Gaza Flotilla of Fools (open thread)
I’ll be updating links and reports about the Gaza Flotilla 2 throughout the day, although if someone just happened to fall off one of the ships, maybe I’ll do a separate post. Feel free to add in links in the comments.
- Israel Matzav has a good excerpt from an op-ed in The Irish Independent: “Bizarrely, because it is efficient and prosperous, this tiny country is depicted as being Goliath, while the enormous swathe of ill-governed failing enemy states are seen as David. But Jews are natural scapegoats because they’re so bloody smart, hard-working and successful.”
- Israel’s security cabinet has ordered the military to stop the flotilla from reaching Gaza: “The inner cabinet made up of senior members on Monday also directed the Foreign Ministry to continue its diplomatic efforts to stop the flotilla from setting sail. The flotilla of about 10 ships is scheduled to leave from ports as early as Tuesday, and meet in the Mediterranean Sea where it will continue on to Gaza.”
- Media reporters are embedded with the ships. Israel threatened that any reporter found on the ships would be banned from Israel for 10 years, but apparently Israel is pulling back on the threat.
- Lectures for ship passengers are being held in Greece to instruct them on how to non-vilently confront Israeli soldiers if the ships are boarded. Of course, the people in the lecture are not the ones who will attack the Israelis, so it’s all a charade.
- In a story related to something I reported a few weeks ago, the U.N. (shockingly) is about to come out with a report harshly critical of Turkey for Gaza Flotilla 1, and Turkey is trying to get Israel to help soften the report: “According to the official, the Turks are “very worried” about the harsh criticism of Turkey they expect the report to contain, and want Israel to agree to a softened version as part of a package deal to end the crisis between the two countries over the flotilla, which took place in May 2010.”
- About 50 people engaged in a sympathy flotilla in the canals of Utrecht.
- Aw … one of the ships was found with a broken propeller shaft.
- Turkish Islamists, at least two of whom have ties to Hamas, will be participating on the ships: “Moreover, despite earlier reports, it seems that activists from the Turkish organization IHH, which was involved in the deadly IDF raid on the Mavi Marmara in last year’s Gaza flotilla, will be joining several of the ships sailing for Gaza as part of the flotilla. Israeli officials claim that two activists participating in the flotilla have connections to Hamas. ‘
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