The Madness of Impunity

Originally published in May of 2018

The sordid lack of moral code demonstrated by influential media is unmistakable in their coverage of the protests in Gaza. A blatantly inhumane narrative written by the Editorial Board of the acclaimed Washington Post, suggests that the protesters were just ‘nominal civilians’ assembled by Hamas, sent to die. Among those dead: paramedics, and 6 children under the age of 18, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Over 2,700 people injured. Other publications like the New York Times (NYT) followed suit, characterizing the killings as wholly inevitable, that Hamas is to blame. Bari Weiss, NYT Editor, says that 50 of the dead were members of Hamas, as if that means violence was justified when they were overwhelmingly unarmed. A ridiculous claim to begin with, and she makes no note of the 2,700 injured and the dozen other civilians who were killed.

The completely barren, non-existent moral compass revealed by some in the media extends to their absolutely amazing ability to omit basic context. Protesters had been gathering at the border for six weeks. The same NYT article declared that many “rushed for the border” and goes on to sympathize with Israel, saying that Israelis were horrified to know the death toll was up to 60, thus containing the protests to a single, independent incident.

When evaluating the total death toll since March 30, it is over 100 souls, and thousands more injured. 16 were killed on day 1 alone. By April 20, Israel issued a clear statement that protesters would be killed if they approached the fence, despite the already long list of fatalities and injuries. Importantly, Gaza has two fences, according to the New York Timesown reporting just last month, and again on May 16. In order to attack Israel, an individual would need to first pass a barbed-wire fence, close a 300 yard distance, and then breach a 10 foot high, military-grade smart-fence, which reports tampering and incursion attempts to the IDF almost instantly.

The sobering reality is that the protesters did not breach a single fence in 45 days, not a single Israeli soldier died, and not a single Israeli civilian was in harms way. Unjustified, aggressive use of violence should be repugnant to us all. The nauseating, concerted efforts made to immunize Israel from wrongdoing ought to inspire us with great pause and reason to examine the state of our free press.