Flotilla Update: Israel Attacks Convoy, Deaths Reported

[Simulist]

With Their Eye on Midterms, Don't Expect Democrats to Break With Israel

I would never expect the Democrats to do anything that requires character.

(Unless there were an ulterior motive, of course.)

yep the party of useless go-along losers... I'm finally done with it. The lesser of two evils is in this case, just pathetic, yet still evil.

Right on. Your loyalty is something to be admired, but your conscience is something I admire even more.

[Simulist]

'Next time we'll use more force'

By YAAKOV KATZ, AP AND JPOST.COM STAFF
01/06/2010

Navy prepares for expected arrival of 2 more activist ships.

Israel will use more aggressive force in the future to prevent ships from breaking the sea blockade on the Gaza Strip, a top Navy commander told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

LINK

[justdrew]

so I'm sure The formerly-esteemed John Loftus is ready to tell us the commando's were just defending themselves, and the dead aren't really dead, just posing. Anyone hear him on Emory a couple weeks back?

[justdrew]

Irish aid vessel still sailing for Gaza, ‘most serious consequences’ promised if passengers harmed

Irish humanitarian aid ship the MV Rachel Corrie is still sailing for Gaza, in spite of Israel's recent, devastating attack on other vessels in the Gaza aid flotilla, resulting in at least nine dead activists and hundreds of prisoners.

The ship, named after 23-year-old U.S. peace activist Rachel Corrie -- who was crushed to death in 2003 by an American-built bulldozer operated by the Israeli army -- has been pleading with the international community to pressure Israel into leaving them alone.

The Irish government, for its part, has threatened Israel with "the most serious consequences" if any Irish national, captured or currently aborad an aid vessel, is harmed.

"If any harm comes to any of our citizens, it will have the most serious consequences," Taoiseach Brian Cowen said, according to The Irish Times.

"Taoiseach" is the position bestowed upon the individual who leads Ireland's government.

The MV Rachel Corrie is reportedly due to arrive in Gaza tomorrow, according to the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Irish officials have demanded Israel let the boat pass unimpeded. Ireland has long opposed Israel's military blockade of Palestine.

"The government has formally requested the Israeli government to allow the Irish-owned ship to be allowed to complete its journey unimpeded and discharge its humanitarian cargo in Gaza," Cowen said.

"The Rachel Corrie is carrying medical equipment, wheelchairs, school supplies and cement, a material Israel has banned in Hamas-ruled Gaza, organizers said," the Seattle Post-Globe reported.

Five Irish activists and five Malaysian activists were said to be aboard.

"In the names of our friends, we are more determined than ever to continue into Gaza with our humanitarian cargo and our support for the blockaded and suffering people of Gaza," read a message sent on behalf of the activists, published by Global Research. "We expect Israel to respond to the international condemnation of its violence by not impeding by any means the safe passage of the Rachel Corrie. We appeal to the international community and United Nations to continue to demand Israel our safe passage into Gaza."

Activist group Jewish Voice for Peace declared in an e-mail to supporters, "We still don't know the names of those who were killed or injured, or where they are from. And we don't know the whereabouts or well-being of more than 400 activists still being held by Israel." The group demanded Israel release the activists without condition or charge.

The activists' call echoed another from NATO, which demanded the prisoners' freedom and pressed the need for a "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation" into the events.

In response to the activist killings, Egypt announced it would open a portion of border crossing into Palestine to allow in future shipments of humanitarian supplies. Turkey, reportedly the country of origin for some of the May 31st raid's victims, pledged it would send a military escort with future Gaza aid boats.

Israel claims the killings were the result of a "provocation" by activists who attacked the soldiers as they landed. However, journalists who were on board the vessel during the raid reported civilian casualties first, before they confirmed soldiers had landed, indicating that Israeli forces began their bombardment before boarding the ship.

By Tuesday, the United States had not condemned Israel for taking action against a ship in international waters, instead calling for an investigation to learn the facts of what happened. Instead, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stuck to the language of a UN Security Council statement issued late Sunday on the Israeli assault on a convoy headed to Gaza.

The statement condemns "those acts which resulted in the loss of at least ten civilians and many wounded," but did not specifically say whether the Israeli raid or actions of pro-Palestinians supporters caused the violence.

"Let me simply restate what the international community and the United States supported early this morning at the UN Security Council through a presidential statement," Gibbs said.

"The Security Council statement that I read calls for an investigation that is prompt, impartial, credible and transparent, conforming to international standards, of exactly what happened," Gibbs said. "And we're obviously supportive of that."

[Laodicean]

Well, if the World was a Bar...

...even the Jew would know not to fuck with the Irishman.

(^ please forgive me in advance. )

[smiths]

i'm going to go out on a limb here,
since it was done in international waters,
and since the israelis little home video provides no context as to how things become so chaotic on the boat,
and since the raid occurred in the dark from above, and the footage is in black and white and shows no gunfire,
and since the israelis had allowed no-one to tell what happened,
i think it more than likely that the israelis arrived shooting,
i think they fully intended to take the flotilla over with overwhelming force and are indifferent to loss of life,
i think they are sending the message to the entire world that they dont give a fuck about world opinion or international law,
every move for them is a move that increases the stakes, there is no moderation, no concessions

i also think it is worth pointing out that egypt controls the other end of the gaza blockade, and should be getting some pressure to change its stance

[Elvis]

"If any harm comes to any of our citizens, it will have the most serious consequences," Taoiseach Brian Cowen said

Finally in this matter, a Western government has some balls. (please forgive sexist overtones)

"MV Rachel Corrie"---terrific in-their-face name for the boat.

Turkey, reportedly the country of origin for some of the May 31st raid's victims, pledged it would send a military escort with future Gaza aid boats.

This could get very interesting. Egads.
I might have to get TV again.

[sunny]

IDF Information Blockade Fails: Growing Number of Flotilla Survivors Debunk IDF’s Massacre Story

(many embedded links and video at source)

The Israeli government’s trying to keep the international press away from the survivors of the IDF attack on the Freedom Flotilla that is carrying wheelchairs and water purifiers to the besieged land of Gaza.

By imposing an information blockade, the Israeli government hopes to protect its current story justifying its attack on an unarmed humanitarian vessel in international waters — namely, the claim that the flotilla members dared to attack first and/or defend themselves against armed and trained IDF commandos by using pipe wrenches.

In order to prop up this storyline, the Israeli government has been trying to deny the international media access to the flotilla survivors — but their effort to create an information blockade is failing.

First off, video evidence shows that the IDF fired the first shots — and in international waters (h/t CTuttle):

…two journalists provide a play-by-play of the harrowing event as pops and cracks echo in the background. Even before the Israeli forces were aboard, one says, they were pelting the boat with tear gas and stun grenades, injuring numerous people.

Then he confirms the first death, saying the individual was killed by "munitions," but not specifying whether it was a bullet or something else. Then he confirms that Israeli forces were boarding the ship.

Another of the reporters featured in the video works for the Iranian network Press TV. "We are being hit by tear gas, stun grenades, we have navy ships on either side, helicopters overhead," he said. "We are being attacked from every single side. This is in international waters, not Israeli waters, not in the 68-mile exclusion zone. We are being attacked in international waters completely illegally."

"The organizers are telling me now, they are raising a white flag — they are raising a white flag to the Israeli army," the Al Jazeera reporter said. "This is after one person has been killed; a civilian has been killed by munition. That number could be more … Despite the white flag being raised, despite the white flag being raised, the Israeli army is still shooting, still firing live munitions."

Second off, a growing number of flotilla survivors have evaded the information blockade to tell their stories — stories that directly contradict the IDF’s claims and staged videos. Among them is an Israeli Knesset member:

Hanin Zoabi, a member of the Israeli parliament, was on board the Miva Marmara, the ship that was the scene of the confrontation between activists and Israeli soldiers. The Israeli Navy fired on the ships five minutes before commandos descended from ropes that dangled from helicopters, Zoabi said during a news conference in Nazareth, Israel. She said passengers on board the ship were unarmed.

And from AFP via Zawya, we hear from three German citizens, all of whom are either current or former members of the Bundestag, Germany’s Parliament:

Three visibly shaken Germans who experienced at first hand a deadly raid by the Israeli military on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza denied on Tuesday that anyone on board was armed.

"The Israeli government justifies the raid because they were attacked. This is absolutely not the case," former member of parliament Norman Paech, 72, wrapped in a blue blanket, told reporters in Berlin.

[...]

His comments were backed up by two others on board the convoy when it was raided at dawn on Monday in international waters, MPs Inge Hoeger, 59, and Annette Groth, 56.

And The Guardian has more eyewitness accounts from flotilla survivors further contradicting the IDF’s official story:

"It was extremely bad and very tough clashes took place. The Mavi Marmara is filled with blood," said [Turkish activist Nilufer ] Cetin, whose husband is the Mavi Marmara’s chief engineer.

She told reporters that she and her child hid in the bathroom of their cabin during the confrontation. "The operation started immediately with firing. First it was warning shots, but when the Mavi Marmara wouldn’t stop these warnings turned into an attack," she said.

"There were sound and smoke bombs and later they used gas bombs. Following the bombings they started to come on board from helicopters."

Cetin is among a handful of Turkish activists to be released; more than 300 remain in Israeli custody. She said she agreed to extradition from Israel after she was warned that conditions in jail would be too harsh for her child.

"I am one of the first passengers to be sent home, just because I have baby. When we arrived at the Israeli port of Ashdod we were met by the Israeli interior and foreign ministry officials and police; there were no soldiers. They asked me only a few questions. But they took everything – cameras, laptops, cellphones, personal belongings including our clothes," she said.

[...]

Michalis Grigoropoulos, who was at the wheel of 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."

Grigoropoulos, who insisted the ship was full of humanitarian aid bound for Gaza "and nothing more", said that, once detained, the human rights activists were not allowed to contact a lawyer or the Greek embassy in Tel Aviv. "They didn’t let us go to the toilet, eat or drink water and throughout they videoed us. They confiscated everything, mobile phones, laptops, cameras and personal effects. They only allowed us to keep our papers."

UPDATE: Former Ambassador Edward Peck, who was part of the flotilla, reminds his MSNBC interviewer and the world that the IDF commandos, in addition to "paint guns", had automatic weapons, pepper spray, tear gas and other things which the people they attacked in international waters at four o’clock in the morning did not possess. This even as snippets of the carefully-edited IDF video played with uncredited bits of other videos in a split

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/52176

[seemslikeadream]

i also think it is worth pointing out that egypt controls the other end of the gaza blockade, and should be getting some pressure to change its stance

I believe they have


Mubarak reopens crossing between Egypt and Gaza

[Simulist]

Thanks for that information, Sunny. And for the link.

[smiths]

i was just watching the al-jazeera video with the live shooting audible in the background and these are the two ads google video offered me across the bottom of my video

[smiths]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB9GYd3jq_E

I got this from a friend, Ran, who studies at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva (south of Israel). It’s a demo organized by students SUPPORTING the flotilla slaughter. In local terms, these are not even really right wing students we’re talking about here, just the political centre of the Israeli society. Demos like these were held all over the country since yesterday (I saw several of them myself).

I talked to Ran earlier today, and he says the events in the BG University were scary though not surprising – the ambiance here, even on campuses, is becoming unbearable. It is important to mention that in principle all political activity on this campus is forbidden, and that leftist activists demonstrating outside of the campus during the war on Gaza last year were arrested. This demonstration was held with collaboration of the University authorities and contrary to these same authorities regulations. Ran asked to send it out – so that people would see how an Israeli campus looks like these days.

I’ll only add to that, for those of you who didn’t follow, that we held several demos yesterday all over the country, denouncing the slaughter and the siege and showing solidarity with the flotilla activists. Tomorrow another demo is planned in front of the prison holding the international detainees.

http://antonyloewenstein.com/

[smiths]

'We will take necessary action - including opening fire'

The Spirit of Humanity was carrying aid, building supplies and toys from Larnaca to Gaza on 30 June when Israeli gunships surrounded it in international waters and threatened to open fire. The film-maker Ismahil Blagrove captures the tense stand-off between the Israeli navy and the Free Gaza ship's captain and crew, which includes a Nobel peace prize winner and a former US congresswoman

Tuesday 21 July 2009

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2 ... hip-israel

[Nordic]

Fuck Israel.

[smiths]

yep, you can talk the leg off a chair with all of this stuff, but it odes come down to those two words

fuck israel