A video has been racing around the Internet — purportedly showing heavy weapons discovered behind bags of flour on the Mavi Marmara. The find would serve to justify the lethal raid on the flotilla to Gaza and some posters have asked why no uproar? The answer is because the video is a fraud — it shows a boat that was actually searched in 2009.
The video is often accompanied by the same text, which was posted by a commenter on this blog:
This video shows that during the unloading of the Marmara boat in the port of Ashdod, behind the bags of flour were boxes of heavy weapons and ammunition: mortars, artillery shells, bazookas, without counting a trunk where more than one million euros was found intended for Hamas. This video should be widely distributed as evidence of why the IDF Naval commandos were dispatched to intercept the six vessels including the M/S Mavi Marmara. One wonders what is aboard the Irish vessel, the M/S. Rachel Corrie, that Israel will intercept sometime today when it approaches the Naval blockade line off the coast of Gaza. Clearly the Turkish AKP Islamist government is complicit in permitting this military cargo to be loaded on the ‘peaceful’ Free Gaza Flotilla. Please distribute this video widely. If you had any doubt about what was on the flotilla, here is the video. The French explains that the arms on display were hidden behind sacks of grain.
There appears to be a conscious misinformation campaign afoot. The people who originally posted this video obviously knew it was false but wanted to mislead viewers. They succeeded.
johneboy,
The attack on the flotilla happened in international waters – at best this is an act of piracy, at worst an act of war perpetrated against the countries where the ships were registered (namely the US and Turkey).
This is clearly not an act of piracy and it detracts from the perfectly reasonable arguments against Israeli policy to make wild claims like that. This was a nation state enforcing a blockade. Whether you think the blockade is lawful or proper, or was enforced in an improper way, enforcing a blockade is clearly not piracy.
You are against the U.S.’s close relationship with Israel — that’s fine. But I think that also colors how serious you think the incident that occurred was. An act of war? Really? It’s not like this was done to a US warship.
@James M.:
“*Shocked gasp* Someone wanting to know what actually happened before he changes national policy based on first appearances and visceral reaction? Yes please.”
The attack on the flotilla happened in international waters – at best this is an act of piracy, at worst an act of war perpetrated against the countries where the ships were registered (namely the US and Turkey). This alone should have garnered a strong response from our government.
And, as far as our national policy towards Israel goes, perhaps it should have been changed when they refused to sign the NPT (as an aside, the Symington amendment and the Glen amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act makes any military or economic assistance to a country who hasn’t complied with IAEA inspections outlined in the NPT illegal, yet we still send millions to Israel). Perhaps it should have been changed after the Goldstone report, which outlined Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Perhaps our stance towards Israel should have changed after they were caught in government organized identity theft in Europe and Australia in order to facilitate an assassination in a sovereign country (Dubai). Perhaps when Israel recently parked three subs with nuclear missiles off the coast of Iran, a pure act of provocation, we should have reviewed our policy. And let’s not forget the USS Liberty incident. None of these actions received a proper and public official denouncement from our Government.
This begs the question, James M.: what is it going to take for our government to take a good, long, hard look at our relationship with Israel? As far as I’m concerned, the straw has already broken the camel’s back.
That is funny vlf and BIL.
“cough cough cough bullshit cough cough”
BIL:
My sentiments exactly …
Can anyone ever think, that a white male who has a different opinion of a female is not a sexist pig? Can it ever be true? Please tell me Judy, is it true? I want to know.
James M.,
If you think the UN would be unfair to Israel, here is something they could do immediately so the truth could get out. They could release the tapes openly for everyone to see. Then they could return them to their rightful owners. That would show good faith.
Again, why should a nation who has confiscated and manipulated evidence be trusted to self investigate? Why should I trust the US to investigate? We have knowingly destroyed evidence of torture and refuse to release pictures of our own war crimes. I do not consider these actions which inspire trust.
You talk of propaganda from Hammas. That may well be. Right now we have clearly seen propaganda coming from Israel. Release the tapes–all of them, unedited. Return the property to its owners.
tapes to allies they trust (e.g. the United States)
Ah don’t think the trust thing is working anymore not since the last year. This administration has shown on several occasions has shunned Israel and their leaders.
Jill,
I don’t think Israel thinks it would get a fair investigation from the UN. For that mater, if we were in the same situation, the United States would do the same thing for the same reason.
I would like to see Israel turn over copies of all of the unedited tapes to allies they trust (e.g. the United States) so that there could be an independent assessment of what happened. I don’t think that Israel will publicly release the tapes or turn them over to an untrusted third party because of the propaganda value they would have for groups like Hamas, even if independent investigators determined Israel was in the right.
Bülent Yildirim, the main organizer of the Gaza Flotilla, spoke at a Hamas rally held in Gaza in February 2009. The rally was organized in support of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who stormed out of a debate on the Gaza war in Davos. The speech appeared on the Internet.
The claim that it was from the Mavi Marmara is false it was from the Francop.
The video, is a reminder that an attempt was made to smuggle weapons into Gaza.
James M.,
I’m willing to let independent investigators look into the events. Are you? Do you think Israel should turn over all the tapes/records of events to a neutral party? If not, why not? There’s a lot of contradiction and mismatching of evidence to events. There’s confiscated and doctored evidence. Why should a nation that has already manipulated and confiscated evidence be now trusted to investigate itself?
“guardian.co.uk, Sunday June 6 2010
Harriet Sherwood in Gaza City, Adam Gabbatt and agencies
The UN secretary general called today for a multinational investigation of Israel’s raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine dead but the proposal was swiftly rejected by the Israelis….”
James M.,
We don’t simply have a national policy towards Israel, we also have a national policy towards Turkey, a member of NATO. Obama’s statement would have to have been something like, we need an independent inquiry to understand what happened here. I don’t believe Obama’s reaction has been one of a neutral party, only wishing to ascertain the facts before he speaks out. Reality contradicts this point of view.
Jill,
We also have autopsies showing that people were shot in the back and/or at close range in the forehead. These autopsies do not comport with statement that the commandos were only acting in self defense.
But they don’t actually contradict Israel’s version of events. When people are attacking you with clubs, shooting them at short range can still be self defense. As for shooting people in the back–people miss. In a confused melee, doubly so. Just because someone was shot in the back in this type of situation doesn’t mean he intentionally shot while fleeing (as it might in a domestic criminal context if he was shot by the police).
Let’s not forget that Obama has not condemned the flotilla attack (waiting for that the facts to come in, apparently)
*Shocked gasp* Someone wanting to know what actually happened before he changes national policy based on first appearances and visceral reaction? Yes please.
Oh, but now that the cat is out of the bag, the Israelis want some kind of investigation . . . as long as they get to control it.
cough cough cough bullshit cough cough
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/08/gaza-blockade-israel-laun_n_604004.html
This disinformation campaign points out the necessity of an impartial investigation of events. So far we have Israel admitting they doctored sound on tape. We also know the confiscated every video or recording of events as they were happening. Just as I’m certain the torture tapes still exist, these tapes are somewhere. I hope they are leaked. Better yet, I hope they are demanded by the international community. We also have autopsies showing that people were shot in the back and/or at close range in the forehead. These autopsies do not comport with statement that the commandos were only acting in self defense.
There are many eye witness accounts that do not mesh with accounts given by Israel. Physical evidence is available that does not mesh with Israel’s version of events. I would think they would jump at the chance to clear things up with an impartial investigation–NOT. But that is what the international community should demand. Neither the US or Israel has any effective break on their actions, no matter how illegal. When leaders know they can do anything and get away with it or worse can manufacture support for their illegal and immoral actions, do you think they will stop them?
johnboy,
Point taken, exceptions noted.
@AY: That could also read ‘the Obama/Biden’ information team. Any difference between the two regimes is purely cosmetic at this point in time. Just looking at the situation at hand, let’s not forget that Obama has not condemned the flotilla attack (waiting for that the facts to come in, apparently) and that Biden has defended Israel’s actions.
http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2010/06/07/news/nation_and_world/doc4c07bca8d2553401905751.txt
Considering that Israel’s Foreign Ministry already has people on their pay-roll for the express purpose of ‘shouting’ down blog posts/news stories/comments which show Israel in a negative light (a program, by the way, which our own military had already warmed to), it’s well within the realm of possibility that the “conscious misinformation campaign” mentioned above is less a conspiracy theory and more a reality.
History has already shown us that if one repeats a lie often and loudly enough (or backed by force or the threat of force) it eventually becomes a sort of truth.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3744516,00.html
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/03/report-recruit/
SO what do you expect. They have the Bush Cheney information team at work. True capitalism at its best