Israeli attack on floatilla

[Kanada Kev]

The events that happened overnight are astounding. This moment has increased tension in almost an instant. The fallout from this will be interesting and possibly very very deadly.

In the debate in the main forum around "journalism" and "open mouthers" I hate to think how just about any piece written on this topic won't ignite some nastiness.

A nice little summary of a ridiculously complicated situation:

http://www.alternet.org/story/147052/3_facts_you_need_to_know_about_the_israeli_attack_on_peace_activists_on_the_gaza_flotilla/

3 Facts You Need to Know About the Israeli Attack on Peace Activists on the Gaza Flotilla

Our main media organizations have willingly allowed Israeli spokespeople to fill the airwaves with misinformation. Let's reiterate a few simple facts.

May 31, 2010 |

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It is quite astounding that Israel has been able to create over the past 12 hours a news blackout, just as it did with its attack on Gaza 18 months ago, into which our main media organisations have willingly allowed Israeli spokespeople to step in unchallenged.

How many civilians were killed in Israel’s dawn attack on the Gaza-bound flotilla of aid? We still don’t know. How many wounded? Your guess is as good as mine. Were the aid activists armed with guns? Yes, says Israel. Were they in cahoots with al-Qaeda and Hamas? Certainly, says Israel. Did the soldiers act reasonably? Of course, they faced a lynch, says Israel.

If we needed any evidence of the degree to which Western TV journalists are simply stenographers to power, the BBC, CNN and others are amply proving it. Mark Regev, Israel’s propagandist-in-chief, has the airwaves largely to himself.

The passengers on the ships, meanwhile, have been kidnapped by Israel and are unable to provide an alternative version of events. We can guess they will remain in enforced silence until Israel is sure it has set the news agenda.

So before we get swamped by Israeli hasbara let’s reiterate a few simple facts:

* Israeli soldiers invaded these ships in international waters, breaking international law, and, in killing civilians, committed a war crime. The counter-claim by Israeli commanders that their soldiers responded to an imminent “lynch†by civilians should be dismissed with the loud contempt it deserves.

* The Israeli government approved the boarding of these aid ships by an elite unit of commandoes. They were armed with automatic weapons to pacify the civilians onboard, but not with crowd dispersal equipment in case of resistance. Whatever the circumstances of the confrontation, Israel must be held responsible for sending in soldiers and recklessly endangering the lives of all the civilians onboard, including a baby and a Holocaust survivor.

* Israel has no right to control Gaza’s sea as its own territorial waters and to stop aid convoys arriving that way. In doing so, it proves that it is still in belligerent occupation of the enclave and its 1.5 million inhabitants. And if it is occupying Gaza, then under international law Israel is responsible for the welfare of the Strip’s inhabitants. Given that the blockade has put Palestinians there on a starvation diet for the past four years, Israel should long ago have been in the dock for committing a crime against humanity.

Today Israel chose to direct its deadly assault not only at Palestinians under occupation but at the international community itself.

Will our leaders finally be moved to act?

[Freak By Night]

Ironically, there was a full-page article in many Canadian newspapers today about Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The article's byline says ...(Netanyahu) has guided the country toward political moderation... and possibly, peace"

[Hal Johnson]

Can you believe the nerve of some people? Reacting all agressively to a bunch of commandos dropping on to their boat from helicopters?

From the Star:

The footage filmed from Israeli aircraft and released by the military showed activists swarming around commandos after they descended from a helicopter by rope onto a boat carrying 600 passengers. Activists scuffled with the commandos and are seen throwing an object the military identified as a firebomb.

A commando who spoke to reporters on a naval vessel off the coast, identified only as "A," said he and his comrades were taken off guard by a group of Arabic-speaking men when they rappelled onto the deck.

He said some of the soldiers were stripped of their helmets and equipment and thrown from the top deck to the lower deck, and that some had even jumped overboard to save themselves. At one point one of the activists seized one of the soldiers' weapons and opened fire, the commando said.

A high-ranking naval official displayed a box confiscated from the boat containing switchblades, slingshots, metal balls and metal bats. "We prepared (the soldiers) to deal with peace activists, not to fight," he said. Most of the dead were Turkish, he added.

[SaggyBalls]

Just awful.

A Zionist and Racist state at it again.

Interesting though that the article suggests Israel is at all interested in Holocaust survivors, as the creation of Israel had nothing to do with the Holocaust when examined objectively.

[Thorgnor]

No one examines anything about Isreal objectively, no one.

[nibbler]

Our media (and Israeli media) fail to show how many Israelis stand in solidarity with Palestinians, but they never fail to cover the story when it degenerates into bloodshed and violence.

If Fort Chipewyan warriors fired rockets into Fort McMurray, and the Canadian Army went into Fort Chip with guns blazing, casualties piling up, then would Canadians finally take a stand and speak out against the silent war against the indigenous people of Canada?

I know many Canadians who claim solidarity with the injustices faced by Palestinians, and the actions others (Rachel Corrie etc) have taken to address their plight, yet at the same time we stay mostly silent and uninformed, turning a blind eye to the plight of indigenous North Americans in our own backyard.

Why is the land theft of all of British Colombia, or the silent chemical poisoning of Fort Chipewyan residents not considered newsworthy, whereas the violent standoff in Caledonia received constant coverage? Same for Dudley George? Oka. Etc. Etc.

Sad to realize that it still takes violence or the threat of violence for an unresolved issue to get deserving MainStreamMedia attention. It would be nice for a change to see Canadians peacefully standing in solidarity with indigenous Canadians; rather than perpetuating 400 years of ethnocentric violence and suffering in our own backyard.

OKA STANDOFF

CALEDONIA STANDOFF

IPPERWASH STANDOFF

Edited June 1, 2010 by Guest

[phishtaper]

the world is still fucked up ...

[SaggyBalls]

No one examines anything about Isreal objectively, no one.

That's right!

[phishtaper]

No one examines anything about Isreal objectively' date=' no one.[/quote']

That's right!

why do y'all think that is?

[SaggyBalls]

No one examines anything about Isreal objectively' date=' no one.[/quote']

That's right!

why do y'all think that is?

Asking us to look at this objectively?

I'd suggest it were funny if I didn't think that this is the most important question to be asked in the 'Israel' discussion.

Very smart.

I believe that it's more about politics than humanity.

[Kanada Kev]

More footage that was smuggled off the ship and not found/confiscated. Sometime today it is going to be presented to the UN.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/10/exclusive_journalist_smuggles_out_video_of

[SaggyBalls]

What a great op-ed piece

Amazing how, still, people want to argue such a balanced representation of the issue(s)

Finally, one voice steps forth after the various steins and witzes and says what we should have been said all along.:

To the Editor:

Too much time is spent quarreling over the apportionment of blame in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Whether the discussion is about a recent event, the general trend or who started it, such bickering is not leading to a solution.

Instead of focusing on the past and punishment, we must work together to create a vision of the future. We must have a plan that asks for sacrifices from both sides, but gives both sides their most cherished needs, security and well-being. Only by taking steps toward such a future can we begin to hope that the violence will diminish and then fade away.

Lee Newberg

Albany, June 10, 2010

[nibbler]

Rex Murphy: UN condemns Israel first, investigates later

Rex Murphy June 5, 2010 – 9:00 am

I don’t suppose the world needs to remember Rwanda to note how sluggish in the face of imminent horror the United Nations is and can be. If that is not a sufficient cue, we could bring in other examples of areas of great threat or immiseration or both: Darfur, Tibet, Chechnya, North Korea, Zimbabwe, the Congo or Iran. On these the UN has the patience of a stone but only some of its energy.

But torpid as is its nature, and comatose as are its eternal deliberations, on one subject, and toward one state, the United Nations acquires a strange and uniquely transformative power. Bring Israel under its gaze and the diplomatic sloths at UN headquarters morph into the swiftest of gazelles. From lotus-eaters to adrenalin junkies in the twinkling of an eye. Quite amazing, really.

So naturally when the debacle over the so-called “freedom flotilla†— news media should be wary of letting activists choose the names of things — roared into the headlines, the UN reacted at the diplomatic equivalent of the speed of light. The Security Council issued its “condemnation,†and in a wonderful reversal of cause and effect also called for an investigation into what it had “condemned.†And the cruellest joke on the planet, what the UN with unbounded irony refers to as its Human Rights Council, issued, as unfailingly in every previous international incident involving Israel it has, a condemnation as well.

If the flotilla’s real purpose was to bring aid, then merely by complying with Israel’s request to dock at Ashdod — as five of the ships did, with no blood shed and no international headlines — the supplies on the sixth ship would now be in Gaza. In reality, it was exercise in early 21st century propaganda on the battlefield of world opinion. Its only purpose was to challenge and delegitimize Israel’s blockade of ships travelling to Gaza — a blockade, as too many news reports fail to emphasize, which up until this “incident†was also being maintained by Egypt. That the Egyptian government, until a few days ago, mirrored in its actions Israel’s concerns about what might get shipped into Hamas is the only real obstruction in the otherwise perfectly concentrated anti-Israel narrative.

As to the “peace activists†on that sixth ship, the ones who received the Israeli soldiers boarding the ship with bats, pipes, knives and chains — well, the video footage of the moments preceding the boarding and the boarding itself will make most rational people review their understanding of peace and activism and some of the organizations that fly the flags of these conveniently fungible designations.

Any real investigation of the flotilla will not confine itself to the boarding, but include an equally scrupulous inquiry into the origins of some of its actors, its unstated as well as it stated aims, and the facility and speed with which it revved up the engine of international protest against Israel. It seemed like half the world took to the streets in less than half a day.

This was but one installment in the long and continuous campaign to isolate Israel, and to turn that state in the eyes of international opinion into a pariah, to erode its legitimacy and to break its will. You’ve seen the branding. Apartheid Israel. Israel is the worst thing to happens to Jews since the Holocaust. Racist Israel. Imperialist Israel.

The campaign has been remarkably successful, which is much to Israel’s woe and may be to the world’s woe as well. There are far larger, more egregious causes for the world’s attention than the episode off Gaza last Sunday, greater threats and deeper anxieties. But it is truly worth remarking that when Israel is in the dock, protest rage goes epidemic. To use that vile term so often recently turned upon Israel when it acts in its self-defence, the response is extravagantly “disproportionate.â€

I truly do not know why this is so. Israel is a sanctuary state established after one almost successful attempt just two generations ago to rid all the world of Jews. And Israel is now in the shadow of a fundamentalist, ferociously anti-Israel theocracy which is about to equip itself with nuclear weapons. Perhaps, alas, under the threat of a second attempt.

Yet somehow Israel is the rogue, the barbarian nation, the only state on earth that can energize the professionally lethargic diplomats in the great tower of hypocrisy on the East River. Strange and dangerous times.

National Post

Rex Murphy offers commentary weekly on CBC TV’s The National, and is host of CBC Radio’s Cross Country Checkup.

link to National Post for original

[Hal Johnson]

Poor Israel, they can't even occupy a territory these days without the rest of the world whining about it.

Sorry - panties officially in a knot. The logic here by Mr Murphy is that because the ball was dropped on Rwanda, the UN (and countless other organizations and countries) are not allowed to comment on anything else, ever? No matter how bad?

I guess it makes sense that Israel should deliver the aid that they have caused the need for in the first place. Its really just a nice gesture on their part.

[SaggyBalls]

"Israel is a sanctuary state established after one almost successful attempt just two generations ago to rid all the world of Jews. And Israel is now in the shadow of a fundamentalist, ferociously anti-Israel theocracy which is about to equip itself with nuclear weapons. Perhaps, alas, under the threat of a second attempt."

...But Rex conveniently fails to mention that the move to the homeland was not begun in response to that 'almost successful attempt'.

[nibbler]

Poor Israel, they can't even occupy a territory these days without the rest of the world whining about it.

Rather than whining about it, it would be more productive for the UN to send an international peacekeeping force in. Seems like a no-brainer but then again, so does banning GMO's- see my next point.

The logic here by Mr Murphy is that because the ball was dropped on Rwanda, the UN (and countless other organizations and countries) are not allowed to comment on anything else, ever? No matter how bad?

It appears to me that Rex is pointing out how easy it is for the media to avoid covering other important stories; so long as the public continues to eagerly lap up anything with the 'middle east' label.

[SaggyBalls]

Great point, well made.

[Hal Johnson]

Its not a great point, and its a horrible argument. So what if the media focuses on the middle east? Does that make what Israel is doing any less of a massive abuse of human rights? No, it doesn't. Which leads me back my original point: Instead of looking at what's really going on, Rex is trying to divert attention to the fact that there are other bad things happening in the world. In that sense, he is saying its not fair that Israel isn't left alone to occupy Gaza, int he name of self defense. Please. Its weak.

[Hal Johnson]

Link to article

To reiterate, Israel is confronting a world that is getting increasingly fed up with its occupation, its siege of Gaza, its illegal settlements and home demolitions; and it faces a choice: it can either begin to behave within minimum standards of decency and legality towards a real end to the occupation and a peace agreement with the region, or it can become even more belligerent and violent, paving its way towards greater global isolation. Its arrogance of power seems to have taken it down the latter path, and it may be in need of friends to save it from its own reckless behavior.

[Hal Johnson]

Rather than whining about it, it would be more productive for the UN to send an international peacekeeping force in. Seems like a no-brainer but then again, so does banning GMO's- see my next point.

Ya, maybe the UN can go in and open a school. That would be helpful. Oh wait, they did, and it was bombed and everyone inside died.

[nibbler]

Its not a great point, and its a horrible argument. So what if the media focuses on the middle east? Does that make what Israel is doing any less of a massive abuse of human rights? No, it doesn't.

Of course it doesn't, but obsession over the Middle East, wether on behalf of the Main Stream Media, internet bloggers, or your average Joe, Ari, or Moe on the street does not lessen the brutality of the conflict on either side. M.S.M. covers the story as an ongoing fascination rather than as a vulgarity. This type of coverage does not seem to help kickstart the world into taking some kind of action aimed at helping bring about a peaceful resolution for the people living there; when in reality most of them would eagerly trade their left nut for the chance to live peacefully in co-existence. This type of coverage does make it easy for both Israel and Hamas to recruit money and personnel to throw at the fire.

Which leads me back my original point: Instead of looking at what's really going on, Rex is trying to divert attention to the fact that there are other bad things happening in the world. In that sense, he is saying its not fair that Israel isn't left alone to occupy Gaza, int he name of self defense. Please. Its weak.

I'm going to assume Rex has done a lot more 'looking at whats really going on' in the Middle East than you and I combined, both in the individual context and as a journalist.

Consider: When the media provides 24/7 coverage of the already 2600+ year old Mid-East Conflict, new troubles elsewhere in the world are given the time and space needed to germinate, take root, grow, and to explode into ethnic violence before the media is on hand to keep things in check. They could show up early and assist by building international support when it matters most, but all too often the media show up long past the point of diffusing these conflicts. They show up late only to photograph body bags while wondering how nobody paid attention to all the signs of the impending ethnocentric violence until it was too late to stop?

In that sense, he is saying its not fair that Israel isn't left alone to occupy Gaza, int he name of self defense. Please. Its weak.

In saying this you reveal much more about your own personal prejudice in this discussion than you reveal about Rex's possible motive. He speaks for himself, you speak for yourself.

Which sort of brings me back to my original points: the Main Stream Media does its best at:

• keeping us distracted with the fascination of violence
• focused on playing the blame game
• choosing sides on the bi-polar see-saw
• effectively ignoring ethnocentrism and human rights abuses in our own backyards or wherever its due to pop its ugly head up next

Which is not to say I blame all thats wrong in the world on the M.S.M. We are complicit too- simply by eating up the crap they're dishing out.

[Hal Johnson]

My own prejudice? Last count it was over 1000 Gazan's dead (since 2008), 13 Israelis. Im through trying to wrap my head around this being a conflict - a word that infers to me that there is somewhat equal power on both sides. There is one side with all the power. They are occupying and strangling an entire group of people. When the people fight back, they are called terrorists. If that to you, is me showing some type of prejudice, then yes, I guess I am guilty. I will generally take the side of the group that is being abused, and argue against the side that is executing the abuse.

I feel the strong urge to voice my opinion because I see a bunch of people being treated like scum (and that is to put it very lightly) and the people treating them like scum are defended to no end. In what other aspect of life do we see this? It's sort of like telling a rape victim she "had it coming."

(Maybe Rex should write an article about that. Why do people care so much about abused women, when there is so much else happening in the world?)

I'm sorry, but I just don't buy your premise on the media. To you it might just be the media capitalizing on horrible images, but thase images are real to a rather significant number of people. Saying that we only care about what is happening there because the media tells us to completely undermines the situation.

Again, I'm not the only one who (but I guess I am around here) who feels this way. Like the quote I posted, the rest of the world is starting to react. The whole "self-defense" thing carries less weight everyday. Yet, people like Rex feel the need to tell the world that all the killing and bombing and everything else is completely justified, and we should pay attention to something else.

No fuckin way man!

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

at best you are being incredibly naive.

(I had written a much longer post, but deletded it as have no desire to be drawn further into this.)

[Hal Johnson]

At best you are being incredibly naive. I would have written much more too, but try to keep it short for sake of discussion. I am well read on this subject and by calling me very naive, you are not contibuting anything to it. Im sorry my opinions differ from yours, but that's the way it is.

All I've ever wanted out of this was for the people of Gaza and Lebanon to have a voice that said to the world that they are not simply terorists and want Israel wiped off the face of the map. There is simply much more to it. There are facts (like death tolls, and UN bombed outposts) that paint a different picture. I don't understand, Im being Naive for using facts to back up my statements? The argument that Israel simply needs to defend itself is incredibly naive at best, in my opinion. Defend themselves against what - the people they are oppressing? Sorry if I don't feel sorry for the state in this case.

And personally, I don't know how anyone could justify what has happened over the past few years in Gaza. Its an atrocity. But that's just me being naive I guess.

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

what Hamas has caused the people of Gaza is indeed an atrocity.

I certainly do not agree with all that Israel has done or is doing. I think that they have gone too far with the blockade. I cannot justify ALL of what Israel has done in/to Gaza and I don't pretend to. but they cannot sit idly while Sderot is being attacked by rockets. and the only reason there are not more dead is because of all the time spent in shelters.

But I am also a zionist and believe that they have a right to be there and live in peace. it is the fundamentalists on BOTH sides that are the barriers to peace.

actually, it's more than the fundamentalists on both sides. it is also most of the arab world. peace (such as a two-state solution) would no longer allow them to use the Palestinians as pawns.

the real sad thing is the longer that this goes own, the more to the right the Israeli public becomes. the less they are willing to support a two-state solution.

peace cannot be made with Gaza/Hamas. it can be made with Fatah and the West Bank (maybe). that needs to be the first step. and once the people of Gaza see what life can be like (when the people of WB have good,safe lives) they may stop supporting Hamas.

many friends think I am naive for even thinking that is possible. I think we don't have any other choice.

but pretending that Gaza/Hamas/Hezbollah is not a real threat is also naive.

Edited June 21, 2010 by Guest
corrected a couple of typos