Israel Blamed For Defending Itself

Newt Gingrich: The escalating violence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is providing a perfect example of the false moral equivalence that profoundly threatens the state of Israel.

For more than a decade, millions of Israelis have lived under the constant threat of rocket attacks. Thousands of rockets have rained down on towns of peaceful citizens. In one day at the end of October, militants in the Gaza strip fired more than 65 rockets into Israeli civilian populations.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military took action to dismantle this threat. It did what the American military does routinely: assassinated a terrorist with a drone strike. The man, Ahmed Jabari, was a senior member of the military wing of Hamas, the terrorist group risen to government power in Gaza. He was responsible for numerous numerous acts of violence against Israelis.

Militants in Gaza responded with a barrage of hundreds of rockets on Israeli civilians, killing at least three and injuring several others.

Israel then launched a mission to destroy dozens of launch sites that it had identified in the Gaza strip. Satellite imagery released by the military shows that often militants had attempted to shield these sites by placing them next to civilian locations suchs as apartment buildings, mosques, and markets.

Today, forces in Gaza launched a long range rocket (possibly supplied by the Iranians) capable of hitting Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. It hit a settlement just south of Jerusalem, Gush Etzion. Yesterday another rocket reached the Tel Aviv area for the first time since 1991.

And what is the response of the UN Secretary General to Israel’s self-defense in the face of a decade of rocket attacks, a million people driven into shelter this week by the barrage, and long range missile strikes close to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv?

“Israel must exercise maximum restraint.” That is what his spokesman told reporters today.

The Secretary General “urgently appeals to all concerned to do everything under their command to stop this dangerous escalation and restore calm. Rocket attacks are unacceptable and must stop at once. Israel must exercise maximum restraint.”

The dishonesty of this moral equivalency is stunning. Militants and terrorists launch thousands of rockets into Israel, killing or injuring dozens of its citizens. Israel, a sovereign country with an obligation to defend and protect its people, acts to destroy these launch sites, which the militants hid intentionally among civilians, and the UN responds as though Israel is guilty of reckless violence.

How can there be a peace process under a discourse that affords a terrorist group diplomatic status and calls for “restraint” in the self-defense of a sovereign country? The United States should formally protest the UN's one-sided statement.

---

Tags: Israel, Hamas, rocket attacks, Gaza, UN, General Secretary, United States, Newt Gingrich To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!