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PrintSeptember 1, 2019
Gaza’s woes self-inflicted
The Washington Post put out an August 29 news item headlined: "A summer day at the beach? For many Gazans, the conflict has put an end to that, too." or, "In Gaza conflict taints a summertime respite." (Non-subscription link here).
It's a tragic yet manipulated story about how Gazans can’t enjoy the Mediterranean sea due to water polluted by sewage, going like this:
But now a ceaseless conflict that seems to impinge on nearly every aspect of life here has claimed the Mediterranean, too. Because of skyrocketing levels of water pollution, attributable to political and economic turmoil, the 25-mile coastline is now another barrier in a place where barriers are all too common.People still come to watch the waves. They still stop to savor the salty breeze. But these days, many stop short of swimming. Even in the heat of summer, to swim is now to tempt fate.
The Washington Post singles out "conflict" as the cause of the Palestinians missing out on their "summertime respite," but conveniently leaves out the origin of the "conflict" and the "strife." The article correctly points out (only once) that there has been a "land, sea, and air blockade imposed by [both] Israel and Egypt." But the Post simply says that the purpose of the blockade is to "exert pressure on Hamas, the Islamist group that has controlled Gaza since 2007."
Has the Post forgotten about the thousands of rockets and mortars fired by Hamas into Israel, the underground Hamas "terror" tunnels created to kidnap Israelis and launch attacks into Israel, the incendiary balloons sent over to Israel to burn vast swaths of Israeli land? Whoops, the Post seemed to have a memory lapse.
The Post says Gaza is "in the midst of a water crisis born of the region's combustible politics." This is nonsense. That crisis, too, is borne of Hamas terrorism. How is this point missed by the "award-winning" Washington Post?
To its credit, the Post additionally blamed the Palestinian faction in the West Bank - the Palestinian Authority- for “halting payments to Israel,” which prevented the sewage plants from getting fuel.
However, the Post reporting veers off course quickly. After the first mention in the article about the Gaza blockade being from both Israel and Egypt as both countries have borders with the terrorist-led territory, the Post mentioned blockade three times in connection with just Israel, forgetting Egypt altogether.
Nowhere in the article did the reporters reveal that Palestinian corruption might just be more of a factor than they are letting on, either. Is there any connection between Hamas's terrorism and the fact that the funds aren't there to clean up the water? Any sane person would look that way, because if Hamas took the millions of dollars they receive in aid and spent it on rockets, mortars, and terror tunnels aimed at Israel, it's no surprise they don't have money to spend on the sewage issue. Further, nowhere did the Post explain why Hamas was attacking only Israel and exempting Egypt from this onslaught.
Post readers know that the Hamas charter leaves nothing to interpretation- it categorically declares as its mission the destruction of Israel. The proof couldn’t be any clearer as Hamas's attacks are only against Israel - not Egypt. Perhaps the Post would consider an article on how the woes of the Palestinians are self-inflicted - that they are due to the genocidal goals of their leadership. That would be an honest assessment of the situation rather than a piece indicting Israel -- the true victim of this conflict.
