Hanin Zoabi is a not only an Israeli citizen, she's a member of Israel's Knesset. She was also on that Turkish ship, from the Turkish side, not the IDF side. Since she has immunity she hasn't been arrested and is free to give interviews to the media. According to Haaretz in Hebrew, she's telling that there were at least three dead civilians on the Mavi Marmara even before the first IDF troops came aboard, from advance fire. She personally saw the bodies.
I'm putting this up because it speaks to the willingness to stand in front of a camera and brazenly lie though one's teeth. Something to keep in mind.
Zoabi also supports Iran getting nuclear weapons as a balance to Israel's power, considers Lieberman, Netanyahu and Livni all fascists and rejects the concept of a Jewish state as inherently racist.
ReplyDeleteShe discourages Arabs in Israel from doing national service and doesn't consider herself an Israeli citizen.
None of this, of course, caused her to think about boycotting Israeli higher education: she earned her BA at U of Haifa and her MA at Hebrew University.
What kind of a person would rather die in a nuclear attack if it destroys Israel than live and thrive as a minority in a non-Arab and non-Muslim state? A jihadist Muslim...or an Arab Christian who has fully accepted the Islamic mindset as an essential part of his or her Arab identity. Even if they don't really believe half of what they say, they feel obligated by Islamic doctrine, tribal loyalty and Arab honor/shame culture to publicly endorse the maximalist position in every instance. Israel and the West would do well to stop trying to understand the Muslims and Arabs according to its own assumptions about what motivates people as well as to understand that the socialist left and fascist right will always repeat the Arab/Muslim line (though sometimes in a fashion more appropriate for Western ears), regardless of facts or logic, particularly when it comes to the Jews.
If you want to enjoy it in English:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3897396,00.html
Some of of her points:
"Zoabi added, "It was clear from the size of the force that boarded the ship that the purpose was not only to stop this sail, but to cause the largest possible number of fatalities in order to stop such initiatives in the future."
She said the flotilla's participants did not have any violent intentions: "Our goal was to break the siege. We had no plans for a confrontation. Israel carried out a provocative military operation. Israel is used to doing as it pleases with the Palestinians. The main problem is not the ship, but the siege."
She denied any resistance from the ship's passengers. "There was not a single passenger who raised a club. We put on our life vests. From where I was standing, I didn't see any clubs or anything of the sort. There were gunshots, I don't know if they were live bullets or not. There were gunshots fired from the ships in our direction."
And the best of it (Maybe the honorable MK doesn't read the Guardian?)
"For four years, no one spoke about Gaza. Only in this past week did the entire world get to the war crimes of Israel, a country that occupies and violates basic humanitarian rights."
She must be smoking some extremely quality stuff in order to shield her brain from the Zionist death rays.
the IDF just has a video up with a voice recording from the IDF from the moment when they realize there is life fire.
ReplyDeleteThey sound like I always imagined men in combat sound - i.e. different from the BS movies want us to believe - those poor Israeli kids - young men shouldn't have to go through that.
Silke
PS: Gavin don't listen or you'll get even more furious.
http://idfspokesperson.com/2010/06/01/recording-idf-soldiers-report-attacks-from-the-flotilla-activists-on-board-the-marmara-1-june-2010/
How is it a Knesset member can be a non-citizen?
ReplyDeleteNycerbarb
not really OT
ReplyDeletein an earlier thread Victor has recommended a piece from Statfor's George Friedmann and Shmuel Rosner has a kind of approving post on it also. So I read it and I am aghast why this windbag is taken seriously. And windbag is the friendliest I have to say about him:
1) Introduction: he posted the piece yesterday at 13:28 - at that time it was already clear that IDF soldiers had been hurt - no mentioning it and in case it wasn't knowable at the time a feeling human being would at least have mentioned that nothing is known yet.
2) "Exodus" - I mean this beggars belief - to compare and put on one level the survivors and afterwards DPs of 1947 with the flotilla-nuts and nobody calls him out on it. Sometimes I think Jews are so used to being maligned that they consider everybody who doesn't do it in their face as pretty OK. Friedmann callously and slyly in his piece doesn't mention the incredibly sad and cruel story of the real Exodus passengers. He needs a facile widely known example and so to hell with even a whiff of compassion for those mistreated and abused fellow humans. And maybe he even appeals with all that talk about camps to Gazans.
3( Geopolitical Fallout - contains some facts and is impressive because he is good at pontificating from on high. But a close look reveals it as what you can hear in any pub.
3. I am not even sure that his calling it the Turkish flotilla is a good thing.
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My guess is that Friedman has unearthed Halford Mackinder before all others and milks and squeezes it for whatever it is worth. If somebody is interested here is a lecture from this February on Mackinder - the way I understand it he is the real earth guru as compared to that naval guru Mahan http://itunes.apple.com/de/podcast/geopolitics-imperialism-british/id279428154?i=81162615
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In case somebody wants a really good short overall view albeit without any facile, vacuous and presumptious policy advice here is David Harris doing a great job and I dare anybody who takes all of Harris' facts into account to make any prediction whatsoever what a good strategy might be
http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/harris/entry/strutting_from_teheran_to_damascus
Silke
As a little sidelight, there is an interesting clip on CiF Watch ( http://cifwatch.com/2010/06/01/british-naval-expert-analyses-flotilla-lynching-of-israelis/)showing analysis by Peter Cook, apparently a maritime expert, who points out right at the end that the ship was registered in the Cormoros, not in Turkey, and the constant description of it as a “Turkish ship”, while probably correct in a non-legal sense, from a legal point of view is not correct.
ReplyDeleteThus, Turkey may either have no standing in this matter, except for the fact that her citizens intended to aid and abet a proscribed terrorist organization and she did nothing to stop them - in fact, encouraged them - or knowingly hid behind the fig leaf of non-Turkish registration of the ship while making loud propaganda noises to the contrary.
British naval expert analyses Flotilla lynching of Israelis
Precisely.
ReplyDeleteTurkey's role is to foment a crisis with Israel. (The results of the first round are most encouraging. There will be more rounds).
To weaken Israel militarily and batter her internationally.
To increase Turkey's prestige amongst all the peace-loving and progressive people's of the earth.
To enhance Turkey's standing in the Moslem world as the defender and leader of the faith and the honor that is its due in the international arena.
To cement the AKP's popularity in the lead-up to the next Turkish elections and to isolateg any and all opposition to AKP as pro-Israeli and anti-Islamic.
Kemalism is sputtering and practically dead.
Interesting times....
As for Ms. Zoabi, she seems clearly to be influenced by the Goldstone report regarding Israel's purported plan to kill as many Palestinians as possible--- a "concept" that is fresh in everyone's mind, and well, the truth was buried long ago.
ReplyDeleteWell, whatever works (and the Goldstone report definitely worked).
some origins says that there are group of people in knesset (some of them introduce interests of arab citizens inside the country), who in a real way work against israel. very sad news...
ReplyDeleteAKUS
ReplyDeletethe NYT today claims that IHH bought that cursed ship. I had hitherto assumed that it had been chartered. Just in case this might make any difference.
I might make on if Israel can find ground to confiscate it, wouldn't it? I keep my fingers crossed.
Silke
PS: oh and the piece says that women in colourful headscarfs are bringing the money presumably cash to IHH - well if their headscarfs are colourful they can't be all bad, con't they ;-((