Just this week, the newspaper of choice for many British liberals has published three articles about the Jewish state. All three are deeply critical.
Not that criticism of Israel is inherently wrong. Millions of Israelis are critical of their politicians and government on a daily basis. A problem emerges, however, when one’s criticism becomes so one-sided and shallow as to effectively parrot Hamas propaganda.
The Guardian’s
editorial today is a case in point.
Literally, the day after only his helmet prevented an Israeli soldier’s certain death when a Hamas terrorist shot at him, The Guardian publishes a lead editorial which deliberately blurs the lines between peaceful protesters and violent rioters, failing to acknowledge that Israeli soldiers were tasked with preventing angry hordes from breaking through the security fence and descending on Israeli villages.
“One sentence in particular claims that Israeli soldiers ‘gas, shell and kill protesters’. Such a simple phrase, yet riddled with deception.”
Instead, the article opens with talk of “Palestinians” being “killed at the rate of around one a day”. The mind boggles at how sensible, educated people regard the fact that Israel defends itself from Palestinian violence using lethal force as somehow an indictment on Israel. Instead of questioning why Palestinians repeatedly eschew peaceful protests to take up arms and attack Israelis, The Guardian focuses on why Israel defends itself.
Instead of querying Palestinian motives, the editorial unquestioningly repeats the Palestinian mantra that these protests were about the “right” to return to ancestral homes. This is false on multiple fronts – first, because while that was indeed the original concept, the protests were swiftly co-opted by Hamas and used as a pretext to invade Israeli borders. Numerous videos exist of rioters and terrorists entering Israeli territory with
machetes,
burning Israeli army posts and fields to the ground, and
destroying humanitarian crossings.
Second, there is no such right – the UN offered the Arabs and the Jews two states in this land. Instead of accepting as the Jews did, the Arabs called on the combined armies of Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq to attack Israel with the aim of destroying the nascent state. Yet Israel survived, and its borders were internationally recognized. There is no going back to what used to be. The Arab gambit failed.
“Israel has never shelled protesters at the Gaza border fence and to claim otherwise is an outright falsehood”.
Not content to repeat Hamas talking points, the piece makes some stunningly inaccurate and outright deceitful claims. One sentence in particular claims that Israeli soldiers “gas, shell and kill protesters”. Such a simple phrase, yet riddled with deception.
A Hatchet Job of an Editorial in The Guardian – Harry's Place
