Israel Matzav

Misplaced Sympathy

Today's New York Times has a puff piece on the Abu Odeh family of Beit Hanun. Beit Hanun was a source for 'Palestinian' rocket attacks on Israel even before the withdrawal from surrender of Gaza to the Palestinian terrorists. The Times describes the injuries suffered by three members of the family in shelling by the IDF in retaliation for Kassams shot from Beit Hanun. What's missing from the article - because there is none - is mention of efforts by the 'Palestinian Authority' to stop the shelling.

The article also ignores the fact that the 'Palestinians' chose Hamas in what Dhimmi Carter termed 'free and fair elections.' They expect the world to ignore that fact and to go on feeding them like nothing happened.

The shelling of the area, which began Friday night and lasted until Saturday night, was ordered, the Israeli Army said, in response to four Qassam rockets that had been fired from the Beit Hanun area on Friday night [in violation of the Geneva Convention, which prohibits terrorists from hiding among civilians. CiJ].

The army, said a spokesman, Capt. Jacob Dallal, did not aim at a civilian house and regretted any casualties. But the army has been returning fire toward the spots where rockets have been launched for a month now, he said. "In general, the heavy-handed response has proven itself," he said in a telephone interview. "The number and accuracy of the Qassams are down, and if the Qassams stop, the shelling will too."

The army had just dropped leaflets in the area promising "quiet for quiet," apparently in an effort to enlist the residents' support to put pressure on Palestinian militants to stop firing the inaccurate, homemade Qassams, which — on Friday night, at least — fell harmlessly.

...

Moussa and the elder Muhammad both used to work construction in Israel, with farming more of a family exercise than their main source of income. Now all that has stopped with the closing of the Erez crossing into Israel for nearly all Palestinian workers [due to terror attacks - but of course the Times won't tell you that. CiJ].

"We have started to live our lives more simply," Moussa said. "I used to eat meat twice a week, but now it's less. [I know Jewish Israelis who cannot afford to eat meat twice a week. CiJ] We get food packages from the United Nations and charitable organizations," he added, mostly containing staples like rice and cooking oil, "and sometimes I can work a day here and there." [No one in my neighborhood gets food packages from the UN or from any charitable organization whose financing comes from outside our community and what our community raises from private individuals. And plenty of people in our community need the food as much - if not more - than the 'Palestinians.' CiJ]

In fact, Moussa had just returned from a protest rally of unemployed workers at the offices of the European Union and the United Nations, he said. "We gave them a letter explaining our bad situation," he said, "and asking for aid to continue to the Palestinian Authority," now run by the militant faction Hamas. [Who told them to elect Hamas? Why didn't the reporter ask whom Moussa voted for? CiJ].

"We were depending for help on our relatives who worked in the Palestinian Authority," Moussa said. "But now they need help, because they have no salaries."

The authority paid February salaries in mid-March, but March and April salaries, due on the last day of the month, have not been paid, in part because Israel refuses to hand over tax receipts, and the West refuses to give budget aid, to a government run by Hamas, which is listed as a terrorist group [and in part because for the twelve years that it has governed in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, the 'Palestinian Authority' - whether led by Fatah or by Hamas - has been more interested in propagating terror than in setting up an economy that had half a chance of being self-sufficient. So they have been living on handouts and now the handouts have stopped. This is not a natural disaster. This is the chickens coming home to roost. CiJ].

Captain Dallal, the army spokesman, says the Israeli shelling has helped to reduce the number of Qassam rockets fired to 13 in the last week from 32 in the first week of April, with a total of 83 for the month, compared with 134 fired during March. "We have to stop this firing into Israel," he said. "Otherwise the situation will escalate, and a ground operation will cause many more casualties." [So long as "we" is only the IDF and no one on the 'Palestinian' side, there are going to continue to be 'Palestinian' casualties. As my mother, of blessed memory, always used to tell me, "You make your bed and then you have to lie in it." CiJ].

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:50 PM