Melanie Phillips – Gaza
I was incensed by Ms. Phillips’ comment that most of those who have been killed by Israel are “terrorists” and so I emailed her:
Melanie, I hope you have seen this, your disgraceful comments recently about most of the casualties being “terrorists” is a bare faced lie.
This morning, I then sent
How about having a read of this from a lady in Palestine:
“My father last night tried to communicate a single message: We keep hearing that Israel is after Hamas; but WE are the targets here; Civilians are the targets here, not Hamas.
An entire refugee family in one fell swoop was killed this morning as they took cover in their home from Israeli fire. Their deaths do not make Israeli more secure. Their deaths will not stop rocket fire.”
http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/2009/01/trapped-traumatized-terrorized-gaza.html
To my surprise a few minutes later I got this response:
I fully understand and sympathise with her distress, and yours. However, civilians are demonstrably not the targets — but unfortunately in any war zone there are civilian casualties, which is deeply regrettable.
Best wishes
Melanie
I then fired off my reply as follows:
Well, quite clearly the people being attacked are civilians, what do you base your assumption on, Israeli propaganda? Israel isn’t the whiter than white “democracy” you think it is. You may also want to consider the 101 outstanding UN resolutions that Israel flagrantly disregards, other countries have been attacked and invaded for less and yet Israel has been getting away with it, explain that one (hundred and one)? The Political Scientist Norman Finkelstein said:
?The only differences between Israeli and Hamas terrorism are that Israeli terrorism is four times as lethal, and that no demands have been made for Israel to end it. . . ?
Terrorism is terrorism, whether it is perpetrated by renegade individuals or nation states especially if they are and have been in flagrant violation of International Law and UN resolutions. I really wish you would be fairer in your writings instead of having what seems to me an irrational hatred for Arabs and Muslims, it is unbecoming of a civilised person.
One thought on “Melanie Phillips – Gaza”
“Civilians are the targets here, not Hamas”
Civilians aren’t “the target”, as in the main object of attack. The number of civilian dead and the proportion of civilian dead compared with Hamas members shows that. However, apart from the possibilty that individual members of the I.D.F. are deliberately aiming at civilian targets, with or without superior connivance, it looks as though the I.D.F. are much less concerned with possible civilian casualties than they were. Even if we accept policemen and civilian members of Hamas as legitimate targets, then the ratios of members of Hamas or fighters to uninvolved civilians killed, the carelessness or casualness with which weapons are aimed and fired and the sheer number of dead makes it look as though the I.D.F. is much less concerned with not harming civilians than it was in- for example- Jenin. This applies whether the Israelis were or were not justified in attacking Gaza at all.
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Mas’ud says: Perhaps you should read the following article by Avi Shlaim who served in the Israeli Army http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/07/gaza-israel-palestine and then rethink your comments.