Sunday, June 06, 2010
Elder of Ziyon
A very good resource called Flotilla Facts has become a one-stop shop for the latest on the events. It is also a good reference site, something that blogs cannot do as well as more generalized websites.
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Elder of Ziyon
flotilla
There are three narratives of the first minutes of the raid on the Mavi Marmara: one by Israel, one by the leaders of the flotilla when speaking in English, and a third one - by the people who support the flotilla when speaking in non-Western languages.
The Turkish newspaper that published the pictures of the IDF soldiers today does not use the meme of ruthless IDF soldiers shooting from the helicopter and murdering civilians within seconds of landing on deck - nor do the pictures support that narrative in the least. Rather, they prove Israel's version of events completely. Yet the Turkish press, as we had seen Friday from some of the Arabic press, instead say how weak and ineffectual the IDF soldiers were, all but mocking them for not using lethal force initially.
The newspaper notes, with glee, the fear in the soldiers' faces captured in the photos. It discusses how the brave "humanitarians" fought the mighty IDF with sacks of onions. The article calls the soldiers "amateurish" and "incompetent."
To the supporters of the IHH and its partners, the IDF's reticence in using lethal force is a clear sign of weakness, not a sign of caring about human life.
This also indicates that the version of events that much of the world believes, in which the Free Gaza folks make outlandish claims like
Interestingly, the Turkish article claims that the IDF erased these photos from the camera memory cards before returning them to their owners, and that the Turks recovered them with simple unerase software, in an attempt to hide the facts of the IDF failure. It seems equally possible that the photographers quickly deleted the photos before the IDF confiscated the cameras. In fact, as YNet notes, the IDF "expressed its satisfaction with the Turkish newspapers' decision to publish the photos. 'This is clear proof of Israel's repeated claims, that the boat was carrying mercenaries, whose sole purpose was to kill the soldiers.'" Their only problem was with showing the soldiers' faces.
The Turkish newspaper that published the pictures of the IDF soldiers today does not use the meme of ruthless IDF soldiers shooting from the helicopter and murdering civilians within seconds of landing on deck - nor do the pictures support that narrative in the least. Rather, they prove Israel's version of events completely. Yet the Turkish press, as we had seen Friday from some of the Arabic press, instead say how weak and ineffectual the IDF soldiers were, all but mocking them for not using lethal force initially.
The newspaper notes, with glee, the fear in the soldiers' faces captured in the photos. It discusses how the brave "humanitarians" fought the mighty IDF with sacks of onions. The article calls the soldiers "amateurish" and "incompetent."
To the supporters of the IHH and its partners, the IDF's reticence in using lethal force is a clear sign of weakness, not a sign of caring about human life.
This also indicates that the version of events that much of the world believes, in which the Free Gaza folks make outlandish claims like
Under darkness of night, Israeli commandoes dropped from a helicopter onto the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot the moment their feet hit the deck. They fired directly into the crowd of civilians asleep.are complete fabrications.
Interestingly, the Turkish article claims that the IDF erased these photos from the camera memory cards before returning them to their owners, and that the Turks recovered them with simple unerase software, in an attempt to hide the facts of the IDF failure. It seems equally possible that the photographers quickly deleted the photos before the IDF confiscated the cameras. In fact, as YNet notes, the IDF "expressed its satisfaction with the Turkish newspapers' decision to publish the photos. 'This is clear proof of Israel's repeated claims, that the boat was carrying mercenaries, whose sole purpose was to kill the soldiers.'" Their only problem was with showing the soldiers' faces.
- Sunday, June 06, 2010
- Elder of Ziyon
There have been multiple accounts by now of how the people on the Mavi Marmara ship took the first Israeli commandoes hostage, after wounding them.
For example, this description in Reuters:
In other words, the "humanitarian activists" performed a textbook definition of hostage taking. Which means that these "humanitarians" violated humanitarian international law by taking the IDF soldiers hostage.
It doesn't matter if it was only for a relatively short time. It doesn't matter that the hostages were soldiers or that the hostage takers were nominally civilians (although I am fairly certain that by acting violently against the soldiers legally enforcing a blockade, and by taking them hostage, they forfeited their status as civilians and became official combatants, waiving their rights as civilians under international law.) All that is irrelevant to the definition here: this was a case of hostage taking.
This treaty was acceded to (accepted as law) by Turkey in 1989.
Not only that, but hostage taking is a form of terrorism.
This Convention is considered by the UN to be one of the "legal instruments and additional amendments dealing with terrorism." Moreover, it is referenced in the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
This means that whoever was involved in the decision to take Israeli commandoes hostage was, effectively, engaged in terrorism, by the UN's definition and under international law.
IHH seems to have been clearly complicit, but the other groups such as Free Gaza may also be implicated in this terrorist act.
Israel would be within its rights to demand extradition of the hostage-takers, those who aided them, and those who know the identity of the hostage takers, to stand trial for these terrorism charges.
(h/t AB)
For example, this description in Reuters:
Andre Abu Khalil, a Lebanese cameraman for Al Jazeera TV, gave an account that backed some of what both sides have said.The International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages starts off this way:
In his telling, activists initially wounded and captured four Israelis from a first wave that boarded the ship. A second wave of troops tried to storm the ship after the four were taken below decks.
...
One activist used a loudhailer to tell the Israelis the four captive soldiers were well and would be released if they provided medical help for the wounded activists. With an Israeli Arab lawmaker acting as mediator, the Israelis agreed. Wounded were brought to the deck and were airlifted off the ship.
ARTICLE 1
Any person who seizes or detains and threatens to kill, to injure or to continue to detain another person (hereinafter referred to as the "hostage") in order to compel a third party, namely, a State, an international intergovernmental organization, a natural or juridical person, or a group of persons, to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the hostage commits the offence of taking of hostages ("hostage-taking") within the meaning of this Convention.
Any person who:
attempts to commit an act of hostage-taking, or
participates as an accomplice of anyone who commits or attempts to commit an act of hostage-taking likewise commits an offence for the purposes of this Convention.
In other words, the "humanitarian activists" performed a textbook definition of hostage taking. Which means that these "humanitarians" violated humanitarian international law by taking the IDF soldiers hostage.
It doesn't matter if it was only for a relatively short time. It doesn't matter that the hostages were soldiers or that the hostage takers were nominally civilians (although I am fairly certain that by acting violently against the soldiers legally enforcing a blockade, and by taking them hostage, they forfeited their status as civilians and became official combatants, waiving their rights as civilians under international law.) All that is irrelevant to the definition here: this was a case of hostage taking.
This treaty was acceded to (accepted as law) by Turkey in 1989.
Not only that, but hostage taking is a form of terrorism.
This Convention is considered by the UN to be one of the "legal instruments and additional amendments dealing with terrorism." Moreover, it is referenced in the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
This means that whoever was involved in the decision to take Israeli commandoes hostage was, effectively, engaged in terrorism, by the UN's definition and under international law.
IHH seems to have been clearly complicit, but the other groups such as Free Gaza may also be implicated in this terrorist act.
Israel would be within its rights to demand extradition of the hostage-takers, those who aided them, and those who know the identity of the hostage takers, to stand trial for these terrorism charges.
(h/t AB)
Saturday, June 05, 2010
- Saturday, June 05, 2010
- Elder of Ziyon
One of the things I have been doing in the past week is look for egregious anti-Israel articles and respond to them, especially if they seem to be getting links from other prominent blogs or pundits.
One of them was a propaganda piece in Foreign Policy magazine that billed itself as a "fact sheet" on the blockade. As soon as I read it I saw that it was nothing of the sort, and I responded to it.
Today, the Opinionator blog in the New York Times has a discussion about the blockade, entitled "Is the embargo good for the Jews?" Within the article the author links to a number of discussions about the wisdom and basis for Israel's blockade of Gaza. Part of it was a reference to that same "fact sheet" - and my response.
The NYT blogger than said
And if I wouldn't have written what I did, the Foreign Policy piece would have been considered a factual reference piece for other journalists.
Small victories, but victories nonetheless.
One of them was a propaganda piece in Foreign Policy magazine that billed itself as a "fact sheet" on the blockade. As soon as I read it I saw that it was nothing of the sort, and I responded to it.
Today, the Opinionator blog in the New York Times has a discussion about the blockade, entitled "Is the embargo good for the Jews?" Within the article the author links to a number of discussions about the wisdom and basis for Israel's blockade of Gaza. Part of it was a reference to that same "fact sheet" - and my response.
The NYT blogger than said
"The writer considers Munayyer’s piece “propaganda,” and he certainly has a point.
And if I wouldn't have written what I did, the Foreign Policy piece would have been considered a factual reference piece for other journalists.
Small victories, but victories nonetheless.
- Saturday, June 05, 2010
- Suzanne
- flotilla
Recently the IDF distributed a video in which "Peace activists" tell Jews to go back to Auschwitz. Many (including myself) were questioning the authenticity of this video and believed the IDF fabricated this video because of other possible known facts:
UPDATE: Defne Y is a cargo ship and it was one of the ships of Flotilla which came from Turkey.
On hearing the recording Adam Shapiro, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, identified the woman's voice as that of his wife Huwaida Arraf, chair of the Free Gaza Movement. However, Arraf was not aboard the Mavi Marmara. She was aboard one of the small passenger vessels in the six-boat flotilla, called Challenger 1.The IDF spokesperson clarifies now:
"the audio was edited down to cut out periods of silence over the radio as well as incomprehensible comments so as to make it easier for people to listen to the exchange. We have now uploaded the entire segment of 5 minutes and 58 seconds in which the exchange took place and the comments were made.Here it is, the unedited version:
This transmission had originally cited the Mavi Marmara ship as being the source of these remarks, however, due to an open channel, the specific ship or ships in the “Freedom Flotilla” responding to the Israeli Navy could not be identified. During radio transmissions between Israeli Navy and the ships of the “Free Gaza” Flotilla on 31 May 2010, the Israeli Navy ship attempts to make contact with the ‘Defne Y’ on channel 1-6. Other ships from the flotilla respond on the channel, without identifying themselves. At some point during the radio exchange the Israeli Navy is told by one of the ships to “shut up, go back to Auschwitz” (2:05) and “don’t forget 9-11″ (5:42)."
UPDATE: Defne Y is a cargo ship and it was one of the ships of Flotilla which came from Turkey.
- Saturday, June 05, 2010
- Suzanne
It was mentioned on this blog before that Egyptians married to "Zionists" might lose their citizenship. Then the High Administrative Court had yet to rule on this issue. Back then, the lawyer who took the case to the court, Nabil al-Wahsh, said: "Egyptian nationality law warns against marriage to anyone characterized as Zionist." And: ""The majority are married to Israelis considered Zionist, and only 10 percent are married to Arab Israelis."
Now it turns out that the Egyptian appeals court has upheld the ruling that orders the country's Interior Ministry to strip the citizenship from Egyptians married to Israeli women.
AFP:
Now it turns out that the Egyptian appeals court has upheld the ruling that orders the country's Interior Ministry to strip the citizenship from Egyptians married to Israeli women.
AFP:
Judge Mohammed al-Husseini, sitting on the Supreme Administrative Court, said the interior ministry must ask the cabinet to take the necessary steps to strip Egyptian men married to Israeli women, and their children, of their citizenship.I wonder what the next step of the interior and foreign ministries will be as they had appealed to the case, saying it was for parliament to decide on such matters.
Before reading the verdict, Husseini said the case would not apply to Egyptian men married to Arab Israeli women.
"The case for (Egyptian) men married to Israeli Arab women is different to those married to Israeli women of Jewish origin because (Israeli Arabs) have lived under Israeli occupation," Husseini told the court.
Friday, June 04, 2010
- Friday, June 04, 2010
- Elder of Ziyon
- flotilla
Waleed al-Tabtabai, a member of Kuwai's national assembly and a Muslim Brotherhood member, was on the flotilla. In the Kuwaiti Al Rai newspaper, quoted by Palestine Today, he said that his group ad captured an Israeli soldier.
"We had a new Shalit; we captured him and he urinated on himself on the Marmala.
"I was on a humanitarian mission risking my self and spirit, and Israel has provided us witha great propaganda service with their barbaric brutality attacking vessels of freedom.
He refused to answer questions from the Zionist interrogator. "I told him you are pirates ..and the killers of prophets."
Hezbollah's television station Al-Manar mentions that Fatah official al-Ahmad said that the Gaza Strip does not need humanitarian food or supplies as the Palestinian Authority secures the needs of the Gaza Strip on a daily basis.
Al-Ahmad:
And guess what? If it is not part of a political game, it's bad for business:
Al-Ahmad:
“I confidently say that Gaza does not need humanitarian or food supplies because the PA is securing all of this. The PA sends 200 trucks into Gaza, not through Rafah but through other crossings,” he told the German News Agency. “These trucks are always full of food supplies, medicaments, and fuel,” he added.In case of a so-called humanitarian crisis, you would expect that all aid is welcome. But it's not in the Gaza Strip where aid is not always greeted with enthusiasm as the German weekly Der Spiegel points out:
"People who are not in with Hamas don't see any of the relief goods or the gifts of money," Khadar says. On the sand dune where his house once perched, there is now an emergency shelter. The shelter is made of concrete blocks that Khadar dug from the rubble, and the roof is the canvas of a tent that provided the family with shelter for the first summer after the war. "Hamas supporters get prefabricated housing, furnishings and paid work. We get nothing," Khadar complains. (...)
The reason his family receives nothing: Like many of his neighbors, Khadar is a die-hard supporter of the Fatah party, the sworn political enemy of the more radical Islamists in Hamas. That's why Khadar has little hope of seeing any of the 10,000 tons of aid that the activist flotilla heading for the Gaza Strip tried to bring to Gaza's harbor at the start of this week. (...)
The bulk of the goods, which were temporarily confiscated, have since been released by Israel and brought to the Gaza border. But now there's another problem: Hamas is playing politics. The autocratic rulers of the Gaza Strip have placed conditions on aid delivery. The goods are not to be brought into the territory piece by piece, but all at once. All or nothing. By making these demands Hamas wants to ensure the building materials are all handed over. (...)
And he appeals to aid organizations to do everything they can to try and deliver their goods directly to the citizens of Gaza. Hamas should not be allowed to get hold of it. Khadar becomes particularly enraged when he talks about his neighbors behind the dune. The Hamas prime minister of Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, recently gave them a brand new house, complete and ready for them to move in.
And indeed, Khadar's neighbor, Aderauf al-Batsch's front door boasts a commemorative plaque celebrating that memorable event. The 35-year-old homeowner does not dispute his relationship to Hamas, but he does dispute any accusations of preference. "The construction ministry held a lottery to win a new home. And I just happened to be the winner," Batsch explains. Does he think it's a strange coincidence that he, the neighborhood's only Hamas supporter, should have won the contest? No. "Sometimes in life you get lucky," he says.
There are people in Gaza though who will never be happy about the arrival of the aid. "Everything that arrives here, and is distributed free of charge, is bad for business," says one Palestinian pharmacist, who studied in Germany but preferred not to give his name for fear of reprisals. Every medicine and every toy that well-meaning Westerners donate endanger the few jobs that still remain in Gaza, he explains. A colleague at another pharmacy agrees. "We are being bred into dependency," he says, repeating the universal adage that guides international aid: "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. But if you give him a fishing rod, you feed him for a lifetime."But even though the internal ideological problems and the oppressive behavior of radical organizations such as Hamas are exposed, they still believe that in order to let the PalArabs to stand on their own feet the Israeli blockade must first end. It is a shame that Der Spiegel did not ask when they think Israel would end its blockade. Because that answer seems obvious: when the hatred and the attacks from Gaza will stop.
- Friday, June 04, 2010
- Elder of Ziyon
OK, I'm wiped.
81 posts this week. Over 32,000 hits. An overwhelming number of links, stories, and videos.
I need help!
I asked Suzanne if she wants to be a co-blogger. Suzanne has been commenting on this blog for a long time and has contributed a great deal of good pointers to stories. She is an exceptional researcher who was instrumental in getting much of the data in our research on dead terrorists who were considered "civilians" in Gaza.
She lives in the Netherlands, and has uncovered some great stories in the European press that would have gone unnoticed otherwise, including the extraordinarily popular post from this week from the Danish journalist who visited Gaza. I don't know how many languages she knows, but I have a feeling it is a lot! In addition, she has shown that she is better than I am at finding stories in the Arabic media and navigating the entire auto-translation jungle.
In addition, she has shown in her communications with me that she is very devoted to truth, and she has chided me for occasionally spinning stories in ways that might not be 100% accurate. That is a fantastic quality.
I know nothing else about her, but the beauty of cyberspace is that people can be judged purely by their words and nothing else. By that standard, Suzanne is a gem.
She hasn't quite formally accepted my invitation but I saw her log in and start writing a post, so this is my way to encourage her to officially join, and become become the first Eldress.
(I still have the open invitation to Zvi to join the blog as well. Nu?)
Anyway, here is a Shabbat open thread.
81 posts this week. Over 32,000 hits. An overwhelming number of links, stories, and videos.
I need help!
I asked Suzanne if she wants to be a co-blogger. Suzanne has been commenting on this blog for a long time and has contributed a great deal of good pointers to stories. She is an exceptional researcher who was instrumental in getting much of the data in our research on dead terrorists who were considered "civilians" in Gaza.
She lives in the Netherlands, and has uncovered some great stories in the European press that would have gone unnoticed otherwise, including the extraordinarily popular post from this week from the Danish journalist who visited Gaza. I don't know how many languages she knows, but I have a feeling it is a lot! In addition, she has shown that she is better than I am at finding stories in the Arabic media and navigating the entire auto-translation jungle.
In addition, she has shown in her communications with me that she is very devoted to truth, and she has chided me for occasionally spinning stories in ways that might not be 100% accurate. That is a fantastic quality.
I know nothing else about her, but the beauty of cyberspace is that people can be judged purely by their words and nothing else. By that standard, Suzanne is a gem.
She hasn't quite formally accepted my invitation but I saw her log in and start writing a post, so this is my way to encourage her to officially join, and become become the first Eldress.
(I still have the open invitation to Zvi to join the blog as well. Nu?)
Anyway, here is a Shabbat open thread.
- Friday, June 04, 2010
- Elder of Ziyon
- flotilla
Too many things to blog!
Barry Rubin notes that the leader of the humanitarian flotilla really seems to like jihad and death.
He has another good piece as well.
Krauthammer nails it.
The Jerusalem Post reveals more details of the operation.
Eric Posner, expert on international law, says that Israel could have sunk the ships legally!
Yid With Lid on Helen Thomas' polite suggestion that Jews get the hell out of "Palestine" and go to where they came from. On video!
MEMRI has a compilation of relevant Arab videos:
From Firas Press.- the Muslim Brotherhood supports Mohamed ElBaradei in his possible run for president of Egypt. Fun.
I need to relax this Shabbat. Badly.
Barry Rubin notes that the leader of the humanitarian flotilla really seems to like jihad and death.
He has another good piece as well.
Krauthammer nails it.
The Jerusalem Post reveals more details of the operation.
Eric Posner, expert on international law, says that Israel could have sunk the ships legally!
Yid With Lid on Helen Thomas' polite suggestion that Jews get the hell out of "Palestine" and go to where they came from. On video!
MEMRI has a compilation of relevant Arab videos:
From Firas Press.- the Muslim Brotherhood supports Mohamed ElBaradei in his possible run for president of Egypt. Fun.
I need to relax this Shabbat. Badly.
- Friday, June 04, 2010
- Elder of Ziyon
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/06/want_to_know_more_about_israel.htmlForeign Policy has what appears to be a well-sourced, fact-based article called "What exactly is the blockade of Gaza?" Ezra Klein at the WashPo raves about it (from Memeorandum.)
Unfortunately, the article does nothing to answer its titular question. It just uses statistics and, in one case, an outright lie to show how Gazans' lives are not great, and by implication is blames Israel's blockade on all of these things. it doesn't say a word as to why there is a blockade, whether it is legal, what Israel does to help Gazans nor whether Egypt shares any responsibility for the blockade. It is meant to anger, not inform.
Written by Yousef Munayyer, Executive Director of the Jerusalem Fund and the Palestine Center, it starts off talking about Gaza's electricity woes. What he doesn't mention is that Israel does not limit fuel shipments to Gaza for its power plant - that limitation is mostly from the Palestinian Arab ability to pay the fuel bills. He doesn't mention that Israel has shipped plenty of equipment to maintain the electrical grid - hardly a "blockade." He doesn't mention that 70% of Gaza's Elecricity is supplied directly by Israel.
In other words, he chooses some facts and lets the reader draw the wrong conclusion.
Next, he says "Israel has not permitted supplies into the Gaza Strip to rebuild the sewage system." This is, simply, a lie. Israel's MFA site says
Munayyer mentions that the health sector was damaged by Cast Lead, but doesn't mention that nearly 5000 tons of medical equipment and medicine has somehow been allowed through Israel's blockade. Israel shipped wheelchairs, crutches, first aid kits, heart-monitors, baby feeding tubes, dental equipment, medical books, ambulance emergency equipment, artificial limbs and infant sleeping bags. Much more has arrived this year.
He says that "1103 individuals applied for permits to exit the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing for medical treatment in 2009" of which 20% were delayed or denied. This is a nicely deceptive statistic, since the number of Gazans went to Israel for medical purposes was over 10,000.
He doesn't mention how many patients didn't make it to Egypt.
In other words, this is a pure propaganda piece disguised as a fact-based backgrounder. To see real numbers, all you have to do is go to Israel's MFA site.
Unfortunately, the article does nothing to answer its titular question. It just uses statistics and, in one case, an outright lie to show how Gazans' lives are not great, and by implication is blames Israel's blockade on all of these things. it doesn't say a word as to why there is a blockade, whether it is legal, what Israel does to help Gazans nor whether Egypt shares any responsibility for the blockade. It is meant to anger, not inform.
Written by Yousef Munayyer, Executive Director of the Jerusalem Fund and the Palestine Center, it starts off talking about Gaza's electricity woes. What he doesn't mention is that Israel does not limit fuel shipments to Gaza for its power plant - that limitation is mostly from the Palestinian Arab ability to pay the fuel bills. He doesn't mention that Israel has shipped plenty of equipment to maintain the electrical grid - hardly a "blockade." He doesn't mention that 70% of Gaza's Elecricity is supplied directly by Israel.
In other words, he chooses some facts and lets the reader draw the wrong conclusion.
Next, he says "Israel has not permitted supplies into the Gaza Strip to rebuild the sewage system." This is, simply, a lie. Israel's MFA site says
During the first quarter of 2010, the UN coordinated with Israel the transfer of equipment for UNWRA to upgrade the sewage pumping station.... Moreover, 48 trucks of equipment for improving the sanitation infrastructure led to a substantial reduction in the Beit Lahya facility's waste levels.
Munayyer mentions that the health sector was damaged by Cast Lead, but doesn't mention that nearly 5000 tons of medical equipment and medicine has somehow been allowed through Israel's blockade. Israel shipped wheelchairs, crutches, first aid kits, heart-monitors, baby feeding tubes, dental equipment, medical books, ambulance emergency equipment, artificial limbs and infant sleeping bags. Much more has arrived this year.
He says that "1103 individuals applied for permits to exit the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing for medical treatment in 2009" of which 20% were delayed or denied. This is a nicely deceptive statistic, since the number of Gazans went to Israel for medical purposes was over 10,000.
He doesn't mention how many patients didn't make it to Egypt.
In other words, this is a pure propaganda piece disguised as a fact-based backgrounder. To see real numbers, all you have to do is go to Israel's MFA site.
- Friday, June 04, 2010
- Elder of Ziyon
- flotilla
Today, Jordan sent 52 trucks of aid to Gaza.
More will arrive tomorrow, including medical supplies.
The goods are being sent by the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization.
Two weeks ago, another aid convoy from Jordan arrived in Gaza - including aid from Saudi Arabia.
Also this week, Egypt's Red Crescent sent aid to Gaza, including blankets and tents, via the Rafah crossing.
Quietly, Arab countries and Israel cooperate in ensuring that Gaza's needs are fully met. Even Syria has sent trucks filled with aid to Gaza.
What do the "humanitarians" from the West think Arab nations, quietly cooperating with the Zionist enemy, helping Gazans? According to them, isn't this a model for peace and goodwill?
Not at all.
An internal Free Gaza email from last November complained about how too many of their potential donors preferred to send aid to Gaza rather than support their blockade-busting boats. And they said explicitly that "We firmly believe that activists and people who care about Palestine should not be raising money for humanitarian aid."
In other words, the flotilla supporters don't care at all about getting aid to Gazans. They don't want Jordan or Egypt or Saudi Arabia or the UAE or any of the other Arab states to send supplies. They refuse to deal with Israel - as opposed to Israel's implacable enemies.
They hate Israel more than the Arabs do!
This is the fundamental truth about Free Gaza, Viva Palestina, IHH and the other groups that mount very public shows of sending aid to Gaza. The supposed victims are just pawns - they are targeting the supposed oppressors.
The ones who cooperate with their enemies to get aid to Gazans.
The hate is palpable. Almost all of the interviews with these supposed humanitarians show them suffused with intense anger towards Israel, and very little love towards Gazans. The only Gazans they show real solidarity with are their Hamas dictators, as the "humanitarians" love to remind the world that Hamas was democratically elected - as if that somehow makes the terrorists less reprehensible.
No, there is only one thing that binds these "activists" together, and that is a desire to see Israel disappear. Free Gaza's Greta Berlin said as much to the New York Times:
In the final analysis, based on how they behave and their words, the so-called "humanitarians" are the exact opposite of human rights workers. They explicitly excuse every Hamas or Islamic Jihad atrocity and they oppose everything Israel does for the defense of its citizens.They don't even take advantage of Egypt's opening of the Rafah border to send aid to Gazans. They are hypocrites of the highest order.
Most of all, the flotilla supporters care less about the quality of life of Gazans than Israel does.
More will arrive tomorrow, including medical supplies.
The goods are being sent by the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization.
Two weeks ago, another aid convoy from Jordan arrived in Gaza - including aid from Saudi Arabia.
Also this week, Egypt's Red Crescent sent aid to Gaza, including blankets and tents, via the Rafah crossing.
Quietly, Arab countries and Israel cooperate in ensuring that Gaza's needs are fully met. Even Syria has sent trucks filled with aid to Gaza.
What do the "humanitarians" from the West think Arab nations, quietly cooperating with the Zionist enemy, helping Gazans? According to them, isn't this a model for peace and goodwill?
Not at all.
An internal Free Gaza email from last November complained about how too many of their potential donors preferred to send aid to Gaza rather than support their blockade-busting boats. And they said explicitly that "We firmly believe that activists and people who care about Palestine should not be raising money for humanitarian aid."
In other words, the flotilla supporters don't care at all about getting aid to Gazans. They don't want Jordan or Egypt or Saudi Arabia or the UAE or any of the other Arab states to send supplies. They refuse to deal with Israel - as opposed to Israel's implacable enemies.
They hate Israel more than the Arabs do!
This is the fundamental truth about Free Gaza, Viva Palestina, IHH and the other groups that mount very public shows of sending aid to Gaza. The supposed victims are just pawns - they are targeting the supposed oppressors.
The ones who cooperate with their enemies to get aid to Gazans.
The hate is palpable. Almost all of the interviews with these supposed humanitarians show them suffused with intense anger towards Israel, and very little love towards Gazans. The only Gazans they show real solidarity with are their Hamas dictators, as the "humanitarians" love to remind the world that Hamas was democratically elected - as if that somehow makes the terrorists less reprehensible.
No, there is only one thing that binds these "activists" together, and that is a desire to see Israel disappear. Free Gaza's Greta Berlin said as much to the New York Times:
[S]he says that her detractors in Israel are right, that she does not accept Israel as a Jewish state, though she contends that is part of a larger philosophy which opposes all national borders.It just so happens that the only national borders she spends time opposing are Israel's.
In the final analysis, based on how they behave and their words, the so-called "humanitarians" are the exact opposite of human rights workers. They explicitly excuse every Hamas or Islamic Jihad atrocity and they oppose everything Israel does for the defense of its citizens.They don't even take advantage of Egypt's opening of the Rafah border to send aid to Gazans. They are hypocrites of the highest order.
Most of all, the flotilla supporters care less about the quality of life of Gazans than Israel does.
- Friday, June 04, 2010
- Elder of Ziyon
YouTube has taken down one of my two videos that showed Israeli news footage- using the activists cameras! - of the initial seconds when the IDF soldiers were being beaten. Obviously pro-terror groups complained in order to stifle the evidence that showed them to be hypocrites when they say they are "peace activists."
My video was, as far as I can tell, the first one on YouTube that showed the actual attack. I copied it from an Israeli news site. I also captioned it, describing what was happening.
Luckily, the original video is all over the place, even on YouTube:
How long will they allow the video of the IDF soldier being stabbed to remain?
Will they allow the IDF to keep their videos up?
I appealed, but don't have a great track record with YouTube.
This is of course outrageous - the video has been shown on American and British TV newscasts, and YouTube is not more prudish than American network TV. It is just them caving to those who do not want the truth to be exposed.
My video was, as far as I can tell, the first one on YouTube that showed the actual attack. I copied it from an Israeli news site. I also captioned it, describing what was happening.
Luckily, the original video is all over the place, even on YouTube:
How long will they allow the video of the IDF soldier being stabbed to remain?
Will they allow the IDF to keep their videos up?
I appealed, but don't have a great track record with YouTube.
This is of course outrageous - the video has been shown on American and British TV newscasts, and YouTube is not more prudish than American network TV. It is just them caving to those who do not want the truth to be exposed.
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