They don’t actually say that the animals were deliberately killed by Israeli soldiers, mostly on account of how that would make no sense. That’s just their plain implication:
Hundreds of Palestinian schoolchildren used to come to the Gaza Zoo every week, but not now. Tanks rolled through the area during the Israeli offensive. Much of the zoo was badly damaged, most of the animals died. Cage after cage lies empty. Ostrich feathers are strewn close to a crater in the ground, beside the mangled steel bars of what was the birds’ pen. The remains of a camel lie inside its former enclosure. “Some were killed in air strikes,” says the zoo’s manager, Emad Qassim, “but some of the animals were shot dead.” “Thank God our two lions survived, but we used to have over 400 animals and birds, now there are just 10 left.” Many of the animals died of starvation. The zookeepers say that for more than two weeks, Zeitoun, the southern suburb of Gaza City where the zoo is located, was simply too dangerous to access because of the presence of troops and tanks.
Before we get to anything else: what happened sucks. Full stop. Those poor animals were trembling in locked cages, terrified out of their minds by the nearby explosions. No one was around to take care of them. They were starving and confused. That just sucks.
But it’s a lie to imply that the area was too dangerous to access. Israel’s daily 3 hour ceasefires were implemented precisely to make sure that civilians could get critical business done. And it’s dishonest to imply that the animals were killed by Israeli troops. The Israelis were the ones who carefully de-mined the park after Hamas soldiers turned it into a booby-trapped warzone:
As for the idyllic “Palestinian schoolchildren used to come to the Gaza Zoo every week” – come on:
That’s before we get to the part of the BBC article entitled “Perseverance and trauma.” No it’s not about the Israeli civilians who stoically coped with rocket barrages for eight years. It’s about the Gaza archaeological museum, which has existed for about a year.
Almost difficult to understand why the BBC has spent over 200,000 pounds of taxpayer money in their ongoing battle to suppress the Balen report detailing their anti-Israel bias. In fairness to them – and as BBC head Mark Thompson explained – they have to be pro-Islam.
Less sarcastically, I’m genuinely glad to hear that the Gaza zoo recovered the lions that had been kidnapped by Gaza criminal gangs. Small mercies I guess.
References and previously after the jump…
References:
* Bleak outlook for bombed Gaza Zoo [BBC]
* One Jerusalem Conference Call – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu On Hamas’s “Double War Crime” [Videos] [MR]
* Palestinians Booby Trap Zoo, Blame Israel [LGF]
* BBC Still Fighting To Stop Balen Report Being Published [Snapshots CAMERA]
* BBC spends £200,000 of licence fees on legal fight to suppress report on anti-Israeli ‘bias’ [Daily Mail]
* BBC: But We HAVE To Be Pro-Islam! [Daled Amos]
* Palestinian Civil Society Not Doing Well [MR]
Previously:
* British Watchdog’s Report: BBC Coverage Less Than Impartial
* Spectacular Media Bias In Jerusalem Attack Coverage
* BBC, CBS Now Just Making Stuff Up About Israeli Military
