ISRAELI BARBARISM

The Israeli regime continues its relentless bombing campaign  in Gaza while the international community stands idly by.

THE CORPORATE MEDIA, as it  is want to do, is portraying Israel's current military assault on the Palestinian people as a 'conflict' between two intransigent opponents. In one corner we have the Israeli regime and in the opposite corner, Hamas. But in this so-called  'conflict' Israel is armed with a big cannon while Hamas has a peashooter

Of course it is only a 'conflict' if you uncritically swallow the propaganda of the Israeli regime. It wants the world to believe that it is only defending its people against the rockets of the 'terrorist organisation' Hamas. That these tiny rockets have inflicted minimal damage on Israel is deemed entirely irrelevant.

But this is the 'impartial' view you are being given every night on the six o'clock news.

It is one that has been strongly objected  to in the UK. In a open letter to the BBC, over 40,000 people have called on the broadcaster to reflect the reality of Gaza's occupation.The letter. which includes the signatures of  John Pilger, Noam Chomsky and Ken Loach,  reminds the BBC that Israel is bombing a refugee population which is being held under occupation and siege.

How can this be in any way be described as a 'conflict' in which both sides are to blame?

It is indictment on the BBC and the mainstream media generally that it  still has to be reminded that the Palestinian people have no army, navy or air force with which to defend itself against one of the strongest military powers in the world. A military power that also  possesses nuclear weapons.

That the media routinely  describe Hamas as a 'terrorist organisation' is a victory for the Israeli regime.    What is ignored is that Hamas is the political party that was democratically elected in 2006 to govern the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

But, by  arbitrary defining Hamas as a 'terrorist organisation' Israel has given itself  the right to wage a brutal military campaign  against all the people of Gaza. No one is safe from the Israeli war machine. The United Nations says that 77 percent of the Palestinians killed in Gaza have been civilians, including children.

But, appallingly, Israel says it can't be held responsible for these deaths and blames Hamas  militants for using the civilian population to hide behind as 'human shields'.

Moshe Ya’alon, Israel’s so-called defence minister revealed his government's true intention when he  told the Israeli media : “We are destroying  arms, terror infrastructures, command systems, Hamas institutions, regime buildings, terrorists’ houses, and killing terrorists of various ranks of command.”

The bombing of  family homes of suspected militants has resulted in entire families  being killed.

What we are witnessing on our television screens are war crimes being committed by a brutal Israeli regime that is funded and supported  by the United States government. That it is acting with impunity while the international community, once again, stands idly by is reprehensible.