Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Israel Did Not Attack UN School

Nearly a month ago the world expressed outrage at Israel when it was accused of attacking a "UN school" during its defensive operation in Gaza last month.

To be precise, the UN Relief Work Agency (UNRWA) which oversees Palestinian refugees had accused the IDF of bombing one of its schools in Gaza on January 6th. Unfortunately, when Israel is accused of doing something it is accepted at face value.

Remember when the IDF was accused of "massacring" 500 civilians in Jenin back in April 2002? Well, as it turned out the IDF had killed 56 people most of whom were armed terrorists. Of course, that didn't stop the likes of Mohammed Bakri from making the propaganda film Jenin, Jenin which continues to perpetuate this lie long after it has been discredited. (http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2007/10/03/palestinian-propaganda-films-screened-in-boston/)

So it comes as no surprise that there was no massacre of Palestinians at the UN school either. A diligent reporter from The Globe & Mail in Toronto by the name of Patrick Martin actually did some "reporting" and discovered that 43 civilians had been killed outside the UN school. (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090129.wgazaschool29/BNStory/International/home)
The Globe & Mail report came out on January 29th and the UN yesterday finally acknowledged there had been no attack on the school itself.

That isn't to say the incident doesn't warrant further investigation but the fact the UN had insisted that Israel had bombed the school itself also warrants additional scrutiny.

Of course, one wonders why a story like that gains so much traction in the first place. Because there are people who want to believe that it is true so it confirms and justifies their hatred towards Israel and Jews.

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