Israeli officials offer proof that Hamas is manufacturing the “humanitarian crisis” that has so many the world over wringing their hands and blaming Israel. Ynet has this from a source at the Defense Ministry:
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel charged that Hamas was creating an artificial crisis. The blackout ”is a Hamas ploy to pretend there is some kind of crisis to attract international sympathy,” he said.
Israel continues to assert that the supply of electricity is continuing as usual. “There is no power crisis in Gaza. Apparently Hamas, out of its own considerations, has decided not to transfer fuel to the station,” said a State security official in Jerusalem.
The source questioned the timing of the alleged crisis. “Defense Minister Ehud Barak only ordered the restriction of fuel on Thursday, we don’t transport fuel as it is on Friday and Saturday, so the order only went into effect today. There is enough diesel in Gaza to power the station. And to the best of our knowledge there is also enough fuel for cars. Enough fuel has been provided and there should not be any shortage,” the official said.
These quotes never seem to show up in the mainstream media news stories. The BBC is the only news source I’ve seen quotes like this in at all. When the AP does put them in, they’re generally vague, muddied, taken out of context, or buried deep within the article.
The fact that it seems Hamas is utterly playing the news media, and manufacturing this “crisis” isn’t stopping the world media outlets from parroting the Hamas line. From a Google News search on “gaza crisis“:
I was going to write “Gee, I can’t wait for the AP update.” But it’s already here:
Israeli Blockade Paralyzes Gaza Life
Israel refused to reopen crossings or allow crucial fuel supplies into Gaza on Monday, holding firm in its campaign to keep Palestinian rocket fire at bay despite warnings from the U.N. that vital food aid could be suspended within days.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Gaza’s residents can “walk, without gas for their cars,” suggesting that he would not lift the chokehold any time soon.
Israel and Gaza’s Hamas government were locked in a public relations battle over the depth of the hardship. An angry Hamas TV announcer shouted that “we are being killed, we are starving!” and Palestinian leaders pleaded for national unity, while Israel accused Hamas of fabricating a crisis to gain world sympathy.
Gaza’s power plant shut down late Sunday, plunging Gaza City into darkness, and gas stations and many bakeries stopped operating. Health officials warned that hospital generators were running out of fuel.
“We have the choice to either cut electricity on babies in the maternity ward or heart surgery patients or stop operating rooms,” said Health Ministry official Moaiya Hassanain.
Yeah, that babies quote has legs. What doesn’t have legs are quotes from Israeli officials denying there is a crisis until about the fifteenth paragraph, although the AP is finally naming Israeli officials in their articles.
Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said a reduction of rocket attacks this week was not enough to lift the blockade. The army said five rockets were fired on Sunday, down from 53 in the two previous days.
Dror and other Israeli officials charged that Hamas was creating a false crisis and could resume the electricity if it wanted.
Hamas claimed that five people had died at hospitals because of the power outage. However, health officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were contradicting the official line, denied the claim.
But here’s the best part of the new AP article. Let’s compare the quote from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the AP article’s lede, and then in its entirety eleven grafs down.
In the lede:
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Gaza’s residents can “walk, without gas for their cars,” suggesting that he would not lift the chokehold any time soon.
In the body of the story:
Olmert said he would not allow a humanitarian crisis to unfold, but also warned that Gaza’s 1.5 million residents won’t be able to live a “pleasant and comfortable life” as long as southern Israel comes under rocket attack from Gaza.
“As far as I’m concerned Gaza residents will walk, without gas for their cars, because they have a murderous, terrorist regime that doesn’t let people in southern Israel live in peace,” Olmert told legislators from his Kadima Party.
Quite a difference when you see the quote in context. But that’s not very surprising. The media has an anti-Israel bias that gets even more pronounced whenever Israel does something to stop Palestinian terror.
What’s the written-word equivalent of “Fauxtography”?