Stepping out into the street to take a stand for justice can be frightening. I know, because I've been doing it for years.
Following the attack on the boats seeking to break the siege of Gaza, I was at a silent vigil with members of Jewish Voice for Peace, Women in Black and others when we were verbally attacked by a small but virulent group with chants of Kapo!, Nazi!, and worse. What you'll see in the video linked at right is just a small taste of nearly two hours of taunts and threats.
I won't lie to you-- it was painful and unsettling. But the truth is, even after days like these, I'd never do anything differently. After living and studying in Israel and even working for a Jerusalem mayor, I decided to work to bring about equality and justice, no matter the price. And I can tell you, Jewish Voice for Peace is the same. They tell the truth and act with courage, no matter the price. That's why I am so proud to have been a member for so long.
You may know that Jewish Voice for Peace is in the middle of its summer fund drive, and has until July 14 to match a generous gift of $25,000. That means that whatever you give now will be doubled. Because you understand the importance of acting for a greater principle in the face of fear, I hope you will support JVP if you can.
We are up against those who simply don't want Israel to be accountable to anyone-- and they're fierce. That's why telling the truth about Israel's occupation and treatment of the Palestinian people takes courage. Many of us brave taunts and threats. Others brave job losses or isolation from our families. The folks at Jewish Voice for Peace have become accustomed to hateful letters and calls and sometimes, death threats. Those in B'ilin, N'ilin, and in Sheikh Jarrah, and on the Gaza flotilla, take courage to a whole new level, risking permanent injury, death and imprisonment. But all of us are bound together in our belief that the principle of equality for all people is worth whatever risk each of us is able to take.
Stand with Jewish Voice for Peace and support the largest Jewish organization that stands unapologetically for telling the truth. Please make a generous gift by July 14, and your gift will be doubled. Help JVP make its match.
People like me can get back out into the streets day after day precisely because we know that JVP has our backs and that we're in this together with you, JVP's 100,000 other supporters and activists. We fuel each other's courage, and together we make change. Jewish Voice for Peace is the organization that brings us all together so we can say what must be said and do what must be done. Please support them.
Carol Sanders
Retired attorney
Member Jewish Voice for Peace, Women in Black
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Contact us directly at Jewish Voice for Peace. 1611 Telegraph Avenue, Suite 550. Oakland, CA 94612 510-465-1777 info@jvp.org _________________ 'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.
Carol Sanders; respect. Nuff said _________________ In the end, it's not the words of your enemies you will remember, but the silence of your friends. Martin Luther King
Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 6060 Location: East London
Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 8:16 am Post subject:
Re meeting at Friends House, Euston, London on July 14th 2010, 18.00 to 21.30hrs., Kenneth O'Keefe (Mavi Marmara) will be Master of Ceremonies, which allows us a potentially bigger target audience among Muslims (and others) who are interested in the Gaza blockade, but not 'Conspiracy Theories':
The Israeli Navy reportedly blockades a Libyan-chartered aid vessel which has set sail for the blockaded Gaza Strip, issuing threats against the convoy.
"Israeli warships are surrounding and threatening the cargo ship. There is a real threat," said Yussef Sawan, the executive director of the Tripoli-based Gaddafi International Charity and Development Association, AFP reported.
The organization tasked the seaborne mission on board the Moldova-flagged cargo ship, Amalthea, to break Tel Aviv's years-long siege of Gaza. The vessel is carrying 12 crewmembers and 2,000 tons of relief supplies from Greece to the impoverished sliver.
Communications with the ship are being jammed, Sawan added, pointing at possible electronic obstructions against the humanitarian effort.
The bid follows the Israeli commandos' May 31 killing of nine Turks among the Freedom Flotilla, a hundreds-strong aid convoy, which intended to fulfill the same mission. The attack sent shockwaves across the world and gave rise to global calls for an international investigation into the incident.
Tel Aviv, however, subsequently insisted it will not allow any seaborne convoys to reach the strip. "I say very clearly, no ship will arrive in Gaza. We will not permit our sovereignty to be harmed," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Army Radio on Sunday. Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak also branded the bid as "unnecessary provocation."
Israel, meanwhile, campaigned to seek foreign cooperation against the effort, while obliging the ship head either towards the port of El-Arish in Egypt or the Israeli port of Ashdod. Sawan earlier denied reports that the ship was heading towards El-Arish.
Mashallah Zwei, a representative for the Libyan charity, who is accompanying the mission, had clarified earlier that the organization was not seeking "a confrontation or a provocation."
"We only have food, medicine and young pacifists on the boat." "The Israelis can inspect the ship and if they have an ounce of humanity they will let us unload in Gaza," he added, calling for international pressure on the regime not to disrupt the relief bid.
HN/MMA _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:28 pm Post subject:
Hamas finds UN collaborating with Israel
Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:25:58 GMT
Hamas accuses the United Nations of collaborating with Israel over the world body's recent efforts to discourage aid convoys from sailing towards the Gaza Strip.
The UN on Friday warned seaborne relief missions against setting sail, urging them to instead travel by land. The UN's warning came as both routes to the strip remain under the strict control of the Israeli military's armed surveillance units.
"The UN call to international organizations to use the over-land road to Gaza instead of the sea is unacceptable and illegal," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri was quoted by AFP as saying on Saturday.
The position was similar to "collaboration with the Israeli occupier," he added.
After the democratically-elected government of Hamas came to power in the Gaza Strip in 2006, Israel blockaded the coastal sliver in June 2007, depriving 1.5 million Gazans of food, fuel and other life necessities.
"Most of the residents of the territory are still banned from leaving the territory and this is why this call is considered a contribution to the blockade," said Abu Zahri in reference to the UN warning........
Gaza - Ma'an - A European medical convoy named “Miles of smiles 2” is set to arrive in Gaza on 7 August, organizers said.
Coordinating with Egyptian authorities, the ships will arrive on Alexandria’s shores on 5 August, before sailing to Al-Arish port, and then onto Gaza.
Organizer Dr Issam Youssef said 70 European politicians will bring 50 ambulances and medicines worth €1 million, adding that the campaign was sponsored by former Lebanese prime minister, Salim Al-Hus.
The first “Miles of smiles” convoy brought 100 small trucks loaded with medical aid and nearly 260 wheelchairs in addition to a number of ambulances, 102 cars for transportation of the disabled and computers for schools to Gaza last November, after being held at the Egyptian border for 25 days. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Malaysian medical convoy to arrive Gaza in Ramadan
Gaza, July 26, (Pal Telegraph) 30 Malaysian doctors and specialists from 55 volunteers will access the Gaza Strip on a convoy during the month of Ramadan.
News agency quoted Malaysian wife of the Malaysian Prime Minister Datin Mansour today, saying that the mission of volunteers, doctors, in addition to ten journalists will spend 13 days in the Gaza Strip from the eighth to the twentieth of Ramadan organized by the Club "Malaysia 1 Boytra."
She added after meeting with the delegation to the media, that the medical Red Crescent in Malaysia will be participating which will be delivering humanitarian service to the people of Gaza. The humanitarian mission of doctors reflects the feeling of Malaysians to the plight of the Gaza Strip.
The convoy will be chaired by the club's director, Datuk Abdul Rahim Abdul Aziz.
“The delegation includes a medical team of 10 Malaysians, 10 Indians and ten chinese, coming from different specialties and hospitals to the hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including Jerusalem Hospital,” said Abdul Aziz, they had to choose 30 out of 173 doctors who willingly volunteered for the mission, noting that they will distribute food, aid and clothing to about a thousand families in Gaza. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Latest News On The Viva Palestina "Global Lifeline To Gaza" Aid ConvoyShare
Friday, 23 July 2010 at 09:48
The terrible massacre aboard the Mavi Marmara on 31 May has brought a sea change in international opinion against the inhumane siege on the people of Gaza.
Far from deterring people from seeking to bring the siege to an end, the Israeli assault on the Freedom Flotilla is spurring on even more people to bring humanitarian aid to the besieged 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and to end the blockade.
Recently, Israel announced that they would "Ease" the siege on Gaza, however, many essential items are still banned. Among the goods still banned is all construction materials, farming supplies, certain medical supplies, and motor vehicles and spare parts.
Last weekend, Chris Patten and Catherine Ashton visited Gaza as part of a EU delegation to the region.
Both Chris and Catherine slammed the partial easing of the siege, and called for the siege to be lifted immediatley, and for all the borders to open up as a matter of urgency. Chris stated that many of the health problems suffered by residents of the sector were caused by the embargo, which prohibits the entry of medical supplies and prevents patients with certain conditions from travelling to receive medical treatment
Viva Palestina, a registered charity founded by George Galloway, has organised three massive land convoys to Gaza in the last 18 months, bringing over 1,000 people and 500 vehicles loaded with vital humanitarian aid.
Following extensive planning, another land convoy will depart London on September 18th and set off for Gaza once again. The convoy will travel through France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. It will attempt to reach Gaza through the Rafah border in early October.
Viva Palestina will lead the "Global Lifeline To Gaza" from London, working in partnership with the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza, and organisations from Europe, North and South America, Turkey, The Middle East, Australasia, India, and South Africa.
Aid that will be travelling to Gaza on the convoy will include medical equipment, educational supplies, and the wherewithal to rebuild a destroyed mosque, a school for orphans and to construct a maternity facility in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
People can support the convoy in many ways, by fundraising, promoting it, or taking part. Spaces for participants on the convoy will be limited, and we urge anyone who is interested to sign up quickly, and begin fundraising to ensure they can take part in this historic journey.
Registration Criteria For Volunteer DriversShare
Wednesday, 21 July 2010 at 01:12
For those volunteers wishing to register their application to join the Viva Palestina Land Convoy as a volunteer driver please read the following joining criteria.
Criteria are based on the need to ensure that we only take vehicles & aid that Gaza has specifically requested - not what we think they need.
Therefore, all vehicles and aid must be on the Approved VP Gaza Aid & Vehicle list.
We will, however, discuss any proposal for the following two categories of AID but these are strictly subject to pre-approval prior to purchase
•Aid that is for specific projects within Gaza. For further details, please e mail: aid@vivapalestina.org
The two options in which you can join the convoy as a Volunteer Driver are
Option 1. Viva Palestina Aid Unit [VPAU]
You would be required to fundraise for a minimum target of £3,500 per person for the costs of purchasing a vehicle and aid.
•£1000 is required to be paid to Viva Palestina on the 14th August
•£2500 is required to be paid to Viva Palestina by the 28th August to enable the purchase of the vehicle and aid
Without full payment Viva Palestina cannot purchase the vehicle and the aid.
•Viva Palestina will purchase and own the vehicle.
•Viva Palestina will purchase the aid to fill the vehicle.
•Viva Palestina will contribute towards the costs of aid for the vehicle.
•Viva Palestina will pay the fare for the UK-France crossing and the Italy to Greece ferry crossing for the vehicle.
•Viva Palestina will cover the costs of mechanical breakdown en route.
•Viva Palestina will provide you with support and authority to fundraise on behalf of Viva Palestina.
You need to be over 23yrs to drive a Viva Palestina vehicle.
You need to hold a valid driver's license with a International driving permit and preferably have a minimum of 5 years' driving experience.
You will need to self finance the costs of
•50% of the vehicles fuel and toll costs based on 2 people per vehicle
•Your passenger fare on ferries, visa's, accommodation where required, food, transfer fee to Cairo and return airfares.(Estimated between £800 and £1,000
•You will be required to pay an administration of £149 at registration. A breakdown of what the administration fee covers is detailed in the online registration
Option 2. Donate to Drive [DTD]
Join as a team and locate and purchase your own vehicle & aid that is listed on the Approved Gaza Aid & Vehicle list.
Obtain pre-approval prior to purchase for vehicle and aid from the VP team.
Once purchased, all vehicle and aid details must be submitted to Viva Palestina before the 28th August to be included in the official convoy vehicle & aid listing.
Maximum number of drivers per vehicle is 3, minimum 2.
No non driving passengers are allowed - all must be able to drive.
All vehicles must be fully laden with aid, there cannot be provision made inside the vehicles for sleeping space etc.
All drivers must be over 21yrs.
All drivers need to hold a valid driver's license with a International driving permit and preferably have a minimum of 5 years' driving experience.
All drivers travelling with vehicle must register independently online with Viva Palestina and state who they are travelling with for that vehicle.
Costs to be paid by drivers within the vehicle are
•Vehicle & Passenger fares for all ferry crossings
•Vehicle & fuel costs
•Mechanical breakdown and repairs
•Road tolls
•Visas
•Accomodation where required
•Food
•Transfer fee to Cairo
•Return airfares
You will be required to pay an administration of £149 at registration. A breakdown of the administration fee covers is detailed in the online registration.
All ferry fares are required to be paid to Viva Palestina by the 28th of August for booking purposes. We will advise what is required in due course.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:20 am Post subject:
Ofcom has condemned Press TV's coverage of the convoy as being unbalanced.
Apparently Ofcom were not allowed to rule on the BBC coverage.
This show was presented by Tony Blair's sister in law
Rather shows how far the Zionist mainstream media is 'living in a soviet style bubble.
I think I may have mentioned before but I do believe (have a hunch) Blair never wanted war but was told the plan behind closed doors.
That would explain his laughable peace mission but my opinion more importantly the massive PR campaign against the Royalty when Labour took office
It was telling from my point of view when 2million+ took to London streets to back the Queens golden jubilee http://www.thamesweb.co.uk/windsor/windsor2002/jubilee/index.html and from that day forward spelling the end of the PR campaign.
Again could be just propaganda tactic to show how they are not linked to policy, who knows but that's my thoughts on the issue _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
First Arab Parliament convoy moving to Gaza today
SUNDAY, 08 AUGUST 2010 08:53 WRITTEN BY OMAR_GAZA
Gaza, August 8, (Pal Telegraph) The first convoy of the Arab Parliament is due today to start moving to the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian capital Cairo, to remain in Gaza until 12 of August.
Official Algerian media broadcasted media a press release by the the Algerian popular council saying that the Algerian Parliament will be represented in this convoy, by MP Abdel-Kader Samari member of the Arab Parliament for Foreign and Political Affairs and National Security Committee and the Chairman of land convoys to the Gaza Strip.
MP Madani ElBaradei also a member of the Arab Parliament will be a member of the convoy, and the goal of the convoy will be to provide the residents of the Gaza Strip with their needs during the month of Ramadan. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Uribe's appointment to flotilla probe guarantees its failure
José Antonio Gutiérrez and David Landy, The Electronic Intifada, 6 August 2010
Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez has been criticized for his abuses of human rights defenders. (Center for American Progress)
At the beginning of this month the Israeli government announced it would cooperate with one out of two international UN-sponsored investigation commissions into the 31 May Gaza Freedom Flotilla massacre, a move which UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon claimed was "unprecedented." However, the details of this commission and who will take part in it -- particularly the notorious outgoing president of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe Vélez -- cast doubt over its impartiality.
The commission is composed of four persons, one chosen by Turkey, one chosen by Israel and two chosen from a list provided by Israel. The latter two are former Prime Minister of New Zealand Geoffrey Palmer, who will be the chair, and Uribe, who will serve as vice-chair. While Palmer, an expert in international law, is an uncontroversial choice, the appointment of Uribe is as perplexing as it is shocking. It appears that "balance" in this commission involves balance between someone versed in international and human rights law and someone who is adamantly opposed to it. This notion of balance fatally weakens this commission even before it has started, and tarnishes the process of international law.
Uribe is a controversial president whose regime has engaged in severe human rights abuses; illegal surveillance and harassment of human rights defenders by the intelligence service (DAS); international law violations (such as the bombing of Ecuadorian territory); corruption; crimes against humanity and excesses by the army in their US-sponsored counterinsurgency warfare.
Uribe's scorn for human right defenders is notorious. According to Human Rights First, "President Uribe and other administration officials have branded [human rights defenders] as terrorist sympathizers and have insinuated that illicit connections exist between human rights NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] and illegal armed groups. Irresponsible comments by government officials in Colombia put the lives of human rights defenders at even greater risk and threaten to undermine the value and credibility of their work" ("Human Rights Defencers in Colombia").
In September 2009 Colombia was visited by Margaret Sekaggya, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders from the UN Human Rights Commission. Sekaggya found that constant problems faced by human rights defenders in Colombia include "Stigmatization [of human rights defenders] by public officials and non-State actors; their illegal surveillance by State intelligence services; their arbitrary arrest and detention, and their judicial harassment; and raids of nongovernmental organizations' (NGOs) premises and theft of information" ("Report of the Special Rapporteur ...," 4 March 2010, pp. 13-18 [PDF]).
Public officials in Colombia constantly attack human rights defenders and members of the political and social opposition as aides of "terrorists," that is, left-wing guerrillas.
Uribe has led these attacks, calling human rights defenders "rent-a-mobs at terrorism's service who cowardly wave the human rights flag," "human rights traffickers," "charlatans of human rights," "bandits' [ie. guerrillas] colleagues," "intellectual front of the FARC [the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]" and he has stated that "Every time terrorists and their supporters feel they will be defeated, they resort to denouncing human rights violations."
Uribe has referred in particularly harsh terms both to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch: "Amnesty International do not condemn international humanitarian law violations by the guerrillas and they give legitimacy to terrorism [...] they go around European bureaus like library rats, gossiping in low voices, undermining Colombian institutions." He said of the director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch, José Miguel Vivanco: "Before Vivanco, a FARC defender [and] accomplice, came here to criticize our policy of democratic security, we were making serious efforts to put our country on its feet -- I don't have anything to learn from Mr. Vivanco when it comes to human rights" ("Defensores de derechos humanos: bajo el estigma del presidente Uribe," Agencia de prensa (IPC), 23 October 2009).
This is just a brief overview of Uribe's systematic attacks on human right defenders. In June 2010 an international human rights mission investigated the biggest mass grave in the western hemisphere -- containing some 2,000 execution victims who had been dumped there since 2004 -- which had just been discovered in the Colombian town of La Macarena. At the same time Uribe travelled to that very locality but not to pay his condolences to the victims' families, or guarantee that an investigation would determine what happened there. Instead, he went to visit the local military base -- exactly the same people that, according to victims' reports, filled that mass grave with its grisly contents -- to praise them for their work.
Uribe said on that occasion: "I want the country to know that now terrorists want to damn our partial victory by combining their means of struggle. Now the terrorists' spokespeople are talking of peace to have a break in order to recover, before we achieve our final victory. Terrorism combines means of struggle, so some of their spokespersons talk of peace; others come here to La Macarena to look for ways to discredit the Armed Forces and to implicate it in human rights violations. We will not fall into that trap, stay firm!" ("Voceros del terrorismo estan proponiendo la paz para poderse recuperar: Uribe," El Espectador, 25 June 2010).
It is hard to believe that, in spite of Uribe's appalling human rights record, he has been chosen to be part of a UN human rights commission. Going beyond Uribe himself, any representative of the Colombian state must be suspect when it comes to investigating human rights violations as official and "unofficial" state-sanctioned human rights abusers act with impunity; 98 percent of such cases remain unprosecuted ("Baseless Prosecutions of Human Rights Defenders in Colombia," February 2009).
It also strains credibility to believe that Colombia, the biggest recipient of US military "aid" after Israel and Egypt, a country that has agreed to host seven new US military bases on its territory last year, can be impartial in relation to Israel. Both the Israeli and Colombian governments share an ideological approach to their opponents, based on a belief that respecting human rights is a non-issue when it comes to pursuing their military goals against rebel groups. Unsurprisingly, there is also large-scale military cooperation between the two rogue states.
In recent years, according to news reports, Israel has become Colombia's number one weapon supplier, with arms worth tens of millions of dollars, "including Kfir aircraft, drones, weapons and intelligence systems" being used against opponents of the Colombian regime ("Report: Israelis fighting guerillas in Colombia," Ynet, 10 August 2007). According to a senior Israeli defense official, "Israel's methods of fighting terror have been duplicated in Colombia" ("Colombia's FM: We share your resilience," 30 April 2010).
There is a reason that Latin Americans often refer to Colombia as the "Israel of Latin America," and indeed why Colombian President-elect Juan Manuel Santos, ex-Minister of Defence and right hand of Uribe, expressed his pride at such a comparison ("Santos, orgulloso de que a Colombia lo comparen con Israel," El Espectador, 6 June 2010).
The Colombian government's bias in Israel's favor was made clear during an April 2010 visit of Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez to Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported Bermudez's "desire to strengthen Colombia's military relationship with Israel" and of the "need to do more in terms of the fight against terrorism." He confidently predicted that "whoever wins [Colombia's] presidential election next month will be supportive of [Israel]. I admire your people. I admire your country and I admire you. You have many friends in Colombia" ("Colombia's FM: We share your resilience").
The admiration is mutual, and Uribe undertakes his role of impartial investigator weighed down with awards from various Zionist organizations. These include the American Jewish Committee's "Light unto the Nations Award" and descending further into Orwellian doublespeak, the "Presidential Gold Medallion for Humanitarianism" from B'nai Brith.
While the Colombian government and Uribe are entitled to their choice of friends, this -- to say the least -- indicates that there will be no objectivity whatsoever with regard to Uribe's role in the commission.
It appears that Israel only agreed to cooperate with this particular UN inquiry as there is very little chance this commission will take an independent stance and deliver an unbiased verdict on the brutal Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Indeed, Israel has declined to cooperate with the other UN commission into the attack appointed by the UN Human Rights Council. It can be reasonably argued that Colombian and Israeli cooperation in this matter is a further step towards jointly "doing more in terms of the fight against terrorism" (to paraphrase Bermudez' remarks in Israel).
In reality this means attacking human rights defenders and aid workers and further undermining international law and respect for human rights. Participating in a whitewash of the illegal and brutal murder of human rights activists and painting them as "terrorists in disguise" will serve the military objectives of both countries as they struggle to undermine human rights defenders and "enemy communities" in their respective countries.
This is a maverick commission lacking credibility, which will serve only to show the influence of the United States and Israel on Ban Ki-moon's office. Such a commission will disappoint anyone expecting a neutral, impartial investigation that reveals the truth about the massacre of 31 May. This commission further undermines the credibility of the UN and serves to turn international and human rights law into a game played between the violators of these laws.
José Antonio Gutiérrez and David Landy are activists based in Ireland, involved respectively with the Latin American Solidarity Centre and the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. José Antonio Gutiérrez writes frequently on Colombia for www.anarkismo.net
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Rather dreary but I gather the BBC has perpetrated another smooth hit job on the 'enemies of Zionism' with their 'Death in the Med' schtick.
Kenneth O’Keefe wrote:
“…the BBC, absent of integrity, contemptuous of humanity, attempts in this programme to turn disarmed, helpless Israeli commandos into heroic self-rescuing commandos who, like supermen, managed to whiz their way out of a circle of well over 100 highly-motivated men whose brothers lay murdered with multiple gunshot wounds.That is what we call a bald-faced lie, a big-time, in-your-face lie that treats you the audience as a bunch of drooling idiots.”
Judging by the general tone and awarenes in Blighted this summer, he doesn't appear to be exaggerating...
It is also interesting to note that the key witness film of what really happened on board the Mavi Marmara does not once get a mention, yet I am sure all genuine truthseekers here must have a copy already. Why was this not aired by the Beeb?
I'm long banned from the BBC but hope others will attempt to counter the increasing giyus.org mob presence and to set the record straight in the comment section at:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/panorama/2010/08/death_in_the_med_-_join_in _the.html _________________ "We will lead every revolution against us!" - attrib: Theodor Herzl
"Timely Demise to All Oppressors - at their Convenience!" - 'Interesting Times', Terry Pratchett
updated 2 hours 21 minutes ago
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BEIRUT — A Gaza-bound ship carrying women activists and aid for the blockaded Palestinian territory will leave Lebanon's northern port of Tripoli for Cyprus on Sunday, an organizer said on Thursday.
Israel has warned that it will not allow ships to reach Gaza, controlled by the militant Palestinian group Hamas since 2007. Nine pro-Palestinian Turks died on May 31 when Israeli commandos boarded a flotilla of aid vessels heading for Gaza.
Yasser Qashlaq said the ship Mariam would leave Tripoli at 10 pm (2p.m. ET) on Sunday for Cyprus. A second ship, the Naji al-Ali, would sail a couple of days later, he told Reuters.
"The aim is to break the blockade on Gaza," Qashlaq said, adding that the Mariam would be carrying around 60 Lebanese, U.S. and European women, as well as cancer drugs. The Naji al-Ali will take medical equipment including dialysis machines.
"We will sail for Cyprus and from there we will head for Palestine," he said. "We have received permission from Lebanese authorities and we have not had any refusal from Cypriot authorities."
He did not say when the ship will leave Cyprus for Gaza.
Israel, which eased its Gaza blockade in response to intense international criticism of its lethal seizure of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara in May, has said it has the right to "use all necessary means" to bar the Lebanese ships from reaching Gaza.
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations said last month the vessels could "carry weapons or individuals with provocative and confrontational intentions," a charge Qashlaq denied.
"Any Israeli operation against the ships would be considered an act of piracy," he said. "I don't think the enemy (Israel) will repeat the stupid act that it carried out."
U.N. officials have urged countries not to attempt to break the Israeli naval blockade and urged all parties to show restraint.
Last month a Libyan-chartered aid ship bound for Gaza was diverted to an Egyptian port and its shipment was delivered to Gaza by land. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
I don't have a great deal of respect for Hamas but I have far less for their detractors. Countless thinking people are totally fed up with the "Gaza, controlled by the militant Palestinian group Hamas since 2007" schtick and feel the original WaPo* pronouncement should be broadcast from the rooftops at every available opportunity.
Hamas was democratically elected by a majority of Palestinians, whatever the maniacs in the Knesset try to fool people with, whatever machinations they used to try and get Abbas and the totally infiltrated PA/Fatah some cred!
* One-a-more-a-time:-
Quote:
Hamas Sweeps Palestinian Elections, Complicating Peace Efforts in Mideast
By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 27, 2006
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan. 26 -- The radical Islamic movement Hamas won a large majority in the new Palestinian parliament, according to official election results announced Thursday, trouncing the governing Fatah party in a contest that could dramatically reshape the Palestinians' relations with Israel and the rest of the world.
In Wednesday's voting, Hamas claimed 76 of the 132 parliamentary seats, giving the party at war with Israel the right to form the next cabinet under the Palestinian Authority's president, Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah.
Fatah, which has dominated the legislature since the previous elections a decade ago and the Palestinian cause for far longer, won 43 seats. A collection of nationalist, leftist and independent parties claimed the rest.
Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, another Fatah leader, resigned his post along with his cabinet early Thursday, as reports of Hamas's victory began to circulate. Although the cabinet would have been required to step aside even if Fatah had retained its majority, Qureia acknowledged in submitting his resignation that Hamas had earned the right to form the next cabinet.
"This is the choice of the people," Qureia, a member of the party's discredited old guard who did not run for reelection, told reporters here. "It should be respected."
Abbas, on the other hand, will continue to serve the four-year presidential term he won in an election a year ago, shortly after the death of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, the founder of Fatah. Abbas will maintain the broad power to create national policy and control the security services, though he needs parliamentary approval for his budget and legislative proposals. He will also shape peace policy with Israel as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which does not include Hamas.
The arrival of Hamas, formally known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, in the Palestinian Authority as a nearly equal partner will severely complicate Abbas's efforts to begin negotiations with Israel under the U.S.-backed peace plan known as the "road map." Hamas, which emerged in 1987 during the first Palestinian uprising as an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, favors the creation of a Palestinian nation on land that now includes Israel rather than the road map's two-state solution.
The election results stunned U.S. and Israeli officials, who have repeatedly stated that they would not work with a Palestinian Authority that included Hamas, which both countries and the European Union have designated as a terrorist organization. In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that a party could not "have one foot in politics and the other in terror. Our position on Hamas has therefore not changed."
Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said in a statement that the Palestinian people had "voted democratically and peacefully." But, he added, "these results may confront us with an entirely new situation which will need to be analyzed" at a meeting of European foreign ministers next week.
Jubilant Hamas leaders reiterated Thursday that they had no plans to pursue peace talks or disarm the party's armed wing, a condition Israel has set for beginning negotiations under the road map. The plan, which calls for the creation of an independent Palestinian state by the end of 2005, has been frozen during recent years of violence.
Here in Ramallah, a Fatah stronghold where Hamas won every parliamentary seat except the one reserved for a Christian, dozens of activists from both parties clashed in front of the Palestinian Legislative Council, as the parliament is formally known.
The dispute started when a Hamas supporter hung the party's emerald-green banner above the entrance in place of the national flag. Fatah activists arrived and tore down the banner, which bears the Islamic axiom, "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet." The fight that ensued was broken up by police officers, who fired warning shots into the air.
I write to you as a concerned viewer. However I am also a victim of Israeli state terrorism and an eyewitness to the initial attack on the MV Mavi Marmara. This evening in Derry, co-incidentally while in the home of a former British soldier, I watched your programme about the pre-dawn Israeli attack on our flotilla. I have not spoken to anybody else about it yet and am ignorant of the reactions of others, but I want to convey to you how both a loyal servant of your Majesty the Queen and I both agreed that what we witnessed was the BBC becoming, yet again, an apologist for State terrorism and British tax pounds being used to do what BBC colluded in doing in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, blaming of the victims while taking the word of the aggressors as unadulterated gospel.
Your programme is called Panorama. In the past you have had excellent reports on a whole range of topics, however I personally had a panoramic view of the initial attack on the flotilla and rather think that your programme should have been renamed BBC Myopia or BBC Selective Blindness to accurately represent the standard of your investigative reporting. The commandos started shooting from the get go, from the zodiac assault boats and the helicopters and that is a fact, so why attempt to plant any doubt in the public imagination?
I am interested in the timing of your programme. As was stated correctly at the beginning, there are several investigations still underway. I will be in London later this week to testify before the UN’s OHCHR fact finding team. I am also awaiting a response from Senator John Kerry to my request for a US Senate Committee for Foreign Affairs hearing that would establish the facts about the murder of 19 year old US citizen Furkan Do?an, as well as the armed attack on our US registered vessel, the Challenger 1. These investigations are long, drawn out affairs and as such; require its media coverage to be like that of a marathon race, diligent commentary of every stage, as opposed to your hop, skip and a jump into an Israeli propaganda sandpit of predefined conclusions.
Like others from the flotilla, I have been asked to keep my testimony out of the media until these legal and fact finding investigations have reached their conclusions. The point being that if we all do this, then all sides can begin to deal with the facts and not the hearsay, propaganda and doctored footage that your programme expounded for half an hour this evening at the expense of the British people and your own credibility. So why did you implicate the BBC in the state terrorism of Medinat Yisrael by broadcasting a clearly biased programme before all the investigations have concluded?
Why did you use audio and video footage that has proven to be doctored? I am referring to the audio purported to be anti-Semitic remarks issued over the radio by members of the flotilla, this never happened. The IDF have admitted that this clip was doctored, as well as the clip you showed of a percussion grenade exploding in one of the Israeli zodiac assault boats this never happened either. However, you broadcast it as if this doctored footage and audio was in anyway credible? You didn’t make much of a deal out of the fact that the IDF did use percussion grenades and injured us with them, including one piano-tuner who had a grenade explode by his ear. One Jewish man was later put in solitary confinement in Be’er Sheva for three days for being a “traitor”. ... ... ...
Lot's more and a response from the BBC, wherein:-
Quote:
... ... ... Jane Corbin is a world renowned journalist with twenty years’ experience reporting for ‘Panorama’ and the on-going conflict in the Middle East. She is respected for her dedicated, impartial and balanced work on both sides of the conflict and approached this subject with the same level of fairness which she is known for.
We appreciate some viewers were unhappy about the nature of the video and audio footage we showed. We can assure you that enormous care was involved in selecting the footage we showed. During the programme we made it clear that a variety of different sources were shown, some from the Israeli Defence Force, some from the IHH and “culturesofresitance.org” and others from individuals who were onboard the Mavi Marmara on the night in question. The majority of the footage used in the programme is openly available on the internet. ... ... ...
and a further response from Fiachra Ó Luain, wherein:-
Quote:
... ... ... Jane Corbin is married to one of the Defense Secretary’s movers and shakers and is obviously pro-Israel. She also claims to have been the first person to know that Osama Bin Laden was behind the attack on Twin Towers. I think that if Homeland Security were doing their job properly, she should have been one of the first to be interviewed in Guantanamo Bay to find out what else she and her Israeli government friends know. She’s obviously more political than an “impartial and balanced journalist” and denying this further harms the BBC’s already critically damaged credibility.
What are her views on the death of David Kelly I wonder? Would she be available for interview for my documentary?
She did not “uncover” new evidence from both sides, she was given access to certain stolen footage (without the consent of the owners0 by the same IDF that was put in charge of kidnapping and murdering people. I believe this is theft of intellectual property. Something I understand the BBC and the IDF will both be sued for very soon. ... ... ...
_________________ "We will lead every revolution against us!" - attrib: Theodor Herzl
"Timely Demise to All Oppressors - at their Convenience!" - 'Interesting Times', Terry Pratchett
The very thought of Ehud Barak advising others to 'act responsibly' should encourage more people to invest in brown paper barf bags.
The 'behind the scenes' activity by Knesset at present puts the very worst Carrol or Swift ever envisaged into the shade entirely. It is beyond Orwellian.
Yet underestimating their powers of persuasion still keeps the majority asleep - take a look at some of the comment sections of MSM, eg: Boston Globe, NY, DC & Philly rags etc to see how incredibly active zio-prop is at present - sickening lack of facts; even more sickening ra ra jingoism and 'poor me ism'.
All the Israeli 'leadership' seems to be doing now is consciously showing themselves up nakedly as psychopaths - and this gives great cause for concern for the fate of the Miriam crew - perhaps the 'Israeli Mistake' (part 13, IMO) after all? Yet they won't stop until they have destroyed or have been destroyed (all part of the 'grand plan' plainly written for all with eyes to see).
hey ho _________________ "We will lead every revolution against us!" - attrib: Theodor Herzl
"Timely Demise to All Oppressors - at their Convenience!" - 'Interesting Times', Terry Pratchett
Analysis of BBC Panorama “Death on the Med” exposes blatant pro-Israel bias
Quote:
By Ted Clement-Evans
28 August 2010
Ted Clement-Evans introduces a detailed and forensic-like analysis of the transcript of the BBC Panorama programme “Death on the Med”, broadcast on 16 August 2010, which reveals chronic bias and lack of impartiality on the part of the BBC.
An extraordinary document has been sent to the BBC – a carefully detailed and forensic-like analysis of the transcript of the Panorama programme “Death on the Med”, broadcast on 16 August 2010.
Below is the transcript of this programme, together with the resulting dissection and complaint of bias and lack of impartiality which is now in the hands of the BBC.
The complaint vindicates all earlier complaints of bias on the part of the BBC. This bias is so consistent and now blatant as to make the BBC guilty of fraud and deception. It has beguiled the British public, its media and establishment into believing that there is not much wrong with the behaviour of the State of Israel that is not justified by the misbehaviour of Hamas.
Evidence of Israeli misbehaviour is so well documented but the fact that it passes largely unnoticed by the British public can only be attributed to the skill of Israeli propagandists, to a large extent aided and abetted by the BBC.
It is now time – at this crucial period in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict – that Israel be made to see that it is in its own best interest for there to be a fair and just solution. Presently, it can flout with impunity 65 UN resolutions, decisions of the International Court of Justice, the condemnation of every humanitarian organization that is involved with Palestine, and it can destroy neighbouring infrastructure, as in Lebanon and in Gaza, at will. ... ... ...
_________________ "We will lead every revolution against us!" - attrib: Theodor Herzl
"Timely Demise to All Oppressors - at their Convenience!" - 'Interesting Times', Terry Pratchett
The India Lifeline to Gaza – Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza is an initiative of diverse social movements, trade unions, students' associations, human rights/civil liberty groups and many others - who share their support and concern on the Palestinian issue.
The aim of this campaign is to build a diverse and inclusive Asian solidarity for the Palestinians and against the blockade that denies the Palestinians their rights. We are committed to, and believe that there must be a strong Asian involvement in the global movement to end the siege of Gaza and for the liberation of Palestine. It is important that India plays a part in initiating and building the Asian process for solidarity with Palestine.
As part of this campaign, we undertake and commit to organising an Asian land caravan to Gaza. This convoy will leave from New Delhi and will travel cross Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. Convoys and delegations will continue to join the Asian caravan in all the countries that it passes through. We will coordinate with existing and new organisations in each of these countries and commit to develop an Asia level campaign to free Palestine. In each of these countries public meetings, press conferences, meetings with mass organisations and political parties will be organised.
You can support the caravan in many ways, as outlined below – by endorsing the Call Letter, organising fundraising, public events and can also volunteer to be a part of the caravan.
Email:asiatogaza.india@gmail.com
Endorsing Organisations:
Aman Bharat
Awami Bharat
Asian Bridge India
Bharat Bachao Andolan
Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (Mazdoor Karyakarta Committee)
Loknaad
Mazdoor Ekta Manch
Forum against Oppression of Women
Free Gaza - India
Insaaniyat (Bombay)
Muslim Intellectual Forum
Phule-Ambedkar Vichar Manch
Republican Panther
Vidyarthi Bharti
Campaign for Peace & Democracy (Manipur)
INHURED International (Nepal)
Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha
Global Gandhi Forum
IIM
India Palestine People’s Solidarity Forum
Intercultural Resources (ICR)
Muslim Political Council of India
National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers (NFFPFW)
New Socialist Initiative (NSI)
New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI)
Palestine Solidarity Movement
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
Saheli Women’s Resource Centre
South Asia Peace Alliance (SAPA)
South Asian Network of Gender Activists and Trainers (SANGAT)
Trade Union Centre of India (TUCI)
Yuva Koshish
Asha Parivar
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM)
Programme against Custodial Torture and Impunity (PACTI)
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Liverpool are sending a driver too and he could do with some support. _________________ The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good people to do nothing.
Edmund Burke
Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance.
Einstein
golden ratio
mass and gravity both exist only as a means to acheive mathematical self-embedding of everything.
presstvlondon | 18 September 2010
Hundreds of volunteers have set off from London in vehicles packed with medical aid in an attempt to break the Israeli siege of Gaza. The Viva Palestina convoy will link up with more activists in Europe and the Middle East over the next few weeks. International agencies say the economic blockade on Gaza has caused a humanitarian crisis in the terrortory. Roshan Muhammed Salih reports from London.
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Syrian aid ship arrives Egypt en route to Gaza
MONDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2010 11:26 WRITTEN BY OMAR_GHRAIEB
Gaza, September 20, (Pal Telegraph) A Syrian ship carrying 650 tons of aid arrived today to the port of El Arish Egypt in preparation for its transit to the Gaza Strip through Rafah border crossings with Egypt.
Capt. Hisham Ganini, deputy director of El-Arish port said:" The Syrian ship docked at eight and a half on the morning of Monday at Egypt’s local time, coming from the Syrian port of Tartous on the Mediterranean, carrying 650 tons of aid provided to Gaza.
Ganini added that the ship will unload its loads into trucks in preparation for their transfer to the Gaza Strip, where the transfer of 610 tons of food and aid will take place through the crossings of Awja and Karem Abu Salem, and the remaining 40 tons will be transferred through the Rafah crossing.
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 12:12 am Post subject:
Israel flotilla raid 'broke law'
(UKPA) – 13 minutes ago
Israeli forces violated international law when they raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla killing nine activists earlier this year, a report by three UN-appointed human rights experts said.
The UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission concluded that Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian territory was unlawful because of the humanitarian crisis there, and described the military raid on the flotilla as brutal and disproportionate.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded by saying the Human Rights Council, which commissioned the report, had a "biased, politicised and extremist approach".
The Islamic militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, praised the report and called for those involved in the raid to be punished.
The 56-page document lists a series of alleged crimes committed by Israeli forces during and after the raid, including wilful killing and torture, and claims there is "clear evidence to support prosecutions".
"A series of violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, were committed by the Israeli forces during the interception of the flotilla and during the detention of passengers in Israel prior to deportation," the experts found.
Examining the circumstances of the raid, the panel concluded that a humanitarian crisis existed in Gaza on the day of the incident in Gaza and "for this reason alone the blockade is unlawful and cannot be sustained in law".
Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza after Hamas militants violently seized control of the coastal territory from the moderate Palestinian Fatah party in 2007. Israel allows humanitarian aid and goods into Gaza via land crossings after inspection for weapons.
"The conduct of the Israeli military and other personnel toward the flotilla passengers was not only disproportionate to the occasion but demonstrated levels of totally unnecessary and incredible violence. It betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality," the report said.
It described the Israeli raid on May 31, in which eight Turkish activists and one Turkish-American aboard the Mavi Marmara were shot and killed, as "clearly unlawful".
Israel commandos 'peacefully' board Jewish Gaza-bound aid boat
IDF says commandos peacefully intercepted the 'Irene', the latest vessel to try to breach an on the Palestinian territory in the wake of Israel's deadly flotilla raid in May.
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: Israel news
Israeli naval commandos have peacefully boarded a Jewish aid boat attempting to break a naval blockade on Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said at 11:30 A.M. Tuesday.
"IDF naval forces recently boarded the yacht 'Irene', and it is currently being led to the Ashdod seaport along with its passengers," the military said in statement that branded the boat a "provocation yacht".
IDF chief spokesman Avi Benayahu deplored the fact that "naval forces and fighters are being diverted from our main mission" to "a surreal assignment" of intercepting a boatload of activists.
"Its entire intention was to generate media attention and (stage) a provocation. This matter is especially regrettable as we are talking about a group of Jews and of Israeli citizens, and even someone who has worn an IDF officer's uniform."
Before boarding, the navy transmitted two warnings to the boat, which refused to turn back and sailed further into the blockade area, the IDF said.
Shortly before, an Israeli warship had hailed the catamaran carrying Jewish activists toward the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to the group's website.
An Israeli destroyer was cutting off the boat's path and another small boat was also approaching, the 'Jewish Boat to Gaza' website posted minutes before reports of the interception.
At around 11:00 A.M., a navy boat shadowing the 'Irene' made radio contact with the activists, asking: "Where are you going? Where did you come from? What nationalities are on board?" according to the website
The crew replied:
"They came from Farmagusta, the nationalities on board are British, American, German and Israelis, we are going!" the website said.
The Irene is the latest vessel to try to breach the 3-year-old embargo on the Palestinian territory in the wake of the deadly Israeli raid on a Turkish-led flotilla in May, which drew international condemnation.
Earlier, Capt. Glynn Secker said he expected the navy to intercept the Irene, which is carrying nine Jewish activists from Israel and other countries.
"We will not obey them, we will not help them," Secker said. "But we will not confront them physically. We will engage in no violence."
Israel had asked the vessel, which Secker said was carrying medicines, therapeutic toys, water purifiers and outboard engines, to dock in an Israeli port. Cargo that receives security clearance would be transported to Gaza.
In the end, Secker predicted, the catamaran would be towed to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, as has happened with other blockade-busting ships.
The Israeli foreign ministry has labeled the voyage a politically motivated provocation.
Nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed in May when Israeli commandos raided the lead ship in the Turkish-led flotilla. Both sides claimed they acted in self-defense.
The international condemnation triggered by the deaths forced Israel to relax its land blockade of Gaza but the naval blockade remains in force. Israel, with Egypt's cooperation, imposed the blockade after Hamas militants seized control of Gaza in June 2007.
The measure was intended to keep out weapons, turn Gazans against their militant Hamas rulers and pressure the group to free a captive Israeli soldier. Those aims were not achieved but the embargo deepened the misery of Gaza's 1.5 million people.
Activists behind the convoy involved in May's deadly raid have said they will send a new flotilla of at least eight ships to try to break the blockade by the end of this year. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an umbrella group of pro-Palestinian activist behind the efforts, said no date has been set.
http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.316129.1285662135!/image/28025300 41.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_295/2802530041.jpg
A boat with 9 Jewish activists aboard sets sail from Famagusta harbor in the Turkish-occupied north of ethnically divided Cyprus in a bid to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza, Sept. 26, 2010
Photo by: AP _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
The boat set sail from northern Cyprus on Sunday, carrying medical equipment, textbooks, fishing nets and children's toys.
The voyage was organised by the London-based Jews for Justice for Palestinians.
On board were 82-year-old Holocaust survivor Reuven Moskovitz and Rami Elhanan, an Israeli whose daughter Smadar was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber in Jerusalem in 1997.
Others included a German nurse, British and US peace activists, and an Israeli reporter.
Prominent British supporters listed on the group's website include actor Stephen Fry and Marion Kozak, the mother of the newly elected Labour Party leader Ed Miliband and former Foreign Secretary David Miliband. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
6 October 2010: The 100 page report entitled Timeline & Inconsistencies Report Relating to the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla Attack May 31, 2010 examines the events, inconsistencies and actions that occurred leading up to and through the early morning attack on the international aid flotilla in international waters by the Israel Defense Forces. The primary key to the report is the 44 page, second-by-second timeline of events juxtaposing the conflicting narratives side-by-side with supporting documentation, citations and evidence. A novel approach to academic reporting, this format empowers both parties to the conflict, the Flotilla participants and the State of Israel to present their case in their own words with their own evidence.
Quote:
... ... ...What is evidenced to date is that the Freedom Flotilla participants:
Have not manufactured, altered or falsified evidence to support their story;
Did not cut Israeli satellite communications to prevent Israel’s official version of events from being made public;
Did not have military grade weapons onboard their vessels;
Did not institute a public relations campaign to libel and/or slander the Israeli government or its agents.
They did protest Israeli policies towards the Gaza Strip and their implementation, backed with evidence in the public domain;
Did not pursue the Israeli government or its navy in international waters;
Did not engage in activities designed to harass and terrorize the civilian population of Israel or its occupied territories;
Did not deny medical aid and care to wounded Israeli soldiers, even while under attack;
Did not hold Israeli soldiers against their will once hostilities ended.
Was violence used? Yes, once the IDF had boarded the Mavi Marmara and commenced shooting at the
passengers. At that point, some of the passengers did use sticks, knives, chains and other weapons of
opportunity to attack the soldiers as they boarded, despite these actions being against their oath of non-violence to the Flotilla’s organizers. This was admitted to, and is contained in their testimony.
There is no evidence the Flotilla’s passengers used any guns. The evidence available shows that when the activists came in to possession of guns taken from the IDF soldiers, they emptied each weapon of its bullets and discarded each firearm rather than use it against the Israelis.
Quote:
Was violence used? Yes, once the IDF had boarded the Mavi Marmara and commenced shooting at the passengers. At that point, some of the passengers did use sticks, knives, chains and other weapons of opportunity to attack the soldiers as they boarded, despite these actions being against their oath of non-violence to the Flotilla’s organizers. This was admitted to, and is contained in their testimony. There is no evidence the Flotilla’s passengers used any guns. The evidence available shows that when the activists came in to possession of guns taken from the IDF soldiers, they emptied each weapon of its bullets and
discarded each firearm rather than use it against the Israelis.
Problems and contradictions arise with the evidence Israel has put forth. There are multiple instances of Israeli officials creating false evidence to implement and bolster the government’s version of events. The Israel government also went to great lengths to prevent survivors from discussing the attack or proving their version of the event with evidence they collected or bore witness to themselves. With the exception of a small portion of video used in this report, the Israeli authorities confiscated all physical evidence. ... ... ...
Analysis of Inconsistencies: Flotilla Attack Report
the exception of some personal items such as clothing and empty suitcases, the majority of these items, particularly electronics and photography equipment, have yet to be returned to the passengers.
All traceable efforts to obscure the details of the attack have originated from within Israel and its
champions. These include:
Disabling the ships’ satellite communications systems;
Sending false messages between the ships in the Freedom Flotilla via inter-ship communications;
Attacking the convoy ships in international waters when not on a heading to Israel;
Attacking ships at night rather than during the day (so as to more easily protect and keep safe the passengers);
Not using a standard communication protocol from either the IDF boats or helicopters in order to warn the passengers that they were preparing to board21. This is standard operating procedure on the high seas when a military vessel encounters a civilian vessel with intent to board;
Barring access to individual Embassy and Consular staff, the media, and lawyers for several days after the activists had been taken into Israeli custody;
Forcing the passengers of the Flotilla to enter Israel, confiscating their passports and subsequently charging them with the crime of illegal entry into Israel;
Withholding medical treatment from passengers for several hours, resulting in the probable and unnecessary deaths of three of the activists.
The Israeli authorities went to extraordinary lengths to conceal the actual events of the attack in order to manipulate public opinion, at the diplomatic and media level worldwide. These actions included:
Creating multiple false audio transmissions22 to position the Flotilla participants as terrorists and terrorist-sympathizers; [First noted 22:30 on the Timeline; additional instances included]
Creating multiple false video evidences to bolster the Israeli versions of events to pre-empt and sway public opinion; [Noted on the Timeline, beginning at 4:29:20]
Planting false information in press releases and statements accusing Flotilla members of affiliates of Al-Qa’eda and/or other designated terrorist organizations. [Noted on the Timeline, on June 3rd]
21
The world-wide standard for hailing ships is via bridge-to-bridge radio communications using Channel 16. “Annotated Supplement to the Commander's Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations, Oceans Law and Policy”, United States Navy, Procedure for Visit and Search, November 15, 1997 pp. 385-386
22
Israel Admits It Doctored Flotilla Audio Tapes, Press TV, June 7, 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFMfaI_A8lk
.
Analysis of Inconsistencies: Flotilla Attack Report
False statements to the press. These include statements such as, ‘there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza’, or stating that the Flotilla could not dock in Gaza because Gaza has no port. This also includes Israeli officials creating the false narrative that aid to Gaza had increased when their own records show that aid had decreased in the nine months before the Flotilla attack.
False statements as to the purpose of Israeli actions... ... ...
_________________ "We will lead every revolution against us!" - attrib: Theodor Herzl
"Timely Demise to All Oppressors - at their Convenience!" - 'Interesting Times', Terry Pratchett
The unbroken thread of Conservative Party support for Israel that has run for nearly a century from the Balfour Declaration to the present day will continue. Although it will no doubt often be tested in the years ahead, it will remain constant, unbroken and undiminished by the passage of time.
No prize for guessing which leading politician uttered these words.
It was your goodself, Mr Foreign Secretary, back in 2008.
and
Quote:
... ... ...So there you have it, Mr Foreign Secretary. The military wing of the lawless entity you so admire behaves towards its own brethren in much the same brutal manner as it has done for the last 62 years towards their Arab neighbours, and more recently towards innocent internationals peacefully going about their humanitarian business on the high seas.
It must be a disappointment, Mr Foreign Secretary, that your enthusiasm for Israel and its Zionist project is no longer shared by a British public that’s now better informed and not so easily duped.
We are repeatedly told by ministers that Israel is an important ally, but nobody buys that any more. We are judged globally by the friends we keep, and the “unbroken thread of support for Israel” misguidedly perpetuated by our political leaders only brings us grief and a stained reputation, and this is cause for real anger. ... ... ...
Perhaps posters here could also send copies to the FO and Billy Vague's constituents - assuming you have time for such a futile gesture? _________________ "We will lead every revolution against us!" - attrib: Theodor Herzl
"Timely Demise to All Oppressors - at their Convenience!" - 'Interesting Times', Terry Pratchett
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