Where was Annie Lennox?

Subject: Where was Annie Lennox?

Several demonstrations have taken place to protest Israel's attack against Hamas and other terror organizations in the Gaza Strip.

Most are led by pro-Palestinian supporters, and Muslims wordwide. Many are plainly anti-Israel, and possibly anti-Semitic, but they have recruited prominent but misguided public figures.

One ill informed spokesperson is singer Annie Lennox. No doubt she legitimately grieves for innocent civilians who have been killed or wounded in the recent fighting.
My question is where has she been up to know?

Where was Annie Lennox the last eight years when innocent Israelis have been bombarded by Palestinian missiles and mortars? Where was Annie Lennox when the children of Sderot, Ashkelon, Nahal Oz, have become shell-chocked from the rain of five thousand rockets?

Let's go back a little further. Where was Annie Lennox when the north and central Israel came under intensive attack from Hamas's big brother, Hizbollah?

The answer is she was silent. Not one word in support of the thousands of Israelis cowering from prolonged Islamic missile attacks over many years both from across our northern and southern borders. Not one word.

Now, when the Israeli Government, under duress from an angry population, strikes against the terror organizations that have been allowed to strengthen their weaponry and manpower, Annie Lennox finds her voice.

Annie Lennox is unable to differentiate between targeted civilians and active terrorists.

In June 2007 Hamas took over the Palestinian Authority's main compound in the north Gaza Strip in a bloody coup that killed many Fatah fighters. Over this incident Annie Lennox was silent. It was from this compound that Hamas terrorists set out in two vehicles to attack the Kerem Shalom Crossing (which is the main transit point for humanitarian supplies from Israel into the Gaza Strip) on 19th April, 2008. Their attack injured seven Israelis before the Hamas attackers were driven off by the IDF. Again, Miss Lennox held her tongue.
On 27 December this was one of the initial targets of the Israeli air force. The compound was destroyed and many Hamas personnel, not expecting an attack from Israel on the Shabbat, were killed.
Now Annie Lennox finds her voice.

Tel Zaatar in the Jabaliya district was transformed by Hamas into a military training base. It also became the main headquarters and weapons storage facility of the Izz al-Dinn al-Qassam Brigade, another Islamic terrorist organization that has lethally struck at innocent Israeli civilians and children.
This terror training center and weapons dump was totally destroyed by the Israeli air force killing numerous terrorists in the process.
Now Annie Lennox weeps.

The Al-Islam base in the northern Gaza Strip was the Palestinian Preventive Intelligence headquarters that was commandeered by Hamas in their civil war against Fatah.
It became the main building for the Hamas Executive Force. Many Palestinian Fatah prisoners were brought in for interrogation, torture, and execution by Hamas. It was also the offices of the special Hamas naval patrol.
This building was destroyed in the surprise air strike by Israel on 27 December killing many Hamas operatives.
This has upset Annie Lennox.

Hamas's main headquarters in the center of Gaza city was hit killing many Hamas terrorists.
Annie Lennox is now voicing her protest about the loss of life.

At Tel al-Hawa, south of Gaza city, is the Hamas security services headquarters and weapons storage facility. The Izz al-Dinn al-Qassam Brigade also stored weapons and vehicles, and had their offices there. No civilians lived in this compound. During fighting, Hamas snipers were positioned in the building, and rocket launchers were placed on the roof of the building.
The Israeli air attack destroyed this building killing many terrorists.
This has clearly caused Annie Lennox to side with the pro-Palestinian protesters.

The disproportionate killing of Islamic terrorists has forced Annie Lennox to find a voice that was silent when innocent Israelis endured decades of bombardment from the north and south.

The Gaza Strip was a prosperous region of peaceful agricultural and soft industry development at the time of the Israeli withdrawal. It has become a sprawling hotbed of Islamic radicalism and terror as the following (limited) picture gallery will display.

If Annie Lennox believes that innocent civilians have been indiscriminately or deliberately targeted, she should look at this limited list of
Palestinian casualties:

i) Tawfiq Jabber , chief of the Hamas police in Gaza City . In the past a trusted colleague of Arafat, during the past two years he was often attacked by Fatah for making it possible to suppress Fatah activists in the Gaza Strip.
Tawfiq Jabber (December 27, PALDF)
ii) Ismail al-Ja'abari , responsibility for Hamas's security and police defense services in Gaza . His role consisted mainly of providing protection for senior Hamas figures. He held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was appointed to his post by his brother, Ahmed al-Ja'abari, commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza , in June 2007 (Hamas's PALDF Forum, Al-Zeituna and Al-Jazeera TV forum website, December 28).
Ismail al-Ja'abari (Al-Jazeera TV forum website, December 28).
iii) Ten Popular Resistance Committees operatives, among them Muhammad al- Adgham, commander of the artillery unit . On December 28 the PRC website reported that he died in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City .
iv) Police officers' course cadets.
v) Ahmed ‘Ashur , governor of the Central Gazan District.
Most of the casualties either wore Hamas uniforms and carried its weapons or worked for it. According to Palestinian media reports, a small number of civilian were also injured because Hamas headquarters and bases were located in populated areas
Following are some examples of terrorist operatives killed in the attacks, taken from Palestinian websites:
a. In the poster which appears on the front page of the present Information Bulletin, there are photographs of 17 Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operatives killed in the attacks.
b. On December 27, the Popular Resistance Committees announced that ten operatives were killed, including Muhammad al-Adgham, the organization's artillery officer (PRC website, December 27, 2008).
c. Photographs of terrorist operatives which appear on the PALDF forum on the Hamas website.
Examples of photographs of terrorist operatives killed in the IDF attacks
Abu Khaled al-Zahra, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operative (PALDF, December 31, 2008)
Abu al-Salem Abu Abda, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades Operative, killed on December 27 (PALDF, December 31, 2008)
Muhammad Talal al-Sabil, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operative killed in the attacks (PALDF, December 31)
Alaa Ibrahim al-Qatrawi, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operative, standing near an Al-Batar anti-tank launcher (PALDF, December 30, 2008)
Amin al-Zurbatli, Izz al-Din al-Qassam (PALDF, December 29, 2008)
Muhammad al-Tabasha, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operative (PALDF, December 31, 2008)

Tamer Asafa, operative commander, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (PALDF, December 28) 2008)
Abd al-Karim Wahaba, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operative (PALDF, December 31, 2008)
Alaa Ibrahim al-Qatrawi, Izz al-Din al-Qassam operative, standing near Qassam rocket launchers (PALDF, December 30, 2008)
Wisam Ayyash, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operative, the son of Ismail Haniyah’s sister (PALDF, December 28, 2008)
Sahib Muhammad Asafa, special unit operative, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (the brother of Tamer Asafa) (PALDF, December 28, 2008)

Hamas terrorist operatives who served in the Palestinian police killed in the IDF attacks
The Palestinian police in Gaza is a manpower resource pool for military operatives of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Killed in the Israeli Air Force attacks were Hamas police officers and members of the interior security who serve in its military infrastructure. One example follows:
Muhammad Yahya Muhanna in a Hamas police officer’s uniform (PALDF, December 30, 2008)
Muhammad Yahya Muhanna, a commander in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (PALDF, December 30, 2008)

Last night another senior Hamas terrorist, Ali Zacharia Al-Jamal, was killed in an air strike.

This weekend, Annie Lennox will lend her voice to the pro-Palestinian demonstrators who would have Israel stop killing their Islamic heroes.
They recruit misguided people, like Lennox, to spout sympathy for their cause and, too quickly, people like Annie Lennox take to the cameras and microphones.

We in Israel regret the loss of innocent lives but we have a war going on right now. It is a war against a vicious, cynical, Islamic enemy that hates Jews, hates Israel, is determined to see the eradication of the Jewish state, and is preventing the prospect of a peace agreement by hijacking the moderate Palestinian majority.

How could Annie Lennox place herself at the head of a pro-Hamas rally?

I like Annie Lennox music. I have many of her songs of my ipod. However, if she cannot see the justice and need for our current campaign against this dangerous cancer she should keep her mouth shut until she is able to use it for the gift that God gave her – to sing, and not to give comfort to those who would harm us.

Barry Shaw
The View from Here
Israel