29 December, 2008
A slaughter that deserves to be called so
Watching al-Jazeera English. Apparently a mosque, a university, and the interior ministry was among the latest targets of Israeli bombings in Gaza. It was refreshing to hear Chris Davies, a british member of the European Parlament (for the Liberal Democrats i believe, but I'm not sure) condemning the Israeli slaughtering of people in Gaza. Unfortunately, by official European standards this makes Davies look like an extremist. His outspoken criticism is in sharp contrast to the patethic offical response from the European Union and its member states, not to mention the disgusting US description of the targets (among them a large number of young policemen that were hit during an outdoor graduation ceremony in a police compound) as "nothing but thugs"!
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C'mon, Per, seriously? Where's the journalism? Al Jazeera English is not a reliable source on Israeli targeting. Nobody likes the Israelis very much but you make it out like they're hitting the most civilians they can just for shits and giggles. Whatever we can say about proportionality, there is no doubt the strike is in response to persistent rocket attacks and any any report that omits this would be remiss. And I guarantee they are trying their best to hit the source of those rockets--admittedly as hard as they can.
ReplyDeleteEvan, thanks for the comment! Why is Al Jazeera English not a reliable source? They use fake footage or what?
ReplyDeleteHow about this report in the Washington Post: "Palestinian Family Mourns Loss of 5 Daughters as Civilian Death Toll Mounts."
"Early Monday, an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip destroyed the family's house, located next to the Emad Aqeel mosque, the intended target, which was also flattened."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/29/AR2008122902490.html?hpid=topnews
5 daughters of one family was killed in this strike, targeting a Mosque! Like these 5 young girls, the young police recruits were also human beings, not "thugs" that deserve to be killed. They were not Hamas fighters or necessarily even Hamas members or supporters. I think it's perfectly suitable to describe the killing of them during their graduation ceremony as a slaughter, just like a suicide bomb on a bus in Jerusalem is a slaughter of civilians.