"Free Gaza" deja vu

Once again, the "Free Gaza" movement is claiming that Israeli naval vessels are threatening their lives, and once again they are lying.

It will be recalled that last December a Free Gaza boat tried to get to Gaza. The Israeli Navy intercepted them and stopped them. They claimed that they were fired upon, that they were surrounded by six boats, that they were rammed by the Israeli boats and lots of other things. Yet the journalists on board and all the terror supporters with cameras and video could never show any video that corroborated any of their outlandish claims.

Today's edition follows the same script. From the Free Gaza mailing list:

We just spoke to the passengers. Everyone is OK, but the situation is still very tense. They continue to be surrounded by Israeli warships which are threatening to open fire. The Israeli Navy is actively jamming all navigation systems in violation of international maritime law, endangering the people on board.

Huwaida Arraf, one of the delegation leaders, was on the phone with the Israeli gunboats, and we could hear her saying, "You Cannot Open Fire on Unarmed Civilians" several times.

Of course they are now choosing claims that could never be disproven - and of course we will never hear any recording of the radio or loudspeakers threatening to open fire on them.

From Reuters:

Overnight, the activists -- in a small ferry boat sailing from Cyprus to Gaza -- said they had received threats they would be fired upon unless they turned back.

Yigal Palmor, Israel's foreign ministry spokesman told Reuters no such threats had been made. He said the boat's declared destination was Port Said in Egypt and that the boat appeared to be heading in that direction.

"If it changes course and tries to go to Gaza or declares that it intends to do so, the navy can take action, although they would definitely not fire at the boat," Palmor said.

The activists from U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement have publicly said their destination was Gaza, which is under an Israeli blockade, and activists on board the boat earlier told Reuters an Israeli patrol boat had approached them.

"We were told that if we did not turn back they would open fire," said Derek Graham, an Irish activist.

"We are continuing our course to Gaza," he said.

Keep in mind that Free Gaza is not interested in humanitarian aid - they are only interested in publicity. They want confrontation. They define themselves as a "resistance group," not an aid group. They support and encourage Palestinian Arab violence. They came out publicly against any humanitarian aid to Gaza going through Israel. They've shown reckless disregard for Gazan lives (if you believe their statements.)

Oh, and all that cement that they tell journalists they are bringing to Gaza? From their Twitter account:

We left this morning, one boat, 21 passengers, 20 olive trees, one symbolic bag of cement.

Sounds like last time, when they claimed to be bringing "60 tons" of aid - and it was all a lie.

Like everything else they say.