The Genius of Bizzaro Netanyahu and Israel's Catastrophic Bungled Operation

To make this post, I did a search on Youtube and simply typed in the word "Israel" and constrained the search for videos posted "today". The entire page of posts were all hostile towards Israel. Israel once again has lost the propaganda war with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu has cancelled his talks with Obama.

Israel is in danger of losing her only Islamic ally,Turkey. The US and British government are making statements of regret over the events.

Another job well done by the political genius, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel is isolating itself, losing sympathy, allies, and doing grave danger to its own image. The claims that masked armed troops, at night, repelling aboard civilian ships in International waters were victims of attack are ludicrous. That is on a par with a burglar suing a homeowner because he was assaulted while breaking into a window.

Defenders of Israel are lashing out at those who critcize Israel. Clearly, there are many just do not like Israel, but Israel better wake up and realize it is estranging both friends and enemies. This latest action is about as bad as it gets for international public relations.

Netanyahu must have been watching some old "Mission Impossible" films.

This latest act by Netanyahu is a self-inflicted disaster for Israel. Israel would be wise to get rid of Netantahu, fast.

If Israel stays on its present course, it will be the architect of its own undoing, to the dismay of its friends and the glee of its enemies.

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Israel reconstruction: how the Gaza aid flotilla attack unfolded


Telegraph

Kevin Ovenden, aboard the lead ship, the Turkish Mavi Marmara, sensed a tense game of cat-and-mouse in the Mediterranean sea was about to come to a dramatic climax.

Having set off on Sunday hoping to avoid the Israeli military, he wrote on his blog: "We are 90 miles away from land – 22 miles further than the Israeli-decided 68-mile exclusion zone – but are being approached by an Israeli vessel.

"The Israeli media is reporting that Israel will deploy a very large naval force … this is an illegal aggressive move.
"All aboard are prepared. This is a very serious situation and we are calling on everyone to play their part in helping ensure their safety, and that the aid reaches Gaza without difficulty."

The flotilla, which had been warned that it would not be allowed to reach Gaza, attempted to slow and change course, hoping to prevent a confrontation until daylight, when the Israeli military action could be better filmed and broadcast by the activists aboard.

But at just after 4.30am, nuder cover of darkness, the Israelis called for decisive action. Orders were sent for commandos to intercept and takeover the ships – and so began a catastrophic, bungled operation which would claim the lives of up to 19 people, and draw international condemnation.

Just after Mr Ovenden had blogged about the silhouette of rubber launches and speedboats approaching on the murky waters, barely visible in the darkness, a helicopter began hovering overheard.

The aid armada was still in international waters, but commandos had swarmed around it and targeted the biggest ship, the Marmara.

Incensed by the aggressive attempt to capture their vessel, 30 or more activists gathered on the top deck and readied themselves for the assault. Hundreds more, who had been sleeping in the lower two decks, were roused by the commotion.
While groups of 10 commandos at a time jumped aboard from their rubber launches, elite troops from the Israeli commando unit Flotilla 13 rappelled down from the helicopter on to the Marmara. Their plan was to land on the top deck, rush to the vessel's bridge and order the captain to stop. They had been ordered to take control of the flotilla peacefully, just as they had with previous flotillas.

But the instant they landed, pandemonium broke loose.

Some activists claim that the troops, carrying rifles and handguns, and wearing body armour, began firing indiscriminately.
However, video footage released by the Israeli Defence Force suggested they were attacked first with a metal pole, sticks, clubs, and marble slingshots.

The troops responded with by throwing stun grenades, but the loud burst explosions that went off with each one whipped up a frenzied atmosphere as the activists believed they were being fired upon.

Television pictures showed activists with sticks bludgeoning an Israeli soldier as he tried to land on the boat from the helicopter, with activists tugging at the rope.

One commando was then grabbed by several of the protestors, who wrestled his handgun off him and allegedly threw him over the edge of the top deck, 30 feet below.

It was the point where the chaotic melee descended to bloodshed.

The Flotilla 13 troops now radioed to their commander for permission to begin shooting.
The commander replied: "You can go ahead and fire".

According to one witness, the Israeli journalist Ron Ben Yishai: "The soldiers pulled out their handguns and started shooting at the rioters' legs."

Shaking television footage showed one man lying unconscious on the deck, while another man was helped away.

A woman wearing hijab, the Muslim headscarf, was seen carrying a stretcher covered in blood.

Screams were interspersed with sounds of more gunfire.

One unnamed reporter, from Press TV, said in a broadcast: "We are being hit by tear gas, stun grenades. We have navy boats on either side and a helicopters overhead. We are being attacked from all sides. This is in intenational waters, not Israeli waters, not in the 68-mile exclusion zone."

Jamal Elshayyal, a British al-Jazeera reporter on board the Marmara, sent a final report just after the troops had landed.
"Two people have been confirmed killed by the Israeli Army, and the organisers on board the Mavi Marmara have now asked all the passengers to go inside. They have raised the white flag.

"Tens of people, civilians, have been injured. There are still sounds of live fire, despite the white flag being raised."
The broadcast stopped with a voice shouting in Hebrew "Everyone shut up" as the reporters were bundled down into the lower decks.

As the disaster unfolded, the airwaves went ominously quiet – the Israelis had scrambled all mobile phones and satellites – and the claim and counter-claim began.

Israeli authorities gave no details of the injuries suffered by activists. It confirmed that 10 were dead, although government sources suggested the figure could be as high as 19.

The Israeli military defended itself, saying the troops were deliberately ambushed by activists in a planned attack. At least ten personnel were injured, one seriously, it said.

Two of the dead activists had fired at soldiers with pistols, the army also claimed.

An IDF spokesman said: "We didn't look for confrontation but it was a massive attack," she said. "What happened was a last resort."

The stories of those onboard have yet to be told.

With the main ship effectively seized, and the supporting five boats also captured, the flotilla was guided to the port of Ashdod, while the injured and bodies of the dead were airlifted to hospitals in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Ashkelon.

But supporters across the world condemned the attack on a "peaceful mission".

The Free Gaza Movement, one of the organisers of the flotilla, said the IDF had started the violence, firing as soon as they boarded the ship.

There were no firearms carried by the activists, it was claimed.

Their cargo had included simply 10,000 tonnes of aid and an eclectic mix of around 650 activists, including European parliamentarians, women, children, the media. They even had the support of "celebrity" protestors such as Mairead Corrigan Maguire, the Irish Nobel peace laureate, and best selling author of the Wallander detective novels, Henning Mankell.