Trending Topics:

‘NYT’ says blockade of Gaza is justified by need to defend Israel from tunnel attacks

US Politics
on 20 Comments
New York Times headquarters. (Photo: Wikimedia)

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.

 

James North
About James North

Other posts by .


Posted In:
Israel Lobby
Media
US Politics

20 Responses

  1. johneill
    johneill
    June 2, 2015, 11:44 am

    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?

    • Donald
      Donald
      June 2, 2015, 12:08 pm

      They also “forgot” to mention the attacks on fishermen and farmers. But they did manage to cite the German official who said that the blockade won’t be lifted until Gaza is no longer a platform for rockets.

      The NYT is just a sick joke on this subject.

      • Donald
        Donald
        June 2, 2015, 12:13 pm

        Forgot to add that this falls under the shooting and crying genre, though in this case it is blockade and cry. The NYT writes a piece which they can claim shows the suffering in Gaza, but they leave out details which can’t be blamed on Hamas, like the shooting at civilians, and they blame everything else on Hamas and to a lesser extent the PA.

      • Keith
        Keith
        June 2, 2015, 4:31 pm

        DONALD- “They also “forgot” to mention the attacks on fishermen and farmers.”

        Along with the attacks you mention, the blockade itself is a violation of the ceasefire agreement they signed with Hamas. This is an ongoing standard practice of Israel to openly violate these ceasefire agreements knowing that they can do so with impunity.

    • June 2, 2015, 12:24 pm

      Seems hasbara central is running major pro Israel propaganda lies every single day now.

      They are feeling desperate no doubt.

  2. pabelmont
    pabelmont
    June 2, 2015, 12:21 pm

    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?

  3. eljay
    eljay
    June 2, 2015, 12:47 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.

    • Bornajoo
      Bornajoo
      June 2, 2015, 4:59 pm

      Those are all extremely logical and sensible thoughts and ideas Eljay. Well stated.

      But as we both know anything reasonable, fair and logical for the Palestinians is an anathema to the Israelis

      Thank you James for continually calling out the NYT for what it is.

      It has sunk to the low depths of being the chief hasbara rag for the two bit rogue state of Israel

      • can of worms
        can of worms
        June 3, 2015, 1:11 am

        @”Those are all extremely logical and sensible thoughts and ideas Eljay. Well stated”

        I swallowed my anger until now, but what it actually sounds like is advice to push for a Jim Crow Nation, politically and economically dependent on Israel, the U.S.A., the World Bank, and IMF’s death-loans. Somehow it just seems to me a little more logical and sensible to push for an equal share of those nice middle class suburbs that were created by systematically and institutionally expelling, ghettoizing, and impoverishing your children and your parents.

      • eljay
        eljay
        June 3, 2015, 8:05 am

        || Bornajoo: Those are all extremely logical and sensible thoughts and ideas Eljay. Well stated. But as we both know anything reasonable, fair and logical for the Palestinians is an anathema to the Israelis ||

        Yup. Zio-supremacists detest anything that hints at justice, accountability and equality. They prefer “peace”, which means they avoid accountability for their past and on-going (war) crimes and they get to keep most (if not all) of what they have stolen.

      • eljay
        eljay
        June 3, 2015, 12:16 pm

        || can of worms: I swallowed my anger until now, but what it actually sounds like is advice to push for a Jim Crow Nation … ||

        I don’t understand: How is a secular and democratic Palestinian state – a state of and for all of its citizens, immigrants, expats and refugees, equally – a “Jim Crow Nation”?

        || … politically and economically dependent on Israel, the U.S.A., the World Bank, and IMF’s death-loans. ||

        I don’t expect a sovereign, independent and viable Palestine to be dependent on any country, bank or “death loan”.

      • can of worms
        can of worms
        June 3, 2015, 1:34 pm

        Reply to eljay

        The point is, why doesn’t Israel become that “state of and for all of its citizens, immigrants, expats and refugees, equally” ? But you want separation, which will effectively allow Israel to keep its 99% segregated cities and segregated schools, not to speak of its Zionist institutions designed to keep the non-indigenous always in the majority, and in cultural control. Now, you agree that the Palestinians have been exploited and robbed and terrorized and impoverished. And that if Palestinians now live in slums, it’s only because of the success of the Zionist project. If the “solution” is putting them NOW in their own separate state, yes I’d call that a Jim Crow State. Israel was built on the backs of Palestinian kids, and they have a share in it.
        So to even discuss a “sovereign, independent and viable Palestine”, before you even get into the shocking nuts and bolts of it, you first have to confront the principle behind the idea.

      • eljay
        eljay
        June 3, 2015, 2:44 pm

        || can of worms: The point is, why doesn’t Israel become that “state of and for all of its citizens, immigrants, expats and refugees, equally” ? ||

        I’ve consistently said that Israel should be the secular and democratic state of and for all of its Israeli citizens, immigrants, expats and refugees, equally.

        || But you want separation, which will effectively allow Israel to keep its 99% segregated cities and segregated schools, not to speak of its Zionist institutions designed to keep the non-indigenous always in the majority, and in cultural control. ||

        I believe that two sovereign states should exist. I don’t want either state to be anything other than the secular and democratic state of and for all of its respective citizens, immigrants, expats and refugees, equally.

        || Now, you agree that the Palestinians have been exploited and robbed and terrorized and impoverished. … If the “solution” is putting them NOW in their own separate state, yes I’d call that a Jim Crow State. ||

        Putting the entire non-Jewish indigenous population of Palestine into a new state of Palestine is not my “solution”. It never has been.

        || Israel was built on the backs of Palestinian kids, and they have a share in it. ||

        I agree that the Palestinians from Partition-borders Israel have every right to share in Israel. After all, they are Israeli.

        || So to even discuss a “sovereign, independent and viable Palestine”, before you even get into the shocking nuts and bolts of it, you first have to confront the principle behind the idea. ||

        The discussion was about the situation in Gaza. I suggested some steps on how that situation could be ameliorated. You appear to be under the very mistaken impression that my suggestions are meant to replace justice, accountability and equality, or to absolve Israel of its past and on-going (war) crimes. They’re not.

      • Bornajoo
        Bornajoo
        June 3, 2015, 3:04 pm

        “I’ve consistently said that Israel should be the secular and democratic state of and for all of its Israeli citizens, immigrants, expats and refugees, equally.”

        Yes you have Eljay. Probably more so than any other commentator on MW

        @ can of worms. I absolutely get you’re point but I think you may have taken Eljay’s comment a bit out of context. I think we’re all on the same page.

      • eljay
        eljay
        June 3, 2015, 3:14 pm

        || Bornajoo: Yes you have Eljay. Probably more so than any other commentator on MW ||

        A broken record, you say? ;-)

        Well, at least it’s a worthwhile tune. :-D

      • Bornajoo
        Bornajoo
        June 3, 2015, 7:05 pm

        “A broken record, you say? ;-)

        Well, at least it’s a worthwhile tune. :-D”

        Not a broken record but a song of truth that needs to constantly played and heard, as you have always done and continue to do

        An absolutely worthwhile tune!

  4. Les
    Les
    June 2, 2015, 1:12 pm

    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.

  5. Mayhem
    Mayhem
    June 3, 2015, 4:57 am

    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 .

  6. Boo
    Boo
    June 3, 2015, 9:10 am

    One sad measure of the article’s successful deception is that it was forwarded by our Israel/Palestine study group without even a mention of its whitewashing of Israel’s primary role in the disaster that Gaza’s become.

  7. Atlantaiconoclast
    Atlantaiconoclast
    June 3, 2015, 9:16 am

    Has there ever been an actual attack from a tunnel against any Israeli civilian?

Leave a Reply