Doctors Without Borders acts like a Hamas front
Doctors Without Borders holds itself out to be a politically neutral medical provider that cares about all people equally. That was its pretend pose when it won the Nobel Peace Prize. In actuality, it was always a hard-left group that played politics with medicine. But recent events have exposed the depths of its bigotry and destroyed its fraudulent claims of neutrality.
Since Oct. 7, it has become a full-time front for Hamas barbarity and a declared enemy of Israel and of the Israeli victims and hostages. It has also become a medical megaphone for Hamas lies.
The head of the Gaza unit of DWB was recently interviewed by CNN. After parroting Hamas lies about Israel allegedly targeting doctors, journalists and children, she was confronted by the reporter with a truth: “Hamas uses human shields.” This was her mendacious response: “No we don’t.” Not “no they don’t,” but no “we don’t.” The “we” obviously referred to the organization she was speaking for, namely Hamas, whose lies she was communicating. But she was also speaking for Doctors Without Borders, for whom she works, while at the same time speaking for Hamas.
Her lies about human shields have long been disproven by hard evidence. As a NATO report in 2019 documented:
“Hamas, an Islamist militant group and the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip, has been using human shields in conflicts with Israel since 2007…The strategic logic of human shields has two components. It is based on an awareness of Israel’s desire to minimize collateral damage, and of Western public opinion’s sensitivity towards civilian casualties. If the IDF uses lethal force and causes an increase in civilian casualties, Hamas can utilize that as a lawfare tool: it can accuse Israel of committing war crimes, which could result in the imposition of a wide array of sanctions. Alternatively, if the IDF limits its use of military force in Gaza to avoid collateral damage, Hamas will be less susceptible to Israeli attacks, and thereby able to protect its assets while continuing to fight.”
By denying this reality, DWB encourages Hamas to persist in its double war crimes: using Palestinian civilians to help it target Israeli civilians.
Another DWB leader demanded that Israel accept a unilateral ceasefire, without saying a word about the remaining hostages or the victims of murder and rape in Oct. 7. Because they are doctors, they have enhanced credibility for their bigoted and mendacious claims on behalf of Hamas.
The same is true for UNICEF and UNRWA, which operate under the UN aegis, but rarely deviate from the Hamas line. These one-sided organizations have also demanded a unilateral ceasefire by Israel without demanding the return of all the hostages as a precondition. Nor have they focused their attention on the 1,200 Israelis, including children, who were murdered, raped, beheaded and kidnapped. Or on the Hamas promise that it will repeat these atrocities.
A UN Watch report documented celebrations by UNRWA of the Hamas massacres. And it has now been learned that hostages have been hidden by UN employees to prevent their rescue by Israel. Also, hundreds of the murderers and rapists attended UNRWA schools, which have become propaganda mills for Hamas.
These antisemitic groups are funded by the U.S. government and tax-deductible charitable contributions. These payments are based on the false assumption that the organizations are neutral and serve all people equally on humanitarian bases. But they don’t. In the Israel/Hamas conflict, they serve only Hamas. In fact, the partisan assistance they provide Hamas may well be criminal. U.S. law makes it a felony to provide “material support” to designated terrorist organizations like Hamas.
Whether criminal or merely immoral, these bigoted organizations are helping Hamas do its dirty work. And they are hurting Israel and the Israeli victims and hostages. They are also hurting Gaza civilians by denying that Hamas uses them as human shields and encouraging Hamas to continue to use hospitals and schools to harbor terrorists.
They do not deserve American financial support or the charitable contributions of decent people. Indeed they should be condemned in the court of public opinion and perhaps in the courts of law.
The time has come for the media to conduct thorough investigations of these organizations. Congress too should investigate their receipt of direct and tax-deductible funds and the manner in which these dollars are spent.
Because they have undeserved reputations for neutrality and integrity, there is a disincentive to probe their workings. But the truth is that they do much harm along with some good, and donors have the right to know the whole truth.
Dershowitz’s newest book, “War Against the Jews: How to End Hamas Barbarism,” is being published Dec. 12.
Dartmouth, Mass.: Initially, Israel had the sympathy and outrage of a significant list of nations when Hamas inflicted a barbaric attack upon Israeli citizens. But that sympathy faded swiftly as Israel’s reprisal became disproportionately unjustified, which caused a rift not only among nations, but between political factions in the United States. Most damaging of all, Jews everywhere were put at odds with each other and the target of antisemitism that may have been latent but was easily aroused.
There was loud clamoring for a ceasefire, even from devoted allies. It came, to the relief of millions of people affected directly and indirectly. The media spotlight was again trained sympathetically on the released hostages and much attention was paid to their treatment by Hamas. A slight shift in opinion could be seen, providing Israel with sympathy once again.
This was the perfect opportunity for Israel to change course, extract the remaining hostages and declare victory by virtue of the decimation of large concentrations of Hamas tunnels and command centers. But Israel’s leadership unfortunately resumed the bombardment and vowed to fulfill its mission to completely destroy Hamas. This is an absolutely unattainable goal, as Hamas has legions of supporters in other countries, and Palestinians who lost loved ones, homes, livelihoods and a livable environment will now join Hamas and avenge the atrocities committed against them.
Undoubtedly, millions of Israelis were relieved with the ceasefire and hoped for a new direction in policy toward Gaza and the West Bank. This was a missed opportunity that will reverberate for decades to come, and Israel may stand isolated and containing the largest ghetto in Jewish history. Betty Ussach
Genocidal rhetoric
Cedarhurst, L.I.: Voicer Juan Montalvo regurgitates the old canard of Israel committing genocide but then responds with the “from the river to the sea” chant, which is a call for the obliteration of Israel, i.e. genocide. Mr. Montalvo, better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
Adam Moskowitz
Zionist aggression
Bronx: To Voicer Richard D. Wilkins: First off, there are many Israelis protesting Israel’s killing of thousands of innocent civilians. Second, there is no peace because for 75 years Zionists have been stealing land and oppressing the Palestinian people. I’m Jewish and I have relatives who teach their children that the only good Arab is a dead Arab. Richie Nagan
Will of the people
Long Island City: Like the Daily News Editorial Board, I believe it was a mistake for the House of Representatives to expel George Santos (“Failure all around on Santos,” editorial, Dec. 2). He is an unusually stupid person, but his corruption is average, as members of Congress go. That he was elected at all is the fault of New York Democrats, who were apparently incapable of doing even basic opposition research in 2022. The people of his district were best positioned to decide his political fate going forward. Luke J. Cole
Clean House
East Meadow, L.I.: Now that George Santos has been purged from the House, it’s time to expel Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Elise Stefanik and Paul Gosar. Don’t call it “draining the swamp.” Consider it flushing the toilet.
Richard Skibins
Next up
Kew Gardens Hills: Congratulations to the House of Representatives for having the courage to expel “Lying” George Santos. Too bad they did not have the courage to expel terrorist supporter, antisemite and liar Rashida Tlaib. She is 50 times more dangerous than Santos and I would prefer 10 of him to one of her.
Direct action
Staten Island: To all of those who are rightfully concerned about animal cruelty, I would suggest that a donation to the ASPCA would go a lot further in addressing the problem than writing letters about a comic strip. Ralph D’Esposito
Uncouth commentary
Brooklyn: To Voicer Stephen Markbreit: Talent and wit hardly excuse Bramhall’s penchant for hurting people personally. And if we’re talking about wit, you might check out Gary Larson, whose comic strip in the Daily News, with its brilliant commentary, came at no one’s expense. As to