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Freedom Flotilla: the Israeli side of the story
Condemned by the world, Israel maintains it had no option but to fight back. The First Post asked Israeli journalist Seth Freedman to explain the commandos’ behaviour
As Benjamin Netanyahu rushed home early to deal with the aftermath of the Freedom Flotilla attack, accusations continued to fly concerning culpability for the carnage. But despite attempts by many commentators to lay all of the blame at Israel's door, the facts appear to show a far less black and white picture of events.
For all the claims that the Israeli Defence Forces took the decision to shoot to kill on board the fateful ship, eyewitness reports and video footage clearly suggest that the pro-Palestinian activists mounted a pre-meditated attack on IDF troops at the beginning of the bloody clash.
As seen in graphic video of the hostilities, soldiers were tossed by activists from the upper to the lower deck of the ship; at least one stun grenade was hurled at the incoming commandos by resisting activists; poles and clubs were used to beat the soldiers, and only when one was knocked unconscious did the troops respond with overpowering might. Until that point, orders to hold fire appear to have been strictly enforced by the Israeli commandos.
That there was a Nobel Peace Prize laureate on board is beside the point. That there were electric-powered wheelchairs amid the cargo is beside the point. That Gazans are suffering immensely from the siege of their land is unpalatable and unfortunate but also beside the point in the context of this particular event.
Israel had made it clear over and over that they would not allow the activists, mainly from Turkey, to enter Gaza without first allowing their cargo to be inspected by Israeli authorities; repeated offers to allow the aid in following Israeli-approved checks were rebuffed and dismissed by the organisers of the convoy.
Against a backdrop of previous attempts to smuggle arms into Gaza under cover of humanitarian aid missions, such intransigence raised serious fears amongst Israeli military leaders and politicians that history was in danger of repeating itself.
Israel's suspicious minds are not fuelled merely by paranoia: years of rocket fire and other terror attacks on Israeli civilians from within Gaza have left deep scars on the collective Israeli psyche, hence preventing further bloodshed on Israeli soil was of prime concern to all involved in the decision to intercept the Freedom Flotilla.
If the activists truly had nothing to hide, they could have complied with Israeli requests for transparency, rather than bluntly refusing to concede even an inch of ground over the matter.
Given the organisers' obduracy, Israel felt it had little choice but to board and impound the ships.
The activists who attacked the IDF commandos had to know full well what they were doing. They had previously issued threat after threat against the IDF in the days building up to the battle, with one of their leaders brazenly touting his group's total determination to make it ashore in Gaza: "They are going to have to forcefully stop us". That his prediction came tragically true speaks volumes about his and his peers' own motives as much as it does the IDF's goals when boarding the ship.
As details emerge in the wake of the tragedy, the foundations upon which the activists base their claims of peaceful protest grow ever shakier. A weapons cache seized aboard the ship revealed the meticulous planning for violent hostilities that took place before the flotilla set sail: knives, slingshots, clubs and other missiles were displayed for the press pack to devour, yet few media organisations have strayed from the deceptive description of 'peace activist' when describing those aboard the ship who attacked IDF troops.
Those activists had ample opportunity to defuse the situation in the days and hours leading up to the commandos' arrival. Instead, they decided that violence was the best option, and, given their unyielding stance, there was only ever going to be one outcome.
In the wider political context, Israel's government and army deserve condemnation over myriad issues. And if the current wave of international pressure causes the blockade of Gaza to be lifted, I and many other Israelis will rejoice.
But what took place aboard the Freedom Flotilla must be viewed in terms of the violence from both sides, rather than used as yet another rod with which to beat Israel simply because it suits certain parties to do so.
Violence is the stock-in-trade of extremists on both sides of the Israel-Palestine war: settlers and soldiers on one side, militants and terror leaders on the other. Pretending that the violence emanates from the Israeli side only is specious. ·
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What is the big deal? Who among us does not know in their heart of hearts that the Jewish state is nothing more than a gangster cult of ethnic cleansers? Who does not know the Jewish State's enabler, the USA, has always blessed the asinine rubric, from day one, that the wiping out of centuries old Palestinian towns and villages was no big deal? Who can really be surprised at what the USA has wrought?
In the purest unvarnished sense it is obvious that murders yesterday, murders today, and murders tomorrow is precisely how god's chosen people have chosen to define themselves.
So killing a few peace-nicks is little matter to the mind of degenerates. The peace flotilla has simply learned what the United States Navy (Chickens of the Sea,) has already learned. The lesson was seared into the USN's asset, (aka the USS Liberty), in a much more serious way. For the record: The lesson that was taught to our American medal bedecked Admirals and by extension to Americans everywhere was: Tangle at your peril with the chosen people of the lord god almighty the Great Real Estate God, (GREG),of the Mideast.
But sorry dear peace activists these murders will be overlooked and soon become old news. After all the celebrated USA financed Navy of the Zionists is not Hilary's much condemned Navy of the North Koreans. The despicable plunderers of the Mideast will continue to be husbanded unabated by the crack of AIPACâ??s whip across the backsides of the US of A's President and our congressional frogs. The spankings will be to the great applause of degenerate political hypocrites the worldwide, and for sure will be greeted with hosanna delight by our Christian religious nut cases extraordinaire.
In the background hear the featured singers of the holy quartet consisting of the USA , England, France and Germany, (aka 'The Bad Bad Iran Singers'). These self-righteous vocal prigs will be humming 'Oh baby of ours' keep the lord's old nuclear thermo-nuclear bomb making factory in Dimona a humming.
The greatest moral joke of the last hundred years is that Israel is in fact not the Ugly Head of Semitism.
L'Chaim.
A quick view of the AlJezeera videos posted on Youtube reveals the true intention of this "humanitarian" mission. By conveniently omitting the hideous prequel to the Israeli response, the Arab world is brainwashed anew that Israel is the problem.
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England waved and cheered as their flotilla went to war over baron freezing islands housing goats and sheep
Israel preserves their right as a Sovran state according to the bible
The world new there is a blockade imposed yet the provocation continued
how would the Turkish government act to the same kind of scenario
Hypocrisy is the new face of the world
It is incredible how the supoorters of the rogue state of Israel (for that is what is becoming) can compare the the feeble resistence of the Palestinian people against the massive military might of Israel all funded by the taxpayers of the United States. The United Nations Charter clearly give people under military occupation the right to resist by any means including force, this clearly gives the right to Palestinians to resist and not to the brutal occupying power, Israel. The Israeli propagandists of are continually trying to find linkage between democratically elected goverment of Palestine namely, Hamas and Iran so that they can wage another war of aggression against that country using the same tactics as they did with Iraq where a million people have been butchered. I can find no record of Iran threatening anyone or invading anyone. Yet the war mongerers of Israel and the United States have a track record that is second to none in the history of mankind. If public opinion is turning against Israel it is not before time, the atrocities against the people of Palestine and the middle east have continued from 1948 until the present massacre. The myth that Israel is allowing in supplies is another outrageous lie by the regime and this can easily be confirmed by the United Nations.
this was not the first time that humanitarian aid has been carried to the Gaza ...there have been previous attempts, none of which have been carried on North American MSM so few are aware of the years of hard work, organizing and expense that people like myself would so appreciate were it coming from GOVERNMENTS who should not stand idly by when people are suffering/starving/lacking basic human goods, medicines, etc. What Israel has done this time, by dropping from Apache heliocopters aboard the largest of the boats was nothing short of international PIRACY. Those commandos who have been in training at sea for several weeks anticipating their 'approach' to this large group of peace activists. There is no question those commandos who dropped from the pre-dawn dark skies terrified the passengers whose cell phones/satellite comm were jammed by Isr Navy..heard the sound of gun fire as they boarded their ship. I saw the photo Israel provided of an arrangement of various sized knives and tubes. Perhaps they were confiscated from the passengers and perhaps NOT. What we do have are facts that at least ten civilians were shot dead. and perhaps up to 60 civilians were wounded. more than 24 hours have passed and still no names, or status available. Another IRONIC TRAGEDY is that a contact of mine, who is a USNaval Vet, Joe Meadors, a survivor of a previous Israeli Navy attack, June 1967 in INTERNATIONAL waters against the Liberty ended up with 34 sailors murdered and 172 wounded. Few know about that...and this was Joe's first trip back to that 'crime scene'. We await any word of his status. He along with his comrades were sworn to remain silent about that event when "ally" Israel --for 2 hours- in broad daylight attacked with machine guns, NAPALM on deck and two torpedos to sink the Liberty. It was called "an accident". With such 'allies' who assassinate, kidnap, torture, imprison, silence, segregate, etc who needs enemies?
If I had been on that boat and was in fear for my life from such terrifying invaders on my peaceful boat I too might have picked up something, a chair or whatever to protect /defend myself. But it is the SOLDIERS who we are told were in "self defense mode"? Disproportional and overwhelming force again? STOP THESE WAR CRIMINALS NOW!
Israelis are past masters at contorting language to their own ends. They would have us believe that the flotilla of boats taking relief to the Israeli-imprisoned people of Gaza attacked the IDF in the middle of the night - a fighting force that just happened to grapple with the flotilla, landing heavily-armed forces on board both by sea and air. The casualties tell a more accurate story, just as it did during the recent invasions of Gaza and Lebanon by the Israelis.
If it were not for the fact that Israel is defended, right or wrong, by America and Europe Israel would long since have had to live peacefully with its neighbours, rather than waging perpetual war as it tries to extend its territory in all directions.
Having seen the destruction of one neighbour, Iraq, it is now actively seeking the destruction of another, Iran, using the same kind of lying pretexts as in this atrocity.
slingshots, clubs and other missiles were put on display ...
the case for Israel is not really made here, is it? Defending the indefensible is a tough job.
The Palestinians and their supporters have learned how to 'play' the world. Public opinion will turn against Israel so the terrorists can get a pass as their supply of rockets is running low.
Israel has long established and well known mechanisms for getting aid into Gaza. Curiously, that appears to matter little to the those determined to break the blockade, one imposed not to stop relief and aid but rather to inspect ships to make sure no weapons are being smuggled into Gaza. Given Hamas' very public pronouncements and promises of continued violence it would seem the inspection of the ships is not unreasonable.
Further, there is no such thing as a disproportionate response to continued and incessant calls for genocide. I would have thought that Europeans most of all would understand that.
Israel are constantly under attack from the Gazans, the Hizbollah in the north who are backed by the Iranians, the Syrians, Egyptians, and Jordanians are also all hostile. Turk hostility goes without saying, they are hostile to just about everyone, ask any Kurd. If Israel need to defend themselves, they should. The Gazans regularly smuggle in arms and explosives, drugs and other contraband via tunnels under the fence with Egypt. Who are the weapons aimed at? Anyone OTHER than Israel? The Gazans send their teenagers to the border loaded with explosives in their jackets - suicide bombers at 15 years old - is that sane or humane? Does anyone in their right mind trust them, or is it just the other racist Jew-haters that support them out of mutual hate?
What a silly conclusion from the author! VIOLENCE ALWAYS EMANATES FROM ISRAEL. You cannot isolate this incident from the context of Israel's calculated genocide of the Gazan people. It would be like commenting that the Nazi's may have been brutal - but so were the Poles, Jews, French (etc) - who were rude enough to resist their occupation.
There is a parallel between the way the Israelis are treating the people in the Gaza Strip with the way the Nazis treated the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto? They cannot refer back to the memory of their treatment in the European holocaust for justification of this cowardly act of war. That is to insult the memory of the Warsaw victims and all the others who died at the hands of the Nazis.
Agree with Joffy... totally disproportionate.
I also disagree with the author : how on earth can you compare kitchen knives & slingshots with machine guns ??
It simply beggars belief that any Israeli con condone an armed assault on 6 boats on the high sea without massive condemnation by the world. Of course there is going to be some kind of fight.
But why oh why did they not simply let them dock & then refuse them entry onto dry land. Or is that too sensible an option ?The Israelis could then have unloaded the cargo in their own time, with scrutiny over 'hidden'
Israel is an unstable state that flouts international law and ignores United Nations Security Council resolutions at will, it has become a law unto itself with Mossad death squads roaming at large executing anyone who it deems is a "terrorist" or opposes its policies.
It has been condemned by by Goldstone for it war crimes against the people of Gaza. It has been involved in numerous "wars of aggression" against its neighbours over the past sixty years, contrary to the principals outlined in the Nuremburg War Crimes trials. It brutally pushes ahead with walls that lock millions of Palestinians into concentration camps, whilst siezing their land and homes and then denies the Palestinian people the basics essentials for life, like some sort of "untermenschen" who do not need to be considered human.
There would be no need for a humanitarian convoy if the Israeli state allowed the people of Gaza the basic human right to access to food, water and housing, never mind such simple things as the freedom of movement.
The convoy posed no threat to the State of Israel but was attacked on the high seas by armed commandos, in act of "state piracy" not seen since the days of Drake. How can you any sane person call a a caterpult a "weapon" compared the automatic weapons of the Israeli attackers. The lies and insuations will continue from the Israeli propaganda machine twisting and spinning the facts but nothing can change the fact that unarmed civilians were brutally attacked by the Israeli military. There can be no more "Munich" agreements in dealing with Israel and the world community must say it now loudly and clearly but the danger is that Israel is clearly a "lunatic" (their words) state armed with two or three hundred nuclear weapons, a regime that is funded and supplied by the United States, who now clearly can no longer be control its client state.
It may not have been entirely one sided but the Israeli response was massively disproportionate and motivated by the desire to maintain a crippling blockade on Gaza. The activists weapons are pitifully weak compared to the firepower the IDF brought to bear and i think the activists were justified in trying to defend themselves when they were attacked by armed military commandos. Israel said the "proper aid channels" should have been used but the deplorable situation in Gaza shows just how useless these channels are. If Israel wasn't enforcing an apartheid policy on the Palestinians these aid convoys wouldn't even exist. How unfortunate it is that they complain about such basic attempts to relieve the suffering of those they oppress.