Over the weekend Hamas tried a similar stunt to last week’s attempted swarming of the Gaza-Israel border. This time they burned thousands of rubber tyres to create a literal smokescreen in order to hide their next attempted invasion in what they called the “Gaza Return March“.
Those dastardly Israelis even had the temerity – not to mention ingenuity – to use giant fans to blow the toxic black smoke back at the “protestors” (aka violent terrorists), which is yet another black mark (excuse the pun) against Israel.
The IDF uses giant fans to blow the toxic smoke back into Gaza
From the above Jewish Press link:
Hamas terrorists once again attempted to breach the security fence along the Gaza border with Israel on Friday, against all warnings by Israel and recommendations by everyone else worldwide, using 20,000 rioters, 10,000 burning tires and numerous attempts at infiltrating Israeli territory to carry out terror attacks.
In various spots along the border, thousands of Gazans burned 10,000 tires – as commanded by Hamas – which produced a thick, oily black smoke that rose into the sky, blinding most people and choking everything and everyone around. It was an effective mask for the efforts of Hamas terrorists and their allies who then proceeded to attempt destroy the security fence and infiltrate into Israeli territory to carry out terror attacks.
…
Among the nine Arabs who were killed in the ensuing violence was an alleged Palestinian Authority journalist, Yasser Murtaja, who was reportedly hit while filming in an area completely masked by the thick black smoke. The IDF said in a statement that the soldiers did not deliberately target any journalist.
Among the weapons employed by the Israeli military to fight the smoke were giant fans next huge jets of water.
…
Defense Minister Liberman responding to the death of the journalist said, “I don’t know who he is, a photographer or not a photographer. Whoever flies a drone over IDF soldiers should know he is endangering himself. There were already events where terrorists dressed up as reporters.
As with last week’s attempted invasion, Hamas’ plot did not succeed, and in the ensuing violence another 9 Palestinian terrorists were killed.
Since no Israelis were considerate enough to die or even be injured, foreign media outlets were enraged at this disproportion on the part of Israel. After all, how unfair can you get? How can you kill your enemy and not let even one of your own soldiers or civilians die?
Watch these outrageous interviews and the brilliant response from Israel’s spokesmen. Here is Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Mark Regev, in an interview with Sky News:
And here is the Prime Minister’s spokesman, David Keyes:
Time and time again I am outraged anew, as I am sure you all are, at the hostile questioning and badgering of Israeli interviewees whenever the IDF defends Israel’s citizens and its borders. I am hard-pressed to think of another country whose representatives are treated with such antagonism in the media. What can this be other than (not so latent) antisemitism?
Just to clarify, the “Gaza Return March” was no innocent protest, as we already know from last week’s attempt. Look at the beautiful flag the Palestinians decided to fly to declare their intentions:
Despite, or rather because of all the above, British antisemites were out in force yesterday protesting Israel’s defensive actions on the Gaza border. Not a word, mind you, decrying Hamas’ human rights abuses against its own population or its attempted attack on Israel’s sovereignty, just like you will never hear a word in protest against Assad’s butchery and torture of his own people. Antisemites only get exercised when Israel defends itself, as we saw with the Sky News interviews above.
The British antisemites managed to tie two anti-Jewish issues neatly together, combining an attack on Israel with an attack on the British Jewish community for their anti-antisemitism protest, designating it a plot to bring Jeremy Corbyn down.
Harry’s Place has the report:
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council were accused of trying to bring about the political lynching of Jeremy Corbyn in Westminster today.
At a demonstration organised by the Palestine Forum in Britain Glyn Secker, Secretary of Jewish Voice for Labour, attacked the two main representative bodies of the Jewish community, he did so to great applause.
Secker said of the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council that;
“Their purpose is transparent, to bring down Corbyn because he is on the side of justice for Palestinians”
There are some sickening photos from the anti-Jewish rally, which would have done justice to Hamas – and to Der Stuermer too.
Outrageous comparison of Israel to the Nazis
Shame on all of them. They are a disgrace to their country.
At the same time it was gratifying to see yet another Jewish protest against Labour antisemitism, this time organized by the Campaign Against Antisemitism – which luckily came just in time to counter the anti-Israel Labour rally mentioned above.
Up to 1,000 people have descended on Labour’s headquarters to protest the party’s handling of anti-Semitism, and particularly to condemn leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Actress Maureen Lipman addressing the crowd of Jewish protestors at the CAA protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party
..
The demonstration, organised by the Campaign against Antisemitism, was the second to he held amid the crisis in two weeks and came as a poll for the Guardian revealed half the electorate believe the party has a problem with the issue.
Unlike the last rally outside Parliament Square attended by forty Labour parliamentarians and many from other parties, no senior politicians addressed the crowds today.
Actress Maureen Lipman, a vocal critic of the last two Labour leaders, said she was there as a “disenfranchised socialist”, adding: “How scary that we have to be here at all today.”
The British Jewish actress Maureen Lipman was amongst those who addressed the crowd. Here she is on Sky News explaining her stance and expressing the feelings of so many of us:
If only these Jewish protests and counter-demos would have some effect on Labour’s attitudes, or on the rising antisemitism in Britain in general. Sadly I have my doubts, though I would be delighted to be proven wrong.
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The IDF defended Israel and its citizens with outstanding professional action.
It certainly did! If the IDF had REALLY committed the massacre of which it was accused there would have been hundreds killed, not the mere dozen or so, with no women or children among the casualties.
Mark Regev is my kind of guy.
Yeah, mine too! 😉
re Mark Regev, mine too: had the pleasure of meeting him once, when he lent the Ambassadorial Residence for a fundraiser for Shaare Tzedek Hospital. He came home, went upstairs, then he & Mrs Regev came back downstairs, he introduced the main speaker, then they both stayed until the meeting was over. I’m sure they’d rather have gone back home! And when he came in, the first people he saw were Ros & me, and he came over and introduced himself, as if he needed any introduction!
As for his interview, what he didn’t say (and it may not have been the appropriate forum) is that according to the appropriate international law – this came out over Protective Edge in 2014 – a proportionate response is one that stops the attacker attacking the victim. No-one doubts that Hamas started it (and any so-called provocation as to Israel mounting a blockade of Gaza is irrelevant here…in international law), so the Israeli response was proportionate.
And re the current events, the border/fence marks an internationally agreed Truce Line: on the other side is Israel, a member of the UN. Of course they are entitled to defend that border and their citizens, as Ambassador Regev noted. BTW, I don’t think his interviewer was especially aggressive; in fact I got the impression that they often spar like that, and probably had a friendly chat afterwards in the Green Room!
We were at that rally yesterday, and Maureen was just walking past on her way to a nearby theatre for that day’s performance the day job – (the play’s a good one, we saw it with a different cast: Londoners reading this should google “The Best Man”, a play by Gore Vidal) – and was persuaded to give an impromptu speech. She got the biggest cheer of the day!
We also went to the previous demo on Parliament Green (as I noted below on an earlier article): we must keep the pressure up.
Do I feel unsafe in the UK? Not yet. My biggest concern is defending our Labour MP: as I noted elsewhere, she is a member of Labour Friends of Israel, and if they deselect her, then I won’t be voting Labour at the next election, because she will have been replaced by a member of Momentum…I take Jon Lansman’s protests re antisemitism in the Labour Party with a pinch of salt (he’s the Jewish founder of Momentum).
Keep your fingers crossed for us sane Lefties, folks.
Thanks for that interesting insight into Mark Regev. I’m glad he’s a mensch also when the media is not around.
Kol hakavod for going to both demos. It really is extraordinary for the UK Jewish community to protest like this. It just shows how bad the situation has become.
With apologies, I need to add the following: Honest Reporting (at http://honestreporting.com/the-gaza-riots-whats-really-happening/) notes that of the 19 deaths reported on the first day of the Hamas-led attempt to breach the border with Israel, some 15 were identified as Hamas members & operatives. So much for “innocent, deprived, oppressed…etc, etc” Palestinians: they were overwhelmingly Hamas “martyrs”.
Why are we not surprised?
It was ever thus. Just feel sorry for those duped into falling for this nonsense.
Good link. Thanks Brian.
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