23-Feb-15: Dam!

Flooding in a Gazan urban street: Not this week, and not because of any
Israeli dams (there are none in the area) but because of heavy rain in November 2014
and chronic Hamas municipal malfeasance [Image Source]

The "independent" Palestinian Arab news agency Ma'an (about whom we had some comments just a few hours ago) ran this story as its main lead during the evening hours yesterday (Sunday):

Hundreds of Palestinians were evacuated from their homes Sunday morning after Israeli authorities opened a number of dams near the border, flooding the Gaza Valley in the wake of a recent severe winter storm.

Aljazeera ran with a similar report, as did Agence France-Presse, the Chinese Xinhua news agency, Russia's RT and Egypt's al-Akhbar. All quoted Gaza ministries as their source. None of them named or located the dams. Not one of them said a reporter of theirs saw anything to confirm the central claim. But all were able to report that this was malicious and intended to increase Gazan suffering.

It's not the first year we are hearing of un-named Zionist dams that are opened at precisely the same time as torrential rains wash through Gaza's under-invested, sewer-deficient communities bringing havoc in their wake. See "How Hamas used the weather to defame Israel" from last winter, as an instance.

There were also torrential rains in the area at the start of the winter, just a few weeks ago. The reliably hostile UNRWA published reports [here] about the damage at that time, along with appeals for more help, without once mentioning an Israeli hand in the disaster. That's because there was none. Of course, it might have been helpful if they had said what they know about Hamas' chronic and deliberate failure to improve infrastructure, facilities and life for the unfortunate Gazan population living under their rule. But that kind of thing is not in UNRWA's charter.

As for the notorious "Gaza Valley", does anyone out there know where in the narrow coastal plain it's located? And if we can ask that question, why can't the lazy editors at those news outlets? They are at least as culpable as the thugs inside Hamas are.

For the record, Honest Reporting sought and got a relevant quote this morning from a respectable Israeli source, the Spokesperson’s Office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT):

The claim is entirely false, and southern Israel does not have any dams. Due to the recent rain, streams were flooded throughout the region with no connection to actions taken by the State of Israel. Prior to the storm, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories allowed the transfer of four water pumps belonging to the Palestinian Water Authority from Israel into Gaza to supplement the 13 pumps already in the Gaza Strip in dealing with any potential flooding throughout the area.

Stand by to see those newsagencies listed above promptly issue a prominent correction, and express thanks to COGAT for relieving widespread regional concerns about malicious Zionist use of attack-dams.

Kidding aside, shouldn't they?