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Reporting Israeli Assault Through Israel's Eyes
Attack on humanitarian flotilla prompts little media skepticism
On May 31, the Israeli military attacked a flotilla of boats full of civilians attempting to deliver humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip. Reports indicate that at least nine and as many as 16 of the activists on board were killed, though details remain sketchy due to Israel's censorious limitations on media coverage. Much of the U.S. media coverage has been remarkably unskeptical of Israel's account of events and their context, and has paid little regard to international law.
The New York Times (6/1/10) glossed over the facts of the devastating Israeli siege of Gaza, where 1.5 million people live in extreme poverty. As reporter Isabel Kershner wrote, "Despite sporadic rocket fire from the Palestinian territory against southern Israel, Israel says it allows enough basic supplies through border crossings to avoid any acute humanitarian crisis."
Asking Israel to explain the effects of its embargo on the people of Gaza makes little sense, especially when there are plenty of other resources available. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported (IRIN, 5/18/10):
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 in the Strip because of the blockade and Israel's military operation in Gaza, which destroyed water and sanitation infrastructure, including reservoirs, wells, and thousands of kilometres of piping....
Chronic malnutrition has risen in Gaza over the past few years to reach 10.2 percent....
In Gaza, Israel's blockade is debilitating the healthcare system, limiting medical supplies and the training of medical personnel and preventing serious medical cases from travelling outside the Strip for specialized treatment.
Israel's 2008-2009 military operation damaged 15 of the Strip's 27 hospitals and damaged or destroyed 43 of its 110 primary healthcare facilities, none of which have been repaired or rebuilt because of the construction materials ban. Some 15-20 percent of essential medicines are commonly out of stock and there are shortages of essential spare parts for many items of medical equipment.
Those facts, though, aren't persuasive to everyone. The Washington Post's June 1 editorial page had one of the most appalling takes on the killings: "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."
Many of the analysis pieces in major papers 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 Post's Glenn Kessler (6/1/10) framed the U.S. response, not the Israeli attack, as the complicating factor: "Condemnation of Israeli Assault Complicates Relations With U.S." Kessler lamented, "The timing of the incident is remarkably bad for Israel and the United States," while a Los Angeles Times account (6/1/10) called the raid "a public relations nightmare for Israel." The New York Times' Kershner wrote (NYTimes.com, 5/31/10) that "the criticism [of Israel over the attack] offered a propaganda coup to Israel's foes, particularly the Hamas group that holds sway in Gaza."
Other news accounts presented misleading context about the circumstances leading to Israel's blockade. Kershner (New York Times, 6/1/10) stressed that "Israel had vowed not to let the flotilla reach the shores of Gaza, where Hamas, an organization sworn to Israel's destruction, took over by force in 2007." The Associated Press (6/1/10) reported that "Israel and Egypt sealed Gaza's borders after Hamas overran the territory in 2007, wresting control from Abbas-loyal forces"--the latter a reference to Fatah forces affiliated with Mahmoud Abbas.
Both accounts ignore the fact that Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006, which led the United States and Israel to step up existing economic restrictions on Gaza. An attempt to stoke a civil war in Gaza by arming Fatah militants--reported extensively by David Rose in Vanity Fair (4/08)--backfired, and Hamas prevailed (Extra!, 9-10/07).
Much of the U.S. press coverage takes Israeli government claims at face value, and is based largely on footage made available by Israeli authorities--while Israel keeps the detained activists away from the media (not to mention from lawyers and worried family members). The Washington Post (6/1/10) reported the attack this way:
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. Israeli officials said the activists had fired two guns stolen from the troops.
As Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald wrote (5/31/10): "Just ponder what we'd be hearing if Iran had raided a humanitarian ship in international waters and killed 15 or so civilians aboard."
The Times' June 1 report included seven paragraphs of Israel's account of what happened on board the Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, where the civilians were killed; the paper reported that "There were no immediate accounts available from the passengers of the Turkish ship" because the Israeli base they were taken to "was off limits to the news media and declared a closed military zone."
The Times piece also showed little interest in international law, mentioning Israel's claim regarding the legality of their actions but providing no analysis from any international law experts to support or debunk the claim: "Israeli officials said that international law allowed for the capture of naval vessels in international waters if they were about to violate a blockade."
According to Craig Murray (5/31/10), former British ambassador and specialist on maritime law, the legal position "is very plain": "To attack a foreign flagged vessel in international waters is illegal. It is not piracy, as the Israeli vessels carried a military commission. It is rather an act of illegal warfare."
110 Comments so far
Show AllBeen this way for forty years.
Yes, Indeed. And the US people believe it unconditionally.
What do you know, Spiro Agnew was right, there is a deliberate news bias.
In a 24 hour period the media spin machines have made the flotilla the aggressor. I was listening to my man Thom this AM and he and one of his guests started their conversation with the assumption that the IDF was attacked and was within their rights to defend themselves. This was stated as a given. I said to myself, e tu Thom! I love Thom and listen to him on a regular basis, but I have always thought of him as a deeply planted operative of the powers that be. That sounds paranoid and it may be. Here is my argument. Thom shows his hand on three issues.
One: Thom wrote a book pushing "Peak Oil". I don't believe in "Peak Oil". Oil is a scam business and always has been. We are not running out of energy. Oil is everywhere and kept in the ground like money in a vault by the oil companies. The supply is always keep below the demand to keep prices high. Conservation is not the answer. Demand for propane was way down this past winter due to mild weather. The price of propane did not go down. Oil is traded Enron style to pump up the price per barrel. I bought my daughter a 1999 Honda Civic HX which gets 35/43. We have tons of natural gas in the US, because we have drilled so many oil wells, and taxi fleets run on natural gas. Refineries were closed during the Bush/Cheney years to shrink gasoline supply and increase gasoline prices. The US chose to develop Middle Eastern oil for geopolitical reasons during the cold war - to make the Middle East wealthy, (I'll give you up to half my kingdom), and therefore less likely to turn to communism. Egypt turned to Russia and did not benefit financially like Saudi Arabia who sided with the US. Remember the Aswan Dam built by Russia? We could have just as easily developed oil in Indonesia or Africa or S. America. A very large oil find was recently made off the coast of Brazil to counter the growing influence of Chavez. Oil is everywhere and we will never run out. We keep drilling more and more in the US as we become persona non grata in more and more places around the world. China now controls African oil because Bush/Cheney were too busy concentrating on Middle Eastern oil. Russia handles their own oil and gas and does not need the US. Our influence in South American was lost in the last ten years also. I could go on. You don't have to agree with me.
Two: Thom believes that we should have a draft. He states that it's the only fair way to defend this country. With a draft the sons of the wealthy would have to fight. That will never happen. A draft is simply cheap labor for our war machine. If Bush/Cheney had access to more troops, we would have attacked someone else, like Iran or N. Korea. Most importantly, wealthy children will never carry rifles into combat. They will be driving some General in Hawaii, working in supply or in military intelligence. Don't kid yourself. Also, volunteer service in lou of military service is just more cheap labor for the same machine.
We spend more per year, year after year, on military than the rest of the world combined. NATO is number two behind the US. Why? Look at history. The Spanish Armada was built to be used. Makes you think.
Three: Thom says that the Cubans killed Kennedy. He wrote two books on the subject. No way could a banana republic pull off anything of that magnitude and get away with it to this day. It could only have been an inside job. When E. Howard Hunt, the Watergate figure, was on his death bed, his two sons asked him to tell them about the Kennedy assassination. He told them that rouge agents within the CIA first planned to kill Kennedy in Miami then changed to Dallas because they had friends in the local law enforcement community. Makes more sense to me. Cuba is just another Oswald. It happened in Texas and we have been all about Texas since - Johnson - big oil - the Bushes. I would more likely believe that George Bush Jr. was on the grassy knoll himself than Oswald killed Kennedy.
Don't get me wrong, I love Thom, but I am not a trusting person. When lefty radio first started they took the name "Air America". What irony, that was the name of a CIA fronted radio broadcast in SE Asia during the Vietnam War. "9/11" means something, Dial 911, more irony. In the Bible, Jewish religious leaders gathered together to discuss what to do about the Jesus problem. This Jesus was claiming to be King of the Jews vs Caesar. They were afraid that the Romans would come down hard on them and they would lose their positions of influence. One wise person among them said that if this Jesus thing is in fact from God we can't stop it and we may as well co-opt it. With Jesus out of the way things quickly went back to business as usual.
I don't expect any truth from the US media when it comes to Israel. I'll keep listening to Thom. As a public figure I'm sure his skin is thick enough to take the criticism.
If you are talking about Hartman, why are you wasting
your time listening to him?
Of course he is a shill, do you honestly
believe they would allow him to broadcast if he wasn't?
He is just there to make us believe that elections
still mean something...
If we isolate ourselves in a bubble of left-wing purity, we hamper our ability to talk with people about what they are hearing and reading.
Joe
Hartman is a shill for the democratic party as is Michael Moore. They both seem to compromise their progressive leaning in favor of following the party line--at least when things come to a vote, like the health insurance bill. Thom wants us to 'take back' the democratic party, which IMV is a waste of energy and an exercise in futility. Thom is like an old hippy. You can see two distinct tracks the older generation took (and gradients in between). You have the ultra conservative and the new-age liberal. Thom is more of a 'New-age liberal.' The democratic party has reached such a high level of corruption that it can never be reformed, or at least never become truly progressive. Only a non-corporate third party can achieve that. Any party that's in existence long enough will become corrupt at its core. At that point it needs to be dismantled. Presently, the siren song and spin at MSM is so hypnotic that few seem to break its spell. I sometimes think that 'evil' itself has evolved and become more sophisticated, and is part of why mankind is in so much peril now--the siren song keeps the sleepwalkers asleep.
That Obama and his rotten crew refuse to even speak out on this, much less take action, tells you all you ever need to know about them. Their silence is an evil complicity in this atrocity.
They are the hidden hand that enables Israel in its fascist terrorism. Shame on our government. Anyone who votes for these impostors is abetting the worst forms of criminality. Washington DC is the home of the biggest Mafia in the world.
Boycott Israel,
Boycott the American media who spins their Israeli centric stories,
and Boycott everything that they both sell.
international waters,,, if someone boards my ship in international waters , there is going to be shooting.
So, it does not matter who shot first, what matters is who was the aggressor trying to force his way upon another in international seas.
If Israel military ships came up to the flotilla demanding them to stop in international waters where they have no jurisdiction, they are pirates with intent to harm person and property.
But , we all know the the USA and Israel create laws on the fly, rule of law is what these war mongering nations say it is.
" Rule Of Law " I am ashamed to say, that my fellow Americans and I have to admit we have allowed our government to circumvent our own constitution by allowing warrant less surveillance and immunity to government contractors who commit these unconstitutional acts. .By the millions.
" Rule of Law " This is the old west, he who has the greater fire power is " The Rule of Law"
Shame on our supreme court for allowing any warrant less surveillance.
Shame on our entire legal establishment for not putting great pressure on our elected officials and our supreme court to secure the fourth amendment as written.
Shame on all of us , we our not supporting our troops by honoring their commitment to protect our country and constitution , for we are not doing the same here in the homeland.
I can not say more, I am overcome by the lack of "Rule of Law."
bornfreemen
Democracy Now! ran footage this morning of Israeli commandos storming one of the Gaza relief boats which was taken by Al Jazeera. An analyst from Democracy Now! pointed out that the Israelis began firing even before they had landed on that ship [i.e. while they were going from the helicopter via rope to the ship] and that the people on the ship were trying to defend themselves from the Israelis. As this article makes perfectly clear, the corporate media [or, as Ray McGovern calls it, the Fawning Corporate Media] simply accepts at face value whatever it is told by the Israelis and that includes such programs as Hardball which supposedly separates itself from its competitors.
The article should have read, ( Israeli assault through Israeli lies). I am not surprised at the American government responce, or lack there of, as our government is occupied Israeli territory. Fellow Americans welcome to the United States of Israel. They control our government. They control our MSM (main stream media). Soon we will understand the plight of the Gazans. It's our future unless enough voices speak out and demand our souvernty. Do you get it yet?!
You were expecting, perhaps, someone else's version?
For those who might possibly be interested in another perspective, the English edition of Turkey's ZAMAN Daily is available at http://www.todayszaman.com/
Some of the editorial commentary there seems just slightly PO'd for some strange reason. But, then again, Turkey is merely an official NATO ally by virtue of a ratified treaty. Israel is a U.S. ally by virtue of ... What exactly?
Oh, I know. Don't tell me. Its interests just happen to coincide with USA Incorporated's current interests in the region thereby rendering all that international law and treaty stuff quaint and obsolete.
The U.S. media are just reflecting current U.S. loyalties for whatever they may be worth. Probably not much if USA Incorporated's interests change. No one, including Israel, should think that's forever impossible. In fact, although holding one's breath is definitely not advisable, there are a few small signs of shifting sands already for the carefully observant.
Thanks for the link RV.
Raw story has video before and during the boarding, broadcast live from the Mavi Maramara. You can here the rounds incoming before the pirates boarded the ship. It doesn't mesh with what the Israeli's are saying. CNN and Fox don't seem to want to show it. They keep showing the Israeli footage. The rest of the world is seeing though. President Obama regrets the deaths, but thinks the crimminals should conduct the probe of their own illegal actions. The rest of the world however, doesn't agree with the President. Why the hell isn't NATO bombing the shit out of the IDF? Civilian ships from NATO countries with NATO citizens onboard in territorial waters.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0531/raw-video-reporter-claims-israelis-fired-activists-boarding-ship/
the "rule of Law" hahahahahahahahahahhahah
That's the last thing these lawless criminals say before they crack you in the head with a hammer.
Read Alan Dershowitz's comments over on Huffington. He compares this humanitarian aid mission to the Soviet attempt to set up nuclear missiles in Cuba during the "Missile Crisis." Which, in his eyes, gave the Israelis the right to board those vessels.
I watched Chris Matthews' segment on this developing story too, tonight, and, of course, he threw in his two or three words of support for Israel. I guess he has to genuflect to the basic myths and tenets Americans live by to keep his job. He and some other commentators supported the Iraq War too during the lead up, when some truth and criticism would have been helpful. It wasn't until the motes were taken from the nation's eyes - generally speaking - that Matthews and other MSNBC pundits became critical. For, of course, it gradually became safe to be critical of the war. And the obvious - that Bush lied - was by then hard to ignore.
So, thanks to a few hot-headed "violent" individuals we get:
"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."
- Washington Post
Imagine how much better it would have been if they has practiced proper nonviolence, if the commandos killed them anyway, US editorialists would have written:
"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."
And, if the ships and their cargos were siezed and the occupants taken to prison without bloodshed they would have written:
".....(nothing)......"
You can't win with the corporate media - the beginning of the old show "The Outer Limits" comes to mind: "We control the horizontal; we control the vertical"...
In view of some earlier comments in other threads here, it may be worth reporting that Turkey does intend to deal with the incident as a NATO issue. Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, has made the following public statement:
“Therefore this is not only a problem between Turkey and Israel; it is a problem between Israel and the international community,” Davutoğlu continued, indicating that rather than taking unilateral military action against Israel, Turkey would use NATO mechanisms if any military moves were needed. “We are informing NATO on this issue, and from now on we will continue taking the necessary steps via consultations within the framework of NATO.”
That can be taken two ways, of course. It's by no means clear that Turkey will actually press for any NATO response. And, even if it did, the NATO requirement for consensus (i.e., no objections by a member state) would almost certainly frustrate any such attempt. On the other hand, it could certainly shake things up a bit amongst some of America's allies.
REF: http://www.todayszaman.com/
Turkey is going to be the major player in this region very soon. Their strategic location, young and dynamic workforce and Political weight int the Muslim World has many predicting them as a major power within 30 years.
Russia knows this. China knows this. The US does not seem to get it.
Deleted, rewritten.
I hope eveyone caught Hillary's strong language that Israel must immediately release all 11 Americans from custody.
No? Right. Not a freakin word from anyone, about Israel holding Americans.
The Americans haven't even been mentioned.
Disgraceful.
I guess we shouldn't expect any repeat of the USS Bainbridge, one of the navy’s most modern guided-missile destroyers, steaming into stormy waters to put pressure on the pirates to hand over their American hostages. Apparently Somalia’s pirates differ from Israel's in some unspecified way.
Yeah,
It's pretty clear this dysfunctional government doesn't care about it's citizens.
US citizens around the world are really on their own. The US Embassy won't help anybody anymore unless it's a banker or a CEO. You haven't lived until you've stood all night long out in the rain swatting mosquitoes waiting to get inside the US Embassy for an appointment. And the advantages to registering a boat as US are completely gone. A titled US Registered boat used to be considered sovereign US territory. Now only corporate boats are treated that way.
I'm sure the Head-Spook-In-Charge (ex-CIA) has already written-off those eleven Americans as collateral damage: They'll be tarred as American Talibans or Hamas sympathizers. Why even have an investigation when we already know the outcome? Barry supports Genocide and Land Theft. He's going to keep letting your Frankenstein (Israel) out of the castle to terrorize the locals.
Remind me again why we need this huge federal government? It certainly doesn't ever stand up for the little guy anymore.
Israel is a threat to the whole region. I fully expect them to encroach on all their neighbors as time goes on. Let's cut off their funding, switch to solar and wash our hands of the whole region before it's too late.
TJ
Who do you mean by "Head-Spook-In-Charge"?
Are you referring to Robert Gates, who I like to refer to as the Gates of Hell?
Bush appointed Gates. Obama kept him on. Or didn't have the clout to kick him out.
This was the definitive event that demonstrated Obama's servitude to the military-industrial-intelligence-media-zionist bi-partisan consensus.
Mr Obama likes nothing better than consensus.
"Oh thank you Mr. Gates, that tastes just like chocolate!"
War Pig Obama turns chicken with Netanyahu. He'll hide behind Hillary.
What a mess.
By "Head-Spook-in-Charge" TJ means none other than the Obombster, I think. He's referring to Barry's little stint, fresh out of law school, with overseas CIA-front Business International Corporation.
An open letter to US lawmakers,
I write to urge you NOT to support President Obama’s request of $3 billion in security assistance to Israel for fiscal year 2011 and his overall international affairs budget request of $58.5 billion.
I do NOT subscribe to the belief that this bleeding of our national treasury is a critical national security tool. It does NOT promote global stability, but DOES build overseas markets for American BIG BUSINESS. Humanitarian and democratic values are the LEAST concern of these businesses. This is corporate America in its position of having taken over the american government [sic]. Our government, since the Constitution, has been by business for business. Until Lincoln, there was no consideration of a government for the people.
Today we have a government WAY out of line with those noble objectives. With business running government, we have reason to be very fearful. The “national interest” of this country is no longer the national interest of the people. I can’t imagine you are not aware of that. The Tea Party wants to take government back and may become a real threat to current office holders. Americans must be mindful, however, their values are republican/business values. I have to consider the house and senate does not represent the people either.
Consumer laws are very weak. The American family is destitute as is what is left of the middle class. We are a class society heading toward a rich elite and everyone else. There are so many creative ways for business to steal from us and the world with the full protection of the US government and its laws. I can only assume our government wants it that way. After all, war is big business and greed knows no bounds nor has a conscious. Can you not see this Plutocracy is ruining our country and its citizens?
It is well know Israel is using some of the security assistance to wreak havoc on the civilian populations of Palestinians. While I concur that Israel has the obligation to defend itself, there is NO defense for killing and destroying the lives of innocent civilians. As you know, the Israeli government is the most hated government in the world with the US government second. Atrocities and acts against the Geneva Convention are committed by them and by us in compliance with them. We have become the terrorists. There is NO reason for any government to kill innocent civilians. Look what happened in Gaza after no response came from the US government over the Rachel Corrie incident, not to mention the Liberty.
So what if Israel already spends more per capita (8 percent) on defense than any other industrialized country in the world—around double what the United States spends—and continually needs to buy more sophisticated and expensive technologies to help defend its citizens. They are buying this with foreign aid from the US. Our citizens cannot afford this. Our government is killing us and making all of us poor (except for the rich elite).
Israel has proven to be an arrogant, aggressive, and unreliable ally. They are depleting our national treasury. Surely there is a better way to support them in a real crisis. I understand having them on the front line dealing with the terrorists is valuable but not at the cost of our nation? Israel does NOT reflect our values or advance the interests of the citizens of the US. This is the rhetoric of US business concerns. Americans are waking up to this fact.
Their latest military response to the flotilla is another example of the Israeli governments unnecessary and typical response of outlandish brutality. The government of the United States must accept responsibility for its role in support and lack of condemnation of these atrocities and cease support of such “foreign policy” programs.
I urge you NOT to support security assistance for Israel and the overall international affairs budget. CITIZENS OF THE U.S. NEED THE MONEY AT HOME, NOT IN THE POCKETS OF THE AMERICAN WAR MACHINE BUSINESSES PROFITING ON THE BLOOD OF INNOCENT PEOPLE. This is NOT in the interest of the citizens of the United States. It is way past time for our domestic humanitarian and infrastructure issues to be fixed. Any reasonable, thinking American citizen recognizes this.
As we say on the picket line:
Not a nickle
Not a dime
No more money
For Israel's crime
That's how I feel about our military spending too and support the "War is Making You Poor" campaign. Poor in money and poor in spirit.
Joe
DEAR ESA:
Supporters of Israel, including USA, committed to loose. They are socially and ideolojically blind. They don't want to hear anything different than their old paradigm which imposes that power will establish the order in the region. If the power could do that Roman Empire and all others could have been here. But they failed and lost, because their power was lack of justice. Who ever stands for injustice, will fail. USA is doing it with her citizens's hardly earned tax dollars and helping most brutal state Israel. I want to be sure that my tax dollars will be using for humanity not support to opressors and fasist regimes.
I hope you realize that the 3 Billion dollars can only be spent in the US on military equipment. This is a bargain. Other wise we would have to put a fleet in the Mediterranean at a cost exceeding 100 billion dollars. Ships are very expensive.
You say:It is well know Israel is using some of the security assistance to wreak havoc on the civilian populations of Palestinians. Israel share security assistance with us. But tell me just how does Israel use it to wreak havoc on the civilian population. The West Bank is thriving with major towns and cities patrolled by Palestinian security forces. Their gross national product is up an average 11.2% per year. The towns and cities average from9.4 to 15.1% with exports reaching cities all around the Mediterranean and into Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
It is only Gaza which since the Israeli government pulled out of the occupation has shot 7,000 missiles into Israel. They dug under the fence and killed two soldiers and kidnapped one who is still held for ransom.
The Hamas constitution states it purpose is to destroy Israel and Kill every Jew. They mean it too.
So after Hamas overthrew the democratically elected government the systematically killed the families of all Fatah members to every last man, woman and child.
Bless those who escaped. 100 truck loads of food, medicines and sundries go into Gaza every day. They are not being hunted down and killed to the last man.
Israel may be the most hated government in the world in your mind. But in reality they have 50 solid trading partners and create the technology that you are using to write our progressive news and blog site.
North Korea and Venezuela are two of the very top hated countries. You know only Sunnis love Iran many of those don't like Persians as they think Semitic people are a sub-species.
The Muslim Brotherhood on Israels addition to the UN passed a resolution to expel Jews from every nation and close to a million people were forced to leave every Arab nation with just the clothes on their backs.
And as soon as they were formed 5 armies attacked them to push then into the sea.
Never did the Armies think they could lose and without US help defeated the 5 armies, the first of many attacks.
Your very vague accusations of Israeli crimes is a crime into it's self.
You are not looking to save 3 billion dollars as it would cost much more for the security they supply to Jordan and Saudi Arabia against the Sheia and the coming sunni-sheia war.
I think you are a plant. You don't use facts and make outlandish claims.
And lastly, Israel does not reflect out values. No it does not. After you take away all the propaganda you have nation with better values than us. Would we go to war because you got kidnapped...No we would not. Israel would. It values life in a way you will never understand.
Just go to NPR and BBC as well.
All their talk shows and commentary programs provided a platform all day for the Israeli spin, one program after another.
The outrage of it all.
They are forcing people to sign false confessions so they can go.
Any individual that is known to have defended themselves against the stormtroopers is going to be held in Israel for trial in violation of any and all laws that grant that Authority to the state where the action took place - a Turkish ship which by extension Turkish soil.
Israel is not only blaming the victims but also accusing Turkey of intentionally provoking the confrontation.
I sure hope that at least some of those false confessions are being marked as "signed under duress", although it would seem fairly obvious in the circumstances.
What Israel hopes to gain by such a charade isn't at all clear. Those who are aware of the facts know that the kidnappings occured in international waters and the victims certainly didn't smuggle themselves into Israel voluntarily. Others will believe whatever Israel claims regardless.
.
The Israeli SpinMeisters are working over time,,,,,,,,
Focus and remember June 8th, 1967,,,,,,,
>>>>>>>>>>REMEMBER the USS LIBERTY<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
/
I just read all the above now below, comments, what a lot of dog poop. 1.3 Billion ARABS-Islam-Muslim, 30 Countries, and they don`t want Palestinians in their own countries, especially Saudi Arabia, yes we send money but your not welcome here, Jordon threw out Arafat years ago, Lebanon said No, Iraq and Iran too.Since 1948 every 6-7 years Israel is attacked by these Arab Countries and SO FAR they get their Koran Butts kicked until they cry to the United Nations, Yes EVERY TIME, this is no different. Turkey missed out on European Union and so Plan B is support nukes for Iran, get back at Israel and Europe. Picture gets bigger, yes Turkey may want to use American Military bases in Turkey as leverage to pressure Israel on Palestine, bigger picture is to force Israel to give out info on Their NUKES, which means Brazil-Turkey.Hugo-Castro-Russians, everyone else jumps on the Kill Israel Train. Bigger picture is to force USA to punish Israel Nice Plan but Israel has already the finger ready for the International community and rightfully So. Thank You.
Good luck with that finger. It's certainly getting more than its fair share of exercise recently. Proverbs 16:18 is recommended reading, even for devout Zionists.
I like Mark's tunes better. You're right about on thing: singing to the Isreali-U.S. pro-war crowd with your songs will get you a gig with the MSM real quick. Try CNN as they're hiring and firing on all cylinders right now. They find the topic easy to plug: just like the IDF shoots unarmed civilians. Try more capital letters next time. It'll look like you're carryin' a gun under your sxxtshield arguments.
Go get 'em pilgrim!
Happiness (is a warm gun)
Bang Bang Shoot Shoot
Happiness (is a warm gun, momma)
Bang Bang Shoot Shoot
(When I hold you in my arms)
Oooooooooh, oh yeah!
And when I feel my finger on your trigger
Oooooooooh, oh yeah!
I know nobody can do me no harm
Oooooooooh, oh yeah!
Happiness (is a warm gun, momma)
Bang Bang Shoot Shoot
What feckless allies are the zionists.
They attack ships flying under the flag of their only muslim ally, Turkey. Not to mention that one of the ships attacked was under American registry.
We know they steal US state secrets and nuclear technology from the US.
Yet we continue to send them billions every year while we lay off teachers by the tens of thousands here in the Insecure Homeland.
Peter, you claim the protestors are riding "The Kill Israel Train." I think we were talking about Israelis killing passengers on a humnitarian mission in international waters.
You and the zionist killers you defend are riding "The Kill the Lefty Peaceniks and All Critics of Zionism" Boat, Peter.
Get a grip.
Take a pill.
Calm down.
Breathe.
FOR PETER KNOPFLER:
You are right. It is really frustrating thing whatever happened yesterday for specially the one whose binary world doesn't have an answer for it. The truth in one’s binary world can have only two subsets: the correct and true on the one hand; and the incorrect and false on the other. However; only intellectuals carefully deals with all kinds of details/variables of the fact and never easily draws conclusions from a single uncertain variable. It is not about the true or false, but about how all tangled variables are related / correlated with each other and it is true intellectual’s real job to find the reason for all this. You must have a frustrating life, things are not easily fit in your shallow brain!
Listen, this is not just araps or muslims problem. I am 46 now, it was problem there when I was a child and still it is continuing and getting worse. Somebody had to step on the issue and it is Turkey doing it now actively and voluntarily. Who cares EU accepts Turkey or not. Turkey in last 10 years 15 biggest economy in the world with her own capital and assets! It is Turkey's right to seek friction free conflicts, which are not exception, in the region and trying to do that. The truth that we might not like it but don't forget truth and justice is the only winners in human history.
In Gaza strip, 1.5 million people trying to survive and it is open concentration camp, which Zionist Israel created. Sure founders of Israil learned their lessons well and they are applying it on innocent civilians in Palestine. Their teachers were Nazis and we are tired of to see their sick fasist actions against to humanity everyday. It must stop, if not great and breave children of the big civilation will stop them. They have learn respect to others or citizens of civilized world will teach them.YOU WILL LEARN OR LEARN OR LEARN...
Peter, also you need to learn how to communicate. You have no right to say for people's opinion that dog poop!?? I don't expect the one who supports Israel's brutal actions blindly to be respectful to the others, but if you think that there is a dog poop, then it must be in your brain!!!!
A Proud Turksh-American
For Peter Knopfler: Go pump some iron, Pete.
The size of the military and industrial exchange between Turkey and Israel. The Turkish government might financially collapse and fall prey to the Russian expansionism if it doesn't follow through with equipment purchases.
Israel is not going to give up information on their nucs. They are for defense and even Russia knows they are in peril if they get aggressive in the area again.
Israel is trying to do all these things with a minimum of causalities. I wonder if it is worth it.
After 7000 missiles get shot at them from Gaza they put on a massive attack with attacks from Air, Sea and Land. They attack for 22 days in a very tiny area that has 1.5-2.0 million people. The attack is furious, unrelenting with 10s of thousand soldiers involved.
1000 dead Hamas warriors the first two days... 400 more died from all groups.
But think of the numbers 1400 out of 2 million. That is not possible but the UN agreed with the number. How does such a murderous assault lead to so few deaths.
Every life is precious. Yet to attack an area so small containing so many people and most of them are the rocket shooters or manufacturers of rockets.
And only kill .0007% of the population is incredible.
The greatest restraint in military history.
Funny thing Peter is that this will never be recognized as an accomplishment. It will be called a Holocaust, genocide and ruthless behavior. Just think of what the army could of done. The hater will never see this for what it is, restraint so as to hit the Hamas leadership and troops.
Many have been saying for years that such as GW Bush is not an accident but an expression of the degradation of the West.
Some people in the West see this vaguely. The Chinese see it in I MAX 3D.
Greenwald did a pretty fair job of pointing out that only the U.S., Britain and Isreal believe their own bullsxxt on this int'l mess. We are seeing the chickenhawks coming home to the roost unable to peddle their blackmail to less sympathetic gov'ts. The U.S. is in deep doodoo economically, culturally, legally and the emerging powers are going to exert their independence and rightfully so. Hell, we might even fall off the wall and crack Humpty-Dumpty like. If our Corporotacracy isn't brought to heel and our Dreams of Empire aren't reined in (Raymond Carver short story here) we may never get it back together again. Just sayin'.
The scary part, however, is that Humpty-Dumpty might be tempted to employ a nuclear "Sampson option", just like it adopts all of Israel-Dumpty's other policies, and push the big red button as it falls off that wall.
It would be Michelle who has to push the button. Barack would need a commission to " finger " it out, so to speak.
'It is not piracy, as the Israeli vessels carried a military commission. It is rather an act of illegal warfare."
It is illegal warfare carried out by pirates in military uniform.
Well of course! If you see it through any other eyes, you are liable to get your eyes put out by an Israeli canister.
It's high time we stopped looking at Israel as 'the little country that could' and saw it for what it is, a giant land grab from people who had nothing to do with the holocaust. The people who are doing it have said over and over again that Arabs are not worthy of being there. Funny, isn't that what God said about the Canaanites several thousand years ago as recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures? It's the excuse used to conquer Canaan by the Hebrews. It's this kind of thinking that has contributed to Jewish persecution down through the ages.
There were two Nazi ss Divisions that were Arab. Being coordinated by Al-Husaini the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Adolph Eichmann. The Mufti broadcasting from his radio show in Berlin to recruit Muslims including those in the eastern areas of the Ottoman empire, and his people in the territories around Jerusalem, including the area to become Israel.
These two divisions took 658,000 Jews, Christians and Gypsies to death camps through Bulgaria. You can look it up. Just google it. This is the same Mufti that told Arabs to flee the land called Israel in 1945 so when the 5 armies attacked they would have a clear killing ground. They never figured they would lose. Israel offered to take in 100,000 families to make up for those who might have been run off by illegal gangs and the Mufti refused.
This would of been half of the 758,000 who fled.
This is fact and you can look it up also if you wish to know more and the truth.
Another Israeli war crime. And the US is essentially doing the same thing - killing civilians in Pakistan, to choose one example, in "self-defense". Both countries assert their right to do anything, kill anyone they want wherever they want, in preemptive actions whenever they consider it in their best interests.