Updated February 1, 2007

Of all the active terrorists in the world, the Palestinians alone enjoy the protection of so called human shields. Because of all the victims of terrorism Israel alone is the most sensitive to the death of innocents. Can you think of another country assaulted by terrorism which has apologized for unintended civilian fatalities?

Palestinian terrorists have learned to exploit Israel`s sensitivities by centering their operations in civilian areas. To quote Gedrich and Paul Valley: “”¦ they disguise themselves as civilians and hide among civilian populations with weapons stored and discharged from mosques, schools, hospitals, marketplaces, private residences and public roads.”

Yet Israel is accused of deliberate and wantonly spilling the blood of Palestinian civilians when casualties occur.

PR Power Beats Military Might

Rather than face the public opprobrium generated by the pro-Palestinian media to denounce Israel for killing “civilians”, Israel has not recently retaliated against the Kassams. As a result the psychologically wrecked citizens of Sderot are exposed to daily explosions and near misses which have made life unbearable for them. The citizens are living under reign of terror and their town is being ruined.

Israel has always underestimated the power of successful Palestinian PR and has been forced to pay for its consequences – in the lives of its people killed and wounded – and the cost of making good or replacing damaged assets. However, the cost to families of the killed and wounded can neither be measured, repaired, nor repaid.

Power Of Successful PR

Palestinian PR has so successfully demonized Israel that these days we feel it better to endure daily Kassam attacks from Gaza, rather than exercise our basic right of self defense. Such is the power of their PR that Israel no longer preempts attacks by targeting the planners, manifold helpers, and the triggermen actually caught in the act of launching the Kassams before fleeing to safety as “civilians” .

The simple PR stratagem which has brought this about is the fierce Palestinian clamor orchestrated in mainstream media (and supporting NGOs) that Israel is once again killing their “civilians”.

All Wear The Same Uniform

This calumny of course blithely ignores the fact that the “uniforms” worn by Palestinian terrorists is the same dress worn by their human shields, i.e. civilian clothes. Which makes it inherently difficult, if not impossible, to identify the actual perpetrators as distinct from their civilian accomplices.

Kassams Aimed Exclusively At Israeli Civilians

What galls is the fact that Palestinian Kassams are deliberately and unashamedly targeted at killing and wounding the greatest number of Israeli civilians. (That it hasnt yet happened is a matter of pure luck.) Yet theres hardly a word of criticism from the mainstream media about the terrorists` brazen actions and intentions.

Kassams Never Proportionate

Nor do we hear a word from the mainstream media or Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, or the Security Council, about Palestinian ”˜disproportionate fire”. Yet what could be more disproportionate than Palestinian rockets fired on Sderot and other towns when not even an Israeli stone is thrown in retaliation?

Killers And Accomplices Equally Guilty

The rocketeers cannot set up their Kassam firing operations without the enabling help of accomplices. These include the planners ”¦ those who purchase and store the weaponry ”¦ who provide transport and safe houses ”¦ and who feed, sleep and hide the triggermen. And yes, their misguided “human shields” who are there to protect the terrorists while they carry out their murderous activities.

Each accomplice is actively complicit in every Kassam attack as are those who remain in their houses as human shields. Active or passive they are unquestionably accomplices without whose participation the actual attacks could not be launched. Human shields and other accomplices have no rights in a war zone. Consequently, they clearly deserve the same fate as the perpetrators.

Is Osama bin Laden a Civilian?

The world has not seen Osama bin Laden in anything but civilian clothes. Yet who in the western world beside Muslims, believes this gun toting planner and financier of 9/11 is anything but the world`s most wanted murderer?

Though he may never have killed even one of his enemies personally, he has been directly responsible for killing around 4,000 Americans since he embarked on his lethal crusade.

The Fate That Awaits Osama

Does Osama deserve to be assassinated if US intelligence discovers him to be holed up in the basement of an apartment building, together with his top aides? Or is Bin Laden a civilian deserving the protection of the Geneva Convention?

The US will not hesitate to destroy this building without warning – regardless of how many civilians happen to be there. And without giving a fig for Human Rights and Amnesty.

Does the leader, planner, funder and commander of Al Qaeda not deserve the death sentence if captured and tried? The US will virtually assure this, thank goodness. And though not quite as murderous as Saddam Hussein, it would be a nice touch if he were hanged on the same gallows.

The Hamas Threat

Israel appears to have cravenly bowed to Hamas threats that if we retaliate they would immediately respond by increasing the number of rockets fired. Im willing to bet that if the families of a dozen members of Israels Knesset lived in Sderot the Minister of Defense would quickly instruct the IDF to respond militarily. Even if it led to another dirty little war.

How sad that instead of preventing and returning fire, the IDF has been ordered merely to observe and report. I was pleased to read in the circumstances that IDF generals have privately been protesting the government`s show of impotence/incompetence.

A Night Of The Generals?

I wonder what the chances are that some day, some Israeli generals, tired of incompetent political bumbling, will decide to take matters into their own hands? I would hope they talk about this sort of thing among themselves, not particularly in relation to the continuing Kassam onslaught, but far more importantly in response to Iran`s genocidal, nuclear threat.

It might be a good day for Israel when the generals choose to take over from an inept and irresolute government . . . and provide a massive first strike solution of its own to protect the anxious children of Israel. A short term solution, of course.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, January 13th, 2007 at 9:28 am and is filed under Palestine Israel Conflict. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.