In the early hours of Wednesday morning Israeli fighter jets reportedly launched missiles from the occupied Golan Heights towards Damascus, Syria. But what followed revealed the extent to which false Israel propaganda about “self defense” is perpetuated across Western media.
Following an unprovoked initial attack on Damascus, reports began to emerge around 1:10 AM (local time) of a missile having landed inside Israeli territory. Air raid sirens were sounded in Um al-Fahm, populated by primarily Palestinian citizens of Israel, whilst ambulances were filmed from residents windows rushing to the scene. North of Jenin, remnants of a Syrian missile were photographed and Israel had announced that a Syrian surface-to-air missile had accidentally crossed into Israeli territory and exploded in mid air.
It is unclear wether the surface-to-air missile had indeed exploded in the air or hit the surface and where exactly it exploded. Contrary to the downplaying of the missiles explosion by the Israeli military, an explosion was reported to have been heard close to its landing site. If Israel were downplaying the missiles impact, it would likely be due to the fact that it travelled through to the centre point of the country un-intercepted, showing Israeli air defense systems to have failed.
What then ensued was a second Israeli attack on Damascus, Syria, killing 1 Syrian soldier and injuring 5 others. Israel then released the following statement on its official military twitter handle:
“In response to the anti-aircraft missile launched from Syria earlier tonight, we just struck surface-to-air missile targets in Syria, including radar & anti-aircraft batteries.”
Unlike was actually the case — that Israel launched an unprovoked strike on Syrian territory and when Syria acted in self-defense Israel struck again causing a death and injuries — Western media ran with “Israel responds” to a Syrian surface-to-air missile headlines.
So apparently now Israel has the right to bombard Syria without any provocation from the Syrian side, then when Syria takes action to defend itself with defensive weaponry, it is an Israeli right of “self defense” to defend against self defense? It really flips logical consistency on its head, to say the least. Yet Western media act none the wiser.
Israel has launched hundreds of unprovoked strikes on Syrian territory, often targeting Syrian military sites and occasionally weapons storage facilities belonging to Syrian allied armed groups, such as Hezbollah. Yet this action is a clear violation of international law, and despite it threatening to open up a new war in the Middle East at any time, the United Nations as well as Western governments remain completely silent and inactive. But the second Israel comes under attack in retaliation for their offensive actions, the Western world’s media cries for the “only democracy in the Middle East”.
What is most striking about Israel’s offensive actions taken against Syria, is that they also have taken place against the backdrop of their earlier assassination of three young Palestinian men in Nablus earlier this Tuesday. Israel often looks to assert its dominance regionally and to look strong for its own civilian population, this could especially be the case now as positivity seems to be emerging from the continuation of talks in Vienna designed to revive the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal.
Israel clearly seeks for the United States to remain outside the Nuclear Deal and wants Iran to suffer under sanctions, this especially being down to Tehran backing Hamas, Hezbollah, the Syrian government, and other anti-Israel forces in the region. Israel has threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, even if Washington and its European allies agree on a path to come back into compliance with the Nuclear Deal. But in the absence of Israel possessing any means of preventing a crushing Iranian response to any attack on the Islamic Republic, it is likely that Israel is now lashing out in order to appease its own population. This may be why Israel has used such dirty and provocative tactics this week against its enemies, it could well be part of a strategy to come off strong in the face of any positive developments in Vienna. But, unfortunately, for Israel to feel strong, that means that Arabs have to die.
What is perhaps most telling is that Israel pursued action in Syria, this Wednesday, which was purely offensive in nature. Yet, as clear as that is, the media in the Western world saw fit to still present Israel as the victim which had acted in “self defense.” Just another example of why more and more people are turning away from mainstream news outlets, due to their continued lack of credibility.
