The Truth About Israel and her Enemies

I saw some of this stuff a few years ago on Little Green Footballs and other sites. Things haven't changed much. It's always Israel which gets blamed and forced to stop defending herself, yet no other country on the face of the earth would put up with such from enemies. The Bible talks about this stuff people. Things are getting interesting, and although I haven't read all the accounts of Israel's ground forces going into Gaza today yet, it may open up more, leading to Ezekiel. See my posts earlier on the Ezekiel Prophecies.

Although I pray for a peaceful solution to this latest conflict, I see no end to it from man made plans. There have been so called peace plans and "truces" (Which have always been recognised by Israel, but never for long from her enemies). The only peace will come some day soon when Jesus comes back to reign.

Please read the following e mail I received earlier and below for information on how you can help.


Fiction vs. Fact: Israel and the Situation in Gaza-6 Common Fabrications

Since Israel began “Operation Cast Lead” in Gaza Dec. 27 in an attempt to stop Iran-backed Hamas from its years-long campaign to kill and injure civilians in Israel, some have used the opportunity to spread misinformation about Israel’s actions, intentions and the overall situation in Gaza. Following are examples of fabrications – refuted by factual accounts provided by international aid organizations, Arab leaders, and Palestinian journalists.
"While there is real suffering in Gaza, it is important to sort fact from fiction and understand that Hamas is responsible for this sad situation," said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and president of The Israel Project. "The important thing now is to defeat terror so that there can be a two-state solution and lasting peace. Both sides need a better future."
1) Fiction: There’s no food in Gaza and people are starving.News reports, including one produced by TV station France 2 on Dec. 29, showed a Gaza resident in a food store saying:“Apparently, there is nothing, as you can see. There are no natural products for the kids. There is no milk. There is nothing here.”[1] Fact: Warehouses in Gaza are filled to capacity, according to international aid groups. In the same France 2 TV clip referenced above, upon closer inspection, shelves filled with food can be seen in the reflection of a refrigerated door in the store. To see clip: click on http://jt.france2.fr/20h/; click on “Lundi 29” – below the small screen; to the right of the new screen, click “Vie dans la bande de Gaza” The World Food Program informed Israel that it would cease shipment of food to Gaza because the warehouses there are at full capacity, with enough food to last two weeks.[2]
During a one-day period alone – Dec. 31– Israel facilitated the transport of 29 truckloads of food, including 15 truckloads of flour, into Gaza.[3] And even as Hamas was firing rockets and mortars during Israel during the ceasefire, Israel facilitated the delivery of 2,500 tons (delivered on 93 trucks) of humanitarian aid, medical supplies and medication through the Kerem Shalom cargo terminal.[4]
Since the beginning of the operation, about 6,500 tons of aid have been transferred into Gaza at the request of the international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments. Preparations are underway to facilitate further shipments.[5]2) Fiction: Gaza has no medical and other aid supplies to help the injured. Fact: During the first 5 days alone of Operation Cast Lead, Israel has facilitated the delivery of 6,500 tons of aid – 179 truckoads -- into Gaza at the request of international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments. The deliveries include basic food commodities, medication, medical supplies and blood units. Another 106 truckloads of humanitarian aid are expected to arrive in Gaza on Jan. 31.[6] [7] The crossings to Gaza are open for the transfer of humanitarian aid from all international organizations, in full cooperation with the Israeli authorities and without restriction.[8] In a one-day period – Dec. 31 – Israel enabled the transport of 9 truckloads of medicine and medical supplies, along with 10 ambulances, into Gaza.[9]
3) Fiction: Israel is refusing to allow injured Gazans into Israeli and Egyptian hospitals for treatment.Fact: Israel has allowed a number of Palestinians into Israel for medical treatment they couldn’t receive in Gaza. On Dec. 31, for example, 12 Palestinians accessed Israel for medical treatment in Israeli hospitals. Two of those evacuated were injured children; the remaining were chronically sick people, and their escorts, who were allowed into Israel for treatment not available in Gaza.[10] Further, Hamas – in an effort to exploit the suffering of innocent civilians - has refused to allow injured Palestinians to leave Gaza to go to Egypt for treatment.[11] Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu al-Gheit said earlier this week that Hamas was not allowing wounded Palestinians to cross the border into Egypt for treatment: “We are waiting for the wounded Palestinians to cross. They are not being allowed to cross.” Asked who was to blame, he referred to Gaza by saying, “Ask the party in control on the ground in Gaza.”[12]
4) Fiction: Israel is purposely targeting civilians.Fact: While Israel goes out of its way to minimize civilian casualties, Hamas actually places civilians in harm’s way and uses them as shields. Because Hamas is known to use civilian residences to hide their weapons, on Dec. 27, the Israeli military – before launching an attack on such storehouses - called thousands of civilians in Gaza on their cell phones and left Arabic-language messages urging them to leave homes being used for weapons storage.[13]
On Dec. 30, a reformist Iranian newspaper published a statement by a student organization that criticized Hamas for risking civilian lives, including children, by hiding its forces in nurseries and hospitals. The Iranian Culture Ministry shut down the newspaper after it printed the statements.[14]
Israel has publicly stated time and again that it regrets the loss of any civilian life and considers each one a tragedy. However, both Iran-backed Hamas and Iran-backed Hezbollah have a history of faking deaths and funerals. For example, in Spring 2002, Palestinians were filmed as they attempted to stage a fake funeral as part of a gross exaggeration of the number of people killed in Jenin. The film shows Palestinians wrapping, then carrying a ‘corpse’ on a funeral pier; the ‘corpse’ falls off several times and gets back on – including in front of a large and surprised crowd.[15] Click here for video of faked funeral. Although some reports say a quarter of the deaths during “Operation Cast Lead” have been civilians, Palestinian terrorists’ history of deceptions and false claims require reporters to work to verify such information.
During Israel’s defensive war against Hezbollah two years ago, the phenomenon was so common that it became known as “Hezbollywood.”[16] One of the best-known instances was when a man purporting to be a rescue worker at the site of a bombed village appeared in various photos in the international media, repeatedly displaying the same child’s dead body at different times – and in different poses – throughout the day. The man, identified as Salam Daher, wore a green helmet in all of the photos, earning himself the nickname “green helmet guy.” Daher was also found to have directed a camera shooting the scene.[17]
For experts available to comment on these and similar deceptions, please contact: Richard Landes: e-mail: rlandes@bu.eduPhilippe Karsenty: e-mail: pk@M-R.fr
5) Fiction: Israel has cut off electricity to Gaza.Fact: In the past, Hamas officials have committed deceptions such as pulling dark curtains in mid-day while holding a meeting to make it look as though they were being forced to work by candlelight – a sham exposed by journalists who showed that it was actually daylight outside at the time.[18] The ruse was carried out with the complicity of some Arab satellite TV stations. More recent such deceptions have come to light as recently as November 2008, when Palestinian Authority officials said Hamas staged new blackouts to try to get sympathy from the international community and provoke civilian violence against the Palestinian Authority and Israel.[19] Further, terrorists in Gaza have fired rockets at – and hit - the power station in the Israeli city of Ashkelon that provides Gaza the majority of its electricity.[20] The terrorists also have fired on Israeli workers at a depot that provides fuel to Gaza and a suicide bomber destroyed lines providing electricity from Israel into Gaza. [21]
"There's no shortage of fuel in the Gaza Strip and the Electricity Company is continuing to function normally," a PA official said in November. "Our people in the Gaza Strip have told us that the blackouts are all staged as part of the Hamas propaganda…There's enough fuel in the Gaza Strip,” he said. "Even when Israel reduces the fuel supplies, Hamas continues to smuggle tens of thousands of liters through the underground tunnels."[22]
6) Fiction: Palestinian journalists are unbiased and show what’s ‘really’ happening in Gaza.Fact: Some Palestinian journalists are manipulating and exploiting unintended victims of the Israeli strikes. Said one Palestinian journalist, members of the Palestinian media are ‘directing’ civilians to cry and telling them what to say in interviews: "A mother of one of the martyrs stood by the door of the intensive care unit while crying... relatives and those around her were telling her what she should say to the television cameras: 'Say your son [before he died] prayed and went out.' Another tells her: 'Curse the Arab leaders'... The journalists [in the hospitals] are going overboard in their insensitivity and taking advantage of the [difficult] moments, with the explanation that they are showing this to the world. One cameraman told a mourning mother: 'Hit your face, cry, do some action.'"[23]
Footnotes:
[1] “Vie dans la bande de Gaza,” France 2, Dec. 29, http://jt.france2.fr/20h/ [to see clip: click on http://jt.france2.fr/20h/; click on “Lundi 29” – below the small screen; to the right of the new screen, click “Vie dans la bande de Gaza”)
[2] “12 Palestinians from Gaza transferred to Israeli hospitals for assistance and 2500 tons of humanitarian aid transferred to Gaza,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 31, 2008
[3] “Presentation to Military Attaches,” Ministry of Defense, Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, December 2008
[4] “12 Palestinians from Gaza transferred to Israeli hospitals for assistance and 2500 tons of humanitarian aid transferred to Gaza,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 31, 2008
[5] Ibid.
[6] Martin, Patrick, “Israel shoots down ceasefire proposal,” Globeandmail.com, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081230.wgaza_main31/BNStory/International/home; “FACTBOX-Countries pledge aid to Palestinians in Gaza,” Reuters, Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSLV538165; “Israel increases humanitarian effort to the Gaza Strip,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2008/Israel_increases_humanitarian_effort_Gaza_Strip_30-Dec-2008.htm
[7] “FACTBOX-Countries pledge aid to Palestinians in Gaza,” Reuters, Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSLV538165; “Israel increases humanitarian effort to the Gaza Strip,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2008/Israel_increases_humanitarian_effort_Gaza_Strip_30-Dec-2008.htm
[8] "Humanitarian aid to Gaza following the 6-month calm," Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jan. 1, 2009, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Humanitarian_aid_to_Gaza_following_6_month_calm.htm
[9] “Presentation to Military Attaches,” Ministry of Defense, Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, December 2008
[10] “Israeli Humanitarian Aid to Gaza,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 31, 2008, Communicated by the Ministry of Defense - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories
[11] Shahine, Alaa, "Egypt: Hamas denying Gaza wounded treatment in Egypt,“ Reuters, Dec. 28, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4BR0QP20081228
[12] Ibid.
[13] Barzak, Ibrahim and Teibel, Amy, “Israeli assault on Hamas kills more than 200,” Associated Press, Dec. 27, 2008. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD95BFQCG0
[14] Al-Ayyam, Jan. 1, 2009 via Palestinian Media Watch: Gaza Update 8, Jan. 1, 2009, “Hamas hiding forces in nurseries and hospitals.”
[15] Lerner, Aaron, “Israel screens fake Palestinian funeral for reporters,” Independent Media Review Analysis (IMRA), May 2, 2002, http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=11784
[16] Lyons, Andrew Ford, “Digitally Erasing a Massacre: Why Hezbollywood Was Born,” Counterpunch, Aug. 15, 2006, http://www.counterpunch.org/lyons08152006.html
[17] Kalb, Marvin and Saivetz, Carol, “THE ISRAELI-HEZBOLLAH WAR OF 2006: The Media as a Weapon in Asymmetrical Conflict,” research paper prepared at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, for presentation at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar on Feb. 18, 2007, http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2007/0217islamic%20world/2007islamforum_israel%20hezb%20war.pdf; "'Green Helmet Man' accused of staging pix," Fox News Channel, Aug. 15, 2006
[18] Soltis, Andy, “Hamas Dim Bulbs in Fake-Blackout Ruse,” The New York Post, Jan. 30, 2008, http://www.nypost.com/seven/01302008/news/worldnews/it_was_obvious_that_the_whole_thing_was__688294.htm
[19] Abu Toameh, Khaled, “PA: ‘Hamas is staging Gaza blackouts,’ The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 19, 2008, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404771503&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[20] Coughlin, Con, “Gazans should make the most of their liberation – it won’t last,” The Daily Telegraph, Jan. 25, 2008
[21] “Terror in Gaza: 12 months since the Hamas takeover,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, June 16, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Terror+in+Gaza-+Two+months+since+the+Hamas+takeover+16-Aug-2007.htm
[22]Abu Toameh, Khaled, “PA: ‘Hamas is staging Gaza blackouts,’ The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 19, 2008, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404771503&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
[23] "A Palestinian girl whose family members were killed yesterday in Gaza," Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin, Dec. 2008, http://www.pmw.org.il/Bulletins_Dec2008.htm#b2912083
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
The Israel Project cordially invites you to a Briefing on Current Israeli-Anti Terror Operations in Gaza with
Danny Gillerman Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN and Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Interim Public Diplomacy Director - Operation Cast Lead

Monday, January 5, 2009
Los Angeles- 8 a.m.Washington/ New York- 11 a.m.London- 4 p.m.Paris/Berlin- 5 p.m.Jerusalem- 6 p.m.Moscow/Doha- 7 p.m.
RSVP Required:*
To listen by phone, please RSVP online here to receive call-in informationFor more information, contact Shiri Shapira at shiris@theisraelproject.org or 972-054-8079042
About Danny Gillerman, Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN and Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Interim Public Diplomacy Director - Operation Cast Lead
The Israeli Mission has, on Amb. Gillerman's watch, had very impressive achievements, culminating in November 2005 when Amb. Gillerman became the first Israeli representative to successfully introduce a resolution to the United Nations General Assembly. In a unanimous decision, the General Assembly designated January 27 as an annual international Holocaust Remembrance day.In June 2005, Amb. Gillerman was elected to serve as the Vice-President of the General Assembly of the United Nations. He is the first Israeli representative to serve as Vice-President of the General Assembly in the past 53 years, since Abba Eban served in this position in 1952.During his tenure, Amb. Gillerman has worked closely with members of the European Union and is in constant negotiation with the Secretary General and other delegations in order to help improve Israel's standing in the international community and acceptance as a full member of the United Nations.Amb. Gillerman has brought the voice of Israel to many world stages, ranging from the Security Council and the General Assembly to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and major gatherings across the globe, from Berlin to South America and Washington D.C. to Cambridge, England.Prior to his appointment, Amb. Gillerman was CEO of several Israeli companies in the chemical, food ingredient, agricultural, and technological sectors. From 1985, he served as Chairman of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce. He also served as a member of the board of the First International Bank of Israel, a Director of Bank Leumi, and the Central Bank of Israel, as well as numerous other boards of private and public entities.Amb. Gillerman has also served on the Prime Minister's National Economic and Social Council, the President's Committee of the Coordinating Council of Israel's Economic Organizations, and as Chairman of the Israel-British Business Council, as well as being a member of the executive board of the ICC (The International Chamber of Commerce - the World Business Organization).Amb. Gillerman's appointment as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations on January 1, 2003 marked the first time that Israel had appointed someone from the private sector to this post.Amb. Gillerman has played a prominent role in helping to steer Israel towards economic liberalization and a free market economy. He was also been deeply involved in the economic aspects of the peace process and has been intensively engaged in talks with Palestinian and Arab leaders trying to further economic cooperation within the region.Ambassador Gillerman was born in Israel and educated at Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He and his wife Janice have two children, Karen and David, and four grandchildren, Ron, Jonathan, Lia, and Gaia.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
The Israel Project is an international non-profit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace. The Israel Project provides journalists, leaders and opinion-makers accurate information about Israel. The Israel Project is not related to any government or government agency.

Send An Email To Your Newspapers And Elected Officials To Help Stop The Rockets Being Fired Into Israel
Help TIP get out the facts about Israel

Send A Letter To Your Editor

Some of the media acts as if Hamas was a peace organization. They should ask Hamas if they want peace with Israel! Hamas won't even say Israel's name. To Hamas, Israel doesn't exist. Hamas doesn't want peace - they want to destroy Israel.For eight years Iran-backed Hamas fired rockets into Israel. 3,000 rockets in 2008 alone. After eight years of shelling almost every day and every night, Israel finally said enough is enough. What kind of terrorist government uses people as human shields? What kind of Iran-backed Hamas government forces families to house rockets in their homes? What kind of government would allow its people to go hungry so that it can build rockets to attack its neighbors? Please -- send letters to the editor of your local papers and to your local and national leaders to get them the facts they need about the conflict. Please - you may not be in Israel but you can help Israel now! Click here to go to facts/talking points that you can use in our automated system to help you get the facts out to your local media outlets and leaders today!Act now to help protect Israel by waking up the media and leaders today! Let's make 2009 a year without rockets for Israel.
Sincerely,Jennifer Laszlo MizrahiFounder and PresidentThe Israel Project