Israel Matzav

Rejected by al-Guardian

CiF Watch publishes an article by Denis MacEoin, the editor of the Middle East Quarterly. The article was originally submitted to Brian Whitaker for publication in the Guardian and was rejected by him on the basis of there being too many articles on the subject. Given the 37 articles, editorials and cartoons published over the course of the flotilla incident, I leave it to CiF Watch readers to speculate as to the real reason behind the rejection of this piece from such an esteemed commentator in the field.

Here's an excerpt. Go here to read the whole thing.

The Mavi Marmara is just the latest in a string of allegations that take for granted Jewish or Israeli malignity. The fabled ‘massacre’ of Deir Yassin in 1948 has remained in anti-Israeli propaganda, despite the fact that a host of Arabs, many eye-witnesses, have admitted that a wartime battle was exaggerated out of all proportion both to embolden and to frighten the native population. The other famous ‘massacre’ was at Jenin refugee camp in 2002 still lives in memory as a butchery of hundreds or even thousands of innocent Palestinian. According to one Palestinian source, it was the ‘massacre of the 21st century’. In fact, a UN enquiry established that 52 Palestinian fighters died, along with Israeli soldiers. According to the Weekly Standard, ‘That same day, you could hear breathless reports of the supposed Israeli atrocities in Jenin being spread by Palestinian sources on NPR, CNN, and elsewhere.’ The old adage holds true: ‘A lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on.’

That’s exactly what happened last Monday. There was a rush to judgement that took the world by storm. The UN Security Council was in session almost before the boats reached Ashdod. There had been no time to hold an enquiry, to question the commandos, or to question the activists. The Jews, as usual, were responsible for everything, even the vicious attacks on their own troops. But now that a few days have gone by, the picture is changing. On Tuesday, the IDF found a cache of ceramic bulletproof vests, night-vision goggles and gas masks on board the Mavi Marmara. As well as these, the ship contained large quantities of metal and wooden batons, powerful catapults (with marbles to use as stones), many of which were used to attack Israeli soldiers. A group of fifty passengers have actually or possible terror connections, others are linked to extremist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and possibly al-Qaeda. Many were carrying very large (and identical) sums of money on their persons. And some have admitted that they had been organized into cells throughout the ship and had gone in, prepared to fight and die as martyrs.

These were not humanitarian do-gooders. They used genuine (if misguided) humanitarians to launch what they knew would be an assault on the Israeli navy, and their aim was to break the blockade. The ships were generously offered the chance to berth at Ashdod and transfer their aid to lorries, which would take it to Gaza, yet they refused and set their faces hard for conflict. It was, in truth, little more than a stunt that fell under the control of extremists and ended tragically for that reason. Instead of the tens of thousands of tons of aid the activists are now boasting, they carried less than one thousand, all of it items already easily available in Gaza, some of utterly useless, like medicines that are out of date. Anyway, that’s all moot now, considering that Hamas have refused to let in any of the aid. A dangerous game is played, yet large numbers, including Guardian readers, don’t even begin to get it. Decades have passed, yet the anti-Israel crowd still doesn’t see what’s in front of their eyes. The Mavi Marmara incident should have woken them up; instead it has reinforced them in their hardline beliefs.

Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:39 PM