Palestinians in Gaza require protection – from Hamas
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres once proposed establishing an armed military presence in Gaza to protect Palestinians from Israel. While the Palestinians do require protection, the secretary-general erred, as it was and still is not from Israel that Palestinians in Gaza need protection, but rather from Hamas. Looking below the thin veneer of the latter’s cleverly orchestrated anti-Israel campaigns, it becomes abundantly clear that their end game lies less with improving the welfare of its Palestinian population, and more with eliminating Israel and its Jews from the Middle East map at any cost.
To minimize their being in the spotlight of blame, Hamas continuously reinforces the impressions of Israel as humanity’s evil empire. This is accomplished with hate-based street theater and contrived news stories readily adaptable for an accommodating social media, television and left-leaning hard press.
Along the way, Palestinian lives appear to be the currency that catches the attention of an ever-present sympathetic press, which waits like a circling vulture, for “if it bleeds, it leads” with Israel at fault. All of which is calculated to offend Western sensibilities, as well as to intentionally chip away at Israel’s endurance, ultimately to fulfill Hamas’s promise of acquiring its land and wealth through violence and sacrifice.
Part of the Palestinian victim mentality lies within their children’s educational system. Funds managed by the United Nation’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine-Refugees (UNRWA) have come under scrutiny by the European Union and others, alleging that the textbooks supplied demonize Israel and Jews, and imply that Palestinian statehood may be achievable through violent confrontation.
This is disturbing as UNRWA exerts influence on an estimated 300-plus schools within Palestinian-controlled territories, including an estimated student population of more than 200,000 within Gaza and the disputed West Bank. It remains unclear as to how many young, impressionable children are yielding themselves to martyrdom simply by being repetitively taught, year after year, grade after grade, lessons that blame their woes entirely on Israel and Jews.
In years gone by, in an effort to defuse provocations, the US Congress asked the State Department to investigate and make known if US foreign aid was misdirected in any manner to foment hate through educational materials or intimidation. European lawmakers had then jumped on this bandwagon; concerned also about the long lasting effects of incitement and the impediment toward tolerance it poses.
UNRWA’S RESPONSIBILITY was and is to assist with food aid, raising the level of healthcare and providing social services to better the lot of the millions of dependent Palestinians across the Middle East, certainly not to politicize hate within academics. The United States then tapered financial assistance until it could recognize reforms were forthcoming. This came not that long after Congress passed the Taylor Force Act mandating cuts of US dollars to the Palestinian Authority until it stops paying financial tributes to convicted or killed Palestinian terrorist’s families.
Hamas is similarly alleged to have then awarded its Palestinians who sustain wounds (then estimated at $500), and if killed (then estimated at $3,000), while in their efforts to breach Israel’s Southern Gaza security fence with an intent of spreading mayhem, murder and terror. Old tires were then placed near the fence and burned, creating dense, frightening clouds of smoke, masking breach attempts. This, combined with the launching of numerous kites and balloons, each toting incendiary chemicals that set Israeli fields ablaze, destroyed homes and harmed farm animals; and the firing of rockets and mortar shells emanating from Gaza, clearly defeated disingenuous impressions of Palestinian “peaceful” demonstrations.
Add to this Hamas allegedly setting aside a then-estimated $200plus million dollars for terror tunnel construction and its repair, the stockpiling of offensive weapons, the camouflaging of rocket launch sites located proximate to heavily populated areas; all of which shows a lack of regard for the safety of their vulnerable Palestinian civilians.
Having benefited from multi-millions, if not billions of charitable dollar grants over the years geared to improve the daily health and welfare needs of Gaza residents, where is verifiable proof that anything positive and lasting has been accomplished? If not, the UN secretary-general must ask again and again where the well-meaning donated money has gone.
Although Israel was and is conveniently labeled the root cause of all problems in the Middle East, it never ordered bombs strapped to its citizens’ bodies to murder its enemies. In fact, just the opposite, it actively seeks ways to minimize its enemies’ civilian casualties, even at the risk of its own citizen-soldier’s lives. Prior to expected attacks targeting its then-southern defensive fence positions, Israel dropped thousands of leaflets into Gaza alerting Palestinians of the potential dangerous consequences of their attempts to gain access into Israel.
Even with the harsh realities of consequential death and property damage, still the moral dilemma of firing upon Palestinian civilians prompted the Israel Defense Forces to then request a Supreme Court decision regarding the justification of deadly force under the above circumstances. This, plus Israel’s continuous efforts to medically treat then and currently wounded Syrian refugees puts to question why Secretary-General Guterres and others in positions of authority seemingly ignore Israel’s reality, while turning a blind eye to the actual perpetrators of hate.
The writer is the author of the geopolitical thriller