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Immoral Equivalence

Immoral Equivalence

You can count on the New York Times for the latest in conventional wisdom’s preferred narrative.  But this attitude typically reaches its apotheosis when Times reporters do their best to be evenhanded about fighting in the Mideast.

Israel and Hamas widened their deadly conflict over Gaza on Thursday, as militants fired dozens of rockets — including one that killed three civilians in an apartment block in this small southern Israeli town — and two longer-range rockets aimed at Tel Aviv, causing no harm but triggering the first air raid warning there set off by incoming fire from Gaza. The death toll in Gaza from Israeli airstrikes rose to at least 19, including five children and a pregnant teenager.

There was no sign that either side was prepared to dial back the confrontation that has threatened a new war in the Middle East, despite entreaties for restraint by world leaders including President Obama and Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, who planned a visit there in coming days. If anything, the Israelis intensified their attacks on Gaza after the Tel Aviv scare and made new moves toward a possible ground invasion.

The Israeli deaths were the first since Israel’s military launched ferocious aerial assaults on Wednesday to stop the chronic rocket fire from Gaza, the Palestinian coastal enclave controlled by Hamas, the militant Palestinian group.

Why is this egregious?  Because Israel takes elaborate precautions to avoid civilian deaths, while Hamas intentionally targets Israeli civilians with its indiscriminate rockets —hence the targeting of Tel Aviv, Israel’s most populous city.

As Professor Jacobson posted yesterday afternoon, Palestinians intentionally put children in harm’s way, knowing that the press will report the preferred narrative.  They hide both militants and materiel among the civilian population (who would surely be murdered if they complained about being possible collateral damage).

One must never forget that, in 2005, Israel turned Gaza into a Jew-free zone in the hope of appeasing militant Palestinians—yet hasn’t had more than a few minutes peace since from the Qassam rockets falling on its civilian population in greater numbers ever since.  It’s clear that, by their words and by their deeds, Hamas will settle only for the extinction of Israel as a Jewish state and the death of as many Jews as possible.

Sort of puts the huh? in “no sign that either side was prepared to dial back the confrontation,” doesn’t it?

UPDATE: “A missile launch site in the Gaza Strip was set up by Hamas just half a block from a mosque and children’s playground, according to aerial photographs provided to KleinOnline by the Israel Defense Forces today….”

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Comments

Israel should end this nonsense once and for all – go all out now and cut the head off the dragon.

“…chronic rocket fire from Gaza…”

Yeah, that totally organic, just-part-of-nature rocket fire. You know, like the noise from the passing trains.

It takes a special kind of mind to write that crap.

Every bit of this is sourced in Islam and its “holy” texts. Why Israel does include this important aspect in statements explaining its self-defense actions is beyond me. Israel, ever ready to show good faith and fair dealing, did remove itself from Gaza in 2005. In return, the Muslims, never pausing, have continued their 1400 murderous campaign against the Jews. Israel has enjoyed no peace from that 2005 gesture; in truth Israel has never enjoyed any peace from its May 1948 founding either. Before being organized into a state of its own Jews have never enjoyed any peace when they find themselves side-by-side with Muslims. Why is that? Because Islam’s “holy” texts demand it. Hamas enshrines this religious teaching in its Charter, but the thought underlies all Muslim treatment of Jews throughout history. Indiscriminate rocket attacks fit nicely into Islam’s awful doctrines. Article 7, “Hamas has been looking forward to implementing Allah’s promise, whatever time it might take. The prophet [Muhammad] said: ‘The time (of Resurrection) will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: 0 Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him!'” Sahih Muslim, Book 41, Number 6985]

Why [Muslim] terrorists do what they do… in their own words,
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/in-the-name-of-allah.htm
Why do Muslims Hate the Jews? By Dallas M. Roark, Ph.D.
http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/roark/hate_jews.html

It remains to us in the counter-jihad movement to supply this education on and about Islam. The MSM and Western govts walk hand-in-hand with the jihadists. Hmmmmmmm, the friend of my enemy is also my enemy, . . .

casualobserver | November 16, 2012 at 9:23 am

As my ‘commenting name’ suggests, I don’t study the conflict, but simply observe it casually. And this article seems like many others from the NYT and much of the rest of the media that general has a strong bias against Israel. I’ve scanned it twice and find it impossible to determine the details of the initiation of the battle. However, as is common, there is at least a paragraph or more giving explicit details about those who condemn Israel for overreacting and for their high level of aggression. This seems to be a locked-in-stone pattern for the NYT in reporting every single escalation in the region.

Almost always when other conflicts arise, we get a much more complete picture of events from beginning to end. But if it includes Israel, and especially if the true story is about retaliation after being provoked, the absence of details is predictable. So, not only does the paper (and the left in general??) exhibit the ‘immoral equivalence’, but it also continues this blatant and characteristic bias of omission.

It’s the same reason I rarely read the online or print version any more in my field – energy. Even a mutli-thousand word piece on a specific topic requires that I do further research to fill reporting and information voids that are common for political reasons. The paper, for instance, rarely includes enough information about technical challenges and their details that might make a ‘clean’ or ‘green’ energy technology seem farther off from practicality. Omission is often worse than outright bias.

legacyrepublican | November 16, 2012 at 10:24 am

I used to laugh at that old Flip Wilson line, “The Devil made me do it!”

But, in this case, maybe we need a shirt with a picture of Osama on a shirt with “Allah made me do it!” across his face to get it through to some of the media.

Rule #1: No land for peace.
Rule #2: When you’re a fraction of a percentage of the world’s population going up against a large percent of the world’s population, don’t be squeamish about crushing them and driving them out.
Rule #3: When you’re a Jew, you’ve gotta “fight like a girl”.
Rule #4: Ignore the old gray whore.

The only solution for this as I see it is to eliminate Gaza as a political entity, annex it as part of Israel and move the population to the West Bank while at the same time sealing the east border with Jordan.

The peace treaty between Israel and Egypt is stone dead and there is growing danger with Syria.

War is in the future and the sooner the better. Delaying a resolution will just increase the cost to do so later. Any form of appeasement is ill advised and futile.

The latest confrontation is all about the long-range missles Iran has started supplying to Hamas. Iran has been trying to buy itself some insurance against an Israeli attack on its nuclear facilties and expand its influence among Palestinians. Last month, Israel took out a facility in Sudan where the weapons were being assembled. Now they’re going after missiles that have made to Gaza already. Mainstream media have totally missed the point here.

All the alarmist talk of a wider war is nonsense. Egypt is the only friend of Hamas with anything like the capability to intervene on their behalf and this is no way they would go to the mat for them. For one thing, Morsi is in a precarious position–he can’t give the Egyptian Army an excuse to get rid of him.

    iconotastic in reply to PlainTalk. | November 16, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    I agree that Morsi is unlikely to drag Egypt into direct conflict with Israel. But I do expect the appearance of MANPAD systems in Gaza very soon along with a number of “volunteers”. Also, expect to see the Sinai overrun with terrorists who will attempt to strike at Israel over the long and relatively undefended border with Egypt.

    Is there a solution to the weeping sore that is Gaza? Arabs in Gaza seem determined to attack Israel regardless of the outcome. Egypt appears determined to keep Gazans bottled up in Gaza (how many would leave if they could?) in order to both pressure Israel and to keep fanatics out of Egypt.

At some point the IDF and the USA should consider that their rules of engagement that exert so much effort to minimize civilian casualties are not working. First of all, our enemies do not care about their civilians so limiting attacks only impresses them with our weakness. Second, the population that supports enemies like Hamas (or the Taliban) escape from any consequences to their collective decision to support these animals. Finally, in the last 40 years the USA and Israel have seen no benefit to using such restrictive rules of engagement–in other words, it does not work.

I am not suggesting full-on civilian reprisals. Instead, the USA and Israel should completely ignore consideration of civilian casualties when targeting our enemies’ leadership or fighters. After all, it isn’t as if the press would get any worse. Removing leadership and assets wherever they might be is always the best strategy. And the population might start getting a clue about the consequences of supporting these xenophobic fanatics.

Happened to be out and about yesterday, and saw the paper edition of the W Post featuring the photo of an anguished Arab holding his dead infant son. It is tragic. The man’s name: Jihad Misharawi. There is more nuance to the story of course, but “sow the wind, reap the whirlwind” is what comes to mind. Mr. Misharawi apparently works for the BBC.

This link may take you there: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/15/the-story-behind-the-photo-journalists-11-month-old-son-killed-in-gaza-strikes/

There is only one acceptable justice for the Arabs and their supporters. The Jews should voluntarily submit to reoccupation. Israel needs an “Arab Spring” to restore the occupation of their land.

That said, what is the statute of limitation for occupation, and what are legitimate means for transfer of ownership?

As for the Jews who recognize their dignity, stay true to your faith and recognize the insight in the prime directive (which happens to correlate with evolutionary fitness — the Tanakh recorded the first description of evolutionary principles):

“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the sky and over all the beasts that tread upon the earth. “

You can lose your investment in two ways: abortion and indoctrination.

Meanwhile, one voice is raised in support of Israel.

We stand with Israel and Netanyahu’s strength that he wisely uses to protect his country. May he have the wisdom of Solomon as Israel’s leadership moves forward. You can keep track of the developments by following @IDFSpokesperson on Twitter. Guess who? Where are all our other “leaders”?

    n.n in reply to MAB. | November 16, 2012 at 4:20 pm

    She does have an extraordinary grasp of reality, doesn’t she? She also had more, and successful, executive experience than both Obama and McCain. It’s unfortunate that the press, and other special interests, managed to manipulate people’s perception to the point of gross incongruity with reality.

      MAB in reply to n.n. | November 16, 2012 at 6:05 pm

      Yes, n.n. it is a shame. Perhaps she will overcome it. Hopefully yes, otherwise it will be our loss. She is very clear and able to zero in on the problem. We could use more like her.