Every news outlet in the world has been running the tape of the Israeli commando raid on Free Gaza Flotilla released by the Israeli Defense Forces. It lasts about a minute and clearly shows the commandos being attacked by the people on board as they rappel down from their helicopters.
I don't argue with that portion of the tape at all. You can see the sticks and rods clearly. The passengers do hit the commandos boarding their ship. To argue otherwise is ludicrous. But what we don't see is what happened before and after that one minute of tape that was released.
Eyewitnesses say that the Israeli forces had already used live fire on the ship before they attempted to board it. Is that true? I have no idea. Could the people on board have thought they were defending themselves against people who were already shooting at them? Sure. But could the Israelis have used tear gas or non-live fire in reality and it was mistaken for live fire? That's also definitely possible. It'd be great to see the tape to see if we can make a determination about that one way or another.
Perhaps even more importantly, what happened after the moment in time captured by the tape? When did the commandos start firing on the passengers? When did they stop firing? In the tapes made on board, you can clearly hear that the ship has surrendered and the captain has put up the white flag - and there is still gunfire in the background.
I can speak Turkish, so having watched all the tapes, I can tell you that over the loud speaker the people in charge of the ship are saying, "We have surrendered, the white flag is up, people are lying on the ground and they are still firing." And you still hear the gunfire as they are saying this on tape.
When did the commandos start shooting and, maybe even more importantly, when did they stop shooting? Was it all in the heat of an active confrontation or were there any shootings after people had already laid down and surrendered completely? That would seem to be a critical question.
Without the full tapes there is no way of knowing. Are there tapes of what happened after the one minute we have seen? Of course there are. There is no reason why they would have stopped taping at that point in time. They have selectively released only the portion of the tape that they think helps their cause.
So, it is incumbent upon Israel to release the full tapes immediately. There is no reason, other than propaganda and spin, not to release the tapes. If they show you were right in using force, then that helps to make your case. I am completely open to that possibility. We shouldn't jump to conclusions. The full tapes might vindicate the IDF entirely. But if the IDF does not release the rest of the tapes, then it seems to be a fair assumption that the tapes do not help their case.
It's also very important that news organizations that run the tape released by the IDF note that this is only a very small fraction of what happened in this incident. And that the IDF refuses to release the tapes that would show the rest of the picture. If you're a news organization, you should be in the business of going after the whole truth, demanding as much information as possible and giving your viewers a full context of the story. I would hope that they would do that going forward.
If the Israeli government is convinced they took the appropriate action in this case, they can go a long way toward proving that by giving us the whole tape. If not, we have to assume they're hiding something. That opens them up to justifiable speculation as to what they really did on board that ship. In the end, nine passengers were killed and dozens more shot and wounded. How did that happen? Was it in any way justifiable? There's only one way to know. Release the tapes.
UPDATE: Israel has just released another one minute tape of the flotilla attack. This goes to my point exactly -- they have so many more tapes of what happened on board, both from the IDF perspective and video shot on board the ship from the passengers' perspective. Until they release all of these, these pre-selected propaganda pieces should only raise more questions about what they are not showing us.
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Ahmed Rehab: Israel Gaza Attack: Do Actions of the 'Jewish State' Represent Jewish Values?
Israel's failure is not a failure of Jewish values. If anything, it's a failure to apply Jewish values.
Planes carrying 503 Gaza activists, 9 bodies leave Israel
But let's be real. They will NEVER release the tapes. And we know why they won't release them, and frankly - I don't blame them. Ever heard of "self-incrimination"?
Maybe one day in the far-off future it will happen. Like one day - and I hope I'll still be alive then - they'll release the Warren Report on JFK's assassination. Until then, I'm not holding my breath. There is a slight glimmer of hope, though. For decades, the US military refused to release film footage confiscated from photographers and cameramen during WW2. The material was classified as "war gains" (although I prefer the term "booty"). And it wasn't just the property of the Nazis; indeed, hundreds of hours of footage by French film makers was seized. Even if you don't enjoy watching bloodshed, these film makers did not set out to chronicle events for their enterainment value, but for posterity.
It's great to seek the truth, but sometimes you just have to use your powers of deduction until the truth is laid bare.
I've found ridiculous speculation as to what would happen with the Irish ship and hoping that the outcome would have Ireland dragging into the International Criminal Court. Such stupid speculation, when the Irish government has set out its position.
“We have continued to make it clear to the Israeli government . . . that we want maximum restraint and we do not want any interception in international waters,” Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said. “It has been a terrible week in terms of the loss of life and there is now an obligation on all involved to reduce tension . . . It is extremely important that we do not have a repeat of what happened earlier this week.”
Israel’s ambassador to Ireland, Zion Evrony, has said Israel does not expect any confrontation or violence when the MV Rachel Corrie approaches the exclusion zone"
Please read the whole article.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0603/breaking60.html
Irish Times Q and A "Was the interception, in international waters, legal"... Under the law of blockade, a nation has the right to intercept a vessel in international waters so long as it is deemed to be bound for a "belligerent" territory, legal experts say. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0603/breaking51.html?via=rel
1. If the IDF did not encounter any resistance on the first five boats, as both the IDF and the activists have claimed, why would they approach the sixth ship with guns blazing? Why would they put their soldiers in a position to get hurt, which you can see from the released tapes, when they have such a disregard for human life? Why didn't they just raze the deck and make sure it was clear before landing soldiers? And lastly, if they "kept firing after people had surrendered", why were only nine people killed?
2. What's the point of releasing the rest of the tapes? If they exonerate Israel, you and the rest will claim they were doctored by Israeli techies dedicated to covering up the truth.
I would be careful if I were you before you take the words of the activists as truth. They've already lied about a) the goal of the flotilla, b) the cargo of the flotilla, and c) the number of activists killed by Israel.
1) I have not read anywhere that the boat you arbitrarily call "the sixth" was the last boat attacked. as a matter of fact there is evidence that it was the first to be boarded. That only this boat offered resistance is no mystery as it had the vast majority of people in the convoy, it was a passenger ferry, not a cargo ship. There are a growing number of reports that declare that the ship was fired upon before it was boarded, I expect that those reports will continue to grow as the hostages return to their countries of origin, at least those countries which still have a free press.
2) If those tapes and photo's were likely to exonerate Israel why steal them in the first place?
3) What lie was told about the goal of the flotilla? What lie was told about the cargo of the flotilla? The original estimate of deaths was 19, I believe that was the IDF estimate.
When I was a kid, collecting worms to go fishing, I remember that when you turned over a big rock and exposed the underworld to sunlight all of the photo-sensative wormies would squirm to crawl away, back into the dark. That is exactly what you people remind me of.
The "just released" tape is a color re-release of the first (black & white) tape that you used in one of your other pieces.
It has been edited to cut out the beginning showing soldiers descending the ropes from the helicopters and begins with the box of dishes being thrown at the boat. The 'descending' soldiers were mis-identified in the tape as being "on" the ship and subsequently being thrown over the railing (down to the next level, I think, but I could be wrong about that) so was clipped from this tape.
Secondly:
"In the end, nine passengers were killed and dozens more shot and wounded."
Doesn't this pretty well say it all? No soldier was killed or wounded? Who had the guns? They were a big help what with being up against chains, chairs, dishes and metal rods.
That's exactly why animals in the wild have fangs, claws, stingers and horns. They too have as much chance against hunters' guns.
Before the tapes were edited, one could hear gunfire from the helo's while the troops were looking down at the deck and had not yet descended. I thought this most likely when they were shooting at the Bridge. If the commandos fired upon the Bridge before descending I would have fought them myself upon landing and thrown them overboard into the ships propellers if possible.
Class and type: Passenger ship
Tonnage: 4,142 GT (gross tonnage)
Length: 93 m (305 ft)[4]
Beam: 20 m (66 ft)[4]
Draft: 4 m (13 ft)[5]
Installed power: 4,400 kW[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Mavi_Marmara
What's the biggest ship the Israeli's have? Corvettes
Class and type: Corvette
Displacement:
1,227 tonnes (full load)
1,075 tonnes (standard)
Length: 85.64 metres (280.97 ft)
Beam: 11.88 metres (38.98 ft)
Draft: 3.17 metres (10.40 ft)
Propulsion:
Combined Diesel or Gas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa'ar_5-class_corvette
I'm certainly no expert, but I think this rules out forcing the ship away from Gaza.
What's left?
Sinking the ship if they won't stop even after warning shots
Disabling the ship by firing on it and hitting the engine
Sending aboard soldiers to take control of the ship.
because this one is NOT convincing!
And that was when there was supposed to be mutual co-existence between the parties. There is no way that Israel will allow merchant ships to reach Gaza without having them thoroughly searched.
Thinking otherwise is the triumph of ideology over sense. So since this is going to happen, Israel's actions were mild --- putting troops on board to take control of the ship.
Like finding a way to let international aid flow into Gaza in the amount that's needed. Too difficult for Israel to do, though. (Some geniuses!)
And you do know that Hamas has blocked the entry of goods from the ships into Gaza?
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-03/hamas-refuses-israel-s-delivery-of-flotilla-supplies-update1-.html
Did you also know that the Egyptians are determined to prevent smuggled goods reaching Gaza? They're building an underground wall, complete with the ability to send water underground that will stop tunnelling.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20006362-503543.html
The way for international aid to reach Gaza is through Egypt or Israel. That's the way it has been getting there now.
Israel hasn't cared what the world thinks for decades but they need to understand that this isn't sustainable. I guess they think that they have nothing to gain and everything to lose by altering their strategy. IMHO, it's a lose - lose for everyone.
My feelings of tolerance towards the current regime is waning quickly. Israel needs to find a new way to do things. To reflect their own history of suffering, and to never, ever for any reason bring such suffering on another people.
The international community has been unhappy about Likud policies for a very long time. This may be the spark that finally changes the "status quo" in this regard.
And if the was the Flotilla's intent? To cause an incident and reveal the true nature of Israel's policies and actions?
Mission Accomplished.
(I don't believe this was the intention. I think it was "flying in the face of authority in the name of what is good and right", typically an honored and respected act... that it ended up a huge incident is really secondary. That it ended so tragically was surely not part of anyone's "plan".... )
As is reported Israel refused any international investigation – but that isn’t a reason to try to coverup that up for Israel with a farcical investigation that no one will believe – even if she and ‘one American observer’ participate.
Mr Obama – may I ask if that one American observer will be alive or dead? If it’s a dead body then it will not be able to observe very much – just a heads-up. But that may be the idea? – a dead man telling no tales would be ‘good’ for Israel? Well that isn’t good enough for me
Mr Biden - is the reason you went on national TV yesterday to spout off to the world that Israel was right to do what she did - when you certainly already knew about this American citizen having been slaughtered by Israel - so you wouldn't have to come on TV today and explain WHY Israel should not be subjected to an investigation?
Well we the people demand an international investigation, under the auspices of the UN, not just an farcical Israeli con-job investigation with an American observer, because frankly Mr Obama, I no longer trust you to protect the rights of Americans when it comes to Israel.
BTW, Israel is wondering if anyone has a spare license key for the full version of Photoshop. Totally unrelated, of course.
I am troubled by the "snippets" released, heavily redacted and framing it with added graphics and statements...
You see, I've hung about with magicians for many years. What makes "magic" is something called "redirection" (or "misdirection"). It's really easy to get you to shift your attention, and even a slight shift is all it may take to make the sudden appearance of a bird "out of nowhere" (actually right from the place your attention was directed AWAY from) seem amazingly magical...
Video can be used very effectively this way too. Especially annotated video.
Think again of what you watched. In the most recents minute, you remember the plates (circled) the hoses (mentioned), the swirling chains (circled), right...?
How many Commandos were on the boat? What were they doing exactly (aside from what appears to be "cowering")?
How many people on the ship trying to repel them?
Here's the really big question: How many times was that video spliced and edited? How many cuts in that minute or so of footage?
Interestingly, without the "redirection" or annotation taking your attention, those are the sorts of things you would have normally noticed and observed right away.
When the attention is "directed", other details are lost or fade from memory quickly.
We can't judge the events based on what is essentially an advertisement. We need to see the raw footage, and all of it.
If someone re-edited the text to read:
"Attack military Apache helicopter (arrow pointing up)"
"Armed soldiers descending into boat"
"Aid volunteers using chairs and bars to defend themselves"... etc,
you might feel differently about what happened. No doubt the Israeli propaganda machine was very aware of this, which is why the chances of getting the full video is Z-E-R-O.
Reading those little tags in the video almost seemed quaint in their transparent attempt at propaganda.
Seriously, how stupid do they think we are?
I think your points are extremely valid.
What's even more incredible, is how fast these videos hit the newswire. By getting these out first, complete with a redirected narrative, they colored opinion and the resulting debate very effectively. Without them, there simply was no debate.
It sure was fast, too. Less than 24 hours after the incident, yes?
It's a "representation", not a "video representing the facts"...
Take the Gaza invasion a year ago: Hamas rockets are terrible, and I do not mean to discount the fear they caused in the slightest. But they killed only a few Israeli soldiers, and no civilians (http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/12/the-truth-about-those-hamas-rockets/), whereas the invasion killed upwards of 1500 Palestinians in three weeks of Israeli barrage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_War#Casualties).
Take the Freedom Flotilla: Let's say Israel is right, there were implements of war on board some of the ships. Why start something in international waters? Why set up a blockade that keeps out meat, fresh fruit, things people need for their families every day, in the first place?
I've never heard anyone answer these questions satisfactorily. As near as I can tell, the best case to be made for Israel, is that a small-scale operation like Hamas is just as threatening as any full-scale government, and any savagery against the people of Palestinian territories is fully justified until such time as there is not a soul left on earth who claims to be a member of Hamas. I'm sorry, but that just doesn't make sense.
Hamas is smuggling weapons into Gaza through the tunnels. But they're limited by the size of the tunnels.
If Israel didn't prevent ships from reaching Gaza, Hamas could bring in much heavier weapons. That's not going to happen.
If the Gaza flotilla was just about humanitarian goods reaching Gaza, they just had to come into Ashod where Israel has already started trying to move them into Gaza.
No, this isn't a blockade, it's a "siege" (I'm quoting Likud members of the Knesset on that).
You don't hand supplies to the besieging army, and expect them to deliver it to the besieged...
They deliver token amounts, and withhold the rest.
This is why they decided to go directly, with a flotilla of ships.
They weren't smuggling rocket parts, guns and ammunition to Gaza...
"According to Flotilla passenger Shatha Barakat, Syrian national and one of the detainees who was released from the Ber Al-Saba, in hebrew Beer Sheva jail, "when I went to the top of the ship to help the sanitary unit to take care of the wounded people, I saw the commandos landing during heavy shooting toward our ship from the Israeli boots surrounding us and also from the helicopters". She confirmed that some Israeli soldiers were wounded on board the ship due to the indiscriminate shooting by the Israeli military helicopters and boats (friendly fire). She stated that all peace activists were unarmed and that nobody was carrying any kind or weapon"