Seeing through the Gaza Propaganda

Original version of my letter to LPN: The Lancaster Newspaper

I agree with George Will that there may be benefits to exposing "cocooned" academic supporters of the Palestinians to the atrocities captured by compilations of 10/7 videos. At the same time, I fear Israel may have created "cocooned" Americans, by suppressing journalism in Gaza.

I'm also concerned George Will obscures an important dimension when he speaks against the requirement for 'proportionality', namely, much of Israel's disproportionate violence is directed at civilians.

Israeli spokesperson, Mark Regev, was clearly deceiving CNN's Jake Tapper on December 4, when he said: "the IDF really has done everything that is humanly possible to try to safeguard innocent civilians."

Regev frequently gives the impression that civilian casualties are solely the fault of Hamas using civilians as human shields rather than Israel intentionally targeting civilian buildings. (research "power targets")

Yet, if one looks into Israel's military policy -- The "Dahiya" doctrine -- one finds that Israel's goal is actually to create "unbearable" civilian suffering by using disproportionate force to destroy civilian infrastructure, including residences.

This "unbearable" civilian suffering, it is hoped, will pressure the population to turn against the militants and demand an end to the conflict.

I lament that major media are not doing enough to expose the lies made by Israeli spokespeople like Mark Regov, but thankfully one can access some of the truth elsewhere.

Search Google for:

• "Dahiya Doctrine targeting"

• "972 magazine power targets"

P.S. More information:

1. Have you heard of Israel's "Dahiya" Military Doctrine?

2. New Israeli +972 Magazine Report Exposes Spokesperson Mark Regev's Lies

3. Transcript: CNN: The Lead, with Jake Tapper, Dec 4, 2023.

4. Van Hollen, Schatz, Welch, Kaine, Booker Call on Biden to Urge Israeli, Egyptian Governments to Allow Journalists into Gaza, Protect Free Press, Dec 15, 2023