Arlene from Israel
09 July '11
The efforts by radical "activists," mostly out of Europe, to fly into Ben Gurion and cause a ruckus has been largely a failure.
At least in part, this is because Israel has not been working alone. Last week Israel provided airlines in key European nations with the names of persons known to be provocateurs, and there was subsequent cooperation in preventing them from boarding planes to Israel.
This is the information that I have:
According to the JPost, 200 people were denied permission to board planes to Israel. The "activists" are saying it was roughly double that.
As of last night, 124 individuals who had made it into Israel's airport were being held for deportation; this morning -- after extensive questioning -- four of these, two Dutch and two German, were released and permitted into Israel.
There may yet be trouble with some of those being held, if they refuse to board the planes back to where they came from: The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Spain, Britain, Ireland and the US. (As you'll see below, it's not altogether certain that the provocateurs are in all cases actually from the countries that were their points of departure.)
Israeli immigration officials will be discussing the situation with the airlines concerned. Those airlines that have cooperated with Israeli requests for assistance include: Air France, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Malev, and Easy Jet.
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Some 50 to 100 persons made it through Israeli passport control and are in PA-controlled areas now. They say they are planning protest events: starting at the Aida refugee camps north of Bethlehem today and ending in Jerusalem on Friday.
But as of yesterday, according to a YNet report, there was a protest in the Arab village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, in which some of these "activists" participated. (Picture below shows Nabi Saleh protesters, but I am unable to determine if any of those photographed were "activists" from abroad.)
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| Reuters |
Protesters clashed with security forces and threw rocks at IDF soldiers. The protest is against the "occupation," and Israel's refusal to acknowledge the "right of return."
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This Flytilla event has held an added fascination for me because my e-mail was picked up by the PR people for this gambit, so that for several days pro-Flytilla material was flooding my in-box. These messages contained all that might have been expected:
Plans were being shared, so that I was able to read, for example, that such and such, who couldn't get on a plane in France, was going to go to Belgium and try again. I have seen declarations of intention on the part of those arrested in Ben Gurion airport not to sign Israeli papers that would permit immediate deportation. And ludicrous charges of severe mistreatment of those arrested (while I am aware of how careful Israeli officials are being with regard to proper procedures and the law). Those who were taken into custody in Israel are said to have been "kidnapped;" Israel is referred to as the "apartheid regime," while their people are called "human rights activists."
Of course there were denials that the visitors had any intentions of causing disruption, as all they wanted to do is visit quietly with Palestinian families. The lie has already been put to this by what happened yesterday at Nabi Saleh, and it's just the beginning of the week.
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See Barry Rubin on the way in which the NYTimes misrepresented the Flytilla:
http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/2011/07/10/new-york-times-bites-israel-by-lying-about-the-flytilla/
After explaining how the Times twisted the story, Rubin wrote:
"If you don’t understand how an organ like the New York Times has gone from being a liberal-oriented but professional and responsible newspaper into a disgraceful propaganda sheet, it is impossible to comprehend what has gone wrong in America."
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Returning to the Flotilla issue -- actually, the first Flotilla of a year ago, this May:
The UN's Palmer Commission -- delegated by Ban Ki-Moon to investigate the "Mavi Marmara" incident, in which Turkish members of the terrorist IHH were killed after they attacked IDF soldiers who boarded their ship -- has completed its report. However, it will not be published until July 27th, in order to give Israel and Turkey time for reconciliation talks.
What the Commission -- headed by New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer -- has done is unofficially release its findings to Israel and Turkey. These findings have in turn have been leaked. According to various sources, the Commission has concluded that:
[] The Gaza Blockade is legal, and that in line with various treaties, Israel has the right to stop vessels even outside its territorial waters if the vessels intended destination is easily ascertained. It apparently upholds the legality and validity of a sea blockade on a territory.
[] The use of force by Israel on the Mavi Marmara was regrettable but did not merit an apology considering the extenuating factors. That said, excessive force was likely used.
[] Israel should however in a show of good faith set up a fund to donate to a humanitarian or related charitable cause. This because Israeli actions were 'lawful but disproportionate.'
[] Turkey is castigated for not stopping the Mavi Marmara, and for its links with the IHH.
[] The Turkish commission that investigated the matter was not staffed by experts, was biased -- heavily influenced by domestic politics.
[] Palmer himself -- an expert in maritime law -- apparently endorsed the Israeli Turkel Commission almost in its entirety, calling it "professional, independent and unbiased."
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This represents a huge victory for Israel and demonstrates again that we are not alone within the international community.
As to those reconciliation talks, I wouldn't hold out much hope. The Turks are demanding an apology from Israel as well as compensation to the families of the nine people killed.
The Israeli government has said it will not apologize, but would be willing to pay compensation as long as it was structured in a way that did not permit future claims -- already too much conciliation in my book, but not sufficient for Turkey.
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Let's end this with some great satire. Caroline Glick's Latma has done it again. This time the Audacity of Dopes band sings "Guns, guns, guns, please don't take Gaza's hobby away."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5CsGViY5JQ&feature=youtu.be
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© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
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