Al-Durah? Jenin? More Blood Libel

*SCROLL* FOR UPDATES  - Breaking news
The Palestinians eat their own. There is a diabolical complicity between the Jew hating media and the savages that would wipe the Jews off the map. What set off the second intifada ? Al-Dura. The moment that plunged Israel into a sea of shit was a staged event. And the French media knew it. And who could forget the farce of Jenin? The irony of Jenin was how the Israelis took more military causalities because they would not employ air cover  so that there would be less Pali civilian deaths (is there such a thing as a Pali civilian? Oh yeah the 4% that voted against terror. )
Judith at HNN has an eye opening account of what really happened to the Pali family here

GAZA BEACH CARNAGE FOOTAGE STAGED?

A terrible tragedy happened on the Gaza beach. Shells exploded and killed 9 men, women and children and injured others. Heartbreaking.

Israel is investigating. But Mark Regev, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman who said that Israel believes such shelling of civilians to be unacceptable also told the BBC that naval or air shelling have been ruled out. Other possibilities are explored. In the meantime Hamas vows to end the unilateral cease fire with Israel.

But, please, watch this BBC report and tell me what were the cameramen doing on the beach at the moment the shell hit? CNN has the exact same footage.   

Are we once again dealing with a Jenin/al Dura style staged recreation?

The BBC also features an eyewitness by a jounalist named Sami Yousef who just happened to be on the beach during the shelling. He ends his account thus:

I've heard people in the last few hours calling for revenge. If an attack happens inside Israel it will make them a little bit happy. It might also make them reject the referendum planned by [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas. Do I smell a Hamas member exploiting an opportunity (with BBC acquiescence) or is it something more sinister?

So what have we here? Another evil staging to incite and drive those thirsty for Jewish blood. Is this "incident" the deliberate precursor to a world of pain?

Hamas Ends 'Truce' With Israel; Threatens New Violence  

The militant group Hamas has declared an end to its informal ceasefire with Israel and has vowed to increase the level of bloodshed in the region after the death of seven Palestinian civilians taking a beachside picnic on the Gaza Strip Friday.

UPDATE: SHOCKA! Palis refuse to cooperate with investigation here. Transparancy fellas, c'mon now, we is on to you.

IDF sources say Palestinians have not disclosed information regarding exact location, time of explosion that killed seven civilians on north Gaza beach; ‘this makes it very difficult to form clear picture of what happened,’

IDF sources said Saturday that the Palestinians are not cooperating in the investigation of the Gaza beach incident , during which seven civilians were killed. (hat tip tagrafiti)

UPDATE: More and more the truth emerges. Savages.

IDF: Palestinians may have caused blast

As the IDF continued its investigation into the cause of the explosion that killed seven Palestinians on a Gaza beach on Friday, with the initial assumption being that an errant artillery shell was to blame, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Saturday night that it was possible the blast was an "internal Palestinian incident." IDF officers said that an "internal Palestinian incident" referred to the possibility that terrorists had fired a Kassam rocket which went off target and hit the crowded Gaza beach between Sudaniya and Beit Lahiya. (hat tip AB)

UPDATE: Augean Stables is working this story here: Pallywood on Gaza Beach

I’ve now seen the footage of the BBC, Al Jazeera, and CNN. It bears all the marks of Pallywood:
Palestinian contribution: no blood, bad child actors (it takes the girl two tries to throw herself on her father, no signs of damage or crater, hospital chaos with men in doctors’ coats accusing Israel, played over and over again on TV, use of rhetoric of genocide against Israel.
Western media contribution: cutting to make it more believable (take out the girl throwing herself on the sand beside her “father” before “finding him”), cut from action piece to action piece so the audience doesn’t have the time to develop suspicions, accept the Palestinian version (Israeli shells) as reliable (without even presenting it as the Palestinian claim).

[...] In other words, once again, a scene that bears many marks of staging, will drive Palestinians to self-destructive choices, while the Western media, in the unprofessional credulity, lend credibility to the unlikely and poisonous footage. Let’s hope this time they’re smarter than they were in 2000. Read it all

UPDATE: Sunday morining 4:30 am:

Saturday night, Brigade General Aviv Kochavi did not rule out the possibility that the missile that caused the death of seven Palestinian civilians was a Palestinian missile. He said that according to the initial findings of the inquiry there is information that supports this hypothesis. Translated from the French Guysen here.

Following the death of seven Palestinian civilians on a Gaza beach, last Friday, 19 Kassam rockets have been fired towards Israel. IDF officials however have decided to freeze artillery fire until the end of the inquiry. (Guysen.Israכl.News) Chief of Staff, General Dan Halutz, appointed General Meir Kalifi to the head of the team which will examine the circumstances of this incident. He has until Wednesday 13 June to present his conclusions.

UPDATE: More from Honest Reporting here;

[...] despite suggestions that a single artillery shell was responsible, the Guardian claimed: "a barrage of Israeli artillery shells rained down on a busy Gaza beach...", while the Independent, without waiting for confirmation or otherwise, attributed the incident to "Israeli naval gunboats".

In fact, while the most likely explanation is a single stray artillery shell, the possibility of a Qassam missile fired from Gaza itself has not yet been discounted and has been made more difficult to ascertain due to Palestinian refusals to cooperate with Israeli investigators.

As emotions run high, it is likely that Israel will come in for heavy criticism in the media from those genuinely horrified by recent events and those who do not need an excuse to accuse Israel of "war crimes" or to attack its morality and very existence

NO MORAL EQUIVALENCE

When examining the circumstances behind the Gaza beach incident, it is worth looking at the wider context. An editorial in the Jerusalem Post excellently summarizes the Israeli situation:

Firstly, Israel, while confronting an enemy publicly committed to maximizing civilian fatalities, seeks relentlessly to minimize such casualties even as it defends itself. Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists deliberately aim to kill and maim civilians, both in disputed and purportedly non-disputed Israeli-controlled territory, and show little concern for any "collateral" damage such attacks may inflict on their own people. Israel, in absolute contrast, acts concertedly to thwart the terrorists, not to attack the civilians from whose residential areas the terror cells despicably operate.

 

Israel would have no interest in, nor any need to be firing artillery shells or any other weaponry into the Gaza Strip were sovereign Israeli territory not coming under incessant attack from Gaza.

Indeed, as Qassams have rained down on Sderot and other areas of the Negev, striking residential buildings and schools, it is only due to immense luck that Israel has not already suffered multiple deaths and injuries as a result of such attacks. In the latest missile attacks, carried out by Hamas, an Israeli suffered critical injuries as a Qassam struck a school campus. These attacks, despite their potential for mass casualties, are described by the BBC's Simon Wilson as "mainly symbolic".

While the IDF has not taken responsibility for the Palestinian deaths until the conclusion of an inquiry, Israel has offered assistance to the Palestinians, including evacuating the wounded to Israeli hospitals, where a number are now being treated.

Israel's rush to apologize was a MAJOR MEDA MISTAKE;

Israel's hasty apology for 7 killings in Gaza enabled civil rights organizations, left-wing MKs & foreign countries to condemn Israel. It now appears that Israel had nothing to do with it.

Meanwhile, storms of Kassam tockets are hitting Sderot and nobody says anything. The world stands idly by.

Schools in Sderot are closed... Some 20 Kassam rockets at Israel since last night, critically wounding one... 3 terrorists killed, 7 injured, as they were about to fire more rockets Sunday...

UPDATE: Westbank mama tells us

According to IDF radio today, the artillery shelling on Friday stopped at 16:51, and at that time there was no commotion on the beach. There was only commotion at 17:01, a full ten minutes after the IDF stopped.

UPDATE: REVENGE!' CRY AT GAZA FUNERAL "DESTROY ISRAEL!"

At a mass funeral in which crowds screamed "Revenge!" and "Destroy Israel," seven of the victims were laid to rest a day after Israeli troops shelled a coastal area used by militants. The dead included five members of one family.

"Don't leave me alone," 7-year-old Huda Ghalya

Huda survived because she was swimming when her family died yards away onshore. "Father, father, forgive me," she cried as she kneeled to kiss her father's face at the stark cemetery in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiyah.

Amid the mourning, Abbas called for a July 26 referendum, in which Palestinians are expected to endorse what is effectively an acceptance of Israel's right to existence. New York Post

UPDATE: Israel denies firing shell that killed Palestinians (hat tip Klinghoffer)

A top Israeli general says the country's armed forces didn't cause the explosion that killed eight Palestinians on Friday and ended the fragile ceasefire in the region.    Hamas, which leads the Palestinian Authority parliament, blamed the deaths on Tel Aviv as its military branch resumed attacks on Israel for the first time in 16 months.

Liars.

But Israeli Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant said Sunday the military can prove it wasn't Israeli fire that hit the beach in Gaza, killing eight people.

Galant, who commands Israel's southern command, said Israel stopped firing 15 minutes before the explosion.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday said he was sorry about the deaths, which included three children. [what are you apologizing for schmuck!? Facts first! -Atlas]

UPDATE:DEBKAfile Exclusive: Hamas suspected of planting a daisy-chain bomb trap on Gaza beach to trap Israeli naval commandos (hat tip Bob V)

UPDATE: Rich, the man that brought us Pallywood,  has updated his  brilliant anaylsis, frame by frame,  of the blood libel here at Augean Stables

On the other hand, a feature unites both the al Durah and the Ghalia families. Their tragedy came at a most important time. In both cases, the Palestinian leadership was on the defensive world-wide (Arafat for his Camp-David no, Hamas for their unwillingness to even mouth conciliatory formulas in English), they were under direct pressure to do something (in this case by Abbas’ referendum which struck horror in the hearts of good Jihadis everywhere), but especially of Hamas, and on the eve of a visit by the Israelis to Europe where this incident would deeply embarrass them (for Barak it was the October 4th humiliation at the hands of Chirac; here it was Olmert “under a cloud“).

Finally, the most important similarity that emerged in the aftermath of both the al Durah and Ghalia family tragedies is that, whatever actually happened, the greatest likelihood (by far) seems to be that the Israelis did not cause the damage in question.

Is it possible that the evacuation scene of real bodies was staged in a different place for the sake of the cameras? Such a hypothesis might explain a great deal of the anomalies already noted, including the strange placement of the bodies and beachware.

It is certainly not beyond the reach of Palestinian cameramen and the “street.” And like so often, the quality of the performance is shoddy at best.

All in all, highly suspicious footage suggesting that, in order to turn a scandalous error into a PR coup (at best — who wants to think about a real Hamas conspiracy to kill their own innocents?), by blaming Israel, the footage was staged using real bodies. As with Pallywood at Netzarim Junction, Pallywood producers don’t sweat the obvious details (at Netzarim the evacuations take place in front of the Israeli guns; here the reconstruction takes place where the original explosion did not happen), because they can count on the media — Arab, Western, Israeli! — to react to the emotional drama they play out. Like magicians with a sleight of hand, they have us focus on the wrong details

UPDATE June 13: Probe: Hamas Bomb, Not IDF Shell, Caused Gaza Deaths

 

Comments

[Logan]

Wow is all I can say. Wonder what will happen in the MSM if it does turn out to be a pali-plot. Scratch that, I don't wonder at all, the MSM will ignore it or whitewash it.

[Indigo Red]

I was completly taken in by the video of Mohammad al-Dura being shot and killed. I was so angry and devastated. When I learned the whole thing was staged and the kid was never hurt, let alone dead, I was enraged. I simply no longer even consider the possibilty the Palestinians are telling the truth.

There is more than credible evidence emerging that the "massacre" in Haditha has been staged. Yes, Iraqi civilians are dead, but not by American guns.

[Oldcrow]

I am in the Navy and have seen many Naval gun fire exercises. The Isreali gun boats use either a 76mm round or Five inch round depending on the class of boat. The 76mm HE(high explosive) round has a kill radius of one to two meters the 5 inch three to four they both leave large craters. Did anyone see a crater? I did not and you would think the BBC would have asked that question also. Judging based on the tape which was a little fuzzy I would have to say no Naval artillery round hit that beach due to the lack of a crater.

[prairiemain]

I considered this a possibility, as well. Hamas fully plans to attack Israel and they're using a bit of theater to fashion a causi bella. Again, they take a page from the Nazis (who used a staged incident to justify their invasion of Poland).

There is a possibility the attack was an accident and I'm sure Israel would own up and try to make amends to the "victims" (I have to grit my teeth when I write that with regard to Palestinians) if it can be shown Israelis were responsible.

However, until I see evidence from sources I can trust, I refuse to believe the incident even occurred.

See how this fits with the current clash between Hamas and Fatah? If Abbas now tries to step in and force Hamas to pursue "peace" he will be risking his own neck with the Palestinians. It's the perfect "check" against Abbas and world opinion -- now if they manage to stage an attack in Israel, they can say they were justified.

Can a group of people, outside of Kos Kiddies, get more pathetic than the so-called Palestinians?

[Rambam]

ok, so let's have proof it was the israelis..

otherwise maybe it was a suicide vest? a palestinian child playing with a grenade?

since when does hamas need an excuse to shell israel?

Dear Mr & Mrs Palestinian,

After reading

http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/weapon/english/weapon_update.htm

i see you people shoot each other daily....

06-06-2006 Three People Killed and Seven Injured in Clan Disputes in the Gaza Strip
06-06-2006 Nine Injured in Attacks Targeting the Preventive Security Compound and Preventive Security Personnel in the Gaza Strip
06-06-2006 One Killed and Five Injured, including Three Children, in Incidents involving the Misuse of Weapons in the Gaza Strip
06-06-2006 Attacks on Public Institutions and Officials Continue, Palestinian Television Studio Attacked in Gaza, Causing Major Damage
04-06-2006 Six Injured, including Four Children, in Incidents involving the Misuse of Weapons in the Gaza Strip
04-06-2006 Tension Between Fatah and Hamas Continues: One Killed and Ten Injured in Three Incidents in the Gaza Strip
31-05-2006 2 Citizens Killed by Gunmen in Nablus
30-05-2006 4 Injured in Internal Violence in Khan Yunis
29-05-2006 Internal Violence Continues in the Gaza Strip
28-05-2006 7 Injured in Incidents Involving Misuse of Weapons in the Gaza Strip.
28-05-2006 Attacks on Public Institutions and Officials Continue
25-05-2006 A Citizen Killed and Another Wounded in Two Separate Personal Disputes
25-05-2006 A Preventive Security Officer Killed and His Guard Injured in an Explosion in his Car in Gaza
24-05-2006 3 Citizens Injured in Accidents Involving Misuse of Weapons in the Northern Gaza Strip
24-05-2006 A Further Victim of the Security Chaos, One Killed and Four Injured by Unknown Gunmen in Two Separate Incidents
23-05-2006 Employee in the Jordanian Representative Office Killed & 11 Palestinians Injured in Armed Clashes in Gaza City
22-05-2006 Tension Escalates in the Gaza Strip, 1 Citizen Killed and 3 Injured in Various Incidents
21-05-2006 Explosion at the General Intelligence Headquarters
17-05-2006 Explosive Device Detonated at the House of the Director-General of Border Crossings
17-05-2006 Gunmen Storm the Jawwal Offices in Gaza
17-05-2006 2 Citizens Killed and 6 Injured in Armed Attacks
14-05-2006 Gunmen Shoot a Preventive Security Officer and a Child in Beach Camp
14-05-2006 Citizen Killed during a Clan Dispute in Beit Hanoun
14-05-2006 1 Citizen Killed and 5 Injured in Clashes between Gunmen and Palestinian Police in Khan Yunis
14-05-2006 Citizen Killed by Shots Fired from a Mishandled Weapon
11-05-2006 4 Citizens Injured by Gunmen in the Northern Gaza Strip
11-05-2006 Explosive Charge Detonated near a Security Officer's House in Jabalia
10-05-2006 Armed Group Attacks the Office of the Khan Yunis Mayor and Threatens to Kill Him
10-05-2006 1 Citizen Killed and 4 Injured, including a 4-year-old girl, during a Clan Dispute in Jenin
10-05-2006 Renewal of Armed Clashes between Fatah and Hamas in Khan Yunis
09-05-2006
2 Explosive Charges Detonated near the Houses of a Lawyer in Beit Hanoun and a Security Officer in Beit Lahya

09-05-2006
Preventive Security Members Assault a Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Haniya's Political Advisor

09-05-2006 11 Palestinians Injured in Armed Clashes between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza City
08-05-2006 3 Palestinians Killed in Armed Clashes between Fatah and Hamas in Khan Yunis
04-05-2006
Explosives Detonated in front of the Homes of Two Preventive Security Officers in Jabalia

04-05-2006
1 Citizen Killed and 6 Injured in Clan Disputes in Gaza and Rafah

27-04-2006 3 Citizens Injured by Misuse of Weapons in the North Gaza Strip
27-04-2006 3 Citizens Killed and 2 Injured in Personal and Clan Disputes in 2 Days
27-04-2006 4 Injured in Clashes between Security Forces and Gunmen near Al-Muntar Crossing
24-04-2006
2 Citizens Injured by Gunfire during a Fatah March in Toubas

24-04-2006
Attacks on Public Institutions Continue, Palestinian Gunmen Attack the Ministry of Health Compound in Gaza City

24-04-2006
1 Citizen Killed and 4 Injured during a Clan Dispute in Rafah

23-04-2006 Attacks on Public Institutions Continue: Palestinian Gunmen Attack the Municipalities of Nablus and Bani Suheila
19-04-2006
Further Deterioration of Security Chaos in the Gaza Strip: 3 Kidnappings Reported and a Member of the Preventive Security Service Injured

16-04-2006
5 Citizens Injured, including 1 Pronounced Clinically Dead

16-04-2006
Gunmen Storm the Palestinian Legislative Council Office in Khan Yunis

16-04-2006
3 Gunmen Injured in Clashes with Palestinian Police in Rafah

16-04-2006
3 Citizens Killed during Internal Clashes in the Gaza Strip and West Bank

13-04-2006
A Young Man a Victim of an Honor-Killing in Gaza City

13-04-2006 Gunmen Storm the UNRWA Office in Nablus
13-04-2006
Citizen Injured by a Mysterious Explosion at his Home in Balata

11-04-2006
Attacks on Public Institutions Continue: Gunmen Storm the New Abasan District Court in Khan Yunis

09-04-2006
Two Palestinians Shot in Nablus for Alleged Collaboration with Israeli Security Services

06-04-2006
Police Officer Seriously Injured in El-Bureij Refugee Camp

05-04-2006
Continuation of Security Chaos in the Gaza Strip through Misuse and Mishandling of Weapons

04-04-2006 1 Citizen Dead and 2 Injured in Incidents Involving the Mishandling of Weapons
02-04-2006 2 Palestinians Killed and Another Injured in Further Incidents Involving Misuse of Weapons in the Gaza Strip
30-03-2006
Gaza Strip Witnesses a New Wave of Security Chaos Incidents

28-03-2006
10 Students Injured as a Result of the Explosion of a Home-Made Hand Grenade in Beit Hanoun

28-03-2006
Director of the Agricultural Bureau in the Central Gaza Strip and a Security Official Kidnapped in Two Separate Incidents in Deir al-Balah and Beit Hanoun

27-03-2006 Transportation Bureau in Nablus Attacked
27-03-2006 4 Citizens Injured As result of the Misuse of Weapons
26-03-2006
A Senior Palestinian Officer Shot to the Leg

26-03-2006
Two Persons Killed in a Family Dispute in Rafah and a Third One Died from a Previous Injury

23-03-2006
Shots Fired at the Vehicles of the Acting Mayor of Qalqilya and the Mayor of Birzeit

23-03-2006
Arson Attack on a School in Gaza in the Context of a Previous Armed Dispute

23-03-2006
4 Citizens injured by Gunfire in a Wedding Celebration in Khan Yunis

22-03-2006
1 Citizen Killed and 3 Injured in Armed Clashes in Gaza

22-03-2006
Attack on Rafedia Hospital in Nablus

21-03-2006
Attacking the Director of Military Police in Khan Yunis

21-03-2006
2 Palestinians Killed by Palestinian Armed Groups in the West Bank

20-03-2006
Armed Groups and Families Attack Public Institutions in the Gaza Strip

20-03-2006
Two Persons Seriously Wounded Due to Misuse of Weapons

20-03-2006
4 Persons Injured in an Armed Clash between Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Palestinian Police

19-03-2006 External Referral and Health Insurance Departments in the Ministry of Health Strike against Continued Attacks
19-03-2006 3 Citizens killed and 4 injured in military action and misuse of weapons
19-03-2006 1 Citizen Killed in a Clan Dispute
16-03-2006 5 Citizens Injured in Armed Clan Disputes in the Gaza Strip
16-03-2006 1 Citizen killed and 6 injured in military action and misuse of weapons
13-03-2006 Attacks on Public Institutions Continue
08-03-2006 Citzen Kidnapped in Deir El-Balah
07-03-2006
Two Children Killed By an Explosive Device in Bureij

05-03-2006 Continuing Incidents of Misuse of Weapons
05-03-2006 Armed Palestinian Groups Storm Public Institutions
02-03-2006
4 Civilians Injured in Accidents Resulting from the Misuse of Weapons

01-03-2006 Director-General of the Palestinian Land Authority Kidnapped in Gaza City
28-02-2006
Citizen Killed and Two Injured during a Clan Dispute

28-02-2006
Gunmen Storm Al-Quds Open University in Khan Yunis

27-02-2006 Palestinian Killed by Gunmen in Hebron
27-02-2006 Child Killed by a Mishandled Firearm
26-02-2006
Five Hand Grenades Thrown at the House of Jihad El-Batsh (lecturer)

26-02-2006
Member of the Izzedeen El-Qassam Brigades Killed during Training Exercise in Gaza City

26-02-2006
Civilian killed during a Clan Dispute in Khan Yunis

26-02-2006
Armed Group Kidnaps and Tortures a Young Man in Khan Yunis

23-02-2006 One citizen killed and 5 injured during clashes between families in Rafah over the past 48 hours
22-02-2006 Gunmen Storm the Rafah Governorate and the Khan Yunis Municipality
21-02-2006
Gunmen Storm the Customs and Taxes Office in Gaza City

[tazzerman2000]

Rambam, excellent post (And a way cool handle to btw:)

Paliwood strikes again aided of course, by the ever present and faithful BBC. (Bullshit Broadcasting Corp)

[Pamela aka "Atlas"]

Rambam ROCKS dah hous!

[tagrafiti]

So the latest on ynet
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3260996,00.html

Is that the Palestinians won't cooperate with the IDF investigation by telling them exactly what happened and when.
The IDF has confirmed that neither the navy nor the air force fired at that beach and right now it looks like it was either a stray artillery shell, or SURPRISE! a misfired Palestinian Qasam rocket.
Given how inaccurate they have been (thankfully) at firing those things at Israel, it is/was only a matter of time before one landed in Gaza...

[Papa Ray]

If I'm not mistaken a Pal rocket did land in Gaza (or maybe it was the West Bank) before.

Anyway, the Pals have their own movie production company and the tact cooperation of the media over there, and have had it for many years.

That this is a farce, a made up movie, would be nothing new, except that Hamas is now involved and they have even more experience in propaganda.

The theory of this being a put up job has been on the net ever since it was initally reported.

This incident just plays way too well for me, to believe the Pals.

Papa Ray
West Texas
USA

[Indigo Red]

Pali rockets seem to be the best bet. Just last night, the Palis fired off three Qasam rockets. Only two actually hit Israel ablbeit harmlessly in a field. The third rocket hit the house of a Palestinian civilian resulting in death.

I liked the film clip Pamela used of the girl trying to find her "dead" father. The recording began BEFORE she started screaming because she was being directed. When she found good ol'Pop's body in plain sight, she plops herself onto the sand meters away from her dearly departed loving Dad. And the BBC and CNN fell for the whole shootin' match.

It's also funny that the press arrived BEFORE the ambulance sirens were heard, but without any Doppler Effect (sound gets louder as the producer gets closer.) The Palis have had years of practice making these war tragi-comedies and have gotten no better at it. At least some of the media have exposed the scripting.

[abi]

Can a group of people, outside of Kos Kiddies, get more pathetic than the so-called Palestinians?

Yes, people who have to grit their teeth in order to characterize dead Palestinian children as victims. It's pathetic to be so cold about the deaths of victims that include a 5-month-old infant, a toddler a year-and-a-half old, and an 8-year-old.

Rambam, since you're keeping score, here are the death totals for the period between 9/00 and 9/05, according to Btselem:

* 667 Israeli civilians killed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, plus 305 Israeli security forces)

* 690 Palestinian children under 18 killed in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel - 3315 Palestinians in all (number of fighters included is unknown)

[westbankmama]

According to IDF radio today, the artillery shelling on Friday stopped at 16:51, and at that time there was no commotion on the beach. There was only commotion at 17:01, a full ten minutes after the IDF stopped.

[Underzog]

Hooray for Pallywood: http://www.israelnewsagency.com/hamasterrorgazaisrael48770611.html

"There's no need to fear; UnderZog is here!"

[daryl]

Dear Friends,

The IDF has been very carefully checking itself over the last days. A senior officer just appeared on Israeli television explaning that all IDF shelling in the Gaza area where the Palestinian family was tragically killed stopped well before the tragic explosion occured. He also explained that the Palestinians were known to have explosives in the area, that the Palestinians refused to co-operate in any way with the Israeli investigations, and that all injured were taken to a Palestinian hospital to remove all traces of metal fragments from their bodies before being transferred to Israeli hospitals for proper care. All signs were that the explosions were Palestinian in origin and that a massive blood libel and cover-up was implemented.

Hamas "response" is underway. Serious injuries in a rocket attack in the south. One killed in a drive-by shooting on a road we regularly travel when visiting Jerusalem. Calls for Jewish blood across the Arab world.

Palestinians kill each other and murder Jews in "revenge".

But let me ask the obvious. What sort of a society stores explosives and launches rockets from a family beach? What sort of society has families picnic on a beach which is known to suffer a barrage of enemy tank fire against those same rocket launching positions?

But don't think that it is all "them". Where are your solidarity campaigns, symbolic boycotts, divestment movements, protests and demonstrations against Palestinian barbarism?

Occasional "letter from Israel" David.Frankfurter

Friends:

If the Israeli Army's chronology is correct, the unlucky kids accidentally detonated a buried weapons stash hidden on the beach by the terrorists. That is, if they hadn't been deliberately selected for media "martyrdom" by one of the Pali terror groups or another.

In any case, this wouldn't hardly be the first instance of either scenario, would it?

Daryl