Video

Blogs

Anglo Angle

It is Not “disproportionate force” it is Survival

By Randi Mellman Oze

When the world screams that Israel uses disproportionate force, what they are actually saying is that there are more dead Palestinians than dead Jews. This is in fact the case, for some very obvious reasons.

Here in Israel, we expend a great deal of effort trying to save lives. There are air raid sirens and bomb shelters. Schools are closed while children are either up north or in a shelter - somewhere out of the line of fire and Israeli soldiers fire from areas that are nowhere near our civilian population.

Our enemies however, bring children with them to battle and place them in the line of fire while they shoot from behind. Hamas leaders are hiding in hospitals among doctors and patients. Weapons are stored in mosques, schools, and private homes. Terrorists are transported in ambulances. Bombs are fired from the most densely populated areas.
In other words, while Israel protects its civilian population, Hamas forces their population’s weakest sector to protect their fighters by placing civilians (including the sick, the elderly, and the children) directly in the line of fire. For Hamas, this is a win-win situation. Either Israel won’t shoot back in order to avoid hurting non-combatants (thereby causing Israel to lose the war), or Israel will shoot back, civilians will die, and the international community will feel sorry for the Palestinians and pressure Israel to stop shooting (thereby causing Israel to lose the war). The Palestinians just love it when the world feels sorry for them.

Here in Israel, unlike our enemies, we will continue to protect our citizens, Jew and Arab alike. Israeli soldiers will not hide behind Israeli civilians and allow them to die unnecessarily in order for the world to feel sorry for us. Some may call this disproportionate. Here in Israel, we call it survival.