Journalists should immediately extricate themselves from Gaza
The leader of the Hamas militant training programs in Gaza has been driving around in a civilian vehicle with “TV” imprinted on the hood. The dirty trick – making things even more dangerous for real journalists – didn’t work, and Israel targeted the goon anyway.
A significant number of news articles mention Mohammed Shamalah – most likely the targeted the Hamas leader – as being killed by an Israeli strike. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) blog is the source for the reference to the disguise. A significant number of stories during the past seven days have also featured photos of children who have been injured or killed by IDF strikes. Unfortunately for Hamas, a significant number of the photos have been proven to be staged or photos of death and destruction in Syria.
I understand the press will be “used” in many ways by all sides, but really … isn’t using press credential markings and facilities as human shields too much to handle for journalists? Is it possible their presence is actually making it more dangerous for civilians?
The “human shield” method, as it is commonly known, has forced the IDF to target seemingly non-military targets, resulting in some of the civilian casualties. It has also endangered all residents of the Gaza Strip who, without their consent, were unwittingly dragged into the conflict.
One such example came in today, when a senior Hamas operative was targeted while driving a press vehicle. Muhammed Shamalah, commander of Hamas forces in the southern Strip and head of the Hamas militant training programs, was targeted by an Israeli air strike while driving a car clearly labelled “TV”, indicating it to be a press vehicle, abusing the protection afforded to journalists.
They set up rocket launchers in school yards, in residential areas, and next to Mosques. This is not something they do occasionally, they do it all the time. As a primary strategy Hamas and other terrorist organizations use civilians as cover since they know photos of dead children get a lot of media attention in the west.
Dear Media, Let’s not play that deadly game anymore.
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The site is not broken.
Carpet bombing – give them something to really complain about
If Hamas is using media labeled vehicles as cover, why isn’t the media doing their job and exposing the Iranian-funded terrorists?
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Wouldn’t it be to the advantage of the media, all of them, to not be targeted by Israel?
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So this is where the media is. They certainly don’t do their job in the US. They sit in their homes and write articles or news broadcasts with White House briefings in hand. Worse yet, they spend time at White House parties and get the news there. It’s so intimate and thrilling to be so close to the President administration Munchkins.
I wish Israel would save the poor Gazans from Hamas by taking that desolate strip back.