CAMERA overplays its hand a bit, but this part about the rockets is very bad. I’ll quote the relevant part at length, but I credit CAMERA for it:
Downplays Rocket Attacks
Abood also downplays the physical threat and psychological impact of rockets fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip.
In his presentation, Abood reports that Qassam rockets are “non-exploding.”
This is simply false.
Qassam rockets, which have been fired into Israel on a regular basis since 2001, carry explosive warheads and do explode. In an August 2009 report, Human Rights Watch stated that the warhead of a Qassam rocket “consists of a metal shell containing an explosive made from urea nitrate, found in fertilizers, and TNT. The fuse comes from a small arms cartridge.” HRW also stated in this report that the rockets have a maximum range of 10 kilometers and carry a payload of “up to 20 kilograms.”
Moreover, Abood makes no reference to other rocket designs such as the Grad rocket, which can carry a warhead of up to 28 kilograms. HRW reports that one version of the Grad rocket “can be augmented with a blast fragmentation warhead containing 4,000 steel balls, which can be lethal over a radius of about 100 meters.”
In addition to falsely reporting that Qassam rockets are “non-exploding,” Abood cites an unnamed report from the Israeli organization B’Tselem that indicate that Palestinian rockets kill “two to three people a year.” He continues:
So one important thing to remember about the violence is that it’s a very small percentage of what happens there, which is one of the reasons why tens of thousands of pilgrims can go safely every year to the Holy Land because the violence is so isolated, even though it makes the headlines all the time.”
The number of deaths caused by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip provided by Abood is incorrect. Below are the correct figures of deaths caused by rockets from the Gaza Strip for the past few years. (The figures are provided by the IDF)
2006: 9 killed, 371 injured.
2007: 10 killed, 578 injured.
2008: 15 killed, 611 injured.
2009: 2 killed, 11 injured
2010: 5 killed, 35 injured.
2011: 3 killed, 81 injured.
2012: 6 killed, 284 injured
Minimizing the number of deaths (and omitting the injuries altogether) is bad enough, but Abood’s description of the violence against Israel as a “small percentage of what happens here” and as “isolated” is outrageous and irresponsible.
More than one million Israelis live within range of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. These Israelis have been terrorized for years as a result of rockets and mortar rounds being launched from the Gaza Strip. These rockets are fired from territory controlled by Hamas, an organization that has repeatedly declared its intention to destroy Israel, a fact that Abood does not mention during the presentation.
The violence is not “isolated” as Abood describes it. Children living in places like Ashkelon (population 118,000), Sderot (pop. 21,000) are experiencing nightmares because of the rocket attacks. The Human Rights Watch report cited above says the following about these rocket attacks:
The rocket attacks have caused civilian casualties and property damage. Civilian structures damaged in recent attacks include a kindergarten, a synagogue and private homes. An Israeli early warning siren system, which gives civilians roughly 10 to 45 seconds to find cover in prepared shelters, depending on their distance from the launch site in Gaza, has undoubtedly limited the number of civilian casualties. However, the repeated attacks have, over months and even years, taken a psychological toll on the population in areas close to Gaza. The laws of war prohibit attacks the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population. Because of the rocket attacks, thousands of people have moved away from frequently targeted areas such as Sderot municipality. (Emphasis added.)
Abood’s failure to acknowledge this reality is inexcusable and unjust.
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Frank says: