Media analyst Tom Gross notes a Reuters mistranslation of remarks made by Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai on February 29 which led to dramatic headlines such as The Guardian's "Israeli minister warns of Palestinian 'holocaust'."
As Gross points out: "In fact Vilnai said this morning in off-the-cuff remarks made on Israel Radio that: "The more the Qassam rocket fire [on Israeli civilians] intensifies and increases its range, the Palestinians are bringing upon themselves a bigger disaster because we will use all our might to defend ourselves."
Vilnai used the word "shoah" (meaning disaster), which Reuters mistranslated as "Holocaust," which is "HaShoah" in Hebrew. It is like confusing a "white house" with "The White House."
Irrespective of whether or not Vilnai's choice of words were ill-thought out or whether the media is to blame for the resulting furore, one fact is undeniable -
Israel never intentionally targets civilians whereas Palestinian terrorists deliberately set out to kill innocents, celebrating hits against schools and kindergartens.
The vast majority of Palestinians killed during Israeli military operations were armed terrorists or those directly involved in firing missiles into Israeli towns and cities.
Hamas has exposed the Palestinian civilian population to risk by operating within and firing missiles from built-up areas, effectively using civilians as human shields.
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The primary responsibility of any government is to protect its citizens. Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005 with no intention of ever returning. In the face of these missile barrages, Israel is left with little choice but to take action against those who target its towns and cities.
Loss of human life in a conflict is invariably an ugly situation and one that creates intense media interest. Such is the case of Israel's military operations in Gaza that are currently making international headline news. However, the focus on Palestinian casualties ignores the context behind Israel's actions and only tells a part of the real story.
HAMAS FIRES KATYUSHAS AT ASHKELON
Sderot and the western Negev region have been under constant attack from Qassam missiles and mortars. Palestinian terrorists have deliberately set out to kill and maim innocent Israeli civilians making life unbearable for those within missile range.
Since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in mid-June 2007, over 800 rockets and over 900 mortar bombs have been fired. Since Thursday 28 February alone, over 100 rockets have been launched at southern Israel. At the time of writing, rockets continue to be fired at such a rate as to make it impossible to give completely up-to-date statistics. While many media have downplayed the effects of the Qassams, referring to them as "homemade", no such language can be employed to describe the latest Hamas escalation.
The situation has escalated in the past few days, as over 15 heavy rockets were fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza against Israel’s southern port city of Ashkelon. The 122 mm GRAD rockets are a type of standard military artillery weapon produced in the former Soviet bloc and by other states deploying non-Western arms. It is manufactured to military standards, by a conventional arms industry, and is equipped with a weapons-grade high explosive fragmentation warhead.
GRADS are also known as Katyushas - the same type of weapon fired at northern Israel by Hezbollah during the 2006 Lebanon War, possessing the same lethal capabilities.
Despite repeated Israeli warnings of an arms buildup in Gaza, the GRAD rockets were apparently smuggled into the Strip from Iran via Egypt through tunnels and the breached Rafah border fence.
The range of the rockets fired against Ashkelon is over 20 km, an upgraded capability which places about a quarter of a million Israeli civilians in constant danger of Hamas attack.
HonestReporting. com
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