Chris Hedges: Why Israel Lies

[oberliner]

22. Here are my views on that

Israel is clearly conducting itself with a callous disregard for Palestinian civilian life, but this notion that Israel is just ordering the "mass murder of women and children" or the "genocide of the Palestinian people" or anything of that nature is just absolutely preposterous.

Question the motives for the Israeli incursion, certainly – call right-wing nutty Netanyahu out on his bs and lies and his dehumanizing statements about Palestinians. Speak out against the killing of children, the bombing of civilian buildings, mosques, schools. All condemnable.

But Israel is not just on some kind of sadistic quest to slaughter large numbers of Palestinian women and children. That's just not what is happening.

Israel is trying to destroy tunnels, hit rocket launchers, destroy munitions, kill Hamas leaders (and active members). The problem is that they don't particularly care if they end up killing some civilians who are in the area of a target.

If a rocket is launched by Hamas from near a school- Israel will shoot back at that rocket launcher and if they hit the school and kill some innocent people there, Israel's attitude is "so be it".

If there is a tunnel, Israel will bomb the the tunnel - with a half-assed warning to the people who might be living in the homes around the tunnel. If there are some civilians who are killed in the process, the Israeli government attitude is "oh well".

This is the fundamental problem with what Israel is doing and why they should be condemned. The hyperbole found on DU, and elsewhere, is not necessary. Israel is doing enough actual bad things right now that they should be taken to task for.