“One voice in Gaza that became familiar to Israeli television viewers was that of Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish, a Palestinian gynecologist and peace activist who had trained and practiced in Israel. He often spoke to Israel’s Channel 10, giving reports, in Hebrew, about the medical crisis in the Gaza hospitals. On January 16th, the day before the war ended, a tank shell went through a bedroom window of his fourth-floor apartment in Jabalia, killing two of his teen-age daughters and a niece, and seriously injuring another daughter and several relatives. His oldest daughter ran into the room to see what had happened, only to be struck dead by a second tank shell.
Moments later, he rang the Channel 10 newsman Shlomi Eldar on his cell phone, in the middle of a broadcast. Eldar answered on air, and the anguished wails of Abu al-Aish on the other end of the line jolted many Israelis. “No one can get to us,” the doctor cried, begging for help to get his injured family to a hospital. “My God… . Shlomi, can’t anyone help us?” Eldar persuaded the Israeli Army to let ambulances through to rescue the survivors.
The I.D.F. initially claimed that Palestinian rockets had struck the building, and then, after that was disproved, that the tank was responding to “suspicious” figures on the third floor. Later still, the I.D.F. concluded that an Israeli tank had fired the two shells that killed the girls.”
— A történethez tartozik, hogy az IDF mindmáig egyetlen katonát büntetett meg a gázai eseménysorozat kapcsán, azt is azért, mert közben ellopott egy hitelkártyát. És ez az a dolog amit Novák Attila, Seres, meg a többiek, akik az IDF és az izraeli kormány bármilyen kritikájától visítógörcsöt kapnak, nem értenek meg: ez így nem megy. Ha ilyenekért nem lesznek felelősök, akkor egész egyszerűen Izrael mindenfajta morális előnyét eljátssza. (via Gaza, Gilad Shalit, Hamas, and Israel : The New Yorker)
November 25, 2009, 10:56am
