Monday, May 31, 2010

firedoglake's Live Blogging of the Israeli Attack on NATO-flagged Humanitarian Flotilla

Beginning May 16th, I wrote a series of diaries at firedoglake's niche, The Seminal, that sought to heighten awareness of the renewed and refreshed strident militance being shown by the Israeli government toward critics, and sought to bring more attention to the flotilla of boats and ships determined to lift the illegal siege of Gaza.

Saturday evening, as the flotilla was leaving the vicinity of Cyprus, I began a live blog post there. Sunday afternoon, as the flotilla neared the Levantine coast, Siun took over. Her firedoglake post ended up collecting information almost in real time, as the most serious attack by a foreign power in history on a collection of boats flagged by NATO members unfolded.


The blogs mondoweiss and Daily Kos also contained posts which sought to live blog the crime as it played out.


On May 16th, I noted that the freighter, MV Rachel Corrie, was leaving Irish waters, to join vessels already in the Mediterranean.


On May 20th, in light of Elvis Costello's cancellation of an Israel concert tour, I speculated that it might be time to consider gathering artists together to create a 2010 version of the pivotal protest album from 1985, Sun City. That album helped galvanize resistance to the South African government policy of Apartheid.


On May 22, I noted the absence of mainstream media, especially in the USA, toward the gathering of vessels for the flotilla, and wondered how the approach of the the small fleet to the Gaza coast might be covered.


On May 25, I wrote about the assembly of boats, their problems, and the mounting evidence that the IDF would forcefully attempt to commandeer the vessels. I was concerned.


On Saturday May 29, I began the live blog, which was passed on to Siun yesterday, during her regular Sunday afternoon slot.


Others have also contributed diaries at firedoglake on this.


I've learned a lot from the process of writing about this. Foremost, perhaps, is that in spite of the stated IDF intention of isolating the vessels from being able to emit real time information during the attack, they were unsuccessful. As in the demonstrations in Iran in the wake of their farcical election last year, people managed to bypass jamming and blackouts, through workarounds or through discovery that government jamming had holes in it.


Twitter, through hundreds of cell phones on board the vessels, described the attacks in terse tweets from bloodstained decks. These tweets were passed back and forth between twitter sites throughout last night, as they aggregated incoming news from many early sources.


The Turkish video feed from the large cruise ship, where most casualties occurred will become iconic, even as the IDF releases their night vision videos that seek to purport the IDF was responding to a "lynch mob" as it opened fire on dozens of unarmed civilians, attempting to defend themselves from a brazen, illegal act in international waters.


Norman Finkelstein's 2009 book about the 2008-2009 Gaza invasion is titled This Time We Went Too Far. It is an apt title. Many of us have experienced how friends or relatives finally stopped straddling the fence over how Israel conducts itself, as we and they witnessed the barbarity of the IDF assault on schools, hospitals, clinics, fire departments, bakeries, dairies and houses in the besieged Gaza enclave.


This time, the IDF went too far in ways that may be pivotal. Juan Cole, writing this morning, observes:


It is worth noting on Memorial Day that the Israeli attack deeply complicates the task of the US military in the region. It is a propaganda boon for Sunni extremists and Shiite activists such as Muqtada al-Sadr in Iraq, and for the Taliban in Afghanistan. It undermines the authority of the Egyptian and Jordanian governments, which have US-brokered peace treaties with Israel, treaties that are deeply unpopular with ordinary people in both countries. That some demonstrations are being held in front of US consulates and not just Israeli ones tells us who will get the blame for Netanyahu’s machismo.



Turkish-Israeli relations, already in an abysmal state, might never recover. Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Israel. The attack on several NATO-related vessels, in international waters, and without provocation, as noted above, is unprecedented. Turkey will be right to bring this before the NATO North Atlantic Council, which meets about once per week. The United Nations Security Council is meeting right now about the attack, with the Secretary General having already made a harsh statement.


As I noted in Siun's live blog diary last night:


If the flotilla was actually moving away from the coast when boarded, after having responded to IDF enquiries regarding intent and course, this is a lost cause for the Israelis to defend. They have no claim that their response was appropriate.



Some, if not all, of the vessels were giving out position reports up to the boarding. The record of these is indelible. The Turks will surely bring this fact up to the North Atlantic Council this week, and it may have been brought up today at the UN Security Council.


A Daily Kos Diary, analyzing NATO responsibilities regarding Turkey in this matter, has hundreds of comments, Here is the key part of NATO doctrine that might pertain directly to actions after this attack:


Israel's attack on the MV Blue Mamara, a Turkish vessel, means they just attacked a member of NATO. According to the NATO Charter, Article 5


The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.


If you think there is wiggle room in that definition, you would be mistaken. Article 6 is explicit about where attacks will trigger responses. Vessels in the Mediterranean Sea are mentioned explicitly.



The Israeli Prime Minister has cut short a North American trip that was to conclude with a White House meeting Tuesday. He's had to return home to prepare for the Third Intifada, and to attempt to salvage diplomatic relations with a number of counties besides just Turkey.


Within the American progressive community Israel has always had and still has staunch supporters of every action by the IDF or Israeli government. But those numbers were severely diminished by this highly criminal attack. But, as a commenter at Mondoweiss observed this morning:


There are now 4 diaries on the rec list at Daily Kos condemning the Israeli piracy. Even during Cast Lead, this didn’t happen.



Other lefty blogs that generally avoid discussing Israel/Palestine issues at all will, should they continue to blind themselves in this matter, lose readers and influence.


A very important article recently appeared in the New York Review of Books. In The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment, by Peter Beinart, the author explains in detail how the large family size and emigration into Israel of ultra Orthodox inhabitants and their growing influence on internal Israeli politics will inevitably force young American Jews who are liberal to forsake support for the Zionist state and its brutal expansionist goals. The article has caused quite a stir, to say the least.


Israel has succeeded, in last night's attack, in further isolating itself as an increasingly rogue nation. Some are even predicting an implosion there, similar to those of Apartheid South Africa, or of the Warsaw Pact communist governments.


Two things are certain though. Twitter, as a driver of non-MSM instant information has come of age.


And firedoglake, thanks to Siun and the commenting community there, has once again led the way in live blogging a pivotal moment.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Within the American progressive community Israel has always had and still has staunch supporters of every action by the IDF or Israeli government"

Yeah, sure ! And the moon is made of blue cheese and unicorns dance on the lawns of the White House ! Meanwhile, back in the real world......

Anonymous said...

"its brutal expansionist goals."

Oh God, save us from lefty anti-imperialist cliches ! It's so bloody '60s, maa-aan !
If Israel is an "expansionist" power why did it pull out of Gaza and why hasn't it moved beyond it's 1967 borders? Not very good at expanding are they or does this show the lie at the heart of the Leftist anti-Israel dogma ?

mary b said...

Phil,

Thank you for the excellent follow up post. I came over here knowing I'd find a post that was intelligent containing the real facts.
Please continue to report on these horrible crimes by Israel. I realize a lot of Israeli's do NOT like their government, just as we Progressive's were horrified by Bush/Cheney's torture and other crimes.
Today is a very sad day for a lot of us. Gaza and the Palestinians have been suffering needlessly for far too long.

Anonymous said...

"Today is a very sad day for a lot of us."

Was it a sad day for you when Hamas recently executed dozens of political opponents ? Was it a sad day for you when jihadists killed scores of innocent Iraqis ? Why is it you save your sympathy for those who support the genocidal policies of Hamas ?

Anonymous said...

"On May 20th, in light of Elvis Costello's cancellation of an Israel concert tour, I speculated that it might be time to consider gathering artists together to create a 2010 version of the pivotal protest album from 1985, Sun City. That album helped galvanize resistance to the South African government policy of Apartheid."

I guess "pivotal" is the word de jour at PA. Yawn. Boycott the Jews, eh ? Where have we heard that before ?
Israel is not an apartheid state...it is more open and inclusive than any of it's islamic neighbours. Strange how liberals never call for boycotts of places like China,or Sudan or Saudi but only focus their hatred on the tiny Jewish state of Israel.

Anonymous said...

Hey Phil, how come no mention of the news reports showing islamists on the ships chanting "Oh Mohammed, kill the Jews" before the Israelis even sighted the ships ? How come no mention of the news reports of the islamic woman saying "we have come for one of two HAPPY endings, for Martyrdom or Gaza"? Guess it doesn't fir your narrative.

Anonymous said...

1. Prominent among the coalition organizations participating in the aid flotilla scheduled to arrive in the Gaza Strip in the coming days is the Turkish IHH (Insani Yardim Vakfi, IHH, "humanitarian relief fund"). It is a radical Islamic organization which was established in 1992 and formally registered in Istanbul in 1995. [...]

3. In practice, besides its legitimate humanitarian activities, IHH supports radical Islamic terrorist networks. In recent years it has prominently supported Hamas (through the Union of Good). In addition, the ITIC has reliable information that in the past IHH provided logistical support and funding to global jihad networks.

4. IHH's orientation is radical-Islamic and anti-American, and it is close to the Muslim Brotherhood (Hamas' parent movement). IHH supports Hamas and does not hide the connection between them. Hamas also considers its links to IHH and Turkey to be extremely important, and regards Turkey as a target audience for its propaganda network (Palestine-Information, Hamas' main website, has a Turkish version, and as of the end of 2009, the website of its military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has also appeared in Turkish).

Tina Louise said...

I came to find you when this incident happened - I knew I would find well-informed commentary :) Today's events have at least drawn the eyes of the world and with the help of social media, helped to balance previously unclear views.


Hope you are well Phil and that if you decide to consider: "gathering artists together to create a 2010 version of the pivotal protest album from 1985, Sun City." ...that it is an outstanding call to the world, for peace.

Namaste,
Tina Louise

sjk from the belly of the plane said...

Phil, you have a lot of facts. Too bad they are almost all slanted.

NO mention of the repeated warnings from Israel to NOT do this, and to divert so the supplies could be off loaded and delivered. EXCEPT the banned items. NO mention of how 15K tons per WEEK is let thru.

No pics of the suffering in Gaza like this:

http://www.paltoday.ps/arabic/News-64161.html

No mention of 5 of the vessels cooperating and the 6th being an attack mob. Keep omitting the facts and your cred slips as your bias shows.

I appreciate the forum.
Thanks...

sjk

Anonymous said...

"Today is a very sad day for a lot of us. Gaza and the Palestinians (and Israel) have been suffering needlessly for far too long."

So very true. The Palestinians hold their freedom and future in their hands. Instead of acting in a peaceful manner they put in charge some "ihadists" fronting for Jew Hating Iran.

How stupid can it get. Put a bunch of dumbfucks in a raft, who then commit "suicide by cop" and somehow expect the MSM to say even though Israel did something that every other country in the world have done, for some strange reason Israel should have let the invaders in without inspection, customs etc. Try that in China or Russia.

Phil, I am sorry but this event just exposes stupidity.

I am getting the feeling that there is so much hatred towards Israel that the haters will only be happy when all the Jews are dead.

I am not a big Israel fan or foe. But I can see the the hatred is deep and long term.

Peace does not seem to be the objective but rather destruction of Israel. Hope, I am wrong.

WakeUpAmerica said...

Hey, Anon@1:11, are you on the flotilla? "...news reports showing islamists on the ships chanting "Oh Mohammed, kill the Jews" before the Israelis even sighted the ships ? How come no mention of the news reports of the islamic woman saying "we have come for one of two HAPPY endings, for Martyrdom or Gaza"? " How do you know that is true? From whom did that first hand info come? Just askin'

Spin, spin, spin

sjk from the belly of the plane said...

Suffering in Gaza as of last November:

http://www.paltoday.ps/arabic/News-64161.html

sjk from the belly of the plane said...

"Peace does not seem to be the objective but rather destruction of Israel"..

We have a WINNER. that is the goal, the object of the floatilla, the wish of Iran, Syria, and probably a few other regimes.

As long as everyone understands that, Israels actions are put in the proper perspective.

WakeUpAmerica said...

How many dead or injured unprepared-for-resistance IDF are there? How many dead or injured were with the humanitarian mission? I think those numbers will speak volumes about who is at fault here. But bear in mine that the IDF boarded a ship without invitation in INTERNATIONAL WATERS. Hmmmm.

WakeUpAmerica said...

Anon@1:18, I find your info quite interesting. However, if all that you say is true, why would the IDF board uninvited and be unprepared for resistance? It doesn't make sense on several levels.

sjk from the belly of the plane said...

Phil, It looks like a lot of your readers are better informed than you on this. Please take this as a "teachable moment". Its OK to be wrong. And you are. Morally and legally!

Philip Munger said...

Tina Louise,

Thanks for coming here. I continue to read your wonderful poems.

sjk from the belly of the plane said...

Its EXTREMLY important to understand that this brand of Anti-Semitism is directly linked to the Arabs and hitler. mein kaumpf is still "popular" if not required reading in many "cultures":

http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/missed.html

(use the Google)

NEVER AGAIN!! NEVER FUCKING AGAIN!

Anonymous said...

"How do you know that is true? From whom did that first hand info come? Just askin'"

The news was reported on that notoriously pro-Israeli outfit, Al-Jazeera. Sorry if it doesn't fit the Leftist narrative of evil Israeli soldiers attacking peace-loving, harmless innocents.

sjk from the belly of the plane said...

Thanks to an astute HuffPo poster:

Four points here:
1. The San Remo Manual governing int'l humanitarian law indicates in rule 67(a) that it is permissible to attack neutral vessels on the high seas when the vessels "are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture." So, what Israel is doing is, in fact, legal under international law.
2. Huwaida Arraf, the "humanitarian" behind the Free Gaza Movement, supports armed Palestinian resistance and that Israeli citizens are acceptable targets. She also has called suicide bombings "noble" on multiple occasions. So, the "humanitarians" might be the opposite of what they claim themselves to be.
3. An Al-Jazeera report from May 28 shows "humanitarians" on board the ships chanting Intifada songs aimed at Jews and praising martyrdom. Chants include "Intifada, intifada, intifada! Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews! The army of Mohammed will return!" relating to a seventh century massacre of Jews in Khaybar by early Muslims. So, the "humanitarians", as usual, are hoping for the death of Jews.
4. The videos clearly show the "humanitarians" attacking the Israeli soldiers with pipes and fire bombs and knives, completely in contradiction to an earlier statement to the press by Arraf, who claimed any resistance would be non-violent.
It's easy and popular to attack Israel, but if you scratch the surface you see there are very much 2 sides to this story.

Anonymous said...

Dear "sjk from the belly of the plane" , thank you so much for your balanced comments. It's nice to see a voice of reason on a blog that normally attracts so many hysterical anti-Israel rants.

Anonymous said...

Prof William Jacobson offers a different view from the knee-jerk anti-Israel out-pourings of the pro-Jihadist Left......

" The flotilla was organized by the Islamist government in Turkey to aid Hamas with the goal of opening up shipping channels for Turkey's new friend, Iran, to ship more and better weapons as it is doing to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran is busy turning Lebanon and Syria into one large missile launching pad against Israel, and a southern base in Gaza will complete the encirclement of Israel for the coming crisis over Iran's nuclear program.

The Europeans on the ships were cover, and the placement of an 18-month old child on these ships was the utmost cynical use of a human shield.

If getting humanitarian supplies to Gaza really was the goal, this flotilla was not necessary. The supplies would have been off-loaded in Eqypt or Israel and then shipped in by land after being checked for hidden weapons.

And that is the rub, only sea-based shipping would provide Iran with the mechanism for almost unlimited armament of Hamas. There is a limit to the quantity and size of missiles and other armaments which can be smuggled through tunnels from Egypt. That is why the sea blockade must be broken for Iran to get what it wants."

WakeUpAmerica said...

And again I ask, if the IDF knew all this to be true about the people on the flotilla and their "purpose", why would they board uninvited and be unprepared for resistance? Does that make any sense? We're talking about the IDF; they are experts in this stuff. I would say the truth is somewhere in the middle of this.

Anonymous said...

Even the IDF make mistakes - they knew that most of the "Peace activists" were the usual useful idiots i.e. relatively harmless. What they didn't bargain for were the dozens of Turkish islamic thugs on board the main ship. If they knew the thugs were waiting to ambush them why did they board the boats armed initially only with paint guns ?
They also don't have to be invited...a nation has the right to board ships that are heading for it's national waters and are suspected of carrying weapons.
This was not a deliberate "massacre" by the Israelis as the Left has claimed - they were ambushed and the Islamists got the propaganda victory they wanted.
Please note that the anti-Israel UN condemned Israel straightaway but have still not condemned North Korea for the unprovoked attack that sunk a South Korean ship with the loss of 46 lives. Why the double standard ? Seems anti-semitism is now a global problem. Sadly the American Left have thrown their lot in with the islamofascists who are plotting a second Holocaust.

WakeUpAmerica said...

Anon@7:51, if they suspected the flotilla was carrying guns, why would they board it armed with paint guns? None of this makes any sense.

As for the double standard, just because some of us feel that the IDF was wrong, don't assume we agree with the UN lack of action over North Korea. Don't assume that because I am American, I agree with everything my country does. Personally, I think we could all be kinder to each other everywhere in the world.

Anonymous said...

In a pivotal moment , Progressive Alaska took it's Israel-bashing to a new level of hatred. Without waiting to hear all sides of the story, this blog decided that Israel was in the wrong and that the "peace activists" were in the right.
Contrast this rush-to-judgment with the "we don't know all the facts - so let's not judge" when PA attempted to whitewash the Fort Hood jihadist. If I recall PA's first comment about Fort Hood was to run a story about some obscure Jewish Rabbi in Israel.
Seems PA is just another knee-jerk anti-semite who is on the side of Hamas and the islamists. Disgusting.

Anonymous said...

"A Daily Kos Diary, analyzing NATO responsibilities regarding Turkey in this matter, has hundreds of comments,"

Perhaps this blog should watch grown-up news rather than relying on the pathetic juvenile rantings of the hysterics at the Daily Kos. Taking the bile spewed out by 17 year old anarchists on face value is no way to go through life.

Tina Louise said...

Wow Phil, tough crowd! Here in the UK even our slightly slanted mainstream news can't deny the inhumanity of this event.

To expect the Israeli authorities to deliver this much needed aid and construction materials is foolish - in the four years since this blockade started, it has become very clear that this is not an Israeli action to prevent terror but collective punishment of a people.

I never cease to be amazed at the actions of Israel in Palestine - or the weak reactions of the international community in response. The power of the shout 'anti-semite' has muted many.

Legalities can be argued but the reality is, this was an aid ship in international waters and they were attacked, resulting in death and injury. The warnings that were issued to the occupants meant nothing, when you note the terror that accompanied them. They were not armed, they were at sea, it was night and they were at the mercy of the IDF - self-defence is understandable.

The videos on the news seem to start only once the vessel was boarded - there is though video footage of the minutes before. There is already shooting and mayhem and reports of 2 dead - again, this is BEFORE they were boarded. You can find the video here:
http://bit.ly/buA4qw
& here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB-Mk4bFz-U&feature=player_embedded

I read too that the Irish Boat the MV Rachel Corrie is proceeding to Gaza despite this:
http://post.ly/i2aH
Also that the Turkish authorities have decided to accompany future aid vessels under their flag, with military vessels.

This insanity cannot continue. If peace cannot be reached and fairness established - then those in power ...shouldn't be. I cannot accept that words won't solve what weapons can't.

Namaste

Anonymous said...

"Wow Phil, tough crowd!"

Yeah, people who don't blindly follow whatever B.S. the Daily Kos spouts and who don't think that Al-BBC are exactly sympathetic to Israel.

"in the four years since this blockade started, it has become very clear that this is not an Israeli action to prevent terror "

If that is the case why have the number of terrorist attacks inside Israel dropped so significantly ? You obviously miss the days when innocent Israelis were blown to pieces in dancehalls and cafes.

"They were not armed, they were at sea, "

Yeah, all those knives were for carving driftwood - get real.

"they were at the mercy of the IDF "

Yeah, those islamist thugs looked really frightened of the Israeli soldiers as they battered them with iron bars and threw them off a deck.


"This insanity cannot continue. If peace cannot be reached and fairness established - then those in power ...shouldn't be."

I agree...the genocidal thugs of Hamas should be removed from power. The muslim mindset that Israel should be a Jew-free area should be renounced. You do agree don't you that Hamas's desire to exterminate the Jews is going a little too far...

Anonymous said...

You do agree don't you that Hamas's desire to exterminate the Jews is going a little too far...


and answer came there none. I guess that silence speaks volumes about today's Left...Shame.

Bruce said...

How many dead or injured unprepared-for-resistance IDF are there? How many dead or injured were with the humanitarian mission? I think those numbers will speak volumes about who is at fault here. But bear in mine that the IDF boarded a ship without invitation in INTERNATIONAL WATERS. Hmmmm.
No wonder that "anonymous" hides under that username...wouldn't want his name associated with his nauseating bullshit. The IDF and its masters are simply living out their biblical past, a chronology of devinely sanctioned violence to anyone who dares get in their way. I read lots of books on the concentration camps and and wept at the monstrous evils meted to the Jews in Nazi Germany. Sadly the ruling elite in Israel are fast becoming an imitation of their historic tormentors.