The Zionist Organization of America pointed to strong and emerging evidence that the death of civilians in Gaza at a UNRWA school was in fact staged by Hamas.
The Zionist Organization of America has called upon the Obama Administration to retract its condemnation, noting that the evidence now shows that Israel did indeed, as it claimed at the time, fire at terrorists just outside the school, where a missile strike on the road outside is plainly evident; that dead bodies were moved by Hamas from outside the school to inside its courtyard to mislead people into believing that the school itself had been hit; that the body of a small girl was added to the pile of adult bodies to make it look as if all the deaths came from the school, then was later removed, leaving doubt as to whether she was in fact killed; and that the bodies of two dead men photographed outside the school were also later shown inside the school courtyard, indicating they too were moved.
Israeli Strike Aimed at Terrorists
The Israeli strike directed at Hamas terrorists on the scene reportedly killed 10 Palestinian civilians and wounded dozens more at a UN Relief & Works Agency (UNRWA)-run school which was serving as shelter during the ongoing hostilities for 3,000 Gaza residents. This led State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki to condemn Israel, saying, “The United States is appalled by today’s disgraceful outside a UNRWA school in Rafah sheltering some 3,000 displaced persons, in which at least 10 more Palestinian civilians were tragically killed … We once again stress that Israel do more to meet its own standards and avoid civilian casualties.”
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “Israel has received massive condemnation, including from the Obama Administration over this incident – condemnation that appeared even before the facts in the case were established.
“Now, after two days, it appears that Israel was correct when it said that it fired at terrorists outside the school and that it did not strike the school directly. It also appears that at least some of the dead bodies shown on television were placed there by Hamas after the event and may not have been killed by Israel action at all.
“President Obama should immediately retract the astonishing condemnation uttered by the State Department over the weekend. It would have been bad enough to make this condemnation even if Israel had inadvertently struck the school.”
US Condemnation of Israel Encourages Hamas Terrorists
“As I said yesterday,” Klein continued, “can one imagine the outrage in Washington if the Israeli government condemned a U.S. strike on Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces near a school in Afghanistan which inadvertently resulted in civilian deaths? Would this be proper? Would this be the behavior of an ally?
“To add insult to injury, this condemnation came only a few hours after Israel began a partial unilateral pull-back from Gaza that was met by increased terrorist rocket and mortar fire.
“Such condemnation incentivizes Hamas’ terrorism and its resort to war crimes against the Jewish state. It makes such crimes pay in the coin of opprobrium for Israel, which, coming from the country supposed to be Israel’s best ally, the US reaction can only encourage. This would be bad at any time, but it is inexcusable at a time of heightened anti-Semitic frenzy in Europe and elsewhere. This adds fuel to the fire of Jew-hatred, rantings and actions.
“This is also giving aid and comfort to Hamas. President Obama should immediately apologize that his Administration jumped to conclusions and uttered a false and damaging condemnation of an ally. We strongly urge President Obama to publicly state that Hamas started this war by unprovoked, illegal missile attacks upon Israeli civilians, compelling Israel to take legitimate defensive steps against Hamas to end the threat to its own citizens. We also strongly urge him to condemn the anti-Semitic demonstrations in Europe and elsewhere which have been marked by the most horrific anti-Semitic expression.”
Source: Zionist Organization of America
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