‘Jewish Chronicle apologises after running Gaza appeal advert’:
The Jewish Chronicle has apologised to readers who complained after it ran an advert for the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Gaza crisis appeal. The weekly newspaper said running the advert was “meant as a purely humanitarian gesture”.
When it launched the appeal, the DEC said the latest conflict had made half a million people in Gaza homeless and warned of a “humanitarian emergency”.
There is currently a five-day ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians. The Israelis launched a military operation on 8 July to stop militant attacks from Gaza.
After a DEC advert featured in this week’s Jewish Chronicle (JC), a Facebook page was set up calling on readers to boycott the title until it issued a “full apology”. A message posted on the paper’s own Facebook page pointed out that the advert was “not an expression of the JC’s view”.
It added: “We have received complaints from readers angry at the decision. We apologise for the upset caused.” It said it would give space in the next issue to readers wanting to object to the advert. Writing on the JC website, editor Stephen Pollard said: “It is a critical part of our editorial independence that we do not allow advertisers to have any influence at all on the paper.”
About 2,000 people have died since the fighting began last month. Those killed include more than 1,900 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the United Nations. Sixty-four Israeli soldiers have been killed in the violence and three civilians in Israel have also died.
The DEC, an umbrella organisation which brings together 13 UK aid charities to deal with international crises, launched its campaign on 7 August. It said one and a half million people had “no or very limited” water or sanitation, with many in “urgent need of medical care”.
Radicalization just makes you nasty doesn’t it?
Well yes, apparently so. I’m talking about you, bear in mind.
They breached their own advertising policy, that’s all there is to it.
Sad that people would object to granting aid to distressed Palestinians. It’s sad that the two peoples have become so polarized that radicals will shout down even aid efforts.
It is a valid concern.
How do you give aid to the actual people of Gaza without supporting terrorists?
I think it is possible, but obviously things like money and building materials are out sadly.
Thesper
3545
Is terrorist the right word? I dunno if I’m on the right track here, but it seems like we in the West think of this in terms of counter-insurgency, terrorism, with rockets and tunnels as a different version of suicide bombings and similar attacks in our cities.
But Israel is mobilising troops, deploying conventional armed forces, engaging in urban combat. While in Gaza they’re living through a new twist on the Blitz (except with no evacuations of children) and of course fighting Israeli troops. If my country was in either of those positions, I’d consider myself at war. It’s hard to be reasonable when you’re at war with a neighbour. I don’t think you can end a war until both sides want peace, and if they don’t yet, after so many years, I don’t see how you get from here, to any lasting peace.
What should have israel done instead?
Probably not this:
‘Hamas says the wife and child of its military commander, Mohammed Deif, have been killed in an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip.’
Because what would Benjamin Netanyahu do if it had been his wife and children? I’ll just let that sit a while.
olaf
3547
Hamas are fucking cowards hiding behind women and children, you know this. Why would you expect women and children not to be casualties then? Whatever Hamas does, at this point, is futile. They will lose. Its just a matter of how many more of their own people they want to see killed.
Or maybe the Israeli army are cowards hiding behind their vast military supremacy they mostly use to kill civilians? There are other valid viewpoints on that issue. I do agree with you on the sentiment that it is true the Palestinians will lose the military battle, how can they not? And i suppose then it could be said that Israel will have ‘won’ but at what cost? What cost to it’s self and it’s reputation around the world, what cost to the immortal soul of those that will have taken part in the slaughter by allowing it to happen? Do you really think God is cool with that, even by Old testament standards of ‘morality’?
I certainly never bring up my Jewish heritage anymore in real life, it is frankly too shameful, that is how modern Israel’s actions in gaza over recent years has made me feel. Ashamed.
In more news, more death in Gazza:
‘Gaza crisis: Israel kills three top Hamas commanders’:
An Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza has killed three senior Hamas military commanders, militants say. Mohammed Abu Shamala, Mohammed Barhoum and Raed al-Attar died in the attack near the southern town of Rafah.
They were among at least 19 killed, a day after Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif reportedly survived a strike that killed his wife and child. An Israeli was severely injured as rockets were fired into Israel on Thursday, the army said.
Hostilities resumed after peace talks collapsed on Tuesday. Israel has vowed to pursue its campaign until “full security” is achieved. Six weeks of fierce fighting have left at least 2,103 people dead, all but 67 of them Palestinians and most of them said to be civilians.
So attacking terrorists is cowardly? Israel defending it’s citizens is cowardly?
Hamas’s viewpoint isn’t valid as far as I’m concerned, and you’re ignoring (as usual) Hamas’s rocket barrage which broke the ceasefire. Moreover, again, Hamas’s terrorists are civilians - that is what you’re condemning.
Of course you’re “ashamed” to be Jewish, I’m ashamed you claim a link! (And of course you are either Jewish or not, it’s matrilineal). Given your attitudes, I also dislike you for supporting Fracking, spying overreach and ATOS, since you refuse to differentiate between country and person, and hence as a British citizen, you in your logic support those.
Timex
3550
The Israelis pretty much only target military assets… Hamas just happens to try and hide their assets near soft civilian targets.
I’d tend to blame Hamas for putting rockets in hospitals and schools, more than the Israelis.
olaf
3551
No dude, no. Israel targets Hamas terrorists. Hamas targets Israelis. See the difference? Israel is not targeting Palestinians. If they were, there would literally be no more Palestinians. They would all be dead. Because of that 'vast military supremacy, you see? Palestinian civilians are being killed because Hamas are fucking cowards and no they would lose a conventional war. So they choose to participate in asymmetrical warfare hoping the liberal pussies of the world overwhelm common sense and can somehow pressure Israel into a political defeat.
one-dimensional thinking is so…regressive.
I’d like to know what is the kill rate of these launchers using retaliatory air strikes and artillery fire. If the Israeli military knows that the return fire is ineffective and is simply killing civilians, then I think the issue may be reframed.
Thesper
3554
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/22/gaza-economic-cost-war-factories-destroyed
Maybe that factory was being used as a weapons factory on the side, maybe the camels were being used as cover by Hamas soldiers, and maybe Israel only targets military assets. But regardless of what they’re targeting, a lot of civilian infrastructure is being blown up.
It’s an own goal too, more unemployed young men with no prospect of getting a job is never a good thing.
It would be nice, but I don’t think we’ll get reliable information on that, ever. Both sides would have VERY good reasons to lie about it and zero repercussions aside from the other sticking their proverbial tongues out at them. The only reason we can reliably know that civilians are being killed is because it’s understood that’s going to happen with high explosives. Even still, the numbers are disputed as both sides once once again have reason to lie.
Well, I can’t imagine that the fire would be particularly effective. If anything, Hamas is probably well-drilled in shoot and scoot by now, and I guess the Israeli military should at least suspect as much, and that any fire is simply collective punishment.
Sounds like a heck of an assumption. There’s Hanlon’s Razor that comes to mind - “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” If someone fires a rocket at me from a location, I’d be inclined to fire back at that location even if I had little chance of hitting them. Also, those rockets are not shoulder-launched, so there’s some small gear to move. I don’t know how long it takes to break everything down and get it out and they could simply decide to give it up for lost, but counter artillary and air strikes can be on target extremely fast when the range is as close as Israel to Gaza.
Someone should really follow that up, though. It seems more often than not given the relative inaccuracy any return fire’ which is usually return artillery fire into a built up area, I can’t imagine hitting any targets aside from unintended ones. If the point of return fire has little chance of success but the almost certainty to cause collateral damage then I think a ground war is the only effective way to neutralize the threat.
Agreed. I’d love to see a real analysis of it.
The usual return fire into Gaza uses guided missiles or air-launched smart bombs, for that very reason.
It’s only in the major campaigns that unguided artillery gets used in any significant quantity, and even then the only time it’s used in dense housing areas is to help extract troops under heavy fire.
(A lot of farmland’s got torn up due to artillery fire. I’m concerned how much…it seems excessive, since Hamas only lightly holds those areas, so I’d like it investigated)
