CNN reporter Nada Bashir has put in Israel in a damned if they do, damned if they don’t situation. One hand, Israel is lectured on the need to avoid civilian casualties as if they would otherwise enjoy bombing Palestinians for sport, but on the other hand, she lectures them on Friday’s CNN Newsroom that urging Palestinians to evacuate Northern Gaza is “a war crime.”
Bashir reported that “Hamas leaders have called on civilians to remain steadfast, and stay put, accusing Israel of engaging in psychological warfare. But families desperate for some semblance of security gather their belongings. And while they are unsure of what awaits them in the south, one thing is clear, there is no guarantee of safety wherever you are in Gaza.”
With that Bashir put Israel into yet another lose-lose situation as Hamas demands its human shields stay put.
Bashir then translated an unidentified man ranting that, “It happened to our grandfathers, and now it is happening to us. We are being forced out. Gaza is being destroyed. Nothing is left. It is a catastrophe.”
Israel has no way of actually forcing civilians out of Northern Gaza, but it has given them a warning. Nevertheless, Bashir added, “More than 2 million people live in a tiny besieged Gaza Strip. Still under a blockade enforced by Israel in 2007, more than half of those are now being told to move. The Norwegian Refugee Council characterized the evacuation order which holds no guarantee of safe return as an act of forcible transfer. In other words, a war crime.”
After the Israeli evacuation of Gaza, the Strip could’ve been turned into a positive example of what an independent Palestine would look like. Instead, it turned into a terrorist enclave, hence the joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade. Naturally, Bashir left off the Egyptian part because Egypt doesn’t want terrorists disguised as refugees on their territory any more than Israel does.
As for claims by the Norwegian Refugee Council, which is it? Is the Israeli air campaign a war crime or are steps to reduce civilian casualties a war crime? Or is this an intellectually dishonest attempt to condemn Israel no matter what?
CNN has also repeatedly cited the NRC throughout the week to accuse Israel of war crimes. On Monday’s Amanpour—simulcasted in the U.S. on PBS— Jan Egeland, the organization’s secretary general, declared that Israel not providing food, water, electricity, and fuel to its enemy was a war crime which is, on its face, ridiculous.
Here is a transcript for the October 13 show:
CNN News Central
10/13/2023
2:39 PM ET
NADA BASHIR: Hamas leaders have called on civilians to remain steadfast, and stay put, accusing Israel of engaging in psychological warfare. But families desperate for some semblance of security gather their belongings. And while they are unsure of what awaits them in the south, one thing is clear, there is no guarantee of safety wherever you are in Gaza.
BASHIR [TRANSLATING UNIDENTIFIED MALE]: It happened to our grandfathers, and now it is happening to us. We are being forced out. Gaza is being destroyed. Nothing is left. It is a catastrophe.
BASHIR: More than 2 million people live in a tiny besieged Gaza Strip. Still under a blockade enforced by Israel in 2007, more than half of those are now being told to move. The Norwegian Refugee Council characterized the evacuation order which holds no guarantee of safe return as an act of forcible transfer. In other words, a war crime. Meanwhile, the U.N.'s Refugee Agency for Palestine says the scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone chilling.
TAMARA ALRIFAI: There are more than 1.4 million people in Gaza. These are ordinary Palestinians, who live in the Gaza Strip, with their families, including pregnant women, children, children with disabilities.
