The Absurd Times: Flotilla, part 3

Courtesy of www.Whatnowtoons.com, by Keith Tucker on Fox, or Faux, News. It was actually pretty funny seeing him and Mike Wallace together.

The stuff with the flotilla is still on.

It won’t stop, but we will cover every bit of it that we can.

The Flotilla’s passengers talk about their dangerous cargo. Also, one of them has a trumpet.

They have damaged the one in Turkey beyond repair.

The Israeli Ambassador was questioned by Amy Goodman and suddenly he had a "prior appointment." He was asked the question again, evaded it again, and hung up.

Assange will be on the Web at 10:00 Saturday, July 2.

This is a holiday here, but somehow the British do not celebrate it.

The U.S.-flagged ship "The Audacity of Hope" left a Greek port today bound for Gaza, but the status of the 10-boat flotilla remains uncertain. At least one boat has already pulled out due to sabotage, another is still being repaired. All 10 ships were supposed to set sail earlier this week but the Greek government — already facing a financial crisis and public uproar over austerity measures — blocked the ships’ departure under international pressure. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is entitled to stop the flotilla as part of its “full right to operate against efforts to smuggle” weapons into Gaza. Democracy Now! Producer Aaron Maté and videographer Hany Massoud are in Greece covering the journey of “The Audacity of Hope.” They were there Thursday as it was publicly unveiled. They spoke with novelist Alice Walker, Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein and others. [Includes rush transcript]

Filed under Gaza Flotilla, Gaza, Israel & Palestine

Aaron Maté, Democracy Now! producer.

Ann Wright, passenger on The Audacity of Hope, retired Army colonel and former US diplomat. She spent twenty-nine years in the military and later served as a high-ranking diplomat in the State Department. In 2001 she helped oversee the reopening of the US mission in Afghanistan. In 2003 she resigned her State Department post to protest the war in Iraq. She was also on the first Freedom Flotilla.

Alice Walker, passenger on The Audacity of Hope, acclaimed author, poet and activist. She has written many books, including The Color Purple, for which she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Hedy Epstein, passenger on The Audacity of Hope, 86-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor and longtime activist with the International Solidarity Movement.

Richard Levy, passenger on The Audacity of Hope, New York labor attorney and senior partner in the law firm Levy Ratner.

Missy Lane, passenger on The Audacity of Hope and U.S peace activist.

Henry Norr, passenger on The Audacity of Hope and U.S. peace activist.

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Democracy Now!’s Coverage of the Gaza Flotilla This Year and in 2010

JUAN GONZALEZ: Yes, to our first segment the Freedom Flotilla seeking to reach the Gaza Strip is in limbo under the weight of Israeli/U.S. pressure, unrest in Greece and acts of sabotage targeting its ships. A number of vessels remain moored in Greek ports stranding hundreds of passengers and the humanitarian cargo their hoping to bring to Gazans living under an Israeli blockade. The ships were supposed to set sail this week, but the Greek government already facing a financial crisis and public uproar over austerity measures has blocked the ships departure under international pressure.
Meanwhile an Irish ship moored in Turkey was pulled out of the flotilla after its engine was badly damaged in an act of sabotage. Another ship is undergoing repairs in Greece after unknown vandals damaged its propeller. Flotilla organizers blamed the Israeli government.
AMY GOODMAN: Israel has denied involvement, but is openly celebrating the flotilla’s setbacks. On Thursday, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is entitled to stop the flotilla as part of its "full right to operate against efforts to smuggle weapons in to Gaza". We’re going to be speaking with the Israeli Consul General in New York in our next segment, but right now we turn to Democracy Now! Producer Aaron Maté, who is in Greece covering the journey of the flotilla’s U.S. flag ship, called the Audacity of Hope after President Obama’s best-selling book. Aaron was there Thursday as the ship was publicly unveiled. He filed this report.
[singing]
AARON MATÉ: After more than a week of being stranded in Athens, amidst Israeli government pressure, U.S. government warnings and a political crisis in Greece, that certainly weakened the Greek government’s ability to withstand international pressure, passengers aboard the Audacity of Hope, the U.S. boat to Gaza, gathered at their ship for the first time.
ANN WRIGHT: If the Israeli government really does not want us to sail and doesn’t want us to sail again and again and again, then they need to end the blockade of Gaza.
AARON MATÉ: Flanked by her fellow passengers retired U.S. Army colonel Ann Wright held a news conference discussing the challenges that face this ship in trying to reach Gaza.
ANN WRIGHT: The government of Greece, tragically is being complicit with the Israeli government, it’s being pounded by the Israeli government not to let these boats sale. It is part of the diplomatic offensive that the Israeli government has been moving on for the last three months, to prevent the flotilla from sailing, a flotilla of unarmed civilian ships filled with unarmed civilian people.
AARON MATÉ: Greek authorities blocked the ships’ departure following a complaint from an Israeli group. Other flotilla ships are in a similar bind and two have been sabotaged while moored in their ports.
ANN WRIGHT: Our boats are being surveilled, they are being watched, and in some cases they have been sabotaged. A Greek Norwegian-Swedish passenger boat was sabotaged just this last week. An axle to a propeller shaft was cut off, and then just yesterday, in Turkey, the Irish boat, in an incident of terrorism, this is terrorism, when you go after a boat and disable it.
AARON MATÉ: Organizers now say the Irish ship has suffered too much damage and won’t be sailing for Gaza. As their numbers dwindle, the Freedom Flotilla faces a tough choice, wait for permission and they could never leave, but if they defy orders and set sail they risk arrest and an end to their mission. For U.S. passengers the U.S. backing of the Israeli effort to stop the flotilla provokes anger. Last week, Hillary Clinton suggested Israel would have the right to use force to stop the ships. Among the U.S. passengers is author, Alice Walker.
ALICE WALKER: It is so pathetic to put it in those terms because we are carrying letters. We are carrying letters, a lot of them for children. To think that a big, strong government like Israel, which is the fourth largest military power on earth, would be afraid of the letters of children, is saying a lot, and that our government and the United States cares more about the feelings of the Israeli government than about the feelings of its citizens I think is very serious.
HEDY EPSTEIN: My name is Hedy Epstein. I think the reason for some of this is they’re afraid that if they do not support and go along with whatever Israel demands that they might be considered anti-Semitic and it’s ridiculous to have that kind of a fear. Even if you were called anti-Semitic, I am being called anti-Semitic. So? It doesn’t stop me from doing what I’m about to do or what I have done or what I will do.
RICHARD LEVY: I’m Richard Levy, I’m a passenger on the Audacity of Hope. We have got no support from the United States on this. Apparently free speech is not really for Americans if it involves Palestine, and it’s not for the Mideast if it involves Palestine. Free speech is okay in some countries. It is not okay in other countries. Our consulate has basically turned us down flat in terms of support to allow this flotilla to go forward. A great disappointment.
MISSY LAYNE: My name is Missy Layne, and I am from Washington, D.C. I think the fact that so many powerful wealthy governments are working so hard to keep us from going shows how significant it is. So much of the propaganda in the media, the mainstream media that you see, says that there is total support for Israel and they are the only democracy in the Middle east. I think that anything to negate that, to show the truth that clearly 1.5 million people in Gaza don’t hate freedom, they are desperate for freedom.
AARON MATÉ: The flotilla seeks to leave Greece as the country is in uproar over a radical austerity program demanded by international lenders. The connection is not lost on flotilla passenger Henry North.
HENRY NORTH: This country is faced with a structural adjustment program dictated by the banks, at the most profound and disruptive that’s ever happened to a first-world country. It’s the kind of thing that’s happened many times before to third world countries and it happened in Eastern Europe. It never happened before to a European country. Their living standards are being slashed. One of the things that’s got to me is hearing that on the IMF list of demands is that they privatize the port of Piraeus, the port adjacent to Athens. For 3000 years at least that port has been the outlet, Greece’s outlet to the world. We happen to be here at a moment of profound crisis for this country. The Greeks are every bit as much a victim as we are even though they are the ones who are keeping us here.
AARON MATÉ: Held back by the confluence of geopolitical imbalance and local unrest, the flotilla’s journey to Gaza is in doubt. But regardless of whether or not their ships leave port, passengers say they are already one step closer to their ultimate goal of freeing Gaza.
ANN WRIGHT: This feels like a setback, but I’ve lived long enough to see that sometimes setbacks have a better outcome than you would ever imagine. So I take the position that getting this far with getting this boat, it’s a beautiful boat, we have good food, and we have lots of water, and we have music, and we have each other, that this is a major victory in the movement forward on this issue. But also, the movement around the world of people just getting together as citizens making a decision to change a bad situation and sticking together.
HEDY EPSTEIN: With what happened in the United States in the 1960’s, the civil rights movement, you know, there were waves and waves of people. They knew they were going to get hurt, maybe they knew they were going to have dogs sat upon them. They knew they were going to be hosed down by strong water hoses, and they kept on coming until one day they won and this is exactly what we’re going to be doing. They’re will waves and waves of flotillas until we reach our goal and break the siege of Gaza.
AARON MATÉ: For Democracy Now! I’m Aaron Maté with Hany Massoud in Athens.
[music]
JUAN GONZALEZ: As we’ve reported, up to 400 National activists are waiting to set sale for Gaza aboard 10 ships leaving from Greece. However, the Israeli government is trying to prevent the ships from leaving port and has vowed to intercept them should they set sail. Yesterday, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked allies of the Jewish state, including Greece, for helping delay the flotilla’s departure.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: I want to thank the many leaders in the world for speaking and acting recently against the provocative flotilla, especially the leaders of the United States and Europe, the U.N. Secretary-General and my friend the Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou. Israel has the total right to act against attempts to legitimize the smuggling of missiles and rockets and other weapons to the Hamas terror enclave.

JUAN GONZALEZ: That was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yesterday the Israeli claimed it had uncovered financial links between the Gaza-bound flotilla and the Palestinian movement Hamas. However, flotilla participants have unequivocally denied such claims, noting Israel has provided no evidence. The activists have repeatedly stated their commitment to nonviolence and they have welcomed the media to inspect their boats, interview all passengers, and even taste the food on board. This is Ann Wright, a retired Army colonel and former diplomat who is participating in the flotilla.
ANN WRIGHT: On behalf of the U.S. boat to Gaza the Audacity of Hope to welcome you the members of the international press and Greek press to our unveiling of our ship, the Audacity of Hope, which is named for a book that our President of the United States has written. We use it because we are challenging U.S. government policies,
policies that support the state of Israel and its naval blockade of Gaza.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Ann Wright, retired Army colonel and former diplomat.

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Ido Aharoni, Consul General of Israel in New York, defends the Israeli government’s campaign against the flotilla claiming there is no need for humanitarian aid to be shipped to Gaza now that Egypt has opened the Rafah border crossing. Aharoni also refuses to deny Israel played a role in the sabotage of two boats in the flotilla and refuses to promise that Israeli officials will not arrest the Democracy Now! journalists on board the flotilla if Israel intercepts the ship. “I can tell you the whole idea of the flotilla is unnecessary, and we have no interest in dealing with it, and hopefully the flotilla will not be on its way to Israel,” Aharoni said. [Includes rush transcript]

Filed under Gaza Flotilla, Gaza, Israel & Palestine

Ido Aharoni, Consul General of Israel in New York. He served in the Israel Defense Forces as a company commander in the infantry during the first Lebanon war. In the spring of 1993, Aharoni was appointed to serve under then Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, as Policy Assistant to Israel’s Chief negotiator with the Palestinians.

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Democracy Now!’s Coverage of the Gaza Flotilla This Year and in 2010

AMY GOODMAN: For more we’re joined on the telephone by Ido Aharoni, he is the Consul General of Israel in New York. He served in the Israel Defense Forces as a company commander in the infantry during the first Lebanon War. In the spring of '93 he was appointed to serve under then Foreign Minister Shimon Perez as policy assistant to Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians. Welcome to Democracy Now! Israeli Consul General Ido Aharoni. I wanted to start by asking you, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the Greek Prime Minister Papandreou, which at this point Greece has prevented the boat, the Audacity of Hope, the U.S. flag ship and others in the flotilla from moving ahead. What has the Prime Minister done to work with the Israeli government in this? Why is Benjamin Netanyahu thanking him?
IDO AHARONI: Well, I think that the general notion that the entire idea of sending the flotilla when you have the borders of Egypt now open and there is a flow of commodities and goods in and from Gaza is a bad idea, is not only endorsed by the Greek government, but also by the U.S. administration. We think it’s a bad idea, there are major players in the international arena that think it’s a bad idea. We’re not set out to destroy the Earth, we’re not set out to inflict any harm on them, but we have legitimate claims and we feel that they’re not being met by the organizers.
AMY GOODMAN: Is Greece working with the Israeli government in stopping the flotilla from taking off?
IDO AHARONI: Look, I’m not familiar with the details of what is happening exactly between, as you know, I am positioned here in the United States, and I can tell you that we are very happy on the public position taken by a number of countries in Europe as well as the U.S. administration that contends that the very idea of flotilla is a provocation, unneeded one, illegitimate one.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Consul General, this issue, the statements that financial links have been uncovered between Hamas and the flotilla organizers, could you elaborate on that?
IDO AHARONI: Well, I don’t know enough details on that as well. I can tell you again that the problem we have is that Gaza has been controlled by Hamas for several years now. We have practically handed over the keys to the Palestinians in Gaza and told them here, it’s all yours. This happened in August of 2005. Since then, we’ve received nothing but hostility and violence. 45,000 rockets were shelled on to Israel from Gaza during those years since 2005. We know of a recent shipment of yet another 8,000 rockets in to Gaza. So, we’re determined to make sure that Gaza will not turn in to a terrorist safe-haven. And I think that the people that support the idea of flotilla have to be aware of this very simple fact.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to ask you about the Israeli newspaper Maariv, which quoted several unnamed members of Israel’s security cabinet as saying the army’s claims were media spin and public relations hysteria, saying security cabinet ministers were given no such information when they were briefed on the flotilla this week. That is, information about arms, about chemical use that’s expected, anything like that.
IDO AHARONI: I don’t really know, what more do you need than the living proof of 45,000 rockets shelled on to innocent civilians, children, women, the elderly? Our entire southern region was paralyzed for six years, inflicted major economic damage. Many people were injured, several even died. What more do you need? This is the number-one problem we had in our southern region for years, and that’s the reason why we had to go into Gaza in early 2009. We are determined to make sure that Hamas is not acquiring more weapons and more arms, and we are making sure that every shipment, that goes into Gaza, is very well inspected. That’s the only reason why we’re doing it.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Consul General, the organizers of the flotilla have raised these issues that several of their ships have been sabotaged, and they believe that Israel would be the only one who would be interested in doing that and they believe Israel is behind it. Can you say publicly that Israel has not been involved in any kind of sabotage attempts on these ships?
IDO AHARONI: Look, this is the most irrelevant question, whether the ships were sabotaged or not. The entire idea of the flotilla is unneeded, not necessary, and it is not legitimate. If they are interested in providing aid to Gaza, there are ways to do it, through international organizations, they can do it directly with Israel, they can actually do it through Egypt. They were invited by the Egyptian government through the port of El Arish, but for some reason the organizers are determined to turn this in to a media event and to create a provocation that is unneeded and will endanger the lives of all the people involved, and there is no need to do that.
AMY GOODMAN: So, Consul General, you are not denying responsibility for sabotaging these boats?
IDO AHARONI: Well, I don’t know the details. I have no idea what the organizers are claiming. I haven’t seen any of those claims, but I can tell you that the whole idea of the flotilla is unnecessary, and we have no interest in dealing with it, and hopefully the flotilla will not leave to be on its way to Israel.
AMY GOODMAN: Let me ask you another question and it’s about the journalists. The Israeli government has said that journalists who cover the flotilla will be banned from Israel for 10 years. Why?
IDO AHARONI: I think that this statement was reversed by the government, which issued another statement that journalists are welcome to board the ship we have nothing to hide.
AMY GOODMAN: So, will they not be arrested? We have our own journalists on board, our reporters are there in Athens and planning to board the ship. They will not be arrested? Do we have these guarantees, and their equipment, our cameras, will not be confiscated?
IDO AHARONI: Again, I don’t know the details. I guess that the people that will board the ship probably have to find information themselves. I can tell you that based on the statements of the Israeli government released, the Israeli press is more than welcome to cover the actions of the Israeli navy.
AMY GOODMAN: National press, not just Israeli press?
IDO AHARONI: You asked me about a statement that is part of the Israeli Press and a statement that was issued by the Israeli government. It’s part of the Israeli press and as the Prime Minister’s office clarified this decision was reversed and the media is more than welcome to, we’re operating in full transparency.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to follow up on a point you just made about what happened in November of 2008. An official Israeli government publication, the Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, reported, "Hamas was careful to maintain the cease-fire" and only fired rockets at Israel "in retaliation," after Israel broke the cease-fire on November 4th. This is an Israeli government publication.
IDO AHARONI: Well, I want to tell you something. You don’t really have to do more than just look at the Hamas Charter, this is an organization that openly calls for the annihilation of the state of Israel. It is an organization that is refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist, an organization that repeatedly denies all past agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinians. This is an organization that acted against Israel from day one. I don’t think we need to prove that. This is a position embraced by...
AMY GOODMAN: But the people on board the ship are people like the 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, Hedy Epstein, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Alice Walker, the well known labor lawyer Richard Levy, and others. These are the people who say that they are trying to challenge the blockade of Gaza, which brings me to this question, Consul General. Is Gaza occupied by Israel?
IDO AHARONI: The people that participate in this flotilla have to know what they’re doing and which organization they are endorsing and Hamas is a terrorist organization that totally negates the goals of the Palestinian national movement and our idea of a two state solution. It’s an organization that resorts to violence any opportunity they are given, and I would certainly urge them to learn more about Hamas before they participate in this flotilla. Thank you so much. Unfortunately, I cannot continue with this interview because I have another engagement. Thank you so much.
AMY GOODMAN: But just that follow up on, is Israel occupying Gaza? Because it goes to the issue of who’s waters are off of the coast of Gaza? Does Israel have the right to intervene there?
IDO AHARONI: The reality on the ground is very simple, the facts are very simple. In August of 2005, the government of the state of Israel put an end to thousands of households in [inaudible] that practically handed over the keys to Gaza. Hamas, instead of turning it into an oasis, turned it into a safe haven for terrorists. It is something that no government, including the Israeli government, should accept. Thank you so much and have a great day.
AMY GOODMAN: Thank you very much for joining us. We have just been speaking with the Consul General of Israel in New York, Ido Aharoni.

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As the 400 international activists wait to set sail from Greece to Gaza on the Freedom Flotilla, Israeli media has been full of reports speculating about the activists’ character and motivations for participating in the humanitarian aid mission. Israeli newspapers have charged that the flotilla is carrying sacks of chemicals on board because passengers plan to kill IDF soldiers. The reports come after Foreign Ministry officials informed Israeli cabinet ministers that there was no information about members of "terrorist groups" planning to take part in the flotilla. “Israel is trying to present the flotilla as a military threat, whereas nobody in the world believes that,” says our guest, Ali Abunimah, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, “not even Israeli cabinet ministers.” [Includes rush transcript]

Filed under Gaza, Gaza Flotilla, Israel & Palestine

Ali Abunimah, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of "One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse."

The Absurd Times

Friday, July 01, 2011

Flotilla, part 3

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Friday, July 01, 2011

Flotilla, part 3

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