Shapiro Slams Media Outlets as 'Propaganda Arms for Hamas'
The recent violence along the Israeli border of the Gaza Strip has claimed more than 50 lives and has resulted in heavy criticism of Israel for what some have claimed is an excessive use of force by its military against the protesters.
Appearing Tuesday on “Fox & Friends,” Ben Shapiro, noted conservative commentator and editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire, criticized the media coverage of the violence taking place in the Gaza Strip, saying it was heavily anti-Israel.
Shapiro said what is rarely mentioned is the stated mission of Hamas, which is to kill as many Israelis as possible.
“There are so many media outlets that are acting as propaganda arms for Hamas that it’s actually quite incredible,” Shapiro said. “Hamas has not been unclear about their intent here. They have been saying for weeks they want to send literally 100,000 people to storm the border with Israel. Hamas has been obvious; they say, ‘We want to break in, we want to kill Israelis.’ They’re not hiding the ball here, and the media are hiding the ball. The media are playing propaganda wing for a terrorist group, which has made clear their intent.”
.@benshapiro: Hamas’ violence along the Israel-Gaza border has been going on for weeks. For the media to now link it to the Jerusalem embassy opening is insane. pic.twitter.com/rNmdsa1v68
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) May 15, 2018
“Hamas is a state department-designated terrorist group and one of the worst terrorist groups on the planet and yet we’re supposed to believe that this is Israel’s fault that Hamas is trying to storm the border? It’s beyond all definition,” Shapiro said.
Much of the coverage of the violence has coincided with Monday’s opening of the United States embassy in Jerusalem, after President Donald Trump ordered the embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to the Israeli capital.
Shapiro said that link is another way the media is painting Israel as the aggressor.
“And the attempt to link it, by the way, with the Jerusalem embassy opening, is just insane,” Shapiro said. “This has been going on for weeks. It’s just the media haven’t wanted to cover it and they’d prefer to blame President Trump for Hamas-trumped-up violence than to actually lay the blame at the feet of the people who are creating it.”
The Associated Press reports Israeli forces shot and killed 59 Palestinians and wounded more than 1,300 on Monday, making it the deadliest single day in Gaza since a 2014 cross-border war between Israel and Hamas.
Israel’s military said 14 of those killed Monday were involved in planting explosives or firing on Israeli soldiers, according to the AP report.
There has been a a diplomatic backlash against Israel because of the high number of casualties, including charges of excessive use of force by Israel against the protesters.
The U.N. Security Council began its session Tuesday with a moment of silence for the dead, and the U.N.’s special Mideast envoy said there was “no justification for the killing.” However, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, defended Israel, saying no country “would act with more restraint than Israel has.”
As news footage of wounded women and children has circulated worldwide, Israel has been criticized for the number of casualties who have been killed and wounded in the fighting.
Shapiro said like many terrorist organizations, Hamas uses women and children as human shields during battle.
“This is what Hamas does. During the last Gaza war, Hamas actually hid its headquarters inside a hospital, because again, this is what terrorists do,” Shapiro said.
“When terrorist groups get a civilian killed, they are happy, because they know that the media coverage will be that Israelis killed civilians. When a civilian is killed in Hamasistan in the Gaza Strip, then the Israelis are deeply devastated about it. This is something (former Israeli prime minister) Golda Meir once said: ‘We can forgive them for killing our children. We can never forgive them for making us kill theirs.'”
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