Monday, June 6, 2011

Naksa Day: Israel Responds to Syrian Casualty Figures

In response to the claims of Syrian Health Minister Wael al-Halki that 23 persons storming Israel's border with Syria yesterday were killed, and 350 were wounded, in commemoration of Yawm an-Naksa, i.e. the "day of the setback," referring to the 1967 Six Day War, Israel finally got around to responding (http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=223886):

"[Israeli Defense Minister] Barak told Israel Radio that he believed the death count was under 20.

The Army said that at least eight protesters who died in Naksa Day border clashes were killed by land mines that exploded on the Syrian side of the border, after the rioters threw gasoline bombs, which exploded in a field, starting a fire that then set off the mines."

Israel still hasn't learned that this is a "real-time" world, and this highly relevant information should have been conveyed to the media much earlier.

2 comments:

  1. Certainly Israel needs to better in the public relations sphere. Assad's regime in Syria has paid people to protest in order to focus hatred on Israel and distract from his own internal problems, and sadly it seems to have worked. The reason death tolls cannot be confirmed is that Syria has already expelled foreign journalists. To understand the nature of the incident, please read "The Real Meaning of 'Naksa' Day" at my website, Democracy Standard.

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  2. Mines are generally underground, and won't be set off by fire. More plausibly, they stepped on the mines. The Syrians apparently sent them through the minefield to the border. Anything to make a few "innocent" victims.

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