“It was so nice of the Israelis to drop those papers before turning our home into a pile rubble.”
I have not made up mind as to whether the fliers and automated phone calls Israel’s military uses to communicate with Gazans are for PR or Psychological Operations purposes. One thing is for sure, they are not to help any Palestinians.
A New York Times article highlights their essential absurdity:
Leaflets dropped from airplanes said, “Hamas is getting a taste of the power of the Israeli military after more than a week and we have other methods that are still harsher to deal with Hamas. They will prove very painful. For your safety, please evacuate your neighborhood.”Palestinians said they had no place to go because so many neighborhoods received the same message.
In effect, they’re telling Gazans to find a safe place to go to while keeping them from having any such places. The only safe locations now are outside what many call the world’s largest prison.
As an aside foror all those who can only discuss this conflict in terms of rockets, I would bet that every single Gazan seeking a safe place would prefer to sit it out in Sderot or Ashdod. The only Israelis from those places willing to go to Gaza would do so as IDF soldiers, on the other hand.
Such communications feed the myth that the Israeli army is humane. The internet stinks from all the forums and discussion boards where pro-Israeli drones claim the flyers and calls are actually helpful, or that they show how far the IDF would go to prevent civilian casualties.
If anything, they only remind Gazans of the callous and ruthless nature of the Israeli regime and the utter and complete disregard it has had for the fate of the Palestinians.
I would throw these flyers and calls into a pile of other Israeli-inspired self-contradictions: the “present-absentee” category to describe the internally displaced Palestinian citizens of Israel; Israeli occupation forces acting in “self-defense” (a conquering, ruling army is never defending); “Law of Return,” which implicitly denies the return of the Palestinian refugees; and, most famously, Israel as a state that is both Jewish and democratic (how can a state be for one religious group and all its citizens at the same time?).
Related posts:
- Israel Risks the Talibanization of Gaza: the Long-View on Israel and Palestine
- Finkelstein: Israel at War With International Community
- Protesting Israel All Over the World
- Media Bias on Gaza Crisis Favors Israel
- Best Darn Resturant in Bahrain…
Here’s a question of blame:
Whose fault is it that there are so many Hamas targets in civilian areas? Did cruel Israel put them there, or did noble Hamas?
Posted by Roy | January 5, 2009, 3:44 pmHere’s a question that’s not about blame:
Why not end the rocket attacks?
What are they accomplishing?
Posted by Roy | January 5, 2009, 3:45 pmI would bet that every single Gazan seeking a safe place would prefer to sit it out in Sderot or Ashdod.
I’ll bet they would…now. But two weeks ago, they wouldn’t.
You know how they can go back to two weeks ago? I do. But it’s a secret.
Posted by Roy | January 5, 2009, 3:49 pmYes, Israel put them there in 1948. All the refugees in Gaza are there because Israel had to have a Jewish state and could not accommodate the natives. Basic history Royboy.
Posted by Will | January 5, 2009, 11:50 amYou are a peace advocate now, Will? Or does that pose just fit in nicely with your anti-Israeli activities?
Advocates of violent resistance seldom make persuasive arguments that they genuinely want peace. And you aren’t even trying very hard.
Posted by programmer craig | January 5, 2009, 4:11 pmNo, Israel did not ‘put them there in 1948′. They either fled there fearing war or they were enticed to get out of the way so the attacking Arab armies could finish their ‘cleansing’ of the area. The Arabs who stayed behind ended up with FULL ISRAELI citizenship and the rights given to other Israeli citizens.
Its unfortunate that some people so obviously well-educated can nevertheless never divorce themselves from their attachment to stupid conspiracy theories. Israel drops flyers on houses (or calls) warning of imminent destruction both to prevent civilian casualties as well as to maintain PR. It doesn’t make these any the less useful, however, and countless lives have been saved because of them.
I realize you won’t ever admit that Hamas fires from civilian centers in order to engender a response that kills civilians, but it would be nice if you could consider the fact that perhaps this situation is not as one-sided as you would like.
Posted by Anonymous | January 5, 2009, 5:05 pmYes, Israel put them there in 1948.
FAIL. You didn’t answer the question asked. Do you want to try again, or shall we take it that you can’t spin it in your favor?
Posted by Roy | January 5, 2009, 6:23 pmRoy,
FAIL. You are a retarded celebrationist of murderous war criminals.
Here’s a question for you:
1. Why didn’t the Jews just let the Nazis wipe them out and not whine so much about it? I mean, here we are 60 years later and those fuckers are still whining about the Jewish holocaust.
Answer the questions, Roy.
Posted by abraham | January 6, 2009, 11:22 amHere’s another question, Roy:
1. Why did Israel put its colonies so close to Hamas rockets?
2. Why do you sound like you take it up the ass from a bull dyke with a strap-on?
Posted by abraham | January 6, 2009, 11:25 am1. Why did Israel put its colonies so close to Hamas rockets?
What Hamas rockets? I thought there were no Hamas rockets? And no Hamas. Just poor, helpless brown people being exterminated by Nazis.
Finish the mission, IDF!
Posted by Anonymous | January 6, 2009, 12:21 pmWow, abraham, you sound like my questions made you really uncomfortable.
Posted by Roy | January 6, 2009, 12:52 pm