Soccer Dad

Gaza "Civilian" of the day

The top image (click to enlarge) is a screen-shot of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights listing of Gaza casualties, showing the listing for Ahmed Hani Ahmed Qannou'a which identifies him as a policeman. The second image is from a site that calls him a "Martyr Al Qassam," presumably referring to the Izzadin Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Does this mean that PCHR is outright lying? It is hard to say. Ahmed Hani perhaps did have some sort of police title (other pictures from the site show him in a spiffy uniform) although that doesn't necessarily mean much. The LA Times observed in January:

Hamas, the militant group that has controlled Gaza since mid-2007, has an estimated 20,000-strong security force composed of police; Protection and Security, a unit similar to the U.S. Secret Service; and Internal Security, an intelligence and interrogation squad with a rising reputation for brutality.

Many security force members moonlight with the Izzidin al-Qassam Brigade . . .

This post was made possible by the extremely important work currently being done by EOZ and PT Watch. They are the ones (now that PCHR's statistics have been widely and uncritically disseminated by the mainstream media) who have been checking PCHR's list against Palestinian news sites and sites that memorialize "martyrs." If you have a blog which covers the Middle East or Israel, please link to them.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Posted by Judeopundit at April 19, 2009 2:44 PM