Enough is enough. How have we reached a point in politics where lies are the norm, and populations can't be heard through the media machinations bent on keeping the disinformation afloat?
Today I realized that being a "terrorist" is maybe a good thing. Many thanks to the lovely ladies of the Lebanese aid flotilla who are the latest group of civilians attempting to bust open Israel's illegal economic blockade of the Gaza Strip.
I was sitting in my summer-rental in Beirut this morning, enjoying a leisurely Sunday and surfing the web to catch up on some news when I came across a despicable commentary piece by Ben Cohen, a run-of-the-mill propagandist at the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
Right here on the Huffington Post, Cohen launched into a diatribe against the latest aid flotilla headed for Gaza - this time an all-female ship called the "Mariam" which is named after the Virgin Mary and boasts a crew of Lebanese ladies and foreign nationals from the Arab world, US, Canada, France, Serbia, Holland, Finland and other countries. With zero evidence whatsoever, Cohen tries to malign this humanitarian effort by linking the flotilla and its participants to Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah:
"This flotilla is being organized by Yasser Kashlak, a Palestinian businessman based in Lebanon. Kashlak is known for his ties to terror groups, having shared the platform at a January "pro-resistance" conference in Beirut with representatives of Hezbollah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Syrian Ba'ath Party and the Iranian Vice-President, Reza Mir Tajeddini. Kashlak insists that his flotilla is an independent initiative, but Al Manar, Hezbollah's broadcasting arm, disagrees, noting that the voyage was announced less than a day after Nasrallah appealed for more flotillas to head for Gaza. The assertion of no connection with Hezbollah is further undermined by the presence of Samar Hajj, the wife of a former Lebanese General jailed for his part in the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri."
The article - ostensibly about the flotilla - uses every trick in the substandard-journalism book to connect individuals and groups by mashing together tidbits of information to suggest a coherent linkage. Have an Arab-sounding name? Palestinian is better. Have a beard? Headscarf? Good. I can make you into a terrorist in 24 hours or less.
We saw how the original Freedom Flotilla, in the hands of the Israeli media-spinning machine, turned into a ship of Islamic terrorists in a nanosecond. Funny then how quickly the Israelis expedited the release of 600+ terrorists in custody.
The international outrage over Israel's deadly attack on a civilian ship ensured that Tel Aviv took it easy with the next aid ship - the Rachel Corrie, named after the American girl who was deliberately run over by an Israeli bulldozer while she was peacefully protesting the demolition of Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip. The Israelis could hardly afford to kill Rachel Corrie twice.
But now Israel has a bit of a problem. There are still many flotillas being planned, and they cannot afford for these non-violent humanitarian missions to de facto overturn their military decrees. Right or wrong, Israel must protect its Gazan siege at any cost, otherwise its every ruling suddenly becomes open to protest and international opinion. That's no way to run a military state.
So this next boat is making them rub their hands with glee. It is Lebanese in origin. Easy target - they're Arabs, have Arab sounding names, therefore the association-game will be put into play once more. Rashid Khalidi - you ain't seen nothing yet.
And, apparently, mainstream Jewish-American groups like the AJC are happy to drive that point home. These are not women, they are terrorists, Cohen extrapolates. They know some terrorists, they have been in the same room as some terrorists, they eat the same food as the terrorists...therefore they are terrorists.
Firstly, let me point out that the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah is not considered a terrorist organization by any other nation than Israel, the US and Canada. Hezbollah has been in a coalition with the largest Christian political party in Lebanon for the past four years - not a fact you will readily read in the US media. They are a mainstream political party, ran in democratic elections last June and have two ministers serving in the Lebanese cabinet.
Now, let's not get mired in this - it is Cohen's intention, after all, to have us discussing a Hezbollah connection with this flotilla. Just like the Lebanese-origin Miss USA - a Shiite no less - had to endure when she recently became the first Muslim-American to take that crown.
So here I am in Beirut at the start of my summer research trip in the Middle East. Great little coincidence. I picked up the phone and - lo and behold - the flotilla gals were having an organizational meeting at a hotel just down the road from me.
Lovely ladies they were. In the hubbub, I had the chance to meet and chat with a few. Firstly, they are all calling themselves Mariam, "Mary" in Arabic. They are lawyers, architects, doctors, journalists, graphic designers, students, professors, human rights activists and school teachers. Some are full-time moms too.
A few were tearing up after the obviously empassioned speech by main organizer Samar Hajj - who Cohen insinuates is a terrorist. Samar is a dynamic lady - dramatic arm gestures, twinkly eyes, a cigarette-induced gravelly voice you can hear down the hallway along with the clip-clop of her heels on the marble floor. She is on a mission and you just don't mess with ladies like this.
I don't speak Arabic, but I know that girl vibe thing. Most of these ladies had not met each other before today, but by meeting's end, there were high-fives, group hugs, laughter and some tears. They know there is a risk involved with this flotilla mission, and many have children. They are not interested in "martydom" in the least.
A 24-year-old American "Mariam" from Michigan who is married to a Lebanese man and is six months pregnant with her first child, excitedly told me that she had just decided to join yesterday. She had thought about how great it would be to break the blockade of Gaza and then "I just bumped into the opportunity."
Asked whether she worried about her pregnant state, she told me she instantly agreed to join, but then "between me and myself I thought...am I scared? Am I not scared? What about the baby? But then I decided regardless of whether I'm scared or not, this has to be done. People's lives must mean something - Palestinians in Gaza need and deserve the same life that I have, my baby has, my president has."
When asked what her husband thought of her decision, she said he wanted to go too and joked that he would sneak on board. The quick-witted mother-to-be deadpanned: "I told him not to embarrass me."
There will be a female medical doctor on board, but just in case, a handsome young Red Cross worker was brought into Sunday's meeting to show the ladies how to tie a tourniquet, staunch a wound and stabilize a broken limb. The wide-eyed audience listened intently and rushed to give him a scarf here, a ribbon there, when he searched for some material to demonstrate.
Samar Hajj - Cohen's terrorist - had this to say: "We are not a political party. We are not Hezbollah, we are not Muslim, we are not Christian. We are women and we have all become Mariam today."
On the potential dangers ahead she says: "Look, how Israel deals with humans - all of us women reject this force, aggressiveness, injustice." If there was a Jewish population in the same situation as Gaza we would stand with them and do the same thing. If they want to stop us by force, it is their problem because we have no weapons - no axes, knives and sticks, no guns. We just come armed with our belief in justice and freedom."
She continued: "Come meet us, see us. We are not terrorists. What we know is to cook, work, have babies. No, we are not going to fight the Israelis. We will just turn the other cheek."
I asked her about Tel Aviv's threat to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Friday that Israel would "use all necessary means" to prevent this ladies-only ship from breaching the blockade. Delivered by Israel's female UN ambassador Gabriela Shalev, no less.
Samar insisted that any and all international agencies are welcome on board the ship to search and investigate to their heart's content, but warned Israel "not to make the biggest mistake in your history. This is the Mariam. It is the Virgin Mary and therefore a blessed vessel."
The theme continues. Five American Roman Catholic nuns are en route to join the flotilla from their convent in Oregon, and the word on the street is that the Israeli government has asked the Vatican not to allow the nuns on board.
That is worrying. It makes me think that Israel is planning some kind of definitive action - something to stop all the flotillas once and for all. Each one of these ships, brimming with civilians from all corners of the globe, threatens to bust through Israel's siege - not just of Gaza, but all of Palestine.
Sometimes it occurs to me that Israel sits atop nothing more than a stack of playing cards, each card a myth spun by the Jewish state: "this was a swamp and we made it into a garden" or "Palestinians sacrifice their children willingly" or "they want to drive us into the sea."
Together these cards make a veritable fortress. But start picking away at the myths and the whole enterprise comes tumbling down. What happens when one ship breaks through the blockade and nothing happens except the "bearded" men, the "shackled" women and the "expendable" children of Gaza run forward, grinning widely, tears running down those toughened "terrorist" cheeks, thanking "Allah" for the blessings of the brave humanitarians on board the ship that broke their four-year siege, even if only for a day?
That's a foundation card that falls.
And so Israel and its American supporters will do anything to prop up these myths. Even calling a bunch of really amazing ladies "terrorists" to potentially pave the way for their untimely but necessary demise.
Follow Sharmine Narwani on Twitter: www.twitter.com/snarwani
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/qanta-ahmed/israel-and-the-flotilla-o_b_613660.html
I read your link. How is it you feel Dr. Ahmed's contention of Muslim hypocrisy is pertinent to the Mariam?
Does that answer your question?
I hope and pray nothing happens to this aid ship. I remember the Greek play where women refused to give the men sex to end the war. It worked. Perhaps it will take another peaceful demonstration to show Israel and the USA to Change policy course. Washington needs to be pressured as much as Israel to change the life of the Palestinians. The US holds the purse strings of Israel's survival.
http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=131381§ionid=351020203
It is very easy to reply like you do, without any content or meaning, just a verbal blah. I think you are self projecting.
Elections were held a year ago, Aoun was not named president, it was Suleiman who won that honor. Yet Aoun and Hezbollah still remain in their coalition. Hmmm.
Your view of Lebanon is warped by the minority view expressed by your sect. And you appear to have more loyalty to Israel than to your own nation.
mjaneen look out for Lebanon first. Israel looks out only for Israel.
Woo-hoo!
Will Israel kill fellow Jews to stop them? I think this action will expose the Israeli lie that they speak for all Jews.
"We just see that a Jewish state is occupying Palestine, laying a siege, and depriving children of the things that they need. We as Jews are saying, 'not in our name.' We want to show that there are Jews in the world that are on the side of these deprived people," she says."
-Haaretz June 17.2010
:)
Don't be fooled. They say they want peace, but will use any means to achieve it; in some cases resorting to violence to get it.
Unfortunately Israel is fighting a losing battle. I am one Jew who will never buy their line or turn his back on Israel. If any Israeli has committed criminal or unsanctionable acts, then that individual (or those individuals) should be brought to justice, not all of Israel. Israel is one of the most humane countries in the world. The complexities of this issue are not something that can or should be decided by someone like me who lives in the diaspora.
-- Moishe
Another thing that is lost of Israel and the US.
Negotiations happens between enemies. Not friends. Israel wants Palestinians to recognize Israel and it's authority as it occupies their land, but will not recognize the chosen representatives of palestinians; instead substitutes the quislings and collaborators Abbass, Fayyad on them. There is no wonder there is no peace. These traitors to their people have no real authority to negotiate on their behalf. Israel holds all the cards. The oppressed cannot sit at the same table and negotiate with their jailers. They have no leverage at all.
When we listen to news from the Arabs world, we listen also to people, leaders & religious & citizens that are very frustrated full of hate & revolted & that doesn't inspire trust.
All we hear is the wish to destroy Israel, so I think Israel will always be tough for her survival
I Hope one day you all wish for peace & stop the hate & stop destroying each others.
I'm about as plugged in as one can get. I don't "hear" any such thing except from hysterical and paranoid people.
http://www.presstv.com/llnw/
Another question just popped into my mind: If the Arab armies had won, would they have helped the Palestinians to set up their own nation in the Mandate or would they have divided it between Syria, Egypt, and Jordan?
No one knows what might have happened if things had turned out differently.
Anwar Sadat was their best chance but he was assassinated. But palestinians have been used as bargaining chips forever by all sides. Your question is kind of like, how come we don't help the ukranians or whomever because the are caucasian. They are different people with different histories and heritages. Even Sadat was Afro-Egyptian, not Arab.
You need some history books.
http://www.palestine-encyclopedia.com/EPP/TOC.htm
http://www.palestine-studies.org/enakba/Khalidi,%20Plan%20Dalet%20Revisited.pdf
http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0999/9909042.html
As a matter of fact, I spent at least 8 hours a day for about two years researching the subject.
Another thing you need to do is read more carefully. I KNOW the Arabs lost the war and I didn't ask why. What I asked was what might have happened if they had NOT lost the war. Of course we'll never know but it's worth speculating about in light of the fact that none of the Arab nations helped the Palestinians to create their own State in Gaza or the West Bank which they controlled. IMO, it's likely that they would not have created a Palestinian nation if they had won.
And it's not like asking why we don't help the Ukrainians because they are Caucasian. The Arabs have said that they WANT to "liberate" the Palestinians but when they had the opportunity to do so in Gaza and the West Bank between 1949 and 1967, they did not do so.
The "Arab world" had no intention of legitimizing Israel's land and resource theft, the occupations, and yet back in March 2003, then Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah introduced the Arab Peace Initiative that gives Israel everything it always claimed to crave.
It was passed unanimously by the Arab League, and again reaffirmed in March 2007, and Israel and apparently you have largely ignored it.
No Arab government will ever act in a way to legitimize Israel's various occupations.
And in what borders would you have them build this state? Perhaps you could describe how there were supposed to pull this off?
You also neglect to include in your equation East Jerusalem and the right of return. The right of return is inalienable. The Arab states were certainly not going to foreclose on that right of the Palestinians either.
Now you're answering my first question that I posed in another thread and not the question that I posed in this thread. Had you posted this answer in the original thread and followed it, you would have seen that I expanded the question thusly:
If the Arab nations wanted to destroy Israel and replace it with a Palestinian nation, why didn't they begin to build that nation in Gaza and the West Bank, controlled by Egypt and Jordan respectively, get that nation recognized a legitimate by the world, arm that nation (between 1949 and 1967, and then give the Palestinians the wherewithal to declare war on Israel in order to reclaim all of the land for the Palestinian State?
They didn't have to recognize Israel in order to do that. Nor did they have to state or imply that Gaza and the West Bank was all there was to a Palestinian nation.
Between 1949 and 1967. I said nothing about what happened after the '67 war. That doesn't mean that I don't know what happened after that war or am ignoring it.
I posed all of this as a question because I was hoping that it would cause some people, at least, to question the sincerity of the Arab nations when they have said that their actions were strictly on the behalf of Palestinians, that they even really care about the Palestinians.
For more in detail information about this so called "peaceful Flotilla" organized by the saintly miriams go here:
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/hezbollah-iran-behind-this-weekends-aid.html
Translation from (http://www.stars21.com/translator/arabic_to_english.html):
"Send supporters in ships to break the siege Tehran gave signs of Hezbollah's initiative to participate in the "maritime expeditions" to lift the siege on Gaza after noting that Turkey has stolen the limelight in the streets of the Arab"
Now this might be Iranian Hezbolla (it isn't clear, I actually translated the entire article but it doesn't connect well), but it's a known fact that Iran helps smuggle weapons to Gaza and into the arms of hamas, so there is definite connection to Hezbollah and terrorism.
If the people aboard this boat behave themselves non-violently, then their aid, too, will be inspected and transported to Gaza via Israel, and if Hamas behaves itself as it has done in the past, it will refuse the aid and shoot more rockets at Israeli civilians, and the author, if she behaves as she has done, will authoer another piece wondering why people who shoot things at civilians are called terrorists and why those who run to their rescue are not welcomed by those who are the targets of the rockets.
My hometown nwspp, which didn't see fit to do any frontpage coverage of bloody attack by the IDF upon the Freedom Flotilla, is touting on its front page the new announcement by the Israeli govt. to ease the blockade. Interesting, isn't it? We'll see how much coverage will be allowed for the ladies on the Mariam by the moguls of the US media. It's really a story they can't dare to bury, or will they let the spin machine get away with smearing Mary's ladies?
Let's hope the ladies prevail over all the forces now being gathered against them, not the least of which is the propaganda to smear them. Bravo Lebanon! Thank you Sharmine & please write again on the Marys.
I am a Christian Lebanese and some of your data is simply incorrect. The Mariam might be a nice humanitarian boat, but it s naive to think that the objective of this campaign is simply designed for humanitarian aid. Everyone in the area has objecives and all do whatever it takes to achieve these objectives. Let not your memory fail you, remember when hizbullah guys a couple of years ago occupied beirut, or what they did in the 90's etc. You might see them as Resistance but not every Lebanese does, and please don't portray it as such. Christians aligned with them have electoral objectives, they do not subscribe to their ideology. Linking the boat to one of the most sacrad Christian names and what Christians in Lebanon do is a miserable failure on your part.
Breaking the blockade as a few lebanese women along with misinformed nuns and a few Eurpoeans etc. intend to do is simply not realistic as the blockade is against arms intended for people that vowed the destruction of Israel. The US or Iran or Turkey would do much more than Israel. Israel has offered to inspect the ships and bring the shipment into Gaza. If it was simply the objective, the ladies would accept that.
1. I don't believe that anyone involved in trying to get aid to the Gazans via the sea ever pretended that it was only about immediate aid. I believe they all said that it was also about breaking what they think is an illegal blockade.
2. Mary is not only sacred to the Christians but she is also sacred to the Muslims. In fact, "Mariam" is probably closer to her real name than "Mary".
3. Personally, if I were in this "Mariam" group, I would counsel to put the plans on hold and test the Israeli promise to allow necessary items in, such as construction material. If they do and Gaza can begin to rebuild, then I wouldn't challenge the blockade. Meanwhile, I'd start making plans to send a hundred boats simultaneously if Israel doesn't keep its word.
Isreal doens't negotiate in good faith. It never has. To give them another chance is a fools bargain. Attention is on Gaza now. The blockade must be lifted, not eased, because an easement leaves Israel as in control of the weapon of inhumane oppression. The blockade is illegal, and the UN has failed to enforce it's own resolution to ensure the end of collective punishment of protected persons.
The siege of Gaza violates UN Security Council resolution 1860 which calls for unimpeded provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance http://bit.ly/90mhYG
Are you saying Lebanese Christian women are not involved in this flotilla - why don't you go prove this? Mary is a figure of reverence for Muslims and Christians both - please don't forget that.
Michel Aoun whose party is in alliance with Hezbollah did not win the last elections, but they continue to be in a coalition together. Even the Druze have come over to this side since the election. You can slander them any which way you want, but your tiny minority of Phalangists do not represent Lebanon politically, in population or in popularity.
The flotillas are picking up steam everywhere - now there is one by German-Jews with Holocaust ancestors - so don't try to pretend that this is an activity organized by one type of participant.
Imagine - mere civilians the world around join boats to end the siege of a people under occupation and collective punishment - and you condemn them as dangerous and subversive.
Were you in support or against last week's parliamentary debate to grant Palestinian refugees some civil rights in Lebanon? Though its not hard to guess your answer...