#7 – Israeli military action against its neighbors is only taken to defend itself against terrorism.
Claim: Israel is the aggressor, targets civilians. The PLO and HAMAS are the good guys.
The 1982 Lebanon War
The PLO is a terrorist organization. Their ranks included 15-18,000 members whose arsenal included mortars, Katyusha rockets, anti-aircraft networks, small arms, hundreds of T-34 tanks, and surface to air missiles. Lebanon was once regarded as “The Paris of the Middle East” until the PLO was kicked out of Jordan for starting a civil war and relocated to southern Lebanon only to start another civil war within Lebanon. The civil war was especially hard on the Lebanese Christians.
On March 11, 1978 a squad of Palestinian terrorists from Lebanon hijacked a bus near Haifa. They drove south toward Tel Aviv, brutalizing the passengers and firing at passing cars. Dozens of Israel's were murdered and many more wounded. Israel had enough and launched Operation Litanti. This operation had two purposes, first to bring the incessant bombardments to Northern Israel to an end and second to relieve the beleaguered Christians of southern Lebanon and assist the Lebanese army leader Major Sa'ad Haddad to establish a security zone and keep the PLO from reoccupying the area.
Tired of the low-level war of attrition the PLO and Syrian proxy militias were waging from Southern Lebanon into Northern Israel, Operation Peace for Galilee began on June 6, 1982. The goal was to push the PLO and Muslim forces toward Beirut, and out of artillery range of Northern Israel. The PLO repeatedly violated the July 1981 cease-fire agreement. In the ensuing 11 months, the PLO staged 270 terrorist actions in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and along the Lebanese and Jordanian borders.
“No sovereign state can tolerate indefinitely the buildup along its borders of a military force dedicated to its destruction and implementing its objectives by periodic shellings and raids.” -Henry Kissinger
Sabra and Shatila refugee camps
The claim that Israel bombed Sabra and Shatila killing 200 Palestinians seems to come solely from Noam Chomsky's "The Fateful Triangle" (p.197), based upon an “eyewitness account” by an anti-Zionist propagandist in the PLO-sponsored Journal of Palestine Studies. There are no other sources to verify this claim. (Source:Ariel Center for Policy Research)
It was known that Sabra and Shatila were havens for terrorist activity. On September 14, 1982 Lebanese president Bashir Gemayel was assassinated. In retliation Israel had allowed Christian Phalangists to enter Sabra and Shatila to root out terrorist cells. They did not know these Phalangists would massacre hundreds of people in the camp. Nevertheless Israel took responsibility for not anticipating the possibility of violence and dismissed the Army Chief of Staff. The Defense Minister, Ariel Sharon, also resigned.
By contrast there was no outrage or responsibility taken when Muslim militiamen attacked the Shatila and Burj-el Barajneh Palestinian refugee camps and killed 635 people. Or Beit Mellat, Dier Achache, Damour Saadiyate, and many other peaceful cities and villages that were attacked by Palestinian and Syrian Muslims beginning in 1975. (Source:Jewish Virtual Library)
2008 Operation Cast Lead
In an effort for peace Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and resettled it's citizens, some of which by force, into Galilee or Negev. Four settlements in the Northern West Bank were also dismantled. In yet another example of how land for peace doesn’t work, Israel was repaid with thousands of rockets fired out of Gaza over the next three years before Israel finally decided to respond. Operation Cast Lead began on December 27, 2008.
Hamas agreed to a ceasefire on June 17, 2008. Despite the ceasefire rocket fire from Gaza never fully stopped and weapons smuggling was not halted by Hamas. On November 4 Israel destroyed a tunnel along the Gaza-Israeli border dug my militants to infiltrate Israel and abduct soldiers. This previously happened to Israeli solider Gilad Shalit in 2006. This was not an intent to break the ceasefire but deal with a specific and imminent threat. On December 13, Israel announced that it favored extending the ceasefire as long as Hamas adhered to pre-conditions. However on December 18 Hamas declared an end of the ceasefire. (Source:The New York Times Nov 4th 2008)
“I say in all honesty, we made contact with leaders in Hamas in the Gaza Strip. We spoke with them in all honesty and directly, and after that we spoke with them indirectly, through more than one Arab and non-Arab side... We spoke with them on the telephone and we said: 'We beg of you, we hope that you won't break [the ceasefire.] As the [Egyptian foreign] Minister said: 'Don't break the ceasefire, the ceasefire must continue and not stop.' In order to avoid [violence] that has happened. If only we had avoided it.” — PA President Mahmoud Abbas
The ceasefire was a temporary fix that was unstable. Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel as outlined in their charter. This is the reason no amount of land or a Palestinian State will bring about peace. It’s the continual contesting of Israel's legitimacy that has led to wars and ensured there will be no peace.
“The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war." -Benjamin Netanyahu
“Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” –Golda Mier
Civilian casualties
It has never been an Israeli policy to intentionally target civilians. Israel goes out of its way to warn civilians and minimize casualties. In 2008’s Operation Cast Lead 81% of the bombs dropped were guided. Among the Israeli arsenal are inert bombs filled with cement or sand. While these bombs can still cause damage, they can’t explode and are specifically used in dense urban areas to reduce collateral damage. The Goldstone report admits that 99% of the Israeli bombs dropped during Operation Cast Lead hit their targets accurately. Israel also drops pamphlets, sends text messages, uses social media, and even calls people’s homes to warn them in advance of an attack, all at a strategic expense to Israel. This is far more than what any military does. While Israel tries to minimize civilian casualties it's priority is to protect it's own civilians first and foremost.
On the other hand Hamas does target innocent civilians with indiscriminate rocket fire into Israel. Hamas has intentionally launched attacks from densely populated areas including homes, schools, mosques, UN buildings, and hospitals. Hamas fired mortars near a UN-run shcool in Jabalya, which was being used as a shelter at the time. During Operation Cast Lead, the Hamas leadership was hiding in an underground bunker beneath the Shifa Hospital. Terrorist have consistently used civilians as human shields not only to deter Israeli attacks but as part of their propaganda campaign to demonize Israel. They have shown themselves to put their own people in harm’s way to achieve their objectives.
“We call on our Palestinian people, particularly the residents of northwest Gaza, not to obey what is written in the pamphlets distributed by the Israeli occupation army. We call on them to remain in their homes and disregard the demands to leave, however serious the threat may be.” –(Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), July 14, 2014) Source: The Right Scoop)
In 2014 during Operation Protective Edge, IDF forces discovered a Hamas manual on “Urban Warfare”, belonging to the Shuja’iya Brigade of Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. The manual explains how to use civilians against the IDF and acknowledges the IDF tries to minimize civilian casualties. In a portion entitled “Limiting the Use of Weapons,” the manual explains that:
“The soldiers and commanders (of the IDF) must limit their use of weapons and tactics that lead to the harm and unnecessary loss of people and [destruction of] civilian facilities. It is difficult for them to get the most use out of their firearms, especially of supporting fire [e.g. artillery].”
Continuing on the manual explains that the “presence of civilians are pockets of resistance” cause three major problems for advancing troops: (1) Problems with opening fire, (2) Problems in controlling the civilian population during operations and afterward, (3) Assurance of supplying medical care to civilians who need it. Lastly it describes the benefits for Hamas of having civilian’s homes destroyed by the IDF:
“The destruction of civilian homes: This increases the hatred of the citizens towards the attackers [the IDF] and increases their gathering [support] around the city defenders (resistance forces[i.e. Hamas]).” (Source:IDF Blog)
The Goldstone Report
The Goldstone Report is often cited as documented evidence of Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, the 2009 Goldstone Report contains many inaccuracies which are detailed in Alan Dershowitz’s article, "The Case Against The Goldstone Report". And in 2011 Richard Goldstone completely reversed the findings of his Goldstone report and now says, “That the crimes allegedly committed by Hamas were intentional goes without saying – its rockets were purposefully and indiscriminately aimed at civilian targets.” And of Israel he says, “civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy”. Goldstone's mea culpa was published in a Washington Post article entitled “Reconsidering the Goldstone Report on Israel and war crimes - Apr 1 2011”.
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Part 8
Claim: Israel is the aggressor, targets civilians. The PLO and HAMAS are the good guys.
The 1982 Lebanon War
The PLO is a terrorist organization. Their ranks included 15-18,000 members whose arsenal included mortars, Katyusha rockets, anti-aircraft networks, small arms, hundreds of T-34 tanks, and surface to air missiles. Lebanon was once regarded as “The Paris of the Middle East” until the PLO was kicked out of Jordan for starting a civil war and relocated to southern Lebanon only to start another civil war within Lebanon. The civil war was especially hard on the Lebanese Christians.
On March 11, 1978 a squad of Palestinian terrorists from Lebanon hijacked a bus near Haifa. They drove south toward Tel Aviv, brutalizing the passengers and firing at passing cars. Dozens of Israel's were murdered and many more wounded. Israel had enough and launched Operation Litanti. This operation had two purposes, first to bring the incessant bombardments to Northern Israel to an end and second to relieve the beleaguered Christians of southern Lebanon and assist the Lebanese army leader Major Sa'ad Haddad to establish a security zone and keep the PLO from reoccupying the area.
Tired of the low-level war of attrition the PLO and Syrian proxy militias were waging from Southern Lebanon into Northern Israel, Operation Peace for Galilee began on June 6, 1982. The goal was to push the PLO and Muslim forces toward Beirut, and out of artillery range of Northern Israel. The PLO repeatedly violated the July 1981 cease-fire agreement. In the ensuing 11 months, the PLO staged 270 terrorist actions in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and along the Lebanese and Jordanian borders.
“No sovereign state can tolerate indefinitely the buildup along its borders of a military force dedicated to its destruction and implementing its objectives by periodic shellings and raids.” -Henry Kissinger
Sabra and Shatila refugee camps
The claim that Israel bombed Sabra and Shatila killing 200 Palestinians seems to come solely from Noam Chomsky's "The Fateful Triangle" (p.197), based upon an “eyewitness account” by an anti-Zionist propagandist in the PLO-sponsored Journal of Palestine Studies. There are no other sources to verify this claim. (Source:Ariel Center for Policy Research)
It was known that Sabra and Shatila were havens for terrorist activity. On September 14, 1982 Lebanese president Bashir Gemayel was assassinated. In retliation Israel had allowed Christian Phalangists to enter Sabra and Shatila to root out terrorist cells. They did not know these Phalangists would massacre hundreds of people in the camp. Nevertheless Israel took responsibility for not anticipating the possibility of violence and dismissed the Army Chief of Staff. The Defense Minister, Ariel Sharon, also resigned.
By contrast there was no outrage or responsibility taken when Muslim militiamen attacked the Shatila and Burj-el Barajneh Palestinian refugee camps and killed 635 people. Or Beit Mellat, Dier Achache, Damour Saadiyate, and many other peaceful cities and villages that were attacked by Palestinian and Syrian Muslims beginning in 1975. (Source:Jewish Virtual Library)
2008 Operation Cast Lead
In an effort for peace Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and resettled it's citizens, some of which by force, into Galilee or Negev. Four settlements in the Northern West Bank were also dismantled. In yet another example of how land for peace doesn’t work, Israel was repaid with thousands of rockets fired out of Gaza over the next three years before Israel finally decided to respond. Operation Cast Lead began on December 27, 2008.
Hamas agreed to a ceasefire on June 17, 2008. Despite the ceasefire rocket fire from Gaza never fully stopped and weapons smuggling was not halted by Hamas. On November 4 Israel destroyed a tunnel along the Gaza-Israeli border dug my militants to infiltrate Israel and abduct soldiers. This previously happened to Israeli solider Gilad Shalit in 2006. This was not an intent to break the ceasefire but deal with a specific and imminent threat. On December 13, Israel announced that it favored extending the ceasefire as long as Hamas adhered to pre-conditions. However on December 18 Hamas declared an end of the ceasefire. (Source:The New York Times Nov 4th 2008)
“I say in all honesty, we made contact with leaders in Hamas in the Gaza Strip. We spoke with them in all honesty and directly, and after that we spoke with them indirectly, through more than one Arab and non-Arab side... We spoke with them on the telephone and we said: 'We beg of you, we hope that you won't break [the ceasefire.] As the [Egyptian foreign] Minister said: 'Don't break the ceasefire, the ceasefire must continue and not stop.' In order to avoid [violence] that has happened. If only we had avoided it.” — PA President Mahmoud Abbas
The ceasefire was a temporary fix that was unstable. Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel as outlined in their charter. This is the reason no amount of land or a Palestinian State will bring about peace. It’s the continual contesting of Israel's legitimacy that has led to wars and ensured there will be no peace.
“The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war." -Benjamin Netanyahu
“Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” –Golda Mier
Civilian casualties
It has never been an Israeli policy to intentionally target civilians. Israel goes out of its way to warn civilians and minimize casualties. In 2008’s Operation Cast Lead 81% of the bombs dropped were guided. Among the Israeli arsenal are inert bombs filled with cement or sand. While these bombs can still cause damage, they can’t explode and are specifically used in dense urban areas to reduce collateral damage. The Goldstone report admits that 99% of the Israeli bombs dropped during Operation Cast Lead hit their targets accurately. Israel also drops pamphlets, sends text messages, uses social media, and even calls people’s homes to warn them in advance of an attack, all at a strategic expense to Israel. This is far more than what any military does. While Israel tries to minimize civilian casualties it's priority is to protect it's own civilians first and foremost.
On the other hand Hamas does target innocent civilians with indiscriminate rocket fire into Israel. Hamas has intentionally launched attacks from densely populated areas including homes, schools, mosques, UN buildings, and hospitals. Hamas fired mortars near a UN-run shcool in Jabalya, which was being used as a shelter at the time. During Operation Cast Lead, the Hamas leadership was hiding in an underground bunker beneath the Shifa Hospital. Terrorist have consistently used civilians as human shields not only to deter Israeli attacks but as part of their propaganda campaign to demonize Israel. They have shown themselves to put their own people in harm’s way to achieve their objectives.
“We call on our Palestinian people, particularly the residents of northwest Gaza, not to obey what is written in the pamphlets distributed by the Israeli occupation army. We call on them to remain in their homes and disregard the demands to leave, however serious the threat may be.” –(Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), July 14, 2014) Source: The Right Scoop)
In 2014 during Operation Protective Edge, IDF forces discovered a Hamas manual on “Urban Warfare”, belonging to the Shuja’iya Brigade of Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. The manual explains how to use civilians against the IDF and acknowledges the IDF tries to minimize civilian casualties. In a portion entitled “Limiting the Use of Weapons,” the manual explains that:
“The soldiers and commanders (of the IDF) must limit their use of weapons and tactics that lead to the harm and unnecessary loss of people and [destruction of] civilian facilities. It is difficult for them to get the most use out of their firearms, especially of supporting fire [e.g. artillery].”
Continuing on the manual explains that the “presence of civilians are pockets of resistance” cause three major problems for advancing troops: (1) Problems with opening fire, (2) Problems in controlling the civilian population during operations and afterward, (3) Assurance of supplying medical care to civilians who need it. Lastly it describes the benefits for Hamas of having civilian’s homes destroyed by the IDF:
“The destruction of civilian homes: This increases the hatred of the citizens towards the attackers [the IDF] and increases their gathering [support] around the city defenders (resistance forces[i.e. Hamas]).” (Source:IDF Blog)
The Goldstone Report
The Goldstone Report is often cited as documented evidence of Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, the 2009 Goldstone Report contains many inaccuracies which are detailed in Alan Dershowitz’s article, "The Case Against The Goldstone Report". And in 2011 Richard Goldstone completely reversed the findings of his Goldstone report and now says, “That the crimes allegedly committed by Hamas were intentional goes without saying – its rockets were purposefully and indiscriminately aimed at civilian targets.” And of Israel he says, “civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy”. Goldstone's mea culpa was published in a Washington Post article entitled “Reconsidering the Goldstone Report on Israel and war crimes - Apr 1 2011”.
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Part 8
