Late on 23 December 2023, at 11:23pm GMT, the Times of Israel published an article claiming that the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had blamed Israel for the ICRC’s lack of access to the Israeli hostages kidnapped by HAMAS on October 7, portraying her as intentionally dragging her heels until “Israel must first deal with the demands of the HAMAS terror group,” as the article’s subheading put it.
The original headline stated “Red Cross chief says Israel shares responsibility for blocked access to hostages”, with the subheading claiming “Amid criticism that her organization has done little to press for visits to hostages, Mirjana Spoljaric insists Israel must first deal with the demands of the Hamas terror group.“
By the following day, the article had been changed to remove the gross misrepresentation of what Spoljaric had actually said, “Red Cross chief: Israel must work out with Hamas our lack of access to hostages”, with the subheading now readings, “Amid criticism that her organization has done little to help abductees, Mirjana Spoljaric insists Jerusalem needs to sort out terror group’s demands before ICRC can do its work“:
Here are both headers presented side by side:
The source of the interview was Israel’s Channel 12 News:
The anchor, Dana Weiss, who interviews ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric is hostile at times and the interview is edited at a few points, removing any response to some of Weiss’s editorializing conclusions following her answers.
The interview takes place at a point in time where Israel is investing considerable efforts to delegitimize all of the international humanitarian organizations that deal with the Palestinians—the UN, UNRWA, WHO, the ICRC—all are being subjected to a barrage of Israeli demonization, with claims that the organizations are “run by HAMAS” or are “pro-HAMAS” being leveled by Israeli politicians, including the prime minister, and through official Israel government channels.
You can see this context seeping into the argumentative and strident tone of anchor Dana Weiss. A footnote at the end of this article offers examples from official Israeli sources and spokespeople.
From reading recent reports in the media, the status of the Israeli hostages held by HAMAS is one of limbo. HAMAS is refusing to grant the ICRC access to visit them while Israeli bombs continue to drop. There is nothing that can be done by the ICRC about that HAMAS position. Israel, for its part, is refusing to stop bombing or negotiate with HAMAS unless it “surrenders”. There is nothing that can be done by the ICRC about that Israeli position. This is the entrenched place that both sides currently inhabit. This is not within the power of the ICRC to resolve.
The Times of Israel certainly had to walk back the article, reframing the headers dramatically, as shown above. As well as the headers, other text at the beginning of the article was changed so much as to completely change the blame-laced introduction to the article. The following are text comparisons of the beginning of the article:
As you can see, not that much has been altered—apart from the entire accusation present in its first draft vanishing.
In the first paragraph, which originally made the baseless claim that the ICRC had ‘refused to pressure HAMAS’ for access to the hostages. The update recasts that assertion as an Israeli perception (“it’s ostensible lack of pressure”).
The second paragraph simply saw a more professional edit that shifts the tone away from personalizing language.
The main change of meaning in the third paragraph is subtle but now reflects, albeit very quietly, the reality that Israel is currently refusing to even negotiate with HAMAS, not even “addressing” HAMAS, never mind having “dealt with” the HAMAS demand to stop bombing.
A helpful decoding tool for interpreting Israeli statements is to imagine them spoken by an angry, maladjusted teenager, determined to do the opposite of what you say and hair trigger-ready to blame you—and anything or anyone else—for any of its behavior you criticize. Once you grasp and internalize this perception, Israeli public statements start to make a lot more sense.
In its 75 years of existence, Israel has never had to grow up and join what exists of the civilized world. Its adoptive parent, the United States, has spoiled it to the point of genocidal entitlement and, despite being the main force underwriting its death-dealing and misery-dealing lifestyle, not only has it never corrected this rogue teenage state, but additionally and regularly prevents any of the other adults in the room from doing the same.
The United States’ history of vetoing or watering down every single UN resolution attempting to rein Israel in—no matter how abhorrent its behavior—would be one perfect example.
What the Times of Israel had to add to its revised article
Also telling is the text the Times of Israel had to add to remedy its hit piece on the ICRC. Not included in the first version, the following 164 words of text was added to the revised article:
A spokeswoman for the ICRC later added: “Unfortunately, despite all our attempts, we have not yet received the green light from all involved to visit the hostages… This is an active conflict zone, and we cannot simply force our way into locations we do not know in the face of such a situation.”
Spoljaric took issue with the characterization of her organization by some as a chauffeur service, saying the releases of hostages were dangerous and complicated.“
If it were just Uber we would see Uber cars going back and forth. It’s not possible, these are life-saving operations. They are highly dangerous. There are hundreds if not thousands of people in the street. Anything can happen during these release operations, they have to be very carefully planned.”
Some freed hostages have described their ferrying by the Red Cross as among the most frightening moments of their entire ordeal, with masses of Palestinians crowding and jeering around the vehicles and little protection on offer.
The Times of Israel had grossly overlooked the dangers surrounding hostage releases, minimized by some Israeli politicians and medias as a straightforward taxi service.
Israel’s hostility towards international humanitarian organizations is understandable, if unmerited. In a situation where Israel has banned journalists entirely from entering the Gaza Strip to report on the situation there, bar PR tours for useful mainstream media idiots utilized to craft stories about invented HAMAS tunnels connected to hospitals, the international humanitarian organizations are the main source for information about the realities happening on the ground. And none of that is good press for Israel.
There’s an even darker reason too, if the international humanitarian organizations are disengaged from Gaza through defunding, the Palestinians in Gaza currently facing famine, will die quicker. Don’t imagine for one minute that the country that just leveled much of Gaza with indiscriminate, massive bombing campaigns, and killed those it told to flee where they fled, hasn’t also thought this scenario through. Israel worships at the altar of the Deity of Calculation. It will not be able to argue its innocence after when the dust settles in Gaza and international media and organizations regain access to the Gaza Strip to see from themselves.
Footnote: Examples of Israeli efforts to isolate and disengage international humanitarian organizations through demonization
Targeting of ICRC by shifting blame onto the ICRC for Israel’s non efforts to release hostages by negotiations
Targeting of the United Nations and UN Secretary-General António Guterres
Targeting of the World Health Organization
TARGETING OF UNRWA
UNRWA PRESS RELEASE: SPREADING UNSUBSTANTIATED CLAIMS ABOUT UNRWA MUST IMMEDIATELY STOP (1 December 2023)
Read the full press release here: https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/spreading-unsubstantiated-claims-about-unrwa-must-immediately-stop
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Scottish OG from the time of the First Intifada and the birth of the international movement of solidarity with the Palestinian people • Former Friends of Birzeit University Coordinator • Birzeit University Public Relations Officer • Cofounder and Editor of the original Electronic Intifada website • Creator of countless websites for pro-Palestinian organizations around the world via nigelparry.net
