Bombing of UN school 'a mistake'

12 Jan 2009, 6:29 am   -   Source: SBS staff and agencies
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Pakistani women hold banners condemning Israel for their offensive in the Gaza Strip (EPA/MK)

Pakistani women hold banners condemning Israel for their offensive in the Gaza Strip (EPA/MK)

The popularity of Hamas and other Islamic groups in the Arab world is on the rise due to the Gaza war, as Israeli defence officials say the bombing of a UN school was caused by a 'stray mortar'.

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The popularity of Hamas and other Islamic groups in the Arab world is on the rise due to the Gaza war, as Israeli defence officials say the bombing of a UN school was caused by a 'stray mortar'.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports an 'errant' mortar missed its target by about 30 metres, hitting the school and killing around 40 people.

Israel initially said militants were hiding in the Fakhura school in Jabaliya.

Palestinian sources denied this, and said all of those killed were civilians.

Israel now says troops fired three rounds at a target close to the school. Two of the mortars deployed hit the intended target, but the third missed, and hit the UN building.

Media battle 'lost'

Meanwhile, analysts say the Israeli offensive in Gaza is actually strengthening support for Hamas and other Islamist movements.

"Hamas appears to be scoring points," said Dhia Rashwan, an Egyptian specialist in Islamist movements.

"So far, Israel has not achieved all its military and political objectives and has lost the media battle."

Israel's military offensive on the Hamas-controlled territory has killed at least 875 Palestinians, including 275 children, and left 3,620 wounded, since it began on December 27.

'Imbalance'

Media coverage shows an imbalance between a modern force, armed to the teeth with the most sophisticated weapons, and a militia equipped only for guerrilla warfare, analysts say.

This appears to have contributed to inciting angry protests worldwide, mainly in Arab countries, they believe.

"This is a repetition of the major crises seen in the region during the past few years," which strengthened Islamism in the Arab world, Rashwan said.

He highlighted Israel's war on Lebanon in July 2006, which failed to destroy the military might of the Iran-backed Shi'ite Hezbollah, and the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, which brought Islamism to the forefront of the resistance.

"Opposition in the Arab world has become led by Islamist movements ... Public opinion is led by these movements," at the expense of Arab nationalists and liberal oppositions who are losing ground."

Meanwhile, "the gap between Arab regimes and their people is being widened all the time", Rashwan said.

Abdul Aziz al-Sager, head of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre (GRC), agreed that Islamists are reaping a windfall of popularity from the Gaza war.

Support for jihad 'rising'

"Injustice serves the Islamist movements, putting them in the vanguard through their support for jihad", or holy war, in the Arab world, he said.

"What Israel is doing in Gaza is strengthening Hamas" in terms of gaining the backing of the public opinion for the movement, although "part of this opinion still notices a lack of political maturity of this movement", Sager said.

"In wanting to wipe out the resistance, you have created a resistance inside every household," Hamas's exiled political chief, Khaled Meshaal, told Israeli leaders in a speech on Saturday.

"As Israel strikes Hamas to weaken it, this movement is becoming stronger among the Palestinians and Arabs, mainly as it has proven to be the only one to stand up to Israel, following the example of Hezbollah in Lebanon," Bahraini activist Ali Fakhrou said.

"Through this war, Israel does not seek (just) to hit Hamas, but the Islamist resistance which is feared by the United States and its allies among the Arab regimes, who believe that success for this resistance would lead to fundamental changes" in the region, he said.

'Protection' from Islamist movements

"Islamist movements, born out of the void created by the collapse of the Arab nationalist and leftist ideologies, are the only ones capable of protecting the region from the madness of US politics and Israel," said the former Arab nationalist.

"Islamist movements are going to dominate the political scene for many years to come," Fakhrou predicted, citing the "interaction between these movements and the Arab street where recent pro-Gaza demonstrations were dominated by Islamist slogans and calls for jihad".

Jordan's Princess Haya, a UN messenger of peace, also warned that growing Arab anger and frustration over Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, could spiral out of control.

"I think the frustration on the Arab street, the humiliation, the hurt, the anger and the sadness are something that can't be kept under control very easily in the near coming future if this (war) continues," said Haya, daughter of late King Hussein and wife to Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

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Your Comments

when and where is the next war

Peter - from Sydney, 3 years ago

We are in 21 century & still group of people do not have the basic human rights. Israel is a strange state in the middle of Arab region. The British Empire implant this state by force & killing. This military state will never have peace with its neighbours because it is based on war ideology. Meanwhile the innocent people will keep pay their blood until the civilised world realise that backing up & covering Israeli crimes will never solve the problem & the solution is to give the Palestinians their rights & allowing them to return their land.

Gaza school

kevin - from Armidale, 3 years ago

Notice how the Israelis do the killing first and then discover "shock, horror" it was all a mistake?

Don't put them side by side

Jeremy - from Sydney, 3 years ago

Putting Hamas and Israel on equal footing is totally wrong.
It's as wrong as putting countries such as the US, the UK and Australia side by side with Al-Qaeda or the Taliban.
Whatever mistakes Israel is making (and it's impossible to go to battle without mistakes) their target is an Iranian-backed terrorist organisation - not civilians.
In contrast, Hamas specifically targets civilians by sending suicide bombers to cafes, buses and shopping malls, and then hands out money and sweets to celebrate

ICJ should involve

Peter - from Sydney, 3 years ago

Israel killed 875 Palestinians, including 275 children, and wounded 3,620 civilians by using forbidden weapons such as phosphorus bombs and shelling the civilians. These massacres urge a quick move from the civilised world to raise this issue to ICJ (International Court of Justice) or all crimes will be justified after that.

Mr.

Andreas - from Sydney, 3 years ago

The World and civilian war casualties have suffered many years of Palesteian/Isreal conflict. We in the west, particularly, the US are financing through taxes, grants, etc these wars. I think its time the World ganged up on Palestine and Israel to really put sunctions on them until they find a way to live neighbourly with one another. Taking sides in the dispute is not an answer. regards, Andreas

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