A number of Israel haters have tweeted that in the latest air strikes on Gaza, Israel destroyed “the Palestine National Library, the Azhar Library and the National Cultural Center.” This viral tweet seems to be the originator of the claim (hat tip: Jacob).
Let’s examine it.
The National Cultural Center was destroyed in August last year because it was being used by Hamas for military purposes.
It was not miraculously rebuilt since then to only be destroyed again (and if it had been, you can bet it would have been reused as a Hamas site).
As for the “Palestine National Library, the Azhar Library”, note that the tweet does not contain a photo of it – only of the National Cultural Center.
There’s a reason for that: There was no such library. Last year, Israel struck a Hamas training facility that was “meant to be the Palestinian national library.” This is perhaps the building the anti-Israel tweeter and others meant.
Alternatively, they meant the library at Al Azhar University. This also was clearly untouched now, because there is no mention of it in the media as having been destroyed. And you’d think this man would have mentioned it in this report, a day after the tweet, had it been the case:
Abusada, who teaches political science at Al Azhar University, said the recent escalation is nothing new. He calculated at least nine Israeli attacks on Gaza since the start of the March of Return in March 2018, in addition to escalations and operations in 2008, 2012 and 2014.
In other words, this is yet another, deliberate lie, designed to malign Israel. And unlike the Palestine National Library and National Cultural Center, Israel’s reputation just may have taken a hit because of it.
Please share the truth to counter this libel.
