In a recent segment on how Hamas “measures civilian casualties” from Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, CNN’s Jake Tapper begins by acknowledging that we “know that innocent civilians in Gaza continue to be killed by the Israeli strikes. It is impossible “not to be affected by these horrible images that we see”, he affirms, while the humanitarian crisis in the enclave becomes “more and more serious”.
What is the solution then? According to Tapper, apparently it’s up to Israel to continue killing innocent civilians and presiding over a humanitarian catastrophe, because it’s Hamas’ fault anyway.
Near the start of the footage, we are shown a clip of Jordan’s Queen Rania responding to those who say a ceasefire will help Hamas – an argument she says amounts to “endorsing and justifying death thousands of civilians.
We then return to Tapper, who calls Queen Rania’s remarks “an interesting turn of phrase” and goes on to condescendingly wonder if Hamas was not on his mind when the organization undertook its operation on the 7th. October, that Israel would “retaliate in ways that would result in the deaths of innocent Palestinians in Gaza.”
To begin with, “interesting turn of phrase” is not so much “interesting” as a simple statement of fact. If you insist that there should be no cease-fire in an Israeli attack that has killed more than 11,000 people in Gaza in just over a month – well, yes, you ” “approve and justify” outright the deaths of civilians.
And you especially approve and justify them if – instead of blaming Israel for slaughtering men, women and children in Gaza with abandon – you criticize Hamas for failing to foresee the unprecedented psychotic nature of Israel’s “retaliation” ‘Israel. If the American media and political establishment were not so staunchly committed to conveying a completely decontextualized version of this war – and Israel/Palestine in general – perhaps a news anchor would wonder if he It never occurred to Israel that the Palestinians might one day “retaliate” for this war. 75 years of ethnic cleansing, suffocating blockades and massacres.
Tapper continues his assault on logic and humanity with an arsenal of video clips, several of which come courtesy of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), itself an unofficial arm of Zionist propaganda – well that CNN and other American media are. also does a good job in this regard.
From these clips, featuring among others former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, Tapper draws three convenient conclusions, which he conveys with orientalist smugness and disdain: that Hamas is completely satisfied with seeing Palestinian civilians die; that Hamas does not care about protecting civilians and only cares about its own military tunnels; and that Hamas is determined to continue attacking Israel for eternity.
In case anyone wasn’t convinced, he also played a clip of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is clearly not happy with the amount of blood she already has on her hands and who demands more: “People who call for a ceasefire now I don’t understand Hamas. It is not possible. It would be a real gift for Hamas.”
Towards the end of the segment, we are presented with “Israel’s point of view”, as if it is not the one we have been receiving all this time: “They (Israelis) hear all the calls for a ceasefire. fire. What they don’t hear is anyone in the international community offering them a way to get back the 240 hostages kidnapped by Hamas.
It’s funny, because, as NPR reported this month, a recent opinion poll in Israel found that nearly two-thirds of Israelis surveyed favored a prisoner exchange — which Hamas has proposed on several occasions – in which Israel would release its Palestinian detainees. in exchange for hostages held by Hamas. Why turn to the “international community” when there is a solution there?
It should be emphasized that prisoner exchanges are not new. In 2011, for example, Israel released as many as 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a single soldier held by Hamas since 2006 – this ratio being due to the higher value placed on Israeli lives.
And, in 2008, Israel acquired the remains of two Israeli soldiers in exchange for five Lebanese nationals and the remains of 199 Lebanese and Palestinian captives.
During the Hamas operation of October 7, more than 5,000 Palestinians languished in Israeli prisons; Two weeks later, that number had doubled, as Israel carried out maniacal arrests.
But hey, we’re only supposed to see the “Israeli point of view.”
Continuing his defense of this view, Tapper laments that the Israelis “do not hear anyone proposing any way to remove Hamas from the leadership of Gaza.” This is an “interesting turn of phrase,” to borrow Tapper’s own words, given that removing Hamas from leadership is really no one else’s business.
Recall that after Hamas won the democratic elections in 2006, the United States decided that it was indeed its business and started a civil war in Gaza – to the benefit of Hamas. Oops.
Anyway, who needs a Palestinian civil war when you can just completely wipe out Gaza?
Tapper’s segment received praise from various US media figures, with Brit Hume of Fox News praising his “excellent analysis”. This is of course an “analysis” that is shared by President Joe Biden and the entire American political-media spectrum: a ceasefire is not possible and the Palestinians must continue to die. .
And as Tapper continues to audition for the role of Israeli military spokesperson, an immediate ceasefire must be called against bloodthirsty journalism.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.