As arrest warrants are issued for Israeli leaders, it must not be forgotten that they confessed to their crimes from the start. Western media outlets chose to suppress the truth
by Owen Jones
Part 3 - “You wanted hell, you will get hell.”
Another public statement was even more clear-cut about Israel’s genocidal intent. On the same day as Yoav Gallant, Major General Ghassan Alian, the Israeli Army Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories - or COGAT, the Israeli Ministry of Defence’s agency for the occupied territories - used essentially the same phrase as Gallant. It was posted on COGAT’s Twitter feed:
“Hamas became ISIS and the citizens of Gaza are celebrating instead of being horrified. Human beasts are dealt with accordingly. Israel has imposed a total blockade on Gaza, no electricity, no water, just damage. You wanted hell, you will get hell.”
There is no subtlety here. No one could try and dishonestly pretend that “human beasts” referred to Hamas, rather than Gaza’s civilian population. The Israeli general charged with overseeing the civilian affairs of occupied Palestinian territories made clear that he regarded the civilian population as “human animals” who must suffer collective punishment for the attitudes he alleged they displayed in their entirety in response to 7th October. Major General Alian made clear that the civilian population would accordingly suffer a “total blockade” on the essentials of life, and would receive "just damage” instead, as well as “hell”.
“Hamas became ISIS and the citizens of Gaza are celebrating instead of being horrified. Human beasts are dealt with accordingly. Israel has imposed a total blockade on Gaza, no electricity, no water, just damage. You wanted hell, you will get hell.”
There is no subtlety here. No one could try and dishonestly pretend that “human beasts” referred to Hamas, rather than Gaza’s civilian population. The Israeli general charged with overseeing the civilian affairs of occupied Palestinian territories made clear that he regarded the civilian population as “human animals” who must suffer collective punishment for the attitudes he alleged they displayed in their entirety in response to 7th October. Major General Alian made clear that the civilian population would accordingly suffer a “total blockade” on the essentials of life, and would receive "just damage” instead, as well as “hell”.
There is no plausible other interpretation than this general had issued an official declaration that war crimes on a grand scale would be committed by Israel against the Palestinian civilian population, from starvation to mass destruction, underpinned by collective punishment. Yet not only did Western media outlets fail to frame their coverage of Israel’s intentions around this declaration, they largely did not cover Alian’s statement at all.
The Times of Israel correctly but briefly identifies that Maj. Gen. Alian was addressing “Gazan residents” and that he was “lambasting Palestinian popular support for the terror group”: in context, the newspaper clearly approves.
There is no mention of this statement on the BBC website. There was no mention of this statement in news coverage in the days, or even weeks, after it was made in multiple newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Times, and The Telegraph. There were opinion columns which quoted these words - but such words should have profoundly influenced news coverage of Israel’s intentions, yet they did not even appear in the news section.
The Times of Israel correctly but briefly identifies that Maj. Gen. Alian was addressing “Gazan residents” and that he was “lambasting Palestinian popular support for the terror group”: in context, the newspaper clearly approves.
There is no mention of this statement on the BBC website. There was no mention of this statement in news coverage in the days, or even weeks, after it was made in multiple newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Times, and The Telegraph. There were opinion columns which quoted these words - but such words should have profoundly influenced news coverage of Israel’s intentions, yet they did not even appear in the news section.
Elsewhere, the partial quoting of the general was itself revealing. Two days after the statement was made, The Economist wrote:
“News of a gruesome massacre in Kfar Aza, a southern kibbutz, has hardened the mood. Some have hinted at collective punishment. “Hamas became ISIS and the citizens of Gaza are celebrating instead of being horrified,” said an Israeli general. “Human beasts are dealt with accordingly.””
Here, the magazine put the general’s genocidal rhetoric in the context of atrocities committed by Hamas. As well as cutting down the quote, The Economist suggested this only “hinted” at collective punishment. This is a preposterous interpretation of such an extreme statement, which did anything but hint.
“News of a gruesome massacre in Kfar Aza, a southern kibbutz, has hardened the mood. Some have hinted at collective punishment. “Hamas became ISIS and the citizens of Gaza are celebrating instead of being horrified,” said an Israeli general. “Human beasts are dealt with accordingly.””
Here, the magazine put the general’s genocidal rhetoric in the context of atrocities committed by Hamas. As well as cutting down the quote, The Economist suggested this only “hinted” at collective punishment. This is a preposterous interpretation of such an extreme statement, which did anything but hint.
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