Within minutes, the “Gaza Ministry of Health,” which is Hamas with a legitimate sounding name as Hamas is the only government in town in Gaza, announced that Israel bombed Al Alhi Hospital, killing 200-300.
Upon seeing this, one tragedy was obvious. The deaths of hundreds in a hospital was horrifying, regardless of who dropped the bomb. But Israel? That made no sense. It advanced no interest, legitimate or otherwise, and was ridiculously counterproductive as it would enrage the world and cause a seismic shift against Israel. It would be crazy to target a hospital, and Israel’s weapons were exact enough that, while it was possible that it was a mistake or accident, it seemed highly unlikely.
But there it was, the headline of the New York Times.
As of this writing, the New York Times headline reads
Early U.S. and Israeli Intelligence Says Palestinian Group Caused Hospital Blast
U.S. officials cautioned that the analysis is preliminary and that the United States was continuing to collect and analyze evidence.
Even now, the New York Times can’t bring itself to admit that its initial reaction was to uncritically publish Hamas propaganda, and that its continued attempt to equivocate (U.S. officials “cautioned,” as if there were any evidence whatsoever raising any doubt that it was not done by Israel?) reflects either an inability to admit fault or pandering to the left wing monster created by Hamas’ lie and the Grey Lady’s enabling.
In the meantime, Palestinian rioters in Beirut attacked the United States Embassy for being Israel’s ally. The middle east is aflame with even more hatred than before against Israel for bombing a hospital and murdering 500 people, even though it was the Islamic Jihad, a small terrorist group in Gaza working with Hamas, who caused the explosion and fire, and estimates are now that maybe 100 people died.
The presidents of Jordan and Israel changed plans to meet with President Biden.
In the United States, hundreds of Jewish protesters stormed the Cannon Office Building rotunda to protest, demanding a ceasefire.
Is it even possible that the Gaza Ministry of Health just made up a lie that served Hamas’ interest and the media ate it up, spewed it out and caused a fundamental shift in public sentiment against Israel?
The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.
–Brandolini’s Law
Senator Hiram Johnson was right when he said “The first casualty, when war comes, is truth,” but the certainty with which media spread this lie reflected what can only be characterized as a zeal to find an equivalence between the rape and murder by Hamas and Israel’s murder of hundreds in a Gaza hospital, validating the dubious progressive cries that it was Israel, not Hamas, who was entirely to blame. Brandolino underestimated the degree of energy needed, as the shift in sentiment against Israel was immediate, massive and, from all indications, conclusive.
Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel. Hamas continues to hold those hostages it hasn’t killed. Hamas lied about Israel being responsible for bombing a hospital and murdering 500 people. And Israel is to blame. Even the New York Times says so.
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The is standard for the Press even in times of peace. This is the standard even for the New Yor Times. The financial interest of the paper or personal/professional/political interests of the reporting staff determine how news is reported.
Yes, Prime Minister analyzed the relationship between their papers and readers decades ago. https://youtu.be/DGscoaUWW2M?si=0qWGOmNGYyRg2-Ns
[Ed. Note: Just this once.]
I’d be really curious to know how many of those “Jewish protesters” are actually Jewish and how many are paid protestors. Do they not realize Hamas would happly kill them and parade their dead bodies through the streets?
I hope enough time has passed since Hamas’s initial incursion to have a conversation.
Israel did itself no favors by reducing northern Gaza to rubble last week. While they are almost certainly not to blame for the hospital, they definitely killed hundreds of innocent women, children, and the elderly while pancaking residential buildings.
Was the NYT irresponsible? Absolutely. However, the conditions for the initial Gaza hospital narrative to be so easily believed did not spring out of a vacuum.
Hamas are barbarians and must be eliminated. You’ll get no argument from me there. But Israelis are not. Israel is a developed democratic nation and must adhere to the highest standards of moral clarity and rules-based order or risk being mistaken for something it is not.
You’re still not getting it. I support the First Amendment, but…
If Hamas was barbarians (and are still firing rockets into Israel and still hold the hostages who they haven’t killed yet), what’s Israel to do? Drop magic bombs that won’t harm the children Hamas uses as human shields? Is any of this getting through to you?
Is any of this getting through? Sure. You’ve educated me and changed my perspective on this topic once already. But that doesn’t magically absolve Israel from any criticism as this unfolds.
Brandolini’s law applies to all bullshit, including: ‘There is no alternative to Israel’s current strategy.’ Since it would take additional order of effort to outline any of the many established and recently tested strategies for dealing with insurgent combatants, I shan’t waste our time on that.
‘There is no alternative to Israel’s current strategy.’
On the one hand, no one said that. On the other, what strategy would you propose that would be both effective and do no harm to Palestinians being used as human shields by Hamas? If you’ve got a solution, that would be great and make you the only person in the world who knows how to accomplish this.
“If you’ve got a solution, that would be great and make you the only person in the world who knows how to accomplish this.”
Nonsense. You shouldn’t try so hard to make yourself look uninformed, Miles.
I’m not an expert on this topic, but many exist and have written much on it. Of course, any adult living in America these last two decades whose information diet includes anything besides news headlines would know this.
So you’ve got nothing but noise. What a surprise.
I’m not here to educate you, Miles. If you’re actually interested in learning something I recommend starting with U.S. Army Field Manual 3-24 on countering insurgencies.
Oh Jake. If you’re going to assert something, back it up with substance. This is just sad.
The U.S. Army hasn’t been very successful at this since the Moro suppression in the Philippines, and most of the successful tactics from that campaign are now frowned upon under international law. So it’s great that they print a manual, but it may not be helpful.
Announce a list of the top 50 Hamas leaders who will tracked down one by one to be killed by the Israelis.
Target the leadership, not the populace.
Not a thing. You never announce the list. Not ever. They’ll figure it out.
How do you get out of bed in the morning without hurting yourself?
How does this stop the rockets Hamas is still firing into Israel? How does this get the hostages back? How does this prevent the 30,000 Hamas “soldiers” from continuing to engage in terror? How does this prevent the next 50 people from becoming leaders? How does Israel find the top 50 Hamas leaders? How does Israel go into Gaza to kill them?
Does anybody give any thought to how any of these harebrained schemes would work?
It is a PR problem. Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad place/hide their military capacities in hospitals, shopping centers, schools, and apartment buildings. When Israel responds with lethal force, they hit those targets and kill innocent people. The media howls in outrage over innocents killed.
Hamas pushed too far. Israel probably has conclude, “we’re gonna get pilloried no matter how we respond, so let’s do what we gotta do and clean house.”
When your survival is at stake, all the rules go out the window.
Sorry Jake, but if someone is trying to kill me and mine and you are in the way, you just became collateral damage.
Isn’t that the same argument that OBL used to explain why he attacked civilians? This argument is morally bankrupt regardless of which side uses it.
Even if one accepts the numbers claimed by Hamas as true, less than 4,000 dead from over 6,000 bombs refutes their allegation of “indiscriminate” violence. It necessarily shows considerable precision and care on the part of Israel to avoid unnecessary loss of life.
An interesting thing I heard from a former combat vet ( SJ rules forbid naming anyone). Israel might try humanitarian approach. Try to separate the citizens of Gaza from Hamas . Open the border let them come a work in Israel.
Some may think this is absurd. It does come from a veteran of Iraq war. The idea is to among other things minimize IDF casualties.
I’m simply relaying what I though was an interesting educated approach
Dumb, uneducated, and dangerous. As though Hamas wouldn’t take full advantage of that “approach” to commit further atrocities against civilians.
Dumb is far too kind a word.
It helps me to look at media as any other for-profit business trying to satisfy its client base. Given that criteria a “Moronic Gaza Missile Crew Blows Up Own Hospital” title across the top of the front page becomes an impossibility at the New York Times and almost a given in The Cowboy State Daily.
I’ve been long on this earth and don’t remember a time when media told “the truth and nothing but the truth”. It’s up to us to dig that out as best we can and own our individual assumptions.
Barzalai Hospital in Ashkelon, Israel was struck by a missile fired by Hamas eight days ago. I hadn’t heard about it until today. True, no one died as a result of the strike, but it is peculiar how Brandolini’s Law only seems to work in one direction.