So, that UN school that was the centre of the outrage and the centrepiece of anti-Israeli sentiment? Not actually attacked. The casualties from the school? Not actually from there.
Good to see this news is getting buried quite successfully...
SBS.com.au wrote:
UN flips on Israeli strike claim
06 February 2009 | 09:30:37 AM | Source: AFP
The United Nations has retracted a claim that an Israeli strike which killed more than 40 people in northern Gaza city of Jabaliya last month hit a school run by a UN agency.
"The humanitarian coordinator would like to clarify that the shelling, and all of the fatalities, took place outside rather than inside the school," the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in its latest weekly update on the situation in Gaza.
It stressed that its initial report of the January 6 incident correctly stated that Israeli shells hit outside the school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, but that it later referred to "the shelling of the UNRWA school in Jabaliya."
The Israeli military initially said its forces had responded to hostile fire from within the UN school but later reportedly retracted that statement.
The attack sparked widespread outrage in the midst of Israel's deadly offensive in Gaza.
weemadando wrote:So, that UN school that was the centre of the outrage and the centrepiece of anti-Israeli sentiment? Not actually attacked. The casualties from the school? Not actually from there.
Good to see this news is getting buried quite successfully...
The school itself was still targeted for false reasons.
And by outside, that could mean that people on the property were injured.
weemadando wrote:So, that UN school that was the centre of the outrage and the centrepiece of anti-Israeli sentiment? Not actually attacked. The casualties from the school? Not actually from there.
Good to see this news is getting buried quite successfully...
The school itself was still targeted for false reasons.
And by outside, that could mean that people on the property were injured.
Just watched more coverage on the news.
Key points:
1) UN has confirmed that there were NO casualties or injuries inside the school.
2) UN has confirmed that no Israeli mortars hit the school or school grounds.
3) UN has confirmed that the Israeli attack was focused on militants operating outside/adjacent to the school.
So, it looks like that particular bit of proganda just disappeared.
weemadando wrote:So, that UN school that was the centre of the outrage and the centrepiece of anti-Israeli sentiment? Not actually attacked. The casualties from the school? Not actually from there. Good to see this news is getting buried quite successfully...
It's not the only one. In Sri Lanka, the U.N. Commissioner Gordon Weiss accused the Sri Lanka Government of dropping cluster bombs on a hospital. That claim was picked up by Amnesty International and has served as the bedrock for a campaign to have a cease-fire enforced in Sri Lanka (one might notice that the Sri Lanka Government is on the verge of winning a civil war that's been running for thirty years). Now, the UN has had to backtrack and admit that their claim was based on unsubstantiated reports from the Tamil terrorists. Especially embarrassing for the UN since the Sri Lanka Army has now overrun the hospital area in question and it shows no sign of damage.
Nations do not survive by setting examples for others
Nations survive by making examples of others
Stuart wrote:It's not the only one. In Sri Lanka, the U.N. Commissioner Gordon Weiss accused the Sri Lanka Government of dropping cluster bombs on a hospital. That claim was picked up by Amnesty International and has served as the bedrock for a campaign to have a cease-fire enforced in Sri Lanka (one might notice that the Sri Lanka Government is on the verge of winning a civil war that's been running for thirty years). Now, the UN has had to backtrack and admit that their claim was based on unsubstantiated reports from the Tamil terrorists. Especially embarrassing for the UN since the Sri Lanka Army has now overrun the hospital area in question and it shows no sign of damage.
I think the undercurrent of peaceniks at the UN are screaming at being ignored by countries involved in conflict. I wonder if this will lead to countries ignoring the UN more in the future.
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Hadn't heard about the Sri Lankan incident, any good sources, it was mildly amusing.
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More to the point, why does the UN even bother to acknowledge reports like this? It's not exactly a mystery that groups like the Tamils (or Hamas in Gaza) like to put out all manner of bullshit propaganda, particularly when they are under threat and need respite.
I'm guessing laziness on their part, combined with the "every problem is just waiting for a diplomatic solution" mentality biasing them to any report that would seem to indicate an opening.
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Guardsman Bass wrote:More to the point, why does the UN even bother to acknowledge reports like this? It's not exactly a mystery that groups like the Tamils (or Hamas in Gaza) like to put out all manner of bullshit propaganda, particularly when they are under threat and need respite.
It has a lot to do with the fact that most of the UN bureaucracy exists as a jobs program for third world countries.
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