On
November 18, the Israeli army targeted Hamas' operational
communications arrays and antennas on the roof of two buildings -- the
Shawa Hussari and Al Shourouq towers. A number of foreign media outlet
offices were located on the lower floors of the Al Shourouq tower.
(Hamas has systematically placed strategic infrastructure and weapons
close to or within civilian buildings.)
Many
political advocacy NGOs active in the Durban strategy, including false
accusations during the 2008-09 Gaza conflict, immediately accused Israel
of deliberately targeting journalists and the foreign media. As in the
past, these statements provided highly incomplete factual information,
lacked context, and made allegations of "war crimes" and other legal
claims without any evidence.
NGO Monitor's analysis shows
· The
NGOs incorrectly declare that Israel acted unlawfully -- simply because
the buildings contained civilians. Under international humanitarian
law, if civilian objects are being used for military objectives, they
are indeed legitimate targets (attacks must comply with the rules of proportionality). This is particularly the case where combatants are exploiting those objects for cover, as Islamic Jihad members have.
· None
of these NGOs acknowledges that Al Aqsa and Al Quds TV are an integral
part of the Hamas military structure; that Al Aqsa is a Specially Designated Global Terrorist;
that channels are used by Hamas to transmit threats to the Israeli
civilian population; that they are used to incite genocide and war
crimes on the civilian population of Israel; that they are used to
indoctrinate and recruit child soldiers.
· Adalah
and Al Mezan falsely claimed that Israel was intending to "demolish the
'Al-Shoroq Tower'." The building was not demolished; rather, the IDF
issued statements that it was targeting installations on the roof of the
building, and based on video footage from the strikes, that is exactly
what the IDF did.
· Reporters
without Borders claimed that "these attacks constitute obstruction of
freedom of information," but there is no protection under international
law for Hamas to engage in incitement to violence or hate speech.
· The
Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), funded by European
governments, accused Israel of "a systematic crime to silence the press
and prevent journalists from reporting on the crimes that are being
committed by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza
Strip." This claim is wildly incongruous with the reality of hundreds of
media stories, blog posts, tweets, and other reports emanating from
Gaza.
· HRW's
Executive Director, Ken Roth, characterized these news outlets simply
as "pro-Palestinian." The failure to provide the full context is highly
deceptive and immoral.
· None
of the NGOs involved in this campaign possesses the expertise to
determine whether a military action was "indiscriminate." To make such
claims, they would need access to IDF military intelligence; specific
information known to the IDF commanders prior to the strikes, as well as
their intentions; knowledge of how the targets fit into the overall war
effort; location of Hamas installations, combatants, and weapons; among
many other factors.
No comments:
Post a Comment