- In promoting his 2008 book, "Palestine: Peace Not
Apartheid," Jimmy Carter said one reason for writing it was "to
provoke (unbiased) discussion, which is very rarely heard in this country"
on the question of Israel. In America, "any sort of debate back and
forth, any sort of incisive editorial comment in the major newspapers,
is almost completely absent....There are no significant countervailing
voices" to deter Israel from getting away with murder, an illegal
blockade, aggressive wars, and the most extreme crimes against humanity;
its latest, of course, the massacre of peace activists taking aid to besieged
Gazans.
-
- Besides coming from officials and their spokespersons,
Israel's propaganda arm, Israel Politik, said "Israel had no choice
but to stop the flotilla from breaking the blockade....While Israel was
forced to take action in international waters, its actions are supported
by international maritime law."
-
- False. Under international law, interdictions in international
waters constitute piracy in the broadest sense of the term, and blockades
are acts of war, variously defined as:
-
- -- surrounding a nation or objective with hostile forces;
-
- -- measures to isolate an enemy;
-
- -- encirclement and besieging;
-
- -- preventing the passage in or out of supplies, military
forces or aid in time of or as an act of war; and
-
- -- an act of naval warfare to block access to an enemy's
coastline and deny entry to all vessels and aircraft.
-
- According to international law expert, Professor Francis
Boyle, blockades under international law are:
-
- "....belligerent measures taken by a nation (to)
prevent passage of vessels or aircraft to and from another country. Customary
international law recognizes blockades as an act of war because of the
belligerent use of force even against third party nations in enforcing
the blockade. Blockades as acts of war have been recognized as such in
the Declaration of Paris of 1856 and the Declaration of London of 1909
that delineate the international rules of warfare."
-
- As an occupying power, Israel is obligated under the
Hague Regulations of 1907, Fourth Geneva, and numerous UN resolutions to
protect Palestinian rights, including for adequate food, health, education,
and housing. The blockade and occupation deny them. According to Amnesty
International (AI), "The blockade constitutes collective punishment
under international law and must be lifted immediately." So does the
occupation. Israel maintains them both repressively.
-
- Yet Gaza poses no threat to Israel. Blockades are only
permissible during war for self-defense or by Security Council authorization
under the UN Charter's Article 42, stating:
-
- Measures "to maintain or restore international peace
and security....may include demonstrations, blockade, and other operations
by air, sea, or land forces of Members of the United Nations."
-
- Israel's siege is belligerent and illegal. Slaughtering
unarmed aid activists at sea is cold-blooded murder. Israel Politik falsely
claims its "personnel attempting to enforce the blockade were met
with violence by the protesters and acted in self defense to fend off such
attacks."
-
- The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in
America (CAMERA) is a Boston-based non-governmental Israel Politik equivalent,
producing pro-Israel propaganda while claiming to be impartial.
-
- On May 31, it justified Israel's Flotilla attack saying:
-
- It was "to prevent pro-Palestinian radicals from
violating the naval blockade....during which passengers on the Mavi Marmara
violently attacked Israeli soldiers boarding the ship and drew fatal Israeli
fire" in return. Passengers on board were "inaccurate(ly called)
'human rights activists,' (and) 'peace activists.' "
-
- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) calls Istanbul-based IHH
Humanitarian Relief Foundation "a group of charitable people....extend(ing)
humanitarian aid (in) every region hit by wars, disasters, poverty and
human rights abuses, and believes that civilian initiatives play a complementary
role" to activities of governments and international organizations
like UNHCR.
-
- CAMERA claims IHH is linked to "global jihad and
Islamic terrorist elements in the Middle East (and) served in the past
as a cover for Al-Qaeda, acquiring forged documents, enlisting operatives
and transferring weapons."
-
- It also accused the Mavi Marmara activists of conducting
"rampaging....attack(s on) Israeli troops." So much for impartiality
and truth.
-
- US Media Pro-Israeli Propaganda
-
- On June 1, the Washington Post's editorial page headlined,
"The flotilla fiasco," saying:
-
- "THE ISRAELI commandos who landed on the deck of
the Turkish ferry Mavi Marmara off the coast of the Gaza Strip early Monday
were totally unprepared for what they encountered: dozens of militants
who swarmed around them with knives and iron bars....We have no sympathy
for the motives of the participants in the flotilla - a motley collection
that included European sympathizers with the Palestinian cause, Israeli
Arab leaders and Turkish Islamic activists....some (with) ties to Hamas
and al-Qaeda. What's plain is that the group's nominal purpose, delivering
'humanitarian' supplies to Gaza, was secondary to the aim of provoking
a confrontation."
-
- It doesn't get much nastier than that, an account with
more holes than swiss cheese, by a pro-Israei editorial staff turning facts
on their head.
-
- Also by The New York Times in its June 1 editorial headlined,
"Israel and the Blockade," saying:
-
- "The supporters of the Gaza-bound aid flotilla had
more than humanitarian intentions (in mind). The Gaza Freedom March made
its motives clear in a statement before Monday's deadly confrontation:
'A violent response from Israel will breathe new life into the Palestine
solidarity movement, drawing attention to the blockade.' "
-
- In typical New York Times fashion, the editorial suggested
that activists provoked violence, and welcomed it when it came, instead
of explaining they knew Israel planned a confrontation, but were determined
to reach Gaza anyway - a heroic act considering what happened, unmentioned
by The Times.
-
- The editorial also referred to Israel's video suggesting
its forces were attacked, and that Hamas "seized control of the Gaza
Strip in 2007" - not its legitimacy or that Fatah's West Bank takeover
was illegal.
-
- On June 1, here's what London Guardian writers Dorian
Jones and Helena Smith reported in their article headlined, "Israelis
opened fire before boarding Gaza flotilla, say released activists,"
stating:
-
- Survivors returning to Greece and Turkey today gave "the
first eyewitness accounts of the raid....Turkish activist Milufer Cetin
say(ing) Israeli troops opened fire before boarding."
-
- "It was extremely bad and very tough clashes took
place. The Mavi Marmara is filled with blood," explaining that she
and her child hid in their cabin's bathroom during the attack.
-
- "The operation started immediately with firing.
First it was warning shots, but when the (ship) wouldn't stop these warnings
turned into an attack. There were sound and smoke bombs and later they
used gas bombs. Following the bombings they started to come on board from
helicopters."
-
- Kutlu Tiryaki, captain of another Flotilla vessel, said:
-
- "The attack on the Mavi Marmara came in an instant:
they attacked it with 12 or 13 attack boats and also with commandos from
(three or four) helicopters." Before communications were cut off,
"We were told....their crew and civilians were being shot at and windows
and doors were being broken by Israelis."
-
- Greek activist Dimitris Gielalis, aboard the Sfendoni,
said:
-
- "Suddenly from everywhere we saw inflatables coming
at us, and within seconds fully equipped commandos came up on the boat.
They came up and used plastic bullets, we had beatings, we had electric
shocks, any method we can think of, they used."
-
- Michalis Grigoropoulos, on the Free Mediterranean said:
-
- "We were in international waters. The Israelis acted
like pirates, completely out of the normal way that they conduct nautical
exercises, and seized our ship. They took us hostage, pointing guns at
our heads; they descended from helicopters and fired tear gas and bullets.
There was absolutely nothing we could do. Those who tried to resist forming
a human ring on the bridge were given electric shocks." They took
everything we had.
-
- On June 1, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
issued a Media Advisory headlined, "Reporting Israeli Assault Through
Israel's Eyes," saying:
-
- "The Attack on humanitarian flotilla prompts little
media skepticism," providing examples of pro-Israeli bias and "little
regard to international law."
-
- For example, New York Times writer Isabel Kershner reported
on June 1 that "Despite sporadic rocket fire from the Palestinian
territory against southern Israel, Israel says it allows enough basic supplies
through border crossings to avoid an acute humanitarian crisis."
-
- In fact, for many months, numerous human rights and aid
organizations have reported a grave, growing crisis, the UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs saying on May 18 that:
-
- "As a consequence of Israel's blockade of the Gaza
Strip, 98 percent of industrial operations have been shut down since 2007
and there are acute shortages of fuel, cash, cooking gas and other basic
supplies....Water-related health problems are widespread (after Cast Lead)
destroyed water and sanitation infrastructure, including reservoirs, wells,
and thousands of kilometres of piping...."
-
- Extreme shortages of everything exist. Vital to life
essentials are lacking. Malnutrition is chronic. Illnesses and diseases
go untreated for lack of medicines and supplies. Construction materials
are prohibited, preventing rebuilding, and poverty and unemployment levels
are extremely high among a population desperate for help - facts never
reported by the US media.
-
- Many op-eds and editorials "focused on the fallout
for Israel and the United States, rather than the civilians killed or the
humanitarian crisis they were trying to address." The Washington Post's
Glenn Kessler, for example, on June 1, lamented how the assault "Complicates
Relations with the US," saying:
-
- "The timing of the incident is remarkably bad for
Israel and the United States," while the Los Angeles Times called
it "a public relations nightmare for Israel."
-
- Again, from The New York Times Kershner, saying that
Israeli criticism "offered a propaganda coup to (its) foes, particularly
the Hamas group that holds sway in Gaza." No mention of its democratic
election, its false label as a terrorist organization sworn to Israel's
destruction, Mahmoud Abbas' US-financed and supported Fatah West Bank
takeover and control, or that his term of office expired in January 2009,
but he refused to call a new election or step down.
-
- Nothing either about daily Israeli violence and belligerency,
the suffocating siege, 43 years of repressive occupation, or true facts
about the Flotilla attack - Mavi Marmara passengers saying Israeli vessels
surrounded the ship, firing on it before storming aboard by helicopter.
-
- According to Knesset Member Haneen Zoubi's first hand
account:
-
- This well-planned operation "wanted many deaths
to terrorize us and to send a message that no future aid convoys should
try to break the siege of Gaza." She also explained that commandos
took control of the ship, searched it and found no weapons or munitions.
-
- Quoting Israel, US media accounts falsely claim otherwise,
then lament about the subsequent PR nightmare, not cold-blooded murder
at sea. For example on June 1, the Washington Post reported the assault
as follows:
-
- "Upon touching down, the Israeli commandos, who
were equipped with paint guns and pistols, were assaulted with steel poles,
knives and pepper spray. Video showed at least one commando being lifted
up and dumped from the ship's upper deck to the lower deck. Some commandos
later said they jumped into the water to escape being beaten. The Israeli
military said some of the demonstrators fired live ammunition. The Israeli
officials said the activists had fired two guns stolen from the troops."
-
- Sadly, this is what passes for journalism in America,
especially on television and talk radio - disinformation, distortion and
suppression of the truth that can't pass the smell test - why Project Censored
alerts about a "truth emergency," glaringly in reporting about
Israel.
-
- What Passes for TV News in America - All Propaganda All
the Time
-
- Especially in reports about Israel, a nation that can
do no wrong on cable or broadcast news and talk shows, leaving viewers
hopelessly misinformed.
-
- Never are guests like Noam Chomsky invited on or are
comments like his aired in response to the Flotilla massacre, saying:
-
- "It is worth bearing in mind that the crime is nothing
new. For decades, Israel has been hijacking boats in international waters
between Cyprus and Lebanon, killing or kidnapping passengers, sometimes
bringing them to prisons in Israel including secret prison/torture chambers,
sometimes holding them as hostages for many years."
-
- Israel has been out-of-control for decades, now more
than ever under the extremist Netanyahu government, threatening anyone
that dares challenge it, including its own citizens. Try hearing that on
corporate TV, National Public Radio, Public Broadcasting or the BBC, all
one-sidedly pro-Israeli.
-
- On June 1, CNN highlighted Israel's side of the Flotilla
attack, airing, among its other officials, its UN deputy ambassador saying
the passengers "are not peace activists. They were not messengers
of goodwill." It then reported the IDF saying their troops "were
met with premeditated violence, evident by the activists' use of clubs,
metal rods, and knives, as well as the firing of two weapons stolen from
the the soldiers." Israeli forces then responded with "defensive
action (fearing) their lives were endangered," and seven were wounded.
-
- CNN aired Israeli video, not what activists shot that
showed a true version of what happened, then reported the following:
-
- "A senior Israeli military official, speaking on
condition of anonymity in an account cleared by military censors, displayed
a box containing switchblade knives, slingshots with metal balls and bats
he said had been confiscated from one of the boats. 'This was not spontaneous,'
he said. 'This was planned.' "
-
- On May 31, CNN's national security commentator and former
Bush administration advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
said the following:
-
- "....imagine for a moment if you had videotape of
a US Navy Seal being thrown by civilians off the side of a ship. We would
be surprised if not everybody on that ship was killed as a result of that."
-
- In other words, murdering civilians is standard US policy,
being implemented, of course in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere,
either directly or by proxies. Israel follows the same practice, longstanding
by both countries.
-
- Other CNN reports were similar, leaving viewers to believe
the activists were terrorists, Israel merely responding in self-defense
- outrageous disinformation typical of CNN and the other networks.
-
- As always, Fox News viewers get a daily diet of irresponsible
truth-free reporting, so extreme at times it's unmatched.
-
- On May 31, its online Flotilla attack account headlined,
"Israeli Officials Claim Aid Flotilla Had Ties to Al Qaeda, PM Gives
Military 'Full Support,' " saying Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed
Israeli soldiers were attacked and responded in self-defense.
-
- Israel's deputy UN ambassador, Daniel Carmon was quoted
saying: "What kind of peace activists use knives, clubs and fire from
weapons stolen from soldiers to attack (them) board(ing) a ship in accordance
with international law?" The Flotilla was organized by a "group
with a radical anti-western orientation that supports terrorist organizations
like Hamas and Al Qaeda."
-
- Bill O'Reilly aired Israeli video showing "its troops
were attacked." Sean Hannity complained about the Obama administration's
"lack of support" for Israel. Glenn Beck asked if "anyone
questioned the hatred that socialists have for Israel or the Jews?"
-
- Reporter Dana Lewis said the Flotilla was organized by
a group with "links to Al Qaeda," and that the IDF "says
it's identified 50 passengers on the ship with terrorist links." He
also repeated the lie that Israeli commandos were "armed mainly with
paintball guns," and were "met (by) a violent mob armed with
bats, steel bars, knives....and even guns ripped from Israeli troops who
were beaten to the point they feared for their lives."
-
- On his June 1 radio show, Rush Limbaugh raged against
Obama for having "strong personal and political ties to anti-Israeli
leftists....The Israelis (were) out there playing by the rules....This
was not some innocent bunch of people going in. This (was) an arms mission."
-
- "Not one shred of truth is being reported about
this flotilla, who the people on (it) were or what their purpose was. Their
purpose was to get this provocation, (and) their PR campaign (was) ready
to go before the flotilla even set sail." That's how "Islamists"
operate. "What we're looking at here is another all-out assault on
an Israel-free Middle East."
-
- Most worrisome is that people believe this, leaving them
hopelessly misinformed in support of the wrong side.
-
- Some Final Comments
-
- On June 2, Netanyahu, a common street thug serving as
prime minister, told an interviewer that the activists attacked "are
extremist supporters of terror and violence....I have to make clear that
the Israeli soldiers protected their lives bravely and also I'm very proud
of what they did." Proud of cold-blooded murder he means, Israel's
longstanding policy.
-
- On June 1, Israel rejected international calls for an
independent investigation and end to the Gaza siege, Netanyahu blaming
the victims, then adding:
-
- "It's important to understand that the (blockade)
is essential to protect Israel's security and its right to defend itself.
(Gaza is an) Iranian-sponsored terrorist state," so it's vital to
prevent weapons from entering.
-
- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supports an Israeli
probe, stressing it must be "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent"
- knowing full well it'll be a whitewash like Israel's Cast Lead investigation,
absolving its forces of any responsibility.
-
- Members of Congress praised the Israeli raid, including
Senators Joe Lieberman (I. CT) and Charles Schumer (D. NY) - the senators
from AIPAC. Also Senator John McCain (R. AZ), who like many in Congress
equate Muslims with terrorists. House members were just as supportive,
including Anthony Weiner (who advocated universal coverage, then surrendered
to Obamacare - D. NY), Gary Ackerman (D. NY), and numerous others.
-
- On June 1, a top IDF navy commander told the Jerusalem
Post that Israel will use more aggressive force in the future to prevent
ships from breaking the blockade. "We boarded the ship and were attacked
as if it was a war. That will mean that we will have to come prepared in
the future as if it was war."
-
- On June 4, 2009 in Cairo, Barack Obama called violence
"a dead end," in "seek(ing) a new beginning between the
United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest
and mutual respect" without one religion competing with the other.
They "share common principles....of justice and progress; tolerance
and the dignity of all human beings."
-
- Afterward he:
-
- -- intensified the Iraq occupation;
-
- -- expanded war in Afghanistan;
-
- -- wages it in Pakistan's Northwest Waziristan;
-
- -- targets Yemen and the Horn of Africa;
-
- -- backed the Honduran coup;
-
- -- occupied and militarized Haiti for profit;
-
- -- threatens Venezuela and other nations;
-
- -- most recently heightened tensions with North Korea
over a suspicious false flag incident; and
- -- backs Israel's most egregious crimes of war and against
humanity, saying only, through a White House spokesman, that he deeply
"regrets the loss of lives and injuries sustained, and is currently
working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy,"
when it's perfectly clear what happened and who's at fault. Something neither
he or America's media can admit, despite worldwide condemnation.
- A conclusion so clear it got one commentator to denounce
the pro-Israeli chorus, saying their version is like a carjacker telling
police that the driver bashed him on the head with a tire iron under his
seat.
-
- On June 3, Haaretz's Gideon Levy called Netanyahu "a
blind captain in the cockpit, flying his blindfolded passengers with exemplary
precision" enough to get "the whole world against us."
-
- In a June 2, Asia Times op-ed, Pepe Escobar spoke for
many when he said: "We are all Gazans now."
-
- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com
and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the
Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays
at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs
are archived for easy listening.
-
- http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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