Avigdor Lieberman on idf: boys will be boys

Israel denies killing journalists, but does kill Palestinians, some of whom may or may not be journalists.

Israel has killed scores of Palestinians during the recent protests. One such Palestinian killed was Photo Journalist Yaser Murtaja.

There's no sane reason any unarmed persons had to die at the hands of the IDF in these protests, but since there is an international rule against killing journalists carrying out their jobs, Yaser Murtaja's death gives the IDF an even bigger, self-inflicted black eye.

But, whenever it's seen that the IDF has stepped out of line in any way, there's always mention of an inquiry, and that's about it.

Let's go back to December because it's important to know how well-trained the IDF snipers are, and how they seem to see themselves in a carnival shooting gallery, picking off protesting Palestinians while their comrades-in-arms cheer them on, and how seriously this is taken by the powers that be.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said when a video posted by CNN showed this very kind of action:

• "The sniper deserves a medal, and the photographer deserves a demotion" ...

Lieberman then reiterates the well-worn mantra:

• "The IDF is the most moral army in the world"

... and goes on to further downplay the issue by adding:

• "but there can be no doubt when you are at the front and under a lot of tension and there is a need to unwind your nerves, there are emotions and one can understand it."

Settlers are shown to be slightly less "moral" having been videoed threatening a female Palestinian with rape!

Lieberman himself can relate to such a powerful urge having allegedly had a superiority attitude toward Arabs since his own boyhood scraps with them in his home-town in Moldova where the Jews, he says, had "a no-nonsense streak". No doubt he now lives vicariously through the well-trained IDF.

He understands that boys will be boys; they have to let off steam sometimes -- apparently disregarding that it's not so easy for Yaser's family to understand why their young man had to die, nor for his colleagues in the world of journalism.

Lieberman has clearly never liked Arabs although he doesn't mind Muslims. In fact, he hopes to have (use?) secular Azerbaijan as an ally against Iran - because "there is no anti-Semitism there".

Azerbaijan has additional attributes popular with Israel and the US, Amoco, BP, ExxonMobil, Lukoil and Statoil. Iran, though Persian and not Arab, is not secular, its people having chosen religious leadership over the corrupt US-installed Shah; nor is Iran antisemitic, having a sizeable population of Jews who have no inclination to move to Israel, despite growing fears that Iran will be attacked.

But Iran nationalized its oil, so now you know that Lieberman is merely dissembling and not admitting to deeply crasser motives in the US/Israel thirst for war on Iran.

Meanwhile the assaults on Palestinians who protest against crimes committed against them in their outdoor prison, Gaza, continue with a vengeance.

The CBC's Neil Macdonald has expressed his concern about the safety of journalists who cover the events in Gaza, and also about the effective muzzling of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) who initially protested vigorously, but then backed off when, apparently, they were threatened with loss of funding.

Macdonald closes with this:

• For a journalist working in Gaza or the Occupied Territories, a PRESS badge offers limited protection at best. For a Palestinian journalist, it clearly offers none at all.

From CPJ - (Committee to Protect Journalists):

• Pictures posted on social media by local journalists and witness testimony from local journalists show that Murtaja was wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet that were both clearly marked with the words "PRESS" when he was hit.

It's pretty obvious that Murtaja was known to the IDF, and it was clear that his chest was protected, therefore he was shot in the abdomen by a sharp shooter. He was, after all, a Gaza Palestinian; a "terrorist" as they all are considered to be.

The JPost allows Avigdor Liebermann to explain:

• ... "In the march of terror there were no innocent civilians, they were all Hamas members."
• ... "The IDF announced after Murtaja's death was made public that it would be investigating the situation, but noted firmly that the IDF "does not kill journalists ."

In other words, they don't kill journalists; they kill Palestinians, some of whom may or may not be journalists. Real journalists we merely injure in the hope they'll go away and mind their own business.

In the same Post article, the activist group B'tselem is clearly being pressured to back off in the same manner as the CJFE was:

• "Liberman [sic] also called for the Attorney General to launch an investigation into human rights group B'tselem on suspicion of incitement to insubordination after the group issued calls in the media for IDF soldiers to disobey orders to shoot at protesters."

Lieberman, behaving like an adolescent who wants credit for not being as much of a bully as some other kids, is quick to point out that worse things are happening in other countries, i.e. greater numbers of people being killed.

No thought of proportionate numbers; no wondering if just because we see others doing these things does not mean we are innocent -- it's basically "stop picking on poor little us".

Wow ... here's a tell by the JPost: they've put a poll at the bottom of the article asking:

• Did the IDF do a good job managing the international media during the last two weeks of protests along the Gaza border?

Managing the media is considered more important than Israel living up to its own professed "morality"?

The Post also has an ad for an upcoming conference on Apr. 20 entitled: "Israel at 70 - Peace, War and Turmoil".  Guess who gets top billing: Lieberman with a speech entitled, "Whose War Anyway? The New War With Iran."

The question answers itself. Of course, Iran is to blame. Israel is just a tiny country surrounded by big, bad antisemites.

Looks like an all-Hasbara cast with Americans Roseanne Barr and Dr. Ruth tossed in for comic relief.

Here, at last, is an encouraging word:
Durham, North Carolina votes to bar international police exchanges.
It is the first city in the United States to officially ban such training, according to Jewish Voice for Peace, which actively worked to pass the resolution.

By the way, Canada: “Israel is involved in your prison systems. It’s involved in training the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It’s involved in your airport security,” [Jeff} Halper said of Canada’s use of Israeli security tactics. The Link Newspaper

Kudos to the JVP, who no doubt are subject to the same kinds of pressures that have silenced others.

And thanks to my pal, BeeStyng, for sending me some links that got me kick-started on this post.

More Reading: Why Gallup Overstates American Sympathy for Israel
False claims and outdated methodologies fuel policy disasters