The distortions flooding the internet and airwaves regarding the latest Israeli assault on Gaza are familiar and depressing. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has managed to frame the latest episode in the conflict as Israel ‘defending itself’ from incessant rocket attacks from the Gaza strip. The truth of course is far more nuanced and complicated. Predictably, the mainstream media in the US has run with the official Israeli narrative of events towing the line that Israel is merely defending itself from Arab terrorism. The truth is that the latest outburst of violence began when Israeli tanks made an incursion into Palestinian territory, and killed a 12 year old Palestinian boy playing football. Hamas then responded by sending rockets into Israel, and the violence has spiraled since.

My friend Ahmed Shihab-Edlin hosted a discussion on the Huff Post Live this morning discussing the increasingly brutal attack on Gaza, putting the conflict into perspective and looking at both sides of the story. I have to give a huge amount of credit to the Huffington Post for giving Ahmed a prominent platform to air views from a Palestinian perspective – historically a mortal sin in the American mainstream media. I highly recommend watching the very civilized discussion that doesn’t demonize either side:

I’ll be posting a more in-depth analysis about the conflict tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Subscribe

Ben Cohen's feed

Enter email below:

On Nov. 11, 2012, the IDF targeted Ahmed Jabri, the head of Hamas’ military wing, in the Gaza Strip. Jabri was a senior Hamas operative who served in the upper echelon of the Hamas’ command. Israel claims he was directly responsible for executing terror attacks against Israel in the past.

Check out the footage of the aerial assassination that targeted Jabri’s car:

The assassination is apparently part of a much broader series of assaults from Israel against militant in the Gaza strip. From the Guardian

Reuters quotes Palestinian sources as saying nine people were killed in the strikes on Jaabari’s vehicle. Al-Jazeera says the attack killed Jaabari and five others, including Jaabari’s son.

The assault on Gaza appears to be ongoing. Since Donnison’s tweet of about 20 minutes ago, he has reported one more “explosion” in the north. A Twitter list of 421 people inside Gaza contains many mentions of new explosions.

Al-Jazeera reports that a rocket has been fired from Gaza into Ashkelon, over the northern border.

Al-Jazeera now reports that Israeli air raids continue on Gaza. It appears that a major offensive, called “Pillar of Defense” by the IDF, is indeed under way.

Hamas has stated that Israel has ‘Opened the gates of hell’ and is promising revenge attacks.

Subscribe

Ben Cohen's feed

Enter email below: