The media and their lies about Gaza

Palestinian protesters during clashes with Israeli forces near the Gaza-Israel border in Rafah, Gaza on May 14, 2018. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90 photo)

As of this writing, over 100 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded on the Gaza-Israel border. However, the deaths and injuries are not the fault of the IDF – they are a strategy engineered by the terrorist group Hamas.

But the fault also lies with the international media and many of the world’s diplomats, who aid and abet the very clever strategies that are being used by Hamas to gain attention and support for their cause – a cause that has the destruction of the State of Israel as its oft-stated goal.

Whether it’s Associated Press news reports, the opinion pieces, or editorials, the aggressive condemnation of Israel, with nary a reference to the real cause of this latest tragedy, is worse than irresponsible journalism. It is immoral to be knowingly aiding and abetting the strategy of a terrorist organization that is putting its own people, including women and babies, in harms way, without referencing Hamas’ intention to generate this outcome.

Lies are being reported and little or no perspective is being provided. Gaza is described almost as if it were part of Israel, with little or no reference to there being an international border between it and Israel. There is no talk of Israel’s voluntary withdrawal, the billions of dollars Hamas has spent on tunnels and armaments instead of building an economy, the destruction of critical infrastructure by the Palestinians, the thousands of rockets that landed in Israel some years back or the ongoing attempts of terrorists to infiltrate the Israeli border. All we get is misrepresentation and lies.

READ: TRUDEAU UNDER FIRE FOR GAZA COMMENTS

What is critical to understand is that if the truth were reported, Hamas’ strategy would not work and the protests would then stop. A responsible journalist would tell the truth accordingly: “Today, 62 Palestinians, 50 of whom were Hamas operatives, many with weapons, were killed after rioting on or over their border with Israel, accompanied by burning tires, some weapons, rocks and chants to ‘Kill the Jews.’ Israeli soldiers were forced to react, in order to prevent the rioters from flowing across the Israeli border with murderous intent to kill Israeli men, women and children. Despite all attempts by Israel to warn the Palestinians against putting themselves in danger, and despite the use of tear gas and rubber bullets where possible, Israelis had no choice but to respond defensively to these attacks. And while Israeli bullets did the damage, it is Hamas and its clear intent to put its own people in harms way that is to blame.”

And what of the young IDF soldiers on the Israeli side of the border who are forced into battle against the Hamas-inspired mob, in order to protect the Israeli citizens who live only a few hundred meters away? Are those young soldiers not permitted to act in ways that would reduce their own risk, and the risk to the families who they are defending?

The media reports these events in ways that support Hamas’ strategy by putting dead and wounded Palestinians on TV screens and the front pages of newspapers worldwide without context and without any semblance of balanced reporting. As a result, the media, together with those diplomats who call out Israel’s clear right to defend itself, including our own prime minister, and including UNRWA, which tells young Palestinians that they can expect to return to Israel, are collectively aiding and abetting Hamas. They are therefore complicit in the deaths of the very people for whom they profess to be speaking out for.

This article is not going to change the ways of the world – a world that cannot wait to pounce on the Jews in Israel whenever possible. And Israel may be forced to build a security fence around Gaza. Ironically, that fence will save many lives, virtually all of whom will be Palestinian. In the interim, if journalists, diplomats and politicians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, wish to save lives, and if they really care about peace, they should start telling the truth.