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Lying About the Gaza Flotilla Disaster
Except they do.
The first thing you need to know about the Gaza flotilla disaster is that the intention of the activists on board the ships was to break the Israeli blockade. Delivering the embargoed goods was incidental.
In other words, the activists were like the civil rights demonstrators who sat down at segregated lunch counters throughout the South and refused to leave until they were served. Their goal was not really to get breakfast. It was to end segregation.
That fact is so obvious that it is hard to believe that the "pro-Israel" lobby is using it as an indictment.
Of course the goal of the flotilla was to break the blockade. Of course Martin Luther King provoked the civil authorities of the South to break segregation. Of course the Solidarity movement used workers' rights as a pretext to break Soviet-imposed Communism.
The bottom line is that the men and women of the flotilla had every right to attempt to destroy an illegal blockade that Israel had no legal standing to impose and which was designed to inflict collective punishment on the people of Gaza. (There is no truth to the story that Israel would have delivered the goods on the ships to Gaza if asked; the Israelis never made that offer and, judging by years of precedent, would have blocked any delivery.)
As for the Israeli argument that its soldiers were attacked, that is ridiculous. Israeli commandos were ordered to board a civilian ship in international waters and the government that sent them claims that the resisting passengers attacked them without provocation. This is like a carjacker complaining to the police that the driver bashed him with a crowbar that was under the seat. Neither carjackers nor hijackers should expect their victims to acquiesce peacefully.
Here are the facts about life in Gaza today -- facts that only can be changed by breaking the blockade. These data come from the American Near East Relief Association (ANERA), which provides relief to Gazans to the extent permitted by the Israeli (and American) authorities. ANERA is neither "pro-Israel" nor "pro-Palestinian." It has no political agenda at all. It merely determines what human needs are and tries to respond to them.
8 out of 10 Gazans depend on foreign aid to survive.
The World Food Program says Gaza requires a minimum of 400 trucks a day to meet basic nutritional needs - yet an average of just 171 trucks worth of supplies enters Gaza every week,
Clothes that were held in the port of Ashdod for over a year were released into Gaza but arrived covered with mold and mildew, unusable.
95% of Gaza's water fails World Health Organization standards leaving thousands of newborns at risk of poisoning.
Anemia for children under the age of 5 is estimated at 48%.
75 million liters of untreated sewage are pumped into the Mediterranean Sea every day - because piping and spare parts are not permitted.
During the 2009 bombing:
More than 120,000 jobs were lost as Gaza's industrial zone was destroyed... 15,000 homes and apartments were damaged or destroyed... 1/3 of all schools were destroyed.
None of these can be rebuilt, because construction supplies are kept out by the Israeli authorities.
Also, check this out from The Economist. It is a partial list of commodities allowed into Gaza and commodities banned.
So what is the blockade about?
It is not about stopping terrorism. Hamas has repeatedly offered Israel an indefinite cease-fire in exchange for lifting the blockade. And, on a half dozen occasions, Israel accepted the deal but did not live up to its side of it. In fact, the 2009 war began after Israel ignored its commitments under the Gaza cease-fire agreement, continued the blockade, and then provoked the resumption of attacks on Sderot through a series of targeted assassinations of Palestinians (Israel claims that no cease-fire agreement curtails its right to kill any Palestinian it deems to be a terrorist).
Israel asserts that it will not accept any long-term cease-fire agreement with Hamas because Hamas does not recognize its right to exist.
But Israel does not need the permission of anyone -- let alone Hamas -- to exist. All it needs from Hamas is an end to violence and that is precisely what Hamas is offering, in exchange for lifting the blockade.
This is not to say that Hamas need never recognize Israel. It should. But it is ridiculous to insist on recognition as a precondition for anything. Recognition would be the end result of negotiations, not a precondition for it.
But that is not what Israel wants. It wants to destroy Hamas because it is a terrorist organization. And that makes sense until one realizes that the African National Congress, Sinn Fein, the Israeli Irgun, the Algerian FLN and a host of other resistance movements were called terrorist organizations before negotiations brought them to power. Former Israeli Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir were both unabashed terrorists prior to their entrance into respectable politics. And so what? If dealing with terrorists -- as Israel has repeatedly done with Hezbollah -- will help achieve a worthy goal, why not do it? After all, if negotiations fail, one can always walk away.
But Israel will not change its self-defeating policies until we change ours. And there is no evidence that is happening (at least, not until after the November elections, for obvious reasons).
For now, our policies are joined at the hip with Israel's. We support the blockade of Gaza. We oppose any efforts at reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. We even back Israel's opposition to the Arab Peace Initiative, which offers Israel full peace and normalization of relations with every Arab country in exchange for the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.
Enough is enough. The Obama administration needs to join the rest of the world in demanding an end to the Gaza blockade as a first big step toward the resumption of negotiations.
The attack on the flotilla was one of the most disastrous blunders in Israel's history. At last, the whole world sees Israel's policy of collective punishment for what it is -- a means to perpetuate the occupation forever. Only the United States government has chosen to close its eyes.
The occupation is killing Israel. And we are on the sidelines letting it happen. Some ally!
112 Comments so far
Show AllAmong the people putting out propaganda for Israel is Wolf Blitzer of CNN who just so happened to work in the past for The Jerusalem Post.
Save Gaza.
Wasn't Blitzer also a spokesperson for AIPAC at one point?
q
He was.
Yes, he was.
Obama's chief of staff worked for the Israeli army -- wonder where his sympathies lie?
I don't.
Rahm Emanuel worked for a short time for the IDF as a volunteer. It is also widely held that he is also an Israeli citizen (has or had dual citizenship).
Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so Netanyahu could kill.
harsh! (but true!)
Slowly the tide is changing though. The ignorance of the last 100 years is coming down; we are heading towards an age when there shall finally be peace on earth. The deception is being unmasked, and much of it is thanks to sites like CD and Internet in general.
The peacemakers shall be called the Children of GOD.
Blessings!
brian
Obama ran (away) because he had none of the integrity of Rosa nor Martin.
"Hamas does not recognize [Israels] right to exist"
I agree with you - what country on earth needs recogniton of its "right" to exist. But you also have to consider what the operative definition of "Israel" is - you may disagree with a specific concept of "Israel"; eg., sometimes "Israel" is defined as a state for one ethnic group only. Can such a state have a right at all to prevail, anywhere? South Africa for Whites only - the others must live in ghettoes. Is it reasonable for such a state to demand recogniton?
Overall, much of the game in Israel is a game of shifting and ambiguous definitions - whatever works to promote one group over the others. Not only Arabs/Muslims are affected by this game.
Whenever I see goods sold with the "Made in Israel" label, I put them back on the shelf, as I know that most are made in Palestinian sweatshops. So what exactly is "Israel"? And how can we accept its existence when we don't know what we are accepting?
Given SecState Hillary Clinton's pledge to "obliterate Iran", one starts to believe that the US does not recognize Iran's right to exist.
What goes around.....
"The occupation is killing Israel. And we are on the sidelines letting it happen. Some ally!"
No, the occupation is killing us.
I'm grateful that this author underlines Israel's policy of eliminating economic competition in the occupied territories. It did the same thing in Lebanon a few years ago.
The zionist goal is absolutely clear: complete extermination of the Palestinians.
q
Poor little Israel, besieged by the world. The perpetual victim. Antisemitism like a thick dark cloud everywhere covering the world.
How come, then, it is always civilians who die in great numbers in these "operations?" Not Israeli soldiers. Or other soldiers. But civilians.
Children throw rocks at Israeli tanks. Rocks hurt, we are told. The soldiers retaliate.
When Israel enters into Lebanon or Gaza or wherever scores of civilians die. Collateral damage we are told, Israel has to protect itself. On and on.
You would think, listening to Israel's unconditional apologists, that this flotilla bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza would have been another D Day landing. An act of war. And that the poor peaceful soldiers landing on the ships were mere innocents who were attacked without provocation by "terrorists."
There are those who believe this, but only because they want to believe it. And that is their best argument.
>>Poor little Israel, besieged by the world. The perpetual victim. Antisemitism like a thick dark cloud everywhere covering the world.
I was clicking through PBS last night and there it was: more historical narratives about the persecution of Jews. Oh sweet Jesus, I wept like a baby. Surely these are the only people on the planet who have suffered through the cruelty and indignity of empire, barbarity and dynasty.
I have only one problem with this article. He uses the terms disaster and disastrous. This implies some sort of natural calamity when it fact, it was the premeditated slaughter of innocent peace activists. Israel damn well knew what it was getting into. Anyone who claims otherwise is naive.
An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.
Buddha
Good men and bad men differ radically. Bad men never appreciate kindness shown them, but wise men appreciate and are grateful. Wise men try to express their appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to their benefactor, but to everyone else.
Buddha
There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it.
Buddha
Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.
Buddha
Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.
Buddha
The thought manifests as the word; The word manifests as the deed; The deed develops into habit; And habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its ways with care, And let it spring from love Born out of concern for all beings.
Buddha
We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
Buddha
Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.
Buddha
May human conscience continues shining out brightly over darkness of brutality.
"Israel asserts that it will not accept any long-term cease-fire agreement with Hamas because Hamas does not recognize its right to exist. But Israel does not need the permission of anyone -- let alone Hamas -- to exist."
A nuance to this demand is Israel wants recognition, not as a state, but as a Jewish state. Not being Jewish, displaced Palestinians could then no longer insist on, or negotiate on the right to return.
"It is not about stopping terrorism. Hamas has repeatedly offered Israel an indefinite cease-fire in exchange for lifting the blockade."
Additionally, since achieving power and hence responsibility, Hamas, while not pristine, has been far more responsible in its behaviour. No suicide missions and targeted assasinations and apartment bombings, unlike Israel.
And just as the govt of Israel cannot seem to control its citizens,(the spread of illegal settlements in the West Bank,) Hamas cannot prevent every aggrieved Gazan from lobbying crude rockets. By no yardstick do these pose an existential threat.Why hold peace a hostage to this?
Another purported Israel grievance is Hamas does not accept previously negotiated agreements, mainly Oslo. Between Oslo accords and the second imtifada, Israel's main demand was followed. Palestinians policed Palestinians, and Palestinian violence was significantly reduced. The main Palestinian goal in Oslo,Israel to halt settlements, was totally flouted by Israel.Seems a sufficient reason to claim that the previous accords need to be re negotiated.
The blockade for all practical purposes is broken. The Israeli broke it the first moment they set foot on a ship in International waters.
As I understand it, Hamas states that it cannot recognize a state whose borders are not known/defined. Given Israel's bad faith it would be stupid of any Palestinian negotiator to give up his most valuable item beforehand.
Few things about recognition of states. There is no such a thing in the international law. No requirement to do any kind of recognition to anyone or any state. These recognitions come only through political & diplomatic recognition, so if and when wanted, it helps to create diplomatic relations with formed state.
Even less in this Israel/Palestine question, is need to "recognize" what is a status or structure Israel state. Jewish, non-jewish, eskimo, communist, rightist, muslim or what ever.
You have no idea what you are talking about.
"Additionally, since achieving power and hence responsibility, Hamas, while not pristine, has been far more responsible in its behaviour. No suicide missions and targeted assasinations and apartment bombings, unlike Israel."
Hamas stopped it's terrorist activities AFTER they got their asses kicked in winter war.
Also you are mixing issues with HAMAS in Gaza and issues with FATAH on West Bank
These organisations are in state of cold war, not communicating, and pursuing totally different goals.
Hasbara alert. This is a complete lie. It was Israel who broke the cease fire before what our megaphony calls "winter war" (notably without a definite article: Where you from, dude? Russia, perhaps?)
And they did it with a particularly brutal assassination. And they probably did it to provoke the inevitable response of a few homemade rockets, so they could have a bogus figleaf of a bogus excuse to proceed with their slaughter.
Anyone who tries to justify Israel's actions is defending murder, cynicism, and nihilism of the worst sort.
Is that what you want, Mr or Ms "All your base A..."? How does it feel to defend actions equal to those of the Nazis, according to British MP Gerald Kaufman, son of a Holocaust survivor?
Do you even know what you're doing?
Both sides have broken "cease fire" numerous times, however there was no "cease fire" in a common sense.
"Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh described the proposed period in Arabic as a *Tahdia*, meaning a temporary moment of calm and not a formal cease-fire."
Anyone who tries to justify "Palestinian"'s actions is defending murder, cynicism, and nihilism of the worst sort.
Try to learn to learn proper English, with definite and indefinite articles, possessives and all the rest, before using the language for the onerous task of revomiting the lies and propaganda you were told to repeat by your soulless masters. You are a disgrace.
Please keep to the subject - rebutting this persons points. Would your Hebrew be better than his English?
I must say something here. Although i am prepared to be disrespected. But, what the heck. Sticks and stones and all that..........
The person's english was insulted. If it is a second language, so what? Strunk and White patrol here now?
Can we please keep this forum civil? Because to me, it often mirrors the problems that everyone here complains about.
"The more things change, the more they stay the same".
my two cents.
Peace out.
If these are lies why you just don't disprove it?
Oh, I know why, because these are FACTS.
Why don't you just shut up you pompous ass! Americans are notorious for not mastering any language and that includes English. Your own posting is grammatically and syntactically wrong! Go look in the mirror and repeat to yourself: I am a disgrace!!!
""Anyone who tries to justify "Palestinian"'s actions is defending murder, cynicism, and nihilism of the worst sort""
+ Armed resistance of occupation is legal under the international law.
IDF is in the house . . . . . in the name of All Your Base A...
You have no facts here. Nothing to dispute.
Nice post seasalt. You're right about Hamas. They want three things 1) return to 1967 borders
2) right of return 3)East Jerusalem as capitol.
Israel wants to annex the West Bank, so they cannot accept the reasonable offer of Hamas. Instead they scream security and terrorists...
"The occupation is killing Israel."
Let it die. Zionism is an ongoing crime against humanity.
seedeevee said " 'The occupation is killing Israel.'
Let it die. Zionism is an ongoing crime against humanity."
Yes, but it will take us all down with it. Wasn't Samson one of the first recorded suicide bombers?
No, it will not.
Those zionist bastards are cowards who are eager to kill unarmed civilians.
read up on "Samson Option."
Yes, but I don't believe they are suicidal... Crazy, Paranoid and war criminals but not suicidal.
Samson if he did what he did, was not because of Israel's policy... and his own purpose was to get rid of the enemy by sacrificing his own life, similar to what "Terrorists" do now.
But these little suicides do not threaten to take down the the world. But the "War on Terror" or "Long War" or whatever Obama calls it now, wants you to believe that.
Nixon liked the world to think he was nuts and could push the button too.
Political Paranoids want you to fear them because they are afraid or even fake being afraid (like Nixon) to get you to back down.... and so far it works.
USA and Israel have always used the bomb to scare the world to back down and is why they don't want anyone else to have the bomb. Remember Russia always said it would not use the Bomb first but the USA played the nut-job... Israel learned the game of fear from the USA.
The War Racket is now at the point, like any corporate business, to make you think that war is for you own good and if you don't support the side of the corporate states, nuclear annihilation becomes more likely.
It is all about the money that is made from Fear.
I think Israel knows about this business and they like staying alive to make money and would probably figure out a way to survive in Peace if circumstances change enough (Collapse of the War economy) and that goes for the USA too.
It won't take us down with it. Israel's only chance is one state with the returning Palestinians. It is Zionism that must die and Israelis must kill it.
Indeed, it is astonishing how the apologists of Israel's action lie. Yesterday, a well-known U.S. House member from Massachusetts stated on T.V. that Israel "let go of Gaza" to argue how peaceful Israel's intentions are. Well, Israel could not "let go of Gaza" because Israel did not own Gaza. In reality Israel tricked the United Nations because the U.N. resolution which demanded withdrawal from occupied Palestinian areas failed to specified which areas. Israel withdrew from Gaza, then claimed: we have fulfilled the demand of the Security Council.
I saw that interview Matthews conducted with Frank. It was so completely bogus I was shaking at the end. "Don't the europeans see the video of the Israeli soldiers being beaten with metal poles?" Matthews asked indignantly.
Here is what an intelligent but ignorant alien would have taken away from that exchange: Israel was kind hearted enough to "let go of Gaza" in 1993. In 2007, Hamas conducted a violent military coup to remove Abbas from power (ignoring the facts that Hamas was voted into power by a fair democratic election in '06 and only acted to remove Abbas because of the Bush administration's attempted overthrow of Hamas according to Dick Cheney's chief middle east adviser David Wurmser who resigned in July of 2007 ). Now, since Hamas is a "terrorist organization" it only makes sense that Israel would place a blockade on Gaza to protect themselves from that evil terrorist organization.
Finally, Frank justifies the blockade by telling the audience to imagine what if Hamas was stationed in Canada, then you can bet the US would have an even more sever blockade in place and would be justified doing so. Matthews' response to all this was to say, "I don't like doing this but I can't argue with anything you've just said."
Now imagine the author of this article being given even a mere 30 seconds on MSNBC to offer a counter point.
I saw that "interview" too.
Frank waltzed around presumably because of his "As a Jew i'm ashamed over the treatment" comment regarding Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/02/barney-frank-as-a-jew-ashamed_n_597331.html ) And, as a politician desiring to remain in the good graces of his constituents, Frank had to rectify his remark. There are few politicians in the United States today who are willing to buck the Lobby. Look at Cynthia McKinney to see what can happen when they do. And they all know it.
Well, when it comes to playing "hardball" with his corporate bosses Matthews surely understands that "discretion is the better part of valor." To prove his fidelity to the proper acceptable point of view he even commented, and I paraphrase, that "Europeans aren't the peers of Israelis," referring to European criticisms of Israeli military actions.
Incredible.
Let's not forget Matthews and all (as I remember it) of his MSNBC team enthusiastically backed Bush's war in 2002 and 3. And that they knew better, too. It wasn't until the tide turned that they became critics. Only when it was safe to do so.
Swza
Very well said. And that interview was conducted by the person [Matthews] who claims to ask Hardball questions, who [allegedly] ventures into territory where others fear to tread. As you correctly point out, talk show hosts are eager to have on Israeli apologists like Frank as their guests while rarely, if ever, having on anyone who will advocate for the Palestinians. I also seriously doubt if PBS' News Hour is all that better. The only serious alternatives for those on the left vis a vis television are Democracy Now! and Al Jazeera.
Hey I remember in the Bible that the Jews were liars way back then--they tried to beat out a confession--torture didn't work against the son of man though, so they had the ROMANS KILL HIM ON THE CROSS--If you can have temp. victory over the supposed son of Jehovah, who is called the prince of peace; what's a few hundred peace--nicks gonna do against their outrageous clap-trap BS--reminds me of BP all we got was BS--who owns BP exactly? anyone?
The flotilla debacle is a crime committed by Israelis and the Israeli state, not by Jews. Many Jews inside and outside of Israel condemn this crime. Making comparisons with some generalized ancient group noted in a fictional book is not helpful. We must not conflate Israelis and Jews, despite the fact that the Israeli government wants this confusion so it can label a charge of anti-semitism at anyone who criticizes the Israeli government.
Well stated, Donna.
Whenever a crime is committed by either a state or non-state actor (whether an organized terrorist group or a lone crazy individual) who happens to be "Muslim" (broadly defined) the media, right-wing--including many Jews-- scream that "not enough Muslims are comdemning it" and the pressure is constantly on the Muslims to condemn whatever it was done in the name of Islam. So I say today, to all Jewish people, stand up and condemn the crimes being committed in the name of Judaism. If Muslims have to condemn and distance loudly and officially every time Iran or Saudi Arabia or Al-Qaeda or some mentally unstable freak with a name that kinda-sorta sounds "Muslim" does something violent/immoral/illegal/etc., the least you can do is have the decency to also be as reflective on your own community.
DamaskBerry, take a look at some activist sites and actions. Jewish groups are on the streets all over the place. It may be a surprise, but much is going on in israel. For years, and even at this moment. Believe it or not.
I can't help but wonder how many posters on progressive sites participate in actual actions and are aware of what is going on with 'progressives' in the non virtual world.
Peace.
Dear locknload,
It is perfectly fine to criticize Israel. I have done it myself, on numerous occasions. However, when you blame "the Jews" for misdeeds instead of the "Israelis," you have crossed the line into anti-semitism. So the Jews killed Jesus? That is the world's oldest lie. The Gospel of John created this falsehood. Most Jews did not know who Jesus was. In fact, most Jews at the time lived outside of Judea. The Gospel's portrayal of Pontius Pilate is false. Pilate was a vicious brute. He crucified 2,000 Jews. He was so cruel that the emperor fired him and called him back to Rome. It was the Temple priests who turned Jesus over to the Romans, who considered him a trouble-maker. The punishment for that was crucifixion. There was no beating by a mob.
Go ahead. Blame the Jews for the world's ills. When you do so, you put Jesus back on the cross.
To confuse Jews with Zionists or Zionist Israel is ignorant and not a little anti-Semitic. Also, your reading of the Gospels is askew. In them, Jesus is portrayed as a holy troublemaker who caused the ire of the ruling class of temple priests and who was therefore turned over to the Romans governor, one Pontius Pilate. Jesus is not in the historical records, but we do know a bit about this Pontius Pilate. He was a thug, a heavy handed brute whom even the Romans couldn't abide. He was the real troublemaker, and the 'powers that were' in Rome recalled him after he created numerous incidents.
Oh locknload...Why does your name sound so.....oh, let me guess. NRA member?
Anyway. I think you may be jesting. Although for some reason, no one is calling you a 'troll'. So consider yourself fortunate.
I have a hunch, though. I think you may really be a famous actor/director who did a film a few years ago on the very subject you are referencing.....Now come on. admit it, Mel.
Israel will go on acting like thugs until finally, like the United States, they become dead meat. Like the famous story of the frog and the scorpion, neither nation knows any other way to think or behave.