Posted on 07/16/2014 9:53:02 AM PDT by OddLane
SSo far, 194 Palestinians been killed during Operation Protective Edge; that’s already a higher death toll than that of the entire 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense. Or at least that’s what’s reported in the press, internationally but also in Israel. The truth is that the number of casualties, and the percentage of civilians among the dead, comes exclusively from Palestinian sources. Israel only publishes its version of the body count — which is always significantly lower than the Palestinian account — weeks after such operations end. Meanwhile, the damage to Israel’s reputation is done.
During Pillar of Defense, 160 Palestinians were killed, 55 “militants” and 105 civilians, according to Palestinian sources. According to the IDF, 177 Palestinians were killed during the weeklong campaign — about 120 of whom were enemy combatants. A report by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center says 101 of those killed were terrorists, while 68 were noncombatants. B’Tselem claims 62 combatants and 87 civilians died.
Why the confusion, and what is the accurate body count for the current conflict?
For Operation Protective Edge, the only data published so far comes from the health ministry in Gaza. This ministry is run by Hamas, therefore rendering the number of casualties and injuries it reports more than unreliable, said Maj. Arye Shalicar of the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s unit. “Hamas has no shame about lying. We know they’re a terrorist organization that makes cynical use of casualty numbers for propaganda purposes. You can’t trust a single number they publish.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofisrael.com ...
Also, you might take note of this ...
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Be very careful how you show your support for Israel ... see this article just posted ...
Israel ambassador to U.S. Jews: Hamas winning war of public opinion
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3181017/posts
NEW YORK — Ambassador Ron Dermer, Israel’s chief diplomatic representative in the U.S., asked some 700 American Jews on a conference call this week for their help shifting the messaging on Israel. Israel is being routinely portrayed in both conventional and social media as an angry, well-armed giant leaving many innocent victims in its wake during the current crisis with Hamas, Dermer said.
The call was organized by the Jewish Federations of North America, which this week sent federation leaders to visit targeted towns in Israel, and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Dermer told his audience that Hamas may be winning the war over public opinion, as Israel is vilified for the civilian casualties its bombs cause in Gaza, while Hamas is not being blamed for instructing Palestinians to stay in their homes – even when they have been warned by the IDF that the locations will be bombed imminently.
“Hamas is putting its missile batteries and command centers next to schools and hospitals. That is a major war crime. While we are doing everything possible to keep civilians out of harms way, Hamas is trying to put their people into harms way. Gaza’s interior minister said people should ignore warnings and go back into their homes. We are taking action to minimize to the greatest extent possible number of civilian casualties, they are doing everything to maximize it.”
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We need to make ABSOLUTELY CLEAR when we talk about and support Israel, that it is NOT engaging in a GENOCIDAL CAMPAIGN against the Palestinian civilians - but that it’s HAMAS who is.
We must be STRONGLY EMPHATIC that Israel does NOT COMMIT WAR CRIMES against Palestinian civilians and explain the ways that Israel goes about avoiding collateral damage, while strongly attacking Hamas and its missiles that are flying into Israel.
If you believe that Israel should commit war crimes and engage in a GENOCIDAL CAMPAIGN against Palestinians — then just SHUT UP! ... because you’re doing Israel no favor with your genocidal talk!
I for one hope Israel keeps knocking on the Palestinian’s roofs.
Launching rockets into a country is an act of war and has consequences. It is up to the PA and Hamas to either protect their people militarily (they can’t) or to stop attacking the Israelis (they won’t). If they fail to do one or the other, the body count is their problem, not Israel’s.
To paraphrase Adam Carolla, these people don't like Palestinians, they hate Jews.
Are you suggesting that there is a moral equivalence between Israel’s actions in Gaza and Japan’s actions in WWII?
interesting question....I would suggest that there is a moral equivalence between Israel's actions and those of the U.S. in WWII.....Japan bombed us and we nuked Japan.....several innocent civilians were probably killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki....those are the penalties of attacking someone who has the wherewithall to kick your butt...
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