It
was undoubtedly unsettling when Hamas started launching rockets aimed at Israel
next to the Associated Press’s Gaza headquarters, but it sure should have made
it easy to report the news. Yet, the incident was never mentioned in any of
their dispatches. They also spiked any reference to the Hamas gunmen who
stormed their office in a blatant act of intimidation. Matt Friedman would
know. He was present for both events. He is one of a handful of Western
journalists who expose the media’s deliberately and knowingly biased reporting
of the Gaza conflict, siding against Israel and with Hamas in Martin Himel’s Eyeless in Gaza (trailer here), which releases
today on VOD.
The
Western media was right about one thing: war crimes were committed in Gaza. They
just blamed the wrong combatants. By any standard of international law, the use
of human shields constitutes a war crime. This was Hamas’s primary strategy in
Gaza, but only a handful of media outlets, notably from India and Italy,
reported on the practice. Callously and cynically, Hamas intentionally tried to
maximize civilian casualties in Gaza, as part of their concerted propaganda
campaign. In fact, the IDF did its best to warn the local populace of their
impending counter-attacks, but Hamas pressured them to stay and become cannon
fodder.
Meanwhile,
the terrorist organization continued to rain down Qassam rockets on Israeli
towns like Sderot. Those crude projectiles are essentially flying pipe bombs—too
unpredictable for legitimate military applications, but perfect for inflicting
pain on civilian populations. Given their nature, a high percentage of Qassam
rockets fell short into Gaza, but who do you think got the blame for that?
In
some footage, Western journalists literally ignore or mischaracterize Qassam
rockets launched mere feet from their positions. They have also grossly
under-reported the network of “terror tunnels” Hamas built under Gaza for the
express purpose of attacking Israeli civilians (with Western “humanitarian” aid
funds). Yet, perhaps most revealing is the radio silence on the plight of
nearly 160,000 self-identifying Palestinians who have been dispossessed and in
many cases killed by Assad and Daesh during the Syrian civil war. Contrast that
with the chorus of protests for about 2,000 killed during the Gaza conflict. So
much for the media’s sympathy for Syrian refugees.
