Eight-year-old “Amir” is in surprisingly good health for someone reported to have been murdered in a hail of bullets by Israeli soldiers. Fox News found him alive and kicking, some four months after reports of his tragic death at a Gaza Humanitarian Food distribution center.
Fearing Hamas might harm him because his miraculous continued existence gets in the way of its carefully cultivated narrative, “Amir” and his mother have been extricated from Gaza to a safe, undisclosed location.
Fox managed to identify the boy – and give him his correct name, Abdul Rahim Muhammad Hamden, or Abboud for short – when he visited the food distribution point last month. The GHF, it should be noted, was established with US backing and Israeli help to supplement the UN-sponsored food distribution system, where much of the food is stolen and sold by Hamas.
Retired Green Beret Lt.-Col. Anthony Aguilar claimed he saw “Amir” being shot dead by IDF soldiers at a GHF aid site in May. It was one of those heartbreaking stories of the tragedy in Gaza that fuels protests worldwide – a dead child, killed by Israelis as he struggled to get food in a famine-hit area. Except it was a lie.
When Aguilar told the sad story to the BBC – after he had been fired – the GHF described him as a “disgruntled contractor,” but there were many who believed him. Many probably still do.
It’s not easy to kill a lie, and this is one of many such distortions and blood libels. Twenty-five years ago, the iconic image of 12-year-old Muhammad al-Dura being shot (and presumed killed) as he took cover with his father sparked worldwide protests after it was blamed on Israel, although a later Israeli investigation indicated that he had been caught in crossfire and was likely hit by a Palestinian bullet.
THE STORY of “Amir” is part of a carefully constructed narrative chain. It joins the photos of “starving” children, who turned out to be suffering from illnesses and medical conditions, some of them being treated in hospitals abroad (facilitated by Israeli help.)
The image of skeletal Gazan children still abounds – although the photos of their near-naked bodies on the front page of multiple newspapers is itself a form of child abuse and exploitation.
The demise of “Amir” also fits in with the now discredited report by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS). It turns out that the “specialists” included anyone who paid membership dues to the society, for as little as $30, including activists. It has been noted that only 28% of the 500 members bothered to vote on the report, deliberately drawn up with an anti-Israel slant.
Izabella Tabarovsky
Writer and researcher Izabella Tabarovsky posted on Facebook last week that she was among the more than 480 scholars, many world-renowned, who signed a letter calling on IAGS to withdraw its resolution accusing Israel of genocide, adopted “amid misapplication of law and history.”
“The letter shows that the IAGS resolution is not only a perversion of truth, history, law, and public trust but an abdication of responsibility,” Tabarovsky wrote.
The letter states: “Genocide is the gravest offense known to humankind; to dilute its legal standards for ideological ends is a form of moral violence. It dishonors the memory of past victims, misleads the public about present atrocities, and obstructs efforts to avert future ones.
“On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded Israel and acted with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, Jews and Israelis, as a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such. Further, Hamas and its allied organizations took innocent people hostage and continue to hold hostages.
“Thus, Hamas committed the crime of genocide and remains the only party to legally meet the requirements of the elements of the crime of genocide.
“It is undoubtedly true that the war in Gaza has harmed a large number of people who would not have been harmed or killed but for this war. It is understood from available information that the death toll includes those who have been killed by both Israel and Hamas
“It is further understood that hamas has utilized the practice of human shielding as a systematic strategy to attempt to immunize itself from harm and to increase the harm of palestinian civilians. This is a war crime committed by hamas against the palestinian people in gaza.
“The iags resolution imparts that all of the deaths that have occurred in gaza are a result of israel’s conduct, and acts as a means to excuse hamas from having agency for its own actions.”
It’s worth reading the letter in its entirety for a well-reasoned rebuttal to the genocide fabrication.
The genocide report merges with the UN-sponsored “famine” report, in which the measurements were manipulated in order to blame Israel. As Israel’s Foreign Ministry pointed out, the figures, which ultimately are based on data provided by Hamas, were adjusted to create the impression of a higher mortality rate, and instead of using standard weight-for-height surveys to diagnose acute malnutrition, the reports relied on measuring mid-upper arm circumference, thus any naturally skinny child could be classed as malnourished.
These reports aren’t drawn up in a vacuum; they are part of a carefully orchestrated campaign that includes the “apartheid” reports by the UN and various NGOs that adjust the definition to be able to include Israel, and the campaign blasting Israel for killing “journalists,” who happen to be active Hamas terrorists.
In this context, it should be noted that Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida, who was eliminated in an Israeli air strike on August 30, played an active role in engineering the public consciousness campaigns against Israel, and the psychological warfare that exploits the starving and abused hostages in Gaza.
Don’t cry for Abu Obeida, or any Hamas terrorists knocked out by Israel in Qatar this week. Save your tears for their victims – Israelis, Gazans, and the hostages who include foreign citizens.
If you are wondering what the face of evil looks like, look no further than Mahmoud Afana, who was finally killed in a targeted attack by Israel last week. Afana was one of the thousands of Hamas terrorists who participated in the invasion and mega-atrocity on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 were murdered and 251 kidnapped to Gaza.
He gained a particular notoriety as he was filmed calling his parents in Gaza to boast of killing 10 Jews “with my own hands! Your son killed Jews!” He used the phone of one of his victims, a young woman on a kibbutz, to tell his parents they could be proud of him and told them to look at his WhatsApp to see what he had done.
The terrorists themselves filmed and live-streamed the barbaric attacks and slaughter. The Hamas leadership in Qatar praised the massacre and promised “more October 7s.”
Israelis need not look far to see the ongoing effects of these psychological manipulation campaigns aimed at blackening the name of the Jewish state. On Monday, two terrorists opened fire on a bus at Jerusalem’s busy Ramot Junction, killing six people, including 79-year-old Dr. Mordechai (Mark) Steintzag and 60-year-old Sarah Mendelson, and wounded more than 20, including a woman nine months pregnant.
Social media immediately filled with claims that they were “soldiers” or “settlers” or somehow perversely deserved to die just for being Israelis and Jews.
Also on Monday, four soldiers were killed when terrorists opened fire and threw an explosive device into their tank in northern Gaza. For some Israelis, their deaths were seen as an added reason to end the war and withdraw immediately; others note the proximity of the site of the attack to the border with Israel and wonder how safe residents can feel if terrorists can get that close to their communities.
There is a self-perpetuating cycle of disinformation and deception: Truth be damned, Israel be damned. The media repeat the chants of brainwashed pro-Palestinian protesters and turn them into news headlines, preferring Hamas’s narrative to the voice of its victims.
When Israel is obsessively, falsely, accused of “genocide,” “apartheid,” “killing children,” and other evils, it creates a climate that not only leads to more antisemitism and bloodshed but also works to justify it.
Unlike the case of “Amir,” there can be no happy ending. Israeli victims of jihadist terror will remain dead. May their memories be blessed.