Saturday, November 24, 2012

Gaza, the numbers (Gideon Levy)

Writing in Ha'aretz:

Since the first Qassam rocket fell on Israel in April 2001, 59 Israelis have been killed - and 4,717 Palestinians...

between the start of the year and the outbreak of Operation Pillar of Defense, only one Israeli was killed by rocket and mortar-shell fire from Gaza (the figure should have been three, according to Haaretz's data ). During that same period, Israel killed no fewer than 78 Palestinians in Gaza. That was during a period of calm that, according to Israel, was broken only by the Palestinians. 

To these figures must be added the data from Pillar of Defense: 156 Palestinians killed, and six Israelis. The Economist reminds us that 19 of those killed were children...

During this period, Palestinians fired 7,361 rockets at Israel. It's hard to find data on how many missiles, shells and bombs Israel launched, but the numbers would be immeasurably higher...

In 2001, the year the Qassam was born, four rockets were fired from Gaza, killing one Israeli. And how many Palestinians were killed that year? One-hundred and seventy-nine. In 2002, 34 rockets were fired, from which not a single Israeli died, yet 373 Palestinians were killed. In the two years after that, the picture is even more stark: In 2003, there were 155 rockets; 370 Palestinians were killed, and not a single Israeli. In 2004, there were 281 rockets; 625 Palestinians were killed, and seven Israelis...

what does Israeli propaganda try to do? To paint the south as the sole and only victim...

the primary victim, the one who is bleeding most, is Gaza; Israel is only in second place. It's impossible to ignore this. In Gaza, the death toll is enormous. 



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