Peace Ship To The Gaza Strip, What The Media Left Out
June 05, 2010
"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." - Adolf Hitler
Recently it was widely reported that Israeli soldiers boarded a ship that was filled with peace activists delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and in cold blood murdered nine of these peace activists. When I first heard this, like many people around the world did, I thought to myself, how terrible, why would Israeli soldiers do such a thing? At first I figured it must be true. Every major news organization in the world was reporting this. I’m sure they have double and triple checked the facts before reporting such a horrific story. But then after thinking about it for a while I thought to myself, there has got to be more to this. Is it possible that the media is not getting the full story and has unfairly put out a worldwide report that completely vilifies Israel? Is it possible that the worldwide media is not being objective? Is it possible that some key elements about this incident may have been left out? This is what I needed to find out. Well as it turns out there were multiple cameras that just happen to catch the event on tape. Now for some strange reason none of these were shown on the world wide media but never the less, they did exist. There was a camera on board the ship that was reported to be attacked. And there were cameras being used by the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) during the reported attack to document the encounter not unlike police in the U.S. use video to document traffic stops. Now just to make something clear here, in my research my agenda was not necessarily to dispute the reports but simply to see what else I could find to support or not support the reports in the media. What I ended up finding is video that seemed to tell a different story then what the media had reported. Before you read on I ask that you watch these short videos and then judge for yourself. It would be interesting to see what world opinion would be if these videos had been included as part of the media's initial reporting.
I watched these videos and could only come to the following conclusions. First, who ever brought this story to the press had clear intentions of how they wanted the world to view this incident, because what was reported was obviously either not the complete story or just a plain fabrication. Second, if there were peace activists on that boat they were either the most violent peace activists I have ever seen or they were far out numbered by non-peaceful terrorists. My favorite line about this incident came from Jon Stewart of The Daily Show when he said, “The activists said they never attacked the soldiers. They thought Israel was welcoming them with commando shaped piñatas.”
Before I go on let’s at least agree on some realities. First, humanitarian aid is needed in the Gaza Strip. Israel has imposed a military blockade in the region for the purpose of disarming Hamas Terrorists and other Palestinian militants. The blockade is not there to deprive civilians of humanitarian goods that are needed to survive. It is there to block the inflow of arms to Gaza. Israel has an approved method for letting in humanitarian aid. Part of that method includes the right to inspect ships that are reported to be carrying aid to make sure that there are no military arms being smuggled in on these ships. Second, the Palestinians are never going to give up fighting for a homeland. Third, the State of Israel will now and for ever defend its right to exist.
Now with that said was Israel wrong in there actions when they boarded this ship? Like I said Israel is enforcing a blockade to the Gaza Strip in order to reduce the amount of arms being smuggled in. This was a routine search simply to confirm what cargo this ship was carrying. Five other ships were searched right before this ship and there were no incidents. The facts are Israel is at war. The main group that Israel is at war with is Hamas. Hamas is the main elected ruling party in the Gaza Strip. The United States, Israel, Canada, The United Kingdom, Australia, The European Union and Japan all consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization. Hamas has never stated publicly that they desire peace with Israel, recognize Israel’s right to exist, or denounce terrorism. And Israel, like the United States, does not negotiate with terrorists. Israel held the same policy with the PLO until it agreed to denounce terrorism, and recognize Israel’s right to exist. That was when Israel agreed to peaceful negotiations with the PLO or as it is now know, the Palestinian Authority, as the official representatives of the Palestinian people. In 2005 Israel withdrew from Gaza and turned the region over to the Palestinian Authority. This was basically Israels put up or shut up moment. As it turned out the Palestinian Authority could not effectively manage a falafel stand in the Gaza Strip and could not get Hamas to agree to the same conditions to peace that they did. At this point Hamas stepped in. It is said that if you want to get the people on your side, provide them with food, housing, security and education and this is exactly what Hamas was able to do for the people of Gaza. Eventually Hamas was elected the ruling authority in Gaza. And since Israel and most western counties consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization this left Israel with no legitimate authority to negotiate with. Hamas has continued to attack Israel from within the Gaza Strip with continuous rounds of mortar fire. In addition Hamas has chosen to use buildings such as schools and civilian housing areas to store arms supplies. This has put innocent civilians in harms way and many civilians have died due to this policy. The problem is that the people of Gaza have chosen to accept Hamas, a terrorist organization, to represent them, and Israel will not negotiate with terrorists. So basically we are left to bang our heads against a wall. There is no dispute that all parties want peace. The difference lies in how. Israel wants a mutual peace with parties that can respect each other and live together as neighbors like they have been able to do with both Egypt and Jordan. Hamas wants peace by eliminating Israel from the face of the earth. To give you a little background on Hamas here is some excerpts from their Covenant, published in 1988:
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
“Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious. It needs all sincere efforts… from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and Allah's victory is realized.”
“…so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.”
“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”
“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”
“I’m rubber and you’re glue. What ever you say bounces off me and sticks to you!”
Ok maybe that last one I made up but all the others I took directly from their Covenant. The bottom line is this. I have been to Israel. It is a beautiful country like none I have ever seen before. Yes it is officially a Jewish state but they also respect the freedom of persons to practice any religion they so choose. They have kept Jerusalem a free religious center for all people and have been the only government to do so and have pledged to continue to do so. Jerusalem is open to Jews, Muslims and Christians alike and if you have ever had the privilege of being able to feely walk through the Jewish Quarter to the Arab Quarter to the Christian Quarter, it is an amazing experience of sights sounds and smells that every person should experience at least once in their life. What the world and often the United States does not get is that Israel is a country that was born out of tragedy. It was born out the Holocaust. It was born out of survivors who never had a country they could call there own and always relied on others to protect them but never did. It was created by those who lost all trust in a world that they thought would defend them but instead turned there backs on them and when they finally did come to help, more then 6 million Jews were dead. It was created by those who had nothing more to lose, who vowed never forget and promised never again. It was created by those who turned tragedy into strength, Holocaust into homeland and made the words “next year in Jerusalem” a reality. They day Israel declared themselves a state they were attacked by every Arab nation that surrounded them and they fought back and won, and since that day they have been in a constant state of war. Israel has a right to defend itself and always will and when Israeli commandos board a ship that is in there own waters with out Israeli guns drawn only to confirm who is on board and what goods they are carrying and are instead attacked with metal polls, knives broken glass bottles, shot with live ammunition, and thrown off the side of the ship, you bet your sweet tuchas they have a right to defend themselves. And to these “peace activists” who were reportedly on board this ship, I say to you next time you board a ship to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, make sure you know who else is on board with you. Because when you’ve been fucked with as many times as the Jews have, you don’t take crap from no one. To wage war is easy, to wage peace is hard.
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