Let's set the record straight!
By Harriet Burak
Recent
television and print media reporting on the war in Gaza portrays
the Israelis as having started the war and definitely being the
aggressor. We hear so much of the Palestinian civilian
casualties and the psychological trauma being inflicted on
innocent children. We need to hear the whole story if we are to
understand.
More than
6,300 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israel since it
left Gaza in 2005, including 600 in the past six weeks at
Israeli population centers! No, that number is not a misprint!!
Since 2005, Israeli children have had their daily lives
disrupted by the very real and present danger of rocket attacks.
Schools have been closed while children had to find refuge in
bomb shelters.
Israel’s war
is against Hamas — a terrorist organization — and its
infrastructure of terror, not against the Palestinian people.
This military operation is an act of self-defense to prevent
further hostilities. Israel values life and wants to protect its
citizens. Hamas is using its citizens as human shields. Israel’s
aim is to protect its citizens and is using the exact amount of
force needed to put an end to the Hamas missiles. Israel is a
country that seeks peace and security for its citizens. This
needs to be reported by all the media. The same terrorism that
impacted the U.S. directly on 9/11 is actively at work in
Israel. There should be strong support for the Israelis in their
“War on Terror” as this is the same war that the rest of the
civilized world will be waging should Israel not be successful.
Many people
ask why there are so few Israeli casualties in comparison with
the Palestinian death toll. It’s because Israel’s first priority
is the safety of its citizens, which is why there are shelters
and warning systems in Israeli towns. If Hamas can dig tunnels,
it can certainly build shelters. Instead it prefers to use women
and children as human shields while its leaders rush into
hiding. Israel is doing everything in its power to reduce the
civilian casualties and deeply regrets all civilian casualties.
Hamas is a
fanatical, fundamentalist organization that wants to destroy
Israel. There is no way to deal or negotiate with that type of
ideology. There is clearly a link between Iran and Gaza. Israel
suspects that weapons from Iran are smuggled into Gaza through
Egypt. Hamas started the conflict and Israel had to react
swiftly and decisively to reduce Hamas’ ability to smuggle,
produce and launch rockets. The Israel Defense Force’s (IDF)
main goal is to reduce and stop the attacks against Israel and
along the border with Gaza.
The air
campaign was extremely successful and the Israeli Air Force was
successful in destroying a good portion of Hamas’ terrorist
infrastructure. William Kristol (New York Times) has stated that
an Israeli success in Gaza would be a victory in the war on
terror — and in the broader struggle for the future of the
Middle East.
“Israel is
doing the U.S. a favor by taking on Hamas now. If Israel were
now to withdraw under pressure without accomplishing the
objectives of severely weakening Hamas and preventing the
reconstitution of a terror-exporting state in Gaza, it would be
a triumph for Iran,” Kristol said.
So let’s set
the record straight. Israel is fighting the terrorist
organization of Hamas. The Palestinian people are victims; but
not of Israel. They are the victims of Hamas. The Palestinian
people and the Israeli people want and deserve peace. Peace can
only be achieved when the terrorist threat of Hamas is
destroyed. Democratic senators Harry Reid and Dick Durbin and
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell all described Israel’s
actions as understandable.
“I think what
the Israelis are doing is very important,” Reid said. “I think
this terrorist organization, Hamas, has got to be put away.”
Said McConnell: “Hamas is a terrorist organization. Imagine in
this country if somebody from a neighboring country were lobbing
shells at our population. We’d do exactly the same thing. I
think the Israelis are doing the only thing they can possibly do
to defend their population.”
This is what
the media should be reporting. Let the truth be told.
January 22,
2009
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