Think about democratic freedom of choice first

Madam – A letter by Aisha Moolla (Where was the solidarity?) in last week’s Advertiser refers;

You lament the fact that no whites took part in the solidarity march against Israel. Have you ever thought about, “democratic freedom of choice?” I think not.

If there were any whites who shared your sentiments, they surely would have been there, so please do not try to force others to share your views.This so-called “Rainbow nation” does not mean that everyone should have the same view on a controversial subject. Also. you also cannot DEMAND that people share your feelings and join a march for your cause.

Will you and the few others who were in the march for Gaza join a march in support innocent children and civilians killed in Israel? I think not. Just as it is your entitlement to feel sympathy for Hamas so are others’ prerogative to side against Hamas.

Hamas hides behind human shields such a schools and mosques. THIS is the reason for the many civilian casualties and NOT Israel targeting innocent children and civilians. Israel is at war with Hamas and has a right to defend the Israeli state and what belongs to her.

Yes, Israel has some high-tech equipment, true, but Hamas uses suicide bombers to blow up buses, restaurants, hotels, marketplaces and schools. In August 2001 the Sbarro pizza restaurant bombing in Jerusalem, killed 15 Israeli civilians, little children included.

Also, MANY of the innocent casualties in this war is the cause of atrocities being committed by the Palestinians against their OWN people and then conveniently blamed on Israel. Human Rights Watch estimates several hundred Gazans were “maimed” and tortured in the aftermath of the Gaza War (2008), 73 Gazan men accused of “collaborating” had their arms and legs broken by “unidentified perpetrators” (read: HAMAS), and 18 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel, who had escaped from Gaza’s main prison compound after Israel bombed the facility, were executed by Hamas security officials in the first days of the conflict.

After Operation Pillar Defense, Human Rights Watch stated that Palestinian groups had endangered civilians by “repeatedly fired rockets from densely populated areas, near homes, businesses, and a hotel” and noted that under international law, parties to a conflict may not to place military targets in or near densely populated areas.

One rocket was launched close to the Shawa and Housari Building, where various Palestinian and international media have offices; another was fired from the yard of a house near the Deira Hotel. Human Rights Watch said it had not been able to identify any instance where civilians had been warned to evacuate an area before a rocket launch by Palestinian militants.

New York Times journalist Steven Erlanger reported that “Hamas rocket and weapons caches, including rocket launchers, have been discovered in and under mosques, schools and civilian homes.”

Another report published by Intelligence and Terrorist Information Center revealed that Hamas used close to 100 mosques to store weapons and as launch-pads to shoot rockets. The report contains testimony from variety Palestinian sources, including a Hamas militant Sabhi Majad Atar, who said he was taught how to shoot rockets from inside a mosque.

Hamas has also been criticised by Israeli officials for blending into, or hiding among, the Palestinian civilian population during the 2008-2009 Israel- Gaza conflict.

The Israeli government published what it said was video evidence of human shield tactics by Hamas. Israel said that Hamas frequently used mosques and school yards as

hideouts and places to store weapons, and that Hamas militants stored weapons in their homes, making it difficult to ensure that civilians close to legitimate military targets are not hurt during Israeli military operations.

Israeli officials also accused the Hamas leadership of hiding under the Shifa Hospital during the conflict, using the patients inside to deter an Israeli attack. The Israeli government filed a report entitled “Gaza Operations Investigation: Second Update” to the United Nations accusing Hamas of exploiting its rules of engagement by shooting rockets and launching attacks within protected civilian areas.

Israel says 12,000 rockets and mortars were fired at it between 2000 and 2008—nearly 3,000 in 2008 alone. In one case, an errant Israeli mortar strike killed dozens of people near a UN school. Hamas said that the mortar killed 42 people and left dozens wounded. Israel said that Hamas militants had launched a rocket from a yard adjacent to the school and one mortar of three rounds hit the school, due to a GPS error. According to the Israeli military probe, the remaining two rounds hit the yard used to launch rockets into Israel, killing two members of Hamas’ military wing who fired the rockets.

On July 8, 2014, Hamas’ spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri encouraged the “policy of people confronting the Israeli warplanes with their bare chests”, saying it has proven itself.

Ms Moolla, I think that any anyone would fire back and kill, even if he knows that it is a trained child brandishing a firearm on the other side, aiming to kill him. I have recently seen pictures of Palestinian children (girls included) training with assault rifles and dressed up like suicide bombers.

The Israeli government released a video compiled mostly from Arab news sources showing Palestinian children under the age of 15 going through military training and carrying and firing arms. The video’s narration explains that Hamas indoctrinates these child combatants and that Hamas operators send the children “on missions from which they would not risk their own lives”.

According to the Israeli government, the children are used as spotters, to transport explosives and weapons, sent to play in areas to deter Israeli attacks and are sent unknowingly with explosive devices in their schoolbags to be blown up in the vicinity of Israelis. The United Nations defines the use of children for military purposes as a war crime and a form of slavery.

Although Hamas admits to sponsoring summer schools to train teenagers in handling weapons they condemn attacks by children. Following the deaths of three teenagers during a 2002 attack on Netzarim in central Gaza, Hamas “banned” attacks by children and “called on the teachers and religious leaders to spread the message of restraint among young boys”.

Hamas’ use of child labor to build tunnels with which to attack Israel has also been criticized, with at least 160 children killed in the tunnels as of 2012.

Al-Fateh (“the conqueror”) is the Hamas children’s magazine, published biweekly in London (Ms. Moolla, is this not where YOU come from?) and also posted in an online website. It began publication in September 2002, and its 108th issue was released in mid-September 2007. The magazine features stories, poems, riddles, and puzzles, and states it is for “the young builders of the future”.

According to MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute), the magazine includes incitement to jihad and martyrdom and glorification of terrorist operations and of their planners and perpetrators. as well as characterizations of Jews as “murderers of the prophets” and laudatory descriptions of parents who encourage their sons to kill Jews.

In each issue, a regular feature titled “The Story of a Martyr” presents the “heroic deeds” of a mujahid from one of the organizations who died in a suicide operation, including operations against civilians, or who was killed by the IDF.

MEMRI also noted that the magazine includes illustrations of figures, including child warriors, who embody the ethos of jihad and martyrdom, presenting them as role models.

These include the magazine’s titular character, Al-Fateh (“The Conqueror”)—a small boy on a horse brandishing a drawn scimitar—as well as children carrying guns, and photos of Hamas fighters launching Qassam rockets.

Al-Aqsa TV is a television channel founded by Hamas. The station began broadcasting in the Gaza Strip on January 9, 2006. Its programming includes ideologically tinged children’s shows, news talk, and religiously inspired entertainment. According to the Anti Defamation League, the station promotes terrorist activity and incites hatred of Jews and Israelis.

Hamas has stated that the television station is “an independent media institution that often does not express the views of the Palestinian government headed by Ismail Haniyeh or of the Hamas movement,” and that Hamas does not hold anti-semitic views. (yeah, and I’m the tooth fairy)

Where is the outcry against the many civilian casualties on the Israeli side?

The Hamas charter (covenant) calls for the obliteration or dissolution of Israel and among the charter’s controversial statements is the following: “The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews [and kill them]; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!” The document also quotes Islamic religious texts to provide justification for fighting against and killing the Jews of Israel.

Israel is not fighting Palestine, they are fighting Hamas who has rejected the latest cease-fire agreements (accepted by Israel).

No matter how many high-ranking people join your march, please keep the people out who do not share your views.

Marius Calitz