HAVE WE REACHED A TURNING POINT IN THE WAR ON PALESTINIANS?
Thanks to an Israeli drone operator and his idiot commander, we may have reached a tipping point in Israel’s attempt to exterminate the Palestinians. Countries previously mum on the wanton killing of Palestinian civilians are now voicing outrage over a senseless, deliberate killing — e.g. Australia, the United Kingdom and even that soy boy from Canada, Trudeau.
According to various media reports, the convoy of three World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers was hit by an Israeli drone operator. Let’s think about that for a minute. A drone operator in Israel is not sitting at home alone in his mother’s basement. He (or she) is at a base, in a room, and sitting with other drone operators. There are senior officers walking around that room. Not just one, but several.
When the drone feed identifies a target the images are displayed on large TV monitors mounted at the front of the room. The decision to follow and attack this convoy was ordered by officers. This was not just the decision of one rogue drone operator. That operator had to request permission to “engage” the target. There was a chain of command in place giving orders to follow and FIRE!! I anticipate that Israel’s Defense Minister will try to hang this on the drone operator and exonerate those who were giving him or her orders. I’ll be overjoyed to be proven wrong on this point, but based on history of such incidents in Israel and other militaries around the world the First Law of Plumbing kicks in — i.e., All Shit Runs Downhill aka ASRD!
As I and many others have pointed out, the faux mea culpa of Israel rings quite hollow because this kind of criminal behavior has been a Standard Operating Procedure of Israel since the start of hostilities on October 7. The following video is quite good. Looks like some key Brits are now pissed off enough that they will pressure the Rishi Sunak’s Government to cut off aid to Israel.
Let me make a comment about José Andrés. Karma is a bitch. Up to this point he has been a cheerleader for Joe Biden and has downplayed the murder of Palestinians. He is accustomed to special treatment by virtue of his strident anti-Trumpism and his celebrity status. Well, now that the Israelis have done it to him, he’s singing a different tune. It is a goddamn shame that seven of his workers had to die in order to wake up his conscience and call for an end to slaughter of the Palestinians. Too bad he was not saying this five months ago.
Israel’s deliberate targeting of aid workers, journalists, and doctors is well documented.
As of April 3, 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 95 journalists and media workers were among the more than 33,800 killed since the war began on October 7
At least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since October, according to the United Nations, and Hamas has previously accused Israel of targeting aid distribution sites.
Christina Wille, the director of the humanitarian research organization Insecurity Insight, tells TIME that her organization has identified the location and date of death for at least 176 healthcare workers who have been killed in Gaza, but adds that the true figure is thought to exceed 450.
By way of comparison, if you are a journalist, aid worker or healthcare provider you are safer in Ukraine than in Gaza and the West Bank. In Gaza, Israel is killing almost 20 journalists a month. In Ukraine it is almost two per year.
As of 16 May 2023, at least 17 civilian journalists and media workers have been killed in the line of duty since the Russo-Ukrainian War began in 2014. Six have been Russian, four Ukrainian, one Italian, one American, one Lithuanian, one Irish and two French.
I do not think Netanyahu can spin his way out of this. It was not a mistake. These workers were deliberately targeted, hunted down and murdered. And this was done by an Israeli military unit under the direct control of senior officers. The IDF may help push Bibi out the door by hanging this on him in order to save their own asses. This is going to be an interesting week of political jockeying in Israel as the game of pin the blame on the donkey ramps up.