Hamas, hate and humanitarianism

Robert Mackey writes about an ad that Hamas released implicitly threatening to kill Gilad Schalit.

The video, which was posted on the Web site of the Hamas Qassam Brigades and on YouTube, uses the real voice of the captured solider — from a previously released “proof of life” video — over a computer-generated animation that shows his father wandering forlorn past billboards showing statements from Israeli leaders promising to free his son.

At the end of the video, the elder Mr. Shalit is shown witnessing the return of his son’s coffin — before waking with a scream to realize that this scene had just been a bad dream and his son is still alive. The video then ends with the words, “There is still hope.”

It’s odd the way Mackey portrays the release of the video; he notes that a leader of Hamas, Mahmoud Zahar objected to the video.

On Monday, the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency reported, Mr. Zahar said the video’s implied threat “does not reflect the official position of the Hamas government.” He added: “We do not kill Israeli soldiers who are prisoners … our morals and religion forbid us to do so.”

Israelly Cool is skeptical.

Mackey somehow fails to note that Israel allowed the daughter of a Hamas minister to receive medical treatment in Jordan.

But Hamas objected when Reuters published a paid advertisement asking for information leading to the freeing of Israeli prisoners.

Brothers of Judea share the Huffington Post love expressed for Gilad Schalit.

Why does Mackey see fit to emphasize the dubious protest of Zahar and fail to mention the very real humanitarianism of Israel?

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.