Saturday, August 1, 2009

What kind of monsters would use their own babies as human shields?

Ultra-Orthodox Jews:

Police arrested 15 ultra-Orthodox Jews on Saturday during clashes that erupted after Haredim broke into a parking lot in Jerusalem, in the latest protest against the opening of the site on Shabbat. (...)

About 150 protestors managed to force their way into the site, despite efforts by police to prevent their entry.

Police subsequently threatened to forcibly remove the Haredi and bring a vehicle with a water cannon to the scene. At this point, a woman holding a baby joined the men demonstrating, in order to prevent police from making good on their threat.

What I don't understand is why the police didn't water-cannon the demonstrators all the same. Of course, the baby could have been hurt or even killed. But he would only have had his mother to blame, right? What is good for the Gaza is good for ... or how was it?

7 comments:

Moomin said...

I think there is a distinction between fighting in a war and protests. Hamas would have made the same call if they were in that position (I would hope) but in a war, the rules are different. And you should know that.

Tarig Musa said...

Sorry Moomin, but thats bullshit, using a baby to shield adults is straight up wrong, no matter what the scenario, and time and time again facts on the ground have proven that this is an action that Israelis (whether the kids are Israeli or Arab), carry out, yet Hamas is accused of it constantly. whats the medical term for that, Peojection is it?

Justin White said...

Sure..but the Arabs are allowed to use their kids are shields? Religious Jews have so many kids that it's not possible to avoid this. If she had left the kid unattended, then you would write an article about that, too, right?

andrew r said...

Wow, maybe she could just not bring herself and her kid into a confrontational situation with the police? That should be easier for her to avoid than getting bombed by the IAF.

Arayus said...

The point is that, there never has been an proven example of a Palestinian holding out his/her baby as a human shield EVER.

In fact their is no evidence of Palestinians using human shields in the I/P conflict.

Israel just uses the "human shield" propaganda to justify wanton murder of civilians.

Anonymous said...

@Aryus

Well, there was the late Nazir Rayan. During the Gaza war, he was warned that his house/armory was going to be bombed, and kept his 4 wives and 11 children in it with him.

Then there are the words of the Hamas leaders that say they use children as human shields:

Excerpts from a speech by Hamas MP Fathi Hammad, broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV on February 29, 2008:
Fathi Hammad: [The enemies of Allah] do not know that the Palestinian people has developed its [methods] of death and death-seeking. For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel, and so do all the people living on this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the mujahideen and the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly, and the mujahideen, in order to challenge the Zionist bombing machine. It is as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: "We desire death like you desire life."

Anonymous said...

@Aryus

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Hamas+exploitation+of+civilians+as+human+shields+-+Photographic+evidence.htm?DisplayMode=print

Several examples there, including the quote in the last post and this one:

Al-Aqsa TV called upon the residents of Khan Yunis to gather at the house of Ma’amoun Abu ‘Amer due to an anticipated airstrike. (February 28). An hour later dozens of Palestinians from Khan Yunis were reported to have gathered on the roof of Abu ‘Amer’s house to serve as human shields to prevent the house from being hit (Pal-today Website, February 28).