Bullshit alert: Haaretz
Issandr El AmraniHaaretz, the sometimes leftish Israeli newspaper, ran a story with quotes from the Israeli soldiers who were involved in this morning's raid. Here's the beginning:
The left-wing activists on board a flotilla carrying aid to the Gaza Strip tried to lynch the Israel Navy commandos who stormed their Turkish-flagged ship early Monday, Israel Defense Forces sources told Haaretz.
The commandos, who intercepted the Turkish ferry Mavi Marmara after it ignored orders to turn back, said they encountered violent resistance from activists armed with sticks and knives. According to the soldiers, the activists threw one of their comrades from the upper deck to the lower after they boarded.
Activists attacked a commando with iron bars as he descended onto the ship from a helicopter, the army said. The IDF said its rules of engagement allowed troops to open fire in what it called a "life-threatening situation".
The soldiers said they were forced to open fire after the activists struck one of their comrades in the head and trampled on him. A senior field commander ordered the soldiers then to respond with fire, a decision which the commandos said received full backing the military echelon.
To be verified, and I don't have a problem with that. They ran a the following picture and caption with the story, though:
I don't know about you, but that guy doesn't particularly look like a leftist activist and the reporters and photographers standing behind him (who are supposed to be on separate ship) seem pretty relaxed for a bunch of people who've just seen 10 to 20 people killed. Not to mention, what's he doing with that knife if the IDF is already in control of the ship? And why is there no attribution to the picture, unlike the others featured in the article?
Update: I've added the link to the Haaretz story above, and for another ludicrous version of events being fed to the Israeli media, see this story titled "A brutal ambush at sea" — yes, they mean the activists!!!
Reader Comments (16)
Headline on the article: "Israeli commandos: Gaza flotilla crew tried to lynch us"
"The left-wing activists on board a flotilla carrying aid to the Gaza Strip tried to lynch the Israel Navy commandos who stormed their Turkish-flagged ship early Monday, Israel Defense Forces sources told Haaretz."
"Lynch?" Really? Those nasty human-rights activists were ready with burning crosses and nooses to attack those poor, helpless, highly armed, highly trained special-forces commandos? I'm sorry, the use of this word is offensive. You can't complain about Nazi or Apartheid analogies and then toss around the word "lynch" when referring to the actions of civilians against elite Navy commandos.
Dear Tim,
It's true medias overuse sensitive terms of all types but the reference was to what happened to the Israeli reservists in Ramallah in 2000 during the intifada. Second, regarding the shock of violence associated with peace activism. Even if you do not believe some of the peace activists had knives and possibly guns, why/how were ten heavily armed and extremely well-trained special ops wounded?
How many countries would send their military forces into a situation like that without being armed at the risk not only of public embarrassment but also physical harm?
i agree that the photo needs attribution and explanation
For crying out loud...this photo was clearly taken in broad day light. Couldn't they fabricate another one that could match the time frame of the attack? Pathetic! really.
I understand the convoy was attacked outside Israeli territory, which seems to constitute for piracy.
What I still haven't found out is why Israel actually raided the convoy. I take it that they wanted to search the ship for weapons, which I find legitimate considering that they are maintaining a blockade. (Whether this blockade itself is legitimate or not is a different matter.) So did the convoy refuse to be searched? If yes, why did they do that if they are only carrying humanitarian goods?
I admit that refusing a search is no reason to be raided like that. I'm just wondering, why the Israelis did this in the first place. There are other methods to force ships to halt or turn back or move towards harbors for a search.
God, Juppiter, told me that since Israel is where the Palestinae Provincia was, at the time of Roman Empire, we italians have the right to take the land and rule it at our pleasure, not caring at all of the immigrants arrived there later. Then, thanks of the glorious Pax Romana, the middle east will be pacified once for all.
Ok, I should be taken into a mental hospital, isn't it? So...
the events get a little more complicated. the picture may have been fabricated but there seems to be some truth to the Israeli account of the raid on the boat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU12KW-XyZE&feature=player_embedded
They say that the ship they attacked wouldn't turn back - which they had no right to order it to do anyway - but in fact, the ships were attacked FAR from Gaza! So it's a lie right from the start. What videos show is the kind of chaos one would expect in a nighttime assault by possibly unknown forces with definitely unknown intentions. The whole situation reminds me of a little girl in Detroit, USA, who was killed a few weeks ago by police during a military-style assault, without warning, staged on a house with a family living in it. The cops tried to blame this on the family they assaulted. It's ALWAYS the victim's fault, same in Afghanistan, same in Detroit, same in Gaza...
check out the peace commando on the marmara in action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYjkLUcbJWo
and here is another one...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaiMjAULWn0&
but the truth was never really important is it?
It's only the side that shouts the best
Lior, you mean the videos that show people defending themselves from an attack on the high sea? And I love the idea that this footage was somewhat "censored" - more spin!
It's actually too bad the attack didn't take place w/in the 68-km exclusion zone off Gaza. Had it been within that zone, Israel might have had to defend that policy, and what right it had to impose it, particularly now that it no longer formally occupies Gaza. I wonder if the decision to launch the raid in int'l waters was to avoid such a discussion?
@ pina: You ask: "How many countries would send their military forces into a situation like that without being armed at the risk not only of public embarrassment but also physical harm?"
You're asking the wrong question. You should be asking "How many countries would send their military forces into a situation like that?"
Dear Tim,
I guarantee most countries would and they do, especially if there it's related to their national security threat. In this case, it is the risk of arms being passed to Hamas, which has been done before. There is nothing surprising or magical and if or had there been any arms, I would not have expected the passengers to have known about them. But getting back to the point above, it doesn't matter how peace-loving you are; a leader of state wouldn't take the risk of weapons transfers or having your forces hurt by not arming them. And do you think coast guards that patrol sensitive areas are not armed and have not been trained to board these ships? the use of these forces and the potential for violence between the 'peace protesters' and Israelis were confirmed by the fact that they did possess light weapons.
Debating the illegality is one matter; questioning the logic of having forces armed with weapons is beyond silly.
Actually, from clothes and such, that guy looks vaguely Yemeni, and that knife looks an awful lot like a Yemeni jambia, the ceremonial dagger worn by men in South Arabian tribal culture for no more warlike purposes than looking snazzy. (Traditionally made, btw, by Yemeni Jews.)
If so, I'm also willing to bet he's not "left wing".
The man is Yemeni lawmaker Mohammad al-Hazmi. After his return to Sanaa, he told reporters the picture was taken long before Israeli pirates seized the ship. His fellow MP, Hazza al-Maswari said that al-Hazmi was showing off his ceremonial dagger ("Jambiya") to curious foreigners and journalists when the picture was taken. Check this link http://bit.ly/9SL8SE [Arabic]