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June 19, 2006

The Gaza beach hoax retreat

Human Rights Watch now concedes it cannot refute the IDF claim that it was not the cause of the deaths at Gaza Beach: The Jerusalem Post reports:
While sticking to its demand for the establishment of an independent inquiry into a blast on a Gaza beach 10 days ago that killed seven Palestinian civilians, the Human Rights Watch conceded Monday night for the first time since the incident that it could not contradict the IDF's exonerating findings.
 
On Monday, Maj.—Gen. Meir Klifi — head of the IDF inquiry commission that cleared the IDF of responsibility for the blast — met with Marc Garlasco, a military expert from the HRW who had last week claimed that the blast was caused by an IDF artillery shell. Following the three—hour meeting, described by both sides as cordial and pleasant, Garlasco praised the IDF's professional investigation into the blast, which he said was most likely caused by unexploded Israeli ordnance left laying on the beach, a possibility also raised by Klifi and his team. 
 
The German press has been even more specific:
German daily Sued Deutsche, said pictures taken by Zakaria Abu Irbad, 36, a cameramen with the Palestinian independent news agency Ramattan, contradict Palestinian claims that an IDF shell killed the Ghalia family and point to the possibility that the event was staged to hold Israel responsible. 
 
Irbad was the first journalist to arrive at the scene after the attack and Ramattan sold footage of Hadil weeping on the beach by her dead father to all major news broadcasters.
 
The newspaper said in footage of the beach taken by an IDF drone at the time of the attack, five craters left by IDF artillery shells could be seen, but that 250 meters away people could also be seen.
 
The paper said it is strange that although shells exploded 250 meters away from a beach site where Palestinian families congregated, no one was seen running away or panicking.
Clarice Feldman   6 19 06
 
Ed Lasky adds: history does repeat itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. When Israel moved into Jenin to prevent terror attacks, the Israeli Defense Forces engaged in a series of maneuvers designed to minimize civilian casualties (and probably lost men in doing so).
 
Yet, stories of the Jenin Massacre quickly circulated around the world via a compliant and biased media favoring the Palestinian cause. Palestinian leader Saeb Erakhat claimed 5000 people were killed. This depiction was quickly accepted by the United Nations.
 
A movie "Jenin, Jenin" was shown around the world that helped to spread this fabrication (Leni Riefenstahl would be proud). Investigations later placed the death toll among Palestinians at 56, and most of these were were terrorists.
 
The use of ambulances to transport terrorists and weapons is a tactic Palestinians have used in the past. This hoax was exposed when Israeli video showed a wounded terrorists leap from a stretcher with his gun when an Israeli helicopter approached.
 
The Karine A ship was intercepted carrying a huge store of weapons, despite promises made to America that no gun smuggling was occurring. A Hamas truck filled with explosives blew up during a victory parade in the Gaza Strip killing numerous children and the Palestinians blamed Israel for the blast. Even that was too much of a stretch for Hamas opponents among the Palestinians, who within a few days narrowed the culprits to Hamas operatives who inexpertly packed the explosives in the truck.
 
Foreign aid money has been used to spread propaganda and pay terrorists despite claims to the contrary.
 
In other words, all these incidents show a very familiar pattern which, if a trial would occur, would impeach any future testimony from Palestinians by revealing their unreliability. But this is not a court proceeding — unless it is considered a kangaroo court — with Israel as the defendant who always loses. Kafka lives.

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