Israel’s War Against Palestine: Documenting the Military Occupation of Palestinian and Arab Lands

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Democracy Now! interviews Haneen Zoabi

9 June 2010

Hanin Zoabi was aboard the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship in the flotilla where all nine activists were killed, and she witnessed some of them bleed to death. When she returned to Israel to speak in the Knesset, she was verbally assaulted by parliament members for her participation in the flotilla.

Mel Frykberg: Israel’s media blackout, doctored Flotilla recording condemned

8 June 2010

Although Israel successfully controlled news of its deadly commando raid on the Freedom Flotilla during the first crucial 48 hours of media coverage, emerging evidence from witnesses and survivors is challenging the Israeli government’s version of events.

Rasmussen: 49% of US Voters Say Pro-Palestinian Activists To Blame in Gaza Ship Incident

8 June 2010

Forty-nine percent (49%) of U.S. voters believe pro-Palestinian activists on the Gaza-bound aid ships raided by Israeli forces are to blame for the deaths that resulted in the high-profile incident.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 19% of voters think the Israelis are to blame. Thirty-two percent (32%) more are not sure.

Left-wing activist Tali Fahima converts to Islam

8 June 2010

According to website of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Fahima converted to Islam in a mosque in Umm al-Fahm; Fahima served three years in prison for aiding the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade.

IOA Editor:The Hebrew version of this story which, for domestic Israeli consumption, is entitled “Extreme Left-wing Activist…” states that Fahima served two years in Israeli prison. Interestingly, the more-detailed original Hebrew story leaves out the gossip about her “reported” affair with Zubeidil – and this is probably as gossipy an IOA story as you’d ever find, or so we hope.

Israel asked US to increase weapons supply

8 June 2010

The American stores [in Israel] hold rockets, bombs, aircraft ammunition and armored vehicles, along with other weapons. The gear fully matches equipment already used by the Israel Defense Forces and is cataloged upon arrival to ensure quick and easy access at a time of need, pending permission from the United States. The American move has a dual purpose: bringing military equipment closer to areas in which Americans might need to fight, and assisting the U.S. ally should the need arise.

Witchhunt for an Israeli MP

8 June 2010

Jonathan Cook: In addition to the removal of Ms Zoubi’s [Knesset] privileges, she is also facing the revocation of her citizenship. The measure has been used only twice before in Israel’s history — both times against Palestinian citizens accused of terrorism.

Zoabi: “Israel’s ‘house of democracy’ is turning into a house of racism and incitement”

7 June 2010

[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’s decisions to be just a first step of more punitive measures to come. “Our 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.”

Knesset members celebrate after ‘successful’ anti-Zoabi vote

7 June 2010

Knesset members toasting for the Israeli navy commandos (“Shayetet 13″) and for their parliamentary success, after a committee voted in favor of recommending the removal of MK Zoabi’s Knesset privileges in response to her participation in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

IOA Editor: If the scene depicted in video strikes you as a cruel anti-Semitic joke, rest assured you’re not the only one. Except that it is neither a joke nor is it funny. And, yes, it’s plenty anti-Semitic – in that it is entirely, pointedly, and directly anti-Arab.

Ilan Pappé: The deadly closing of the Israeli mind

7 June 2010

The real, unlike the declared, strategy is to continue this state of affairs. As long as the international community is complacent, the Arab world impotent and Gaza contained, Israel can still have a thriving economy and an electorate that regards the dominance of the army in its life, the continued conflict and the oppression of the Palestinians as the exclusive past, the present and future reality of life in Israel.

Knesset panel recommends revoking Arab MK’s privileges

7 June 2010

Decision to strip Balad MK Hanin Zuabi of privileges over Gaza flotilla participation passed by a majority of seven to one. Zuabi: We are victims of a witch hunt.

Israel forced to apologise for YouTube spoof of Gaza flotilla

7 June 2010

IOA Editor: First the Flotilla massacre; then the massive propaganda campaign filled with lies, and more lies, and then some more lies; then the attempted explanations, and the retractions; then the racist joking about murder and starvation, followed by more retractions, and now an official Israel government apology. What do you know… Aren’t we all thankful to the Israeli government for clearing it up?

And to think that all of this is supported and financed by hard-earned US tax-dollars and by tax-deductible contributions… under the presidency of a Nobel (Peace!) Laureate who has yet to criticize Israel for carrying out all these actions that his administration, like all previous ones, is so very generously financing. Not a pretty picture, any way you look at it.

On the other hand, kinder and better people decided to vote with their feet this week, to show their disapproval of Israeli actions: the Occupation, the Gaza Siege, the attack of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

They include: Best-selling authors Alice Walker and Iain Banks [and Henning Mankell] who have backed the boycott campaign; three international performance groups that canceled their scheduled Tel Aviv appearances; Dockworker unions in Sweden and South Africa who refused to handle Israeli ships;
a UK union that passed a motion to boycott Israeli companies.

Now, this is Hope, this is Change!

UPDATE: Max Blumenthal’s Nailed Again: IDF Description of Suspicious Photo It Distributed Is Retracted

Israeli racist, hateful propaganda -
Flotilla Choir: We Con the World

7 June 2010

An example of racist, hateful Israeli propaganda widely distributed after Israel’s attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla

US demands IDF probe how American lost eye at West Bank protest

7 June 2010

A Swedish activist, Soren Johanssen who was reportedly standing near Henochowicz, was quoted as saying: “They fired many canisters at us in rapid succession. One landed on either side of Emily, then the third one hit her in the face.” Another protester, Jonathan Pollak, was quoted as saying that Border Policemen had intentionally aimed at the demonstrators.

IOA Editor: The extent of the demand made by the US embassy remains to be seen, especially since Israel Foreign Ministry says “We have not received an official request from the Americans on this matter.”

Uri Avnery Interview: Israel trying to get Gaza people to overthrow Hamas

7 June 2010

When Netanyahu calls it a flotilla of hate, is he lying? Not only Netanyahu, the ministers, too, in addition to a few people in uniform: the army chief of staff and the commander of the navy. In any well-run country, the head of the navy would have resigned that same night.

Israeli Navy reserve officers’ letter: Allow external Gaza flotilla probe

6 June 2010

This Israeli naval-officers letter is important. As commanding officers of attack boats, they know the laws governing behavior in international waters and realize how grave Israel’s violation of these basic international laws was (Hebrew).

Israel Navy reserves officers: Allow external Gaza flotilla probe

6 June 2010

“First and foremost, we protest the fact that responsibility for the tragic results was immediately thrust onto the organizers of the flotilla,” wrote the officers. “This demonstrates contempt for the responsibility that belongs principally to the hierarchy of commanders and those who approved the mission. This shows contempt for the values of professionalism, the purity of weapons and for human lives.”

IOA Editor (UPDATED): This Israeli naval-officers letter is important. As commanding officers of attack boats, they know the laws governing behavior in international waters and realize how grave Israel’s violation of these basic international laws was.

In addition to the Haaretz coverage of this story, the officers’ letter states: “Based on our experience as commanders of [attack] boats and commando units… we think that it was possible to act in different ways in order to stop the ship. The approach used in the field included a high level of friction which, in our opinion, was unnecessary – and this irrespective of the nature of the resistance encountered during the raid on the ship [Mavi Marmara]. The nature of the operation [that was carried out] is contrary to other methods which were appropriate to implement, based on the understanding that the object was a civilian vessel, sailing under Turkish jurisdiction, in international waters.”

And, crucially, they attribute responsibility for the attack to Israel’s military elite rather than to activists. This flies in the face of all of Israel’s propaganda of last week.

“Purity of Weapons” is an old, mythological Israeli term that attempts to distinguish between “just” killing (nearly always) and unjust killing (practically never) by IDF soldiers. For example, to date, no official Israeli source has termed Israel’s attack on Gaza as violating this mythological standard.

MORE: Read officers letter (Hebrew) HERE

Henning Mankell: Flotilla raid diary – ‘A man is shot. I am seeing it happen’

5 June 2010

The myth of the brave and utterly infallible Israeli soldier is shattered. Now we can add: they are common thieves. For I was not the only one to be robbed of my money, credit card, clothes, MP3 player, laptop; the same happened to many others on the same ship as me, which was attacked early one morning by masked Israeli soldiers, who were thus in fact nothing other than lying pirates.

Stephen R. Shalom: But what could Israel do?

5 June 2010

[T]he simplest answer to [the] question of what Israel could do to maintain its security in place of a blockade is that it is precisely the blockade that causes the threats to Israeli security. Without the blockade, there would be no obstacle to negotiating a long-term ceasefire, which would mean the end to rocket fire and other threats to Israel’s legitimate security interests.

ALSO : Stephen R. Shalom: Palling Around with Terrorists – Obama and the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Noam Chomsky Interview: speaking of truth and power

5 June 2010

Hijacking boats in international waters and killing passengers is, of course, a serious crime… For decades, Israel has been hijacking boats in international waters between Cyprus and Lebanon, killing or kidnapping passengers, sometimes bringing them to prisons in Israel including secret prison/torture chambers, sometimes holding them as hostages for many years. Israel assumes that it can carry out such crimes with impunity because the US tolerates them and Europe generally follows the US lead.

IOA Editor: UPDATED to correct an omission from Noam Chomsky’s statement on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

Iara Lee: What happened to us is happening in Gaza (and video)

5 June 2010

[T]he Gaza Freedom Flotilla was a provocation… in the sense that civil rights protesters in the American south who sat at segregated lunch counters represented a provocation to segregationists, or in the sense that all nonviolent protests against the illegitimate acts of a government are by definition provocations. Under an illegal siege, the delivery of aid to civilians is a prohibited act; the intent of our humanitarian convoy was to violate this unjust prohibition.

IOA Editor: Iara Lee held a press conference at the UN on 10 June 2010, presenting her raw video footage from the Mavi Marmara and answering questions. Her article about the Gaza Freedom Flotilla was published earlier.

UPDATE: UN screening of ‘one-sided’ Gaza flotilla film spurs Israeli complaint

Stephen R. Shalom: Palling Around with Terrorists – Obama and the Israel-Palestine Conflict

5 June 2010

From the beginning of his administration, Obama declared that he was concerned over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and that he wanted the blockade of Gaza loosened. But Israel ignored him and the United States did nothing. Fifty-four Representatives urged the United States to apply real pressure on Israel to lift the blockade, but to no avail. There was and remains a very simple solution if Obama genuinely wants to mitigate the effects of the blockade: namely, the United States could do what Rep. Brian Baird of Washington suggested: break the blockade. Just sail supplies in by sea. Israel certainly isn’t going to sink U.S. navy vessels.

Israel arrests Free Gaza chief

4 June 2010

Israeli forces arrested the chairwoman of the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla at Friday’s demonstration in Bil’in, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, supporters said. Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian-American from Michigan, is a human rights activist who was on board the aid flotilla that came under attack Monday, in a raid that left nine dead.

Graham Usher: No change at the UN

4 June 2010

[T]he blockade has been a colossal moral, political and diplomatic failure. Not only has it wrought a humanitarian catastrophe on Gaza’s 1.5 million people: it has so strengthened Hamas that it alone could claim the high ground in the wake of the flotilla debacle. It was that moral weight that compelled Egypt to open Gaza’s Rafah crossing into the Sinai on 1 June.

Hamas officials given one month to leave Israel

4 June 2010

Jerusalem police confiscated the Israeli identity cards of four Hamas legislators overnight on Thursday and gave them until July to leave the country.

IOA Editor: This Haaretz headline is, of course, misleading. The Palestinian leaders were given a month before they’d be forced out of East Jerusalem. In all likelihood, their presence in Jerusalem predates Israel by centuries.

Sasha Polakow-Suransky: Time for Peres to come clean

4 June 2010

The revelations in my book, “The Unspoken Alliance: Israel’s Secret Alliance with Apartheid South Africa,” have angered Israelis across the political spectrum… President Shimon Peres has said “there exists no basis in reality for the claims” put forward in my book. Beilin… has decided to stand by his former boss… as he told The New York Times: “The president’s denial puts an end to the subject.” It does not.

Merav Michaeli: Nothing to investigate – Everyone knows what was wrong about the flotilla attack

4 June 2010

Israel’s entrenchment is so deep-seated that it has announced it will certainly not lift the blockade on Gaza. Its blindness means that there is sure to be another round… There is nothing to investigate. This is the situation; everyone knows it. We just have to decide whether to go on like this, or take a deep breath and choose a different path.

Guardian: Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range

4 June 2010

Israel was tonight under pressure to allow an independent inquiry into its assault on the Gaza aid flotilla after autopsy results on the bodies of those killed, obtained by the Guardian, revealed they were peppered with 9mm bullets, many fired at close range.

Freedom Flotilla attack: Daniel Machover of Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights

3 June 2010

Full video of Daniel Machover from press conference organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Also appearing was Sarah Colborne who was on the ship stormed by Israeli commandos.

UK Lawyers: In law Israel has a case to answer

3 June 2010

An embargo on adequate food and medical aid can never be lawful, so those on board had the right to defend themselves. The attack by Israeli forces on the Turkish-registered vessel Mavi
Marmara in international waters was clearly unlawful.

Interior Minister seeks to revoke Israeli Arab MK’s citizenship

3 June 2010

“In recent days,” Yishai wrote, “Israel’s citizens have witnessed how an Israeli member of parliament, Hanin Zuabi, headed a group of terrorists who aimed to hurt Israel Defense Forces soldiers, under the protection of her parliamentary immunity.”

Moshé Machover: Colonizers’ Hutzpah

3 June 2010

[P]rotected by a Western empire, you colonize a part of the world, ethnically cleanse as many of its indigenous people as you can, and confine the remainder to stew in a series of besieged reservations, which are in effect open prisons. And when the victims try to resist, you depict them as “savages” and “terrorists”; and present yourself, the colonizer, as acting in “self-defence”. Similarly, when humanitarian sympathizers of the colonized try to provide them with some help.

British survivor of Gaza flotilla raid: ‘Israelis ignored SOS calls’

3 June 2010

“We can’t sit by and watch Israel violate international law every day. We want the British government to take action, ensure there is no future attacks on humanitarian aid convoys, to ensure there is a search carried out for those that remain missing, to ensure that those people who have been detained illegally will be released and most importantly to end the siege of Gaza.”

IOA editors: Israel Exposed

3 June 2010

Once again, following the last Israeli massacre of civilians in Gaza in 2008-2009, Israel has exposed its true face for the world to see: a brutal military regime of occupation and repression, driven by state power and fortified by a popular war mood. Since 1948, the Palestinians have suffered the brunt of Israel’s dispossessing violence. And now the citizens of the world are suffering as well, from Britain to Turkey and to Kuwait; from members of parliament to ordinary citizens, men and women of all ages, national origins and religious backgrounds. The conscience of the world continues to stir for Gaza, and Israel has hysterically and brutally crushed it: an evil deed for a good deed.

Nadia Hijab: Israel’s dilemma

3 June 2010

And things will continue to unravel for Israel because it only knows how to use force to try to get its way. Ironically, Israel’s overkill has made the use of force so costly for those who favor armed resistance that the stage has been left clear for those who believe it is more effective to use civil resistance against a vastly superior armed force. It should be noted that Palestinian civil resistance is not new although it has recently been “discovered” by the mainstream media.

Haneen Zoabi: Flotilla Interview on RT

2 June 2010

RT (Rusian TV in English) interviews MK Haneen Zoabi.

Palestinian Arab MK Haneen Zoabi Viciously Attacked in Israel’s Parliament

2 June 2010

Palestinian member of Israel’s parliament, MK Haneen Zoabi, was viciously attacked and physically threatened by her Israeli Knesset “colleagues” who attempted to shut her out. Quite a remarkable display of Israel’s democracy-for-Jews, and only for Jews. This extreme level of abuse is unprecedented, exposing Israel’s true face as it concerns Palestinian Arab citizens, including Knesset members. Among the name-calling, “traitor,” “terrorist,” and “Trojan Horse” (video and text).