OPINION:
What was reported by Hamas to have been an Israeli aerial bombardment of a Gaza hospital that resulted in more than 500 dead was later determined to be neither Israeli nor a bomb, and to have resulted in far fewer than 500 dead (“French intelligence points to Palestinian rocket, not Israeli airstrike, for Gaza hospital blast,” web, Oct. 20).
Regardless, after conclusive proof, Hamas still peddled the same story, which has resulted in mob violence in several Arab capitals and protests throughout the world. The actual reason for the hospital explosion: a defective long-distance Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket with a large amount of fuel.
In Arab culture, truth can be “stretched” if it benefits the expansion of Islamic belief or is advantageous to national security. Perhaps the greatest example of the latter happened during the 1967 Six-Day War. Within the first few hours of the war, Israeli warplanes had destroyed most of Egypt’s air force.
Egypt was in bad shape. President-dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser wanted the nation of Jordan to join the fight against Israel. While things looked quite bad for Egypt, when asked by Jordan’s King Hussein about how the war was going, Nasser said his troops were doing well and had advanced halfway to Tel Aviv. Clearly that was not true, but the lie benefited Egypt, his nation.
As a result of Israel’s victory, Israel gained control of the West Bank, the entire Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. If not for Nasser’s call with false information, Jordan would still have control of the West Bank of the Jordan River.
CHARLES WINFIELD
Princeton, New Jersey
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