Dr. Conn Mac Gabhann visited Israel with a delegation called the Holy Land Coordination Group, purportedly to “better understand the political situation of the region.” Unfortunately though, it doesn’t seem that he gained much understanding at all.
The Holy Land Coordination Group aims to support Christian communities in Israel and the Palestinian areas, yet seems to have visited with a political agenda to promote the false black-and-white, one-sided view of the conflict where Israel is at fault for everything and Palestinians are blameless. It’s only once you reach the end of the article that part of this agenda becomes clear – the trip appears to have been funded by
Trócaire, which supports BDS, spreads biased and false information on Israel, and funds a long list of political, extremist, anti-Israel NGOs.
On visiting Gaza, Conn Mac Gabhann says its Palestinians “have been subject to an Israeli siege-like situation” since Hamas took over in 2007. He omits that Gaza is also under an Egyptian blockade, and doesn’t ask, or answer the obvious questions as to why Gaza is in this situation.
Why is Gaza governed by Hamas; what happened before that? Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, uprooting 8,000 Jews from their homes. Then in 2007, in a violent battle between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas killed and expelled Fatah members, taking control of the Gaza Strip.
So what is the reason for the “siege-like situation?” Hamas turned Gaza into a rocket-launching pad, firing tens of thousands of rockets into Israel over the past 10 years, killing dozens of Israelis. Israel is constantly having to work to stop Hamas
smuggling weapons into Gaza by sea and land, and through tunnels. At the same time, Palestinian terrorists have attempted to infiltrate into Israel to carry out attacks, through the crossings, over or through the fence, and through tunnels. To defend against the attack tunnels, Israel is now building an underground barrier along the border.
(full article online)
Ignoring Israeli History Won't Make It Go Away | HonestReporting