Film "Tears of Gaza" Misrepresents War Between Israel And Hamas
Comments (6)
The Israelis have suffered at the hands of Hamas. (Israel Defense Forces, Creative Commons)
The film's façade as an “anti-war movie” disguises the fact that it was shot completely out of context, without a single mention of the actions of Hamas, the terrorist organization that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas has operated, and continues to operate against the Israelis to fuel the war in the Middle East.
The film was shot between 2008-2009, during which Israel launched "Operation Cast Lead," a wide-scale attack against Hamas. The targets were Hamas bases firing rockets into Israel. But at no point does the film portray even one of the more than 3,000 rockets and mortars that were fired into Israel in 2008 alone. Instead, the filmmakers angle the shots so that all viewers see are Israeli Defense Force helicopters firing rockets onto buildings, which the audience is persuaded to believe are occupied by civilians.
This sequence is followed by graphic scenes of women and children being carried from the debris - an attempt to capture the hearts and emotions of the viewer, and portray the actions of the IDF as human rights violations. However, what is not mentioned in the film is the IDF's policy to target only buildings that fired rockets into Israel, or that were used by Hamas for other terrorism-related purposes.
The film also neglects to show Hamas’ cowardice in its use of its own men, women and children as human shields to protect its members from rocket fire, a clear violation of international human rights laws. Hamas used its people "too on the strategic level, luring IDF troops to attack and kill them. People whose deaths would be callously exploited in the media as a means of discrediting the IDF," according to Col. Richard Kemp, former British Armed Forces Commander.
During the Question and Answer segment following the film, I made sure to voice my thoughts, although I was met with disrespect, heckling and anti-Israeli comments. I mentioned a speech given by Kemp to the United Nations' Human Rights Council. Kemp said,
"During its operation in Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare."
What Kemp is referencing here is the fact that before each of its air raids over Gaza, the IDF would drop leaflets, written in Arabic, onto the streets to warn civilians of impending danger. No other army in the world has gone this far to protect civilian lives.
Films like "Tears of Gaza" are incredibly dangerous, because they capture very selective footage of a larger conflict. This selection incorrectly skews the facts, and, in this case, manipulates viewers to think that the Israelis are the aggressors, and that they are subjugating the Palestinians to their control. If people do not speak out against these blatant inaccuracies, fueled by hatred toward Israel, then the lies of Hamas are sure to win.
Israel stands as the only democracy in the Middle East. It is the only country in the Middle East that allows Christians, Muslims and Jews to freely and openly practice their religions. It prides itself as the only country in the Middle East that protects gay rights, as highlighted by its annual Gay Pride Parade in Tel Aviv. Democracy, freedom of religion, freedom of speech and gay rights are all American values we share with Israel, and that is why, as Americans, it is essential that we stand up against terrorist organizations like Hamas, for which such values and freedoms are completely absent, and, instead, stand with Israel.
Jonathan Kalfus is a senior at the University of Southern California and a Fellow for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.
Comments
Yes it is important to have some context here. When Israel withdrew from Gaza after years of a brutal occupation they left the world's largest outdoor prison. On the first day that they pulled out they sent their jets streaming over Gaza with horrible sonic booms frightening the populace, especially the children who have long lived under the Israeli boot. When Hamas was elected Israel immediately sealed in the people and subjected them to a seige. Fishermen cannot ply their trade far from the shores of Gaza. If they go more than a mile they are met with water cannon and bullets from the Israeli navy. The entire strip on the Israeli side is fenced in with guard towers watching what ever goes on. Cast Lead was not a war it was an attack on a people where have the population is under the age of 15. It also must be remembered that the people of Gaza come from families that were ethnically cleansed by Israel in 1948. For them to have any love for the Jewish state and for the people who drove them from their homes should be more than anyone can expect. In this war against Gaza Israel lost only a few soliders, a few by "friendly fire" but the Palestinians lost many hundreds more, some shot at close range. Not content with killing people Israeli tanks drove over one of the chicken farms that provided eggs for the people. Thousands of chickens were ground up under the treads of the tank. Maybe the Israelis thought that the chickens were little terrorists. Israel also destroyed the sewage system and now sewage runs into the sea. I don't like the idea of rockets going into Israel but as long as Israel remains in the West Bank they have nothing about which to complain. Before the state was declared Jews attacked the British and the Arab population. Why do they expect the Palestinians to be any different. As far as FLAME goes they should go down in flames.
John Macassey thank you for providing testament to what a bigoted, uniformed antisemite sounds like. I'm a religious Jew involved in my community, and hearing your blatant lies about the Talmud and our religious texts (that the New Testament is based on) is disturbing. Please open a text book or take a class at your local university. I hear community college is a little easier to digest, clearly a person with your intellectual capacity deserves the most pro-active learning environment #bigot
WOW, the writer really is showing his character here. Most Palestinians don't consider Hamas as a legitimate government. If people really know the facts and the statistics of how many Palestinians have died by the hands of the legitimate Israeli government then you will be disgusted. The reason why the U.S. media is not covering this topic and revealing the truth is because Israel is one of their biggest allies. DUH
"unprovoked invasion," Mary if 8 years of rockets launched into southern Israel,specifically into Sderot,, indiscriminately targeting civilians, then please describe what would be a reasonable provocation? I of course left out Israel's unilateral withdrawal from gaza and forced expulsion of all Jews from Gaza in order to appease the Palestinians. Instead of receiving peace, Israel was given 4 more years of rockets until israel was finally provoked into war by Hamas.
Unfortunately it is not against Jewish religious law to kill a so called Gentile. In fact according to the Talmud, Christians are the lowest of the low and Muslims almost as bad. I suppose that for this reason, even when for example a Jewish officer shot and killed a Palestinian school girl on her way to school then emptied his rifle into her body under the horrified gaze of his platoon her reported him, he simply received a reprimand from his superiors. Such tragedies will continue from time to time until perhaps the world and especially Washington, gets over its collective 'holocaust guilt' and seeks justice for the Palestinians including the return of Israelis to their internationally recognized nation. For peace to 'break out' Israel needs to respect and facilitate the return of the West Bank to the Palestinians.
This film was about the child victims of Israel's aggressive and unprovoked invasion of Gaza. It is heartbreaking and very real. How many Israeli children died during the same period?