Israeli War Crimes: From the U.S. Liberty to the Humanitarian Flotilla

[James H. Fetzer]

http://www.voltairenet.org/article165694.html

Israeli War Crimes: From the U.S. Liberty to the Humanitarian Flotilla 



James Petras



Introduction: Israel Crimes on the High Seas

On June 8, 1967, two squadrons of Israeli warplanes bombed, napalmed and
machine-gunned the US intelligence-gathering ship, USS Liberty, in
international waters, killing 34 US sailors and wounding another 172. The
assault took place on a sunny afternoon, with the US flag and identifying
markers clearly visible. The Israelis targeted the antennae to prevent
the crew from broadcasting for help and shot up the lifeboats to ensure no
survivors. There were, however, survivors who rigged up an antenna and
radioed their distress, a call for help that reached Washington D.C. In
an unprecedented act of betrayal, President Johnson, in close liaison with
powerful American Jewish Zionist political backers, covered up the mass murder
on the high seas by issuing orders first to recall Mediterranean-based
warplanes from rushing to assist their besieged comrades, then threatening to
court-martial the survivors who might expose the deliberate nature of the Israeli
assault and finally by repeating the Israeli line that the attack was a matter
of mistaken identity, a lie which numerous military leaders later
rejected.


Almost to the day, 43 years later, on May 31, 2010, Israeli warships,
helicopter gun ships and commandos assaulted a convoy of humanitarian ships
carrying ten thousand tons of aid to Gaza in international waters. Prior
to the aid mission Turkish authorities had examined the passengers and the ship
to ensure no weapons were on board. The Israelis never the less came on
board shooting and clubbing the unarmed passengers, killing up to 9 and
wounding dozens. Despite subsequent Israeli and Zionist claims to the
contrary no weapons were found, apart from sticks used by some of the victims
attempting to fend off the murderous premeditated assault planned, directed and
defended by top Israeli leaders and the entire leadership of the major Zionist
organizations in the US and elsewhere. The invading Israeli storm
troopers systematically destroyed all cameras, videos and tape recorders that
had documented their savage assault, in order to subsequently spread their
brazen lies about their being subject to armed resistance.

The World Response

Within hours of Israel’s bloody act of piracy, nations, political leaders,
human rights organizations and the vast majority of the international community
condemned the Israeli state for its violation of international law.
Turkey, Spain, Greece, Denmark and Austria summoned their Israeli Ambassadors
to protest the deadly assault. The Financial Times, (June 1, 2010)
referred to the Israeli assault as a “brazen act of piracy … hurtling into
lawlessness” rooted in its “illegal blockage of Gaza”. Turkey’s Prime
Minister Recep Erdogan called the Israeli assault an act of “state terrorism”
which would have “serious consequences”. Israel’s attacks on ships flying
Turkish, Greek and Irish flags on the high seas were described by legal experts
as an “act of war”.

yes""> The UN Security Council, NATO and the Secretary General of the UN
demanded Israel cease its aggression, while tens of thousands of demonstrators
marched denouncing Israel’s blatant act of state murder and wounding of
pacifists, humanitarians and protestors from 60 countries. UN experts
demanded that Israeli leaders “must be held criminally responsible”. Only
the Obama regime refused to condemn the Israeli act of state terror, merely
expressing “concern and regret”. The Israeli state defended its murderous
assault, promised more in the future and insisted on maintaining its blockade
of Gaza, even after the US suggested it might be loosened.

The Israeli Defense of Piracy and State Terror

As news of the Israeli massacre slipped out and the international community
reacted with horror and anger, the Israeli government “sought to flood the
airwaves with their versions of events … more importantly, the authorities
ensured that their narrative gained early dominance by largely silencing the
hundreds of activists who were on board during the attack” (Financial Times,
June 2, 2010, p2.). The Jewish state held all the prisoners alive,
wounded and dead incommunicado, seized their mobile phones and prohibited any
interviews, barring all journalists. Like most terrorist states, the
Jewish state wanted to monopolize the propaganda media. The Israeli
propaganda machine via its state sponsored journalists and news media employed
several ploys typical of totalitarian regimes.

1.) Israeli storm troopers invading the ship were turned into victims and the
humanitarian pacifists were turned into aggressors. “Israeli
Soldiers Met by Well-Planned Lynch Mob” (Jerusalem Post, March 31,
2010); “Israeli Soldiers Attacked” (IDF, March 31, 2010).

2.) Israel’s act of piracy in international waters was declared legal by a
Professor Sabel of the Hebrew University.

3.) The humanitarian organizers were accused of having ties to terrorists according to
Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon, though no evidence was presented (Ha’aretz, May
30, 2010). The organizers including the Turkish human rights group
accused by Ayalon were cleared by the Turkish intelligence agency, the military
and the Erdogan government, a member of NATO and for many years (in the past) a
collaborator with the Israeli Mossad. The other 600 plus human rights
volunteers, included pacifists, parliamentarians, former diplomats, as well as
current members of the Israeli parliament.

4.) While dozens of human rights people were shot, killed and maimed, Israeli
propagandists doctored video releases portraying one of the Israeli assailants
on the deck, cutting out the preceding sequence of attack (Financial Times,
June 2, 2010, p. 2).

5.) The Israeli sea and airborne assailants were described as the victims of a “Brutal
Ambush at Sea” (Ynet News, June 1, 2010).

6.) The terrorized human rights workers were accused of being a “lynch mob”, attacking
the Jewish commandos who were firing automatic rifles wildly across the deck
and at cornered victims. The few courageous individuals who fought back
to stop the murderous attack were slandered by the Zion-prop, which itself is
as monstrous as the crimes they perpetrated.

Once the Israeli propaganda machine started spewing out its gutter lies, the entire
leadership of the Zionist Fifth column swung into action … first and foremost
in the United States.

The US Zionist Power Configuration: In Defense of the Massacre

Just as the entire leadership of the 51 principle American Jewish organizations
defended every Israeli war crime in the past, from the bombing of the US
Liberty, to the Occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza so too did
these most honorable apologists repeat verbatim the lies of the Israeli state
regarding the assault of the humanitarian flotilla.

The Daily Alert (May 31 – June 2, 2010), the official public propaganda
organ of the Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organizations, published
every scurrilous Israeli state lie, about the Israeli commandos being ‘lynched’,
‘attacked’ and the human rights victims being responsible for the death of
their comrades … at the hands of Israeli commandos. Not a single
deviation, not a single word of criticism. Not even a single mention of
even the superficial Israeli critics who faulted the execution, the use of
deadly weapons, the assault in international waters, and the public relations
fiasco. The vast majority of Israeli Jews and organized Zionists in the
US supported the bloody massacre and were opposed by a small minority who has
no access to the mass media.

yes""> Zionist control over the mass media was once again demonstrated by the
reporting through “Israel’s eyes” (FAIR, June 1, 2010).
Essentially the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, CBS,
NBC presented the Israeli commandos attacking the humanitarian boat as
being … “assaulted and beaten” (Washington Post, June 1, 2010). The
New York Times gave credence to the Israeli claim that its act of piracy
on the high seas was legal (NY Times, June 1, 2010). For the US
mass media the problem is not Israeli state terror, but how to manipulate and
disarm the outrage of the international community. To that end the entire
Zionist Power configuration has a reliable ally in the Zionized Obama White
House and US Congress.

The Obama Response to Israeli State Terror

There is only one basic reason why Israel repeatedly commits crimes against
humanity, including the latest assault on the humanitarian flotilla: because it
knows that the Zionist Power Configuration, embedded in the US power structure,
will ensure government support, in this case the Obama White House.

In the face of the world-wide condemnation of Israel’s crime on the high seas,
and calls from the international community for legal action, the Obama regime
absolutely refused to criticize Israel. A White House spokesman said “The
United States deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained and
is currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding the tragedy” (AFP
May 31, 2010). An act of state terrorism does not evoke “regrets” – it
normally provokes condemnation and punishment. The power which caused “loss
of life and injuries” has a name – Israel; the persons who suffered death and
injuries during the Israeli assault – have a name – humanitarian volunteers.

yes""> It was not simply a “loss of life” but a well planned premeditated
murder which is openly defended by Prime Minister Netanyahu and his entire
Cabinet. The “circumstances” of the murders are clear: Israel
assaulted an unarmed ship in international waters, opening fire as they boarded
the ship. The Obama regime’s obscene political cover-up of a deliberate
criminal act in violation of international law is evident in his description of
a serial homicide as a ‘tragedy’. Premeditated state terror has no
resemblance to a tragic noble ruler forced by circumstances into a criminal act
against their closest allies.

yes""> Washington, pressed to participate at a UN Security Council meeting,
spent 10 hours eliminating all references to Israel’s illegal criminal act,
ending in a resolution which merely calls for an “impartial” investigation,
with Washington pushing for an Israeli investigatory committee. To the
world at large, including the Turkish government, the Obama regime and the US
government, by refusing to condemn Israel, are “accomplices to a mass murder”.

To understand why the Obama regime brought shame and infamy to itself in the
eyes of the world, one need look at the Zionist composition of the Obama White
House and, equally important, the direct power and access that the principle
Jewish-Zionist organizations have over the US political system. In the
week preceding Israel’s announced assault on the humanitarian flotilla,
(pro-Israel) Jewish leaders met with over a third of US senators to pressure
them to pass harsher sanctions on Iran by June. Among the key operatives
attending were the Jewish Federation of North America, AIPAC and the rest of
the Israeli Fifth Column (Jewish Telegraph Agency, May 26, 2010).

yes""> The following day a squadron of leaders from the Jewish Federations flew into
Washington to meet with top Obama administration officials, to ensure that the
White House and Congress did not in any way or form publicly express any criticism
of Israel’s settlement policy. No doubt the Zionist apologists for
Israeli war crimes extended their agenda to include no public criticism of the
Israeli assault on the flotilla. Rahm Emmanuel, top US Presidential aide,
was in Tel Aviv as a guest of top officials of the Israel Defense Force a few
days before the IDF launched the assault, no doubt having filled Rahm in on the
details. The Israeli-American aide to Obama no doubt assured the war
criminals of Washington’s unconditional political and military support for
Israel’s acts of aggression.

From within the Obama Administration and without, the aggressive pressure from
the 51 principle organizations of the American Zionists have guaranteed Israeli
war criminals immunity from any War Crimes Tribunal, or even serious political
condemnation by the UN Security Council. The Zionized White House’s
tactic is to deflect attention from immediate consequential condemnation let
alone sanctions, hoping that over time, aided by the blanket mass media apology
in the US, the mass indignation and protest overseas will gradually wither
away. Obama and his Zionist cohort are already in a belly crawl mode with
Israel.

yes""> Part of Rahm’s mission to Israel was to hand Netanyahu an invitation to
the White House, during the week of the slaughter at sea. The only reason
Netanyahu did not come to Washington was because he rushed back to
Israel to buttress the Foreign Office’s defense of the slaughter in the face of
world-wide outrage. But in a phone conversation, Obama promised Netanyahu
a prompt new invitation – assuring the Jewish statesman that violating
international laws and bloodying dozens of humanitarian activists is of no
consequence, especially since it insures continued financial support by Obama’s
Zionist backers.

Like Lyndon Johnson with the cover-up of the USS Liberty, Obama’s apology of
Israel’s war crimes, is the price for ensuring the backing of billionaire
Zionist financiers and media moguls, the tens of thousands of pro-Israel Jews
and the 51 President of the Major American Jewish Organizations.

In the face of Washington’s complicity with Israeli war crimes, the only road
is to intensify the world-wide boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign
against all Israeli products, cultural activities and professional exchanges.
Hopefully, the Islamic led mass protests will find echo in the wider
anti-Zionist Christian and Jewish communities – especially, when Israeli
apologists for state terror make public appearances. Even more important
each and every Israeli involved in the mass assault should be subject to
criminal prosecution wherever they visit.

yes""> Only by making the Israelis understand that they will pay a high price for their
serial homicides and violations of international law will reason possibly enter
their political narrative. Only by moving beyond symbolic protests, like
recalling diplomats, and taking substantive actions, like breaking relations,
will the international community isolate the perpetrator of state terrorism.

yes""> All Americans should send loud and clear to President Obama –NEVER AGAIN.
Otherwise, with the Zionist Power Configuration active 7/24, the Obama regime,
true to the Zionist agenda, will once again focus attention on attacking Iran.
Israel’s action today with US complicity is a prelude of the kind of deadly
force it has in store for sabotaging the recent Turkey-Brazil-Iran diplomatic
agreement.

This is dedicated to the brave Turkish martyrs on the Mavi Marmara, May 31, 2010, and to the 34 murdered American sailors on the USS Liberty, June 8, 1967 – all
victims of an unrepentant criminal state - Israel.

[Jeannon Kralj]

I appreciate your post, Dr. Fetzer.

I have not taken "sides" in this matter. As with 9-11 and other big events, how do we know what to believe. We can try to piece together the small bits of facts and evidence we have, but basically facts and evidence are not available.

Something I found quite intriguing is that there was a strange hole left in the BP oil rig helipad.



http://www.governamerica.com/dailydialectic.php?subaction=showfull&...

I tried to insert a photo of this but really did not know how to do this.

This reminds me very much of the strange holes found in WTC Building 6 and other buildings and in Liberty Street.

The flottilla incident as well as the BP oil rig event both look like controlled demolitions to me.