As coronavirus lockdowns continue around the world, boredom is undoubtedly starting to set in for some people. It’s also becoming boring reading the spate of articles and opinion pieces concerning Gaza and the coronavirus.
At this time of writing, coronavirus has, thankfully, not spread through the Gaza population although there is, of course, still the potential for a significant health crisis. But this has not stopped many journalists and commentators linking Gaza’s existing crisis to a potential coronavirus crisis and making sure to blame Israel in advance for infections or deaths that have not even yet occurred.
The latest is an opinion piece by Tarek Loubani in the Washington Post:
Recently we’ve already gone at length into the Coronavirus and 7 Reasons Why There’s No ‘Gaza Siege’, which addresses many of the false and tired charges Loubani makes including the claim that Israel doesn’t allow medical supplies and humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. He also fails to mention that the Israeli blockade, meant to prevent weapons smuggling is also administered by Egypt.
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Indeed no discussion about Gaza’s situation can be held without acknowledging the role of the Hamas terrorist organization that rules over and mismanages the territory.
Loubani, however, doesn’t mention Hamas at all in his piece. Not once.
Nowhere does he consider that the Gaza Ministry of Health is controlled by Hamas. Nowhere does he ask the question as to why Hamas has failed to invest in medical facilities and infrastructure such as hospitals and equipment. Could it be that huge amounts of money have been spent on rockets, weapons, attack tunnels and terror infrastructure at the expense of ordinary Gazans? Could it be that a terrorist organization is capable of gross mismanagement?
Maybe this failure to hold Hamas to account shouldn’t come as a surprise because Loubani isn’t some naive humanitarian guided by inaccurate information. He is actually a political activist previously deported from Israel in 2003 for his activities as part of the International Solidarity Movement.
The ISM, while claiming to be “non-violent,” supports Palestinian “armed resistance” and has a long history of anti-Israel activities, including violence, support for terrorism and the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS). As NGO Monitor notes, the ISM:
Encourages activists to take “direct action” that often places them in danger and in direct confrontations with Israeli Defense Forces during military operations. ISM has been described as “Embracing Palestinian militants, even suicide bombers, as freedom fighters,” and “entering military zones to interfere with the operations of Israeli soldiers.”
In addition, the Israellycool website exposed Loubani in 2018 after he claimed to have been wounded during the March of Return riots, and whose “paramedic” who was allegedly shot helping him by the IDF turned out to be a Hamas terrorist.
Does the Washington Post not carry out any background research into its contributors? If it had bothered to check into Tarek Loubani, perhaps it would have recognized why any opinion piece submitted by him would amount to little more than agitprop. Loubani’s supposed concern for Palestinian welfare is simply a disguise designed to take advantage of the coronavirus crisis in order to attack Israel.
Shame on the Washington Post for falling for it and giving him a platform.
Please contact the Washington Post’s Readers Representative and register your complaint – [email protected]
