Pro-Hamas media bias and Gaza activists block peace

By Ray HANANIA
Jerusalem Post
12 Jan 2010


[The Australian Jewish Democratic Society's (AJDS) Stillman, Brooks and Rosenblatt wrote a Letter to the Ed. In 'The Australian', 4/1/10, claiming that "because of this ( i.e. collective punishment, siege of Gaza, illegal occupation, etc., etc.) Israel itself becomes more cocooned and devoid of any moral authority".
Really? Why does Israel have to be the only nation in the world to have to have 'moral authority' to defend itself? Who gives the AJDS the 'moral authority" in Australia to judge another country's security concerns in the ME?
As another writer, Craig Merriman, in the same paper notes: "The West carries burden of terrorists in Yemen". "The West is forced to carry the burden alone of confronting the terrorism while Islamic States who keep telling us Islam is a religion of peace, sit on the sidelines and do nothing." He concludes with "hypocrites".
No, it is Israel that carries the burden of confronting terrorism on a daily basis for the past 60+ years. But then the AJDS seem to think Hamas and their followers are also trustworthy, neighbourly, peace-loving people with the right 'moral-authority' to be granted 'the opportunity to live in two independent and viable states without permanent militarisation".
What hypocrisy!
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Pro-Hamas media bias and Gaza activists block peaceBy Ray HANANIA

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147876102&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull...

It isn't just the mainstream Arab media that is pro-Hamas, branded a "terrorist organization" by many nations, but it's also the groups that support Hamas that slowly dominate the Middle East landscape unchallenged that are threatening peace.
A good example of this is the issue of the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians complain they are under an oppressive military and economic Israeli siege and where Israelis counter that radical elements there continue to target their civilians with Katyushas and Kassam missiles.
... THE ISSUE for the Free Gaza protesters is not about bringing freedom to the 1.3 million Palestinians there or lifting Israel's "oppressive military and economic siege." It's about their long-term goals. By "freeing" Gaza, they mean declaring Hamas the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people." But that's not their goal.
The purpose of many of the protesters is to strengthen Hamas.
... The Arab media are going through an internal struggle no different than the one now dominating Arab and Palestinian politics. It's one between extremists who see the media as an instrument of activism and those of us who believe the media must remain objective witnesses to the truth.
Truth means that not all of today's tragic events can be blamed on Israel, Egypt, Abbas or on the failure, so far, to achieve peace.
The writer is a Palestinian American columnist, satirist and founder of Yalla Peace.