaust’ or ‘Death to the Juice’, or ‘End the Zionists Occupation of Gaza’ signs – you might get another chance to use them. The Jerusalem Post:
An IDF non-commissioned officer was killed on Tuesday morning in a massive bomb attack by Gaza operatives along Israel’s border with the Strip. Another officer was seriously wounded and two soldiers were lightly hurt in the incident near the Kissufim crossing, the army said.
Following the attack, the IDF fired at several targets inside Gaza and IAF helicopters were spotted hovering over the Strip. Palestinians reported that IDF tank shells hit residential buildings, but no casualties were reported. Defense Minister Ehud Barak called the attack “severe” and promised an Israeli response. Barak, who was touring the Ze’elim base in the South, would not say what the nature or extent of the response to the attack would be.
And just in case you think this is strictly a one-off there is this little blurb of information tucked at the end of the article:
Last Tuesday, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on IDF soldiers in two separate incidents near the Gaza border, and eight mortar shells were also fired at southern Israel. No one was wounded and no damage was reported in the attacks.
Can I suggest all those protestors who carried signs saying ‘Free Gaza” or ‘Free Palestine’ add the line – ‘cause Hamas won’t’
This Reuters account of a mannequin found on the beach of the Gaza Strip has an intriguing implication for all those who think the IDF has lost any of innovative edge.
GAZA, Jan 20 (Reuters) – A mannequin discovered by Palestinians on a Gaza beach may have been used by Israeli forces as a decoy to draw fire from gunmen, an Israeli military expert said.
The head-and-torso figure, dressed in an army shirt and rigged with electric wires, was described by some Palestinians as a “robot” that had helped Israeli commandos storm ashore and kill 10 Hamas guerrillas during Israel’s 22-day Gaza offensive.
But Itay Gil, who trains various Israeli commando units, said the rubber dummy could have been used to dupe Palestinian snipers into opening fire so they could be identified and killed. “These dolls do exist in the Israeli Defence Forces, for the purposes of shooting drills and to simulate enemy emplacements,” Gil said. “It could be that this dummy was a decoy mounted on an Israeli boat or vehicle, to draw the first volley and deny the enemy the element of surprise,” he said. “Anything’s possible.”
An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the tactics used during the offensive, which was launched on Dec. 27 to counter Palestinian cross-border rocket salvoes.
My son suggested I not refer to it as a ‘robotic’ doll but a Joshua-type Action Figure.
According to this Reuters report picked up by Ynet News, we learn two things about the Gaza Strip. There is discontent and grumblings against the path Hamas had pursued, and so, the need for a very public display of force.
Hamas members have taken to the streets to act as traffic cops while Hamas security forces roam the roads in acts designed to show Hamas remains very much in administrative control of the Gaza Strip despite the ravages of a 22 day assault by the IDF which left most government buildings and infrastructure in ruins.
No doubt there will be calls in the coming weeks for more international aid to ‘rebuild’ the Gaza Strip, and the appeals will display and exploit to the nth degree all manner of wretchedness, however; how will Gazans ever learn to build a functional civil society when they never learn to pay the piper for themselves?
So I cajoled my oldest son to go to the Toronto 4 Israel rally held a few minutes away from our home in the downtown. At one point, the rally organizers announced there was approximately 1,000 people in attendance…which I thought a little on the large size for the crowd I was walking around but who am I to argue?
These two young students greeted us upon entering – although I didn’t snap their picture until we left. Initially, the young women were hesitant to allow me to take their pictures for my blog. They quizzed me on the ‘kind of blog’ I have. I admit my answers were a trifle vague – along the lines of mid-east politics, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinians. I did own up to having a short piece suggesting the truce was incredibly short-sighted by the Israeli political leadership. They warned me they would check it out to see if I was ‘lying’ or miss-using their pictures….my son remarked that the rally had the ‘hottest babes’ he had ever seen at a rally. Usually, I have dragged him out to ‘counter-protest’ at the Anti-Israel rallies which might explain the lack of ‘hot babes’.
While the Toronto Student demographic was large, there was a fair sprinkling of us older supporters.
I took this picture of a man who proclaimed Free Cubans supported the Israeli people 100%. Nice sentiment and can I get a “Viva Cuba liberté!”
Across the street from the square, the usual self-haters showed up with to flaunt their banners. Since these ‘Jews’ are in solidarity with Gaza – how come they don’t pack up and share Gaza’s fate?
In other news, the count is now 19 rockets have been fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip since the ‘ceasefire’ took effect.
Israel announces a unilateral ceasefire without any of its alleged military objectives been fully met but Olmert declares victory. Oh, yeah Gilad Shilat is still a prisoner of the Hamas run Gaza Strip.
I am barely awake and will post more on why this is another strategic defeat for Israel and one entirely of its own making. In the meantime, the Jerusalem Post reports 10 more missiles have been launched against Israeli civilians after the unilateral ceasefire has been implemented by the Israeli government. Some victory.
Abridging the Sultan Knish on Why We Choose Us
When rockets fall on Israeli towns, the press doesn’t run over to describe the carnage in loving detail or splatter photographs of gore across the evening news. The International Red Cross makes no condemnations, the UN has nothing to say, and the usual suspects who cry out against war crimes when we defend ourselves– are silent as stones.
That is why we choose us. Because no one else will. The lesson we have learned is that if we do not care for our children, no one else will. If we do not protect them, no one else will lift a hand to do it for us.
The grandfathers and fathers of the “People of Gaza” twice invaded us together with the armies of several Arab nations to wipe us off the face of the earth. They failed. Today their children are trying to help Iran finish the job they started. The world once again chooses them. The world wails over their suffering. The world demands that we let our children die, so that theirs may live to kills us. We refuse. We choose us.
(…)
We choose to live. We choose not to put our hopes in illusion or let a billion screeching voices dissuade us from doing our duty toward our own kith and kin. We chose to build a nation out of dust and rebuild generations lost in fields of ash and dirt. We built towns and cities out of swamps, we raised crops, we raised children, we built a future. And we will protect that future whatever else others may say. This is our land we will fight for it because it is our land, the land of our fathers and the land of our children. As our ancestors chose to lift the sword and the bow, rather than to bow before the Greek idol, we choose the rifle and the knife, rather than to bend our knees to the totems of liberalism. We will fight and we will prevail, because we choose to do it, unambigiously and unapologetically. We choose our future. We choose us.
Read it in full here.
