The Guardian's Gaza reports
Lying by omission
The Guardian is at it again, hiding the inconvenient truth with this headline: "Israeli strikes kill at least 38 in Gaza." Hamas is not mentioned once - they don't even bother with a Hamas fig leaf. Then we find the truth about this 'strike' hiding under a photo and a caption: 'Relatives of Palestinians killed after Israeli airstrikes on a school in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Sunday.'
After the headline, it qualifies the ‘strikes’ thus: "Israeli warplanes launched a wave of strikes in Gaza on Sunday.” So, again, in an indirect way, we learn that the attacks were on different sites. Notice the use of ‘warplanes’ to somehow legitimise attacks on schools and refugee camps - it’s all part and parcel of war, you see - it’s not what it might look like, the IDF trying to bump off as many innocent civilians as they can.
Then, confusingly, the twice mentioned ‘38’ killed (once in the headline and once in the body of the report) killed becomes a much bigger number: ‘According to the health ministry in Gaza, 80 people were killed and 304 wounded in Israeli attacks there over the last 24 hours.’ In just one day’s ‘work’ 80 innocent civilians killed (we have to assume they were civilians as western newspapers and the IDF are always quick to point out Hamas casualties) If this becomes a daily rate, then we get into over 1,000 civilian fatalities a month, so a more appropriate headline would be ‘No let up in Israel’s genocide as 80 Palestinian civilians killed by air strikes.’ Given that the IDF’s enemy, Hamas, operates purely on the ground waging guerilla warfare, it is safe to assume that it knows that conducting air strikes, especially when they hit schools, refugee camps and other places where civilians are gathered, is only going to ‘take out’ civilians, not Hamas operatives. It’s safe to assume ‘The Guardian' knows this too but is so afraid of or beholden to the Israeli authorities that it writes these mealy-mouthed reports which whitewash the truth of these events instead.
I just wrote a long reply on this to you, which I just managed to lose! Anyway, perhaps better, as it can now be concise. I couldn't agree more with you. As for 'The Guardian' lying, perhaps we could agree on 'obfuscation'. Whatever we call it, I'm sure we can both agree it's unhelpful, muddies the waters, which are absolutely clear. 'Shooting fish in a barrel' is a perfectly apt metaphor, too. Finally, though, I take your point: we mustn't let ourselves be distracted from who is committing the crimes in Gaza (but let us not forget the West Bank where Palestinians are being killed in significant numbers despite not being involved in October 7th). However, with the US ramping up sanctions on Iran for the crime of defending itself from Israel's attack and for not having nuclear weapons, I am not hopeful of sanity prevailing soon. Finally, I agree with your point about Palestinian 'terrorists', that there would be no Hamas and their like, if Israeli terrorists hadn't either massacred Palestinians or driven them out of their homes at the point of a gun in the Forties. I saw a video of an interview with the pro-Palestinian Israeli activist, whose father had been very high up in the Israeli army in the early days, who refused to condemn the Palestinian suicide bomb attack as terrorism even though it led to the death of his niece - he laid the blame entirely on Israeli governments for creating the conditions which led to desperate acts.
I beg to differ. 57,000 people have now been killed in Gaza, and I don't think they are all Hammas fighters; in fact, I know they are not. I don't think the Guardian is 'lying', and if they are, the lies are small compared to those put out by Netanyahu, Trump and others. To 'Bibi' and his crew of fascists, the people of Gaza are 'human animals' (sic). Before the genocide in Rwanda, the Tutsis were referred to as 'cockroaches'. This demeaning language goes hand in hand with genocide.
Israel always says 'but Hammas uses women and children as human shields', but that is nonsense, and an old, pathetic excuse. There is nowhere for these people to go, no food to eat, no schools, no hospitals. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Too much smiting Old Testament style. It's disgusting. Sorry, but that's my opinion, and it may be worth nothing but I hold it.
Yes, 7th October was disgusting, but smashing a city with air raids, drones and missiles is far from heroic, and the death toll is horrific: especially of innocent women, children, olde people, sick people. Yet the deluded Trump blithely talks about relocating Palestinians, or creating a riviera ... oh dear, what utterly tone-deaf bollocks.
The first casualty of war is truth.
I for one am sick of seeing the death and outrageous destruction sanctioned by US, UK and indifference. I don't believe in the chosen race any more than I believe in Santa, and if this is sanctioned by 'God' I don't want a bar of that God.
If I had been born in Palestine, I'd be a terrorist.
Don't forget, there's been 75 years of occupation. Before that we had British rule... and Jewish terrorists.