Michael Oren
The displacement, injury and death of civilians in war always tragic, and the current fighting between Israel and Hamas in
Gaza is no exception. But unlike the vast majority of conflicts in history, Operation Protective Edge, as Israel
calls it, is one in which images of civilian suffering play a central - and potentially decisive - role in the outcome.
And
the reason is simple: More than a military strategy, Hamas has a media
strategy. Calculatingly, Hamas employs primitive military tactics to
mount a sophisticated media campaign that can threaten Israel
's basic
security. And in conducting that offensive, Hamas can count on one of
the world's most powerful weapons: the international media...
Throughout, Israel strives tirelessly to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties. Yet in spite of the hundreds of thousands of leaflets
Israel
dropped, the countless text messages and personal phone calls it made
warning Palestinian civilians to leave targeted areas, tragedies still
occur...
Hamas
gunmen carry out attacks disguised as women and old men, fight from UN
and Red Cross vehicles, store rockets in schools, and physically prevent
Palestinian civilians from fleeing combat zones. This context, though,
is rarely mentioned by the media when covering the civilian cost of the
fighting...
Above all, Hamas knows that shocking images - some of them taken from the carnage in Syria and
Iraq and even from Hollywood horror movies - inflame public opinion... (Against
Israel)
&the
international media is complicit in Hamas's plan. While some may think
they help the Palestinians by highlighting their plight, in reality, the
journalists only worsen it. They effectively absolve Hamas of
culpability for using Gaza
's
population as a human shield, of stealing its aid money to buy munitions
and dig fortified tunnels with the sole purpose of killing Israelis.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas are urging residents not to respond to the IDF's warnings to evacuate towns in Gaza
close to the Israeli border on Thursday, as the IDF gears up for a
possible ground offensive. Hamas's "Public Security Ministry" in Gaza
issued a statement praising "martyrs" who have become human shields:
"Our mighty people presented a unique example of steadfastness and
perseverance, and are not affected or fearful from the psychological
warfare from the Occupation. They did not respond to calls from the
Occupation to leave their homes - they stayed there and did not abandon
them... We applaud, in particular, the strength of our residents in
border areas..."
John Kerry gets together with Foreign Ministers of Qatar and Turkey
to produce Hamas-friendly cease fire proposal. The draft of cease fire agreement Kerry passed to Israel
on Friday shocked the cabinet ministers not only because it was the
opposite of what Kerry told them less than 24 hours earlier, but mostly
because it might as well have been penned by Khaled Meshal. It was
everything Hamas could have hoped for. The document recognized Hamas'
position in the Gaza Strip, promised the organization billions in
donation funds and demanded no dismantling of rockets, tunnels or other
heavy weaponry at Hamas disposal.
Food for Thought by Steven Shamrak
It took Ukraine
less
than one day to collect and present evidence to major international
players that Russian supported separatists, with the help of Russian
military personal, shot down Malaysian passenger plane MH17. At the same
time
Ukraine
also immediately conducted a press conference which was widely
broadcasted. In spite of all advance intelligence gathering capability,
Israel
is unwilling to fight anti-Israel accusations which have been
continuously made by PA and Muslim countries, with the help of
international media, even obviously fake or deliberately staged ones. Israel
,
due to political lack of national perspective and self-respect, loosing
propaganda war, is losing the propaganda war, which enemies of the
Jewish state are conducting so successfully!
Kerry and Ban in a Bid to Save Hamas from Defeat.
Monday night, July 21, US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Cairo
to press their case.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh El-Sisi told them he would not amend his
original ceasefire proposal to suit Hamas' demands.
Hamas Refuses Cease-Fire Efforts - Again
Hamas
continues to be uncompromising in its position regarding an
international cease-fire and rejected proposed cease-fire last
Wednesday. "We reject today and will reject in the future," Hamas
leader-in-exile Khaled Meshaal insisted.
Officials in Jerusalem
are quietly wondering whether the Federal Aviation Administration's
prohibition on US flights to Tel Aviv is partially a tactic to pressure
Israel into a cease-fire. The FAA's decision will likely impact the Israeli economy. The action, while temporary, tarnishes Israel'
s image around the world. Even if US flights resume after 24 hours, the
FAA decision sets the precedent for more flight bans in the coming days
in response to any rockets hitting near the airport. (Did US try to Intimidate Israel?)
Iran
and the group known as the P5+1 have agreed to a four-month extension
of negotiations toward a final comprehensive nuclear deal. "Diplomacy
takes time, and persistence is needed to determine whether we can
achieve our objectives peacefully," Kerry said. However, Iranian Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated that he had faith in Zarif (as a good procrastinator) and his negotiating team but also said
Iran must boost its enrichment capacity. (Does it mean that Iran
needs at least four more months to build bombs?)
For
the past 14 years, since the Oslo Agreement, French Jews have grown
accustomed to coming under attack during periods of conflict in the Middle East
from hostile elements within their countrys large Arab and Muslim
communities. One recent incident, however, stood out: the July 13 riot
by Palestinian sympathizers outside the Synagogue de la Roquette in
central Paris that trapped some 200 terrified people inside the building.
A street brawl ensued between the rioters and dozens of Jewish men who arrived to defend the synagogue.
Shots fired into Al Jazeera's office in Gaza. The attack came a day after Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was quoted by local media as saying that
Israel will work to close down Al Jazeera's operations in Israel. Al Jazeera "has abandoned even the perception of being a reliable news organisation and broadcasts from
Gaza and to the world anti-Israel incitement, lies, and encouragement to the terrorists," Lieberman said. (Al Jazeera is an Arab news network which has been conducting covert anti-Western propaganda and defamation of
Israel, but the network hardly reports anything from Saudi Arabia
, the greatest human rights abuser, and territory controlled by ISIS!)
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird condemned the fact that Hamas rockets were discovered in a UNRWA run school in Gaza
and returned to Hamas officials. "I was appalled to hear reports&
of stockpiles of rockets... Even more alarming were reports that in the
first case, officials with the United Nations returned these weapons to
Hamas, a listed terrorist organization, once Israeli officials
discovered their location."
The
Israeli government has slammed a decision by the United Nations Human
Rights Council to launch an investigation into the IDF's operations in Gaza
as "a travesty". "Rather than investigate Hamas, which is committing a
double war crime by firing rockets at Israeli civilians while hiding
behind Palestinian civilians, the UNHRC calls for an investigation of
Israel..." - a statement the Prime Minister's media adviser.
United Nations relief agency UNRWA has discovered, for a second time during the current war in Gaza
, Hamas terror rockets stashed in one of its vacant schools. "UNRWA has
reinforced and continues to implement its robust procedures to maintain
the neutrality of all its premises..." (What
a joke! For years the 'Ugly Nazi' allowed Hamas to use UN facilities as
weapon storage and paid terrorists salaries. As IDF is approaching, the
UN tries to show its fake neutrality.)
Quote of the Week:
"Barack Obama, of all people, wants to broker a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel
. Here's the thing. Nobody asked him. His offer is just more
not-so-subtle pressure upon the Jewish state. Essentially, Obama wants Israel to stop defending herself. Obama has been on a jihad against
Israel ever since he took office. He is deeply, deeply anti-Israel." - Pamela Geller
, an American blogger, author, political activist, and commentator.
Prevailing Threat to Jewish Nation
by Steven Shamrak
They say "when in Rome
do what Romans do!" Unfortunately, for almost 2000 years too many Jews
have been following this saying, creating great existential danger to a
nation of the
Chosen people.
Assimilation is a common issue that many minor ethnic and cultural groups face when they are conquered by or interact with
dominant national or religious cultures. Quite often, it leads to
complete absorption into the governing societies - complete
disintegration and disappearance of the unique culture of the minor
ethnic or religious population.
Since
its inception the Jewish people have continuously been exposed to this
kind of existential threat from many dominant kingdoms and religions.
Though
the history many Jews have been abandoned the membership of the unique
nation under duress or willingly, adopting the culture of the rulers -
during the time of ancient
Egypt, Babylonian exile, Roman Empire, Christian Crusaders and
Inquisition, as well as during and after the horrors of the Holocaust.
Many of our brothers and sisters yielded to the threat of extermination
or have surrendered to a temptation of better and more prosperous life
or the illusion of personal safety if they confirm to the anti-Semitic
dominance of Christian or Muslim neighbours.
During the Roman Empire, almost 2000 years ago, the Jewish population
was 8 million, similar to the population of the Han ethnic majority of China which is around 1.2 billion now. Since the end of WWII, Jewish
population has remained almost the same, around 12 million. The
population of many other nations have tripled or quadrupled at the same
time!
The biggest drawback of Jewish assimilation is the fact that many Jewish
converts into Christianity or Islam, or the ones who lost the knowledge
about their Jewish ancestry, due to the strong impulse to prove that
they are good 'Arians', became active participants of the anti-Semitic
drive that is often unleashed against Jews by dominating idiots. Some of
them have become leading Inquisitors, Communists, Fascists and even
Islamists!
For example, not long ago the most active anti-Semite, Csanad Szegedi
- a founding member of the Hungarian Guard far-right party, discovered
his Jewish roots. Before that he was elected into Hungarian parliament
on the neo-Nazi party ticket and wrote a highly anti-Semitcally charged
book.
The biggest threat to Israel and the future of the Jewish people is coming from the Jewish community of the
United States. It
is a six million strong, but divided and is weakened by the
assimilation and political apathy. As a result many of them have
subscribed to anti-Israel propaganda which has been successfully run by
the US
government and media. We must not forget that the similar level of complacency Jews had in pre-war Germany!
Jews
around the world need to realize this existential threat to all of us
from the current wave of assimilation. We need to regain self-respect,
pride and understanding of the uniqueness of the Jewish nation, which
has survived the enduring horror of persecutions.
Despite
of almost two millennia of discrimination and genocides, the Jewish
people have always been the vanguard and exceptional contributors to the
advancement of the host countries/kingdoms and to the progress of
humanity - from spirituality to successful trade/business and financial
blood-line of societies; from art to advancement of science and
technology!
In
order to secure the future of the Jewish nation and fulfill our destiny
we'll have to make tough but necessary decisions. Occupation of the
Jewish land must end and we have to stand up to international bigotry.
But to do so we need establish coherent unity of our own first!
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