Ben White, The Electronic Intifada, 28 July 2009
This month marked six months since the "official" conclusion to Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, "Operation Cast Lead." From 27 December to 18 January, the might of the one of the world's strongest militaries laid waste to a densely-packed territory of 1.4 million Palestinians without an escape route.
The parallel propaganda battle fought by Israel's official and unofficial apologists continued after the ceasefire, in a desperate struggle to combat the repeated reports by human rights groups of breaches of international law. This article will look at some of the strategies of this campaign of disinformation, confusion, and lies -- and the reality of Israel's war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Very early on in Operation Cast Lead, the scale of Israel's attack became apparent. In just the first six days the Israeli Air Force carried out more than 500 sorties against targets in the Gaza Strip. That amounted to an attack from the air roughly every 18 minutes -- not counting hundreds of helicopter attacks, tank and navy shelling, and infantry raids. All of this on a territory similar in size to the US city of Seattle.
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<span><span>In just the first six days the Israeli Air Force carried out more than 500 sorties against targets in the Gaza Strip. That amounted to an attack from the air roughly every 18 minutes </span></span>
ReplyDelete<span><span>"...nowhere in Gaza was safe for civilians," with "whole neighborhoods" turned "into rubble.""</span></span>
<span><span>3,600 housing units were totally destroyed, 2,700 sustained major damage and 52,000 houses need minor repair, according to a joint UNRWA-UNDP housing survey.</span></span>
<span><span> not a series of individual mistakes or "bad apples," but evidence of Israel's systematic assault on the fabric of life in the Gaza Strip.</span></span>
<span><span>Civilians made up 65 percent of the total, not including the 255 police officers killed by the Israeli army.</span></span>
<span><span>killed in Gaza not due to 'mishaps' but as a direct result of the military's chosen policy implemented throughout the fighting." [3]"</span></span>
<span><span> Amnesty insisted that the hundreds of civilian deaths "cannot simply be dismissed as 'collateral damage' incidental to otherwise lawful attacks - or as mistakes."</span></span>
<span><span>British journalist Peter Beaumont wrote in May of "the aftermath of a wholesale urban un-planning through military force." </span></span>
<span><span>"the massive and unprecedented blow to the infrastructure and civilians of the Gaza strip were a direct result of IDF policy."</span></span>
<span><span> a consistent pattern of Palestinian families being killed by Israeli tank shells fired into their homes, apparently as they approached windows or stepped on to balconies." </span></span>
<span><span>HRW noted that the drones are "one of the most precise weapons in Israel's arsenal" yet "killed civilians who were not taking part in hostilities and were far from any fighting."</span></span>
<span><span>"close-ranging shootings" by Israeli soldiers, most of which involved "individuals, including children and women, who were shot at as they were fleeing their homes in search of shelter." [6] </span></span>
<span><span>The "overwhelming majority" were "killed either whilst inside their own homes or within the near vicinity of their homes."</span></span>