[thechat] War Zone

[Hershel Robinson]

Ashok Hariharan wrote:
> i saw a news report on Cnn today...It was about how Israel was managing
> their war effort. They showed some smiling kids in israel lining up to sign
> artillery shells destined for lebanon. Wonder what they were writing?  Did
> they know what the shells meant on the other side?  The reporter didnt
> say....

There has been a surge of propoganda regarding photographs of Israeli 
children writing on artillery. I would like to point out that a bit of 
research conducted by Lisa Goldman, including an interview with a 
reporter who was on the spot indicates something significantly different:

The Guardian's blog: http://tinyurl.com/o74b7

Lisa Goldman's blog: http://tinyurl.com/kfexk

> No wonder there is such hatred on both sides.

I would beg to differ with this statement. I am not aware of a feeling 
of hatred on the part of Israelis, nor the Jewish people at large, 
towards any group of innocent people. If I may quote from Ms. Goldman's 
blog:

<quote>
I spoke with Shelly Paz, a Yedioth Ahronoth reporter who was also at the 
scene and agreed immediately to go on record. She was quite shocked to 
learn how badly the photo had been misinterpreted and misrepresented;
...
Shelly emphasized several times that none of the parents or children had 
expressed any hatred toward the Lebanese people. No-one expressed any 
satisfaction at knowing that Lebanese were dying - just as Israelis are 
dying. Their messages were directed at Nasrallah. None of those people 
was detached or wise enough to think: "Hang on, tank shell equals death 
of human beings." They were thinking, tank shell equals stopping the 
missiles that land on my house. Tank shells will stop that man with the 
turban from threatening to kill us.
...
Links to anti-Israel websites with that photo placed prominently next to 
the image of a dead Lebanese child have been sent to me several times. 
Someone has been rushing around the Israeli blogosphere, leaving the 
link to one particularly abhorrent site in the comments boxes. And it 
makes me really sad that the emotional climate has deteriorated to this 
point.
</quote>

Hershel Robinson
Jerusalem, Israel

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