Adam Shapiro (husband of Huwaida Arraf) tried to get into Gaza last month on the Spirit of Humanity, the boat seized by the Israeli navy. He writes about it at Huffington Post:
Those of us with video cameras bore the brunt of the over-zealous navy forces. We were beaten to break our grasp on the video cameras. I have documented events from Afghanistan to Darfur to various locations around the Middle East, but until then I had never been physically attacked on account of my work. Israel's military censor continues to hold the evidence and I expect never to retrieve it. With the evidence gone, much of the media have treated the event as though it never occurred.
Instead of sailing into Gaza's bombed and broken port, we were kidnapped at gunpoint, taken to a foreign country, and imprisoned. Instead of delivering toys to children in Azbet Abed Rabbo, where in February I met families living in tents (again) because their homes were left in rubble by Israel's December-January invasion, we stood at attention for a prison guard to check our cell.
As other governments spoke up publicly for their citizens, the US government was notably silent.
Related posts:
- National Lawyers Guild says one Israel soldier shot three sisters, executing the 2- and 7-year-old, and paralyzing the 4-year-old
- (Surprise) Lobby uses Tehran crackdown to ratchet pressure on Iran
- Blumenthal’s video is a reflection of Lieberman’s Israel
- Official Israeli video footage on youtube depicts an apparent atrocity
- Another Grim Video From B’Tselem in Shadow of Separation Wall
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I was on the telephone to a Mr Bell at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, just hours before the illegal commandeering of your vessel, pleading with him to insist the Israeli navy allow you free passage to Gaza with the humanitarian aid. Whilst he was polite and appeared to be genuinely concerned (to some degree), he told me that the British Embassy couldn't act on information gathered from a Twitter report on the internet – I should have thought that this is just the sort of first hand, up to the minute information which with all the might of British intelligence and satellite observation systems etc COULD relatively easily be verified and acted upon if indeed there was any desire whatsoever from our government of neo-Nazi Zionist appeasers to make a stand about the desperate need to get aid into Gaza. I wish you all better luck next time – we need more people to demonstrate their outrage over the UK government and US's appeasement, if we genuinely wish to ameliorate the desperation, depression and dispossession of the 1,500,000 devastated and (Nazi style) "collectively punished" Palestinians in Gaza.
PS – re my last post, before anyone starts the usual tirade of accusations that I am anti-semitic, I'M NOT, I have many Jewish friends and I'm happy to say that not one of them (like the majority of Jews around the world, who are good people) approves of the Israeli government's brutal oppression of the Palestinians. To those of you who may wish to make such accusations, isn't it time you stopped playing that feeble, immoral and unworthy card?
Americans via their congress has been heavily involved in an economic war on Iran. This is a form of collective punishment that has real consequences our US Congress ignores, an one tiny example is the recent crash of the Iranian civilian transport plane, just so you know, fellow Americans, what your representatives in your government ( theoretically the whole 300 million, not just the 2%) think is "kosher": http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archi...
Thank you Adam..a fine (if heartbreaking) commentary. i wonder why the israelis go to all the bother of confiscating video evidence of their war crimes and human rights violations. Don't they know by now not a single "news" agency in our "open society" will dare show such footage even if they receive it?
But that's "only in America." (And that in turn use to be a a saying, blessing America for its singularly meritorious ways.) The footage would still get to Europe, making it that much harder, drip by drip, to brew AIPAC coffee for our fairly democratic allies there.
Adam, You may not be an antisemite. But you certainly seem to be ignorant of what really goes on in Gaza. Have you made any phone calls to any embassies about the conditions of illegal imprisonment of Gilad Shalit? Have you ever heard of Gilad Shalit? Have you made any furious phone calls to Fatah offices about their assaults on Hamas Jihadis? Have you made any furious phone calls to Hamas offices about their holding the Gazans hostage to their Jihadic plans to spread Shari'a on everyone? Have you made any outraged phone calls to the Egyptian embassy (wherever you are) about letting the Gazans free passage into Egypt? Besides MondoLies and Twitter, do you actually know anything about Gaza?
Have you made any phone calls to any embassies about the conditions of illegal imprisonment of Gilad Shalit?
Shalit is in Egypt. Dont you read the news? Ever?
RE: Have you made any furious phone calls to Fatah offices about their assaults on Hamas Jihadis? === I do get angry, but I don’t make “furious phone calls” Tragically I do believe it was the USA and probably also the UK who funded Fatah fighters to try to wipe out the democratically elected Hamas regime – as usual Bush and Blair were saying they wanted world democracy but in reality (as usual for our countries) they were willing to fund & condone the murder or removal of democratically elected governments who weren’t the “right kind of democracy” to replace them with unelected cronies. Have you made any furious phone calls to Hamas offices about their holding the Gazans hostage to their Jihadic plans to spread Shari'a on everyone? === I’m only a very ordinary guy, but I did email Hamas to try to chat with them about various issues, still waiting for an answer! Have you made any outraged phone calls to the Egyptian embassy (wherever you are) about letting the Gazans free passage into Egypt? === No, but I did phone the Israeli embassy in London, but there was an answer phone and they haven’t yet returned my call! Besides MondoLies and Twitter, do you actually know anything about Gaza? === You already queried my knowledge of what goes on in Gaza and I responded honestly. I’ve found your comments slightly hostile, but I would still be interested to talk with you! I would be keen to hear where you stand and any views you have to resolve the tragic situation.
Thank you Jake – I see this as a great opportunity to talk and hopefully to discover some mutual understanding. Though from your message, I’m not clear about precisely where you stand on the situation. You may not be an antisemite. But you certainly seem to be ignorant of what really goes on in Gaza. === Sure you are right, I am ignorant to a degree (though I can’t see how you deduce this!) and I want to know more. I never went to Gaza yet because the Israeli government would probably give me a lot of grief over my political (humanitarian) views and I fear like Natalie Abou Shakra I may not get out. I have many friends who know Gaza well, but have you ever been there yourself? Were you there in December and January when innocent people were dying and being blown to pieces and horrifically burnt with DIME bombs and White Phosphorous shells? When Israeli soldiers were (as many have now admitted through “Breaking The Silence”) deliberately killing civilians and using illegal weapons? Have you made any phone calls to any embassies about the conditions of illegal imprisonment of Gilad Shalit? Have you ever heard of Gilad Shalit? === No, but I have emailed – Khaled Meshaal and Dr Mahmoud Zahar with specific regard to his welfare and human rights.
RE: "Those of us with video cameras bore the brunt of the over-zealous navy forces. We were beaten to break our grasp on the video cameras…we were kidnapped at gunpoint, taken to a foreign country, and imprisoned." MY PLATITUDE: Father, forgive them not; for they know precisely what they do.
Gilad Shalit is dead. At least, I hope so. As an IDF war criminal, he's caused enough suffering.
Hamas moved Gilad Shalit to Egypt three weeks ago after Obama’s Cairo speech. The Egyptians reported that Shalit is in extremely good health.
Shalit is still in Gaza, he has not been transferred to Egypt. There was supposedly a deal being made that would have included his transfer to Egypt, but the deal fell through. Israel wants the terrorists with blood on their hands that it would release as part of the deal to be expelled to other Arab countries. Hamas wants them in Gaza and the West Bank so they can kill more Israelis. Fortunately, the deal fell through as a result.
I think the Israelis are insane to trade terrorists for a kidnapped soldier. That just encourages the Palestinians to take more hostages.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1100116.html
“Last week, Mubarak announced that Shalit was in good condition and expressed hope he would be released soon. However, he gave no details on where he got his information.
A Hamas official later dismissed Mubarak’s comments as ‘wishful thinking’. “
Hi Adam I can spare you a lot of trouble by giving you the abridged version of Jake's cosmology, which happens to bear a remarkable similarity to the ideology of any rank and file Nazi true believer. He feels the Israelis are a miracle from God and that any criticism of them amounts to intolerable anti-Semitism. Israel is surrounded by irrational hostility yet acts with decency and benevolence 100% of the time. The Arabs, in contrast, can scarcely be considered human at all, so the slaughter and dispossession of them by his beloved countrymen is of no consequence whatever, except to the world's Jew haters–a large and growing contingent which includes the MIT linguist Noam Chomsky, the Harvard scholar Sara Roy, anti-apartheid leaders like Nelson Mandella and Desmond Tutu, and anti-Semitic historical figures like Albert Einstein and Primo Levi.
99.9% of the time. I see the Arabs as human, unlike your characterization of Israelis as various types of animals. However, I see a significant portion (by no means all) of the Palestinian population as barbarians.
They are not being slaughtered. To the extent they are being dispossessed, they have brought that on themselves.
Einstein was not anti-Israel. I don’t know about Mandella thinks Israel should withdraw from the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights, but he supports Israel’s right to exist. Tutu, I don’t know about his position. Noam Chomski is anti-America, anti-Semitic, anti-Western Civilization. Sara Roy has built her career on attacking Israel and excusing Hamas for their terrorism, not exactly a surprise there.
Never heard of Primo Levi. His wikipedia entry doesn’t mention anything about his views on Israel. He died 22 years ago.
Just to be clear, the 99.9% referred to Israel acting with decency and benevolence 99.9% of the time. I see the Arabs as human 100% of the time.
The 99.9% was a bit facetious though. Benevolence is a bit much to expect toward an enemy, though Israel does act with benevolence much of the time. Seriously though, the 99.9% would be that Israel acts appropriately 99.9% of the time. The other 0.1% involves vandalism or other actions by rogue Israelis.
Adam, Thank you for your civil reply. I sense a sincere interest in helping other people and seeking the truth and look forward to an interesting and illuminating discourse. If you are concerned about funding for Fatah, then you might be critical of EU, US and UN funding efforts. The Pal Authority has received BILLIONS of USD in recent years – and the Pal people have little to show for it. This is one reason they voted out Arafat's violent and corrupt Fatah and voted in Hamas, though Hamas haven't shown much ability nor interest in actually improving the lot of their subjects. If you support funding Hamas, you might have a problem with Hamas' Jihadic and genocidal policies, as the EU, US, etc. do. This can be a problem. Your last line deserves a fuller response, and the Comments Section of MondoLies is not really a suitable venue for this but I will try. See my next reply.
Adam, On resolving the tragic situation: The first thing EVERYONE has to face is the TRUTH. There are many aspects to Truth, but if people live only in dream-land, no peaceful arrangements will ever materialize in this world in which we actully (try to) live. The so-called Palestinean people have been teaching their children for the last few generations that they will Push the Jews Into the Sea and make all the land theirs. This just ain't gonna happen. The Arab states have waged war against Israel on numerous occassions and have always used the "Palestinean" people as a weapon against the Jews. (Arabs speak of "Yahud", Jews, and rarely refer to Israel.) You probably already know that the Arab states haven't ever done anything to help the "Pals" they cry about so much. More in next comment…
Therefore, Israel has demanded in the Oslo Agreements, and the Pal Authority has agreed, that Arab children be taught towards peace. In Israel, much has moved in the direction of educating youth towards peace. In the PA, quite the opposite. For this reason, I believe – and now even ardent Israeli Leftists, as well – that a working peace is at least 2 generations away. Until the Arabs give up their Jihad Forever dreams, there cannot be peace, nor can a generation of Arab Peace Activists grow up. The abundance of Israeli/Jewish "peace" activists who will entertain any Israeli concession is contrasted with the absolute lack of anything comparable on the "Pal" side. As pretty much all Israelis now agree, there is no partner for peace on the Pal side. There is much more, of course, but this is an important start.
This is my second reply to Adam's post. I hope the previous comment to Adam's post gets through MondoLies censorship. I am sure that MondoLies isn't happy about real facts, but that doesn't stop me from trying…. And yes, I was there in December/January, too. The reports you refer to are entirely unsubstantiated it. From what I have heard from IDF soldiers, the Hamas Jihadis were hiding behind civilians and also in UN installations. Israel refrained from hitting any of those directly, even when it was clear that the Hamasis were using Gazan civilians as human shields. If you did contact Palestinean officials with concern about Gilad Shalit, then you are commendable and honest. Too much of the howling among "human rights" activists is only too happy to ignore real and enormous violations of human rights and only attack the current-fad bad-guy.
Several of my postings to MondoLies have disappeared or not been published. MondoLies clearly does not seek honest discourse on the topics close to their hearts, namely the dispossession of Jews from Israel, increasing hatred toward Jews everywhere and, of course, Jews at MondoLies making money out of selling Jew-Hatred. MondoLies can only exist in it's own fantasy world where truth is denied, facts are ignored and reality is imagined. MondoLies is MondoBigotry.
Several of my postings to MondoLies have disappeared or not been published. MondoLies clearly does not seek honest discourse on the topics close to their hearts, namely the dispossession of Jews from Israel, increasing hatred toward Jews and, of course, Jews at MondoLies making money out of this Jew-Hatred. MondoLies can only exist in it's own fantasy world where truth is denied, facts are ignored and reality is imagined. MondoLies is MondoBigotry.
Hi Jake I think it's so important to keep talking, so long as people are talking, they can't be killing each other! – intelligent respectful conversation is good, but non-violent actions for peace and justice are even better. One thing is for sure, we can't rely on our governments to sort out the world's problems – I think most governments are imperialist in nature. I like the idea of talking and of both "sides" keeping an open intelligent mind. Sadly the demagoguery of our governments often brainwashes us from such discourse. I was so moved to see the wonderful Israeli (well maybe Israeli/Arab, I think Simone Bitton is half Arab half Israeli) film "Wall" and to listen to people like Israeli Muli Peleg from Matan who moved there with his wife and young children just before the wall was built. He wanted to be neighbourly with his Palestinian brothers and sisters (in humanity if not culture!) from the neighbouring village of Habla. But tragically the Israeli government don't appear to approve of or even allow such natural human desires to be realised. (I guess it's security…. so, so sad) We could all talk semantics ad infinitum; who fired the first shot, who broke the ceasefire first, who killed more people etc. But let me ask you as someone who understandably loves his country and his culture and I imagine his religion and also is like most of us a good humane inteligent person: IF the Palestinian people COULD (I know this is never going to be 100% possible on either side of ANY conflict) guarantee Israelis would be free from attack or any violent actions whatsoever, what would you personally be willing to offer them to ensure a lasting peace and a good life for everyone in the shared land (which I believe your people think is their divine right to live in again because of something ("unsubstantiated" to use your own turn of phrase!) that God may or may not have said to Moses thousands of years ago. Hope you aren't too sensitive about that, but I think I'm being reasonable here. Would you be willing to offer Arabs and Christians living or working in Israel complete equality and freedom from your existing "pass laws" and other existing Apartheid practises? Or do you think this current system is fair? Shalom and Salaam to everyone in the Middle East. P.S. I think this does seem to be a good website/forum, despite what your reservations. If you really think some of what you said has been censored, why don't you challenge them over it and post their reply on here, along with the posts you think may have been censored. I feel they may have just been lost in the electronic process – I loose loads of stuff in that way! We all want peace: “When the rich make war it's the poor that die” (Jean-Paul Sartre) …. it's also the poor who pay for these wars – I find it ironic that the world spends several billion pounds every year fuelling this conflict and sanctimoniously spends a similar amount clearing up the mess (only they don't do a very good job of the latter do they!) Just think what could be acheived if ALL the money (and also a lot of love and compassion) went towards positive stuff rather than one half cancelling out the other.
Arab and Christian citizens of Israel have equality now (except that they are not conscripted into the IDF, but can join voluntarily). There are no Apartheid practices. Israel doesn’t have “pass laws”. There is a system of travel permits in the West Bank, but those are not Israeli citizens, they are members of a hostile population that is still at war with Israel. You are pretending to be some person considering both sides, but your terminology gives you away. It is anti-Israel propaganda 101. What Israel is doing isn’t immoral, so make a false analogy to the Nazis and Apartheid then say “Nazis are bad therefore Israel is bad”, and hope that people don’t notice that your analogies are ludicrous by any objective standard.
The current system has reduced terrorist attacks from the West Bank by 90%. Since the Palestinians are at war with Israel, the question of whether such a system would be fair if there were peace is kind of moot. If there were peace, there would be no need for the travel permit system in the West Bank.
To answer your question, if the Palestinians were actually willing to make a real peace, not a hudna (time out while we build up our ability to attack you). Then I would be willing to give them Gaza and the West Bank (trading land elsewhere in Israel for the land the Israeli adjacent settlements is on and evacuating the rest). As part of that land swap, I’d let the populations of majority Arab areas in Israel that are near the West Bank or Gaza vote on whether the area could be included in the swap. If the Israeli Arabs turned it down, then mostly empty land.
I’d give them access to the Dome of the Rock, but no ownership of any part of Jerusalem. No right of “return” to Israel.
Of course this is all theoretical since I don’t get to make these choices. Also, it is all moot since the Palestinians will never make a peace agreement that gives up their right of return or where they agree to permanently give up on taking all of Israel.
The fact that you compare the mild blockade (that lets food, fuel, and medicine through) to the Nazis
mild blockade (that lets food, fuel, and medicine through) ? ? ? The blockade DOES NOT ALLOW food, fuel, or medicine through. That is why George Galloway is doing a convoy from Egypt as I write to provide these basics to the occupied people of Gaza. Anyone can google for this basic fight.
As for the anti-semitic canard. No one gives a shit anymore if accused of this. It’s like having WWII Mussolini accuse us of being anti-fascist.
The naval blockade doesn’t let anything through, it has to pass through Israel then go to the Palestinians over land. I was referring to the blockade in general, including the blockade on land.
Since there is no widespread starvation in Gaza, the Israelis are obviously letting food through.
BTW, you really should think about the implications of your analogies. You have just confessed that you are in fact anti-Semitic. In WWII we were anti-fascist. If Mussolini had accused us of that, his accusation would have been correct. So you are saying that you are anti-Semitic, but it is OK, because Jews are evil. Thank you for clarifying your position.
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