JEWISH LIGHT EDITORIAL

Media coverage of the Gaza crisis features constant, lurid images of death and destruction. Photos and video tell part of the story, but television and print media present this so-called “breaking news” with precious little, if any, context offered. Without a clear explanation of how and why the situation got to this point, the gruesome pictures of war create a highly prejudicial and one-sided view of the conflict.

While we fully support Israel’s actions, we don’t pretend that everyone will agree with this position. But regardless of one’s views, the following oft-ignored or suppressed facts about the conflict and coverage should be considered in any discussion and debate of the issues.

1. Israel didn’t start this: Israel is consistently depicted as the aggressor in news reports. Yet most accounts ignore or deeply bury the fact that Israel is responding to over 6,000 deadly rocket attacks by Hamas — in blatant violation of international law — that have caused death, injuries and destruction in southern Israel. That’s an average of almost three rockets per day for seven years, with residents often having as little as 15 seconds to respond. Children in Israeli towns adjacent to Gaza can’t play outside anymore, families live in constant fear of bombardment, and psychological trauma runs at feverish levels.

2. Self defense isn’t “proportionate “: Even when the history of rocket assaults by Hamas is referenced, Israel is chastised for its “disproportionate” response. Since when is a country under attack by perpetual rocket barrage judged in its assertion of national self-defense? If Israel had spent the last seven years lobbing rockets across the border, does anyone think for a minute Hamas’s response would have been, “Oh, let’s make sure we only respond exactly the same way and in the same quantity as we’ve received”? Does anyone believe that the media would accuse Hamas of a disproportionate response? With all due respect to the media as a whole, we don’t think so.

3. Hamas wants Israel gone: We don’t understand how Hamas, an acknowledged terrorist organization, can continuously call for the destruction of Israel, a UN member nation, and yet be treated with the sort of gravitas afforded a civilized leadership entity. We are not aware of any instance in which Israel as a state has called for the elimination of the Palestinian territories; to the contrary, most mainstream Israelis support a two-state Israel-Palestine solution. Yet Hamas shells Israel for the better part of a decade, swears to destroy Israel, and receives sympathy on the world stage. Doesn’t this send the message that terror is an effective tactic?

4. Israel respects civilians: Israel’s efforts on behalf of civilian lives during this conflict stands in stark contrast with Hamas’ behavior. For instance, it’s very difficult to find reports in the mainstream media of how Israel has called civilian Palestinians on cell phones a half hour before bombing a building to give them time to leave. On the other hand, once such calls are made, Hamas will then encourage innocents to come into the building so that the death counts of their own Palestinians can be increased, just to wreak condemnation upon the Israelis. Contrast this with wholly indiscriminate rocket shelling of Sderot, Ashkelon and other Western Negev Israeli towns.

5. Protests now? Why are there thousands of people taking to the streets in European capitals and some American cities (including St. Louis) to roundly condemn Israel for striking back at a terrorist organization with the purpose of defending its own citizens? Where were these “defenders of human rights” when the rockets were raining down on the innocent residents of Israel? Have these protesters chosen to forget about the consequences of devaluing Jewish lives yet again?

These are just a small sampling of points that are grossly minimized or wholly ignored. All people of good will hope and pray for a prompt ending of the conflict. All loss of life is tragic and must stop. But let us be clear about what is truth and what is myth as we grapple with this dangerous international crisis. To do less will only invite a frequent rerun of the violence we are now experiencing.