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VOL. V NO. 1, January 02-January 15, 2009

Arabs Debate over Hamas' Responsability While the IDF Goes on YouTube

The Israeli airstrikes against Hamas targets in Gaza, which have killed more than 300 Palestinians, have created an uproar across the Arab world with some comparing the attacks to a genocide, according to Kuwait Times. National Assembly Speaker Jassem Mohammad Al-Kharafi said in a statement to KUNA, "This aggression represents a genocide against unarmed and besieged people… especially as the attacks came during religious occasions of both Muslims and Christians."

Leaders of the Assembly believe that Israel is singlehandedly responsible for the breakdown and failure of peace negotiations, and consequently should be coerced into taking responsibility for its actions, while others contend that military intervention may be necessary.

The Arab League singled out Israel for blame, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference accused it of a "war crime" for not protecting the lives of civilians. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in a statement that "Egypt condemns the Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip and blames Israel, as an occupying force, for the victims and the wounded"

Muslim nations angrily condemned Israel over air attacks on the Gaza Strip while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon deplored the violence. Rallies and protests took place all over the Arab world too.

However, Egypt's ruling party accused the Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas on Wednesday of adventurism, irresponsibility and ignoring Egyptian advice on Gaza, reports Reuters. The National Democratic Party (NDP) declared in a statement, "The Hamas movement has thwarted all attempts to achieve Palestinian national unity and has not accepted repeated Egyptian advice on the importance of maintaining the truce (with Israel)."

The statement went beyond criticism of Hamas by the government, which has said that it gave repeated warnings before Israel attacked last Saturday and that those who ignore warnings have only themselves to blame for the consequences.

"The Hamas leadership has been dragged behind delusional promises by parties and quarters who have contributed to the Palestinian cause only words and slogans," it added.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has chosen to broadcast the airstrikes and operation on YouTube, reports the Jerusalem Post. "The blogosphere and new media are another war zone," said IDF Foreign Press Branch head Maj. Avital Leibovich, "We have to be relevant there." The news site comments that the IDF’s media strategy is intended to avoid Israel's lack of readiness for intense media coverage as happened in 2006 during the Second Lebanon War.

Some of the footage aired on YouTube might be considered disturbing, according to the Jerusalem Post, such as one video that depicts men loading rockets onto a pickup truck, to be driven to the border and launched into Israel. Leibovich's YouTube initiative is another piece of the new media offensive, she explains, "The intelligent audience watching the footage will know that people killed did not have peaceful intentions toward Israel. I don't believe they'll be disturbed."

"The important thing is to get the truth out there," she added, noting that her office, in addition to curating the YouTube channel, had delivered multiple private briefings to bloggers around the world. Members of the IDF's various foreign desks intend to use these vlogs to discuss a number of aspects of the conflict, in both English and Arabic, in a personal setting that they hope will overcome what they perceive as "the stiffness of television news."