The IDF has released a photograph of Lt. Col. Dov Harari, who was killed today in an unprovoked attack against the IDF by the Lebanese army.
Note that Colonel Harari is standing here in front of a monument to the Warsaw Ghetto fighters. You can make out the name of Mordechai Anielewicz, who led the Ghetto’s fight against the Nazi occupiers. For those who don’t read Hebrew, the cover on the Torah scroll he is carrying bears the name of Ilan Ramon, the Israeli astronaut who perished in the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003.
If you take a look here you’ll find a report by the Oxford Research Group about the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The report opposes any such action on Israel’s part but I, like you, knew that before reading it. It’s well worth a read though, in spite of its adherence to the bien pensant received wisdom on the matter in question. There are, however, a couple of questions about it that I’d like to bring up:
The dominant narrative of Zionist storm troopers massacring innocent peace activists on the Mavi Marmara is now so well established that no amount of evidence supporting Israel’s version of events is likely to make any difference. Still, it seems to impossible not to comment on this series of photos published by the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.
The IDF has now released an official clarification regarding the audio released yesterday of a radio communication in which a flotillista tells the Israeli Navy to “Go Back to Auschwitz.” Bottom line: the exchange is genuine. Those who questioned its authenticity - like Max Blumenthal and Ali Abunimah - have yet again revealed to the world that their grasp of such trifling matters as truth and falsehood is shaky at best.
The Guardian here makes great play of the fact that the autopsies carried out on those killed on the Mavi Marmara show that five of them received gunshot wounds to the head and one was shot between the eyes. The piece quotes a pro-Palestinian activist in the UK as accusing the Israeli commandos having had a “shoot-to-kill” policy.
The IDF, a gang of brutish, racist, trigger happy European interlopers bent on committing genocide as often as they can. Well, if that’s what you think, I’m not going to argue with you, at least not in this post. What I will do is direct your attention to the fascinating recording above. It shows two IDF soldiers, one Druze and one Bedouin, trading verses of Zajal, semi-improvised Arabic poetry. I found it on Nizo’s blog , where you can find a translation of a fragment of what’s being recited, via a link from Lisa Goldman on Facebook.
This evening, the IDF Spokesman’s New Media Unit arranged for an exclusive blogger-press-conference with a senior official from COGAT, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, which among its responsibilities, includes coordinating the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip.
Here’s the account of the commander of the naval commandos who boarded the Mavi Marmara:
“We knew there would be resistance, but not at such a strong level,” said Captain R., who led one of the teams and was wounded in the mission. “Every [activist] that approached us wanted to kill us.”
Captain R. was the second commando to be dropped from a military helicopter onto the Turkish-flagged ship. During the mission, a large mob of the activists hurled him from the upper to lower deck of the ship.
From the Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Captain R. said that every commando who entered the ship was met by a number of activists who charged at the soldiers and attacked them. At least 75 percent of the activists took part in what the soldiers later described as a “lynch.”
“I was the second to be lowered in by rope,” said Captain R. “My comrade who had already been dropped in was surrounded by a bunch of people. It started off as a one-on-one fight, but then more and more people started jumping us. I had to fight against quite a few terrorists who were armed with knives and batons.”
The captain said that he was first forced to cock his gun and shoot once when one of the activists came toward him with a knife.
“At that point, another twenty people starting coming at me from every direction,” said Captain R. “They jumped at me and hurled me to the deck below the bridge. Then I felt a stabbing in my stomach - it was a knife. I pulled it our and somehow managed to get to the lower level. There, was another mob of people.”
Israel Navy: “Mavi Marmara, you are approaching an area of hostilities which is under a naval blockade. The Gaza area coastal region and Gaza harbor are closed to all maritime traffic. The Israeli government supports delivery of humanitarian supplies to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and invites you to enter the Ashdod port. Delivery of supplies in accordance with the authorities’ regulations will be through the formal land crossings and under your observation, after which you can return to your home ports on the vessels on which you have arrived.”
Response: “Negative, negative.”
Of course the response was negative - because the international supporters of Hamas gathered on the Mavi Marmara were hellbent on assaulting/lynching/kidnapping IDF personnel.
The facts about what actually happened on the “Mavi Marmara” in the early hours of this morning won’t in any way affect the tidal wave of hate and self-righteous condemnation that is descending on Israel but if it interests you then you should read Ron Ben Yishai’s account of events here.
All those who insist that the IDF works hand-in-glove with right-wing Jewish settlers might want to check this piece on YNet:
In an unprecedented move, the administrative order against settler Neriah Ofen, keeping him away from the West Bank, was extended to also include the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Pisgat Zeev and Neve Yaakov.
The order was signed by GOC Home Front Command Major General Yair Golan.
Ofen, a right-wing activist, is well known to the security services from the days of the Gaza disengagement, when he was suspected of planning attacks against Arabs. He was also under administrative detention.
Last year he was ordered to keep away from the West Bank after vengeance attacks against Palestinians were attributed to him. As a result, he moved to the Pisgat Zeev neighborhood in Jerusalem where he began working to “preserve the Jewish character” of the neighborhood.
His activities included “keeping Arabs away,” and preventing the sale of property to Arabs. The Shin Bet monitored his activities and again it was decided to keep him away from the area.
The IDF said that the order to keep him away from these areas was issued for the sake of national security, public safety and the maintenance of public order. The ban was issued in light of information presented by security officials and in accordance with their recommendations.
Read it all. Hat-tip to ATFP’s news digest, which - unlike the Viva Palestina’s of this world - doesn’t filter out the politically inconvenient stories.
Now the arrest of the two conflict tourists referred to in this piece does seem to have been ill advised. They were inside Area A when they were nabbed and Israel really shouldn’t be sticking its nose in there without a powerfully good reason.
Support the relief effort here. Support Israel’s soldiers here.
Ben Cohen adds: Since my post on Thursday asking for reader donations, the deal toll in Haiti has climbed still higher, with current estimates hovering at around 100,000. The toll is likely to escalate as more corpses are pulled from the wreckage and as survivors deal with malnutrition, lack of clean drinking water, water-borne diseases and other horrors. So please, give as generously as you can. Football/futbol/soccer fans among you might also want to purchase one of these T-Shirts - all proceeds to earthquake relief.
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