The Savage Vs The Sympathetic: Latest Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Exposes Surreal Reality

Israel goes out of its way to avoid civilian casualties. Hamas goes out of its way to ensure them. And the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sees it all …

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Ezekiel 35:3, 5-6, 10-11, “… ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, And I will stretch out My hand against you And make you a desolation and a waste… Because you have had everlasting enmity and have delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of the punishment of the end, therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I will give you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you… Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,’ although the LORD was there, therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your envy which you showed because of your hatred against them; so I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.’”

The Algemeiner – “Perception and reality continued to baffle Palestinian advocates on Thursday as the conflict between Israel and Gaza terrorist groups reached its third day.

Palestinians fired more than 100 rockets at major Israeli cities, including Beersheba, Rehovot, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv. Israel, meanwhile, stepped up efforts to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and leadership responsible for the attacks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with his security cabinet late Thursday, saying the military campaign was going well and ‘more stages were expected.’

Slate reporter William Saletan, a critic of the Israeli government, nonetheless saw reality. Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas started firing rockets at Israeli cities ‘well before’ Israel started bombing targets in Gaza, he wrote.

Israel has conducted more than 500 airstrikes as part of Operation Protective Edge since then, yet the death toll stands at around 80 Palestinians. Their deaths are tragic, but ‘you’d have to conclude that either Israel is failing miserably to kill people or, more plausibly, it’s largely trying not to kill them,’ Saleton wrote. He notes that Israel directly calls occupants of targeted buildings urging them to get out, and fires warning shots in an attempt to limit civilian casualties.

Yet, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas calls Israel’s strikes, which target rocket launch sites and terrorist leadership, ‘collective genocide.’

‘The charges are false,’ Saletan writes. ‘By the standards of war, Israel’s efforts to spare civilians have been exemplary.’

For Israel’s foes, ‘exemplary’ is not a concept they can handle. National Islamist groups are condemning Israel’s strikes while staying silent about Hamas’ rocket fire. Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Los Angeles office, similarly absolves Hamas of responsibility for the violence. And, ignoring Israel’s attempts to minimize casualties, he lashed out on Twitter, with a ‘damn you’ post toward Israel and those who support ‘your filthy, criminal #Zionism.’

Hassan Shibly, Ayloush’s CAIR colleague in Tampa, similarly blasted Israel for not valuing ‘the lives of Palestinian children’ and said that Israel, ‘on an institutional level treats Palestinians worse than animals.’

Contrast that with the reality of the Hamas message this week. When it comes to the Israeli warning calls, a Hamas official went on the group’s Al Aqsa television to encourage people to stay in the buildings as human shields, the Israel Defense Forces reported, offering the video.” Read more.