Waiting for Sderot
Did you hear about the high school hit yesterday by a pair of missiles?
Of course you didn't. It was an Israeli school in Sderot that was struck, and the missiles were fired by Hamas. A quick Google search of news outlets shows that this kind of school violence is apparently not newsworthy by the standards of our gatekeeper media.
Rueters' Nidal al-Mughrabi completely neglected to mention the attack on the high school, even though his story was side-barred by these pictures of the attack.
Palestinian terrorists in Gaza launched at least 11 Kassam rockets at the besieged Israeli city of Sderot Thursday, hitting a high school and a greenhouse in another Israeli community in the western Negev. Scores of rockets have fallen in the area this week, forcing thousands of residents to seek shelter elsewhere. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has promised a "harsh and severe" response to the rocket attacks, which could include the renewal of targeted assassinations of terrorist groups in Gaza or eventually even a military reinvasion of the Gaza Strip. Two rockets hit the high school in the Shaar HaNegev Regional Council as students met in fortified classrooms to take their matriculation exams in mathematics. The Kassams damaged an unfortified section of the building and lightly injured two people. Several others suffered shock.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 11:03 AM
Comments
1
Actually, the news I heard was that the Israelis bombed hamas in retaliation for a rocket attack.
No mention, of course, that the rocket attack hit a school.
Just those mean Israelis shooting at Hamas.
No mention, of course, that the rocket attack hit a school.
Just those mean Israelis shooting at Hamas.
Posted by: iamnot at May 17, 2007 11:14 AM (onj4J)
2
I am a die-hard liberal, but I hope Israel kicks Palestinian ass. Israel left the Gaza Strip and now it is nothing but an area of war-torn trash. The double standard is with our foriegn policy. If that was an American school, we would topple a country. Israel is the only civilized country in the Mideast, it should protect itself with an excessive amount of force.
By the way we need to get out of Iraq.
By the way we need to get out of Iraq.
Posted by: dallas at May 17, 2007 11:35 AM (ZMnnP)
Posted by: 1sttofight at May 17, 2007 11:39 AM (51r8a)
4
"Buildings being damaged just isn't particularly noteworthy if there is no body count."
Scochu John - Unless your children are attending that school!
Scochu John - Unless your children are attending that school!
Posted by: Wyatt Earp at May 17, 2007 12:27 PM (p/5A/)
5
Umbrage - Wow, you just copied and pasted THE EXACT COMMENT you left at Wizbang. Now that's what I call lazy!
Posted by: Wyatt Earp at May 17, 2007 12:29 PM (p/5A/)
6
Folks, I'm going to ask you to please re-read the comments policy, and stop with the profanity and personal insults.
I can delete 'em a lot fast than you can write 'em, and I can ban your IP even faster than that.
I can delete 'em a lot fast than you can write 'em, and I can ban your IP even faster than that.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at May 17, 2007 12:36 PM (9y6qg)
7
You know, I wasn't surprised at the unbalanced media response.
What I was surprised at was my own reaction. Several of the news stories thus googled included mentions that the area was a favorite rocket target, and that Sderot high school was "unprotected" or "unfortified". "Oh," I thought to myself, "that explains why... um, it's okay that..." and then realized I was triggered by those words into trying to rationalize the actions of terrorists.
Why should ANYONE have to fortify a high school? I mean it. Why should anyone ANYWNHERE have to fortify a high school? Or an elementary school, for that matter.
An eye for an eye was not, as most people think, the harsh retaliation and draconian punishment dictated by the Bible. It was the absolute maximum. And therein lies the rub. When Israel retaliates, even if the number of dead or wounded is lower or zero, even if no civilians (as opposed to terrorists) are killed, even if no property is damaged except ostensibly paramilitary property, any response at all is called "harsh".
Meanwhile a rocket attack is just another day.
What I was surprised at was my own reaction. Several of the news stories thus googled included mentions that the area was a favorite rocket target, and that Sderot high school was "unprotected" or "unfortified". "Oh," I thought to myself, "that explains why... um, it's okay that..." and then realized I was triggered by those words into trying to rationalize the actions of terrorists.
Why should ANYONE have to fortify a high school? I mean it. Why should anyone ANYWNHERE have to fortify a high school? Or an elementary school, for that matter.
An eye for an eye was not, as most people think, the harsh retaliation and draconian punishment dictated by the Bible. It was the absolute maximum. And therein lies the rub. When Israel retaliates, even if the number of dead or wounded is lower or zero, even if no civilians (as opposed to terrorists) are killed, even if no property is damaged except ostensibly paramilitary property, any response at all is called "harsh".
Meanwhile a rocket attack is just another day.
Posted by: BlueNight at May 17, 2007 02:49 PM (imTbG)
Posted by: TMink at May 18, 2007 07:31 AM (PxDOJ)
9
One article I read mentioned rockets hitting the school but no mention whatsoever of where they came from and who fired them. I guess rockets fire themselves...the same way SUVs and guns kill people all on their own.
Posted by: Peg C. at May 18, 2007 07:45 AM (S0aeA)
10
"dallas" wrote:"I am a die-hard liberal, but I hope Israel kicks Palestinian ass."
The "but" in that sentence is quite revealing. It illustrates perfectly the difference between "liberals" and "Liberals". The former would replace the "but" with "therefore".
The "but" in that sentence is quite revealing. It illustrates perfectly the difference between "liberals" and "Liberals". The former would replace the "but" with "therefore".
Posted by: GPChicago at May 18, 2007 08:38 AM (RF6oq)
11
And so it goes. Evil Israelis pound poor Palestinians. Just 'cause they don't like them, I guess.
Posted by: M. A. George at May 18, 2007 09:27 AM (kYfdk)
12
Sderot is a city in the Southern District of Israel. Sderot lies a kilometer from the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the al-Aqsa Intifada in October 2000, the city has been frequently attacked by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants using homemade rockets known as “Qassam rockets”. Although they are very inaccurate, these attacks have resulted in a number of deaths and injuries as well as causing psychological distress among the residents. Hundreds of Qassam rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip since Israel removed all permanent Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank in September 2005.
That’s right: As an overture to peace Israel volunteered to remove all permanent Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank back in 2005. Hamas is showing their overture to peace by filling Gaza with crude rockets and bombarding Israeli civilian areas … including schools. And yet Hamas has the gall to call the Israeli defensive response to this bombardment “an open war launched against Hamas”?
That’s right: As an overture to peace Israel volunteered to remove all permanent Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank back in 2005. Hamas is showing their overture to peace by filling Gaza with crude rockets and bombarding Israeli civilian areas … including schools. And yet Hamas has the gall to call the Israeli defensive response to this bombardment “an open war launched against Hamas”?
Posted by: Shamalama at May 18, 2007 11:26 AM (fe/Mk)
13
For all the woes and weepings by the Gazans, I wonder where the money has come from that paid for the multistory buildings and new cars they have, in addition to the guns, ammo and rockets they lob at Israeli schoolchildren and homes. Perhaps the way to end their wars whether against Israel/is or other Gazan factions, would be to strangle their money supply even more than what the current boycott is doing.
Posted by: American-Israeli at May 18, 2007 02:08 PM (ngPoq)
14
Why didn't you not that the Israelis are only crying because the Reuters cameras are there? I mean, if a guy is not allowed to have blood on his face after a missile blew up a van next to him, you shouldn't be allowed to look sad when a missile hits your school.
Posted by: Andrew at May 18, 2007 07:07 PM (LuJwe)
15
Like we don't know it's "open war" already.
In fact I've completely worked out the "cycle of violence":
1. Palestinians attack Israeli civilians.
2. Israelis attack Palestinian terrorists and any civilians who get in the way.
3. Palestinians complain the Israelis aren't fighting fair.
4. Media sides with Palestinians.
5. Bloggers side with Israelis.
6. Cycle repeats from Step 1.
I side with the Israelis for a number of reasons, but mostly because they seem perfectly willing to stop the war any time the Palestinians decide to stop attacking them. Furthermore I don't at all care how much collateral damage the Israelis inflict in the meantime, as it's clearly the Palestinians throwing down, and if they can't take the heat they should darn well get out of the kitchen.
It's hard for me to take complaints about Israel seriously when they're embedded in the acceptance speech for a Darwin Award. If the Israelis are big ruthless meanies who don't fight fair maybe you should consider blowing up schools in more compassionate countries instead of complaining about how uncivil the Israelis get when you blow up one of theirs.
In fact I've completely worked out the "cycle of violence":
1. Palestinians attack Israeli civilians.
2. Israelis attack Palestinian terrorists and any civilians who get in the way.
3. Palestinians complain the Israelis aren't fighting fair.
4. Media sides with Palestinians.
5. Bloggers side with Israelis.
6. Cycle repeats from Step 1.
I side with the Israelis for a number of reasons, but mostly because they seem perfectly willing to stop the war any time the Palestinians decide to stop attacking them. Furthermore I don't at all care how much collateral damage the Israelis inflict in the meantime, as it's clearly the Palestinians throwing down, and if they can't take the heat they should darn well get out of the kitchen.
It's hard for me to take complaints about Israel seriously when they're embedded in the acceptance speech for a Darwin Award. If the Israelis are big ruthless meanies who don't fight fair maybe you should consider blowing up schools in more compassionate countries instead of complaining about how uncivil the Israelis get when you blow up one of theirs.
Posted by: Laika's Last Woof at May 19, 2007 04:04 AM (YyGeM)
16
"..any time the Palestinians decide to stop attacking them."
I am sorry, but Palestinians and Hamas are not the same thing. Just to keep that in mind.
Second, what does this have to do with Iraq? I really wish people would stop using Bush logic and connecting things that are completely unrelated.
As far as the media coverage, but as you all know, death sells, not damage. You all got what you wanted when the media became a corporation which stopped reporting the news and instead figured out ways to shock and entertain us. Oh, and by the way Jews seem to run everything media (and entertainment), you honestly think they are siding with Hamas over Israel?
I am sorry, but Palestinians and Hamas are not the same thing. Just to keep that in mind.
Second, what does this have to do with Iraq? I really wish people would stop using Bush logic and connecting things that are completely unrelated.
As far as the media coverage, but as you all know, death sells, not damage. You all got what you wanted when the media became a corporation which stopped reporting the news and instead figured out ways to shock and entertain us. Oh, and by the way Jews seem to run everything media (and entertainment), you honestly think they are siding with Hamas over Israel?
Posted by: JW NC at May 21, 2007 04:46 PM (88FOa)
17
JW NC:
Iraq and Palestinian terror are related in at least three ways. First, Saddam was fostering terror by awarding money to the relatives of dead Palestinian terrorists. Second, the intervention in Iraq stopped Saddam from becoming a Nassar-like hero and regional strongman. Finally, our Iraq mission is the centerpiece of a broader effort to bring freedom and democracy to the Middle East -- including Palestine -- by promoting an alternative to the current despotic regimes.
Iraq and Palestinian terror are related in at least three ways. First, Saddam was fostering terror by awarding money to the relatives of dead Palestinian terrorists. Second, the intervention in Iraq stopped Saddam from becoming a Nassar-like hero and regional strongman. Finally, our Iraq mission is the centerpiece of a broader effort to bring freedom and democracy to the Middle East -- including Palestine -- by promoting an alternative to the current despotic regimes.
Posted by: No Oil for Pacifists at May 21, 2007 05:07 PM (4ZQ8+)
18
My point about Iraq/Palestinian connection was in response to:
"By the way we need to stay in Iraq.
So you want Nashville to be like the Gaza strip?"
and
"By the way we need to stay in Iraq.
So you want Nashville to be like the Gaza strip?"
This article was not about the merits of taking out Saddam, nor our crusade in Iraq. It was about how the media is slanted which is completely unrelated to Iraq, Saddam, or anything else. Stop trying to always break everything down to an US vs THEM argument.
"By the way we need to stay in Iraq.
So you want Nashville to be like the Gaza strip?"
and
"By the way we need to stay in Iraq.
So you want Nashville to be like the Gaza strip?"
This article was not about the merits of taking out Saddam, nor our crusade in Iraq. It was about how the media is slanted which is completely unrelated to Iraq, Saddam, or anything else. Stop trying to always break everything down to an US vs THEM argument.
Posted by: JW NC at May 21, 2007 05:15 PM (88FOa)
19
"Stop trying to always break everything down to an US vs THEM argument."
Except when "THEM" is the Jooooos, then it's open season, right? Thanks for proving once again that antisemites are hypocritical nitwits.
Except when "THEM" is the Jooooos, then it's open season, right? Thanks for proving once again that antisemites are hypocritical nitwits.
Posted by: Gary Rosen at May 22, 2007 01:19 AM (hnl8M)
20
"I am sorry, but Palestinians and Hamas are not the same thing. Just to keep that in mind."
I'm not buying that line anymore. The plausible deniability afforded the Palestinians by Hamas becomes less and less plausible with every new terrorist attack.
If Hamas and the Palestinians aren't the same thing, when they danced in the streets on 9/11 they became close enough for all practical purposes.
I'm not buying that line anymore. The plausible deniability afforded the Palestinians by Hamas becomes less and less plausible with every new terrorist attack.
If Hamas and the Palestinians aren't the same thing, when they danced in the streets on 9/11 they became close enough for all practical purposes.
Posted by: Laika's Last Woof at May 22, 2007 05:03 PM (YyGeM)
21
And the above statement is why we will never win the GWOT. Your own ignorance will be the downfall of this country, and you seem almost proud of it. You know Japan killed lots of people when they attacked Pearl Harbor, and killed even more when we were at war with them, do you think that every Japanese person you see is evil? What about Germans? Or do you realize there is a difference between those that attacked us and those that are just Japanese?
Posted by: JW NC at May 23, 2007 08:22 PM (88FOa)
22
Of course I harbor no ill feelings toward Germans or Japanese, because they changed long before I was even born. That change, as it happens, was effected by destruction so massive its reality exceeded the threshold of spiritual denial.
The Japanese could physically sustain the war down to the last 12-year-old child, but they could not sustain a belief in the divinity of their God-Emperor under a relentless rain of jellied gasoline.
Your comparison of the Palestinians to WWII-era Japanese could not be more apt. Now, as then, we face an enemy motivated by religious zealotry. Now, as then, we must break them of their barbarism in order for them to transcend it. To do anything less than what is necessary not only imperils us physically but in a sense stunts the growth of our enemies spiritually.
The Japanese could physically sustain the war down to the last 12-year-old child, but they could not sustain a belief in the divinity of their God-Emperor under a relentless rain of jellied gasoline.
Your comparison of the Palestinians to WWII-era Japanese could not be more apt. Now, as then, we face an enemy motivated by religious zealotry. Now, as then, we must break them of their barbarism in order for them to transcend it. To do anything less than what is necessary not only imperils us physically but in a sense stunts the growth of our enemies spiritually.
Posted by: Laika's Last Woof at May 24, 2007 01:54 AM (YyGeM)
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