Friday 4 June 2010

Forgotten Floatilla

So it's only been a few days since the Israeli massacre aboard the peace floatilla.. so, the big question is have we already forgotten about it?

I hope not, and I leave you with this most excellent clip.



Found here:http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/06/israel-flotilla-raid-breakdown-of-whos-right-and-wrong.html

Peace.

7 comments:

JC said...

I agree:

1) this incident took place in international waters.

2) that the Israelis should have waited until the ship was in their territorial waters.

But why did the people on that aid ship start battering their enemy first?

I understand it was a ship carrying aid to the Palestinians in Gaza. Hence, their primary objective should have been to just be, let the Israelis board their ship even if it was in international waters, deal with the situation without flexing any muscles and ensure there wasn't any violence where deaths were the end result of their hasty action.

Maybe what I've said above is easier said than done but I just thought I'd present my views on the situation after viewing the video.

rosh said...

"Nine Turkish activists killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship were shot a total of 30 times and five died of gunshot wounds to the head, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Friday.

Autopsy results showed the men were hit mostly with 9mm bullets, many fired at close range, the Guardian said

A 19-year-old, named as Fulkan Dogan, who also has U.S. citizenship, was shot five times from less than 45 cm (18 inches) away, in the face, the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back, it said."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100604/wl_nm/us_israel_flotilla_autopsies

This reads, cold blooded murder.

BuJ said...

Thanks JC, Rosh and Dubai Jazz

What's "weird" is that Israel allowed this autopsy report to "leak" to the press.

However, the floatilla massacre is a unique event since the people targeted where not stateless Palestinians without a voice but citizens of sovereign countries such as Turkey and the USA.

Thus Israel couldn't keep hold of the bodies for long and would risk even more embarrassment, so I'm sure they quietly and silently returned them to their respective countries (e.g. Turkey).

The Turks would then have done the autopsy.

Anyway, this is my opinion/conclusions based on the facts I know, I'm yet to read more about this from official news source. Any more information welcome.

Borders said...

Yes Buj, the bodies were returned to Turkey and the autopsy took place there hence the "leak".


@JC, Believe me, if the activists on floatilla let the soldiers board without confrontation, soldiers wouldnt have acted peacefully anyway. Israel was determined to harrass, declaring there were 2 hamas officals on board 4 days before the incident.

And Israel is editing videos before broadcasting, full versions are available in media. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-video-shows-flotilla-passengers-tell-israel-navy-to-go-back-to-auschwitz-1.294249 I found this today and what can i say, who they are kidding?

These are the people shot a “suspicious” laptop. I wonder if the laptop resisted or acted first so the soldiers needed self defence? http://lilysussman.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/im-sorry-but-we-blew-up-your-laptop-welcome-to-israel/

Borders said...

And the Greek activists who were on the other ship, said that although they didnt confront the soldiers and surrendered, they were electroshocked. I wonder how they will explain this?

JC said...

Günaydın Borders:

I saw that :Auschwitz: reference amongst other videos at the IDF's Youtube channel.

I'll ask you a very straightforward question.

Why the sudden interest from Turkey, the Irish and others towards the Palestinian predicament?

As we all know, the Palestinian suffering is not new but in my opinion, I find the current course or mode of assistance to be anything but assistance. More so, a provocatively wrapped political agenda, for lack of a better term!

Borders said...

Well, actually I wouldn’t call it a sudden interest. Until the 1980 coup in Turkey, socialist and communist youth would spend time in Palestine fighting against Israelis. They received guerilla training in other ME and North African countries ((so did the Irish!) to fight side by side with Palestinians. It was an important cause for them. After the 1980 coup, these groups had lost interest in the cause and as the Islamic movements started to rise in Turkey, they adopted the cause. Now, with the Islamic party in power, this group started to express themselves more openly, that is without the fear of the military-elite. (Of course the cause is supported by different parts of the society but it is usually associated with religious people) People of Turkey have always been sensitive about Palestinian cause, maybe even because we think they were part of the Ottoman Empire and our heritage.

Last year, when PM of Turkey walked out of the forum in Davos, he was very well received by different parts of the society and this also became a domestic issue where he realized he could get more votes. As you can see, our PM and MPs "unwilling/unable" take concrete action because they do value Israel as an important ally; we are still expecting unmanned military planes from Israel to be delivered in the near future. Partnerships continues but behind closed doors!. Infact, I personally believe that there is a secret agenda between Israeli and Turkish governments directly linked to domestic affairs of noth countries.

This is all I can say about Turkey. But again, I wouldn’t call all this a “sudden interest”. This isn’t the first attempt to end the siege in Gaza. It’s the 9th attempt by Free Gaza Movement, which is the main organizer of the flotillas. This one on the other hand was the biggest and most crowded one, and since this time people on the ships confronted the army, it became internationally significant which was the main objective in the first place; to divert attention to blockade in Gaza.

Media is also a huge factor. They decide if something will make the headlines or not. This time there was also “the social media”; people were informed thru Twitter, etc.

As you said, this isn’t new; its been going on for a long time!! So it is time for international community to put an end to suffering of Palestinian people.