The media denies what our eyes can see, that Qana presented Hezbollah an opportunity to engage in some appalling and morbid street theater for the benefit of an anti—Western press jockeying to find marketable gruesome pictures of Israel's inhuman bloodlust .The posing of dead children was designed to stir emotions so that viewers  would ignore the substantive issues of this war and misplace their sympathies. As the press plays the mark to this scam, there is evidence that Hezbollah is continuing the charade.

Now there are reports of two more incidents where the information appears to be provided solely by Hezbollah  getting top billing in the press——and Israel is denying both reports.
 
Incident One:

Two villages in south Lebanon on Friday were reportedly hit by IAF air strikes. The report continues that the strikes  flattened two houses, and 57 people were reported buried in the rubble.

One attack reportedly

"flattened a building in Aita al—Shaab, 2 kilometers inside Lebanon. Fifty people were reported covered in the rubble there."

In a near village another 7 people  reportedly died. The only sources for this report  were security officials and the state news agency . No independent observers were apparently permitted in . None are cited as having analyzed the claim nor have the attacks or the casualty figues been independently verified..  The Israelis deny the attack ever took place." IDF spokesman Capt. Jacob Dallal denied the attacks took place, saying "the air force had no targets in those villages." 

Incident Two:The press reported

"Four Israeli missiles hit a warehouse where farm workers were loading vegetables near the Lebanon—Syria border on Friday, killing at least 28 people, according to officials at the Syrian hospitals where the dead and wounded were taken.

At least 12 other workers were wounded in the attack.

The attack occurred about two miles inside the border when five Syrian refrigerator trucks arrived at a vegetable warehouse to load peaches and apples for the Syrian market, said drivers and witnesses. They said there were about 150 people at the warehouse when the attack occurred.

The toll of dead and injured was provided by the emergencies services at the al—Qusair National Hospital on the Lebanese—Syrian border and the National Hospital in the Syrian city of Homs.

IDF spokesman Dallal said it was suspected that the building was used for arms storage, because a truck believed to be carrying weapons went into the warehouse from the Syrian side.

The reports indicate a significant number of "Syrian farm workers" were killed in the warehouse bombing.

Certainly those who want to believe the Israelis are deliberately targeting civilian, not military, targets will buy these reports. I think they are targeting (very successfully) Hezbollah military targets, interdicting resupply routes and these puffed up claims are proof that Hezbollah is pulling out every stop to put pressure on Israel to release those thugs from the consequences of their own murderous folly.

Clarice Feldman    8 05 06