'Human Shields' is a Propaganda Term to Endorse Military Attacks on Civilians
Benny Morris gave the game away. The Israeli historian and staunch Zionist, a professor emeritus at Ben-Gurion University, recently wrote an op-ed for The New York Times in which he endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned invasion of Rafah. While attempting to distance himself from Netanyahu, Morris supports the Israeli prime minster’s intended attack to “conquer” Rafah.
In backing this invasion—which as Fred Weston notes would kill thousands of civilians on a scale dwarfing the accumulated death toll in six months of Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza—Morris uses revealing language. Netanyahu, he says, “is right that it’s crucial for Israel to conquer Rafah and destroy the Hamas battalions ensconced in that city at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, protected by a human shield of some 1.4 million residents and refugees from the north.” (Emphasis mine.)
“Human shields” is a propaganda term used to excuse the killing of civilians and to transfer responsibility for those deaths onto one’s enemies. Israel and its supporters claim that Hamas, Hezbollah, etc. are uniquely wicked and evil due to their alleged willingness to use civilians as “human shields”. The implication is that when Israel commits war crimes and kills civilians by attacking hospitals, ambulances, schools, churches, residences, etc. in Gaza and elsewhere, it has no other choice because Hamas uses civilians as “human shields”.
It’s worth comparing “human shields” to another propaganda term used to dismiss the killing of civilians: “collateral damage”. Where “collateral damage” implies that civilian deaths are a regrettable but necessary part of war, “human shields” not only excuses a military killing civilians, but blames those deaths on the enemy force. Say what you will about Zionists, but they are skilled at propaganda. “Human shields” defends the targeting of civilians while purporting to offer evidence of the enemy’s uniquely evil disregard for human life. It’s a jaw-dropping inversion of reality in true Orwellian style.
Morris’s column is a perfect example, notable for the scale by which it employs the “human shields” propaganda. Hamas, Morris says, is allegedly using 1.4 million people as “human shields”. These 1.4 million starving people, remember, consist in large part of Palestinians who fled to Rafah from Israel’s indiscriminate assault that levelled most of Gaza. Morris acknowledges that an invasion of Rafah will result in many more civilian casualties:
Of course, there are formidable reasons for Israel to refrain from invading Rafah. First, above all, is that human shield. Assaulting Rafah will inevitably cause many civilian casualties, despite assurances by Israel that it will move the civilians out of harm’s way before launching the offensive. The civilian toll in the prospective Rafah assault will come on top of the estimated 33,000 dead cited by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry (which number includes the more than 12,000 Hamas fighters the Israeli military claims to have killed these past six months). Many of those were killed in ground offensives in Gaza City and Khan Younis to the north.
The additional civilian casualties and the attendant further disruption of humanitarian aid through the Egypt-Gaza border will ratchet up condemnation of Israel’s conduct by its Western allies, led by the United States. The threat of international sanctions is already on the table.
Note how Morris uses “human shield” rhetoric to portray Israel as the victim in the event that it invades Rafah and kills thousands more Palestinian men, women and children—“despite assurances by Israel that it will move the civilians out of harm’s way before launching the offensive,” he adds. Why should anyone believe a word Israel says? The Zionist state is founded on lies. Israeli officials lie about everything as a matter of course. Even CNN had to acknowledge that Israel lied about its role in the flour massacre. Israeli “assurances” mean nothing.
Morris also tries to cast doubt on the figure of tens of thousands of Palestinians already killed by Israel by referring to these as estimates from the “Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry”. Why should we—as Morris does—place any more trust in the word of the Israeli state than in the Gaza Health Ministry? The historian says the Palestinian death toll includes “more than 12,000 Hamas fighters”, citing as proof only the claims of the Israeli military which routinely lies. Recall that the IDF considers any male of “fighting age”, i.e. men between the ages of 18 and 60, to be a combatant. There is no reason whatsoever to believe IDF claims that all of those 12,000 killed are “Hamas fighters”.
Finally, Morris bemoans the fact that should Israel invade Rafah, the resulting civilian casualties and “further disruption of humanitarian aid”—aid, Morris does not mention, that Israel had prevented from entering Gaza lest it ease their deliberate mass starvation of Palestinians—would “ratchet up condemnation of Israel’s conduct, led by the United States.” Poor Israel, always the victim! It can’t even carry out a genocidal assault on a defenseless starving population without receiving condemnation. Apparently Morris includes as “condemnation” the empty words of Western imperialists, who occasionally profess concern about civilian deaths even as they continue to provide endless political and military support to Israel.
Morris’s column is a perfect example of Zionist dishonesty and falsehoods. By printing it, The New York Times—leading propaganda organ of U.S. imperialism—tacitly endorses Netanyahu’s planned invasion of Rafah. Don’t fall for the “human shields” rhetoric: the blood of Palestinians is on the hands of Israel, its imperialist allies, and the capitalist media that supports this genocide in Gaza.