If you look at a map of the Middle East you can barely see Israel, being so small. Egypt next door is immense. Syria to the north is massive, Lebanon just big in a normal way. Jordan has some expanse and Saudi Arabia is vast. Move across to Iraq and Iran and even Turkey and Israel is literally dwarfed by the sheer volume of the Arab nations and their hundreds of millions of combined population, none of whom are, historically nor currently, in any way ‘pally’ with Israel. All of whom would really love to see that nation simply vanish.
So why are they all keeping so quiet about the current situation in Gaza?
Whereas here in the UK the entire population has been whipped up into a frenzy of Isreal-hatred by a biased and distorting press. Reports from Canada or Australia, they paint a very different picture. Of the very same events. Ok, they don’t have John Prescott over there (how sad they must all be) nor George Galloway, the poisonous one, nor Diane Abbot, Ed Milliband, Nick Clegg or Vince Sodding Cable. Any nation would be blessed not to have such luminaries of lunacy.
George Galloway has declared his constituency of Bradford ‘an Israel-free zone’. Because he’s taken Dead Sea face masks off the shelves in Boots and only buys hummus made in Wakefield and dates grown in Turkey. But has he banned i-phones and i-pads? The technology for which is all Israeli. How about every computer running a dual-core intel processor? Because every one of those sold (which is every computer built since 2 years ago) pays Isreal royalties. Has he banned pacemakers? Those clever little gadgets keeping the weak-hearted folk of Bradford alive; they’re Isreali created too. As are half the cancer drugs on the market as well as a whole host of other life-saving medications. Better not have any MRI scans either up there in Yorkshire, nor an ultrasound on your unborn child. All developed in Israel.
Even rabidly anti-semitic Lib Dem MP David Ward critisised Galloway and, in not so many words, called him a wanker. That was my interpretation of it anyway.
So why the silence, both verbal and in terms of possible military assistance, from all those powerful Arab nations, who you’d have thought would be rushing to their brothers’ side? All those nations who loathe democracy, who forbid free speech, who repress women, execute gays and therefore are the natural bedfellows of the British left-wing press. Hmmm… Is it just fear of American reprisal? Or is it that these nations actually see the bigger picture in a way that we in ‘the civlised west’ aren’t allowed to by that very same press? These nations fear America, as much for potential trade losses as military might, but what they really fear is the uprising of Islamic Extremism. As represented so beautifully by ISIS or whatever they’ve now decided to be called, who have invoked the wrath of even sleepy old Obama by mass-murders, evictions, beheadings and crucifictions across Iraq. And yes, innocent civilians may die due to American bombs but such things are inevitable and not (yet) just another example of American Imperialism from 6000 miles away.
Hamas are exactly the same as ISIS. They are internationally recognised as a terrorist organisation. They cynically arrange human shields because the results are so wonderfully media-friendly for them, particularly in England and France. But rather than being a safe, comfortable 6000 miles away, they live on Israel’s doorstep. And attack constantly. All day, and night, every day and night. With rockets made in Iran. Millions and millions of dollars worth of artillery, constantly. Not fireworks, not some home-made, mis-firing lame effort from Physics 101, but a rocket filled with explosives aimed not at military targets but at schools, hospitals, residential areas.
So Israel, as the only democratic, free, liberal country in the region, where women have rights, where gays can live (full stop) are hated by the press, and seemingly by everyone, for trying to rid itself of the evil that is Hamas. It would be like al Quaeda setting up camp in Cardiff.
What the BBC produce in terms of ‘news’ is one-sided and is predeterminedly ‘slanted’ with the assumption that Isreal is out to kill Gazan children. If you read or see reports from decent organisations its so much more even-handed, realistic and, dare I say, fair.
Never forget that Hamas were the ones cheering in the streets after 9-11.
No I’m getting off my milk crate; my legs are getting weary.
Happy Sunday
A xxxx
From Caron Flansberg
Dear Jon Snow
I watched with great interest your recent report from Shifa Hospital, as well as the additional piece on your return from Gaza.
As you rightly say to viewers “we have to know that in some way we actually share some responsibility for those deaths”. And let me say that I “did choose to watch” and I am indeed “motivated to do something”. That something is this…
Jon Snow, I accuse you of being complicit in the wilful and reckless endangerment and death of these same children and other innocents in Gaza.
I accuse you of aiding and abetting Hamas in their diabolical plan to manipulate world opinion by ruthlessly engineering the maximum possible death toll among their own civilian population, especially their children.
I accuse you of wilful negligence, professional misconduct, and abject failure to report the facts as they truly are.
Yes Jon, I watched your macabre, heart wrenching “infomercial” / “propaganda film”, which might have been written by Hamas itself.
I can’t say that I am surprised, as I remember how you described Hamas rockets in the past as “nothing more than fireworks, pretty harmless really”.
Well Jon, let us examine the facts as they truly are…
Four days ago, one of your harmless fireworks managed to kill 4 Israelis and wound 9. Last week your harmless fireworks killed a 32 year old father and wounded his whole family, leaving his three month old baby daughter fighting for her life and her four year old brother with serious shrapnel wounds. Your harmless fireworks also injured two sisters, one of ten years old currently fighting for her life in hospital and her thirteen year old sister wounded but recovering. That same harmless firework also injured an 81 year old disabled man.
Perhaps the saddest and most ironic examples of your harmless fireworks in action are two of many Hamas and Islamic Jihad rockets which misfired, one which hit the Shifa hospital killing 16 and the other hitting a playground in the Shati refugee camp killing 10 children. Indeed one of your colleagues, an Italian journalist has confirmed that it was a misfired Hamas mortar shell which hit the UN school killing another 17 and injuring countless others.
As an experienced reporter who wants his reports “to mean something”, surely they can only do so if they are honest, non-partisan and factual. In your report you purposely omitted key facts concerning the plight of innocents in Gaza and failed to provide important information which could put the desperate situation of these poor and unfortunate people into proper context.
You neglected to mention that Hamas and other terrorist groups have fired over 3000 rockets into Israel in an attempt to kill as many innocent women and children as possible. You scoff at Israel’s “American funded” Iron Dome missile defence system and almost lamented at its success in protecting Israeli innocents.
For the record, the Iron Dome anti-missile system came about through a combination of Israeli creativity, Israeli expertise, Israeli technical excellence and a desperate need and determination to protect Israeli citizens; Jews, Muslims, Christians.
In addition to the Iron Dome, the main reason that there have been so few Israeli casualties from these “harmless fireworks” is that currently, under fire from Hamas, around 3,000,000 Israelis are living in underground bunkers or reinforced concrete safe rooms. As figures go, that is equivalent to over 20 million people in the UK living in bunkers as they are bombarded by rockets day and night over a three week period. That would equate to the whole population of London and the South East of England hiding in fear from rocket fire. Indeed as you are well aware, since 2001 there have been over 15,000 rockets fired into Israel from Gaza.
Talking of figures, as you mentioned the US funding of Iron Dome, I fear you neglected to mention the billions in US, UN and European funds donated to the Palestinians in Gaza, which were not used as intended, to build schools and hospitals and create jobs, but rather were added to the considerable funding from Iran, Qatar and others in order to purchase and manufacture rockets as well as other weapons; and to build a massive underground terror infrastructure.
You also neglected to mention that the concrete, cement and steel allowed into Gaza by the Israelis under great pressure from the international community were not in fact used to build and improve the lives of ordinary Gazans, but were in actual fact used to build, underground bunkers for the storage and manufacture of rockets and weapons along with apparently hundreds of kilometres of terror tunnels for the purpose of infiltrating Israel in order to kill Israeli civilians and in times of conflict, hide and protect Hamas fighters and leaders.
You neglected to question that surely if Hamas wanted to shield its women and children from the fighting, just as Israel does; Hamas could indeed provide refuge for its civilians in the vast array of underground bunkers and tunnels. Such safety however appears to be available solely to Hamas leaders and fighters and, more importantly, its weapons.
Come to think of it Jon, as you were reporting from Shifa Hospital, you might have thought to walk downstairs into the basement of the hospital to question the leaders of Hamas who have established their command centre under the hospital and who hide safely underground while ensuring their children and civilian population are as exposed as possible.
You neglected to mention the three UN schools in which, by the UN’s own admission, rockets have been stored or the fact that throughout the conflict rockets have been stored and fired from a selection of homes, schools, mosques and other civilian locations, in fact wherever Hamas could guarantee a civilian presence and consequently civilian casualties, apparently illegal under international law.
When the Doctor you interviewed from Shifa asked “where are the human rights” and made his desperate call for an immediate ceasefire, you neglected to mention that five ceasefires have thus far been proposed, where Israel agreed to all of them, but Hamas steadfastly refused, including two humanitarian ceasefires broken by Hamas and today’s humanitarian ceasefire which Hamas exploited in order to kidnap an Israeli soldier, killing another two in the process.
You might also have asked why, in the full knowledge that there will be an aggressive response, Hamas continues to provoke Israel by firing rockets and attacking Israelis through its terror tunnels.
When the brave Norwegian doctor complained that the “siege” has led to a shortage of medical supplies and medicines, you neglected to point out that there have been ample funds donated to Gaza for those very things, but that the money was misappropriated by Hamas to fund rockets and weapons. Indeed you had the opportunity to escort the good doctor down into the basement of his Hospital to confront the leaders of Hamas and ask for the money back. Just think Jon, such a confrontation would have made “great television”.
Jon, you are a highly experienced journalist with twenty five years at the helm of Channel 4’s flagship news broadcast. It is for that very reason that I hold you responsible.
There is no doubt you know what you are doing. You understand that the most powerful weapon Hamas has is not its rockets or its drones, rather international journalists and people with influence, like you.
You know all too well that the greatest strategic asset Hamas has is the certainty that if they “supply the bodies” you will “put them to work”.
It is in that certain knowledge of your willingness to cooperate, with no questions asked; that Hamas sets about engineering the death and destruction of as many Palestinian innocents as possible.
For Hamas, you Jon Snow, along with Palestinian women and children willingly “martyred”; are its very own “Iron Dome”. You are the means by which Hamas can feel protected and ensure its own survival.
Hamas understands all too well that you will overlook their tyrannical rule of Gaza. Hamas leaders know that you will ignore the fact that they steal the billions donated to the people of Gaza in order fund weapons, build a terror infrastructure and in the process enrich themselves.
Hamas understands that you will take their message to the people of the world and truth be damned.
I accuse you of pandering to a murderous terrorist group and of complicity in their ruthless crimes against their own people. In doing so you actively encourage and perpetuate the suffering of the people of Gaza and deny Palestinian children an end to the carnage.
Those people who watch your broadcasts, who genuinely wish to see an end to the conflict, an end to the suffering and a better future for the people of Gaza must recognise you for what you are… the worst kind of hypocrite as well as a disingenuous and dishonest “hack”, complicit in the continued, wilful endangerment, death and destruction of so many innocent men, women and especially children in Gaza.
My accusations stand. J’accuse!
This needs a bigger audience…
Bx
Well said andy! Ya biggest fan lozza