Media must report the truth about the Israeli flotilla attack
With only a couple of hours notice, approximately 45 people gathered in front of the Federal Building at 5th and Liberty in downtown Ann Arbor at 5 p.m. on Monday May 31st to protest the attack by the Israeli armed forces upon the "Freedom Flotilla" bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza. Sadly, this protest was not covered by the media.
Israel had previously announced its intentions of preventing the flotilla of unarmed peace activists, carrying desperately needed medical, food and construction supplies, from reaching Gaza. True to their word, in the early hours of May 31st and in international waters, Israeli commandos boarded at least one of the ships, killing, by latest count, at least nine unarmed civilians.
This horrific attack once again demonstrates that the government of Israel believes that it can act with impunity and utter disdain for international law. It is unconscionable that our tax dollars (ca. $6 billion per year) are supporting Israel's oppressive occupation and inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people.
The U.S. media must report the true facts of this event and not the "white-washed propaganda" fed to them by pro-Israel lobby groups. More protests are planned this week and the truth will come out regardless. Israel must be held accountable for its actions and must be forced to end its occupation and join the international community by respecting international law.
George A. Garcia Ann Arbor
Comments
MozhganSavabieasfahani
Tue, Jun 8, 2010 : 12:02 p.m.
What bothers the hell out of all Israeli supporters in Ann Arbor, (and there not many since those who comment in favor of Zionism do it primarily anonymously, if at all), is that anyone at all appears and speaks against Israeli massacres. It is disturbing to hear that City Council members send anonymous Zionists "funny emails" about public speakers at the City Council. Such acts, if true, are unprofessional. Recall disclosure of unprofessional emails by city council members in the past and the aftermath of such behavior. The Zionist anguish over the escalating international boycott efforts is justified. Boycott will take down the racist state of Israel (as it did the racist supremacist South African government) sooner rather than later. Good luck to all those who stand for humanity and justice worldwide; Ann Arbor is with you!
bedrog
Tue, Jun 8, 2010 : 6:13 a.m.
i know iknow... i said i was through here, but i just received a funny e-mail from a member of the city council describing the "massive" protest at the council meeting....NOT!!! ( i.e exactly as i noted above, re the self- important, hyper exaggerated,'legend in their own minds' quality of the samll local anti-semite ( whoops "antizionist") cabal.
D. Mike Rossi
Mon, Jun 7, 2010 : 10:55 p.m.
Mozhgan and George A. Garcia, where do you get your facts?...and you really need to watch Fox News if you want more facts to compare to the scripted and biased reporting on the other news channels.... you can literally watch the same story on one network and click to cnn, msnbc, couric, maddow,and the rest, and you would never miss a word!!!..it's the exact same story handed out by somebody's propaganda aid.... And here's another little tidbit for you... if Israel wanted them dead, there never would've been anyone to tell the story, let alone a video tape...they'd all be at the bottom of the sea waiting for James Cameron to come and look for them... the so called freedom ships made two mistakes. 1: daring the Israelis and provoking an incident. 2: thinking the Israelis would be dumb enough not to video tape the whole thing!!!! And if Israel is so mean and violent then why did they not retaliate and rein down fire and brimstone on Saddam Hussein when he launched all those Scud Missile Attacks on innocent men women and CHILDREN!!????? maybe the media you read and watch left this out...you really need to watch Fox.... 1991 Gulf War chronology from usa-today: 1991 Gulf War chronology. Day 1... Iraqi Scud missiles strike Israel. Scud fired at Saudi... President Bush says Israel has promised not to respond to Iraq's attack. http://www.usatoday.com/news/index/iraq/nirq050.htm No this event was a premeditated act of defiance and violence. Those protests were planned in an attempt to smear Israel. If they were as truly PEACEFUL as you try to to make them out to be, they would've allowed Egypt to deliver the supplies, and refused several requests to let someone else deliver the aid that those poor people so desperately needed. And if you have nothing to hide, you let them search your ship. Do you get violent at the airport when they search you and your luggage??? I hope not. There's a lot of dangerous people out there. If we had defend our boarders the way Israel defends theirs, 9-11 never would've happened. An Activist believes in a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue. A Humanitarian is a person promoting human welfare. That "Freedom Flotilla" was carrying "Activists" not Humanitarians! I say SHALOM to my Israeli brother and sisters and don't back down.
D. Mike Rossi
Mon, Jun 7, 2010 : 10:25 p.m.
Hey Mozhgan and George A. Garcia. If France doesn't support you and Boycott against Israel, you should Boycott France... Instead of French Fries, Greek Fries! Instead of French Toast, Regular Toast! no more french cuffs, no french tips nails, no french roasted coffee no french dry cleaning and no french bikini waxing!!!! You'll show'em, just like they showed Arizona by boycotting the Arizona Ice Tea...LOL
bedrog
Mon, Jun 7, 2010 : 6:11 p.m.
moderator :this will be my last here so be indulgent to an old man ( in my retirement one of my hobbies is combatting local liars and antisemites, just as many of them in retirement ( or unemployment)like to demonize jews and picket synagogues )... re mozhgans video it is striking how happy these "poor gaza/innocent peace-ship " types appear...they are clearly having a ball hanging out with fellow cultists and crying crocodile tears,as israel suffers an admitted ( if unjust) p.r. nightmare, given the large number worldwide of similarly hypocritical, malicious...or at best just plain naive and addled..israel hatas. FEH!!!( a yiddish word denoting disgust and contempt)
bedrog
Mon, Jun 7, 2010 : 5:08 p.m.
just checked out the video mozhgan recommended above...participants in the demo were mostly long time synagogue harassers described in the Wasthtenaw jewish news articles i noted above...and far far fewer than the inflated number ( 45) in the original post here..even allowing for mozhgan handling the excellent camera work, since she wasnt in the group that i could see) ( p.s. the crowds in baghdad shown on the video dont count as local support!! since garcia identifies himself, on the mich daily website where he has an identical post, as a UM pharmacy prof i hope his pill counting and prescription filling are more accurate than his crowd estimating. AND MODERATOR: that's not a personal attack: its a valid observation from what the poster himself has done/ and said about himself on record.
bedrog
Mon, Jun 7, 2010 : 4:46 p.m.
the identical article in the michigan daily has 22 responses of which only 1 supports garcia.. two good sites to educate yourself 0n the bogus "peace" flotilla' include youtubes wonderful parody of 'we are the world" ( i.e" we con the world", a witty yet truthful look at the pr machine of jihadists and their addled western groupies...like some of those commenting here who are explicated in the WASHTENAW JEWISH NEWS, false witnesses series, jan,feb,march. also "action@honestreporting.com" contains vertbatim exchanges between israeli boats and the one on which the fracas occurred. " go back to auschwitz' was one of the milder statements of the boat which contained militant jihadists, enumerated on the site mentioned. 'patriots' post here is particularly apt, but do check out the analogous thread on the michigan daily for some equally to the point posts. also the a2.com thread of a few days ago on the topic "obama should earn his peace prize " or some such, which also has some excellent responses on the fatuous hypocrisy of the hard-core 24/7 israel demonizer/jihadist apologists.
russellr
Mon, Jun 7, 2010 : 12:54 p.m.
I would just like to ad a few comments. It is amazing how very little people know about the Bible. Israel is God's choosen people. The bible declares it. I know alot of people don't believe the bible but that does not make it untrue. In Genesis 12:7 it says And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, UNTO THY SEED WILL I GIVE THIS LAND: AND THERE BUILDED HE AN ALTAR UNTO THE LORD, WHO APPEARED UNTO HIM. Jeremiah 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of ISRAEL: After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts: and will be their GOD, and they shall be my people. Whosoever curses Israel curses God Almighty. Please go to the Old Testament and learn the facts before you stick your foot in your mouth and stand before God on judgement day. By the way I am a Gentile.
Patriot
Mon, Jun 7, 2010 : 11:52 a.m.
"Question: If Israel is always hell-bent on murder, massacres and genocide, why is it so bad at it? If its battle plan called for a slaughter, why kill 'only' nine people? Why not sink all of the boats? Meanwhile, is it really the case that Hamas is objectively 'good' at public relations? Or Hezbollah? Or Iran? Really? I just don't see it. To me, these PR operations are less 'Wag the Dog' and more Baghdad Bob (the Monty Pythonesque spokesman for Saddam Hussein's regime). But instead of everyone laughing at the lies and idiocy, millions of people nod their heads in agreement. North Korea recently sank a South Korean ship. The international reaction has been muted and sober. Turkey -- the Palestinians' new champion -- has been treating Kurdish nationalists harshly for generations; no one cares. The Russians crush Chechens, the Chinese trample Uighurs. Real genocides unfold regularly in Africa. Iran is pursuing a nuclear bomb. Hamas is openly dedicated to the destruction of Israel. So is Iran. And yet the only villain as far as much of the world is concerned is Israel. Always Israel. But none of these facts matter. Indeed, it's tiring even to recount them in an environment where big lies matters more than obvious truths, where self-defense is 'aggression,' where restraint is 'genocide,' and where the heirs of Gandhi wield steel pipes." --National Review editor Jonah Goldberg
Basic Bob
Sun, Jun 6, 2010 : 9:48 p.m.
"And clubbing Israelis while coming down a rope is sure non violent. As well as throwing an Israeli off of a deck is a sure sign you are being welcomed aboard. and stun grenades really welocme them" These were Israeli *commandos* attacking civilian protesters in international waters. It's not exactly a fair fight, just what we've come to expect from the rogue state of Israel.
Tony Collings
Sun, Jun 6, 2010 : 6:31 p.m.
This is the kind of story that needs to be reported fully and carefully by news media. We need all the facts before we can make informed judgments. As a former Middle East correspondent for Newsweek and CNN I know how hard it is to be fair and accurate in reporting from that part of the world, and this particular story is especially hard to report because emotions are high on each side and not all the facts are accessible to journalists, as I pointed out in a post in my blog, capturingthenews.com.
Top Cat
Sun, Jun 6, 2010 : 6:25 p.m.
Israel's enemies keep demanding that they commit national suicide. They pulled their troops from Gaza and have received 4000 rockets hitting their homeland as thanks. What are they supposed to do? Go back to Poland and Germany as Helen Thomas suggests? What quid pro quo are their enemies suggesting for them to live in peace? When do their Islamic enemies stop demanding their annihilation?
Mike Maloy
Sun, Jun 6, 2010 : 5:29 p.m.
God bless Israel in it's struggle for peace and security.
clara
Sun, Jun 6, 2010 : 3:49 p.m.
Yes, those dozens if not hundreds of knives, pipes, wrist rockets ans sling shots sure are non violent! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16sANhzjcC0&feature=digest And clubbing Israelis while coming down a rope is sure non violent. As well as throwing an Israeli off of a deck is a sure sign you are being welcomed aboard. and stun grenades really welocme them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6sAEYpHF24&feature=digest
MozhganSavabieasfahani
Sun, Jun 6, 2010 : 2:23 p.m.
Israel gets al lot of loan guarantees and a whole range of officially announced and officially unannounced aid from U.S. coffers. John Dingell said the U.S. congress has paid $300 billion to Israel. To put an end to military murder by Israel, and to demand that Obamas wars be stopped, come to city council meeting tomorrow night (Monday) at 7:00 Pm. It is on the second floor of the City Hall in Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor has been demanding boycott of Israel for a long time now. See the protest at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WtM5PQnDZQ
Top Cat
Sun, Jun 6, 2010 : 12:17 p.m.
I'm not sure where the author gets $6 billion in annual aide to Israel. To the best of my knowledge, the Federal Government provides $2.5 billion annually for purchase of military hardware. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Speechless
Sun, Jun 6, 2010 : 10:42 a.m.
The Israeli government too often behaves quite badly. In this instance, Its soldiers should not have invaded ships in international waters. In addition, the earlier land assault on Gaza was horrific and brutal, a willful, gratuitous response to a comparatively far lesser offense. More generally, Israeli policy treats native Palestinian residents in a manner reminiscent of how our country treated Native Americans during the late 19th century. Meanwhile, undemocratic and repressive regimes dominate in some of the neighboring countries, where anti-semitism is not uncommon and women hold a second class status. Partly as a reaction to a century of intervention by the U.K. and the U.S., a reactionary grassroots fundamentalism has developed within the region. The U.S. needs to end its key role as the primary international enabler of these dangerous conditions. We should cut way back on the billions in total foreign aid handed out to a variety Middle East countries. Shut off the spigot gushing vast sums of federal money into the region, as our tax dollars underwrite the cost of buying arms, raising tensions, and spilling blood. The impending disappearance of so much free money would create a real incentive for serious negotiations. Without the U.S.-sponsored military welfare program, the humbled hawks & generals in Israel and neighboring countries might instead organize local bake sales to cover their costs.
Basic Bob
Sun, Jun 6, 2010 : 10:33 a.m.
The actions of the Israeli armed forces demonstrate why many consider them to be a rogue state. A small number of Americans even care, yet we send massive amounts of financial support that destabilize the entire region. The Israeli government has no motivation to resolve the conflicts with neighboring states or the native Palestinian population, because perpetual war keeps them in power.
stunhsif
Sun, Jun 6, 2010 : 9:06 a.m.
George, I love the way you just make up "facts". Unarmed peace activists, yeah right. I hope the USA doubles financial support to Israel. Your making up facts is in my opinion "unconscionable". Israel is surrounded by terrorist countries on all borders. They all have the same goal, which is the destruction of that great country.
Technojunkie
Sun, Jun 6, 2010 : 8:13 a.m.
There's even a music video now to raise awareness: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOGG_osOoVg I didn't know that you could hit soldiers with metal pipes, slingshots and knives and still be considered "unarmed".