Don’t believe the hype
Writing for the Melbourne, Australia, Herald-Sun, Andrew Bolt comments on the “peaceful” intentions of the Gaza flotilla:
Comments (1) »And a strident report in The Age, Australia’s most Left-wing metropolitan daily, conceded that video of the Israeli soldiers being lowered on to the ships from helicopters did show that some of the “hundreds of politicians and protesters” on board did offer “signs of resistance”.
Here are some of those “signs of the resistance” that this Age reporter tactfully failed to detail.
You see the Israeli commandos, at first brandishing just paint-ball guns, being grabbed by mobs as they landed, dragged to the ground, and beaten brutally with metal pipes and clubs.
On another clip, apparently shot by protesters, you see a soldier stabbed in the back, and then in the front.
Another soldier is shown being beaten and thrown over the side.
Photographs show two Israeli soldiers, one of them shot, being carried off with serious wounds.
This isn’t what you’d normally expect from “peace protesters” or “humanitarian activists”, even those armed merely “with a few knives”.
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 at 7:29 AM | David Kuner
About those “peace activists” …
Public reaction to the deaths of ten activists aboard ships headed for Gaza on Sunday night has been extreme. People who support Israel and the values it stands for are standing with Israel in her time of need, while her foes are using this incident as a launching pad for spreading hatred towards the Jewish state.
In their haste to condemn Israel, there are many questions Israel’s foes are ignoring: Who organized the flotilla ships headed for Gaza and what was their intention in doing so? What happened on the Gaza flotilla? Who initiated the violence aboard the ships? Was Israel left with an option other than the one that left some of the activists dead and activists and IDF soldiers injured?
First things first. The organization which arranged the flotilla, IHH, has its headquarters in Turkey. IHH brings humanitarian relief to distressed areas in Muslim countries. It also supports Hamas and – according to a study performed by the Danish Institute for International Studies the IHH – has links to Al-Qaeda. Several years ago its headquarters were raided by Turkish forces, who found weapons, explosives, and instructions on how to make and plant IEDs, as well as phone records of a call to al-Qaeda operatives in Italy. Despite this, IHH insists that the flotilla headed towards Gaza was a peaceful mission to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza residents who are live under an Israeli blockade.
And what about that blockade? Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza since Hamas’ violent takeover of the area in order to ensure that weapons are not smuggled into Gaza. But despite the blockade it is important to note that Israel allows trucks with essential supplies like food and medicine to enter Gaza every day. Additionally, Israel has allowed cement and other building material to enter Gaza, provided that the UN agency responsible for Gaza ensures that these materials will be used for civilian purposes and not to build underground bunkers for Hamas terrorists and weapon storage houses.
For weeks prior to the flotilla incident, Israel had been offering to bring IHH’s supplies to Gaza…
Read More » Comments (71) »Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 at 7:13 AM | Amichai Farkas
