I mourn the death of this child. At the same time, I must ask how any intelligent adult could bring a baby to a violent protest. It beggars belief.
32
The power of the picture!
But then the question which was not asked before placing this picture on the front page:
Who brings an infant with heart disease to a riot?
Also, who brings an infant with or without heart disease to a riot?
We've seen days of mobs burning tires, and fashioning incendiary devices to attach to kites at the border -- Who would bring an infant to a place like that?
Also, why aren't the Palestinian police controlling the mob when they turn from peaceful demonstration to riot?
We are being manipulated by a sophisticated propaganda machine.
25
Thank you NYTimes for following this story. I was deeply saddened by the accusations against Palestinians of how they don't care about their children. Israel must be embarrassed for causing this additional suffering. I have had enough of the dehumanizing of these people. As far as I am concerned the settlers should be subjected to the same treatment. They willingly place their children at risk since they have a choice about moving to the settlements. They also knowingly exacerbate the tensions. There is no excuse for them to use their families in this way. Shame on them.
2
Here's a profound thought- WHO IN THE WORLD BRINGS A BABY TO A WAR ZONE.
Don't tell me Palestinians have no choice. If a parent loves their child they would not put their child in harm. The sad truth the media is unwilling to accept is Palestinians are more interested in their PR story than protecting their children. And that is a conscious decision they make.
54
...who brings a baby to a war zone...especially a child with a preexisting heart condition? The 17 year old mother left the child in the care of her 11 year old brothers? In the United States they would have been charged with child endangerment.
9
The latest Gaza incident reminds me of the Hamas' tactic to shoot a rocket into Israel, plant a few children around the area where the rocket came from. Israel retaliates. The children get killed and Israel gets blamed.
Contrast that to the way Israel treats its children when rockets are shot into Israel. The children are immediately put into bunkers to be protected.
Sad but true, the Hamas has won the propaganda war. I partly blame the world press for not calling out the evil Hamas is inflicting on innocent Palestinians and instead focusing on Israel as the perpetrator. and cause of the children's deaths
29
Horrible and criminal what happened in that massacre, and irresponsible to bring an infant to a rally like that. As to what killed the child, I guess we'll never know, as Trump has blocked any inquiry, smitten by all the posters with his name plastered all over Israel....
4
In the interim, the Doctor who performed the autopsy just said he is not sure what is the cause of the baby's death.
Regardless, Israel should open the gates to the enclave for humanitarian supplies. Hamas should STOP their attempts to hurt Israelis and denounce the mantra of the destruction of Israel.
Life can be much simpler that way.
4
Israel has NEVER closed the gates to humanitarian supplies. Get your facts straight Josh!!! In fact 2 days ago Israel tried to deliver critically needed medical supplies and were turned away by Hamas. Stop spreading lies, Josh!!!
27
Brother. I am an Israeli and I know the facts as well as you. Unless you are choosing to be blind to the facts.
Listen to the news from Israel and you will be educated. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, being the responsibility of Hamas, is aided by Israeli closure of supplies. Yes, the crossing at Kerem Shalom was reopened for that purpose amid the Hamas attacks. Nevertheless, both Israel and Egypt kept the crossing closed to put pressure on Hamas.
1
'crowded enclave' the description used in this article. Considering this 8month old casualty likely had 8 other siblings, nobody should be surprised. Get ready for further children to be milked for Hamas propaganda purposes.
19
Worst grandmother of the year award goes to... But seriously PSA: Infants do not belong at protests. There's just too much potential for something to go wrong at a peaceful protest no less a violent one.
25
did you read the article? The 12 year old uncle brought the child to the grandmother who was at the protest. It did not sound intentional. The boy may not have known how to care for an 8 month old and panicked. He wasn't aware that is the child's mother was in another room. It sounded a little chaotic.
3
Ruby Tuesday
12 year-old children should not be going to an area that was expected to erupt in violence, nor should they be allowed on a bus carrying a baby to a danger zone.
1
In the propaganda war on Israel Palestinians have brought children who died of natural causes and blamed them on confrontations with Israeli soldiers. Deceased adults have been placed along Hamas members killed in fighting Israel to increase the numbers and international outrage and dead victims carried aloft on stretchers in frenzied demonstrations were dropped and then got up and started walking while “victims” in wheel chairs when faced with tear gas also got up and started running. Bottles of blood have been brought to confrontations to fake injuries.
But this author just gives us the facts as told to him by people who stand to benefit from cooperating with a murderous totalitarian Hamas or suffer if they refuse. If the article is just reportage then why is the photo shot in a Madonna with Child like lighting, straight out of a Renaissance painting to highlight the message of loss and suppress any discussion of the victim’s story?
Yes, the fealty like attitude of the “journalists” reporting these confrontations gives a propaganda platform to the enemies of some type of accommodation and encourages Hamas and their supporters.
29
On March 26, 2001, a Palestinian member of the Tanzim, part of Fatah, using a sniper gun, targeted and murdered 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass in Hebron, as she sat in her stroller.
The sniper also shot her father, Yitzchak Pass, two more times in the legs, seriously injuring him.
Two additional Jewish children, playing in the park were grazed by additional bullets from the Tanzim sniper .
See the two articles of the NYT at the time. Sympathy? Not much. Mr. Pass after all was (and still is) a "settler". So basically the tragedy was used as a means of depicting settler "militancy". The crime of Mr. Pass at the time was his address. He was not a terrorist or member of a terrorist organization. He was just taking his healthy daughter for a stroll.
https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/27/world/palestinians-kill-baby-girl-in-...
https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/02/world/israeli-baby-s-funeral-becomes-...
Anger at the funeral? Certainly? Symbol? perhaps for internal use, but the NYT did not publish photographs, did not make an effort to understand the Pass family. Shalhevet did not turn into a poster corpse (yes I know that is somewhat gross to write) and for the Pass family "there is only pain, frustration and the memory of their 10-month-old daughter."
The Jewish press at the time covered all details. Too bad there was no Declan Walsh on site in 2001.
35
Grandma (probably a mother in law of the mother) should be charged with murder. Really, this makes their lives look cheap. Who (let's say in the civilized world) in their sane mind would bring a baby to an event that can turn violent?? This is premeditated murder.
28
Please end the partisan bickering over the death of a child. A child has died because a path to peace cannot be found. We are all to blame.
6
Who's "we"? I certainly didn't have anything to do with this.
12
I am not to blame.
14
We are all to blame if we're not doing anything to stop the Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory and/or electing better leaders who will work to provide more humanitarian and civilian aid to these countries so they can begin to rebuild. The US played such a huge part in overturning their governments to put in our puppets. Then left the countries in tatters, paving the way for Al Qaeda, ISIS and the total devastation of the Middle East.
just one comment. The blockade, is not Israeli only, the Egyptians have a closed border as well. They are equally responsible.
18
Israel allows all non-strategic goods (food, medicine, medical equipment, etc.) through the so-called "blockade". Egypt doesn't.
20
This isn't the first time when Hamas blames Israel for the deaths of children who died either of natural causes or Hamas missiles gone the wrong way.
18
There is no doubt of the fact that this is a terrible human tragedy.
In any normal society, however, the grandmother would be charged with reckless endangerment. To bring this child knowingly to a violent protest is beyond irresponsible.
14
The responsibility for this tragedy lies squarely with the baby’s parents (or grandmother, I believe in this case).
You don’t bring a baby into a dangerous situation like this!!
Neither would you strap a baby to your back as you take your first skiing lesson or try out a skateboard for the first time. It’s dangerous.
The adults here were at fault.
21
Oops, just an oversight on the reporters part. Gaza is blockaded by Israel AND Egypt. And the Egyptian blockade is much stricter - the Israeli blockade allows food and medicine and more. Egypt doesn't. Gaza was part of Egypt, but Egypt wants none of it. Clearly it is all Israel's fault.
24
Maybe, just maybe, the grandmother is to blame for bringing an infant to a protest at which violence was in all likelihood intended or at the very, very least was reasonably foreseeable. The parents who didn't absolutely insist that their infant be kept away are to blame as well. The truly sinister possibility (and I am quite possibly being naïve in referring to a mere "possibility" of this) was that they all intended for this to happen so as to create an especially potent martyr for PR purposes.
22
If you watch videos of the protests you will see that it is an encampment with a festival-like atmosphere inside. There are families there protesting as they were in Tahrir, except it is hard for Americans to elicit sympathy for this encampment because its on a militarized zone with Israel. Half of the people in Gaza are children, in the most densely populated area in the world, so blaming families for their children being present is denying the circumstances within which Palestinians are forced to live in Gaza.
The tear gas was also likely manufactured in the United States. And perhaps some are learning for the first time that tear gas can be lethal. Perhaps we should be talking about that too!
3
Gaza is not the "most densely populated area in the world". Where I live in Forest Hills, Queens, NYC is more densely populated. One shouldn't repeat "facts" without research (yes, which Iv'e done).
7
“The pro-Israeli commentator Alan Dershowitz has attacked what he terms Hamas’s “dead baby strategy” of putting civilians in harms way as a means of attracting sympathy for the Palestinian cause.”
Perhaps they saw Israel’s decades of success using that ploy by creating “settlements”, pushing Israeli women and children into harm’s way in order to steal Palestinian land.
1
How do you know that it’s Palestinian land?
Palestinians owned very little of Palestine. Half was government land (Ottoman & then British.). Large areas were owned by wealthy people in nearby countries. Some land was owned by Jews.
15
There is no reasoning with a culture that will readily sacrifice its own infants. That is not a symptom of desperation. It's a symptom of insanity. A Jew would never do this to her child.
23
I feel very sad for the family, but how in the world does a grandmother take a child to a protest that was really a violent attack on the border fence (these were NOT peaceful protesters)?!!
NYTimes - I get that you have an agenda, but to use the pictures of children makes you another FB or twitter - looking for 'viral' spread of mis-information through pictures. You do this with illegal immigrants as well. Anything to sell a paper or not be upped by social media?
This is a disgrace and the one-sided coverage, not matter how much you hate Israel or their current leader, is unconscionable.
56
Amen. What rational person would drag a young child deliberately into such danger? If there are symbols to be created here, let's remember that, however deplorable Israel's violent over-reaction is, it's the collective idiocy of mobs that is illustrated here.
13
This child was killed by the person who brought her to a violent mob riot.
61
I see Israel's PR team is out in full force on this article that tugs at any decent human's heart strings. They all parrot the same line -- why did a mother bring an infant to a protest? The truth is simple -- because all of Gaza is a war zone. There is no safe place. If she had stayed at home with her daughter, and the IDF razed her home to the ground on the flimsy excuse that it was "motivating terrorism", would you blame her for not leaving? Show some compassion. Israel is guilty, and no amount of PR trolls on comment sites will change it.
18
Keeping the child at home might not have been completely safe, but it would certainly have been less dangerous than bringing her right into the middle of the active protest. The question of why someone would do that is in fact a valid one. Please understand that I am in no way trying to excuse Israel for the totality of it's response in this situation. Dozens killed and literally THOUSANDS injured does not indicate anything measured or restrained. There is a great deal of legitimate blame to be directed at that. But that doesn't mean that all the actions taken by the protesters have been completely innocent.
8
According to the article, the child was brought to the fence by her grandmother.
8
Jews who remember the Holocaust demand that you pay more attention to the Palestinian issue! Ad Matay? Israel must be held accountable. Never forget , that’s what we were taught. For what if not for this?!?! Please NYTimes, more criticism of Israel!
8
"Please NYTimes, more criticism of Israel?" this in an article about an elderly woman taking an infant to a riot in which tear gas was used to disperse people. Fevered opinions like this will not bring us closer to peace. May the child rest in peace; but this is not a means to get political points.
12
Israeli soldiers gas innocent civilians, killing an 8 month old, yet Trump and Israel argue she was deserved to die for living in Gaza.
Shame on the Times for insinuating that the teargas didn't lead to her death.
8
For shame NYT! Can this really be your only coverage today of the fates of unarmed protesters murdered by Israel?? Scores of funerals must be going on at this moment for victims protesting Israel’s ongoing land grab and you choose to promote doubt about the validity of a baby’s death from tear gas? Thousands are in hospital maimed for life from live ammunition fired at unarmed demonstrators seeking justice. If one Israeli had been killed we would be seeing every tear at that person’s funeral. Your coverage and that of the major networks is an outrage.
10
It was a horrible mistake for a 12 year old to take this child to these violent protests. I don't understand why the adult aunts and grandmother failed to bring her back home. This is so sad.
18
Wherenis the condemnation of the grandmother who took the baby to a violent protest? This is a made-to-order HAMAS PR victory at the expense, as usual, of a civilian.
25
1. Baby had hole in heart. News coming directly from the region has confirmed a pre-existing condition.
2. regardless of the age of the 1yo who took this sick baby to a violent protest complete with burning tires (so nice to breathe,) how can NYT readers, with a strait face, condone bringing infants and small children to a protest rife with burning tires, molotov cocktails, and changting "death to jews" ???
3. Why do so many non-Israelis continue to deny Jews the right to defend ourselves? We will never again line up like sheep for the slaughter. And slaughter us is EXACTLY what Hamas intends to do.
43
There have been many articles suggesting that Israel needs to develop non-lethal strategies for dealing with Palestinian attempts to breach the Israeli border. Yet here we have an implied objection to tear gas.
Clearly, responsibility for this unfortunate baby's death belongs to Hamas and to the carelessness of those who knowingly brought her into a clearly dangerous situation.
28
Except for the last sentence, the father's quote is right on the mark: "“Nobody works here. Nobody can leave. We have suffered numerous wars,” said her father, Anwar al-Ghandour, who spurned the protests on Monday. “Our problem is Fatah, our problem is Hamas, and our problem is the Israelis. May God send rockets to scatter them.” I would add that terrorism is the problem. Until palestinian leaders and people come to the reality that full peace with their neighbors is the only solution, and oppose terrorism, how can Israel allow the personal and economic freedom they seek?
16
"Our problem is Fatah, our problem is Hamas, and our problem is the Israelis'
Listen to the father.
And the blockade is a combined Israeli and Egyptian operation.
7
“We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.” This quote by Golda Meir is most apt. I have empathy for the Palestinians, but 70 years later they must stop yelling and screaming and start working toward a solution, with the knowledge that Israel will not help them. Don't take your babies to protests, read to them, educate them, inspire them. Don't take them to protests and instill hatred in them.
34
It might help the situation if Israel stopped murdering Palestinians and taking their land.
1
The Palestinian baby was brought there to be murdered and be a propaganda symbol. And it worked.
37
With out realizing it you have spoken truth. The baby in addition to 60 others was murdered. of course murder is death with malice aforethought. On who's hands do you think the malice lies?
Shame on you! Never again, indeed!
1
I have known about the Hamas tactic for a long time. Shoot a rocket into Israel, plant a few children around the area. Israel retaliates. The children get killed and Israel gets blamed.
Contrast that to the way Israel treats its children when rockets are shot into Israel. The children are immediately put into bunkers to be protected.
Sad but true, the Hamas has won the propaganda war. I partly blame the world press for not calling out the evil Hamas is inflicting on innocent Palestinians and instead, supporting Hamas' propaganda.
The leadership of Gaza has hijacked its own people. Hamas is to blame, not the Israelis. Hamas uses money received from he international community to build tunnels and bombs rather than feed its own people.
https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Hamas-planned-and-predetermi...
20
Hundreds of innocent children have been killed or jailed by the IDF.
This is such a foolish commentary. So your telling us that maybe one case of a baby death is the lie. And the slaughter of other baby and children are just OK.
If anyone on this planet is guilty of fake news the State of Israel gets first prize.
6
@Jonathan
BRAVO! Finally someone in this comment column speaks the truth
In the modern, Western World, that grandmother would be charged with child abuse.
17
Listen. Everybody is missing the point and is so quick to jump to conclusions.
Regardless of if this baby girl was taken to a demonstration, a young, innocent baby who had not yet experienced what life is all about was killed.
Even if this child were not to have been killed, hundreds of others are dying because of constant war and turmoil in this region.
When will humanity stop pointing fingers and finally agree that enough is enough?
12
The weekend after MLK was assassinated, i was supposed to go into Boston with my then boyfriend to hear Clapton (can't remember if it was Cream, Blind Faith, or a solo concert of his). My mother insisted I not go or, to put it more in terms of those days wouldn't let me go, as she feared that riots would break out as had happened in other cities. I didn't go and riots didn't happen in large part because of an agreement between James Brown and Mayor White to to have the former's concert televised. There are obvious differences in culture here. One did not allow a teenager to enter a potentially dangerous situation, even when the powers that be tried to and did mitigate the danger, and the other, for whatever reasons, either didn't recognize the danger or welcomed it. And before anyone suggests that I'm blaming a 12-year-old boy, I am not, but I wonder about the baby's aunts in the tent at the periphery of the riot who did not try to stop the 12 year old from leaving. That is not a culture that I understand and yet it is a culture.
7
I am wondering why the first folks reacting to this story did not read that a 12yo took this child to the protest. It became a tragedy.
If you can weep for a fertilized egg you can generalize some empathy for this child too and the madness of this world.
18
The Times reported Wednesday that some Israelis were `blasé' about the number of Palestinian deaths. How is one `blasé' about the death of a child - whatever the cause? And to those who would exploit this tragic loss for political purposes, shame on you.
8
Why don't you ask the supporters of our president who don't seem to have any problem about the way we are treating people at our border with Mexico including taking children away from their parents.
3
I'm not blase. I'm livid.
The equivalent of DCS should investigate why the child was put in danger. Babies need to be kept safe, not taken to violent protests.
10
Yes, babies should be kept safe. And they shouldn't be forced to live in a prison-like corral. Violence is a way of life in Gaza. The real question is: who exactly put this child in danger?
Not once in this article or any article written regarding these protests in the nyt, does anyone ever ask the question why was a child of this age brought to a violent protest. Ask yourselves would any parent, grandparent or family member in their right mind bring a child to a potentially violent demonstration? Should we always assess the blame to the Israeli army? Is it not the responsibility of the grandparent to protect the life of the child? Could this tragedy been averted had a sensible decision been made not to bring a child to a war zone? As horrific as this is, the challenge is to prevent this from ever happening again.
70
One should also ask why a 12-year-old boy was not prevented from going anywhere near the protest.
2
She deliberately endangered a baby by bringing her to what is known to be (since when are these protests not dangerous) - a highly charged protest? I wonder what her intentions and expectations were.
59
I agree with commenters saying that a baby, nor any other children, belong at such a protest. I take neither side wholly in the Israel-Palestinian discord, but Mom sure made a poor decision to take an 8-month old baby to such a dangerous and violent protest
43
The child's father: "Our problem is Fatah, our problem is Hamas, and our problem is the Israelis."
That one statement has far more weight, relevance, and truth to it than the vast majority of the Times' own reporting on this matter. Blaming Hamas has become a trusty tool for brushing aside human suffering, but many of the humans in question do not support Hamas, and certainly don't feel that it represents them and their interests.
18
It's easy to criticize this parent but what if you, and your children, had been held captive for years and don't foresee the situation changing?
Let's take it back a step farther - if the Israeli's weren't occupying this area (and others), it they weren't oppressing people and violating their human rights, this wouldn't have happened.
18
This is an example of the pointless rhetoric that keeps this conflict going. Take another step back and we're listening to Arab threats to annihilate Israel and drive its inhabitants into the sea. Neither step back serves to help resolve the conflict.
1
Is Israel occupying Gaza? I believe not. Israel unilaterally handed over Gaza in 2005 in hopes for peace. And what has become of it? Nothing but tragedy. Gaza is being occupied by Hamas who is deliberately holding its poor besieged people hostage for political purposes.
6
protest the leaders of Gaza who are responsible for this horrifying mess because they divert funds for their own needs and militaristic purposes and who by continuing to fire rockets and build terror tunnels are wrecking their own people's lives and putting them in danger (they also pay people's families when they die!) facts always matter. by the way, hamas is investigating the cause of this poor child's death (who would bring a child to this???!!!)
2
....The pressures of life in Gaza- a poverty stricken, crowded enclave who’s leaders for the past 11 years have wasted billions in aid money intended to create a better life for the people who live there....
21
As the reporter notes, the parents did not bring their daughter to the front line of the protest. A 12-year-old nephew did so in the mistaken belief that the mother was heading there. With that obscure, weirdly-guilt-deflecting issue resolved, perhaps we can get on with acknowledging the unspeakable crime against humanity that took place in Gaza and pondering the desperation of a people that would march into live fire in the futile hope that you would recognize their plight.
17
Any death, especially of a child, is a tragedy. However, as usual and predictably, the NYT only provides one side of the story. From CNN:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/16/middleeast/hamas-members-gaza-deaths/inde...
"Gaza (CNN): A senior member of Hamas' political bureau said during a TV interview on Wednesday that 50 people killed by Israeli soldiers during clashes in Gaza on Monday were members of Hamas.
Salah al-Bardaweel was responding to suggestions from the interviewer that Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, was sending other people to die in the protests.
"In the last round [of demonstrations] 62 people were martyred; 50 of them are from Hamas and 12 from the people," al-Bardaweel replied, adding, "I am telling you, these are official numbers."
Israel will always lose the global PR war, but I wish the NYT would not be such an eager and willing accomplice.
51
Hamas is the legitimate elected party in power in Gaza.
2
Bret Stephens has written a column in the Times that shows this is another Hamas propaganda ploy. The Child had a dysfunctional heart. that had nothing to do with Tear Gas.Why would a Mother take a child to a place where people were dying? The Mother & her Family are known to be active members of Hamas.
42
Talented photographer.
The lighting; the angles of the subjects—-each of them a different age; the martyred infant, cradled with tenderness & grief... it’s just perfect, immediately evocative of a Renaissance painting. One might almost be tempted to think this was posed for maximum dramatic impact...
But no—who would do such a thing? That would be cynical, exploitative, dishonest.
40
Yes....Madonna with child!
3
When will the NYT report that Hamas admits that 50 of the people killed on Monday were Hamas operatives, not unarmed civilians?
49
Parading and celebrating the death of an infant for propaganda purposes clearly shows the moral bankruptcy of Hamas.
50
This baby died by inhaling gas from an Israeli canister......
5
The baby died from inhaling the cloud of black smoke (mentioned in the article) from burning tires.
9
there is no symbolism here. it is a tragedy all around.
Layla Ghandour was a victim without any choice or voice.
5
For reasons beyond my understanding, one question remains unanswered: What kind of person takes a child, nevertheless an infant, and intentionally places them into a situation which is well known to be extremely dangerous? If that were to happen in any other nation, the responsible parties would be in jail for child endangerment. Why is it, when it comes to the Palestinians, while they consider placing children in harm's way a legitimate political strategy, the rest of the world gives them a pass on this? It is absolutely barbaric; a throw back to ancient times when child sacrifice was considered a legitimate form of worship.
47
The article clearly states the child was brought to the protest by her 12 year old uncle. He mistakenly thought her mother was headed there, and eventually located her grandmother in the crowds.
4
Pick a side. Either Israel has become a merchant of death, and the Palestinians its eager customers, or vice versa.
1
The Palistenians say that if Isreal withdraws to the 1967
borders there would be peace. So how come there was no peace in 1967 and Israel was attacked?
39
Herbert, Israel was under significant and imminent threat in 1967, but the Israelis (perhaps with good reason) attached first in 1967.
1
I'm going to move into your house and ask you to leave.
3
But your family already lives in "my house". Thousands of them do.
Children of Israel killed by Palestinians: About 70 percent of the Israeli children were killed in Palestinian suicide bombings. Others were killed in shootings and attacks on cars and buses. In addition, several rapes, kidnappings, and individual murders of Israeli children and teenagers have occurred.[129][130][131][132][133][134][135] Other Israeli children were killed in home invasions, some of them in their own beds or their parents' beds.[136][137][138][139][140]
19
Who decided to take a baby to a demonstration expected to become violent, where it was known that tear gas would be used?
Of course, if the Israelis had not tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas, but had fired on everyone, the baby would not have inhaled it. And the casualties would have been many times higher.
The purpose of these "demonstrations" was to create "martyrs". In the U.S. it is called "suicide by cop". If the death of a child can be arranged, the goal is doubly achieved.
36
Surely the death of a baby is a tragedy. Now comes the finger pointing, and as usual it’s Israel’s fault.
Using tear gas to disperse a crowd is not a violent tactic. Taking a baby to a demonstration is. As usual the Palestinians who care nothing for human life would gladly exchange the life of a baby for some good PR.
and even more lamentable is the fact that the press falls for it.
45
Making a martyr of your 8 month old granddaughter is the tragedy here. The type of person who would agree to do this, and the type of person that would brainwash or encourage this type of sick behavior, is the issue here. This "grandmother" got exactly what she wanted, namely the photo that accompanies this story. Such great PR for Hamas and it only took the sacrifice of her 8 month old granddaughter to get it. Good for her! <sarcasm>
44
This child's death is tragic, that needs to be stated first. But even if she did die of tear gas inhalation, I don't understand why that warrants criticism of Israel. The international community has been imploring Israel to use less lethal means to defend itself, like tear gas. This baby was not shot, and it exposure to the gas seems to be the fault of her uncle who ran with her close to the fence. Is Israel not allowed to do anything to defend its communities? But, of course, Hamas will celebrate her death. Poor girl and family, may she rest in peace and may her family only pursue peace in the future.
73
The greater question here, is not why this infant, (and other infants and children according to the article) were at this protest, but rather, why must children live this way? In this environment?
I don't pretend to understand the conflict here, but I do understand that mothers and fathers want to raise their children in peace, with the resources they need to be healthy.
I won't blame the family, the young uncle, for the infant being at the protest. Their situation is not mine. The choices I make in comfort, here in my life in New York, are not the choices they would make in their life. I wouldn't expect them to be -
17
It takes a broad mind to refrain from judging a family that knowingly exposes an infant to death. I respect that. It is unclear from the tone of your comment, though, whether, comfortably living in New York as you yourself put it, you also refrain from judging the Israeli response to this challenging situation.
10
The forensic analysis of how and why this baby died almost seems beside the point... the on-going violence is a tragedy for all involved. There is no end in sight and no easy answers. I’m not sure humans are wired to establish a compromise peace in such a complex and volatile situation.
5
Israel gave Gaza to the Palestinians. Hamas wants all of Israel. What don't you understand?
15
It would be beside the point if the image weren't so potent. Great PR. How much longer will the Gazans allow Hamas to be in control of their lives? How much longer will these people hate and harbor unrealistic expectations of "return" rather than put their energy into building their own society as many millions before them have? How many more times will Israel propose a 2-state solution only to be rejected?
7
Maybe you also understand that the U.N. tried to solve the legitimate crisis of displaced Jews after the war, and decided to ‘create’ Israel on land already occupied by Palestinians. Two ‘tribes’ claiming sovereignty over the same land with presence going back centuries- a formula for never-ending strife that will not likely end well. Sorry, but if it were ‘simple,’ a solution would have been negotiated by now.
Surely a violent protest is no place for a baby...especially a sick one. The parents knew they were exposing her to additional risks by bringing her there. Do they bear none of the responsibility?
89
The article said a youngster in the family took her. That doesn’t seem to be the tragedy here.
3
Please read the article before passing judgement on the parents. If you had you might not be so quick to judge.
4
They obviously wanted the child to die so they could be off the hook and blame the death on the IDF.
8
If I take my 8 month old baby to a protest. I don’t have any responsibility? People get raped and they are accused of advances.
25
So the Israelis should simply open the fence, let the Gazans stream in where their stated goal is to kill as many people as possible with guns, knives, and bombs? Don't think so. The Gazans ought to storming the Egyptian border they share with their fellow Arab-Muslims and also should get rid of Hamas which has only made things worse for them during its reign of terror.
69
Why was a 8 month old baby at a protest???
66
Bringing an 8 month old child to a protest that involves storming an international border is criminally negligent.
Also, Israel is criticized for live fire and, apparently, tear gas. It seems the thought is that Israel should ignore the barbarians at the gate because ANY measure to repel them is deemed inappropriate.
86
Images are powerful. What, is this a Caravaggio painting? I'll bet most people won't look beyond the image and think "Oh those evil Israelis". But what about the evil parent who would bring their children to a violent area ON PURPOSE?And what is the truth behind the image? The real story. A child dies because of a heart abnormality which happens to coincide, happily for Hamas, with a battle. Once again, I will bet people will be hoodwinked by Hamas.
And where, NY Times, is the report that most people killed two days ago were Hamas operatives, as reported (amazingly) by Hamas itself?
85
Hamas is lying again. If their "operatives" are killed as often as they (and the Israelis) claim, there wouldn't be many left to run the decrepit organization.
4
One must, grudgingly, compliment whomever arranged that picture on his artistic skills. Caravaggio indeed!
11
It is too contrived. Caravaggio wouldn't stoop to it as a subject, and he stooped pretty low in plenty.
1
I judge very harshly any heavily-armed sniper who kills an unarmed child, or even unarmed adult civilian. Even if circumstances prevent such a killing from rising to the level of a crime, we are justly repulsed and disgusted by that act, by the sniper, and by his or her commanders and government.
On the other hand, taking a baby to a protest at which there is likely to be, among other things, tear gas, seems to be the bad decision here, and certainly using tear gas for crowd control isn't inherently evil. While there are very many things about which to fault Israel harshly in the latest Gaza protests, this doesn't seem to be one of them, tragic though it assuredly is.
49
How about hordes of angry, crazed people, who overwhelmingly hate your country and its citizens—charging at the fence that separates them from you... are you feelin’ it yet? Would it be OK to shoot at them now?
As for “judging harshly a sniper whi kills an unarmed child”, no Iaraeli soldier deliberately shoots at Palestinian children. But as you timidly point out, the Palestinian propensity for putting their own children in harms way—to maximize their dramatic, televised National Suffering— makes it very hard to for Israel to avoid civilian injuries.
30