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<h2><font size=4><b>Belén Fernández – International activists cause their
own deaths by attacking nonconfrontational Israeli
commandos</b></font></h2><font size=2>By
<a href="http://palestinethinktank.com/author/guest-post/">Guest Post</a>
• May 31st, 2010 at 12:49 • <br>
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<a href="http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/05/31/belen-fernandez-international-activists-cause-their-own-deaths-by-attacking-nonconfrontational-israeli-commandos/" eudora="autourl">
http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/05/31/belen-fernandez-international-activists-cause-their-own-deaths-by-attacking-nonconfrontational-israeli-commandos/<br>
<br>
<br>
</a></font><font size=3>At a press briefing this morning following the
<a href="http://pulsemedia.org/2010/05/31/israel-attacks-freedom-flotilla/">
massacre</a> by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commandos of passengers on
board the Mavi Marmara, one of the boats pertaining to the Freedom
Flotilla attempting to break the siege of Gaza, IDF spokeswoman Avital
Liebovitch claimed that the passengers had engaged in “severe violence
against our soldiers.”<br><br>
According to Liebovitch, the violence was premeditated and was
administered via live fire, sharp items such as knives, and weapons
“grabbed” from the IDF commandos. While underscoring Israel’s unique
ability to portray its armed forces as victims, the analysis failed to
provide a compelling reason for whyif the alleged attack using grabbed
weapons was indeed premeditatedthe IDF did not throw a wrench in the
works by simply refraining from raiding the ship.<br><br>
Apparently not satisfied with sporadic violations of logic, Liebovitch
reiterated that the IDF had not desired a confrontation with the
activists but that the justness of the confrontation which she herself
admitted occurred “not in Israeli territory”had since been proven given
the passengers’ alleged reaction. The Israeli tendency to award
retroactive justification to its actions was also evident during the
2008-2009 attack on Gaza, which Israel advertised as a defensive war
against Palestinian rockets by severing the portion of the
cause-and-effect timeline that involved
<a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11217.shtml">deliberate
Israeli violations</a> of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. The
inversion of aggressor and victim did not of course prevent Gazan
civilians from perishing in this particular confrontation at a rate of
approximately 400:1 vis-à-vis their Israeli counterparts.<br><br>
As for the inversion of aggressor and victim aboard the Mavi Marmara, a
<a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2010/Israel_Navy_warns_flotilla_31-May-2010.htm">
communiqué</a> on the website of the Israeli Foreign Ministry this
morning confirmed that pre-planned “life-threatening and violent
activity” against the IDF commandos could have been averted had the
humanitarian vessels heeded the invitation of the Israeli Navy to dock at
Ashdod, “where they would be able to unload their aid material which
would then be transferred over land [to Gaza] after undergoing security
inspections.” Such charitable offers regarding the fate of 10,000 tons of
international aid have yet to be reconciled with the continuing Israel
denial that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, or with the fact that
pencils and laundry detergent have not in recent Gazan history been
eligible for overland transfer. The naval invitation to Ashdod has
meanwhile been called into question by Liebovitch’s declaration this
morning that the purpose of the confrontation on the Mavi Marmara was
simply to prevent the passengers’ entrance to Israel.<br><br>
Other finishing touches to Liebovitch’s post-massacre performance include
her announcement that it was fortunate that the commandos participating
in the raid “had those guns” to defend themselves during the attack,
despite her earlier claim that said weaponry had been a critical feature
of the premeditated violence. We can only assume that the same sort of
fortune is awaiting the IDF in the event that it is forced into another
confrontation with Gazan civilians, whose fabricated humanitarian crisis
is of course the root cause of the plot by international activists to
attack Israeli soldiers.<br><br>
also here: wp-content/uploads/2010/05/liebovitz-thumb.jpg<br><br>
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