As Akus and I have pointed out, (here and here) Harriet Sherwood is truly gifted in the art of rhetorical obfuscation, a talent on display when she twice referred to rocket attacks from Gaza as “sporadic” – a truly surreal characterization of the 676 deadly projectiles fired at Israel in 2011 alone.
But, her latest incredulous report (Arab spring uprisings reveal rift in Hamas over conflict tactics), Jan 6, on claims made by some that Hamas is debating whether to focus on non-violent resistance, goes even further in running interference for the Islamist terrorist group.
In the penultimate paragraph, Sherwood writes.
Since the war in Gaza ended three years ago Hamas has largely adhered to a ceasefire, and has attempted to stop other militant groups from firing rockets into Israel. [emphasis mine]
While the implicit argument, that Hamas has been a force of peace, reasonableness and moderation in Gaza since the end of Cast Lead is absurd, her explicit claim that “Hamas has largely adhere to a ceasefire” is just patently untrue.
First, as I’ve noted previously, the group responsible for a large number of the 676 rocket attacks on Israel in 2011 (and over 1,000 since the end of Cast Lead in 2009) is referred to as Popular Resistance Committees (PRC). And, per the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, the PRC is funded and supported directly by Hamas, and essential serves as Hamas’ terrorist subcontractor.
Moreover, here are a few of the attacks directly attributed to Hamas – deadly assaults which are clearly inconsistent with “honoring the ceasefire”.
- On the afternoon of April 7, 2011 Hamas operatives fired a laser-guided anti-tank missile at an Israeli school bus in the western Negev wounding one – and killing a 16-year-old Israeli named Daniel Vilfic.
- On March 26, 2010 an IDF officer and soldier were killed and four others were wounded near the Kissufim crossing in the central Gaza Strip. The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, claimed responsibility for the incident.
- On September 3, 2009, during a 24-hour period, seven mortar shells were fired, four at an IDF force near the security fence and three at communities in the western Negev. The Iz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
- During the week of March 17-23, 2009, three mortar shells were fired at IDF forces operating along the border security fence. Hamas’s Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Further, Hamas celebrated the “successful” April 17th attack which killed Daniel Vilfic, posting this video on their website.
(Note: Video ends after first 40 sec.)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O5LURVXgfzw#!]
As I observed recently, Hamas is quite open in expressing pride whenever they kill an Israeli Jew, and even bragged on Twitter (on the occasion of the group’s 24th anniversary) that they’ve murdered, to date, 1365 “Zionists”.
There are some Guardian reports on terrorist attacks from Gaza which employ language that obscures cause and effect, and others which “contextualize” attacks in a way which dehumanize the Israeli victims.
Sherwood’s latest report, however, stating that Hamas has “largely adhered to a ceasefire” isn’t merely another example of such rhetorical obfuscation or moral inversion.
It’s simply a lie.
Related articles
- Hamas, Harriet Sherwood and the Guardian Left’s continuing antisemitic sins of omission (cifwatch.com)
- The Guardian’s Harriet Sherwood: Terror Propagandist. (cifwatch.com)
- What Harriet Sherwood won’t report: Hamas bans Palestinian merit scholars from leaving Gaza (cifwatch.com)
- Harriet Sherwood legitimizes Gazans’ complaints that they can’t enter Israel to sue the Jewish state (cifwatch.com)
- Hamas’s immutable malice towards Jews that the Guardian won’t report (cifwatch.com)
- Guardian Warning: 24 hrs in photos gallery contains ‘highly distressing’ images [& HIGHLY misleading] (cifwatch.com)
- How many of your nation’s citizens live in fear of enemy rocket fire? Context the Guardian won’t provide (cifwatch.com)
