In general, Hamas and other jihadi groups take great care in increasing casualties—both of their enemies and their own, for they don’t value human life. They use women and children—theirs and the enemy’s—as their shields. … Yet it is not Hamas, its backers like Iran, and supporters and sympathisers who have to do any explaining; Israel has to do it all the time. Tel Aviv has to justify the correctness of its retaliatory strikes, to convince the world that its air force and army actions are proper. – Ravi Shanker Kapoor
How can you fight a war when the morality of each of your actions is scrutinised minutely, while the most unconscionable crimes against humanity committed by your enemy are either downplayed by putting in a ‘context’ or attributed to some ‘root-cause’? This is exactly what is happening to Israel, thanks to the depravity of the Western mainstream media (MSM), as we shall see. The explosion at a Gaza hospital, in which hundreds of people were killed, underlines Tel Aviv’s predicament.
The unfortunate nation suffered a barbaric attack by Hamas in which 1,400 people were massacred, including many non-Israelis. Over 200 people were taken as hostages. The attack was sudden and brazen. Among the murdered were men, women, and children, the young and the old.
However, it is not Hamas, its backers like Iran, and supporters and sympathisers who have to do any explaining; Israel has to do it all the time. Tel Aviv has to justify the correctness of its retaliatory strikes, to convince the world that its air force and army actions are proper. This reminds me of a couplet by Akbar Allahabadi, “Hum aah bhi karte hain to ho jaate hain badnaam/voh qatl bhi karte hain to charcha nahin hota.” (One commits a mistake and it’s a crime, another commits a murder and it’s fine.)
In general, Israelis specialise in surgical strikes, and they are well-equipped and trained for it. Even after the October 7 outrage, they didn’t kill indiscriminately; they carefully targeted Hamas leaders and hideouts. The entire world, including Muslims and liberals, knows this fact, and yet the Israelis are incessantly accused of war crimes.
In general, Hamas and other jihadi groups take great care in increasing casualties—both of their enemies and their own, for they don’t value human life. They use women and children—theirs and the enemy’s—as their shields. The entire world, including Muslims and liberals, knows this fact, and yet Hamas is routinely portrayed as freedom fighters in the Muslim world.
As for liberals, many among them are generally favourably inclined towards Hamas, defending their egregious October 7 blitzkrieg as a reaction of pent-up anger and frustration because of Israeli settlements. That, they argue, is the root-cause. Israel itself is responsible for its own 9/11.
And who, pray, is the real victim? No prizes for guessing it right—Hamas and Gazans. Liberals’ language and cognitive faculties have undergone an Orwellian transformation. The hero is the villain and vice-versa; the victim is the villain and vice-versa; massacres are justifiable but self-defence is not; the only genuine democracy in the Middle East is wrong and bloodthirsty psychopaths are right.
US President Joe Biden reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the hospital strike seems to have been “done by [the] other team,” referring to Palestinian terrorists. It is quite well-known that Biden is not very fond of Netanyahu. Besides, Biden’s own party is increasingly under the influence of the radical Left, so he could not have said that without sufficient evidence.
Hamas, of course, blames Israel for the blast.
Israel’s military, though, has provided credible evidence and arguments to prove that it was a misfired Palestinian rocket that caused the explosion at the Gaza hospital. Chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said an investigation “confirmed that there was no IDF [Israel Defence Forces] fire from the land, sea or air that hit the hospital.”
He said there was neither any structural damage to buildings around the hospital nor any crater. An air strike would leave a crater. “We have intelligence about communication between terrorists talking about rockets misfiring,” he added.
Yet, Israel is being continuously lectured to show restraint. Even Biden, clearly under pressure from the Israel-hating Left within his own Democratic Party, dissuaded Israelis from occupying Gaza. The liberal-dominated MSM is busy highlighting the ‘humanitarian crisis’ Gaza faces. They keep showing the devastation caused by Israeli raids, but often downplay the, well, root cause of it: October 7th.
Liberals and Western MSM want the Israelis to not try to get justice for the hundreds of the compatriots slaughtered by Hamas. Some MSM platforms even refuse to call Hamas a terrorist outfit. A British broadcaster is one of them. One of the senior editors of the broadcaster explained the organisation’s position, saying that it doesn’t take sides.
Not taking sides while reporting or commenting on a political dispute, an economic matter, a cultural issue, a philosophical or religious question is okay. But you have to take sides when one side is indubitably evil. A serial murderer (when the guilt is proven in a court of law) and a cop cannot be put on the same moral footing. Nor can an arsonist and a firefighter.
Surely nor can Hamas and Israel. – Firstpost, 20 October 2023
› Ravi Shanker Kapoor is an author and freelance journalist in New Delhi.
Filed under: israel, UK, USA | Tagged: anti-semitism, hamas, islamic terrorism, israel-palestine conflict, left-liberal media | Comments Off on Liberals question Israel’s actions, not those of Hamas – Ravi Shanker Kapoor
