Gotta hand it to Hamas: it knows its audience. For example, this headline from The Washington Post May 15: “Israelis kill more than 50 Palestinians in Gaza protests, health officials say.”
Horrible. The Israelis are at it again, murdering peaceful, unarmed civilians. Scan the lede of the story:
ZEITOUN, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces killed 58 Palestinians at the boundary fence with Gaza on Monday, local health officials said, a level of bloodshed not seen since the most violent days of Israel’s 2014 war in the territory.
“Israel’s war.” A little further down:
Tens of thousands of Palestinians had gathered on the edges of the fenced-off and blockaded territory from midmorning. Many came to peacefully demonstrate, bringing their children and carrying flags. Food stalls sold snacks and music blared.
What, no free pony rides? Maybe the Jews shot the ponies.
Then comes reluctant admission: “But the protests appeared to have a more violent edge” than the usual rock throwing, “Death to Israel” jaunts. “Some young men brought knives and fence cutters.” Fence cutters to breach Israeli territory. “At a gathering point east of Gaza City,” the authors write, “organizers urged protesters over loudspeakers to burst through the fence, telling them Israeli soldiers were fleeing their positions, even as they were reinforcing them.”
In other words, Hamas was throwing “protesters” against positions it knew were heavily defended -- that it knew the Israelis wouldn’t and couldn’t abandon. That’s a deliberate attempt to cause casualties that dishonest or gullible media outlets will blame on Israel. It’s murder.
The Post dutifully reported, “More than 2,700 people were injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, including 1,359 from live ammunition. The dead included six children under the age of 18, among them a 15-year-old girl, and a medic, the ministry said.” Though, the Health Ministry is run by Hamas -- the same humanitarians that fed those kids into the meat grinder.
The Palestinian strategy paid off once again, of course. The U.N. and Human Rights Watch condemned Israel for using “excessive force.” Noted human rights stalwarts Turkey and South Africa recalled their ambassadors to Israel.
Much further down in the story, the Post offers a few telling details from what it still insists are protests: “A truck rolled past carrying young men chanting: ‘To Jerusalem we go with millions of martyrs’ and ‘Death rather than humiliation.’” Millions of martyrs is quite a goal. Maybe they saw 58 as a good start.
While some said they would abide by official calls to keep the demonstrations peaceful, others talked about their enthusiasm to break into Israel and wreak havoc.
“We are excited to storm and get inside,” said 23-year-old Mohammed Mansoura. When asked what he would do inside Israel, he said, 'Whatever is possible, to kill, throw stones.”
Two other young men carried large knives and said they wanted to kill Jews on the other side of the fence.
Then there’s this gem:
The vast majority of demonstrators were unarmed, but near a parking area, a man pulled out an AK-47 and took aim at an Israeli drone dropping leaflets. He let off a stream of bullets into the air and brought it down. Later, more gunfire was heard as Palestinian factions argued over who would keep the downed drown, onlookers said.
Question: if a terrorist is killed in an argument with another terrorist, is he an actual martyr, or does he just count as one for Hamas PR purposes. Either way, to outlets like the Post, he’s a “demonstrator.”
