In a recent Norwegian film titled "Gaza's Tears", the old propaganda is dragged out again about how Israel gratuiously smacks up pathetic Gazans out of pure nastiness. I admit that all I watched was the trailer, and that was enough for me. But, apparently SVT, Sweden's national broadcaster, liked it enough to put it on the
programming schedule. And that's a topic for another post. In the meantime here are some reminders...
The Gaza war was provoked by the barrages of Kassam rockets and mortar shells fired by Hamas at southern Israel. These attacks actually increased in frequency after Israel's Gaza pullout, terrorizing Israeli civilians with tens of rockets daily.
Despite the fact that Hamas fighters used the Gaza civilian population as human shields, civilian casualties were very low compared to worldwide combat casualty ratios.This was due to precision attacks and the phone calls made and leaflets dropped to warn Gaza civilians to clear out of areas with terrorist targets.
So what's the real back story? Hamas uses Islam to justify its attacks on Jews. Have a look at the following short list of excerpts from the Hamas Charter
translated by MEMRI , and you can decide for yourself who the actual aggressors are.
1. Jew Hatred Based in Islamic Teaching Predates the Founding of Israel
"The Islamic Resistance Movement...is connected and linked to the [courageous] uprising of the martyr 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam and his brethren the jihad fighters of the Muslim Brotherhood in the year 1936...the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to realize the promise of Allah, no matter how long it takes. The Prophet... says: "
The hour of judgment shall not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them, so that the Jews hide behind trees and stones, and each tree and stone will say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'"
2. Jewish State an "Insult" for Muslims
"Israel with its Jewish identity and Jewish people is challenging Islam and the Muslims. May the cowardly know no sleep."
3. Jews Inherently "Evil"
"They [Jews] strive to spread evil upon the earth, and Allah does not love those who do evil." (Koran, 5:64)
Have a happy holiday season!
By Chanah Shapira