In October 1985, four Palestinian gunmen from the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) stormed an Italian cruise ship on the Mediterranean, holding its approximately 700 vacationers hostage while demanding the release of their comrades-in-arms from Israeli prison.
The hijacking of the Achille Lauro, during which the hijackers killed an elderly, wheelchair-bound Jewish-American man--Leon Klinghoffer--and then threw his body into the sea, ranked as one of the most ignominious acts ever committed by Palestinians.
President Ronald Reagan vowed swift action, promising that "we're going to do everything we can to see that they [PLF hijackers] are brought to justice." Indeed, the "Old Gipper" was as good as his word. After Egypt mediated an end to the hostage crisis by freeing the passengers in exchange for the hijackers' safe passage to Tunisia, the United States scrambled F-14 Tomcats from the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga and forced the airplane carrying the hijackers to land at a NATO base in Sicily. After a brief diplomatic stand-off over jurisdiction between Italy and the United States, the hijackers were prosecuted and imprisoned in Italy.
To determine whether the Pledge of Allegiance's promise of "justice for all" holds true in all circumstances, compare Reagan's aggressive response to the killing of a U.S. citizen on the Mediterranean Sea to the tepid response of the Obama Administration in the same scenario.
On May 31, Israel interdicted, boarded, and assaulted the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, comprised of six ships carrying 700 international humanitarian activists and 10,000 tons of desperately needed humanitarian supplies to the 1.5 million blockaded Palestinian civilians living under Israeli military occupation in the Gaza Strip, in the international waters of the Mediterranean.
During this attack, Israel killed nine civilians, injured dozens more, and abducted hundreds against their will to Israel for detention and deportation. Of those killed, one was a U.S. citizen, Furkan Dogan, a 19 year-old student whose body was riddled with four gunshots to the head and one to the chest. At least two other U.S. citizens, Huwaida Arraf and Dr. Paul Larudee were beaten by Israeli forces, the latter of whom required hospitalization. Later that day, Israeli forces in the occupied Palestinian West Bank shot a 21 year-old U.S. citizen, Emily Henochowicz, in the face with a tear gas canister during a nonviolent protest against the attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. She is currently recuperating in a hospital after losing an eye and undergoing facial reconstruction surgery.
In the Obama Administration's most comprehensive statement to date on the injuring and killing of these U.S. citizens, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated on June 3:
"Protecting the welfare of American citizens is a fundamental responsibility of our government and one that we take very seriously. We are in constant contact with the Israeli Government, attempting to obtain more information about our citizens. We have made no decisions at this point on any additional specific actions that our government should take with respect to our own citizens."
It doesn't sound as if the Obama Administration will be scrambling fighter jets anytime soon to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak for ordering these attacks against U.S. civilians.
Since the Obama Administration is having trouble deciding how to punish Israel for injuring and killing U.S. citizens, here's a suggested first step: launch an investigation into whether Israel violated the Arms Export Control Act (AECA).
The AECA stipulates that weapons provided by the United States can only be used by foreign countries for "internal security" or "legitimate self-defense." Since Israel engaged in act of aggression in international waters, it is self-evident that Israel violated this law.
The United States has provided the Israeli navy and air force with weapons through Foreign Military Financing (FMF) budget allocations that were, or may have been, used in this attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. According to the Jerusalem Post, the Israel Air Force used three Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to transport its commandos to the ships. The Israel Air Force is reported to have 49 of these combat helicopters.
In addition, the United States has transferred additional weapons to the Israeli Navy that may have been used in violation of the AECA during its attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. In July 2008, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DCSA) notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Israel of four littoral combat ships (LCS-I variant), associated equipment, and services valued at up to $1.9 billion. The Israeli Navy is also reported to have three Sa'ar 5-class corvettes built in the United States.
Press reports also indicate that Israel may have used U.S. guns, ammunition, night vision goggles, and crowd dispersal weapons in its attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. The high-velocity tear-gas canister which injured Emily Henochowicz was likely of U.S. origin as well.
How much longer should the United States be expected to underwrite $30 billion in weapons for Israeli military occupation and apartheid toward Palestinians, when these weapons are being misused not only to perpetrate terrible human rights abuses against Palestinians, but against U.S. citizens as well?
A finding by the Obama Administration that Israel violated the AECA would be the first step towards accountability and sanctions, both of which are necessary to halt Israel's intransigence in the face of ever-expanding global opposition to its policies.
Learn more about the devastating impact of U.S. military aid to Israel, how much money your community provides, what that money could be used for instead in your community, and how to take action to end military aid to Israel by clicking here.
Josh Ruebner is the National Advocacy Director of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a national coalition of more than 325 organizations working to change U.S. policy toward Israel/Palestine to support human rights, international law, and equality.
I am an American first and foremost.... my allegiance is to the USA, not Italy where my ancestors came from. I hope, but do not believe, that the Jews in the US feel the same way.
Gaza is ruled by the Hamas, a terrorist organization aiming at destruction of Israel and killing as many Israeli civilians as they can in the process. In spite of this, Israel supplies Gaza with electricity and water, and allows transfer of generous aid from other countries. Given the recent history including interception of two Iranian ships headed to Gaza and loaded with weapons, one must be suicidal not to inspect goods delivered to Gaza.
Being an American citizen does not preclude one from being a terrorist. It makes no sence for the American government to extend protection to terrorists only because they are the citizens of the US.
Mr. Dogan, on the other hand, was no innocent civilian. He was among a group of extremists on the Mavi Marmara who came aboard with axes, knives and other weapons with intent to attack and kill Israeli personnel when they boarded the ship.
It cannot be said enough, in light of the distortions being purveyed by people like Ruebner, that on the other five ships interdicted by Israel there was no violence because there were no brutal attacks on the Israelis. Only on the Mavi Marmara were the extremists at work.
Several other points need saying:
• Israel is blockading Gaza because Hamas seeks weapons to attack Israel to fulfill its stated goal to eliminate the Jewish state.
• Israel stops weapons from going into Gaza; it allows basic necessities to go through after inspection. There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
• Israel offered to let the goods on the ships to go to Gaza. This was rejected by the activists.
Leon Klinghoffer was a true victim of terrorism. Furkan Dogan’s death was tragic, but the terrorism was his, not Israel's.
The Anti-Defamation League
The rest of ADL's comments is full of similar distortions, which isn't surprising, because this is pretty much their mode of operation: They are not about uncovering truth and working for justice. Rather, their focus is on silencing critics of Israel, and defending Israel's policies and actions at all times.
Needless to say, Israeli people (as opposed to the ruling elites) would be much better off without such "support".
1). About the other 5 ships. Of course there was resistance to Israelies on those ships. But it was not as violent as on the 6-th ship, where the "activists" were well prepared with knives and clubs. This is why there were no lives lost on the 5 ships, and there were on the 6-th, in response to brutal lynching of the first soldiers who boarded the ship.
2). About Furkan Dogan, the so-called "american citizen", who actually lived al his life, since he was two, in Turkey. He was shot five times at close range. This tells me that he was one of the active attackers.
3). What are "similar distortions" in the ADL comments? Obviously you cannot name one.
4). I guess Israeli people would be much better off without Hamas rockets falling from the sky, or Iranian help to Hamas, or existential threat from not only Hamas, but also well-armed Hezbollah and a miriad of other terrorist organizations, as well as the countries like Syria and soon to be nuclear Iran.
Klinghoffer was a lifelong resident of the US with strong community ties. Furkan Dogan's US citizenship was a fortuitous legal benefit of his mother having been in the US when she gave birth to him before the family returned to Turkey to raise their son as a Turk with dual citizenship.
I am outraged at Israel's unlawful raid and at the US government's predictably lame response, but please, would the US media quit trumpeting Furkan Dogan's US citizenship? The only thing that distinguished the young man from his fellow countrymen killed by the IDF was the English-language birth certificate from a Troy, NY, hospital in his personal records and possibly the passport he was traveling on.
If we are expected to extend US diplomatic might and consular assistance to any US passport holder regardless of that person's family and community ties to our country, then that is yet one more reason to restrict birthright citizenship. Real citizenship is so much more than a birth certificate and a passport.
Israel has repeated ly shown itself to be a poor ally who doesn't hesitate to hurt American interests as well as physically assaulting Americans at will. A number of Americans, including Jewish Americans, have been denied entrance into Israel or occupied Palestine for the crime of disagreeing with the Israeli government. Israel is not our friend.
I could go on on forever... But, I get my kid tomorrow, so I gotta sleep now. I HAVE a kid! Some of the parents of the first flotilla don't anymore... Sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Isreal s|_|cks...
To further add insult to injury, it is Israel that most strongly advocates this war on terror for which American troops are stationed across the Muslim world. Israeli belligerence towards international law and everything that the rest of the world accepts creates great danger for the hundreds of thousands of American troops stationed throughout Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Muslim world. The deal was always that Israel is an American ally that benefits from American projection of power in her neighborhood...in return, Israel would behave with US interests in mind and would promote them in the region. The Israelis are getting everything from this deal and the Americans are getting an "ally" that not only violates every agreement and law, but actively damages American interests across the board. Israel has become excess baggage and its time to cut her loose!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_assessments_of_the_Gaza_flotilla_raid
At best this question is highly contentious. What is not contentious is that Israeli soldiers were attacked while attempting to board the ship and only then fired live ammunition, in view of the video evidence provided by the Israelis and since Turkish autopsy revealed that they were killed from a close range and with 9mm rounds, which fully corroborates IDF's account.
from your link:
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International law experts differ over the legality of the Israel action, with some saying that the raid is a violation of the Law of the Sea, while others maintain that Israel may legally board foreign vessels in international waters as part of a naval blockade. Both sides state that Israel is required by law to respond with only a proportional use of force in the face of violent resistance; whether the force used was proportional is disputed.
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all legal experts agree on one thing -- the proportionate use of force.
deference to legal expertise suggests, dangor, that you have a calm rational mind.
this however you promptly lose when you say:
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"What is not contentious is that Israeli soldiers were attacked while attempting to board the ship and only then fired live ammunition."
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here is an excerpt from the new york times contending your adamancy:
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"The crack of an Israeli sound grenade and a hail of rubber bullets from above were supposed to disperse activists, but instead set them in motion. And when three Israeli commandos slid down ropes out of helicopters to take over the ship, a crowd set upon them."
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/world/europe/05reconstruct.html?ref=world
it was co-written by ethan bronner. mr bronner is the new york times jerusalem bureau chief.
his son is a soldier in the idf. knowing this mr bronner could be assumed to be biased.
in favour of israel.
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Name ten winners of election to Federal office since 1974 that have won against AIPAC and allied money without having support of same. They don't exist. Funny how 'democracy' works.
Preposterous piece.
The Palestinians didn't just get up and walk away from Palestine, they were terrorized out of their homes and lives and the principles that created that situation are ideas that the US has no business backing...