Israeli Double Standard Time

When the Israelis accidentally kill Palestinian children and civilians, it usually results in world condemnation, a UN General Assembly resolution, and thousands of stories in the media. When Palestinians deliberately kill children and civilians, it is barely even reported. Ze'ev Schiff illuminates the issue:

In recent Hamas-Fatah clashes, children have been deliberately killed. Last month, the three small children of Fatah General Intelligence officer Baha Balusha were murdered while traveling to school in their father's car. Last week, Hamas attacked the home of a senior official in Fatah's Preventive Security Service, Mohammed Gharib, in Jabalya. The officer begged the assailants to spare him and his young daughters; however, they killed him and four of his bodyguards, and seriously wounded his daughters. A few months ago, the earth shook when Palestinian civilians were killed by the IDF's misguided artillery fire on Beit Hanun. Tempers ran high in the United Nations, and leftist organizations in Israel demanded that an international commission of inquiry be established and that the GOC Southern Command be dismissed. When Palestinians kill Palestinian children – and not by accident – no criticism is heard.

That's not even half the issue. A number of Palestinian civilians were killed by Hamas. The media buried the deaths in the middle of stories, and downplayed the atrocities.

You may recall that Hamas got civilians to form a human barrier around a terrorist's house the IDF was going to destroy. The IDF did not destroy the house, since Israel does not deliberately target civilians.

Hamas does.

G., a member of Gharib's family, joined one of the processions of unarmed civilians that was organized in an attempt to create a human barrier between the Hamas gunmen and the house. When the gunmen opened fire at the marchers, wounding dozens, he managed to escape into the surrounded building. "I went in and went upstairs, where everyone was. There were about 50 people there, in two rooms. The firing continued, and after each explosion another part of the wall or the ceiling fell," G. related.

This is the reason I started a category on my blog titled "Israeli Double Standard Time." There is one standard for Israel, and another standard for everyone else.