Gaza Hospital massacre and the marketing of Israeli lies

A blast killed more than 500 civilians in the “safe” yard of Al Ahli Baptist Hospital. Within a few hours, the Israeli army concluded it was a misfired Palestinian rocket. US President, Joe Biden, soon after his arrival in Tel Aviv, adopted the Israeli story blaming “the other side” for the explosion.

Israel’s deliberate targeting of individuals or civilians seeking refuge in “safer places” has been part of the Israeli war strategy since its inception in 1948. Therefore, and before addressing the hospital massacre, it is important to put this case within the broader context of the Israeli pogrom policy. The following is only a partial list of incidents where Israel first denied, before independent investigation implicated it in murdering civilians while managing to evade accountability, with full complicity of Western media and powers.

For instance, in the aftermath of the tragic murder of American Palestinian journalist Shereen Abu Akleh on 11 May, 2022, the then Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, issued a tweet attributing the responsibility to Palestinian fighters. He supported his assertions with a video released by the Israeli military, claiming gunmen firing in the vicinity where Abu Akleh lost her life. Western media immediately marketed the Israeli lie by giving it more space than the Palestinian narratives. It took weeks, overwhelmed by contrary evidence, before mainstream Western media finally launched a thorough investigation into the killing of the fellow journalist.

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Six months later, on 15 November, 2022, Israeli War Minister, Benny Gantz, acknowledged Israeli responsibility, categorising the killing of Abu Akleh as a grave mistake. He also informed the American administration that Israel would not “cooperate with any external investigation,” meaning the American FBI who launched an investigation into the death of the American journalist. Biden neither called nor met the family of the “less equal” American citizen, which flew 6000 miles to Washington hoping to meet American officials. He, however, travelled 6000 miles to meet the more equal Americans, who chose another country’s citizenship, in Tel Aviv.

The reluctance of the Biden administration to seek justice for the death of an “American” is a reflection of American leaders’ ineptitude toward America’s welfare queen, and the political dominion of the most powerful foreign lobby in the US. Perhaps this explains the source of the insolent arrogance of current Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu who once boasted, “America is a thing you can move very easily . . .” For Israel has gotten away previously with murdering American soldiers when, on 8 June, 1967, the US supplied Israeli Air Force attacked the “USS Liberty”, killing 34 sailors and injuring 171 crew members.

Other “less equal” Americans lost their lives and received no attention from the White House. Alexander Michel Odeh was assassinated in October 1985 in his Santa Ana office at the hands of a Jewish Defence League terrorist. His killer escaped to the country of his new citizenship and was, for many years, ensconced in a Jewish-only colony in the Occupied West Bank. Another “less equal” American was Rachel Aliene Corrie who was crushed under an American made Israeli armoured bulldozer in March 2003. Netanyahu’s arrogance comes from his confidence that AIPAC’s eunuchised American political leaders would line up to kowtow to Israel and sacrifice American citizens at the Israeli altar.

Another example in targeting civilians was the Qana massacre in April 1996 during Israel’s war on Lebanon. To avoid any incident, the UN provided Israel with the coordinates of their base where civilians took refuge. The Israeli army might have used the same coordinates when firing heavy artillery at the “safe” UN compound, murdering 106 and injuring 116 of the mostly women and children.

Again, on 6 January, 2009, Israeli phosphorous bombs rained on civilians who had sought refuge inside Al-Fakhura United Nations (UNRWA) School. The bombs’ white smoke left behind trails of blood and phosphorous acid burned bodies of more than 40 dead and 50 injured children and women.

READ: Sinai as an alternative to Gaza: Who is funding this? Who is passing the deal?

As in the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital – and following these tragedies – Israeli Hasbara aided by Western media, employed tactics of deflection and obfuscation, leading to weeks of debate over “alternative” facts. A strategy aimed to water down international outrage and, ultimately, remove these incidents from the news spotlight. Nevertheless, independent investigations consistently held Israel accountable, dispelling their false narratives. Yet, in all these cases, as in today’s hospital massacre, Western media and governments gave more latitude to Israel’s initial false assertions while stifling evidence provided by the Palestinian side.

Now, what evidence do we have to point to Israeli responsibility for the massacre at Al Ahli Baptist hospital?

In layman terms, if we look at all the rockets launched into Israel from the Palestinian side, none of them have caused an explosion anywhere near as strong as the blast at the hospital. In other words, Palestinians do not have in their homemade arsenal explosive heads similar to what we saw at the hospital. Israel is the only party with these types of powerful explosive loads and the means to deliver them.

Moreover, there are two compelling pieces of evidence that belies the Israeli orchestrated video that was presented to Biden. First, the direction of the recorded sound of the projectile, just before the explosion, was from east to west. While Palestinian rockets typically travel eastward or northward, never in a westward direction, unless they are aimed at the open sea. Additionally, the projectile seems to have detonated prior to impact, with the intention of causing maximum human loss. The only party that possesses this particular technology, thanks to US made bombs, is Israel. In contrast, the rudimentary missiles fired by Palestinians, explode only upon a direct high-impact, leaving behind large shrapnel and a significant part of the missile intact. None of these characteristics were uncovered in the vicinity of the hospital.

Further, the hospital had received two small Israeli “warning” rockets in the days leading up to the explosion, and Anglican Archbishop Hosam Naoum, who oversees the hospital, confirmed that the Israeli military had contacted hospital managers multiple times since 14 October, instructing them to evacuate the facility.

Meanwhile, and immediately following the explosion, Israeli Prime Minister’s digital aide, Hanayna Naftali, declared on his social media account that the “Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas terrorist base inside a hospital in Gaza.”

Considering these circumstances, it becomes highly improbable that a misfired home-made Palestinian missile with an exceptionally high explosive warhead never previously used, would fall into a crowd outside of the same hospital which was ordered to evacuate by the Israeli army.

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In the context of these events, it is essential to recognise the historical element of deceit associated with Zionism, as highlighted by former Mossad officer, Victor Ostrovsky, in his book “By Way of Deception“. Western leaders have had first-hand experience dealing with Israel’s deception, personified by figures like Netanyahu. Notable instances include French President, Nicolas Sarkozy’s candid statement on unintended open mic to American President, Barack Obama, saying “I Cannot Bear Netanyahu. He’s a Liar.” Or, when Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel called him essentially a liar to his face.

Most recently, even American President, Joe Biden, became a messenger of the lie when he professed seeing non-existent images of decapitated Israeli children, as was told by Netanyahu. The US President doubled down on his lies when he accepted the Israeli version of deceit, blaming Palestinians for the explosion at the Gaza hospital.

President Biden was presented with a doctored video by Israeli intelligence of deceit, and referred to unfounded American intelligence, that “the other side was responsible” for the hospital explosion. The video the President saw could not be any different from the one initially used to deny responsibility for the murder of the American-Palestinian journalist.

Despite the history of Israeli deceit and outright lies, nevertheless, Western media and leaders continue to second guess the veracity of the narratives from first-hand witnesses on the ground, while eager to adopt the Israeli false version of events. The unquestioning acceptance of accounts from a bona fide liar, like Netanyahu, exposes Western confirmation bias and underlines a predisposed racism toward non-Western cultures. Confirmation bias is defined by the individual tendency to accept only what supports their pre-existing biased view. Western media and leaders serve as prime examples of the overt bias, where they are willing to embrace lies that support their preconceived racism toward non-Western cultures, thereby absolving themselves of the sins of murdering children.

The indiscriminate and relentless bombing of civilian neighbourhoods in Gaza is so extensive, it has not been seen since World War II. One quarter of a nuclear bomb dropped over the most densely populated area in the world, where injured civilians are operated on in hospital hallways under phone flashlights. To the point that US President Biden is so concerned with the depleting Israeli stockpile, he has asked US Congress to allocate additional $14.3 billions of taxpayers’ money to replenish it with new American bombs, like the one that fell on Al Ahli Baptist hospital.

The package includes another $100 million to the Palestinians. Biden could save US taxpayers, at least $100 million, by not sending bombs to Israel which makes the aid necessary to mitigate their killing, maiming and destruction of Palestinian civilians and infrastructure.

Apparently, it is not just Israel’s War Minister who believes Palestinians are “animals.” Western leaders’ disposition is equally demonstrated by their sending bombs and diplomatic support, empowering Israel to cut off water, food and fuel for the 2.3 million human beings who must be viewed by the West, too, as “human animals”.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.