Monday, June 14, 2010

News Flood--Focus on Gaza Flotilla



By now we've all heard of the Israeli attack on the flotilla aid ship set for Gaza. If not, a background can be found here. This attack was carried out in international waters. The flotilla intended to violate the Israeli blockade against Gaza by providing humanitarian aid. Much of what has been presented is a sort of "debate" over self defense. But autopsy reports present a different picture. This story shows evidence of repeated close range shots to the back of the head and to the back. It is difficult to justify this as self defense. It appears Israel is also attempting to use the tactic of information control, but fortunately information is still getting out. As noted in the previous post, US tax dollars help to support the Israeli military in such raids--$2.5 billion in grants specifically for military aid in 2009 alone.

Summary of Turkish Autopsy Report



So why all the fuss over Gaza? Is the poverty really that bad? See the video above and decide for yourself.

The US has refused to call for an international investigation of the attack against the flotilla. Instead, it insists that Israel be able to conduct its own internal investigation. To investigate the US's stance, we should look at how the US has looked at this conflict in the past. So how has this conflict between Israel and Palestine traditionally been reported in the US? Here's an analysis of just that (another source):

Actual Conflict Deaths Vs. Reported in U.S. Media

(Reporting over 100% refers to repetitions in broadcasts)

Actual Children's Deaths Vs. Reported in U.S. Media

The Historical Conflict in a Nutshell
About This Topic

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the world's longest standing conflicts. Many people feel that resolving this conflict is the key to resolving the various conflicts throughout the Middle East. Some observers see this conflict creating Arab resentment towards the "West" and fueling radical Islamic terrorism. Although the conflict generates massive public discussion and debate, there are relatively few (if any) forums that inherently maintain an impartial and non-partisan approach to understanding it. We intentionally expose the massive variations of opinion, narrative and fact, to give our readers the best "big picture" understanding of the conflict and its potential solutions.
PRO Israel/CON Palestine CON Israel/PRO Palestine

The Pro-Israel camp generally base their arguments on the following principles:
a) Israel is the historical "homeland" of the Jewish peoples who have lived there continuously since biblical times.
b) Many Jews believe that they deserve a "Jewish" state because of historical injustices, such as the Holocaust, and because they have international support and recognition through the U.N.
c) The majority of Israelis support a "two-state" solution, creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel in Gaza and the West Bank.
d) Other Israelis support the idea of "one-state", either by annexing all occupied territories into the Jewish state (far right view), or incorporate the occupied territories into one secular democratic state with equal rights for all (far left view).

The Pro-Palestinian camp generally base their arguments on the following principles:
a) The Palestinian people have lived in the area of Israel/Palestine since biblical times. They see most Israeli Jews as foreign colonizers who began arriving within the last 100 years.
b) Palestinians consider themselves a national entity, deserving of the rights of all nations, including a Palestinian state.
c) Many Muslim Palestinians and their supporters see the land as Islamic holy land, and are strictly opposed to non-Muslims owning and establishing a state on Muslim land.
d) Palestinians vary widely in what they see as a just solution to the conflict. They include: the total destruction of Israel; a "bi-national" or "one-state" solution; and a "two-state" solution.
(Ref: Pro/Con.org)

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