Different Standard Applied

Op-ed: Where was international community when thousands of 
rockets were fired at south before Gaza operation?

by Dan Calic
November 26, 2012

With a ceasefire in place, it seems appropriate to provide a 
perspective on the events.

From January until mid-November Gaza terrorists fired over 
1,100 rockets at Israel. In Sderot when sirens sound residents 
have a mere 15 seconds to reach a bomb shelter. Schools have 
been closed, as have businesses. Up to one million Israelis have 
been forced to spend nights in bomb shelters. Parents cannot 
afford to deal with their own fears, as they must comfort their 
traumatized children. This is how daily life has been for the past 
decade in Ashdod, Beersheva, Ashkelon, Sderot and other cities.

Altogether during this period approximately 12,000 rockets 
(an average of three per day) have been fired at Israel from Gaza.

With all these rockets fired at Israel, while no 'official conflict' 
was taking place, why didn't the international community take action? 
Why didn't the United States pressure Egypt, since the smuggling 
tunnels originate there? Where was Europe, or the UN?

If this was happening anywhere else in the civilized world I submit 
efforts would have been made to reign in the perpetrators before 
all out hostilities erupted. However, when it comes to Israel, 
it seems a different standard is applied. Unreasonable becomes 
reasonable, and unacceptable becomes acceptable.

After informing the terrorists numerous times there would be 
consequences if they didn't stop the attacks, Israel finally acted 
on November 14. Instead of intentionally firing rockets at 
civilians, Israel took out two legitimate military targets - 
Hamas Military Chief Ahmed Jabari and his son. They were 
killed when their car was destroyed in a surgical strike. 
No one else died. Jabari's record included being commander 
of the attack which resulted in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier 
Gilad Shalit.

In contrast to their enemy, the IDF takes extraordinary measures 
to avoid hurting civilians, such as making thousands of phone calls 
and dropping scores of leaflets letting them know in advance to 
avoid being near rocket launching sites. Hamas intentionally 
places them in civilian neighborhoods to maximize the possibility 
of civilian deaths so they can vilify Israel. Has Hamas ever provided 
advance warnings of impending rocket fire? Never, because it is 
their goal to murder civilians.

No other army in history has taken such measures as the IDF. 
In spite of these unprecedented efforts, this has done little to 
endear Israel in the international community.

During Operation Pillar of Defense approximately 1,500 rockets 
and mortars were fired on Israel. Tel Aviv and Jerusalem also 
came under fire. A Tel Aviv bus was bombed, injuring 27 people, 
bringing back painful memories of when such terror attacks 
happened frequently.

My question is why only after Israel takes out legitimate military 
targets do we hear outcries from the international community to 
stop the violence?

What's wrong with this picture?

Never has such a tiny country, with so few people been the focus 
of such worldwide attention. Why is this? In a word- it's Israel, 
the home of the most discriminated people in history, the Jews.

The World Council of Churches, an umbrella organization of 
over 500,000,000 Christians has published several harsh 
anti-Israel documents. They vilify Israel at conferences such as 
Christ at the Checkpoint, and are decidedly pro-Palestinian.

The PLO, Fatah and Hamas have charters requiring the destruction 
of Israel and annihilation of the Jews.

Then there are liberals who proudly champion underdogs. 
They view the Palestinians as oppressed by Israel's "occupation," 
as well as being denied self-determination, which is merely a 
thinly-veiled smoke screen for the first step of their goal of 
Israel's destruction.

We also cannot ignore anti-Semitism, which has been around 
for two millennia. Add in traditional left-leaning media reporting, 
and the world's addiction for oil, it's fairly easy to see why Israel 
is the object of prejudice, where unreasonable becomes reasonable 
and the unacceptable becomes acceptable.

One might ask: Why is there a distinct absence of common sense 
regarding this morally abhorrent dilemma? I can still hear the wise 
words of a family member many years ago who said "the problem 
with common sense is - it's too uncommon."
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Dan Calic is a writer, historian and speaker.