“Flotilla” Ship Estelle Given a Free Ride

Simon Plosker..
Honest Reporting..
21 October '12..






The Finnish-registered Estelle, whose passengers and crew included activists and members of parliament from Greece, Sweden, the US, Canada, Norway and Israel, was intercepted by the IDF on Saturday and brought to Ashdod port after attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

In a video accompanying its online coverage of the story, Sky News gives a platform to a spokeswoman for the organization that sent the ship. She claims, unchallenged:

The blockade is illegal, it’s not accepted by the international community

She also claims that the blockade has nothing to do with Israel’s security. This despite the fact that rockets continue to be fired from Gaza on to Israeli towns and cities and despite the fact that Gaza is ruled by the Hamas terrorist organization.

As for the claim that the Israeli blockade is illegal, this is patently not the case. The UN Secretary General himself created a panel of inquiry to examine the events surrounding the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident. The subsequent 2011 report by the Palmer Commission concluded that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is legal and Israel has the right to enforce the blockade, including in international waters.

Flotilla funds meeting flounders

Henry Benjamin
J-Wire
20 September '10

(Not exactly what they expected, was it.)

A public meeting to raise funds and support for the Kia Ora Gaza group’s flotilla campaign has ended in a debacle.

The meeting was sponsored by the Muslim Club at Hamilton’s Waikato University. The invitation was accompanied by material stating that “Israel is the most powerful state in the Middle East and has being doing as it pleases. So we haven’t been able to do much while hundreds of children, women, men and the elderly get killed, raped and violated on a daily basis”. [The full text is below]

One non-Jewish student at the university described the statement as “hate-preaching”.

Hamilton-based Kirsty Walker published a counter Kia Ora Gaza leaflet entitled “Why I Cannot Support Kia Ora Gaza” in which outlines the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the construction of shopping malls and luxury hotels in spite of a perceived shortage of building materials, the recent murder of four Israelis, the Hamas policy towards Israel and the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Her statement is also published below.

Four members of the Kia Ora Gaza group made the six hour drive from Wellington to Hamilton for the information and fund-raising meeting….and walked into a barrage of criticism.

At the emotionally-charged meeting they were told by Iraqi and Iranian students that they “were playing straight into Hamas’s hands.”

(Read full story)

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Two stories about theft

Elder of Ziyon
19 July '10

A truly awful story emerged today from Israel, as there appears to be evidence that some IDF members stole and sold equipment from the flotilla ships a couple of months ago, including laptops.

"This matter is very problematic in terms of values, as the incident allegedly took place after it was clear that the flotilla was a serious international affair," the source added. "An officer who under such circumstances steals equipment which does not belong to him, and then tries to sell it – it's almost incomprehensible."

The affair embarrassed the political arena as well, with Knesset members demanding that the army prevent such incidents from repeating themselves at almost all costs.

"This is an embarrassing, humiliating and infuriating act," said MK Eitan Cabel (Labor). "The IDF must handle this affair according to the strict letter of the law.

Meretz Chairman Chaim Oron called on the army to utilize the investigation to the fullest, noting that "the multiple number of incidents, in which basic values are compromised, requires the army to hold a thorough investigation into the causes."

There is no doubt that the citizens of Israel will not stand for this and will do whatever needs to be done to ensure that the guilty parties are punished and that the root causes are fixed. There is a deep, nationwide sense of embarrassment, anger and shame over the incident.

Contrast this with this story that received next to no coverage:

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