BEIT HANOUN: REGRET, HYPOCRISY, THE U.N., & THE MEDIA

ISRAEL MISTAKENLY KILLED PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS WHILE TRYING TO DEFEND ITSELF FROM TERRORISTS DELIBERATELY TARGETING ROCKETS AT JEWISH CIVILIANS. REGRETTABLE. ISRAEL HAS APOLOGIZED AND IS CONDUCTING AN INVESTIGATION. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THE U.N. CAN'T WAIT TO CONDEMN ISRAEL AND CONDUCT ITS OWN INVESTIGATION. I'M STILL WAITING FOR THE U.N. CONDEMNATION AND INVESTIGATION OF THOSE HAMAS ROCKETS TARGETING JEWISH KINDERGARTENERS.

Beit Hanoun In Context (HonestReporting)
The tragic deaths of some 18 Palestinian civilians in Beit Hanoun has once again moved the Israeli-Palestinian conflict back on to the front pages following the US mid-term elections.

Criticism of Israel in the press is perfectly legitimate, and, in this case, expected in light of the terrible accident that has occurred in the Gaza Strip. Nonetheless, the accident in Beit Hanoun is exactly that - an accident - and the media needs to report this incident within the proper context.

As Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has stated:

Israel left Gaza in order to give the Palestinians an opportunity to control terrorism and develop their own lives. Unfortunately, this has not happened. Israel is faced with constant attack by the Palestinian terror organizations, in the form of relentless firing of Qassam rockets at Israeli population centers. Israel has no desire to harm innocent people, but only to defend its citizens. Unfortunately, in the course of battle, regrettable incidents such as that which occurred this morning do happen.

Such regret was echoed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who ordered an investigation into the matter and a halt to artillery fire into the Gaza Strip until the completion of the inquiry.

It appears at this stage that an equipment malfunction may have been responsible for an IDF shell inadvertantly missing its target. The Jerusalem Post notes the fine line between success and failure when targeting Qassam launch sites: "In this case, the distance between the two was a mere 600 meters, not a near-miss perhaps, but the kind of miss that is going to happen, due to human error, on an average of at least one in every few hundred artillery shells."

There is a major difference in values between Israeli forces and the Palestinian terrorists who are operating from within Beit Hanoun. While Israel does not intentionally set out to harm innocent civilians, those who continue to launch Qassams fully intend to cause the maximum amount of death and destruction irrespective of the effectiveness or otherwise of these missiles.

The media is unlikely to acknowledge this difference in values, as demonstrated by the evacuation of Palestinians injured in Beit Hanoun to an Israeli hospital for treatment.

Qassams continued to fall even after the withdrawal of IDF forces from Gaza on Tuesday, including a strike on a school in Ashkelon, which was thankfully empty at the time but could easily have led to massive loss of life.

While the media downplays the effects of Qassam missiles, it is these actions by terror organizations in Gaza that have prompted an IDF response. Following Israel's disengagement from Gaza in 2005, if the Palestinians would cease attacks from that area, there would be no reason for the IDF to play any role in the lives of ordinary Gazans.

According to the Boston Globe: "Zakaria al-Kafarna, whose sister lost a 10-year-old son, said he blamed the bombing in part on militants who fired rockets nearby. Anyone can come to the area and fire a rocket, he said. "What about us? We are sleeping.""

Indeed, much of the media, in its desire to concentrate solely on mass-casualty incidents, has failed to report on or deliberately downplayed Qassam attacks on Israel as well as Beit Hanoun's role as a hub of terror activity.

The media outcry over this latest incident is in stark contrast to other regions of conflict, including a remarkably similar incident involving the alleged deaths of a large number of civilians as a result of Sri Lankan army actions on Wednesday.

IDF: Shells Were Aimed 500 Meters from Houses in Beit Hanoun - Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff, and Aluf Benn
An initial Israel Defense Forces investigation has found that the artillery shells that killed 19 Palestinians in northern Gaza on Wednesday were "aimed 500 meters away from where [they] hit," head of the IDF Southern Command, Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant, told Israel Channel 2 television. "Our estimate is that it was something connected with the aiming devices, or the alignment, or the balance between them, or our radar's location of the shell hit....Our investigation is concentrating on these points." Galant defended the shelling, saying: "Israel's citizens don't know how many times artillery fire has prevented Kassam [rocket] launches. When you fire at the launching area two or three hours in advance, there is a good chance of preventing the Kassam fire." On Tuesday, four new and improved Kassam rockets were fired at Ashkelon from an area north of Beit Hanoun. Later the IDF obtained intelligence that Hamas intended to fire more of the new-model rockets at Ashkelon Wednesday morning, apparently from the same site - which was chosen because it is not visible from any IDF lookout post. (Ha'aretz)

A Gunner's Nightmare - Steve Linde
After serving in IDF Artillery, I can only say that this is every gunner's nightmare scenario: killing innocent men, women, and children. There's a key difference between Hamas and Hizballah fighters and Israel's. They intentionally fire rockets at civilian targets, hoping for maximum casualties and damage. We don't. The artillery troops who fired at Beit Hanoun weren't hoping to hit civilians. They were targeting terrorists firing rockets. What does the international community expect Israel to do if it is hit daily by rockets? Ignore them? Stop the rockets, and the artillery will stop, says the IDF. War is a dangerous game, and once you start firing rockets or guns, people will get hurt, and not always the people you plan to hurt. That's the sad fact, and no one feels good about it. The writer is managing editor of the Jerusalem Post. (Jerusalem Post)

UN to Hold Special Session on Gaza Deaths - Tovah Lazaroff (Jerusalem Post)
The UN Security Council planned to hold a special public session on the Beit Hanoun incident on Thursday. However, Israel's UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman said he believed the condemnations would be short-lived: "This is not a watershed moment. People realize that Israel is at the forefront of the war against terror that is being fought all over the world." The international community, he said, was wise enough to understand that "this is an isolated, horrible mistake." "These condemnations are part of a great misunderstanding around the world about what is happening," he said. When Israel left Gaza 15 months ago with no intention of returning, the Palestinians could have chosen to stop terrorizing Israel and to focus on managing their own affairs. Instead they continued to fire rockets into southern Israel, launching 300 rockets in the last month.

Some Israeli Children Can't Remember Life Without Kassam Rockets Falling - Miri Chason
To the children of Sderot and the western Negev, life in the shadow of Kassam rockets fired at them by Palestinians has been a traumatic experience for a long time. Some even told the Committee for Children's' Rights Tuesday that they don't remember life without them. "We have no normal life. We never know what will happen the next hour when Kassams fall; we are not only afraid for ourselves, but also for our families. It's traumatic to think that someone close to us will get hurt. It's just terrible," said Bar, who testified before the committee. "I have a hard time concentrating in school, and the Kassams affect my entire life," said Niv. "Every time I want to do something, I give up because I think that the alarm will go off at any moment." (Ynet News)