Hello, so we've passed the part of the series that is about the establishment of Israel and all the myths surrounding it. Now, it's time to clarify some of the questions, concerns, and arguments. You are free to add your own to the list of things I will respond to here and I will get to respond to them. However, this is about the arguments I found on the internet which seem to be both the best anti-Palestine arguments and the most popular.

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Now, isn't this a sentence you heard a lot? Every time Israel bombs a hospital a school, or a refugee camp, we often see Twitter flooded with IDF confirming or suspecting it to be Hamas Base of Operation. The UN offices house a Hamas Base of Operation, Al-Jazeera of course, hospitals, schools, public buildings, and residential areas like Hamed City which is dubbed the "Safe City", in fact, every time the IDF, aka the Most Humane Army in the World who warns civilians before bombing them despite cutting internet connection way ahead of time, is about to bomb a place, Hamed City is where they tell them to hide.

Now, obviously, the irony of telling people ahead of time before bombing their homes, schools, places of work, and hospitals isn't missed by anyone, but that's not the topic of today. The topic is simply lies and propaganda. Now, before I start, let me profess a personal stand of mine regarding the ceasefire. I don't know where I stand on it.

I am against the death of innocent civilians dying anywhere, in fact, I am not even very pro-having a Palestinian state alone, Israeli state alone, because I have seen both do and advocate for horrendous things that definitely mean the death of innocent people, that's my main quantum with Israel throughout my series. I am against the innocent Jews getting oppressed and killed in Europe and the Arab world, the latter is something I will definitely get into. The point is, I don't know how the country should react to the death of 1,500 and the kidnapping of its citizens which included children and teens, that's why I never called the ceasefire as forming an opinion on this specific matter is something I am unable to do.

The reason for the above paragraph is simple, if my country was hit and 1,500 people died in the process I'd demand immediate action against people who have done it.

Now, to the main topic.

Lies and Propaganda

Remember how many times you heard and read the statement of a place housing a Hamas base of operation and ask yourself, how many bases of operation could Hamas have? Like, Do Hamas have a base of operation in every school, hospital, and sports club? And yes a Palestinian Cup final was attacked by Israeli forces once. Apparently, the cup was housing a Hamas base of operation.

Now, let's walk slowly through this. On October 7th, Al Ahli Hospital was hit with rockets. Palestinian Ministry of Health said 300-500 people died. People say the Ministry of Health is Hamas-controlled and is probably lying, I don't mind that accusation and see it as completely valid since Hamas has lied before. Now, there's this little nugget though.

This tweet, like many other tweets saying about the same thing, has been later deleted. The reason they were deleted was because the IDF - without further elaboration - said that the rockets or "projectiles" were actually the result of Hamas misfire. Human Rights Watch concluded about the same, which I accept. I accept that Hamas' rockets didn't hit the target, after all, just less than a day ago, the same happened when Israel was launching their rockets. The only problem is, do you notice something weird about that tweet?

Obviously, he is saying that the IDF are the ones behind it which he later said it was a mistake. The IDF denied it, the Palestinian Ministry of Health probably exaggerated the number of the dead, and Human Rights Watch concluded it was a misfire. But there's still something off about that tweet. Do you see it? Well, if the IDF weren't behind it, how did Hananya Naftali conclude it was a Hamas terrorist base? I am not using this tweet to deny this was a misfire from Hamas, I am, however, using it today that the "Hamas Base" claim is just something that is automatically attached to Israeli strikes.

Evidence and Proof

Here's definitive proof that Al Shifa Hospital housed a Hamas base posted by Edy Cohen

https://twitter.com/Haqiqatjou/status/1723445308078580128

The nurse in Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza talking while bombs blowing in the background is talking about how Hamas took control of the hospital and stole equipment. Sorry, did I say nurse? I mean crisis actress, and did I say hospital in Gaza? I mean literally anywhere in Israel, and did I say bombs blowing? I mean just sound effects. Obviously, I am not going to the woman's Instagram or TikTok account, but you can easily find it if you follow the comments on the tweet.

The issue here is that this behaviour has always existed. Here's a picture Ben Shapiro shared to "prove" that Hamas beheaded 40 children, don't worry, no warning is needed as this is an AI-generated photo

Obviously, it would be easy for me to just bring up examples of proven lies like the bombing of Qana Refugee camp in 1996 then denying it, killing a medic and then doctor a tape to say she was volunteering to be a human shield in 2018, or bombing Qana again, but you get the point and I am not here to milk your tears. However, just one last incident I need to bring up.

Forengsic Evidence: The Murder of Shireen Abu Akleh

Shireen Abu Akleh was a Palestinian/American journalist who was killed last year. Now, Israelis blamed her death on a Hamas misfire, which at a certain point Hamas would really need to learn how to aim, or Israel needs to take ownership of their own actions.

What makes this case special is that it went through a lot of fighting, lawsuits, and countless investigations and reports before the truth came out. Shireen died on May 11, 2022. Israel, of course, made the claim that she died by a Hamas misfire as we already know. Israel, after conducting an investigation, concluded with FORENSIC EVIDENCE that she wasn't killed by Israeli forces.

https://twitter.com/btselem/status/1524346253655556097

Again, forensic evidence was used to prove that her death wasn't the result of Israeli soldiers. However, after several pieces of evidence were introduced along with eyewitness statements, Israel admitted that the death was likely to have been from Israeli forces. They, however, claimed it was amid heavy fires and that the soldiers won't be put on trial because they were aiming at the shooters.

Again, eyewitnesses said that the area was actually quiet before Israeli forces started shooting before CNN reported evidence that the shooting was directly at journalists. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty, the UN and countless agencies showed evidence otherwise. Eventually, Israel apologized for the murder of Shireen only a few months ago.

I won't go through each in detail, but here's a quick rundown, of the killing, denial, and truth of Ahmed Erekat, a Media office, Israeli president holding what is literally self-improvement promotion as Evidence of manual to create chemical weapons, of course, the famous 40 beheaded babies, and finally, the killing of two teenagers at checkpoint. All of those were denied at first and exposed later and apologized for.

The point I am making here is that I actively chose not to use Arab sources because they weren't trusted, every day Arabs point to murders but they're not trusted. Palestinian Ministry of Health's numbers are automatically discredited, and reports of Hamas Base of Operation at schools and hospitals are instantly believed even when the IDF later claim they didn't even attack and that it was just the reporters guessing.

I am not saying believe Arabic sources, I moved on from that and I know how to find my way when researching. But, can we treat Israel, as a side that has been lying and falsifying facts since before it even existed with the same level of scrutiny? Because otherwise, and judging by the number of bombings and locations, Hamas must have 10,000 bases in Gaza.

Previous Parts

The Tragic Story of Palestine - Part 1: Tantura
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Part 2: Protecting The Israel Mythology
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Part 3: The Israel Foundation Myth
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Part 4: The "One People" Myth
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Part 5: The "Zionism is Judaism" Myth
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Part 6: The "Land Without a People" Myth
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Part 7: The "Independence" Myth (Chapter 1)
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Part 8: The "Independence" Myth (Chapter 2)
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Part 9: The "Independence" Myth (Chapter 3)
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Part 10: The "Independence" Myth (Final Chapter)
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Part 10: The "David vs Goliath" Myth (1/2)
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Part 11: The "David vs Goliath" Myth (2/2)
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Final Part: The "Only Democracy in the Middle East" Myth
The Tragic Story of Palestine - Responding to Arguments and Concerns

Follow-up parts

The Tragic Story of Israel
School Lessons From Gaza