Fact-Checking the Gaza Conflict: Dispelling Myths and Misinformation

Yes, in a few words the narrative gets hammered out across all media platforms and most people have heard these words so much that they do not even think about or question them. The journalists that include them in most reports never qualify or explain what they mean.

Let’s look at them.

OCCUPATION

Most of the journalists reporting what is happening in Gaza will make the following statement, or something very similar, “Hamas states that the attacks are in response to the brutal oppression and OCCUPATION.” I expect most people who do not have an active interest in Israel and are educated about the situation will hear this and assume there is an element of truth to this. Let’s clarify something. Israel withdrew entirely from the Gaza Strip in 2005. The people there held elections and unanimously voted for Hamas to govern them. There is no occupation in Gaza. What the Palestinians are referring to is the Israeli OCCUPATION of the land of Israel, including everything outside of Gaza that comprises what today is called Israel. So their barbaric and evil acts will only end when the OCCUPATION is over. What would that mean? Hamas’ charter, available to view on their website, calls for the death of Jews, “from the river to the sea”, which in reality means from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

GENOCIDE

Many a media report uses the term genocide in relation to Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Gaza. Let’s be clear; Hamas’ stated intention is the genocide of the Jewish people. Israel on the other hand, the most moral and ethical military in the world, uses precision strikes against installations used by Hamas for terrorist activities. Israel goes to what some would consider ridiculous lengths to notify civilians prior to a strike. They do this through SMS messages in Arabic to those in the area, leaflet dropping, and even roof knocking whereby they drop a device onto the top of the building that sends a noise through the building prior to striking. Have you ever wondered how the cameras manage to have the building that is being struck perfectly centered in the camera? 

Hamas uses women and children as human shields, which is a war crime, many a time not allowing them to leave these buildings. The buildings themselves are often schools and hospitals. Their tactic is to use footage of the dead and injured to play on the emotions of the world and get them to side step truth and reality and garner sympathy for the “poor Palestinians.

INNOCENT WOMEN AND CHILDREN

As mentioned above, Hamas was voted for by the people. When Hamas kidnaps Holocaust survivors, rapes women, and brutalizes pregnant women and their unborn babies (the details are too graphic to write), these people cheer in the streets. Obviously I am not talking about every single one of them but this is the sentiment in this society in general. The children are sent to summer camps where they glorify the murder of Jews and incite hatred.

Why can’t the BBC even call these people terrorists, but choose instead to use the word ‘militant’, even when Hamas is a designated terrorist organization?

THE GAZA PRISON

Israel is continuously accused of imprisoning the Palestinians in Gaza. People generally do not question the fact that Gaza also has a border with Egypt. Will Egypt let these people in? Ask yourself, “Why not?”