In the defence of Israel...

...from the indomitable Cranmer...
...Saudi Arabia has not given its support to Hamas. Egypt has roundly condemned Hamas, blaming them for provoking the conflict. Jordan has remained detached, Syria has been decidedly lukewarm, and let us not forget that there have been voices raised among the Palestinians themselves in condemnation of Hamas.With Iranian influence and involvement in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza, there is a feeling in many Arab countries that they are all beginning to share borders with Iran, and this is far too close for comfort. President Ahmadinejad may want Israel wiped off the map, and he would not be too bothered if a few Sunni nations were casualties in the process. If one were to believe the media narrative on this conflict, the whole of Arabia and all the world’s Muslims are incandescent with rage at Israel's ‘unjust’, ‘disproportionate’ and ‘illegal’ offensive against Hamas. But things are seldom what they seem. Skimmed milk masquerades as cream. There are some leading Arab nations and hundreds of thousands of level-headed Muslims who secretly long for an Israeli victory...But the media dare not say so, for it conflicts with their prejudicial worldview and their foreordained, liberal, left agenda...more here...
As Cranmer observes the main stream media and the international left within NGO's have always had a selective bias when it comes to human rights issues. In the Middle East the present day media refrain is straight from George Orwell's Animal Farm; Hamas good, Israel bad. While the mainstream left and the apologists for terrorism continue to wring their hands and suck their thumbs, TVNZ broadcasts the same story, same sentiments night after night ( and for an expose of TVNZ plagiarism, see Karl du Fresne, here...)
However, for an overview of the present crisis in Gaza, this is worthwhile...The pictures do not lie...For all Israel's claims to have launched only targeted strikes on Hamas targets, it has shown scant concern for civilians caught in Gaza's crossfire in the past two weeks. Yet this is as nothing next to the contempt shown by Hamas.
Unlike the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), the paramilitary overlords of the Gaza Strip use civilians routinely for protection in the knowledge that many will be sacrificed to Israeli airstrikes...
More, from the Timesonline, here...