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[image: Click Here!]<http://ad.islamonline.net/iolbanner/servlet/click/zone?zid=166&cid=133&mid=5153&pid=0&default=false&random=17055936×tamp=20090106124214&test=false&referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.islamonline.net%2Fenglish%2Findex.shtml&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.islamonline.net%2Fenglish%2FIn_Depth%2FMuslimAffairs%2FGaza_under_attack%2Findex.shtml> Analysis *Israeli War Claims Examined* By *Mustapha Ajbaili* <http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1230650284430&pagename=Zone-English-Muslim_Affairs/MAELayout#**1> Staff Writer http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1230650284430&pagename=Zone-English-Muslim_Affairs/MAELayout [image: Image] Eventhough they are brutally massacred, Western media still downplays such a fact. ( Reuters photo) In tandem with its military assault on Gaza Dec. 27, Israel launched an extensive public relations campaign to promote its military action as a legitimate self-defense mechanism. How much of this PR campaign — led by army chiefs and foreign ministry spokesmen — is plausible has largely not been scrutinized in mainstream international news media. The problem with the Israeli argument is that there are gaps between what it states as reasons and goals of its military operation and what it does to achieve those goals and justify those reasons. Israel presents its military onslaught as a self-defense operation against the Hamas rocket firing at Israeli towns after a six-month truce between the two sides that ended Dec. 19. Israel says Hamas was the first to start the war by launching rockets on the Israeli town of Sedroit right after the truce concluded. This truce was mediated by Egypt and it was agreed that Hamas should halt firing rockets at Israel, and the latter was required to open crossings and allow international aid supplies into Gaza. During the six-month truce, Hamas controlled not only its military brigade Ezz Eddin Al-Qassam but also brigades of Islamic Jihad, Popular Front, and Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades from launching rockets. To Israeli military accounts, Hamas did better than the Palestinian authority, with which Israel always talks, in controlling rocket attacks by different militant groups. On its part, Israel imposed a stifling siege on Gaza, opening crossings only intermittently when the outcries become too loud to ignore. In many instances, sympathizers from Europe and North America broke the siege sailing small boats from Cyprus to Gaza. *Obligations Even Without Truce* *Under the 4th Geneva Convention, as the occupying power, Israel is responsible for meeting the needs of the inhabitants of the territory it occupies.* That was during the truce. Outside the truce, is Israel still required to open crossings and allow aid into Gaza? Under the 4th Geneva Convention, as the occupying power, Israel is responsible for meeting the needs of the inhabitants of the territory it occupies, such as electricity, water, fuel, food, and medicine. Israel remains largely indifferent to this obligation, yet expects Hamas to remain silent and assume responsibility for everything. When Hamas reacts with threats or actions, the Israeli officials often promote Hamas as a monstrous state enemy. The Likud opposition party leader Binyamin Netanyahu presents Hamas in the size of Russia or China about to consume a small and democratic state in the Middle East. A few days before this operation began he said in a statement to the Israeli press that Israel should end its "submission" to Hamas. A group confined and locked in 140 square miles of land with some type of kitchen-made rockets dominates over one of the most powerful nuclear nations on earth; this is the preposterous argument that finds attending minds in North America and Europe, rarely elsewhere. *Israeli Ill Will* *Ehud Barak reportedly instructed the Israeli armed forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago. * What also makes the Israeli claim of self-defense arguable is its preparations for this military assault even before and during the truce when rockets were rarely fired. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense minister, reportedly instructed the Israeli armed forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a new truce agreement with Hamas. After all, Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, one of Hamas' top political leaders said on Dec. 23, before the Israeli attacks began, that Hamas was interested in negotiating a new truce if Israel would agree to open the crossings and lift the siege on the strip. Al-Zahhar's statement came tardy after his movement's military brigade already fired rockets on Israel, making time appropriate for Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak to take action and boost popular support for their coalition parties in preparation for parliamentary elections in Feb. 2009. On the same day, Dec. 23, when Al-Zahhar made his statement, Livni said at a Kadima Party conference in Jerusalem, "The equation [in Gaza] must change, and it is about to change." *Change of Equation* *It is tantamount to illusion believing that Hamas can be easily rooted or even easily weakened.*This "change of equation" is what the Israelis began to promote as one of their goals in attacking Gaza for the last ten days. Vague as it is, this claim appears more of a means to circumvent failure in a second Winograd performance test than an actual goal of the ongoing military campaign. Why? Because first of all it is tantamount to illusion believing that Hamas can be easily rooted or even easily weakened. During the last several days of attacks and as civilian casualties increase, Hamas has been gaining increasing support not only inside Gaza but throughout the Islamic world. Besides, some of Israeli actions during this campaign suggest that it may not even be interested in destroying or weakening Hamas. One may argue otherwise by citing the recent killing of the Hamas leader Nizar Rayan as an example of why Israel wants to get rid of Hamas. This appears to be the fact, but the truth is far more complex than facts. It is well-know in Gaza that the Israeli army used to phone people and ask them to leave their homes shortly before they are bombed. But why would Israel want to bomb an empty house? Only Israeli strategists know, but whatever the goal is, Nizar Rayan succeeded in impeding this plan by encouraging people to remain in their homes. In fact, whenever some family received a notice of attack from the Israeli army, neighboring people used to rush into the targeted house to provide a human shield. Killing Rayan says more about destroying empty houses than destroying Hamas, making claims of wanting to change the security and political equation in Gaza rather simplistic and superficial. Even the stated goal of halting rocket attacks in this campaign raises two questions. First, Israel either did not learn from its war experience with Hezbollah in June 2006 that it is not an easy task to do so by force, or simply knows and repeats the same mistake. Second, Israel largely succeeded in stopping rocket firing by truce agreement with Hamas more than by any other means, yet Israel showed little commitment to the truce by not opening crossings and lifting the siege as it agreed to do and as required by international law. This behavior of the Israeli government casts doubts on its claims that rocket attacks are the reason for attacking Gaza. And why would these rockets agitate Israel if having its soldier Gilad Shalit in detention of Hamas since June 2006 does not agitate it. Unlike Israel's "intelligent" missiles, these rockets never find their target; they crash anywhere and rarely ever inflict any casualties on Israelis. They are only always erratic missiles with fuzzy destinations. Perhaps its mission is not to land on a precise target, but essentially to be launched. The only impressive images of rockets are often those of the launch. It is launching that matters and counts, the end results are so vague that we rarely hear about them later. Would Israel stop its indiscriminate killings of Palestinians if resistant groups stop firing rockets at its villages? The answer is undoubtedly negative for the simple reason that Israel never ceased killing innocent Palestinians even before resistance took an armed face. Gaza Under Attack Special Coverage<http://www.islamonline.net/english/In_Depth/MuslimAffairs/Gaza_under_attack/index.shtml> The Myth and Fact About Gaza (FAQs)<http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1209357115097&pagename=Zone-English-Muslim_Affairs/MAELayout> Gaza in the Eyes of Western Media (Live Dialogue)<http://www.islamonline.net/livedialogue/english/Browse.asp?hGuestID=qByH79> US Muslim & Gaza: Media Fuss, Govt. Pressures (Blog) <http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1230650222908&pagename=Zone-English-Muslim_Affairs/MAELayout> Deceiving a People ( Democracy is rejected) <http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1230650185560&pagename=Zone-English-Family%2FFYELayout> Gaza: World's Largest Open-Air Prison<http://www.islamonline.net/English/In_Depth/MuslimAffairs/gaza/index.shtml>(Special Page) <javascript:void(window.open('/English/alhadth/2009/01/05/index02.shtml','alhdth','Top=0,Left=0,height=613,width=700,toolbar=no,scrollbars=no,'))> *Quds Christians Pray for Gaza*<javascript:void(window.open('/English/alhadth/2009/01/05/index02.shtml','alhdth','Top=0,Left=0,height=613,width=700,toolbar=no,scrollbars=no,'))> [image: Click Here!]<http://ad.islamonline.net/iolbanner/servlet/click/zone?zid=207&cid=373&mid=5165&pid=0&default=false&random=28306764×tamp=20090106123901&test=false&referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.islamonline.net%2Fenglish%2Findex.shtml&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.islamonline.net%2FEnglish%2FIn_Depth%2FGazaHolocaustMuseum%2Findex.shtml> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "newsline" group. 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