You will be hearing and reading much in the next days about a flotilla of boats headed for Gaza. The mission is a peaceful one and those participating as passengers include two Holocaust victims, one aged 86, and leading luminaries in the peace movement. Many passengers are Jewish.
So, what is Israel doing and saying? Lots. There is even a strong suggestion of sabotage of one or more of the boats in Greece. And then there has been the ham-fisted PR exercise by various Israeli government personnel. Meanwhile, it is obvious that US politicians and even Obama are keen to assist Israel in thwarting the flotilla.
Just think! A few boats and people, unarmed, are going to place Israel at some sort of risk?
Joseph Dana, writing for The Nation, provides an update of the situation:
"Israeli officials claim the mission is an “anti-Israeli public relations stunt.” If that’s the case, then the PR battle has resulted in largely positive exposure for the flotilla organizers, who have maintained the upper hand in the media war. Careful not to leak any sensitive information, the US organizers have been inconsistent in dealing with journalists planning to travel on their boat. And the gulf between the Israeli government’s organized media campaign and the haphazard and largely disorganized campaign of the US organizers has been evident. But the bellicose Israeli strategy has helped to publicize this story in ways the flotilla organizers could never have orchestrated themselves.
Last Sunday the Israeli Government Press Office took the bizarre step of openly threatening journalists with a ten-year travel ban to Israel if they accompany the flotilla. Immediately decried as an attack on press freedom by Israel’s Foreign Press Association, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rescinded the ban the day after it was published, but he did not comment on whether press would be allowed to keep footage they filmed on the boats (Israel has come under fire for confiscating press and activist footage from last year’s flotilla).
Central to the Israeli strategy have been efforts to associate the passengers with violence. On Monday the Israeli press reported that flotilla passengers planned to use chemical “substances” against Israeli soldiers sent to intercept their ships. These unsubstantiated rumors attributed to “military sources” were presented as fact in the Jerusalem Post as well as in Yediot Ahronot, the most popular daily. Some military officials publicly challeged the accusations the day after the story entered the news cycle, but the damage had already been done."
Update: At last report Greek authorities, doubtlessly bending to US and Israeli pressure, have said they will prevent the boats from leaving Greece for Gaza.
So, what is Israel doing and saying? Lots. There is even a strong suggestion of sabotage of one or more of the boats in Greece. And then there has been the ham-fisted PR exercise by various Israeli government personnel. Meanwhile, it is obvious that US politicians and even Obama are keen to assist Israel in thwarting the flotilla.
Just think! A few boats and people, unarmed, are going to place Israel at some sort of risk?
Joseph Dana, writing for The Nation, provides an update of the situation:
"Israeli officials claim the mission is an “anti-Israeli public relations stunt.” If that’s the case, then the PR battle has resulted in largely positive exposure for the flotilla organizers, who have maintained the upper hand in the media war. Careful not to leak any sensitive information, the US organizers have been inconsistent in dealing with journalists planning to travel on their boat. And the gulf between the Israeli government’s organized media campaign and the haphazard and largely disorganized campaign of the US organizers has been evident. But the bellicose Israeli strategy has helped to publicize this story in ways the flotilla organizers could never have orchestrated themselves.
Last Sunday the Israeli Government Press Office took the bizarre step of openly threatening journalists with a ten-year travel ban to Israel if they accompany the flotilla. Immediately decried as an attack on press freedom by Israel’s Foreign Press Association, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rescinded the ban the day after it was published, but he did not comment on whether press would be allowed to keep footage they filmed on the boats (Israel has come under fire for confiscating press and activist footage from last year’s flotilla).
Central to the Israeli strategy have been efforts to associate the passengers with violence. On Monday the Israeli press reported that flotilla passengers planned to use chemical “substances” against Israeli soldiers sent to intercept their ships. These unsubstantiated rumors attributed to “military sources” were presented as fact in the Jerusalem Post as well as in Yediot Ahronot, the most popular daily. Some military officials publicly challeged the accusations the day after the story entered the news cycle, but the damage had already been done."
Update: At last report Greek authorities, doubtlessly bending to US and Israeli pressure, have said they will prevent the boats from leaving Greece for Gaza.
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