The Qana Massacre

From Haaretz: Qana bombing body count falls sharply.

Additional questions arose yesterday about the Israel Air Force's strike on a building in Qana on Sunday, even as the number of fatalities in the incident appeared to be much lower than originally published.

The Red Cross announced yesterday that 28 bodies, including those of 19 children, had been found at the site. Additional bodies are expected to be found over the coming days.

From Haaretz: Cry to those using babies by Naomi Ragen. (via At Level Ground)

"They [Hezbollah] are a lousy army. They only win when they hide behind baby carriages."

Please remember this when you hear about the "atrocity" of the Israeli bomb that killed many civilians in Kafr Qana, a place from which Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel. Unlike previous administrations, Mr. Olmert has my respect when he says: "They were warned to leave. It is the responsibility of Hezbollah for firing rockets amid civilians."

Terrorists and their supporters have lost the right to complain about civilian casualties, since all they have is one goal: this entire war is to target civilians. Every single one of the more than 2,500 rockets launched into Israel, is launched into populated towns filled with women and children. Just today, another explosive belt meant to kill civilians in Israel was detonated harmlessly by our forces in Nablus.

So don't cry to me about civilian casualties. Cry to those using babies and wives and mothers; cry to those who store weapons in mosques, ambulances, hospitals and private homes. Cry to those launching deadly rockets from the backyards of kindergartens and schools. Cry to the heartless men who love death, and however many of their troops or civilians die, consider themselves victorious as long as they can keep on firing rockets at our women and children.

Save your sympathy for the mothers and sisters and girlfriends of our young soldiers who would rather be sitting in study halls learning Torah, but have no choice but to risk their precious lives full of hope, goodness and endless potential, to wipe out the cancerous terrorist cells that threaten their people and all mankind. Make your choice, and save your tears.

That terrorists have been unsuccessful in killing more of our women and children is due to our army, God and prayers, not to any lack of motivation or intention on their part. If you hide behind your baby to shoot at my baby, you are responsible for getting children killed. You and you alone.

From the Washington Times: Public 'won't bend' in uproar over Qana. (via TIA Daily)

The Israeli public, which has been united in support of the government's military actions in Lebanon, stood firm yesterday despite the international uproar over the deaths on Sunday of more than 30 children and several adults in the town of Qana.

"We won't bend," read the headline on a front-page column by the leading political commentator for the Ma'ariv newspaper.

"It's time you understood, the Jewish state will no longer be trampled upon," wrote Ben Caspit. "We won't allow anyone to exploit population centers to bomb our citizens. You can condemn us, you can boycott us, you are invited not to visit us, and if necessary, we will stop visiting you."

Three weeks into the war, the heavy civilian death toll in Lebanon has not changed most Israelis' perception of the war as an existential conflict over the right to live without the threat of Hezbollah rockets, as well as a proxy battle with an Iranian government bent on destroying the country. ...

In a defiant nationwide address yesterday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the army would continue to hit Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon despite an international chorus calling for an immediate cease-fire.

"There is no cease-fire, and there will be no cease-fire," Mr. Olmert said.

"Citizens of Lebanon, we regret the pain caused to so many of you, the fact that you had to flee your homes and places of residence and the unintentional harm to innocents, but we do not apologize for it.

"We will not give up -- not even for a moment -- our right to protect the state of Israel and defend our lives."

From the Washington Post: 'Disproportionate' in What Moral Universe? by Charles Krauthammer. (via HB List)

The perversity of today's international outcry lies in the fact that there is indeed a disproportion in this war, a radical moral asymmetry between Hezbollah and Israel: Hezbollah is deliberately trying to create civilian casualties on both sides while Israel is deliberately trying to minimize civilian casualties, also on both sides.

In perhaps the most blatant terror campaign from the air since the London Blitz, Hezbollah is raining rockets on Israeli cities and villages. These rockets are packed with ball bearings that can penetrate automobiles and shred human flesh. They are meant to kill and maim. And they do.

But it is a dual campaign. Israeli innocents must die in order for Israel to be terrorized. But Lebanese innocents must also die in order for Israel to be demonized, which is why Hezbollah hides its fighters, its rockets, its launchers, its entire infrastructure among civilians. Creating human shields is a war crime. It is also a Hezbollah specialty.

Posted by Forkum at August 1, 2006 06:25 PM