Humanitarian Shield

Meryl Yourish, "'Humanitarian Aid' to the PA: Two Tons of Explosive Material"

In this posting, Yourish reports yet another attempt by Palestinian terrorists to smuggle explosive materials into the Gaza Strip, territory that Israel gave returned to the power of the Palestinian Authority in late 2005. The seizure of two tons on Monday, January 14, 2008, by security personnel of the Israel Airport Authority comes after a similar incident this week and only a few weeks after Israeli security discovered six and a half tons of explosive potassium nitrate.

Both of the major attempts to smuggle the crucial ingredient to Qassam rockets, which are among the choice weapons Palestinian terrorists use to attack the Israeli populace (more than 1600 Qassams were fired at Israel in 2007), were masked as humanitarian shipments. The two-ton shipment was hidden within a shipment of alleged humanitarian equipment and goods, while the six-and-a-half-ton shipment was concealed in an EU shipment, in bags marked as sugar.

In her typical fashion, Yourish once again voices her skepticism about the media’s objectivity, as she concludes, “Hands up, those of you who think this news will make the wire services. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?”

Of course, this is a difficult situation for those among the Israelis and the Palestinians that genuinely desire peace. The Israelis on one hand need to defend themselves against terrorist aggressions, but on the other hand need to protect their own international image (envision this New York Times headline: “Israelis Delay Humanitarian Aid to Gaza Strip, Hundreds of Palestinians Starve”). For the Palestinians, this presents another kind of problem. I think a terrible thing happens when a people are held as political hostages by the militants who claim to represent them. Many of them in their current state and have to rely on the humanitarian aid coming through Israel largely due to the militant activity that forces Israel to take appropriate defensive measures.

As to Yourish’s media distrust, after reading her posting, I searched Google to see if even one of the major media sources dared mention this incident. Don’t worry, I won’t keep you guessing. I’ll just tell you straight off, not one of them mentioned it.