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By Torpedoing the Gaza Flotilla, Israel Sunk its Own Ship
Instead of high-fiving each other for their success in thwarting the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Israeli officials should be throwing overboard the propaganda hacks who catapulted the flotilla into headline news for weeks and left Israel smelling like rotten fish.
Last year, when the Israeli military killed nine aboard the Turkish ship, the incident made waves around the world. But in previous years, the same international coalition had sent boats to Gaza five times, successfully reaching their destination with a symbolic shipment of humanitarian aid. No blood, no military interception, no story. That's why the advice of many of Israel's best buddies, including the lobby group AIPAC, was to just ignore the flotilla.
But no, the Israeli government refused to listen and instead announced with great bravado that it was prepared to stop the flotilla with lethal force--including snipers and attack dogs. Smelling blood, the media frenzy began. Before even leaving home, passengers were besieged with press calls inquiring why we were willing to risk our lives and giving us a chance to talk about the plight of the people of Gaza. Worse yet from the Israeli government perspective, mainstream media began bombarding us with requests to come along. With space for only ten media on our boat, we ended up choosing reps from CNN, CBS, Al Jazeera, AP, The Nation and Democracy Now. Other boats in the flotilla also started scrambling to accommodate more press. Thanks to Israel, we were guaranteed that no matter what happened, the whole world would be watching.
The Israeli government's next blunder was a doozy. It sent a letter to foreign journalists warning them that if they participated in the flotilla, they would be denied entry into Israel for ten years and their equipment would be impounded. The outcry from journalists and media organizations worldwide was immediate. Israel's Foreign Press Association said the threat "sends a chilling message to the international media and raises serious questions about Israel's commitment to freedom of the press." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to rescind the decision, blaming it on his underlings.
But the blunders continued. A YouTube video of a "gay rights activist" who claimed he was not allowed to join the flotilla because he was gay and linked the flotilla to Hamas was exposed as a hoax disseminated by employees of the Israeli Government Press Office and the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Senior Israeli defense officials told journalists that flotilla activists were intending to dump bags of sulfer on Israeli soldiers to paralyze them and/or light them on fire "like a torch." We countered by holding an open house on the boat, inviting the media to inspect every nook and cranny and meet with nurses, lawyers, musicians, writers, grandmothers and other "terrorists" on board. The Israeli government looked so silly that even cabinet ministers criticized Netanyahu's "media spin" and "public relations hysteria."
Then there was the sabotage of the Irish and Swedish boats, the frivolous lawsuits and legal complaints by the Israeli Law Center (Shurat HaDin), the strong arming of the Greek government to issue a ban on all boats traveling to Gaza, and undoubtedly more dirty tricks that will be exposed in the future.
Through it all, the Israelis helped us turn a potential non-story into a media blitz that has not ended. The passengers are now returning home to the local public spotlight. Rather than being depressed by Israeli maneuvers to prevent the flotilla from reaching its destination, they are more motivated to speak out about the siege of Gaza and bullying tactics of the Israelis. Flotilla organizers are still fighting to get their boats released by the Greek government and vow to try again.
Our modest and peaceful initiative has exposed, for the world to see, the lengths the Israeli government will go to to stop nonviolent international initiatives. We have put the plight of Gaza and the illegality of the siege once again on the radar where it was previously ignored. We have exposed the sad but ultimately unsustainable fact that the Israelis have managed to extend their vindictive siege of Gaza to the shores of Europe and have widened the gulf between the Greek government and Greek popular sentiment with regard to Palestine.
Most importantly, we have given a boost to the larger, massive, multicultural, multinational movement for Palestinian rights. This Friday, hundreds of international activists are flying to Ben Gurion airport where they plan to tell border control agents of their intent to visit Palestine. This “flytilla,” as it has been dubbed, has also aroused a hysterical response from the Netanyahu government. Here again, the world’s attention will be focused on Israel’s control and blockade of movement in and out of the West Bank. The Knesset is on the verge of passing a bill that will effectively outlaw boycotts, a law that will likely only strengthen the resolve and increase the size of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement. And then there will be the showdown at the United Nations, when Palestinians will be calling for recognition as a state.
The Israeli government can only continue its egregious violations of human rights and torpedoing nonviolence initiatives for so long. Eventually, justice will prevail and Palestine will be free. And initiatives like the flotilla will be remembered as part of a continuous wave of resistance that helped turned the tide."
39 Comments so far
Show AllMedea makes good points, but they are rather redundant. Israel has been doing the "wrong thing" in terms of PR for decades. They have successfully bullied, murdered, illegally stolen land from, violated treaties, UN resolutions, and illegally blockaded the Palestinians for decades - it could be fairly said they have made one PR blunder after another in terms of actually strengthening the worldwide awareness of the horrible plight of the Palestinians, rather than the reverse. And what good has it done? Precisely nothing.
The world governments continue to do nothing, continue to either side with Israel or sit on the sidelines, mute, and continue to refuse to raise a finger to stop the illegal apartheid. Stopping flotillas, media blackouts, killing or imprisoning protestors, etc, etc, etc - it does no good. Israel (and its little bitch, the U.S.) remain completely untouchable by the rest of the world, and completely outside and above the law.
I admire Benjamin and all the other activists who strive to bring the Palestinian plight to public awareness. But let's be honest: until the governments of the other nations of the world finally put their foot down and do something, it is all so much hot air.
zion can do no wrong
just ask obummer or oclinton
ps. they aint worried about much either
USA-USA-USA--
Israel could not exist if it was not for mine and your tax money..
Trouble is that in this case the tail wags the dog..
The obomber should, if he was a real man and not a lackey for the corporate state
take them to the woodshed and tell them no more money till you start
treating the Palestinians with the respect that any human being deserves..
By the way the USA is not number one in anything anymore.
"By the way the USA is not number one in anything anymore."
The USA is number one in percentage of citizens in prison.
Respectfully, I don't agree this is all hot air. Bringing full awareness to the public is exactly what's needed to pressure governments to do the right thing. Spreading information is what needs to be done on a massive scale.
More background information - http://examine.webs.com
Demonstorm, "hot air" is what you are giving.
They actually did something brave and got off their asses to do it!
They do not wait "until governments do something" and if everyone followed your advise there would be no action for human rights anywhere... just waiting "until Governments do something".
This is an amazing international effort to stop the cruelty and illegality of one of the most inhumane regimes of the 21st century. True, the governments of the world are complicit--which is exactly why the people must take the lead. People can influence their governments. Israeli propaganda has worked in the past because of two things: the near blackout of news about the occupation, and fear of being labeled "anti-semitic." Both of those are now coming to an end. The people are making news that cannot be ignored, and everyone now sees how Israel uses the anti-semitic card to defend its human rights violations. Israel must end the occupation and stop violating the rights of more than two million Palestinians. ENOUGH!
Israeli terror victims suing Bank of China for Hamas ties
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=228728
[snip]
The group lawsuit, known as the “Almaliakh action” after Emil Almaliakh, an Eilat resident killed in a suicide bombing in 2007, has been filed with the assistance of the Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin) and New York attorney Robert Tolchin.
Attorney Nitsana Darshan- Leitner of the Israel Law Center told The Jerusalem Post that Friday’s ruling is a “huge precedent” for Israeli victims of terror.
“Usually, US citizens have the right to file lawsuits in the US courts against terror organizations and organizations that sponsor terror,” said Leitner.
Note: The Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin) was the driving force behind the 'Lawfare' regarding the floatilla/flightilla issues. I wonder if this 'precedent' would allow the families of the 911 victims to sue Israel (and others) in China?
And if they win? Who makes China pay up? I suppose the US banks have confiscated Chinese funds for just such a contingency. Much like we've done with Libya.
Hamas being duly elected by the people of Gaza is the official government of that area. I fail to see how they can be construed as "terrorists". The government that walled off Gaza and bombed them without restraint are the real "terrosits". Palestinians should never falter in their efforts for international recognition of statehood, without it Israel can call and label you what they like.
The US can't confiscate jack from the Chinese. The US owes China 1 trillion dollars. And the US is trying to weasel out of it by devaluing the dollar with its "quantitative easing," which is basically a euphemism for printing money out of thin air.
Israel should be friendly with China, since both countries illegally occupy foreign land, China's control of Tibet is analagous, with differences, of course. Israel was friendly with apartheid South Africa for just this reason. It was an attempt to normalize the perception of apartheid and ethnic cleansing.
Israeli soldiers blocked Icelandic FM’s car with rocks
http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2011/07/11/israeli-soldiers-blocked-icelandic-fms-car-with-rocks/
I read some of the responses to that news item, and found them disgusting.
China's control of Tibet is analagous, with differences, of course, with the USA annexation of Hawaii.
Hawaii was made a state of the USA in 1959 after long struggles including general strikes, protests, and other acts of civil disobedience against the occupying USA. There was a referendum, and it did not include the possibility of an independent Hawaii, basically whether or not they got to vote. We might say that the USA illegally occupies Hawaii. However, most Hawaiians now live in mainland USA and most people living in Hawaii are white and is now nearly impossible to give Hawaii back to the Hawaiians. The question would be "Give it back to whom?".
Tibet was annexed in 1950. Most Tibetians now live in mainland China, and most people living in Tibet are now Haan Chinese. It is now nearly impossible to give it back.
Last night at a local DC fundraiser Cynthia Mckinney said that China has been investing heavily in Libya. She was uncertain as to what the current US war in Libya has caused in terms of the US/China relationship.
I think it will help us overall the sooner we can begin to connect the dots vis a vis all of the upheavals throughout the world. Can sympathy for the flotilla be joined with the popular upheaval in Greece? At first glance one wouldn't think so but the sooner the citizens of the world start looking at our common demands for truth, justice, peace and freedom and joining arms in solidarity the better.
Can't say enough about people this committed to helping others, like Medea Benjamin. She brings to light that most people are good. Unfortunately, the scum amongst us gets all the media coverage, which leads some people to think humans are genetically tainted. Organizations are subject to corruption, especially governments, extra especially large governments, even more so if the governments are powered by capitalistic greed.
The salient lesson here is the power of nonviolent protest in place of bombs. Taken together with the Arab Spring, we can see that nonviolence has more power than the barrel of the gun. Further, never underestimate the lack of perception on the part of those in power when faced with righteous nonviolent action.
Thank you Media for your work.
I don't agree with you about the news though. I don't think it was worth all that much. In the MSM it barely appeared. I read the international news sites and even there for the most part it was a headline that rapidly disappeared. Israel may stink, but that stink doesn't really translate into any action by any governments or corporations that I know of yet.
Don't give up!
Google shows thousands of news articles about the flotilla.
South Africa another apartheid state started out just as arrogantly as Israel. Funny how their repressive actions against non-violent protests turned around and bit them.
My thoughts, exactly.
Eventually Israel will have to face reality. Meanwhile, they are upping the ante. Someone will figure out an ingenious campaign that causes a threshhold # of people to care about Palestinian wellbeing while divesting from Israeli and their current nutball thinking..., and then things will begin to change... That is my sense.
"By Torpedoing the Gaza Flotilla, Israel Sunk its Own Ship"--No Medea, actually by torpedoing the Gaza Flotilla Israel probably saved your own and other's lives so you all can go to more high profile, fashion statement, acts of civil disobediance. Martyrdom is only fashionable in the abstract.
Interesting premise. Israel did them a favor by having the Greeks stop them or else the Israeli's would "have to" kill them.
The flotilla had at least one member, Joe Meador, who was well aware of how murderous the IDF could be. He was aboard the USS Liberty and witnessed first hand the IDF's premeditated murder of 34 American sailors and the wounding of 180 more.
Anyone hoping to understand the mideast debacle, should start with the USS liberty massacre.
Gangster logic at its finest -- "You're lucky we're here restraining ourselves from killing you" -- proving again that only cheap gangsters & moral thugs support Israel in any fashion. Israel has no more "right to exist" than the Cosa Nostra.
Hey now! La Famillia, the Cosa Nostra, the Mafia have standards.
Sure they will sell heroin to schoolkids, and beat prostitutes, Run bootlegging and drug cartels, run casinos, fix elections, control labor unions, and help the US kill it's own President, but they draw the line at the wanton killing of each other's blood relations.
Or so the myths say...
How about publishing a memorial bookmark with a summary of the mission of the Audacity of Hope, and then we can all insert them in library, school and bookstore copies of Barry's self-serving tome of the same name?
That is a fantastic idea!
I'm not even sure if that would be illegal, as long as you weren't trespassing or something. One is allowed to handle the books in libraries and stores, after all.
Just pop into the bookstore, flip through their copies of Obama's book, and leave the bookmark. If you are noticed, well, so clumsy, I've forgotten my book mark again! As long as you played cool, you would get away with it.
Seriously, this needs to be done. In every public and college library and every bookstore we can get to (wouldn't be a good idea at a secondary or grade school unless the "marker" was a student).
I'm going to suggest it all over the place as I have time this week Steve, and I will be crediting you if folks ask. :)
You should suggest it yourself at least at codepink's site and others involved with the flotilla and "flytilla".
-matti.
How is it they used to split a rock? Make a hole for a wood wedge, pour water on the wedge and drive the wedge further into the rock? That is what it seems like here. The people laying everything, including their lives, on the line are that wedge The Greek gov., not the people, sold their Soul and credability for money, my guess is that their "vigorish" that they have to pay to the usurers, the imf and whoever else got modified. Hope it was worth it. Tony
Israel has also exposed a new sinister expansionist policy- expanding its colonial checkpoints to Greek ports and European airports restricting the right to freedom of movement that Palestinians suffer to European citizens.
" By Torpedoing the Gaza Flotilla, Israel Sunk its Own Ship - ... initiatives like the flotilla will be remembered as part of a continuous wave of resistance that helped turned the tide."
Hope Medea Benjamin is right. Fear she's too optimistic about the time-frame.
Israel has done worse - a lot worse - before, than hindering humanitarian aid reaching Gaza.
The attack on Gaza in 2009 with 1400 Palestinian dead and 14 Israelis (13 due to "friendly" fire by own troops) stands out. But Israeli attacks abroad outside Palestine abound.
E.g. In 1967 the military ship USS Liberty was attacked in international waters, with 34 US crew dead and 170 wounded, and the ship was almost sunk. All without reproach or even open criticism from the USA. - Ultimately, by 1980 Israel had paid USD 13 million in damages for the incident, USD 100.000 pr. dead US soldier to their families being part of the deal.
The Israelis are dangerous. They want to be perceived that way. They threaten "The Samson option" - commiting mutual suicide by retaliating with nuclear weapons and taking the whole Mid-East down with them if attacked - if they're not obliged in their "rule by claiming victim-status".
Israel is the rabid dog of international politics. A rabid dog with 400 nuclear bombs and open threats to use them.
I remember the USS Liberty. The most sickening thing was that after the attack, was watching American mass media and our own Congress jump to the defense of Israel. Without even looking at any evidence, our congress passed a resolution reaffirming our close ties with Israel and that they would prevail despite this "tragic accident." Our brave media reported the official Israeli story and didn't even attempt to interview a crew member. This was at the same time that they were saying anti-Vietnam War protestors were stabbing our soldiers in the back. No one saw the irony.
I can't remember who the Israelis who attacked the Liberty disguised themselves as, but the purpose of that attack was to get the US into a war with one of Israel's neighbors...it didn't work, but as you and others have said, nothing was done to them about it, other than paying money...which probably came from our "aid" money anyway...
"Several books and the BBC documentary USS Liberty: Dead in the Water argued that Liberty was attacked in order to prevent the U.S. from knowing about the forthcoming attack in the Golan Heights, which apparently would violate a cease-fire to which Israel's government had agreed.[62][dead link] Russian author Joseph Daichman, in his book "History of the Mossad" states Israel was justified in attacking the Liberty.[63] Israel knew that American radio signals were intercepted by the Soviet Union and that the Soviets would certainly inform Egypt of the fact that by moving troops to the Golan Heights. Israel had left the Egyptian border undefended.[64]
Lenczowski notes that while the Israeli decision to “attack and destroy” the ship “may appear puzzling”, the explanation seems to be found in Liberty's nature and its task to monitor communications on both sides in the war zone. He writes, “Israel clearly did not want the U.S. government to know too much about its dispositions for attacking Syria, initially planned for June 8, but postponed for 24 hours. It should be pointed out that the attack on the Liberty occurred on June 8, whereas on June 9 at 3 AM, Syria announced its acceptance of the cease-fire. Despite this, at 7 AM, that is, four hours later, Israel’s minister of defense, Moshe Dayan, “gave the order to go into action against Syria.”[65] He further writes that timely knowledge of this decision and preparatory moves toward it “might have frustrated Israeli designs for the conquest of Syria’s Golan Heights” and, in the sense of Ennes’s accusations, provides “a plausible thesis that Israel deliberately decided to incapacitate the signals-collecting American ship and leave no one alive to tell the story of the attack.”[66]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident
There are too many facts that this thesis does not explain. First,why did President Johnson order the nearest air craft carrier battle group to abandon the USS Liberty? Something bigger and more sinister must have been planned.
I wonder what will happen to Israel when the US hit's rock bottom economically and cant afford to support it.
Just a thought (mostly cause that day is coming. and things like this are helping to speed it up).
They don't really need us anymore. We're expendable. They own the global financial world. We're not kosher. They are now powerful enough. God is on their side.
Of course Israel needs the US. They have have no actual resources and that alone can cripple them if they continue as a global pariah. Cynthia McKinney says the Mossad, along with the CIA, is playing a large role in promoting the Libyan war as a popular uprising. It isn't. Israel is apparently looking for places elsewhere in the world to develop colonies. And no one in positions of State power here in the states is admitting who the rebels are or how they came to be. But the fact that they stopped their revolution to create a state bank must indicate the powers with which they are aligned. That, as well as their relationship with the well connected Harbor Group PR firm here in DC, a direct link to the Clinton machine. Be informed about Libya and step hard on the brakes. This war is not as it seems.
Maybe we should sink the Audacity of Hope as an abject lesson and a direct insult to Obama and the leaders of Greece and Israel. Wake up or all hope is lost!
Actually, the great majority of Americans don't even know about this flotilla. It was a total failure as far as a publicity stunt and as far as embarrassing Israel and more important, as far as having any real effect on the Gaza blockade. It wish it weren't so, but it is. What needs to be done is for ships to run the blockade successfully, not get trapped in port and claim some kind of fake victory. It wasn't a victory and Israel gained more power from suppressing both the ship and air efforts by enlisting the aid of other national governments that once opposed it. We lost big this time around. Pretending otherwise won't help.
robert1234: Nonsense. First off, "the great majority of Americans don't even know about" something doesn't mean that the rest of the world doesn't know about it. There are thousands of news articles about the flotilla and "flytilla".
"Israel gained more power from suppressing both the ship and air efforts by enlisting the aid of other national governments that once opposed it." Israel has gained more PR blowback from both these efforts and also generated a great deal of resentment from citizens who don't want their governments helping Israel suppress Palestinians.
What I wonder is why anyone is so willing to label the flotilla a failure. Not enough deaths for you?
'