Once again, the de facto alliance between the New York Times and Hasbara Central is forcing readers to wade through endless detail before learning the news.
The story is a Times report titled “Gazans’ Hopes for Rebuilding After War Give Way to Deeper Despair,” by Diaa Hadid and Majd Al Waheidi. The article dwells at length on the sufferings of Gazans, and the Times can barely hide how happy it is to find some Palestinians who blame Hamas for their troubles.
Finally we reach this key sentence in the 14th paragraph, the first reference to Israel’s actions:
Israel places severe restrictions on the import of building materials, saying they have been used to build tunnels to conduct attacks on Israel.
This misleading sentence could have been crafted by Hasbara Central, implying that Israel is blockading Gaza for militarily defensive reasons.
How about this sentence instead?
Israel has placed an illegal blockade on Gaza in an effort to destroy the spirit of resistance among people trapped in an open air prison, and to induce them to turn against Hamas, the political movement they voted for in 2006.
This site has hundreds of readers in Gaza. We welcome their observations on Gaza today in light of this misleading article.
at least they say the blockade is illegal, and gaza is an open air prison? oh wait, i can’t find those sentences in the link – edit?
I think that the problem with NYT and others in USA is at least in part pure racism — the (false) perception that all Israeli Jews (perhaps except the Ethiopian Jews, if they know of them) are “white” (of European background). As the NYT and other kindly but racist USA folks “know”, all Christians and Jews are “white” (just look at pictures of Jesus in churches) and it is part of their “mission civilitrice” (so to speak) to oppress all non-white people.
I know, I know, racism is bad thinking even on its own terms, but I think it plays its role. How I wish that the Israeli Jews from Arab countries and Persia would proudly claim their backgrounds (and skin coloration) where Americans would see these things. Maybe a Mizrahi Israeli PM?
Gaza is in despair. Here are a few thoughts on how to start fixing the problem:
– Force Israel to end its occupation and withdraw to within its / Partition borders.
– Officially recognize the state of Palestine and help the Palestinians democratically elect a new government.
– Provide political, financial and economic assistance to stabilize Palestine, develop its infrastructure and get its economy going.
Later:
– introduce military assistance to help Palestine develop its defensive capabilities; and
– undertake impartially-mediated negotiations to resolve issues surrounding refugees, natural resources, etc.
Israel is justified for the same reason that German Nazi occupation of Poland was justified by the armed attacks by the Jewish terrorists of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Hamas forces carried out a brutal campaign of abductions, torture and unlawful killings against Palestinians accused of “collaborating” with Israel and others during Israel’s military offensive against Gaza in July and August 2014, according to a recent report by Amnesty International.
Nobody wants to mention that here at Mondoweiss.
Nobody wants to mention that the Egyptian army has destroyed the openings of more than 500 underground tunnels during a six-month military operation on its eastern borders with the Gaza Strip.
All that people are keen to mention (anti-semitic Les leading the way) is the usual bullsh*t about Israel .