ChemEngineer
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- Feb 5, 2019
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The Myth of Innocent Palestinians
The evil cowards of Hamas hide behind women and children all of whom support them.
When there are inevitable casualties, the evil cowards don't get the blame, Israel does thanks to Leftists, the media, terrorist supporters and other evil people and groups.
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The myth of Gazaâs âinnocentâ majority
So far, not a single civilian in the terrorist enclave has opted to be categorized as a member of the âRighteous Among the Nations.â

Palestinians shopping at a market next to destroyed buildings in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, May 31, 2024. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.

RUTHIE BLUM
Ruthie Blum, former adviser at the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is an award-winning columnist and senior contributing editor at JNS, as well as co-host, with Amb. Mark Regev, of "Israel Undiplomatic" on JNS-TV. She writes and lectures on Israeli politics and culture, and on U.S.-Israel relations. Originally from New York City, she moved to Israel in 1977 and is based in Tel Aviv.
- (June 4, 2024 / JNS)
Second, their brethren in the Palestinian Authority are hungry to copy the move in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), despite years of ample evidence of what life is like under Hamasâs reign of terror.
Third, no disgruntlement on the part of either populace has replaced antisemitism. On the contrary, the worse their plight, the more they cling to the lie that the Jewish state, from its inception in 1948, is to blame.
In fairness, itâs tough for people who imbibe jihadist ideology with their mothersâ milk to engage in critical thinking when they come of age. In this respect, theyâre victimsâof their upbringing, not Israelâs existence. Certainly not of its policies, which have been nothing but magnanimous over the decades. Suicidally so.
Indeed, concern for the welfare of noncombatant human shields has not only led to the death of far too many Israel Defense Forces soldiers, itâs been preventing the IDF from defeating Hamas.
Ironically, much of the hesitance emanates from the military itself. Having the most stringent rules of engagementâto the point of referring to the phenomenon as âpurity of armsââdoes tend to make it more difficult to conduct warfare, particularly on such an asymmetric battlefield as Gaza.
Nor are such directives conducive to deterring the countryâs numerous other enemies. This is the Middle East, after all, where strength is revered and weakness scorned. Just ask any Gazan.
Speaking of which, stories emerging from freed hostages and survivors of the Oct. 7 massacre illustrate just how âinnocentâ the âciviliansâ in the Strip actually are. Take 75-year-old Ada Sagi, for instance.
Abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on that Black Sabbath eight months agoâand released on Nov. 28 as part of a deal to exchange hostages for Palestinian terrorists in Israeli jailsâshe was held for 53 days by a Gazan family with children. Sagi told Channel 12 News on Sunday that money was their motive.
According to Sagi, Hamas is paying Gazan civilians a daily wage to guard hostagesâup to 70 shekels ($19) per capita. She gleaned this from witnessing Israeli cash being delivered to her captor and by verifying it with him.
He explained that he âwants a better futureâ for his children and wife. âI want to buy visas and not stay here; I want to go to Europe,â he said, adding, âI am uninvolved.â
She asked him how he could call himself âuninvolvedâ while keeping her prisoner. For this, the poor ânoncombatantâ had no answer.
Then thereâs 21-year-old Mia Shem, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival and released on Nov. 30, after 55 days in captivity.
âEveryone in Gaza is a terrorist,â she recounted in TV interviews, with a cast on her arm. Upon her return to Israel, she underwent corrective surgery to repair the damage that had been done by a crude operation performed by a terroristâwithout anesthesia.
She described being shot on Oct. 7 and, while bleeding profusely, sexually assaulted. Then she was dragged by her hair into a car headed for Gaza. There, after having her arm basically butchered, she was placed with a family.
The man of the house stayed in a room with her, while his jealous wife denied her food. The coupleâs young son entered occasionally to taunt her with sweets he wouldnât let her eat.
âItâs important for me to reveal the truth about the people who live in Gaza,â she stressed, âabout who they really are.â
Itai Shabi also scoffed at the idea that most Gazans are âuninvolved.â
The married father of four-year-old twins miraculously survived the assault on Kibbutz Beâeri by hiding with his wife and children for five hours under the branches of a tree in his yard, and another six in the crevice of a nearby bush. This was after spending four hours in the houseâs bomb shelter, before escaping through a window when the perpetrators threw a burning tire into the roomâs air vent.
It wasnât until 8 p.m. that IDF soldiers came to the familyâs rescue. According to Shabi, all the other troops were taken out by Nukhba terrorists while making their way to the area.
Still, he told Channel 14 last week, Gazan civilians were the ones committing the real atrocities that day. The Nukhba commanders in Hamas garb were overseeing the carnage.
âThe ones not in uniform murdered my neighbors, killed my dog and did other unmentionables,â he said, noting that among the many Israelis slaughtered that day by ânoncombatantsâ were his wifeâs parents.
The above tales are anecdotal. Yet itâs a fact that only terrorists captured and interrogated by the Israel Security Agency have provided information on the whereabouts of hostages. No Gazan âciviliansâ have come forward to do so voluntarily.
The argument that they fear Hamas repercussions simply doesnât cut it anymore, however. Even in Nazi Germany there were citizens who risked their lives to do the conscionable thing. Yad Vashem created a special title for such gentilesâThe Righteous Among the Nationsâwho protected Jews at great peril to themselves.
So far, not a single Gazan fits that bill, despite encouragement in Israel and abroad. On Jan. 27 this year, in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, video appeals to the people of Gaza from family members of Righteous Among the Nations were screened at a âNever Again is Nowâ rally at âHostages Squareâ in Tel Aviv.
âJust as our parents, against all odds, saved Jews and risked their lives in the face of the Nazis, so too you, residents of Gaza, can save the lives of the hostages and be written in the history books as having chosen the right side,â they urged.
It was a worthy effort, but it didnât work, because the residents of Gaza have chosen otherwise.
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