by Jim Lobe
Earlier today the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel tweeted a visual message comparing ISIS (the Islamic State) to Hamas with an accompanying screenshot from the video of American photojournalist James Foley’s gruesome execution. The PM’s office encouraged Twitter users to share the tweet with others, a call that was taken up by Benjamin Netanyahu’s official Twitter account, along with more than 900 others. It has since been removed, possibly due to outrage over the PM’s use of the murder of an innocent photojournalist, which happened just two days earlier, for political gain. But the Israeli government is continuing its campaign of likening Hamas to the Islamic State.
Putting aside the astonishing tastelessness of the now-removed collage released by Netanyahu, not to mention the blatantly cynical attempt to equate ISIS with Hamas, is Bibi suggesting that Obama should follow his example in dealing with ISIS by, for instance, trading up to 1,000 ISIS militants who it may capture for one US citizen, as Netanyahu himself did with Hamas in 2011?
This clearly demonstrates just how stupid Netanyahu is.
Let’s face it: he is not the brightest tool in the box, is he?
Perhaps Netanyahoo was projecting, substituting Hamas & ISIS, for the IDF & the innocent civilian/children Palestinian victims in Gaza?
Just how far is this madness going to go, before the world has had enough? As repulsive as the ISIS incident was, so too is the IDF’s latest “turkey shoot” in Gaza. Genocide = Murder, but as with every other such act, the civilized world stands by and lets it happen, especially the ammunition providers, as the U.S. Government is in supplying/resupplying the IDF. Forget that under U.S.Law, that’s illegal, but of course, Israel uses the U.S. as a shield/co-defendant, making the citizens of the U.S. just as guilty.
That is quite a comparison. ISIS is built of fighters from all of the world fighting for ideology (I would not even call it a religion) in foreign lands, while Hamas is homegrown Palestinian resistance fighting for survival of Palestinians people under military occupation. The resistance (even armed one) of Palestinians is enshrined in international law after WWII. I do not know but ISIS is looking to me more like Zionist army of aggression. It has this aggressive ideology, fighters from all over the world flock to it just like Zionists do to Israel. ISIS is pushing former inhabitants of occupied territories from their lands just like Zionist do in Palestine. Maybe even Netenyahu had a feeling that he must preempt this obvious comparison. I realize that they can still use their magic wand of Antisemitism, but Arabs in ISIS are Semites too. Just like Palestinians.
As you mention the comparison is quite astonishing, also, a desperate and cheap attempt to use a real tragic and barbaric act by ISIS to defame Hamas.
I wish the western educated and civilised individuals at the top of Israeli power pyramid had a better taste even in their choice of defamatory propaganda .
Of course Netenyahu would say this. Perfect hasbara opportunity.
The really sad thing is that about 95% of Israelis support him and the slaughter going on in Gaza–including the slaughterer of so many children.
If it wasn’t for the people of the world and a few governments stunned by this onslaught of Gaza even more schools and hospitals would have been attacked I think. I think the Israeli government’s objective is to bring as much pain and suffering to the people of Gaza as they can.
The sadistic blockade of Gaza has been part of this for eight years, along with the occasional “mowing of the lawn”–referring to the periodic bombings and killings of civilians.
What Israel is doing is sickening, and will be remembered for a long time I think, despite Israeli hasbara and the US mainstream media.