I was going to write an article asking what most Americans would do if their cities were being bombarded by houndreds of rockets– Rockets aimed at hospitals (yes, they’ve been targeting hospitals in Haifa, Safed, and Nahariya, striking one in Nahariya , but the patients had been moved underground), shopping centers, schools, and homes AND it wasn’t stopping AND people were being injured and killed AND people were either forced to move out of their homes or to spend weeks in shelters AND they knew where the launcher was… What would they do? Would they want to put it out of commission? Would they want to save the lives of their citizens? Would they attempt to warn any civilians in the area of the launcher that it is not a safe place to be? Would they do it many times over a period of time with leaflets, radio announcements? And then, finally, take out the launcher? Then why is it Israel’s fault if innocent Lebanese were killed? Did they stay because they were true believers in the cause and wanted to be martyrs? Well, then perhaps they bear the responsibility for what happened. Were they prevented from leaving by Hezbollah? Well, then Hezbollah bears the responsibility.
And now, after listening to a briefing by the most self-conscious Army in the world, there’s a large doubt as to what happened there and to who and what caused those deaths. Naomi Ragen sent out the following which summarizes what we know:
1. Tonight, an IDF spokesman showed aerial photos of rockets being fired from residential areas in Qana. It showed the portable rocket launchers being parked beneath residential buildings. The spokesman said that the bombs dropped on Qana were dropped at 1 a.m. The reports of the building collapse took place at 7 a.m. Also, no bombs actually hit the building. So, who was responsible for the collapse of that building? Could Hezbollah weapons have exploded, destroying the building? Was it deliberate, a way to pressure Israel into a ceasefire the same way they did last time, in exactly the same spot? And whyis no one in the media picking up on this time gap and asking questions?
2. The number of those injured is being supplied byLebanese sources, and being quoted by all the news stations. So far, only 26 bodies have been recovered. But news reports are saying the number was twice that, and half are children. That too is supplied by unknown sources and repeated by the major media.
3. At 7 a.m. a barrage of Hezbollah rockets hit the shopping center and buildings of Kiryat Shmona, unlike anything else the town has experienced. Altogether 1500 kilograms of bombs have hit the area’s
approximately 25,000 residents remaining in their homes. Where is the outrage over that?
