US flotilla to Gaza!

This is the link for my thoughts below:
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/6/27/we_are_eager_to_get_to

Here's the flotilla site:
http://ustogaza.org/

A US State Department rep is saying that aid not necessary. (?) Aid should go through "proper" channels. (?) I guess to say aid is necessary is to admit Israel is doing something wrong and the US is giving them money to oppress people. We can't have that... well, wait...we can't admit that, now can we?

Israel? The Occupying Power? The proper channel is to go through the oppressor and trust them to provide anywhere near adequately for the people it is subjugating? Do you think they are qualified to be fair when they've calculated the number of calories it takes for people to survive (not thrive and be healthy?)? What about that previous track record, complete with humanitarian crisis??

See: http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/07/02/the-no-humanitarian-crisis-in-gaza-canard/

This feels awkward, posting my own link, but history tends to repeat itself more frequently in this conflict than in the larger world. Here's the pasta post with the rather ridiculous exchange of someone asking the State Department why pasta isn't allowed. It kind of highlights a broader point, though, I think:

http://notanotherpoliticalblog-j.blogspot.com/2010/06/prohibited-items-in-gaza-what-is.html

Also see humanitarian situation on the sidebar...

Israel has always gotten around crimes of oppression and occupation by saying they have left Gaza. They aren't occupying it. They have unilaterally withdrawn (also known to officials as "political formaldehyde" meant to stall negotiations). Who is buying that, anyway? What's the big deal, then? Let Gaza accept the aid on its shores since Gaza is "free" and Israeli waters aren't involved! Or can we get them to admit they are really still occupying all of Palestine? You can't have it both ways. Unless you are Israel.

Clinton's puzzling take:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters Friday that she didn't think the plan "is useful or productive or helpful to the people of Gaza."

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-06-24/us/us.gaza.flotilla_1_mavi-marmara-ihh-gaza-strip?_s=PM:US





Greek government obviously isn't up for this challenge due to concerns at home and folds:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/07/01-3


Physical sabotage and psychological, too:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13977371


Israel refuses to deny sabotage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwYO0XEUpWY



Israel threatening journalists:

He said journalists who participated in the flotilla would be breaking Israeli law and would be banned from Israel for 10 years, as well as facing confiscation of equipment and other measures.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/26/israel-accused-gaza-flotilla-journalists

Israel backing away from threat:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/27/us-palestinians-israel-flotilla-idUSTRE75Q1MF20110627

Israel getting away with murder- literally- Gaza freedom flotilla

So the answer to this question I posed in my last post is a yes:

"Will this be yet another non-violent tactic met with Israeli gunfire?"

I really didn't expect it to come to that; just detentions. Just detentions. Can't believe I just thought that.

"Israel cannot clean the blood off its hands through any excuse," said
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "It is no longer possible to cover up or ignore Israel's
lawlessness. This bloody massacre by Israel on ships that were taking
humanitarian aid to Gaza deserves every kind of curse."

I wholeheartedly agree with Erdogan! It is awesome that someone is doing something- Turkey took its ambassador out of Israel.

I'm sure this will be a good account. There were supposed to be some good guests on. I hope to listen to it soon myself:

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/1/global_condemnation_of_israeli_armed_attack

Obama’s response to the massacre of 20 people on board whose goal was to deliver supplies to help rebuild Gaza’s infrastructure and help them get clean water on Memorial Day was the same old feeble one- “we regret the loss of life.” Nearly the same line as Israel, minus the outright blame placed solely on the aid workers. When Palestinians used to suicide bomb, they were killers, murderers, homicide bombers, etc. We had no qualms about conferring these monikers meant for the perps on the entire population. When Israel kills people, we cleanse it and remove the blame- “stuff happens” or “what can you do” or “both sides need to adopt peaceful means”, etc.

Not that the weak response was surprising. Look what we "did" with the Goldstone report on war crimes in the Gaza offensive, when Noam Chomsky was denied entry to Israel because they don't like what he writes, and then when at the UN Monday, we abstained from calling for an immediate end to the blockade, unlike the rest of the Security Council, who did its job. What did we "do"? Nothing. Which means Israel keeps committing crimes with our money, which violates our US laws, by the way. Why should that matter to us, though. We don't care when they kill our citizens, so why on earth would we care about them breaking the law?

A couple of things struck me as ironic when I heard the news due to what day it was and what I was reading at the time.

I was finishing Roxana Saberi’s book about her imprisonment in Iran on Monday when I heard about it. Israel’s demands, assertions and denials resemble Iran’s quite a bit. You can't believe a word either of them say. Why not release the names of the dead? Why not release the names of the jailed? Why not let the jailed contact family, lawyers, embassies, etc? Why are they keeping the possessions of those released - money, film, tape, cameras, equipment, etc?

We all know about Iran, but think about how Israel called their nuclear reactor a textile factory and still won't acknowledge it, even though we all know the truth, how they never confirm that their Mossad was responsible when everyone knows they were. There are too many lies associated with the conflict to properly address here.

I heard about this on Memorial Day. I read so many well wishes to troops and thank yous to the military past and present on Facebook, teh news and various places. I don't hate America, teh flag, the troops or anything else, but certain things struck me as ironic in thinking about US policy on/with Israel and the Middle East on this day.

In the USS Liberty disaster, we chose to believe Israel over our own soldiers, we chose to support Israel and bury those soldiers’ accounts and statements rather than show them the same honor many enjoyed on Memorial Day. Why? And Rachel Corrie. She wasn’t military, but she was a US citizen who fought (and was murdered) for others’ right to have what we enjoy- she made the same sacrifice as many a US soldier. Given a record like this (protecting Israel over the lives and interests of our own citizens and international law), what hope, honestly, is there for justice and fairness in the Middle East as far as the US is concerned?

It’s apparently great to thank and respect soldiers- except when their story contradicts that of Israel’s. In that case, you need to shut your mouth and be ashamed of your service and contribution to this country. If you do choose ot talk about it, you need to fall in line and lie. There aren’t always two sides to every story. In the case of Israel and the US, there is only one side. Israel’s.

Well, Israel hasn't admitted to much of anything, but they do admit that they attacked a civilian ship with attack helicopters, speedboats and commandos.

Hopefully I will organize these later...
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/1/global_condemnation_of_israeli_armed_attack
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/10195838.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2010/may/31/israel-troops-gaza-ships
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/10196585.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/05/31/gaza.protest/index.html
http://www.freegaza.org/
http://www.juancole.com/2010/05/mercy-flotilla-for-gaza-about-to-set-off-israelis-threaten-to-block-it-with-war-ships.html

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=176998

Israel calls Gaza blockade-busting flotilla a provocation

Israel calls Gaza blockade-busting flotilla a provocation
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100526/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictaidflotilla

Israel claimed on Wednesday that a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to bust the Gaza blockade is a provocation and that the aid it is carrying is "unnecessary".


"I don't see the need for any ship with these materials. We allow these materials into Gaza,"

"The sail is a provocative act that is unnecessary in light of the figures, which indicate that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is good and stable,"

Nonsense! Aid is unnecessary? A provocation? Garbage!


Gaza's markets of unaffordable goods conceal reality of people under siege
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/04/gaza-flotilla-humanitarian-crisis


They are detaining the civilians and will send the supplies (or some) through border crossings. Gazans are in need because of these very border crossings that have in the past banned toilet paper, toothpaste, and pasta, among other ordinary things. Many humanitarian organizations agree that Israel lets items in, but also agree that not nearly enough is let in for the need that exists.

Court documents reveal that Israel made estimates of calories Gazans need. They are getting far below what they need to thrive due to Israel’s blockade. They say the calorie count wasn’t used in policy making, but that looks mighty suspicious, don’t you think? When one party is constantly living in "fear" of a "demographic threat," that would be an awfully convenient way to ethnically cleanse a population, wouldn’t it? (that sentence makes me want to go nuts with air quotes, btw) Did this also not happen to many a Jew in Hitler’s time?? Why can’t we see this for what it is now?

"While they have wrapped themselves in a humanitarian cloak, they are engaging in political propaganda and not in pro-Palestinian aid," said foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.

This is humanitarian aid for an area that has many times over been declared to be in a desperate humanitarian situation. Propaganda?! Unbelievable!

They have also called this humanitarian aid a provocation. Do they mean one that will get a military response? Will this be yet another non-violent tactic met with Israeli gunfire?


No humanitarian situation? Not like it hasn’t been in the news…

Amnesty International
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/middle-east/gaza-blockade-amnesty-international-delivers-23000-signatures-to-clinton/

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/05/27/2739353/amnesty-international-report-israel-mistreats-palestinians

Oxfam
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam_in_action/emergencies/gaza_crisis.html

2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7191359.stm
2009
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6573496&page=1
2010
http://reneefrompalestine.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/update-on-the-gaza-humanitarian-situation/

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11272.shtml

Beginnings of comon sense in Washington?

http://jta.org/news/article/2009/02/12/1002975/ackerman-slams-settlemen

Ackerman slams settlements, Israeli attitudes

Settler "pogroms," settlement building and Israeli intransigence are joined with Palestinian terrorism in a "downward spiral," a top U.S. Jewish congressman said.

In the Bush era, this would be tantamount to treason. Shall we dare to dream that common sense is seeping into Washington. I have noticed in the past 5 or so years more recognition in the public that Palestinians may have rights and Israel may not always be right. Ten years ago, such assertions would get blank stares or a barrage of accusations of anti-Semitism. Who knows maybe the next generation of Congressmen will be as able to speak publicly of (supporting) Palestinian rights and suffering as freely as we speak of Jewish Israeli rights and suffering. Dare to dream. Well, I guess technically now they can speak freely- they just won't have the slightest hope for re-election. It is true that any resolution that's not heavily pro-Israel definitely will not pass in the current House or Senate.

Anyway, it's nice to see someone who's considered more mainstream than say Kucinich or McKinney speaking up. And from New York no less. I must say I'm surprised.

In addition to Ackerman, Obama has used certain encouraging key words as "humanitarian situation" and "blockade" and Clinton used the words "Palestinian suffering". These words or other allusions to the Palestinian perspective or humanity were off limits in the Bush administration. Kinda ridiculous to consider oneself a mediator (an effective one) if you have put blinders on such that you can only see one side's rights, suffering, struggle, legitimacy, humanity.

Obama is daring to use words that were off limits to Bush administration officials, though I doubt any real differences in policy will occur. Maybe he would have risked a real look at both sides if there was no financial crisis. Or maybe not.

Which is the most outrageous?

Some of the stuff coming out of Israel is just as stupidly wrong as these two items from last week that I didn’t get to post:

1. man suing for kidney
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/08/kidney-divorce-man-wants-_n_156301.html

2. Porn bailout
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/07/porn-industry-seeks-federal-bailout/

3. There is no humanitarian situation in Gaza says Livni.

3. IDF fire on UNRWA school was retaliation for militants firing from inside.

Cease fire for aid for a crisis that doesn't exist???

If Israel can lie about facts that are so obvious, why does anyone believe anything they say (i.e. they are working for peace)?

The crisis doesn’t exist and supplies are getting in (it’s just that no one sees them?) and yet Israel has conceded 3 hours of their genocidal vengeance to allow humanitarian aid for the nonexistent humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Makes sense. At least as much as anything else they do.

“In Geneva, the international Red Cross said Gaza was in a "full-blown" humanitarian crisis.”

“Israeli leaders say there is no humanitarian crisis and that they have allowed the delivery of vital supplies.”

Two quotes are from : http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090106/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians


Not exactly the first time Israeli official statements have stood in such obvious contrast to the facts… What I wonder is do they actually believe that garbage or do they know they have to convince people that night is day?

No humanitarian crisis?? They caused the initial humanitarian crisis by their continued occupation, blockades, attacks and most recent escalation. Blockading and bombing a captive population already in crisis makes it worse, it doesn’t make food, fuel and medical supplies miraculously appear! And three hours to get necessary supplies in today?? That’s a cruel joke. I’m glad Israel finally decided to let aid in, however brief, to the crisis that doesn’t exist.


What better way to control the discourse? A media blackout. The freedom (?) of Israeli press is an interesting subject anyway, but this is blatant and extreme. I guess there really is no other way to justify Israeli aggression than to silence the other side.
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=431362

These links added 1/9/08:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/middleeast/07media.html?ref=business
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052604.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamal-dajani/gaza-cnn-missing-in-actio_b_156223.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/06/gaza-israel-international-media-excluded

Israeli Voices for Peace
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090106_israeli_voices_for_peace/?ln