Gaza's Maze of Deadly Violence Further Tanged by Israel's War of Words

Credibility can be hard to evaluate, however in the case of Israel there is none left to weigh.

An Indian holds a placard during an anti-Israel demonstration. Israel may have a corner in the west using the word 'terrorist' to describe its enemies, but the rest of the world believes Israel to be a terrorist state, rather than downtrodden Palestinian opponents. Photo: english.al-akhbar.com

(SALEM / GAZA CITY) - As bloody as the Palestine-Israel conflict is, we must never forget that it is also a war of words. Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) can't get ten words out about encounters with resistance forces in Gaza without using the word 'terrorist'. Hamas press releases use the word 'martyr' with similar frequency.

In the vast majority of violent clashes in this conflict, Israel does the killing, and people in Gaza do the dying. All the while, the Palestinians are working against a system that defies international law. Their revolt against Israel's choke-hold is classified by Israel and western nations as terrorism. Many of us don't see it that way.

In fact the incessant use of these de-humanizing terms 'terrorism' and 'terrorist', cause responsible media to generally regard IDF's informational releases as far too biased to carry.

Of course reports by the Hamas news agency: the Ezzedeen AL-Qassam Brigades (The military wing of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas) are not unbiased; however they are often easy to back up in terms of numbers killed, etc.

We further regard Israeli military news statements as non-credible because we have had a reporter, Ken O'Keefe, in Gaza on the ground during Israeli attacks on civilian targets. Ken documented all of the damage which mainly centered around a pharmaceutical warehouse, full of badly-needed medicines that are always in short supply.

We took Ken's Gaza attack video, recorded at night when flames were roaring, as jets were still flying overhead dropping bombs, and then more evidence of the attack recorded the following morning in broad daylight, and compared that to Israel's news releases. Israel had blatantly lied about what the target was, who it belonged to, and underplayed the real purpose of the building, not a military outpost, but a big drug store. Israel was laying waste to human life and the property of people already oppressed by Israel's own hand. The building was destroyed to further impoverish a walled-in population short on health care supplies. The IDF refused to answer key questions about this particular attack posed by Salem-News.com They are happy to communicate when the occasion suits them, and they turn switch off when we ask hard questions.

Having noted this, I am including unedited Israel news releases. I think the different accounts offer great insight into the events of recent days, largely ignored by US media in many respects.

We begin with the most current report from Hamas, about the repeating deadly attacks from Israeli missiles, at least one of which was fired directly at a home, and related, rising death toll on the Gaza Strip.

7 Palestinians Wounded in Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza

Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip overnight Saturday, injuring seven people, medics said.

A missile struck a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, wounding seven people. The victims, which included four children, were taken to hospital for treatment, medical spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said.

The escalation came after the Friday morning infiltration that was executed by Ahmed Nasser who was killed by Israeli soldiers. An Israeli airstrike later that day at Palestinians on a motorcycle east of Khan Yunis resulted in the death of a member of the Popular Resistance Committees, who according to the army was part of a squad that had fired a rocket at Israeli soldiers.

http://www.qassam.ps/news-5781-7_Palestinians_wounded_in_Israeli_airstrikes_on_Gaza.html

The next entry is from the Israeli Defence Forces who report the loss of one of their soldiers in the fighting along the Gaza border.

IDF Staff Sgt. Netanel Moshiashvili Killed in Exchange of Fire with Terrorist

Staff Sgt. Netanel Moshiashvili of the Golani Brigade was killed earlier this morning (Friday). A terrorist who was identified infiltrating Israel from the southern Gaza Strip opened fire at IDF soldiers, who responded with fire. During the exchange, the terrorist was killed, thus preventing a terror attack on Israeli civilians.

The family of Staff Sgt. Netanel Moshiashvili has been informed of the incident.

In response to the infiltration attempt, IAF aircraft targeted three weapons manufacturing facilities in the central Gaza Strip as well as two underground terrorist tunnels in the northern and southern Gaza Strip. Direct hits were identified.

The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians or IDF soldiers, and will operate against anyone who uses terror against the State of Israel. The Hamas terror organization is solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip.

http://www.idfblog.com/2012/06/01/idf-soldier-killed-in-exchange-of-fire-with-terrorist/

Israel repeatedly refers to the Hamas, the legitimately elected government of Gaza, as 'terrorists' and yet allows treatment of human beings to take place that is agonizing. The following entry from Hamas shows the type of humiliation that Palestinians endure at the hands of Israelis.

Israeli Youth Tied & Beat Palestinian Who Was Shot by Settlers

Two separate shooting incidents involving Israeli settlers last month indicated that Israeli teens tied and beat a Palestinian who had been shot and wounded near the West Bank settlement of "Yitzhar", Israeli media sources said.

The source added that the last week, just one week following a similar attack on Palestinians was recorded, an Israeli settler shot and wounded a Palestinian man without any reason. The settlers attack began when a group of settlers set fire to fields belonging to a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank.

Residents said about 25 settlers, some of them carrying guns, set fire to wheat fields in the village of Orif, which is near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Some villagers came out to extinguish the fire and stop the settlers, said Nablus official Kassan Daglas. Israeli soldiers then came to the scene and attacked Palestinians. The Palestinian was shot in the stomach, medical officials said, and taken to the hospital.

The media reported that the Israeli forces confiscated the weapons of members of "Yitzhar's" security response team. West Bank police have opened investigations into the incidents. The first incident occurred on May 19 and the second a week later on May 26. The first incident near Assira al-Kabaliya, it began when the settlers hurled stones at Palestinians at a distance of some 50 meters from the village, then an Israeli settler pulled his pistol and fired at Palestinian villagers. The second incident, taking place May 26, it began when a group of youths come from "Yitzhar" and tied the hands and beat a Palestinian, the Israeli Forces did not arrest them.

http://www.qassam.ps/news-5780-Israeli_youth_tied__beat_Palestinian_after_shot_by_settlers.html

In this aforementioned War of Words, Israel's second favorite term is 'rocket attacks' and this is absolutely something that takes place, but the further truth, is that in terms of lives, the rockets do not hold any records. 28, or perhaps 29 - that is the number of Israelis killed in all time from these rocket attacks. For those people and their families it is a tragedy, but Israel can kill that many in Gaza in a week and nothing happens in return; no intervention from the world government, nothing. Each time Israel is brought up on war crime charges, the U.S. uses its special veto power in the United Nations to squash the matter and it is dropped. Under these conditions, Israel naturally fails to obey international law, knowing it has immunity from crimes conducted during military actions.

Responding to Rocket Fire, IAF Targets Rocket Launching Squad in Gaza

In response to 2 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel a short while ago, IAF aircraft targeted a terrorist squad that fired a rocket at IDF soldiers. A hit was confirmed.

The IDF will continue to operate against anyone who uses terror against the residents of the State of Israel. The Hamas terror organization is solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip.

(The caption used with this image from the IDF is: "Archive: Trails of smoke after a rocket from Gaza was launched at Israeli civilians". In other words, this image only looks like evidence of this supposed rocket attack, but it is actually a file photo from their archives.)

http://www.idfblog.com/2012/06/01/responding-to-rocket-fire-iaf-targets-rocket-launching-squad-in-gaza/

Many students of this conflict in the Holy Land believe Israel's goal is to always entice a military reaction in order to generate headlines allowing the repeated use of the term 'terrorist'. Once again, the Palestinians say it is Israel that ignited the current round of violence.

Hamas Holds Israel Responsible for its Military Escalation on Gaza Borders

The Hamas Movement held the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) responsible for the military escalation that took place south of Gaza borders on Friday leading to the killing of one Palestinian resistance fighter and one Israeli soldier.

In a press statement to Quds Press, senior Hamas official and lawmaker Mushir Al-Masri stressed that the Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves against any Israeli military incursions and attacks.

Masri said Israel's threats would never scare the Palestinians in Gaza who have the right to defend and repel Israel's incursions and military operations inside their territory.

"The truce is still effective and it is part of a national consensus, so any confrontation with the occupation would be certainly in the framework of a national agreement on the basis of considering the higher national interest of our people," the Hamas official affirmed.

For its part, the resistance committees blessed the Palestinian counterattack against an Israeli military post east of Khan Younis city on Friday.

The resistance committees warned Israel of the consequences of committing any follies against Gaza, and stressed that the resistance would not be watching the Israeli violations in Gaza and would respond strongly.

http://www.qassam.ps/news-5778-Hamas_holds_Israel_responsible_for_its_military_escalation_on_Gaza_borders.html

One of the many serious violations Israel constantly stands accused of, is holding Palestinians prisoner without charges or sufficient evidence. When Israel lacks evidence, they declare the suspect a 'terrorist' and arrest and imprison them under 'Administrative Rule' which allows the indefinite detention of a person without charges. Like so many other rules, this only applies to Palestinians. Israel is an apartheid state as South Africa was into the 1990's, meaning it has separate laws for people depending on their ethnic breakdown.

Palestinian Prisoner Suffers Heart Attack

Palestinian prisoner Raed Da’amsa suffered a severe heart attack in the Israeli Nafha prison, his relatives told the PIC on Saturday.

They said that the heart attack left Da’amsa’s left hand and left foot paralyzed. Da’amsa, who is serving a seven and a half years sentence, was transferred to hospital, the relatives said, adding that no other information was given to the family. They appealed to the human rights groups and the Red Cross to inquire about his health condition and expose the Israeli practices against him.

Israeli occupation forces arrested Da’amsa on 21/5/2007, they said, adding that he was subjected to cruel interrogation rounds for six months and was deprived of sleep for long periods of time. They noted that Da’amsa was told he would only get out of prison paralyzed if he did not confess. Da’amsa is married and has five children, four daughters and a son, who he did not see because he was born few months after his detention.

http://www.qassam.ps/news-5779-Palestinian_prisoner_suffers_heart_attack.html

Our friend and fellow writer Vittorio Arrigoni, who was murdered under cloudy circumstances just over a year ago in Gaza, took the subject of Gaza fishermen to heart. These brave sea faring souls can't venture to where the fish are; if they go more than three miles from shore, they are attacked by Israeli patrol boats. This is a sickening practice of Israel's.

Israeli Gunboats Fire at Palestinian Fishing Boats

Israeli navy gunboats fired at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Sudaniya, to the north west of Gaza city, on Friday.

Palestinian fishermen syndicate sources said that the gunboats opened heavy machinegun fire at the boats forcing fishermen on board to abandon them. They said that no casualties were suffered.

The Israeli navy arrested four fishermen from one family while fishing off the coasts of Gaza on Wednesday.

http://www.qassam.ps/news-5777-Israeli_gunboats_fire_at_Palestinian_fishing_boats.html

This final entry from Hamas tells the story of a family simply trying to recover the remains of their daughter. This is bittersweet at best.

The Martyr Reem Rayashi’s Grave Embraces the Rest of Her Body

The body of Palestinian martyr Reem Rayashi remained divided between the “Cemeteries of Numbers” and her gave in Gaza built by her family to bury Reem’s remains that they received from the occupation right after her martyrdom during a commando operation in Beit Hanoun crossing “Erez”, Northern Gaza.

Rayashi, a mother of two children, had carried out on 14 January 2004 a martyrdom operation targeting a gathering of occupation soldiers and officers in Beit Hanoun crossing and resulting in killing four officers and wounding others. Rami Rayashi, Reem's brother, told "Quds Press" that right after the operation the occupation authoroties handed over to the family remains of Reem's body weighing only 12 kilograms."

"We thought that it was all that was left of her body and that the rest should have been melted or blown because of the intensity of the explosion, without knowing that the occupation kept the rest of her remains in a grave carrying the number (5176) in the cemeteries of numbers all that period," Her brother added. Rayashi stressed that when they had buried his sister’s remains sent by the occupation, they had not been aware that there had been another part kept by the occupation. He considered the occupation’s act as unacceptable and aims at punishing the family. He pointed out that as soon as they receive the body’s remains, they will bury it in her grave in Sheikh Ajlin graveyard with the rest of her body.

Reem Rayashi's commando operation was a heavy blow to the occupation forces and its intelligence since it was carried out at a time when the occupier had been fortifying all its settlements and all military sites in the Gaza Strip making it difficult to approach them.

http://www.qassam.ps/news-5776-The_martyr_Reem_Rayashis_grave_embraces_the_rest_of_her_body.html

American politicians have made it repeatedly clear, that in spite of its illegal activity, the U.S. exclusively favors Israel on every point, and is willing to hold its protective cloak around Israel, giving it total immunity from prosecution and moral responsibility. Slowly however, people do seem to increasingly understand that as long as Israel is funded by American tax dollars and remains the American taxpayer welfare project, any hope of recovering the former reputation of America as a noble and fair nation, is lost in the ashes.

Tim King in 2008, covering the Iraq War

Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer

Tim King has more than twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. Tim is Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. His background includes covering the war in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and reporting from the Iraq war in 2008. Tim is a former U.S. Marine.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing from The Associated Press the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs, Electronic Media Association and The Red Cross In a personal capacity, Tim has written 2,026 articles as of March 2012 for Salem-News.com since the new format designed by Matt Lintz was launched in December, 2005.

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