[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] Historical revisionism about Cast Lead

Ma'an writes:

Palestinians around the world on Saturday commemorated the sixth anniversary of the beginning of Israel's 22-day offensive on the Gaza Strip in 2008-9 that left more than 1,400 dead.

The offensive, known by its Israeli moniker "Cast Lead," began on Dec. 27, 2008 around 11:30 a.m., when Israeli warplanes launched more than 100 airstrikes on Gaza simultaneously.

Israel launched the attack at the conclusion of a six-month ceasefire with Hamas that it repeatedly violated, despite Hamas' general adherence.

Let's take you back to Ma'an, December 25, 2008:

The military wing affiliated to Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades released a statement on Thursday morning briefing the group's military activities over the first twenty four hours of an operation they called "Oil Stain" which started Wednesday morning.

According to the statement, a total of 87 shells have been fired at Israeli targets bordering the Gaza Strip including 54 mortar shells, 31 homemade projectiles which Hamas calls "Qassam", and two Soviet-made Grad missiles.

Al-Qassa Brigades threatened to enlarge the "Oil Stain" to get more thousands of Israelis "under fire". The group asserted that its fighters are "far greater than surrendering to Israeli threats and that they became much more prepared to counter Israeli aggression and to defend themselves than in the past."

Hamas started what later became known as "Cast Lead" three days before Israel retaliated. They kept the name of the operation "Oil Stain" for a week into the war. (Here's an example of its use on December 30 by a Hamas newspaper. Unfortunately, the Hamas Qassam Brigades website has been re-done so their press releases are no longer available.)

I've noted in the past how Hamas soon abandoned the narrative of heroically starting the war and changed it to being the victim of Zionist aggression - a lie that was repeated by Amnesty, HRW, Goldstone and many other supposedly "objective" observers.

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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 12/28/2014 05:30:00 AM