Israeli gunboats close in on the Mavi Marmara, 31 May 2010.
Within two weeks of the May 31st attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which left 9 dead and scores of injured, Iran announced the departure of two aid ships to Gaza. The Iranian Red Crescent reported that over 155,000 volunteers had—even if symbolically—signed up for Tehran's Gaza flotilla.
As if drawn from that bit about the Apocalypse found at the end of the Bible of Really Bad Ideas, Israel's Most Wanted were not only going to send ships in the wake of the bloody IDF commando assault on the last aid vessels attempting to ease the siege on Gaza, but send ships with Iranian commandos no less. Ha'aretz reported:
"Iran's Revolutionary Guards naval forces are fully prepared to escort the peace and freedom convoys to Gaza with all their powers and capabilities," Ali Shirazi, Khamenei's representative inside the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency.
The move predictably sent Israel over the edge. IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi asserted that, “We cannot allow Gaza to become an Iranian port” and the Associated Press wrote that, "Security officials said the prospect of an Iranian boat headed for Gaza had Israel deeply worried, and that naval commandos were training for the possibility of taking on a vessel with a suicide bomber on board."
Iran wasn't the only one. Suddenly it seemed as if all of Israel's enemies were planning to rent cruise ships, fill them up with flour and concrete, and ruin all our summers.
“If a flotilla comes out of Lebanon, we will handle it,” the IDF chief added, referring to plans by Lebanese activists to sail additional aid ships to Gaza in violation of Israel’s naval blockade. “If they seek peace, that’s how we’ll respond. If not, we will do what we have to do.”
Fortunately, for those of us who had summer plans other than being hunched over a computer fretting over yet another Israeli war during yet another American holiday season, Iran and Lebanon canceled. Even I—beach blanket and sunscreen at the ready—was ready to call those particular flotillas "a provocation".
Hossein Sheikholeslam, secretary general of the International Conference for the Support of the Palestinian Intifada—an Iranian body set up by parliament—announced that the aid flotilla would be canceled after Israel had "sent a letter to the United Nations saying that the presence of Iranian and Lebanese ships in the Gaza area will be considered a declaration of war on that regime and it will confront it".
You think Hossein? It would have played straight into Israel's current "Iran defense", which consists of mentioning the words "Iran" and "nuclear weapons" as often and repeatedly as possible, every time a journalist or American politician strays within 10 feet.
The idea is that everyone forgets about Israel's war crimes and panics, forgetting that we've all been down this road before. Then foreign minister/now prime minister Netanyahu's relentless demonization campaign a decade ago against another country—Iraq—is at least part of the reason that we're still quagmired in that country. And there weren't any WMDs there either.
But it worked last time so why not use the same tried and tested distraction? Speaking to Fox News on July 6th, Netanyahu beat that same zombie horse without a hint of any shame or irony:
"...you know who has been violating the nuclear non-proliferation pact, those who signed it. Iran, Iraq, Libya—and Iran violates it while calling for Israel's destruction and racing to develop atomic weapons to that end. So I think we should stay focused on the real problem in the Middle East. It's not Israel."
Which brings us to Libya, who also announced its own flotilla in the wake of Iran and Lebanon's. The Libyan boat, whose arrival in Gaza is scheduled to be within the next 12 hours, is being sent by the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, headed by Seif Al Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya's leader. Again, perhaps not the best idea, given regional tensions and history, and current Israeli spin.
The New York Times reports that Israel gave the ship an ultimatum to change course before 5pm EST today:
According to the French news agency, Agence France-Presse, a member of the Libyan group, Mashallah Zwei, said by satellite phone that the Israelis had given the boat until midnight local time (5 p.m. Eastern time) to shift course. “Otherwise they are threatening to intercept the boat with the navy,” the agency quoted him as saying.
According to the academic, open, community-based maritime information website MarineTraffic.com, the ship is nowhere near Israel as of 2pm EST, despite claims on the website of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation that:
An Israeli gunboat is currently intercepting Al-Amal aid ship bound for Gaza. The Ship’s Captain was asked by the gunboat crew to go to El Arish port instead, stressing that the vessel will not be allowed to go into Gaza at all.
For his part, the Ship's Captain and the head of the Foundation’s team on board of Al-Amal aid ship affirmed that the Ship’s sole destination is Gaza, asserting that it is carrying humanitarian aid and has no other purpose whatsoever.
The gunboat is still present near the Ship sailing to Gaza.
It seems an unlikely story. All parts of it.
Looking at data on MarineTraffic.com, the destination is already officially listed as Al-Arish:
Fair enough, that could be a ploy. But, in addition—during the last couple of hours—the Libyan ship appears to have definitively changed course from Gaza (the red line below) towards a heading that will leave it in Al-Arish port (the purple line below):
But for those beaten down by the endless, bloody monotony of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, who have at least started paying attention again now that the conflict has shifted from a land to a sea war—because everyone loves pirates!—there may be a surprise contender that no one was expecting.
According to MarineTraffic.com, the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior is in the area, another victim of over-zealous and repressive governments at sea:
rainbow warrior
Last Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of the deadly bombing of the original Rainbow Warrior by French government agents in port in Auckland, New Zealand. Will the Rainbow Warrior head off the Israeli navy? Is the Rainbow Warrior a second, secret "sleeper flotilla" ship to make sure the Gazans can end their diet and get that pasta?
No, of course not. It's a coincidence. But if it were not, would we be surprised? Everything about this whole affair—the Israelis, the Iranians, the Libyans, and the rest of us—is starting to seem like bad theater. Bad theater in which only the Gazans continue to be excluded access to the auditorium in which the drama of their lives is acted out in front of the entire world.
Myself? I'm waiting for the German Jewish ship to come. That creative and powerful act of solidarity is going to be worth watching. In the meantime, all of this just looks like business as usual—people posturing for political reasons while others starve.
UPDATE at 3:32EST: And... no surprises, Reuters reports an Al-Arish docking.
Nigel Parry, former Birzeit University webmaster, was one of the cofounders of the Electronic Intifada, Electronic Iraq and Electronic Lebanon. Recently he launched the flagship project of delegitimize.com, the Gaza Flotilla Archive, found at http://gazaflotilla.delegitimize.com.
Docking at Al-Arish was a good move. Now it’s up to Egypt to allow the goods to be transferred to Gaza.
=============
Israel’s leadership doesn’t think logically. They have grown accustomed to using force as a matter of policy. Consider, for example, the paranoid assertion that an Iranian/Libyan ship would carry on board a suicide bomber. When Hamas itself has admitted that the freedom flotilla has accomplished far more in bringing pressure to bear on the illegal siege than 10,000 rockets, Israel’s leadership should have paid attention. Alas, they seem to be stuck in Irgun/Lechi mentality; use force whenever possible, and rely on a greater western power to run interference for you. If all else fails, cry, “anti-Semitism”.
There is no logic at play here, only projection.
And perhaps another element is at work here, Israel’s inability to see its enemies as reasoned, logical human beings. In Israel’s view, no Arab or Muslim is smart and sophisticated enough to think about the implications of his actions, whether violent or non-violent.
If all you have is a hammer,…
Their destination is Haifa. They are under sail and tacked about 20 minutes ago. They are coordinating efforts with colleagues in Israel on the issue of coal.
The Rainbow Warrior site has a set of photos from the Israeli Greenpeace activists who boarded a coal freighter recently. There are pictures of the Greenpeace activists pulling up to the freighter in Israeli waters, boarding it, climbing a mast, unfurling their banners, and so on. They were arrested, then released.
Well written article, with a bit of humor to boot. But I take exception to this:
Iran wasn’t the only one. Suddenly it seemed as if all of Israel’s enemies were planning to rent cruise ships, fill them up with flour and concrete, and ruin all our summers.
“If a flotilla comes out of Lebanon, we will handle it,” the IDF chief added, referring to plans by Lebanese activists to sail additional aid ships to Gaza in violation of Israel’s naval blockade. “If they seek peace, that’s how we’ll respond. If not, we will do what we have to do.”
Fortunately, for those of us who had summer plans other than being hunched over a computer fretting over yet another Israeli war during yet another American holiday season, Iran and Lebanon canceled. Even I—beach blanket and sunscreen at the ready—was ready to call those particular flotillas “a provocation”. . . .
Which brings us to Libya, who also announced its own flotilla in the wake of Iran and Lebanon’s. The Libyan boat, whose arrival in Gaza is scheduled to be within the next 12 hours, is being sent by the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, headed by Seif Al Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s leader. Again, perhaps not the best idea, given regional tensions and history, and current Israeli spin.
Iran? Lebanon? Libya? Israelis’ enemies? Well, who asked Israel to carpet bomb Lebanon and target its infrastructure? Who asked Israel to beg the US to call in air strikes on Iran? And from from which country would an aid flotilla be welcome? France? (Given its history of abetting the deportation of Jews to Nazi concentration camps.) Argentina? (Given its history of sheltering war criminals.) Iceland? (Well, that’s just silly, an insult to Israeli pride that such a pimple of country would try to meddle in its affairs.) In the end, Israel will rebuff any suitor as not being sincere, insensitive, duplicitous, etc. And since the ‘West’ (its governments at least) don’t seem to give a rat’s ass about the Palestinians, what right do we have to be giving advice on this issue? If Obama had a spine, the blockade could be lifted in a matter of weeks. Then he might truly be deserving of the Nobel.
I agree with everything you’re saying. The issue is grammatical. From Israel’s point of view those countries are its “enemies”. I’m not saying the countries have actually done anything to deserve that designation. Some of the language in the piece is a little loosey goosey because it’s not straight reportage as you noted.
Agreed on Obama. His supporters would say that he’s biding his time and choosing his battles but I’m not seeing him fighting anything. He seems to be running around the world trying to keep everyone and their corporations happy.
The Reuters article doesn’t report a docking, it reports that the ship has asked to dock in Egypt. In fact, the headline is “Libyan aid ship nears Gaza, but final port in doubt.”
I’d have altered it to “planned Egyptian docking” to keep everyone happy but there was a rush to get this up so it was timely and there is no easy way to edit these posts once they are submitted.
The prospect of being murdered or crippled with impunity is a strong dis-incentive to do anything. But, on the whole, no heroics rather than mock-heroics would be preferable.
13 minutes ago, Ethan Bronner dropped an article on the NYT website, entitled “Gaza-Bound Ship Diverts to Egypt.” The ship hasn’t docked yet, but it is no longer showing up on the Marinetraffic website. Bronner’s article states that the ship might have engine trouble. That’s interesting.
It’s weird. It’s been missing off the chart for about 1 hour (current time is 8:40 pm EST). Engine troubles shouldn’t matter as that wouldn’t affect the transponder.
They are back on the martimetraffice website.
And now gone again. Hmmm.
At 04:00 am EST 14 July, MaritimeTraffic has no trace of Amalthea, other than the last known position long/lat 32.9 31.6 heading 143 recorded at 1:49 UTC (about 8:49 EST previous day) about 90 km (approx 50 nm) from EL Arish. The ship was only travelling at 1.4 knot, and not heading directly to EL Arish, so perhaps it had engine trouble. However, as Mr Parry wrote, that shouldn’t affect the transponder. That should still be active unless there has been a total loss of electrical power or the transponder has been turned off. It is strange that there are no reports of radio communications suggesting a engine problem. Surely the captain of a drifitng vessel of the size of the Amalthea would at least send out some notification of problem and position to alert nearby shipping to be aware that the ship was not maneuverable.
The Mossad agent aboard does his job.
-OT- My sincere apologies for not being able to find the piece on my own. I’m looking for that post (or comment?) that had the German national who had lived through the war and watched the ascension of Hitler offiering advice to the Israelis about being on the wrong side of history. It was a moving piece and I’d like to share it. Anyone know where to look or the link? It was in here, no?
Found it. I’m almost sure I saw it linked here but the rest of it is over at DesertPeace
( link to desertpeace.wordpress.com
)
Hakenkreuz and Davidstern
The Swastika and the Star of David
A public response to New York Times columnist Roger Cohen
By Alvin Alexsi Currier
—-
Worth your while if you haven’t seen it.
Haaretz has reported that MK Zuabi has been stripped of Parliamentary privileges…
Knesset revokes Arab MK Zuabi’s privileges over Gaza flotilla
In 34-16 vote, Knesset approves stripping Zuabi of three parliamentary privileges over participation in Gaza flotilla; Zuabi: Knesset is punishing me out of vengeance.
I find this all quite interesting in the light of Israel’s repeated statements that “Gaza is not occupied.” There was one interesting statement made by Mr. Perry (not that there are not more, I am just calling attention to this particular sentence) –
“…the conflict has shifted from a land to a sea war—because everyone loves pirates!”
It is interesting that you mentioned pirates, some might call this an aside to the subject (is it?), but I think the Israelis are giving pirates a bad name. That is because pirates have been misunderstood being the subject of imperial propaganda, the pirates actually have a lot more to do with those trying to break the blockade – because they rebel against the obvious tyranny of the powers that be –
YOU ARE BEING LIED TO ABOUT PIRATES
Perhaps a bit of a parallel –
THE STATE OF EMERGENCY
“The king and his men
stole the queen from her bed
and bound her in her Bones.
The seas be ours
and by the powers
where we will we’ll roam.
Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.
Some men have died
and some are alive
and others sail on the sea
– with the keys to the cage…
and the Devil to pay
we lay to Fiddler’s Green!
The bell has been raised
from it’s watery grave…
Do you hear it’s sepulchral tone?
We are a call to all,
pay head the squall
and turn your sail toward home!
Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.”
Nigel ~ The meme about Gaza becoming an Iranian port [or not] existed almost a week before Iran ever mentioned sending any aid ships to Gaza, if not more. The Haaretz article announcing the Iranian ships was from June 7.
Haaretz ran a headline on June 5:
‘Netanyahu: Israel will not allow establishment of Iranian port in Gaza’
link to haaretz.com
And in a slightly different formulation Netanyahu said similar things on June 2:
“The international community cannot afford an Iranian port on the Mediterranean…The same countries that are criticizing us today, should know that they could be targeted tomorrow.”
‘Israel calls Gaza blockade critics “hypocrites”‘
link to reuters.com
Juan Cole made the sensible observation that Tyre in Southern Lebanon is already effectively an Iranian port on the Mediterranean, and the sky hasn’t fallen.
‘The Hypocrisy of Netanyahu’
link to juancole.com
If Israel can be America’s Middle Eastern outpost, why cannot Gaza’s ports be Iran’s?
Just another example of the Israelis enforcing their own code onto the Palestinians, while preserving their own supremacy and interests.
I can’t wait for Keith Richards and Johnny Depp to do battle on the high seas with the Israeli Navy! I hope there will be a McDonald’s action figure fish filet tie-in campaign, too.
But seriously, I wanted to puke when I saw that Iran and Libya were sending boats. Opportunists who don’t give a damn about Palestinians, ultimately, only their own PR and ego-building, and they are too dumb to realize that this plays right into the hands of those who want to discredit the heroic (in the true sense of the term) efforts of those on the Mavi Marmara.
The aridity of thought on high-sea matters is on display in the comment before mine to the effect that if Israel can be the US’s port/outpost in the Mediterranean, then why can’t Gaza be Iran’s. Notice how the Palestinians disappeared so fast from this topic?
“But seriously, I wanted to puke when I saw that Iran and Libya were sending boats”
Yes, this could be opportunistic and cynical on the part of the governments in order to garner support from their populations, but at the same time, you cannot automatically identify the efforts of these boats with their respective governments – they may be totally independent efforts. It’s unfair to assume that the people who organized these trips are incapable of having their own motives quite independent of the countries from which they are coming. Without knowing much about the individuals on these boats, I think it’s unwise to assume that they are mandated by Khadafi, Ahmedinejad, etc. This type of argument takes away from the idea that people of any country can make a difference, and do not need to be associated with the power that governs that country, feeding the PR machine. It depends on how it’s reported…
What is curious is that the Maavi Marmara was reported as being a “Turkish” ship, even though it was flagged from the Comores, and the IHH is an international humanitarian effort, not exclusively tied to the Turkish state or govt. – and that these ships are being identified by their respective states, even though the individuals on the ships have motives which transcend ideas of statehood.
Than again, perhaps these nations were trying to shame others of the “free world” who sit on their collective asses and do nothing.
The New York Times is reporting today (July 15th) that
“A Libyan ship that tried to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza docked in the Egyptian port of El Arish on Thursday afternoon, amid claims by the ship’s sponsor, Saif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, that the boat agreed not to go to Gaza after a deal was struck with the Israeli government that would allow Libya to send building and reconstruction supplies to the Palestinians.”
I hope that’s true.