Monday, February 29, 2016

What If the Russians Were Israelis?

You may not be aware of this if you get your news from the establishment news media, but it's a pretty safe bet that if the Israelis did what the Russians have apparently done the media and the progressive left in this country would be screaming their larynxes into shreds over it. For the left, atrocities in the Middle East are only atrocities when committed by Israel. The Palestinians can do whatever they wish to innocent Israelis and the left yawns. The Russians can bomb hospitals and the left snores. But if the Israelis, in the course of defending themselves against Palestinian terror, inadvertently kill civilians the left wants them brought up on charges of crimes against humanity.

Here are some excerpts from the article:
A shocking video shows an entire district destroyed by Russian cluster bombs in Aleppo as air strikes hit five hospitals and two schools. The death toll after the attacks in Syria today has risen to 50 with many more expected to be wounded. It is believed that among the dead are children with the bombings condemned by U.N. chiefs.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haqsaid said the attacks were 'blatant violations of international laws' that 'are further degrading an already devastated health care system and preventing access to education in Syria.'

The video emerges after activists say ballistic missiles, thought to be Russian, hit a children's hospital and school in Azaz, near the Turkish border, with three children and a pregnant woman among the dead. They said at least five missiles hit the rebel-held town where refugees fleeing a major Syrian army offensive in the Aleppo area were sheltering.

A resident said another refugee shelter south of the town was also hit by bombs dropped by jets believed to be Russian. Juma Rahal, a medic, told Reuters: 'We have been moving scores of screaming children from the hospital.' Several children were killed and ambulances ferried scores of injured people to Turkey for treatment, he said.

French charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) claims that at least eight staff are missing after rockets hit a hospital that it supported in the province of Idlib in north western Syria. In a statement, MSF said the hospital was hit four times in at least two attacks. It said the attacks were minutes apart, adding that at least eight members of staff are currently missing. 'This appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, and we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms,' said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSF's mission chief.

'The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict.' The aid group said the hospital had 30 beds, 54 staff members, two operating theatres, an outpatients department and an emergency room. Opposition activist Yahya al-Sobeih said: 'The entire building has collapsed on the ground. All members of the medical team inside are believed to be dead.'
Here's the video. There are more pics at the link:
So why doesn't the left demonstrate the same level of outrage, complete with demands for disinvestment and sanctions, against Putin as they do against Netanyahu? Why are we not hearing from those in the "peace-community" who inveigh tirelessly against the Israelis for blockading Gaza to prevent the importation of weapons and concrete used to build tunnels into Israel? Why is it that for the left it's only Israeli "atrocities" that matter?