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A Tale of Two Atrocities: Douma and Gaza
Noble, Doug
http://www.counterpunch.org/2018/04/20/a-tale-of-two-atrocities-douma-and-gaza/Date Written: 2018-04-20 Publisher: CounterPunch Year Published: 2018 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX22481 Compare the intense media coverage of an alleged Syrian chemical attack to the near silence accorded the horrific civilian massacre perpetrated by Israeli soldiers in Gaza, at the very same time. Abstract: - Excerpt: A video of an Israeli sniper shooting an unarmed Palestinian man is but one example of the substantial available evidence of this deliberate killing of innocent civilians. After the sniper shoots the man, one of the soldiers yells “yes!” and “son of a bitch!” in celebration as a crowd rushes toward the body. Israel’s defense minister Avigdor Lieberman rejected calls for an inquiry into these Israeli killings of Palestinians, saying soldiers along the Gaza frontier “deserve a medal” for what they did. The United States, rather than labeling Lieberman a “killing animal,” instead blocked a Kuwait-drafted U.N. Security Council statement that would have called for an independent investigation. And the mainstream media says next to nothing. Three differences in the reportage here are readily apparent: First, the evidence: In contrast to still unverified reports of who’s responsible for the alleged Syrian attacks, there is overwhelming first-hand video evidence of the flagrant massacre of unarmed Palestinian civilians in Gaza by Israeli soldiers. Second, the manner of killing. The alleged murder of civilians using chemical weapons apparently calls for worldwide moral indignation and humanitarian retaliation, whereas indiscriminate murder by sniper rifles, as done by Israel in Gaza, causes no such concern. Third, the victims: the US media’s almost total neglect of the brutal murders of innocent Palestinian men, women and children leads to the inescapable conclusion that, in contrast to Syrian victims, Palestinian victims don’t matter. Subject Headings |