They say that the first casualty in war is the truth. Therefore, one needs to cultivate a healthy dose of sceptical cynicism about what we read and hear of the recent conflict in Gaza. A quick review of media content shows that on the whole the media have forgotten that truth is likely to be hard to find. Mainstream media is full of the death and injury toll in Gaza--they seem fixated with it.
However, in no particular order, let's do a tiki tour of some of the more interesting and intriguing stories which have emerged.
The Left Wing Comprehensively Condemns Israel
From Matt McCarten to Amnesty International the left wing has condemned Israel. New Zealand has seen the usual suspects out in demonstrations, and habitual anti-war leader, Keith Locke has been prominent.
Keith is a strange man. Apparently over the past nine years there have been over nine thousand documented rockets fired from Gaza into Israel, and Keith has made how many protests--not one. Not a peep. Nor has Matt McCarten clambered on a soap box to protest. Neither can we recall Amnesty International urging the New Zealand government to take a stronger stand against Hamas's lawless violence. Why? Even the darling of the Left, Helen Clark has deafened us with her silence throughout this whole period. What is it with the Left? How can we explain this phenomenon?
The only explanation which makes any sense to us is that the Left is drawing on its fundamental ideological cant which calls for the Left to stand with those they see as weak, defenceless, exploited and underprivileged. The Left sees these people as needing support because no-one else will support them. The Left finds moral gratification in standing up for the underdog--being their voice, their strength.
But this persistent and prevailing bias begs a question: are we to understand that the Left tolerates and condones violence and lawlessness and murder when it is the exploited and the underprivileged who are perpetrating it. In other words, the Left appears to accept violence and murder if the "right" people are doing it. This is what makes them appear such charlatans. This is what undermines the credibility of someone like Keith Locke.
Actually, the Left should come out and tell us why they have remained so silent for so long over Hamas's unprovoked rocket attacks on Israeli citizens and their property--and why they stay silent to this day. We suspect that according to the warped Left world-view, the poor and the underprivileged are thought of as being violently exploited. Violence and violent reactions by these people are therefore given great latitude and sympathy and tolerant understanding. If a man is being brutally beaten, and he lashes out, it is self-defence is it not? The Left, if prodded hard enough, would likely agree that Hamas's unprovoked rockets are a self-defence mechanism for the robbery and exploitation they have had to endure at the hands of the western and Israeli imperialists.
A corollary of the Left's world-view is that if you show people like Hamas some kindness, support, latitude and tolerance they will give up their violent behaviour. Love them to death, and they will stop wanting to kill you. Kill them with kindness and they will love you back. For the Left, evil is environmental and extrinsic to the human soul. Remove the external evils and the innate goodness of Hamas would burst forth like a flood of living water. This would explain why the Left all over the world has marched in support of Hamas.
But maybe we are misrepresenting the Left. Well, let them make their own explanations and apologies for their strange persistent inconsistency.
The Dominion Post Has Not Bought into the Left World-View
A recent editorial in the Dominion Post has stated the matter in a far more even handed way than many media. Good for it. Consider the following excerpts:
Hamas, an organisation that is committed to the destruction of Israel, provoked the Israeli attacks and it has it within its power to stop them. All it has to do is stop firing rockets into Israeli territory.
But one simple fact remains. If Hamas' leaders really want to end the suffering caused by the Israeli attacks they can do so.
All they have to do is stop firing rockets into Israeli territory, acknowledge that Israel has a right to exist and start negotiating.
Yup. The Left should be holding rallies calling upon Hamas to end the fighting. They have it in their hands to stop the invasion within an hour.
The Propaganda War is the Real War
Why would Hamas engage in this kind of no-win war? Because its real war is not with guns or bombs, but it is a propaganda war. Von Clausewitz used to say that war was diplomacy by other means. Hamas believes that war is propaganda by other means. By goading Israel into attacking Gaza, Hamas believes it has essentially won the war that it wants to fight--the war for hearts and minds.
Hamas has gravely told the world via a supine western media that on its terms it had this war won before it even started. It has stated that if it fires just one rocket into Israel after Israel withdraws it will have won. Along the way, though, it can bloody Israel's nose (which leads to gnawing self-doubt in that country), it can radicalise the Palestinian population, and it can mobilise sympathy for the Palestinian "cause" around the world.
So, while Israel is fighting with guns, tanks and rockets, Hamas is fighting with propaganda--and it appears to be doing it deliberately, persistently, cleverly and consistently. The actual fighting is just a blind front which gives pretext to the main message. Whaleoil has some interesting documentary evidence of staged propaganda photos of civilians suffering in Gaza. Once again the western media has forgotten that the first casualty in war is the truth--particularly when one of the combatants has made the propaganda war the real war. We were struck by Whale's post since we had seen these images already broadcast on the six o'clock news here complete with commentary on how many children are suffering.
Whale also has reports on the Israeli Defence Forces routinely telephoning installations and organisations in Gaza informing them in advance that they are about to be targeted, so that civilians can get out. We have not seen reference to that in our national media reports. Whale also carried a post on Hamas refusing to let medical supplies in from Egypt since it did not fit with the propaganda script it wanted to run.
These are the sorts of stories which deserve high prominence simply because the pervasive bias makes them very striking and newsworthy. Yet nothing! Hamas is winning the propaganda war--but only because the international media are complicit and are neglecting to do their jobs.
Get a Visa
Finally, we could not help smiling at the fake outrage of the CNN journalist who was complaining that the Israeli Defence Force is not allowing journalists into Gaza to cover the war.
Look, lady, your deeply imbibed philosophy of entitlement and rights does not extend to war. You have no rights in war! But if you still believe that it is important to get in on the ground and cover the way--which seems to us to be a perfectly reasonable belief--may we politely suggest that you seek to enter via the Egyptian border crossing. You will probably need to apply to Hamas for a visa. But that's how you get in on the ground.
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