Points to Ponder Number 13 26th August, 2014
Most of my readers and certainly all those who have toured with me realize that I am a bit of a history buff, as do those who have read my book “A Historical Tour of the Holy Land”, which briefly mentions the Empires of old. I have to admit though that I could not cover five thousand years in 90 seconds. Enjoy.
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When PM Netanyahu proclaimed that there is no difference between ISIS and Hamas unsurprisingly his remarks were greeted with scorn. The point to ponder is: Will more publicity and credence by given to Adnan Hussein, who writes for the Iraqi daily Al-Mada, when he asserts that “Hamas’ actions in Gaza are like ISIS’ actions”?
To support that claim Al Jazeera has broadcast a clip from al-Majd, a pro-Hamas website, showing how alleged ‘collaborators’, their heads covered and hands tied, were shot dead by masked gunmen dressed in black in front of a crowd of worshippers in Gaza, outside a mosque after prayers.
Reuters too has a similar clip showing the interested onlookers, reminiscent of the executions during the French Revolution.
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Although it is accepted that Hamas is a terrorist organisation somehow it is not treated that way in the media. When showing the Palestinian “victims” of Israeli aggression, wrapped in their numbered shrouds, the media preferred not to show that the bodies were mysteriously getting themselves more comfortable before the filming was to begin.
Many in the media implied that the three Israeli teens captured and executed in June were not killed by Hamas but were part of an Israeli plot to falsely accuse Hamas of the dastardly deed. When the Hamas leadership acknowledged responsibility on Al Jazeera not one reporter, channel or publication had the integrity to correct their error.
Nor do any in the media give any coverage to the documented aims of Hamas as detailed in the Hamas Covenant off 1988, known as The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, which has never been amended. Nor do they give prominence to declarations of Hamas spokesmen who unabashedly declare: “Our war is for the liberation of Jerusalem and Palestine and not for the lifting of the blockade”.
Honest Reporting defines the ways in which the media has failed and is failing to tell the full story of the Gaza war. Casualty figures were and are used as a moral scale; journalists knew and know that future access to Gaza depends on their reporting meeting Hamas demands; only partial information is being conveyed; grisly photos, including false and fabricated ones, were used over and over again; Hamas’ declaration of their real aims were never publicized nor were details of the number of rockets fired into Israel daily.
Khaled Abu Toameh ponders whether the international community will ever hold Hamas accountable for its war crimes. His answer: “Judging from the apathy of the international community and the United Nations to Hamas’s extrajudicial killings and other crimes, probably not”.
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At a pro-Kurd demonstration, protesters held up a large sign: “There is a humanitarian crisis in Kurdistan but no one cares because they can’t blame Israel”. Perhaps that is why it took so long for the persecution of Christians in the Moslem world to receive any publicity.
The Christian population of Iraq, and in fact of the entire Middle East, predates the Arab invasion of the 7th century when the Christians were with its forced to convert or to suffer as second class citizens – dhimis. Hear the words of the Archbishop of Mosul.
And hear too an Iraqi TV host on the Iraqi TV station, Asia TV
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Although I have mentioned the UNRWA schools in previous Points to Ponder, I feel that the issue is so important that it bears mentioning again.
Israel has long accused UNRWA of being mixed up in Palestinian extremism, that UNRWA projects are used for the purposes of incitement and radicalization against Israel. Now the extent of UNRWA’s complicity with terrorism has been exposed.
The world’s decent nations should divest from UNRWA for if UNRWA is collaborating with the terrorists, then it is no friend of the people of Gaza. And there can be no doubt now that UNRWA’s has multiple terrorist connections.
And if that is not enough, see what is being taught In the UNRWA schools
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And finally, to leave you with more thought on which to ponder, a few words from Monty Python star John Cleese
