Bombing of Gaza

There are never new lows in media coverage of Israel’s sustained aerial bombardment of Gaza. Reporting is always a mockery of reality if not also a travesty of propaganda. Gaza has been blockaded by Israel since 2007, denying 1.7 million Palestinians basic human rights: freedom of movement, the right to work, health, housing, & education. That’s why Gaza is called the world’s largest open air prison. The Israeli military carries out frequent bombing sorties on unarmed, defenseless civilians, since Gaza has no military. To justify these assaults, Israel claims they are a response to “Hamas & Islamic Jihad” rocket assaults on Israel from Gaza.

As in every war zone, casualty figures are difficult to determine & controversial because aggressor combatants have vested interests in obscurantism. Israel inflates the death toll of Israelis at the hands of “Palestinian terrorists” to justify military aggression. In fact, according to statistics from B'Tselem--The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, there have been 86 Israeli deaths & 2,559 Palestinian deaths since 2007. B'Tselem acknowledges these figures are extremely conservative for Palestinian deaths & the Palestine Red Crescent Society reports significantly higher Palestinian deaths. B’Tselem estimates only include Palestinians killed by Israelis & do not include the several thousand injured.They also do not include Palestinians who died because unable to reach medical care due to Israeli road & border closures, etc.

Palestinians in the Gaza city of Rafah (near the Egyptian border), here view a motorcycle struck by an Israeli bomb on Oct. 7. The Israeli missile targeted the two motorcycle riders, claiming they were “militants” & members of “global jihadist” groups suspected in a cross-border attack from Egypt in June. One of the young men was killed & the other critically injured; 10 other Palestinians, including 5 children were also injured. As it goes with lies & propaganda, even the world’s most prestigious media can’t get the story straight--or shall we say, get their lies coordinated? All report the obligatory lie that Israeli bombing was retaliation for recent Hamas rocket attacks on Israel’s Eshkol region. No information at all is offered on that attack except to say no one was hurt. According to Reuters, the motorcyclists were thought to be behind the current rocket barrage.

So was Israel’s bombing yesterday a retaliation for the alleged June attack or this alleged current one? Is there even a shred of evidence for the latest accusation? And whatever happened to the rule of law since Israel claims to be the most democratic country in the Middle East? When you clear the toxic miasma of lies, it’s clear extrajudicial executions & collective punishment are a central feature of Israel’s apartheid policies toward Gaza. Support the people of Gaza by boycotting all Israeli products (barcode beginning 729). (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)