By Simon Fischler
Many in the Israeli left today ask how it is they have been unseated from power, have lost their grass roots support and have been marginalized.
I suggest the Israeli Left check yesterday’s Haaretz and read the Amira Hass article “The Sanctity of The Soaring Qassam.” This should clear things up for them real quick.
Ms. Hass spent all of her ink blasting the Government and citizens of Israel for defending themselves against the new onslaught of rocket attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip.
According to Ms. Haas Israel should have let Hamas and its underlings shoot rockets into Israel as long as no one got killed,
What is really important with someone like Ms. Hass is the manner in which she talks about Israel and her citizens.
It would be one thing if Amira Hass chose to be critical of Israel and her government --backing herself up with facts, but that is too much to ask of her.
Instead what Ms. Haas did was to spew distortions and half-truths about the IDF’s actions in the Gaza strip. Especially insidious was Hass’ implied accusation that Israel intentionally targeted innocent civilians.
This is nothing new for her. Amira Hass was sued in June 2001, when she falsely wrote an article in Haaretz claiming a Jewish settler had defiled the body of a terrorist after the man had been killed. She was convicted of defamation and assessed a fine of 250,000 Shekels.
250,000 NIS obviously didn’t teach Amira Hass any lessons at all, as she continued her fabricating ways. Worse, she totally overlooked all that Hamas does to endanger the lives of fellow Palestinians in Gaza and the Israelis who live on and near the border of the Gaza strip.
More than anyone Ms. Hass must be aware of Hamas’ intentional use of Palestinian children as human shields. She must also be well aware of the fact that Hamas is carrying out war crimes every time they shoot a rocket into Israeli communities.
But these facts obviously do not matter to Ms. Hass, because they don’t jibe with her absolute determination to impugn Israel and the majority of Israelis’ belief that we have the right to defend ourselves against the never-ending attempt by the Palestinians to injure, maim and kill us.
The fact that the Palestinians haven’t succeeded is no doubt a source of annoyance for Ms. Hass, although she’d NEVER admit it. No, the Palestinians -- poor oppressed people that they are (in Ms.Hass’ eyes), have NEVER done anything but try to survive, right?
Meanwhile, for Amira Hass it sounds suspiciously as though the only good Israeli Jew is a dead one.
It is attitudes like hers that have marginalized the Left in Israel. Why? Because the majority of Israelis are fed up with the lies being directed against the country and her children who defend it.
Israelis are also fed up with self-hating Jews like Amira Hass who will do virtually anything to demonize Israel while overlooking the undeniable facts that clearly show the Palestinians are at fault for the continuation of this conflict.
Most Israelis know, however, that when Amira Haas writes the fabrications, they are intended to demonize Israel in the eyes of American Jews who read Haaretz and lack knowledge of her and this conflict. It is done with the deliberate hope of converting English-speaking Jews into Israel nay-sayers.
If the left ever wants to attain power again it must go back to its roots, which are based in the combination of democracy and Zionism. They must reject “peace at all cost” and remember the concept of “fair and just peace.” The Left must show Israelis that they reject the defeatism and warped judgment of people like Amira Hass.
If the Israeli left wishes to gain power again their leaders must be brave enough to condemn people like Amira Haas for their unjustified, seditious and distorted views.
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