(Wall Street Journal) Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis - Hamas provided free transportation from throughout Gaza to the border for civilians, including women and children. Hamas hired them as extras, paying $14 a person or $100 a family for attendance - and $500 if they managed to get injured. Hamas forced all of their commanders and operatives to go to the border dressed as civilians, each serving as a director of an area. Hamas gave anyone with a video camera front-row access to the show and free Wi-Fi. Hamas called it a "peaceful protest," and much of the world simply fell for it. But the basic tenets required for a protest do not exist in Gaza. Under Hamas control, there is no freedom of speech, no freedom of assembly, no freedom of religion, no freedom of the press. There can be no such thing as a peaceful protest in Gaza, only gatherings organized, sanctioned and funded by Hamas. On Facebook, Hamas posted maps for their operatives showing the quickest routes from the border with Israel to Israelis' homes, schools, and day-care centers. Does that sound like a peaceful protest to you? Some of Israel's greatest friends might have preferred that we had looked better in the media this past week, but the IDF always chooses truth. It is that morality that sustains the IDF. If in order to win the international propaganda war I need to lie like Hamas, then I prefer to tell the truth and lose. The IDF will win where it matters - protecting our civilians in the face of terror. The soldiers of the IDF won this week by keeping Israeli families safe and by stopping Hamas from accomplishing its stated goals.
2018-05-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive