The Beat Goes On

The media still does not get Israel. When 12 Druze in a school playground were killed by Hezbollah, The New York Times carried the story as an attack on the Israeli-held village. It did not even hint that such an attack was a war crime against a group of non-Jewish children. In fact, have any of the media outlets said that the whole Hezbollah bombing campaign against northern Israel is a criminal attack on civilian populations? Or have they given prominence to the tens of thousands of evacuees who have been forced to flee their homes and communities because of the bombings, which were unprovoked by Israel? Israel had engaged in no offensive in the north, which is now largely depopulated. And have any outlets drawn the connection between Iran as Hezbollah’s sponsor and Iran’s goal of eliminating Israel as the real reason for its offensive against northern Israeli civilian populations?

The New York Review of Books recently ran a story about Israel’s conduct in Gaza. It criticized Israel for attacking the Al-Shifa hospital, claiming it was not a command-and-control center. Apparently, Israel is supposed to allow tunnels to flourish if Hamas uses civilian facilities as shields for them. While accusing Israel of war crimes for its actions, the article barely mentioned that Hamas’ use of civilian facilities as shields for decades is and remains a war crime.

This brings to mind my main point: Hamas has repeatedly bombed Israeli civilian areas. So has Hezbollah. Likewise, the Houthis, who just killed a civilian in Tel Aviv. Where are the articles about the war crimes of using civilian facilities as human shields and bombing civilians by these entities? One looks in vain, in The New York Review of Books or elsewhere in the media, for an article on the war crimes of these groups whose stated aim is the elimination of Israeli Jewry.

This is not to say that the effects of war in Gaza should be ignored. The casualties and destruction there should be reported, albeit with many more caveats than one usually sees regarding Hamas’ death toll claims.

But why do crimes against Israelis by entities who seek their death go unreported? Hamas was bombing Israeli populations long before October 7, 2023, while building a huge tunnel network to prepare for offensive operations against land the Israelis were granted by the United Nations in 1947. Why does the suffering of Israelis after October 7 go unnoticed? The country is still in mourning for its dead and its hostages. Is that unimportant?

It is frustrating to watch and read all this, so I write in a small effort to criticize the imbalance. Maybe lessons will be learned, although I am not optimistic.