The UN report on Israeli massacres in Gaza has received the predictable Israeli response. Victimhood, victimhood and victimhood. Over 1400 Palestinian civilians were murdered but we’re supposed to feel deep empathy for the Israelis. Nice try.
Perhaps the most priceless comments were from President Shimon Peres:
The report in practice grants legitimacy to terrorism, premeditated shooting and killing while ignoring the duty and the right of a state to defend itself, something which is explicitly stated in the UN charter. The Hamas terror organization is the one that launched the war, and it also committed other horrific crimes. Hamas has employed terrorism for years against Israeli children. It has detonated explosive devices in the heart of Israeli cities, harmed civilians, launched over 12,000 missiles and mortar shells aimed at innocent civilians with one clear goal in mind – to kill.
Israel evacuated its soldiers and citizens from Gaza, opened its crossings, and aided in the rehabilitation of the Strip. After the Israeli evacuation, Gaza was overrun by force by a murderous, illegitimate terrorist organization – Hamas – which launched a mutiny against the legitimate Palestinian Authority.
Instead of building Gaza and worrying about the welfare of its residents, Hamas built offensive tunnels against Israel and brutally used Palestinian children and civilians in order to conceal terrorists and hide weapons.
What’s amusing about this rant is the degree to which Zionist leaders must try and defend themselves in the face of such overwhelming evidence. Israel’s moral legitimacy is further eroded in the court of public opinion and this is something we should only encourage. Israel will not be treated as a normal country as long as she behaves with impunity.
When will Israel and her supporters actually stop and reflect on the carnage they created in Gaza? The lives lost. Here is one of the testimonies given to the UN for its report:
On the night of January 4, 2008, Iyad al-Samoni stayed with his wife, five children and 40 other members of his extended family in one a relative’s house. Around 1am, sounds were heard coming from the roof, and some four hours later, Israeli soldiers came down the steps, knocked on the door and entered the house.
The soldiers asked if there were Hamas operatives in the house. The family members said there weren’t. Then the soldiers separated the men, from the women, children and elderly. The men were handcuffed, blindfolded and sent to a separate room, and were only allowed to leave to the toilet after one of them could no longer hold his bladder and urinated in the room. The soldiers settled in the house.
The next morning, the family members left the house and started marching westward on Salah a-Din Street which leads to Gaza City. The soldiers ordered them to walk straight ahead on not stray from their path. The men were still handcuffed and the soldiers threatened gunshots if they tried to remove the shackles. While marching on Salah a-Din Street the, a single soldier or a number of soldiers station on the street’s rooftops opened fire at the family. Iyad was hit in his legs and fell to the ground. His relative, Muhammad Assad al-Samoni tried to assist him, but one of the soldiers ordered him to continue marching. After noticing that the laser beam from the soldier’s weapon was aimed at him, Muhammad decided not to insist. The soldier also fired warning shots at Muhammad’s father, who tried to approach Iyad, and did not heed the family’s calls to evacuate the injured Iyad. And so, the family was forced to abandon Iyad and keep marching towards Gaza City. Only three days later did rescue services get permission from the IDF to evacuate the body of al-Samoni, who was left handcuffed in the street and bled to death.