NPR’s Renee Montagne this morning left out Israel’s alleged crimes against International Law and downplayed the violence of the Israeli naval attack on unarmed humanitarians:
"A flotilla headed for Gaza carrying pro-Palestinian activists and tons of aid took a stunning turn early this morning when a deadly confrontation with Israeli naval forces left at least ten activists dead and dozens wounded. The boats were challenging Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Most of the activists on board were from Turkey; the group also included an Irish Nobel peace laureate, a former American diplomat, and an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor. Before dawn Israeli commandos dropped down from a helicopter on ropes, and boarded one of the boats in the Mediterranean. We reached reporter Sheera Frenkl in the Israeli port city of Ashdot for the latest on the confrontation."
Montagne insults people of conscience by describing the Israeli violence so passively–"left at least ten activists dead and dozens wounded"; by describing the IDF attack as incidental to the flotilla’s own action, "a stunning turn"; and by characterizing the peace mission as an equal partner in "a deadly confrontation with Israeli naval forces."
Montagne and Sheera Frenkel’s subsequent discussion cheats their audience with the conventional NPR swindle: "he said" versus "he said"–suggesting that oppressor and victim, attacker and attacked, have equivalent power. What immoral and, worse, inaccurate "reporting."
Now the introduction has been amended to change the list of those "reported" on board:
"The boats were challenging Israel’s blockade of Gaza, and among those reported on board were an Irish Nobel peace laureate, former American diplomats, and a prominent Muslim cleric from Israel. Before dawn Israeli commandos dropped down from a helicopter on ropes, and boarded one of the boats–a Turkish vessel–in the Mediterranean."
Among the courageous philanthropists on board, NPR omits:
1. USS Liberty (American spy ship bombed by Israel in 1967) survivor Joe Meadors, whom every reliable news source mentions.
2. The names of the "former diplomats" Ambassador Edward L. Peck and Retired U.S. Army Colonel Ann Wright.
(New report: 85-year-old Hedy Epstein is not on board because she decided to sail on the Rachel Corrie soon to meet the flotilla later.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/breakingnews/elderly-holocaust-survivor-did-not-join-gaza-flotilla-is-safe-in-cyprus-95253484.html)
Meanwhile, the NPR online story is as uninformative as the Montagne-Frenkl interview, but note the "scary" images of Turkish demonstrators that NPR displays, rather than pictures of any humanitarians aboard the boats:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127286256
"Condemnation Follows Israeli Raid on Flotilla
"Turkish demonstrators wave Palestinian flags and shout slogans during an anti-Israeli protest Monday on Taksim Square in Istanbul.
