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The myth of Gaza as an 'open-air prison' serves Hamas's agenda

Should Israel allow its citizens to be butchered to avoid offending liberal Westerners?

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TOPSHOT - Rockets are fired from Gaza City towards Israel on October 7, 2023. Dozens of rockets were fired from the blockaded Gaza Strip towards Israel on October 7, 2023, an AFP journalist in the Palestinian territory said, as sirens warning of incoming fire blared in Israel. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

October 11, 2023 11:57

In the past few days, since the worst terror attack in Israel's history has unfolded, there has been a swelling of the myth that the Gaza Strip is an "open-air prison." This is a falsehood that has to be dispelled.

Firstly, Israel is unique in the emphasis it places on warning civilians to evacuate before an attack. Gazan civilians do have places to go, such as schools, which aren't targeted. Thousands have taken refuge there in recent days, as my friend in Gaza told me.

Secondly, let's talk about the fact that Israel secures its border with Gaza, and always has. The reason for this is security. We don't need to imagine what would happen if Israel had allowed the border to be open over the past 17 years: We saw it in gruesome reality over the weekend, with children beheaded, the elderly taken as hostages, and senseless violence in peaceful communities. What should Israel do, allow its civilians to be butchered just to avoid liberal Westerners accusing it of creating an "open-air prison"?

This is an allegation that is designed to undermine Israel's efforts to protect its people, the soft front of the Jihadi movement, perpetrated by useful idiots.

Everyone is criticising Israel for sealing the border with Gaza and not sending in fuel and supplies for the duration of the war. But Gaza has TWO borders, the other with Egypt. Why doesn't Egypt open its border to refugees and offer humanitarian support, as Arab countries did during the Syrian civil war?

The FT reported that Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s president, said yesterday that “national security is my first responsibility and under no circumstances will there be any complacency or negligence”. In an apparent reference to talk of resettling Gazans in Egypt, he added: “We will not allow the Palestinian cause to be resolved at the expense of other parties.”

So Israel must be responsible for feeding, watering, sustaining and enabling its jihadi enemies even while trying to destroy them, while Egypt can turn its back and avoid international condemnation?

As the American novelist Saul Bellow put it: "[People] appear to believe that the Jews, with their precious and refining record of suffering, have a unique obligation to hold up the moral burdens everyone else has dumped.”

October 11, 2023 11:57

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