Tel Aviv and the Qana massacre: anatomy of a propaganda campaign

[Karmadillo]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/qana-a02.shtml

The Israeli government has responded to its massacre of almost 60 civilians, including 37 children, in the Lebanese village of Qana with a barrage of brazen lies, falsifications and slander against the innocent victims of the bombing.

Without even trying to be consistent, Israeli government and military spokespeople have variously claimed that: the building’s destruction was caused by Hezbollah explosives; Israeli missiles, aimed at Hezbollah rocket launchers, accidentally hit the residential building, in which the Lebanese civilians were taking shelter; the Israeli air force did target and destroy the building, but was justified in doing so because the civilians killed had been warned to leave Qana; and the women and children were being held as “human shields” in the building by Hezbollah.

All these lies are intended to cover up the reality that the Qana massacre was a calculated and criminal attack designed to terrorise the Lebanese people and permanently remove the largely Shiite population from the country’s southern regions. With the full backing of the Bush administration, the Israeli government of Ehud Olmert aims to reduce Lebanon to the status of a degraded protectorate.

Israel has committed countless war crimes in its three-week assault on Lebanon. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands wounded, while more than three-quarters of a million people have been forced from their homes and turned into refugees. The massacre at Qana is only the worst atrocity in a campaign which has seen civilian convoys bombed, ambulances targeted, and United Nations workers murdered.

As news of the civilian deaths in Qana emerged early Sunday, the Israeli government quickly mobilised what the Jerusalem Post described as an “all-star team” of civilian and military spokespeople to “handle the foreign press”. The propaganda campaign followed the standard Israeli modus operandi after any Israeli Defence Force atrocity—no lie is too big, and no admission of guilt is allowed.

more...

[malaise]

1. Couldn't express the cover-up

any better.

[ThomCat]

2. Unfortunately, the people who insist on believing in Israel innocence

will ignore all of this. Again.

There are no facts strong enough for the people who are convinced of the supernatural innocence of Israel. They'll just brush off ever inconvenient fact with a claim of anti-semitism. Same as always.

I wonder if this is how every vicious regime has been able to stay in power. Did their supporters wear these same blinders while the attrocities were committed?

[Scurrilous]

3. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Karmadillo]

4. Kick to see if claims can be debunked.

nt

[Lindacooks]

5. K&R