The above video was released by the IDF as they continue to make their case on the flotilla attack. Although it's in Hebrew, it's clear the Israeli story hasn't changed. A Mondo reader who goes by gangreentv sent us the video along with this note:
The IDF claims that their soldiers were stabbed, axed, and shot at. But despite their multi-million dollar multimedia production and all of the footage that they stole from the journalists that they arrested, they produce no evidence for any of this. They claim to have been shot at, but can produce no photos or videos of injured soldiers, no firearms (except for the captured soldier’s gun that was never fired), no spent shells, no gunpowder on activists' hands, nothing.
In light of the international outrage and Netanyahu’s weak backpedalling to at least appear to express humanitarian concerns, new audio is added to demonstrate this. If this was indeed said at that time, why wasn’t this audio released at the beginning of the propaganda war, in the days that followed the capture of the flotilla?
The IDF claims that “the activists shot first”. But for all of the video’s “play-by-play” style, it does not specify when these supposed shots were first fired. It also does not specify when the soldiers shot supposed "paintballs" and when they shot actual bullets. Instead of being revealed, the truth is obscured.
They also say the soldiers were attacked, and that they then “returned fire”. But returning fire implies that they were fired upon. So why not say, "The soldiers were fired upon, and then they fired back"? This is either because they were never fired upon, and they just want to imply that they were, to justify their own usage of live bullets -- or else because they were in such a panic at not being able to easily round up the “evil” activists, that they didn’t even know what was going on, and they were just firing live bullets indiscriminately.
When the three captured soldiers are released by the activists, two of them abandon ship and swim towards their dinghies... they abandon the third soldier, who is left on the deck of the Mavi Marmara! That's not exactly what I would call "courageous comradery". By reading between the lines, we can deduce that despite their best efforts to obfuscate the truth and present themselves as humanitarian and professional, the IDF come off as brutal scoundrels.
[Is this propaganda piece the best that billions of dollars in annual military aid could come up with? We're only cash-strapped amateurs, and we picked it apart in minutes!]
Update - The video was just posted on youtube by the IDF with this description:
The events leading up to and throughout the flotilla incident are recounted in the video, as presented by the team of experts led by Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland in the IDF's internal inquiry.
The Hebrew text in the video explains how various tactical proposals for dealing with the flotilla came to pass, the various stages through which each proposal went, which department of the military carried out the “research”, the “training” and the debriefing of the soldiers.
Based on the video, one would think Israel was preparing for a confrontation with a nuclear armed submarine. It’s pathetic, really.
The rest of the video discusses what gangreentv had mentioned in the article above.
Was the video available anywhere on the web prior to its posting here at Mondoweiss?
>> [Is this propaganda piece the best that billions of dollars in annual military aid could come up with? We're only cash-strapped amateurs, and we picked it apart in minutes!]
Perhaps there are many “nuances” being missed… ;-)
@Avi, yes it was. It was on the IDF Spokesperson’s YouTube account and also on this post on the IDF spokesperson’s blog:
link to idfspokesperson.com
The person who sent this around claimed it was “leaked”. They may have got it earlier than most, but it is clear from the slick production that this was intended for the widest possible audience. The IDF Spokesman’s blog reports that “The English version of the videos will be up shortly.”
It’s worth checking out the IDF Spokesperson’s blog posting because the contents of the video are described in detail in English.
Looks like they used the same visual crew that our intel used to show how flight TWA800 broke up over Long Island sound in the mid to late 90s. The one where the plane split in two and it kept climbing; that had a laff-meter shelf-life of about a week.
You are supposed to be impressed by flashy presentation…of lies.
There is plenty of footage of the attack on the Mavi Marmara and the murder of unresisting passengers. Why don’t we see it on the national media, repeated over and over again?
The IDF version is unconvincing on its face, obviously edited. But it is still the only version that most people have ever seen. Congress should be confronted with the video of the cold-blooded execution of what might be a US citizen and made to justify their support of the murderers.
The Turkish leader who recently met briefly with Obama at the sideline of a meeting, just before Obama met with Mr N explicitly told Obama
it was his duty to pursue the death by Israel of the Turkish American
young man on that flotilla boat. I wonder if the US press is witholding some of the information regarding what Obama & N actually talked about?
The video doesn’t open in Firefox but It does in Chrome..Why is that?
It opens on Firefox TGIA, you just have to have the correct plug-ins added.
Thanks VR..It did the trick..
like a bad Hollywood movie, all the explosions, loud noise and marketing in the world can’t change what the audience sees with its own eyes
This is a Chuck Norris film without Chuck. I’m looking forward to the English version, though I suspect this was made to keep Israelis in their own fantasy dreams.
This is a Chuck Norris film without Chuck. LOL.
I’m waiting for the English version, so *please* don’t tell me how it ends, I want it to be a surprise ;-)
“Update – The video was just posted on youtube by the IDF with this description”
Ratings – disabled
Comments – disabled
IDF, spoilsports.
Ratings – disabled
Comments – disabled
IDF, spoilsports.
Effective propaganda is always one-sided and out of context. Who can blame the Israelis for doing what they do best?
They claim to have been shot at, but can produce no photos or videos of injured soldiers, no firearms (except for the captured soldier’s gun that was never fired), no spent shells, no gunpowder on activists’ hands, nothing.
Interesting…
From Reuters:
link to reuters.com
“Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told parliament that two of the activists killed during the takeover were shot after they used the two handguns to wound two commandos.“
There’s no doubt that if Israel had any legitimate evidence it would be parading it throughout the world media and specifically its Hasbara networks in America.
Under any system of law, under any rules including the rules of war (and if Israel’s stated excuse for boarding the vessel is the rules of war, then its violations must be war crimes) it is illicit to kill a person once disarmed and no longer resisting. If Israel is claiming its commandos shot two persons after they shot at them, it is admitting they committed a war crime.
Has anyone ever seen credible evidence regarding the actual physical condition of the Israeli soldiers who allegedly were injured? What were the extent of the injuries?
For what it’s worth, according to Wikipedia, Israel reported that seven soldiers were injured in the clash—two seriously. Earlier Israeli reports said fourteen soldiers were injured.
That’s about all I could find as well, and obviously it’s worthless. I was wondering if there have been interviews with the wounded soldiers, who showed their wounds. Any stab wounds? Surely no bullet wounds. How long were “victims” hospitalized? And as you note, citizen, earlier reports were much more dire. I remember initial claims were made that the soldiers guns were taken from them and fired at the soldiers until they were empty. Incredibly poor aim, I guess.
In evaluating the credibility of Israeli claims regarding the entire incident, the actual extent of the injuries, compared with the claims made about them, provides another reason to disbelieve them, as if that were necessary.
On a related note (more or less), is Obama going to investigate the execution of the young American Furkan Dogan, or does Erdogan have to do it, risking official US estrangement? We’ve seen what the US did about
protecting other citizens, the poetic writer Rachel Corrie and the artistic Jewish American girl who had her eye shot out… I guess the safety of American overseas depends on who harms them.
link to veteranstoday.com
No more than Obama is going to investigate the crimes of the Bush administration.
Just when you think irony can’t get any worse, here we have the US threatening Turkey over their support of a US citizen. I wonder – what about Dogan’s parents? If they were Israelis, they’d be marching across the country at the head of a crowd of thousands, demanding justice for their son.
Flotilla raid Israeli myths debunked
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufZkZIrsKFU
Almost every defense the Israelis offered has been shattered by the internet. Smuggled footage, survivors interviews.