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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Israel’s Channel 2 interview with colonel Richard Kemp on the Gaza conflict





Colonel Richard Kemp:

No other army in the world has ever done more than Israel is doing now to save the lives of innocent civilians in a combat zone.  And people like Ban Ki-moon or President Obama or other world leaders who tell Israel they should do more - perhaps Israel should ask them what more they can do?

Islamist extremists around the world use very similar tactics. We’ve seen young boys being given hand grenades to throw at British soldiers with the intention that because they are young boys the soldier won’t shoot so the attacker would be able to do so without being killed himself. On the other hand, if they do shoot that is a propaganda victory for the Taliban.

Many British citizens, civilians, are influenced a great deal by Hamas propaganda, indirectly normally, but also by the way complex subjects are portrayed in the media and incidentally the media in some cases bare responsibility for the killing that is taking place because they are themselves projecting Hamas’s desire at propaganda and that is causing the conflict to continue. So, in some respect irresponsible media have some responsibility.  And the majority of the British public are taken in by the influence of the media in this respect. There is a difference in the attitude if you talk to a British soldier or a former British soldier. Because British soldiers have fought this kind of enemy, exactly this kind of enemy in Afghanistan and in Iraq. British soldiers understand what Israelis doing and support what Israel is doing on the whole.

Question: Do you think the IDF in the end of this conflict can make Hamas surrender?

Colonel Richard Kemp:

Inevitably, Israel’s inexorable military force driving in trough Gaza will lead to the surrender of Hamas. Unfortunately, it will cost quite a large  number of Israeli soldiers' lives. Of course, whether that happens depends on pressure from the international community, the plans of the IDF and the Prime Minster of Israel, whether or not there is a ceasefire of some sort before Hamas is completely defeated.