USA Today Notes What Other Media Miss—First Anniversary of Operation Protective Edge

Writing in USA Today, Michele Chabin (“Guard still up, one year later,” July 8, 2015) covers the one-year anniversary of the summer 2014 Hamas-initiated war in Gaza. The article reminds readers of the haunting after-effects of the conflict, designated Operation Protective Edge by the Israeli military, for Israeli civilians and of ongoing security concerns.

Chabin covers the trauma inflicted upon southern Israeli communities faced with mortar and rocket fire by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups and Hamas tunnels infiltrating the region. A year after last summer’s war, she notes how children in Kibbutz Nirim begin “running and crying” at the sound of explosions 18 miles away from the village—created by a battle between ISIS-affiliated (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) gunmen and Egyptian forces in the Sinai Peninsula.

Observing efforts to counter the trauma, she notes that border communities have worked to ensure that “all children and adults have access to counseling” and that every home now has a room “reinforced against rockets.” Yet, the traumatic memories of the war—including two Kibbutz Nirim residents killed in its very last hour—have left a fearful impression.

USA Today reports Israeli concerns over another possible Hamas attack. The discovery during the war—and subsequent destruction—of 34 cross-border terror tunnels intended to be used by Palestinian terrorists leave Israeli communities “bracing for the next conflict.” According to Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Maj. Aryeh Shalicar, the tunnels are “Hamas’ top priority” and cost between $2-3 million each to construct with electrical and communications wiring.

Some other major news media failed to report the war’s anniversary and its after-effects. Neither The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, or The New York Times allotted space—although The New York Times did offer negative coverage of an Israeli trial of those charged with the murder of Palestinian teenager (“Agonizing Intimacy in the Courtroom as Israelis Are Tried in a Palestinian’s Murder,” July 7, 2015). And in recent weeks, all of these papers provided coverage of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s biased report on the war that falsely equated Hamas’ terrorist attacks, often using Gazan noncombatants as “human shields,” with IDF counter-terrorism, including the large ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

Reporting on the one year anniversary of the summer 2014 war in Gaza and describing the damage and remaining danger to Israeli communities provides an important reminder to readers of the cost of Hamas’ desire to fight and destroy the Jewish state. Other media missed an obvious “anniversary news peg” by not following USA Today’s example.-Sean Durns