{"id":6160,"date":"2010-06-07T21:37:54","date_gmt":"2010-06-07T20:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaza.haimbresheeth.com\/?p=6160"},"modified":"2010-06-10T23:03:00","modified_gmt":"2010-06-10T22:03:00","slug":"june-7-2010-page-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/2010\/06\/07\/june-7-2010-page-2\/","title":{"rendered":"June 7, 2010, Page 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR: Fascist leader to visit London<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Lieberman, that great supporter of freedom (for Jews) and ethnic cleansing (for Palestinians) is about to honour London with a visit. He plans to raise funds for the JNF. My own view is that the JNF is deluded if they think this nightclub bouncer will raise funds for them, but JNF knows best, of course. It seems that JNF is trying to raise funds for ethnic cleansing – I cannot think of another reason for choosing Lieberman.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Liberman has been providing excellent material for the new section of this website: Mad Israelis,<\/span><\/strong> and will no doubt continue to provide much material in the future, at least until the ICC catches up with him.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

We should all welcome him to the capital, of course.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israeli politician who advocates \u2018transfer\u2019 of Arabs due in London:<\/a> Jewish Chronicle<\/h3>\n

By Shelly Paz, May 30, 2008
\nOne of Israel\u2019s most controversial politicians, former deputy prime minister Avigdor Lieberman, has been invited to London next month by Keren Kayemet L\u2019Yisrael and the Israel Business Club, in an attempt to spark\u00a0 debate that will assist fundraising.
\n\u201cMany of the members of the Israeli and the Jewish community in London, who are likely to donate money, do actually agree with Lieberman\u2019s opinions,\u201d said Dubi Bergman, KKL\u2019s representative in London.<\/p>\n

Avigdor Lieberman: visit planned to spark political debate
\nThe comments of the Russian-born Knesset member, now head of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, such as his idea to transfer to the Palestinian territories Israeli Arabs who do not feel a connection with Israel, to give them a \u201cloyalty test\u201d, and a remark about Arab MKs being \u201ccollaborators\u201d, have turned him into a controversial figure.
\nBut Mr Bergman said: \u201cThe goal of this visit is to bring influential Israeli and British people together and to let Mr Lieberman tell them about Israel\u2019s political and security condition today and the solutions as he sees them.
\n\u201cWe hope his visit will bring a fruitful debate. It\u2019s easy to bring someone that everyone agrees with. Personally, I would like to bring [Arab MK] Ahmed Tibi here some day.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t agree with his opinions, but I enjoy listening to him.\u201d
\nMr Lieberman is due in London for a three-day visit between June 19 and 22. Malka Leon, director of the IBC in London, said: \u201cWe try to bring a variety of Israeli figures to speak. This way we can hear the extreme right- and left-wing politicians, academics, artists and opinion-makers.
\n\u201cIn the past, we hosted in London [Defence Minister] Ehud Barak, Prof Uzi Arad from the Interdisciplinary Centre in Herzliya, [former Education Minister, MK] Limor Livnat, and more than a decade ago we had a representative of the PLO in London.\u201d
\nMr Lieberman openly declares that yielding territories for peace has failed.
\nHe resigned from Ariel Sharon\u2019s government before the Gaza disengagement in 2005, and opposes the suggestion that Israel might give the Golan Heights to the Syrians in exchange for peace. Instead, he strongly backs the idea of exchanging settled territories in an attempt to reach regional peace.
\nA few months after the second Lebanon war, Mr Lieberman and his party joined Ehud Olmert\u2019s government, explaining at the time that the IDF and the Israeli government needed to be strengthened by political unity.
\nBut this January, he pulled Yisrael Beiteinu, the fourth-largest party in the Knesset, from the government. This time he objected to preliminary negotiations with the Palestinians on the core issues of Jerusalem, the \u201cright of return\u201d and the permanent borders of Israel and a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n

EDITOR<\/strong>: Israel will investigate itself…<\/span><\/p>\n

No, this is not the satirical page, unfortunately. <\/span><\/p>\n

IDF appoints team to conduct internal probe of Gaza flotilla raid<\/a>: Haaretz<\/h3>\n

General (res.) Giora Eiland charged with heading investigation into lessons and failures of raid; Netanyahu to announce separate state panel of inquiry.<\/p>\n

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday that it would conduct an internal military investigation into the Israel Navy’s deadly raid of a humanitarian aid convoy bound for the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has appointed General [res.] Giora Eiland to head the investigative team. The team has been charged with studying the failures and lessons of the commando raid on a Turkish-flagged ship last week that left nine activists dead and several people wounded.<\/p>\n

Eiland and his team will consider internal navy testimonies already gathered in the week since the raid and will open a series of fresh investigations as well. They are due to report their findings to the General Staff by July 4.<\/p>\n

Ashkenazi decided to appoint an investigative team due to the “great importance with which the IDF views a comprehensive clarification of the facts related to its operational activities,” the army said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Hours before the IDF’s announcement, Haaretz learned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had decided to appoint a state panel of inquiry to investigate the Israel Navy raid.<\/p>\n

A senior source in Jerusalem said the panel would comprise top justices experienced in matters of international and marine law. Two international justices \u2013 at least one of them American – would be invited to participate as observers, said the source.<\/p>\n

In addition to investigating the circumstances surrounding the Israel Navy’s seizure of the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, the committee will also be charged with looking into the legality of Israel’s closure of the Gaza Strip and its naval blockade.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu’s forum of top seven ministers decided to create the internal investigative panel on Monday, after days of deliberation. An official announcement on the matter was awaiting approval from the attorney general – to ensure that there were no conflicts of interest among the potential members of the committee – as well as a green light from President Barack Obama’s administration.<\/p>\n

The forum of seven ruled in its decision that the panel would not be allowed to interrogate soldiers or officers who took part in the commando raid, which left nine Turkish activists dead and several people wounded. It was not yet clear whether senior Israel Defense Forces officials \u2013 including IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and Israel Navy Commader Eliezer “Chiney” Marom – would be investigated by the panel.<\/p>\n

The ministers’ decision comes on the heels of a United Nations proposal to establish an international committee comprising representatives of Israel, the U.S. and Turkey to investigate the incident.<\/p>\n

Despite growing international pressure, Netanyahu had balked at the proposal, claiming Israel has the right to investigate itself.<\/p>\n

Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Knesset on Monday, in response to a no-confidence motion submitted by the opposition with regard to the raid, that Israel would examine ways to minimize friction in enforcing its blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza.<\/p>\n

“We intend to achieve an investigation of the events,” Barak said, without giving details about the format of the probe.<\/p>\n

He did say that the state panel would serve in addition to the separate military investigation, and that it would seek to establish whether Israel’s four-year blockade of Gaza and its raid “met with the standards of international law”.<\/p>\n

“We will draw lessons at the political level [and] in the security establishment,” Barak said. “Since the event we have heard and read mountains of talk and questions and without a doubt in the coming months we shall discuss lessons … perhaps additional ways to achieve the same goals of the blockade, by reducing as far as possible the potential for friction.”<\/p>\n

Instead of another ignored report<\/a>: Haaretz<\/h3>\n

It would be best to make the flotilla saga a turning point in Israel’s policy governing the Gaza blockade and the continued occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.<\/strong>
\nBy Akiva Eldar
\nIn the same week the diplomatic tsunami caused by the fatal raid of the Mavi Marmara left those trying to steer Israel’s ship of state high and dry, two leaders of other countries, one in the Far East and one in the West, both resigned their posts.<\/p>\n

In Germany, Horst Koehler stepped down as president, penalizing himself for saying that German military deployments abroad serve the country’s economic interests. And Yukio Hatoyama resigned as prime minister of Japan after breaking a promise to move an American military base off the island of Okinawa.<\/p>\n

In Israel, meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are evading responsibility for the disastrous thinking that led to the flotilla raid, and using their purported faith in the commandos who carried it out as a way of keeping that disastrous thinking under wraps.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu and Barak are right: There is no need for an inquiry. It’s clear that their risk-reward assessment was faulty, since Netanyahu was getting ready to head to the White House as the commandos were firing on the passengers of the aid ship.<\/p>\n

No political or military official who was involved in the decision to mount a forcible takeover of the ships says that any option was considered other than the vessels either being captured or reaching the Gaza port.<\/p>\n

Two dozen cabinet members – who are collectively responsible for the crisis – say they first heard about the incident on the radio.<\/p>\n

Not only is it unnecessary to appoint an inquiry committee to examine the problematic takeover of the Mavi Marmara, but doing so is likely to detract attention from the far-reaching strategic ramifications of the Gaza blockade and its implementation.<\/p>\n

Syrian President Bashar Assad wasn’t exaggerating when he described the flotilla as a turning point in the Arab-Israeli conflict, by which he presumably meant that the incident dragged the Israeli government into the losing sphere of ethics and human rights.<\/p>\n

In this assymetric struggle between the occupier and the occupied, military supremacy not only fails to ensure victory, but easily becomes a hindrance.<\/p>\n

In the absence of a genuine peace process, the flotilla saga caused the moderate Arab center, led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to lose what momentum it had. Now the momentum is with the radical Islamists on the fringes, led by Iran.<\/p>\n

There’s no need to bother a retired judge just so he can rule that the decision-makers should have been aware of the race for Middle East supremacy.<\/p>\n

And there’s nothing that any expert in maritime law has to say that will prevent the Arab-speaking public from pressuring Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to open the Rafah crossing.<\/p>\n

We don’t need an inquiry committee to know that the blockade keeping cilantro and cement out of Gaza has turned Tehran’s deniers of the Jewish genocide and Ankara’s deniers of the Armenian genocide into standard-bearers for assistance to the unfortunate children of Gaza.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Hamas is laughing all the way from the smuggling tunnels to the bank. The blockade has transformed Hamas, which the United States and Europe classify as a terror organization, into a victim of Israeli aggression.<\/p>\n

You don’t have to be an expert on the Middle East to realize that every day in which Israel drags its feet on peace talks with the Palestinians bolsters Hamas’ position in Gaza. All you had to do was see Iran’s ally to Israel’s north licking its lips in pleasure in order to realize the price of the standstill on the Syrian track.<\/p>\n

Even the best of Israel’s friends in the world have a hard time understanding the Netanyahu-Barak government, not to mention justifying its actions. Anthony Cordesman, a military expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a foreign policy think tank in Washington, wrote in an article last week that “the depth of America’s moral commitment does not justify or excuse actions by an Israeli government that unnecessarily make Israel a strategic liability when it should remain an asset.”<\/p>\n

Cordesman, who previously served as director of intelligence assessment in the Pentagon, also said America’s commitment to Israel “does not mean that the United States should extend support to an Israeli government when that government fails to credibly pursue peace with its neighbors.”<\/p>\n

Instead of just shoving one more report in the drawer, it would be best to make the flotilla saga a turning point in Israel’s policy governing the Gaza blockade and the continued occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

Floating along in the direction we’ve been going will just get us into hot water.<\/p>\n

Zoabi: \u201cIsrael\u2019s \u2018house of democracy\u2019 is turning into a house of racism and incitement\u201d<\/a>: IOA<\/h3>\n

Haneen Zoabi press release \u2013 7 June 2010
\n[Haneen Zoabi] stated that the Knesset committee has taken decisions in retaliation against her, and virtually every Knesset Member is calling for more extreme measures, including calls for her dismissal from the Knesset, to revoke her citizenship, to expel her from the country, and imprisonment. Thus, these MKs consider the committee\u2019s decisions to be just a first step of more punitive measures to come. \u201cOur response will be to defy them. We will continue on our path of upholding human values and human rights, calling for equality, justice and the end of occupation and racism despite all their incitement and threats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Press Release The National Democratic Assembly MK Haneen Zoabi \u2013 Parliamentary Office 7 June 2010<\/strong><\/span>
\nKnesset House Committee voted to revoke the parliamentary rights of MK Haneen Zoabi
\nZoabi: \u201cIsrael\u2019s \u2018house of democracy\u2019 is turning into a house of racism and incitement\u201d
\nOn Monday, 7 June 2010, the Knesset House Committee voted by a seven-to-one majority to revoke the parliamentary rights of (MK) Haneen Zoabi. The vote came in the wake of her participation in the \u201cGaza Freedom Flotilla\u201d which aimed to break the siege on the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel since 2007. The Committee decision still needs to be approved by the Knesset plenum. Arab parties collectively decided to boycott the Committee session in protest of the attack and the escalating levels of incitement that MK Zoabi and Arab MKs in general have faced.
\nIn addition to demands for her to be brought to account as a \u201cterrorist\u201d and for her party, the National Democratic Assembly (Balad), to be outlawed, the incitement against MK Zoabi sank even lower than the depths it reached in the Knesset session held last Wednesday. During today\u2019s session a female MK resorted to abusive language so obscene that the chair of session Yaron Levin demanded that it be deleted from the official record. The incitement also descended into personal attacks against Zoabi and targeted her as a woman.
\nThe committee recommended that Zoabi should be stripped of three rights usually enjoyed by members of the Israeli Knesset. First, she should be prevented from travelling in case she is on her way \u201cto commit an offence\u201d. Second, her diplomatic passport should be
\nrevoked, and, third, she should no longer be entitled to legal expenses from the Knesset in case she is put on trial.
\nThe session was held in the Knesset and headed by Yariv Levin (Likud). He quoted statements made by MK Zoabi about the Freedom Flotilla and what she described as the \u201coppressive siege on the Gaza Strip\u201d. He also raised remarks she had made about Israel\u2019s nuclear capabilities, referring to her statement that Israel must not be allowed to remain the sole nuclear power in the Middle East. Levin also described political positions adopted by Zoabi that he claimed posed a threat to the State of Israel: he showed clips from her interviews with journalists and with Arab satellite channels in which she rejected the Jewish nature of the state, called for a state of all its citizens, demanded an end to the occupation, and called for Israeli war crimes to be exposed and for those responsible to be held to account. These political positions, granted by freedom of speech in a normal democractic environment, let alone to an MK, were viewed by head of the committee and the majority of its members as crimes that justifiy stripping Zoabi of her rights as an MK.
\nYoel Hasson of Kadima said that \u201cHaneen Zoabi has crossed the line. The goal of Haneen Zoabi was to tarnish Israel\u2019s image in the international community.\u201d Nissim Cohen railed against Zoabi, stating that in a war there are those who support it and that \u201cthere were terrorists aboard the ship and Zoabi must be held accountable as a terrorist.\u201d
\nFollowing the session, MK Haneen Zoabi stated that \u201cIsrael still denies its responsibility towards the killing of civilians on the Mavi Marmara, its responsibility for the starvation of the people of Gaza, and the international outrage caused by its actions. Unable to deal with this, it chose to regard me as a scape goat\u201d. She added that \u201cthe session occurred within an atmosphere of violent incitement in which the MKs have incited the Israeli public to use violence\u201d against her.
\nMK Zoabi stated that \u201cIsrael, following the international reaction to its bloody attack on humanitarian flotilla, is embarrassed and confused. Unable to deal with the shock and anger of the international community, I have become their punching bag.\u201d
\nZoabi added that \u201cthere is no democracy in Israel, we are operating within the margins of democracy, and even this narrow margin Israel is trying to eliminate. Israel is trying to portray this as \u2018Arabs versus Jews\u2019; however I don\u2019t represent only Arabs, I also represent Jewish groups, however marginal, who are against blockade on Gaza; and in particular I represent international consensus on this issue.\u201d She added that \u201cIsrael\u2019s true image has been revealed — they are confused and embarrassed and want to retaliate. I have become their easy prey.\u201d
\nShe stated that the Knesset committee has taken decisions in retaliation against her, and virtually every Knesset Member is calling for more extreme measures, including calls for her dismissal from the Knesset, to revoke her citizenship, to expel her from the country, and imprisonment. Thus, these MKs consider the committee\u2019s decisions to be just a first step of more punitive measures to come. \u201cOur response will be to defy them. We will continue on our path of upholding human values and human rights, calling for equality, justice and the end of occupation and racism despite all their incitement and threats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mad Israelis Section\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

The contributors to this section are marked in red<\/strong>, just to warn readers that they are on a nutter article…
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

EDITOR<\/strong>: New contributor to this section, but by no way is he a new face on Israeli Nutterdom. Mr. Segal is a man of simple ideas, and even simpler solutions. The problem is not that Israel kills many people all the time – the problem is that people know about it… and he has a solution!<\/span><\/p>\n

Shut down al-Jazeera<\/a>: YNet<\/h3>\n

Only a nation with zero will to survive issues press cards to its enemies
\nHagai Segal<\/span><\/strong>
\nPublished: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a006.07.10, 00:46
\nThe Gaza-bound flotilla was eventually stopped, yet the al-Jazeera warship continues to sail as usual. The network\u2019s photos from the battle scene at sea again made it first to satellite dishes worldwide. As usual, the images were accompanied by a soundtrack of lies, incitement, and hatred for Israel.<\/p>\n

Our government pledged to apply all the lessons it learned in the Marmara raid ahead of future flotillas, yet one lesson can be applied at this time already: Kick al-Jazeera out of Israel. Shut down their offices here tomorrow morning and confiscate their equipment. Of course, also revoke their reporters\u2019 and photographers\u2019 press cards.<\/p>\n

The attorney general will find the proper clause that would allow us to undertake such move. He may even designate the network as a terrorist organization. After all, al-Jazeera assists Hamas to a much greater extent than all the organization\u2019s television and radio stations combined. Would we allow Hamas to maintain official studios here?<\/p>\n

The Olmert government already took a decision in the past to boycott al-Jazeera, but it did not find the courage to truly boycott it. The Qatar-based network continues to broadcast from here, while sinking us in waves of venom.<\/p>\n

Hornets\u2019 nest<\/strong>
\nEvery time the network turns on a camera or a microphone in this country, tens of millions of viewers worldwide get another proof that Israel lost its desire to live. Only a nation with zero will to survive issues press cards to its enemies. The time has come to prove to everyone that we choose life after all.<\/p>\n

International media organizations will raise a hue and cry and argue that the move is tantamount to silencing divergent opinions, etc. etc. Yet this will be no more than hypocritical nonsense that we shall somehow have to tolerate.<\/p>\n

Indeed, shutting down al-Jazeera\u2019s broadcasts from Israel will undermine the freedom of expression to the same extent that shutting down a brothel undermines one freedom to make a living.
\nAs far as it applies to Israel, al-Jazeera is not a media outlet; rather, it is a hornets\u2019 nest. How long will we wait before we dispatch a police team over there with a closure order?<\/p>\n

EDITOR: Another new contributor to Mad Israelis is making her debut…<\/p>\n

You are our children<\/a>: YNet<\/h3>\n

People known as \u2018IDF troops\u2019 are our children, the sum of our hopes, dreams
\nMerav Batito<\/strong><\/span>
\nPublished: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a006.03.10, 18:45
\nIt was my child who was grabbed by his legs and thrown off the upper deck of the ship; who was brutally beaten up; who had a stun grenade hurled at him; who was stabbed in the stomach; who had his arm broken.<\/p>\n

It was my child who was stunned to discover that the peace activists, the cool youngsters on board the ship \u2013 the ones who must be wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt and listening to Bob Marley music \u2013 are in fact a bunch of wolves posing as little red riding hood.<\/p>\n

It was my child who was willing to put himself through demanding physical training starting in 10th grade already in order to become a Navy commando; who was as happy as can be when he completed a course that only few manage to survive through. It is my child who arrives home on Fridays just to hug and kiss me because I remembered to make the schnitzel he loves so much.<\/p>\n

It was my child who found himself attacked with bats and stun grenades, after he was equipped with a paintball gun and was told a thousand times to be gentle with the peace sailors, lest everything get out of control and the whole world will rise up against us.<\/p>\n

It was my child, the one I gave birth to, educated, and sent to the IDF, who truly felt this is an important national mission, and that he should be doing everything in order not to disappoint his commanders, his friends, his army chief, his defense minister, and his mother.<\/p>\n

Just like an unexpected slap to the face of a passerby at a dark alley came this recognition. Just like the first rain after a year of drought. These people we got used to referring to as \u201cIDF soldiers\u201d are our children. We gave birth to them in our image, and they\u2019re us.<\/p>\n

They are the sum of all our hopes, aspirations, and dreams. This is exactly what we wanted, this is what we prayed for, and they are the people who made us so proud.<\/p>\n

I think this is quite enough, but please feel free to enjoy the madness in full, by using the link above.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last contributor for today is Mr. Assaf Wohl<\/span><\/strong>, who writes most poetically.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you, 1st sergeant A.<\/a>: YNet<\/h3>\n

Assaf Wohl writes to our Navy Seals, who bear Jewish history\u2019s burden on their shoulders<\/strong>
\nAssaf Wohl<\/span><\/strong>
\nPublished: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a006.01.10, 23:49
\nDear First Sergeant A.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve become famous, my brother. I know you didn\u2019t want to. You prefer the dark waters of the night. Yet suddenly we can see you on every self-respecting news channel \u2013 CNN, BBC, NBC.<\/p>\n

There you are, quickly gliding down to the deck of the vessel. The audience at home watches with concern. Not all of us get the chance to jump off a helicopter in the middle of the night straight into an ocean of hatred and the knives held by bloodthirsty \u201cpeace activists.\u201d<\/p>\n

I know that at such moments, there is only one thing that truly scares you: Your mother finding out who you hang out with at night. Perhaps this is why your face is covered. Nonetheless, you show no hesitation and glide down. I think you may be doing it not only because your friends need you on that deck, or because of the heavy weight of the equipment you\u2019re carrying. You may dismiss my words with a smile, but I believe another force pulled you down.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a rather heavy burden, First Sergeant A. The burden of the Jewish people. It sounds bombastic, right? \u201cHistory\u201d and \u201cideals\u201d are bad words in the post-Israeli discourse. Even to me it sounds a little schmaltzy. Our precious elites, which at this time engage in constant self-flagellation, managed to entrench within us the weakness of spirit and a sense of cynicism.<\/p>\n

However, this burden exists. Perhaps it managed to find its way to your shoulders back when you were born. You are a citizen of the Jewish State, First Sergeant A., and your medical profile makes you fit to be a combat soldier. Hence, you have been destined to glide down from helicopters at late hours of night and take the spiting of the whole enlightened world. This world also expects you not to respond, even when someone fires at you.<\/p>\n

I think this is quite enough, but there is more where this came from – please feel free to enjoy the madness in full, by using the link above.<\/span><\/p>\n

And the best part – a report by the excellent Max Blumenthal on Israeli madness, with a clip to illustrate it:<\/span><\/p>\n

Pro-IDF, Anti-Turkish Rally in Tel Aviv (or a Glimpse Into Collective Israeli Derangement)<\/a>: Max Blumenthal<\/h3>\n

June 7, 2010<\/strong>
\n<\/object><\/p>\n

On June 1, 2010, thousands of Israelis gathered spontaneously in front of the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv to demonstrate in support of the Israeli Naval commando unit that killed nine passengers on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish-backed boat from the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Egged on by the Israeli government and media, the demonstrators lashed out at Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his support of the Marmara, accusing him and passengers on the ship of terrorist ties. Besides with the massacre of Turkish aid workers, the spectacle of massive Israeli protests against Turkey threatens to permanently rupture Israel\u2019s ties to its closest Muslim ally and further isolate the country on the world stage.<\/p>\n

The rally provided a clear window into the mentality of many Israelis after the raid. International condemnation has deepened the public\u2019s siege mentality, leading many demonstrators to claim that anti-Semitism best explained the world\u2019s motives. The belief that the Mavi Marmara was a terrorist ship with support from an assortment of Islamic evildoers including Al Qaida was nearly unanimous, and was offered by rally participants as an excuse for their killing. Many viewed the incident out in the shadow of the Holocaust, convinced that Marmara passengers had shouted at the commandos, \u201cGo back to Auschwitz!\u201d<\/p>\n

Such convictions were understandable in light of the aggressive propaganda campaign the Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli Foreign Ministry have waged in the wake of the flotilla raid. The IDF has claimed that it discovered 40 \u201cAl Qaeda mercenaries\u201d on the Mavi Marmara and blasted out an audio clip purporting to show flotilla passengers proclaiming to the IDF, \u201cGo back to Auschwitz!\u201d Even though the IDF retracted its claim about Al Qaida operatives and was forced to concede that its \u201cAuschwitz\u201d audio clip was doctored, Israeli and American media outlets that reported the army\u2019s claims have not corrected their stories. Consequently, many Israelis are accepting their government\u2019s view without a second thought. As one demonstrator said, \u201cI believe every word our soldiers. Every word!\u201d<\/p>\n

The rally was organized through Israeli Facebook groups and by the notoriously anti-Arab football club Betar Jerusalem. It was only one of many spontaneous outbursts of extreme nationalism that have erupted across Israel since the flotilla raid. Many participants in the rally remarked that they had not seen the public so thoroughly united behind the government in all their lives. As one demonstrator put it, \u201cI\u2019m very happy [about] what happened because it united the country, and not all the Israelis, all the Jewish [sic]; all united for a cause, and it\u2019s against the civil war that we always had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel apologises for spoof video mocking Gaza flotilla:<\/a> BBC<\/h3>\n

Page last updated at 11:03 GMT, Monday, 7 June 2010 12:03 UK
\nE-mail this to a friendPrintable version The video parodies the 1985 charity single We Are the World
\nThe Israeli government has apologised after its press office emailed to journalists a spoof video about the flotilla which tried to dock in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The video shows people dressed as peace activists singing “we con the world” to the tune of We Are the World.
\nA spokesman said the video did not represent the Israeli government’s view.
\nThe video contains real footage of the Israeli raid on the flotilla in which nine activists died<\/p>\n

‘Bluff’<\/strong>
\nIn the clip, which parodies the video made for the 1985 charity song, the singers are dressed up in costumes representing the captain of the flotilla, western peace activists, and Arabs wearing keffiyeh scarves.<\/p>\n

“There’s no people dying, so the best that we can do, is create the greatest bluff of all”, they sing.<\/p>\n

“I thought it was funny. It is what Israelis feel, but the government has nothing to do with it”
\nMark Regev
\nIsraeli government spokesman<\/span>
\n“We are peaceful travellers, we’re waving our own knives,” the song goes.
\nThe song builds to a chorus of “we con the world, we con the people. We’ll make them all believe the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is Jack the Ripper.”
\nAt one point the singer dressed as the flotilla captain sings “Ithbah al-Yahud” which means “slaughter the Jews” in Arabic.
\nThe video is interspersed with footage from the Israeli commando raid on the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish lead vessel of the flotilla which tried to break an Israeli and Egyptian blockade on Gaza last week.<\/p>\n

‘Funny’<\/strong>
\nNine passengers on board were killed during the Israeli commando raid on the ship.
\nThe ships were towed to the port of Ashdod and the activists deported.
\nMark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, told the UK’s Guardian newspaper: “I called my kids in to watch it because I thought it was funny. It is what Israelis feel. But the government has nothing to do with it.”<\/p>\n

The video was made by the Hebrew satirical website Latma.co.il, run by Jerusalem Post deputy editor Caroline Glick.
\nOn her website she said the clip featured “the Turkish-Hamas ‘love boat’ captain, crew and passengers in a musical explanation of how they con the world.”
\n“We think this is an important Israeli contribution to the discussion of recent events,” Ms Glick wrote.
\nBut there has also been condemnation of the spoof.
\n“The video is a repulsive attempt to use satire to make Israel’s case on Flotilla debacle,” Didi Remez of the Coteret blog said.<\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDITOR: Fascist leader to visit London Mr. Lieberman, that great supporter of freedom (for Jews) and ethnic cleansing (for Palestinians) is about to honour London with a visit. He plans to raise funds for the JNF. My own view is that the JNF is deluded if they think this nightclub bouncer will raise funds for … Continue reading June 7, 2010, Page 2<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6160"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6160"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6163,"href":"https:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6160\/revisions\/6163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}