"Just as Israel stated it was not using white phosphorous on the civilians of Gaza last year, claimed that murdered activist Thomas Hurndall was armed and just as it refused a UN investigation into the Jenin massacre in 2003, the pattern of Israeli lies and intransigence continues. And, as with the Israeli assault on the USS Liberty which killed 34 American sailors and wounded 171, the media in the USA covered it up and never investigated. It seems some things never change."
By Rifat Audeh
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Courtesy Of "Media Monitors"
In an outstanding article entitled “How Israeli propaganda shaped U.S. media coverage of the flotilla attack” by Glenn Greenwald, he makes the argument that is self-evident in the title. As someone who was on the Mavi Marmara ship and interviewed frequently after the Israeli crime, I can attest to the accuracy of his findings, which are also applicable to the Canadian media and other global media outlets as well, albeit to a lesser extent.
After international pressure forced my kidnappers to release me and the other activists, Canadian media outlets kept asking me if it was we – the passengers of the ship – who had attacked the Israeli commandos! These questions were based solely on the footage released by the Israeli military and the Israeli narrative of what took place. Accordingly, it is worth taking a step back and looking at the big picture and the facts that have become common knowledge to everyone.
Amnesty International has called the siege of Gaza a “flagrant violation of international law” as have many other international organizations. The humanitarian aid ships and passengers were inspected and cleared from their points of departure, including Turkey, a NATO ally. The Israeli navy attacked the ship in the dead of the night with fully armed commandos in international waters, and even Israel does not dispute this fact. In reports from Bloomberg News, the Associated Press and Israeli papers in the days prior to the attack, Israel threatened to use force and any means necessary to stop the ships, a fact affirmed by Israeli ambassador to the USA Michael Oren in an interview after the attack on June 2nd.
And indeed they did. The Israeli military was firing at us from their vessels which approached the sides of our ship and the helicopters from above as well, even before a single soldier landed on deck. Here we had fully armed Israeli commandos firing live rounds, tear gas, sound grenades and other types of ammunition at unarmed activists of a humanitarian ship at night in international waters, and once again the media has criminalized us and victimized the perpetrators. Let me be clear: we had every right to defend ourselves and our ship against this illegal barbaric assault as our brothers were being wounded and killed. The reader must ask himself/herself: If someone attacked/invaded/burglarized my home with the latest weaponry in the middle of the night to hurt and kill, do I have the right to defend myself and would I? This was the situation for us on the ship, and hence the attempt at self-defense with sticks and slingshots on the one hand against warships, military vessels, helicopters, guns, tear gas, stun grenades and live ammunition on the other.
After the Israeli military took control of our ship, one of the first things it did was confiscate all cameras, footage, flash drives, media equipment and suspended any broadcasts from the ship. As I was thrown on the deck by four commandos and blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back and what seemed to be a soldier’s knee digging into my soon to be fractured ribs, this commando –who the Israelis would undoubtedly claim was acting in self-defense – demanded to know where my mobile phone was after inspecting my empty pockets. It is obvious that there were orders from the start of their operation to control the narrative and what the world sees – or rather doesn’t see. (Note: they never did get my mobile phone). On June 3rd , the Committee to Protect Journalists denounced Israel’s editing and distribution of footage confiscated from foreign journalists, stating “Israel has confiscated journalistic material and then manipulated it to serve its interests”. While this manipulated material was being broadcast to news outlets around the world, we were still under abduction and being held incommunicado by Israel. The few photos and videos that were smuggled out by the activists portray a very different picture of the events, even showing Israeli commandos -who were disarmed by the passengers- being treated for their wounds by the ship’s doctors.
Yet despite all this, Israel has refused an impartial inquiry into the incident, which speaks volumes in itself. If Israel has nothing to hide, why not let such inquiry take its course? Instead, a complete farce is occurring with Israel forming its own inquiry committee to investigate itself, acting as judge, jury and executioner. It has added two internationals - including a Canadian- to this committee, in a pathetic attempt to legitimize something illegitimate.
Just as Israel stated it was not using white phosphorous on the civilians of Gaza last year, claimed that murdered activist Thomas Hurndall was armed and just as it refused a UN investigation into the Jenin massacre in 2003, the pattern of Israeli lies and intransigence continues. And, as with the Israeli assault on the USS Liberty which killed 34 American sailors and wounded 171, the media in the USA covered it up and never investigated. It seems some things never change.
Hello to all. Thought I'd use this space to let you know that someone who lies in their blog about the USS Liberty can't take the heat. His name Walter L. Brown Jr. is and here is his blog piece (POS if you ask me). Ignore Anti-Semitic Propaganda: Mossad Is Not Conducting a Secret War Against US http://patriotword.blogspot.com/2010/07/ignore-anti-semitic-propaganda-mossad.html
ReplyDeleteSeems just because his points were soundly rebutted, he went and scrubbed the entire exchange (but there's no conspiracy to hide th truth). Not only that, he went and change his ENTIRE blog now to one that does not accept comments anymore (I guess he got scared that the one time he actually got some activity from something he wrote, he was left looking completely uninformed). If you read some of the rest of his views, you can see that's not very difficult in his case. This is a perfect example of the type of lie-spewing clown that folds up his circus tent once he's been exposed as such.
The worst part was that I was having pleasant exchange with a commenter named Ron who said he was the petty officer in charge of recovery and identification of the victims (tough job), so Walter closed the door on that. I hope Ron finds his way over here because his had to be a fascinating and moving story as well. Below is the response I posted to his blog (in 3 parts), though my follow-up replies were lost. Heckuva job there, Walter! You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!
[end of pt 1 - posted comment to follow]
[pt 2]
ReplyDelete[posted July 6 at around 4:30pm PST - last comment entered around midnight of same day - entire exchange scrubbed as of this morning]
I guess the truth must be anti-Semitic. Where do I start Mr. Brown? It is sad that the discredited version of the attacking country is accepted over that of the crewmembers attacked. It is shameful that the US Government has not fulfilled its legal obligation to investigate the War Crimes Report filed by USS Liberty crewmembers. It is disgraceful that you wrap yourself in the flag as you claim anti-Semitic bigotry the reason for rejecting Israel’s lies about its murderous behavior.
I have had the good fortune to know and correspond with several of the heroes of the assault on the Liberty. They were most generous with their time as they helped cut through the endlessly repeated nonsense. Their character in this matter is beyond reproach. They have a right to expect that their incredible sacrifice be acknowledged truthfully, free from the distortions political expediency brings.
See: http://www.ussliberty.org/pdf/vfw_ussliberty.pdf for the VFW magazine piece “In Awesome Peril – Heroism in Defense of the USS Liberty”
[end of pt 2]
[pt 3]
ReplyDeleteSee: http://www.ussliberty.org/report/report.htm for the details of the War Crimes Report filed.
[excerpt]
USS Liberty survivors, through sworn statements, have established that the Israeli torpedo boats shot at rescuers and firefighters on the deck of the ship. They have further established that the same torpedo boats shot at USS Liberty’s life rafts, after the rafts had been put over the side of the ship into the sea for use by shipwrecked survivors.[61]
There also exists prima facie evidence that Israeli forces committed additional separate war crimes by firing on the wounded and their rescuers, as well as subsequently firing into the life rafts.
The concerns of an Israeli whitewash first articulated by Secretary of State Rusk[62] and later echoed by Undersecretary of State Battle[63] turned out to be prophetic. In direct violation of Article 52 of the Geneva Convention[64], the Israeli Defense Forces absolved themselves of any wrongdoing, including criminal negligence, involving their attack on USS Liberty. When provided with a copy of the Israeli report, NSA Deputy Director Louis Tordella wrote "A nice whitewash for a group of ignorant, stupid and inept [epithet redacted]" on the cover of his copy.[65] In that Israel has abdicated its responsibility under international law to investigate and bring the wrongdoers to justice, the task falls to the government of the aggrieved parties to act on their behalf.
[end excerpt]
[end of pt 3]
[pt 4]
ReplyDeleteSee: http://www.ifamericansknew.org/media/misslib.html to the put the lie to rest of the so-called investigations allegedly exonerating Israel.
[excerpt]
The Myth of the “11 Investigations”
If USA Today had investigated this claim, continually put forward by Israel partisans, its editors would have discovered that in 2006 the reference librarian at the Library of Congress had investigated this allegation and found it to be false:
After checking numerous resources, including the CIS (Congressional Information Service) Indexes to Congressional Hearings (both published and unpublished), and the Public Documents Masterfile, I could find no evidence that the Congress ever held hearings or launched an investigation into the June 8, 1967 incident with the USS Liberty.10
Even earlier, in 2003, a writer for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Terence O’Keefe, investigated this claim and similarly found it to be hokum. In his subsequent article, also clearly missed by USA Today, O’Keefe discussed each of these alleged “investigations,” as well as their alleged conclusions. Following are excerpts from his report:11
1. The U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry: The court concluded that “available evidence combines to indicate...[that the attack was] a case of mistaken identity.” ...According to Captain Ward Boston, chief legal counsel to the Court of Inquiry, the court found that the attack was deliberate, but reported falsely that it was not, because they were directed by the president of the United States and the secretary of defense to report falsely. So the findings are fraudulent. Yet these fraudulent findings were the basis for several other reports that followed.
2. The Joint Chiefs of Staff Report of June 1967: This was an inquiry into the mishandling of several messages intended for the ship. It was not an investigation into the attack. It did not exonerate Israel, because it did not in any way consider the question of culpability.
3. CIA report of June 13, 1967: This interim report, completed five days after the attack, reported “our best judgment [is] that the attack...was a mistake.” No investigation was conducted, and no first-hand evidence was collected. Then-CIA Director Richard Helms concluded and later reported in his autobiography that the attack was planned and deliberate.
4. Clark Clifford report of July 18, 1967: Clark Clifford was directed by Lyndon Johnson to review the Court of Inquiry report and the interim CIA report and “not to make an independent inquiry.” His was merely a summary of other fallacious reports, not an “investigation”... The report reached no conclusions and did not exonerate Israel... On the contrary, Clifford wrote later that he regarded the attack as deliberate.
[end of pt 4]
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete[pt 5]
ReplyDelete5. and 6. Two Senate meetings: The Committee on Foreign Relations meeting of 1967 and Senate Armed Services Committee meeting of 1968 were hearings on unrelated matters which clearly skeptical members used to castigate representatives of the administration under oath before them. Typical questions were, “Why can’t we get the truth about this?” They were not “investigations” at all, but budget hearings, and reported no conclusions concerning the attack. They did not exonerate Israel.
7. House Appropriations Committee meeting of April and May 1968: This was a budget committee meeting which explored the issue of lost messages intended for the ship. It was not an investigation and reported no conclusions concerning the attack.
8. House Armed Services Committee Review of Communications, May 1971: Liberty communications were discussed along with other communications failures. The committee reported no conclusions concerning the attack.
9. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 1979/1981: [Miami bankruptcy judge A. Jay Cristol, author of a book exonerating Israel] claims that the committee investigated the attack and exonerated Israel, yet he has been unable to provide minutes, a report or other evidence of such an investigation. Rules of the select committee require that any committee investigation be followed by a report. There is no report of such an investigation; ergo, there was no such investigation.
10. National Security Agency Report, 1981: Upon the publication in 1980 of “Assault on the Liberty” by James Ennes, the National Security Agency completed a detailed account of the attack. The report drew no conclusions, although its authors did note that the deputy director dismissed the Israeli excuse (the Yerushalmi report) as “a nice whitewash.” The report did not exonerate Israel.
11. House Armed Services Committee meeting of 1991/1992: Though cited by Mr. Cristol as an investigation which exonerates Israel, the U.S. government reports no record of such an investigation. Cristol claims that the investigation resulted from a letter to Rep. Nicholas Mavroules from Joe Meadors, then-president of the USS Liberty Veterans Association, seeking Mavroules’ support. Instead of responding to Liberty veterans, however, Congressman Mavroules referred the matter to Mr. Cristol for advice. Survivors heard nothing further. Meadors’ letter was never answered. The U.S. government reports that there has been no such investigation.
Be thankful you were not abandoned by your country and government in a similar manner during your service with the Navy. I prefer truth over poorly crafted propaganda. And if you do not feel that Israel is getting special treatment in this regard, ask yourself why the media covered the 40th anniversaries of the Ford Mustang, and the Beatles Sgt. Pepper album, and other such milestones, trivial or otherwise…but fell silent on the recent 40th anniversary of the attack on the USS Liberty. It couldn’t be because of the tragic circumstances; that makes for an even more compelling story, such as with “A Bridge Too Far.” It couldn’t be because the crew did not perform adequately, the Liberty crew certainly qualifies as one of the most highly decorated for a single ship action. With one Medal of Honor, two Navy Crosses and 36 Silver or Bronze Stars for little over a one-hour action, few crews have been so courageous.
I contend it is because it would put Israeli perfidy in the spotlight. I prefer to honor the remarkable US personnel and their sacrifice than worry about Israel saving face.