The Washington Examiner - By Alan Dershowitz –
16-5-2018
For the full article
go to - https://tinyurl.com/y8mttfyr
If this were the
first time that Hamas deliberately provoked Israel into self-defense actions
that resulted in the unintended deaths of Gaza civilians, the media could be
excused for playing into the hands of Hamas.
The most recent
Hamas provocations — having 40,000 Gazans try to tear down the border fence and
enter Israel with Molotov cocktails and other improvised weapons — are part of
a repeated Hamas tactic that I have called the “dead baby strategy.” The goal
of Hamas is to have Israel kill as many Gazans as possible so that the
headlines always begin, and often end, with the body count. Hamas deliberately
sends women and children to the front line, while their own fighters hide
behind these human shields.
Hamas leaders have
long acknowledged this tactic. Fathi Hammad, a Hamas member of the Palestinian
Legislative Council, stated as far back as 2008, “For the Palestinian people,
death has become an industry, at which women excel, and so do all the people
living on this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the mujahideen and
the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the
children, the elderly, and the mujahideen, in order to challenge the Zionist
bombing machine. It is as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy, ‘We desire
death like you desire life.’”
Hamas used this
tactic to provoke two wars with Israel in which their fighters fired rockets
from civilian areas, including hospitals, schools, and mosques. When Israel
responded, it tried its best to avoid civilian casualties, dropping warning
leaflets, calling residents of potential targets and dropping nonlethal noise
bombs on the roofs of houses that were being used to launch rockets and store
explosives. Inevitably, some civilians were killed, and the media blamed Israel
for these deaths, despite the precautions it had taken.
The same was true
when Hamas built terror tunnels used to kidnap Israeli civilians. The entrances
to these tunnels were in civilian areas as well, including mosques and schools.
Using their own civilians as human shields, while targeting Israeli civilians,
is a double war crime. Yet, the media generally focuses on the reaction of
Israel to these war crimes, rather than the war crimes of Hamas.
The cruel reality is
that every time Israel accidentally kills a Gaza civilian, Israel loses. And
every time Israel kills a Gaza civilian, Hamas wins. Israelis grieve every
civilian death its army accidentally causes. Hamas benefits from every death
Israel accidentally causes. That is why it encourages its women and children to
become martyrs.
Calling this the
“dead baby strategy” may seem cruel because it is cruel. But don’t blame the
messenger for accurately describing this tactic. Blame those who cynically use
it. Blame the media for playing into the hands of those who use it by reporting
only the body count and not the deliberate Hamas tactic that leads to one-sided
body counts.
It is true that Gaza
is in a desperate situation and that it is wounded. But the wound itself is
self-inflicted. When Israel ended its occupation of Gaza, removing every single
soldier and settler, the territory could have become the Singapore on the
Mediterranean Sea. It is a beautiful area with a large seacoast. It received
infusions of cash and other help from Europe. Israel left behind agricultural
equipment and hot houses.
But instead of using
these resources to feed, house, and educate its citizens, Hamas built rockets,
terror tunnels, and Molotov cocktails. It threw dissenters off the roof and
murdered members of the Palestinian Authority who were willing to recognize
Israel and negotiate with it. Hamas rejects the two-state solution or any
solution that leaves Israel intact. The only solution for it is violence, and
the events at the fence these past days are a manifestation of that violence.
Would any country in
the world allow 40,000 people, sworn to its destruction, to knock down a border
fence and attack its citizens living peacefully near the border? Of course not.
Could Israel have done more to reduce casualties among those trying to breach
the border fence? I don’t know, and neither do the legions of armchair generals
who are criticizing Israel for the steps it took to prevent a catastrophe among
the residents of Kibbutzim and towns that are proximate to the border fence.
One thing is crystal
clear: Hamas will continue to use the ”dead baby strategy” as long as the media
continues to report the deaths in the manner in which it has reported them in
recent weeks. Many in the media are complicit in these deaths because their
one-sided reporting encourages Hamas to send innocent women and children to the
front line. Perhaps Israel could do a better job of defending its civilians but
it is certain that the media can do a better job of accurately reporting the
Hamas strategy that results in so many innocent deaths.
There is a marvelous
cartoon that illustrates the difference between Hamas and Israel. It shows an
Israeli soldier standing in front of a stroller with a baby in it, shielding
the baby. Then it shows a Hamas terrorist standing behind a stroller with the
baby in it, using the baby to shield him. This cartoon better illustrates the
reality that is occurring at the Gaza fence than most of the “objective”
reporting by the media.
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