Both Sides Use Deadly New Tactics in Israel-Gaza War. The Worst Though Might Be Propaganda Delivered to a Lazy American News Media

An IHT report "Both sides in Gaza war using lethal new tricks " shows that Hamas is using civilians as shields and that's why Israel must use tactics that treat civilians like meat to blast apart in their effort to "Get Hamas" (according to Israeli propaganda sources).

(Still can they justify the most horrible new weapon being used in this conflict?  The intelligence gathering robo dialed call from -- assumed -- Israelis into Gaza?   Aaaiiiiieeee!)

Excerpt:

Israelis are telephoning Gazans and, in good Arabic, pretending to be sympathetic Egyptians, Saudis, Jordanians or Libyans, Gazans say and Israel has confirmed. After expressing horror at the Israeli war and asking about the family, the callers ask about local conditions, whether the family supports Hamas and if there are fighters in the building or the neighborhood.

Karim abu Shaban, 21, who lives in Gaza City, said he and his neighbors all had gotten such calls. His first caller had an Egyptian accent. "Oh, God help you, God be with you," the caller began.

"It started very supportive," he said, and then the questions started. The next call came five minutes later. That caller had an Algerian accent and asked if he had reached Gaza. Shaban said he answered, "No, Tel Aviv," and hung up.

Well, it's not that funny, though I tried to make it so above.  Of course answering in the affirmative about Hamas in the neighborhood would get it shelled and possibly yourself shot for informing.

(BTW, informing during wartime could get a person and/or his or her family killed without trial in most wars, so please spare us the the shock at such egregious actions happening in Gaza.  Informers get people killed, that's why they get killed.)

There are more things to note:

There isn't acknowledged Gazan confirmation of Hamas extreme tactics being told to reporters in this article (though there was Israeli confirmation of the intelligence gathering calls).

And the writer complains about lack of access just like the other hundred of writers whining about lack of access to Gaza, but this guy more faithfully transmits the Israeli propaganda.  Hey, you write it down and get it published in the "paper of record" (IHT is the international edition of the New York Times where this article is also published-- yes I checked) and you get paid, no problem.

Lets just take one controversy, that of fighters hiding among civilians.

Why has no writer I've read compared Hamas strategies (if one actually believes them to be as the Israeli military reports them)  to other wars and balanced it with Israeli tactics and their tendency to take land and never give it back?

I understand  Mr. Erlanger and his assistant might have trouble getting all the information out of Gaza, but why couldn't they find survivors of Germany's advance through Europe.  What was trying to counter the blitzkreig like?  Did soldiers stand out in fields waiting to be blasted by German tanks or did they hide behind or in houses, barns in rural areas, or apartment buildings, etc., in cities.  You know, using civilian shields.

Keep in mind that in Gaza there is nowhere to run, for fighters or civilians, unlike in Europe in the days of the 'Blitzkreig' when it was possible that running away might someday be just one chapter in the fight to get one's home and nation back.  Even if people were allowed to escape Gaza, just ask the Syrians what happens when people run from the Israeli army.  Golan Heights anyone?  That's why people only ran when it was effectively too late for safety as the Israeli army sought to grab the land up to the Litani river in Lebanon 2006.  

Why can't just one analyst get on the horn to a fair expert on WW2 who actually knew what went on instead of repeating Israeli delivered facts about the "evil Palestinians"  once again.

And to be fair that expert's words should be included in every report that also carries the Israeli governments vicious propaganda about the Palestinians.

Israel's extreme actions and reliance on propaganda to smooth over war crimes aren't just a consequence of the undying devotion of the Bush administration, but of the laziness of American mainstream journalists.

tags: israel  gaza  blitzkreig  german third reich  robo calls  civilian shields  viscious  

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