Today Israel TV is busy with more than the usual amount of weepy eyes and expressions of grief. Today we get back the bodies of 4 Israelis who were taken alive by Hamas and died while being held prisoner. The 4 bodies being returned to Israel are more than just 4 people who were killed in Hamas custody. They are symbols of the essence of the Arab-Jewish conflict. More than any other photograph of any other hostages, the pictures of the two young Bibas boys, Ariel and Kfir, with their bright red hair, were emblems of what Hamas cruelty represented. Hamas was at war with ALL Jews (and by extension, all non- Muslims). Age didn’t matter. The younger boy had not celebrated his birthday when he was taken. Sex didn’t matter. Shiri Bibas was the mother of the 2 children. All that mattered was that Hamas could exploit them as hostages, and, ultimately, kill them. The fourth body being returned was an 84 year old man. What kind of threat did he pose for Gaza residents?
Hamas claims that International Humanitarian Law doesn’t apply to them because they are “victims”. What drivel! They are quick enough to claim (falsely) that Israel is in violation of those same laws. The sad part of this is that so much of the media has accepted or repeated those positions for so long. They really should be ashamed! I am also disturbed by the media concentrating on “Palestine” while ignoring the crisis in Sudan. The Sudanese (internal?) struggle has claimed more lives than were lost in Gaza, possibly in an even shorter time span. People in Sudan, unlike those in Gaza, really are dying from starvation.
Wetherhorn 