Blood Libel

We're watching another blood libel take shape in the media. Like the "massacre" at Jenin, which never happened, a credulous international press is repeating any assertion made by a gang of thugs with terrorist links because they call themselves "Peace Activists." In reality many of them were members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Sure, there was a Catholic Bishop on board- One who had been convicted of smuggling weapons to the PLO in the 70's and was set free at the request of the Vatican.

The "peace activists" who shot videos of themselves preparing for a martyrdom operation, who had smuggled, knives (some of them darn near short sword size) metal pipes, concussion grenades, fire boms and other weapons on board the Turkish ferry boat have scored a big PR hit. Nobody cares that one of the Flotilla 13 sailors (like US Navy Seals) was beaten and dumped over a rail to land on a steel deck 30 feet below. So what if he has extensive injury and suffered massive brain damage? He's just a Jew anyway.

Not that the nation of Israel acted intelligently. While there is no doubt that a nation in a state of war can set up a naval and air blockade (like JFK did around Cuba and we have done for as much as a decade at a time around various middle eastern entities) showing up to a gunfight with a paint ball gun was NOT a good option. Sure, most of the ships surrendered- But from the time they turned the fire hoses on the boarding party and threw concussion grenades into the boat the gloves should have come off. Yes, a paint ball gun stings but if someone is inclined to resist they can ignore that. So one by one the sailors from Flotilla 13 roped to the deck to be beaten with pipes, stabbed, have their (real) pistols stolen and used to shoot them (along with at least one rifleman who hid below decks.) Stupid.

Clearly the IDF had no option but to defend itself. After failing to subdue the crew members who were beating them with metal rods, stabbing them, and beating them with chairs with just their paint ball guns, eventually permission to fire the pistols was given. For some, as we have seen, it came too late.

Lots of international outrage. Al Jazeera TV, who had a crew on board, claimed that at least 20 were killed. We now know that as usual with Al Jazeera, the number of casualties was inflated. The invaluable MEMRI (Middle Eastern Media Research Institute) that provides English translations of things that even the Al Jazeera English Service is too shy to admit in public, documents some of the "Peace Activists" chanting

"Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return."

(Khaybar was a 7th century battle where most of the Jews at an oasis were killed, and the remainder allowed to remain for a few years, on the condition that the survivors of the massacre pay the Moslems 50% of their produce.)

and a "Peace Activist" who says on camera:

"We are now waiting for one of two good things – either to achieve martyrdom, or to reach Gaza."

But cause for suspicion goes back even before the flotilla sailed. A prominent Egyptian specialist in International Law said this on TV on May 18th:

Dr. Hassan Ahmad Omar: "The siege that Israel is imposing... It is necessary to provide Gaza not only with food, water, and building supplies, but also with weapons. Weapons must be provided, because these are weapons of revolutionaries, and aid must be provided to the Gaza Strip. "It is necessary [to help] the refugees return to the Gaza Strip, as well as to the Acre region, because according to the partition plan, it belongs to the Arab state of Palestine. [...] "The various countries have an obligation to provide these weapons and food to Gaza, and [to enable] the return of the refugees. "Turkey could revive the commission consisting of Turkey, France, and the US, which was mentioned in Resolution 194 regarding the return of the refugees, thus facilitating the return of the refugees to Acre – at least the half million refugees from Lebanon – in accordance with article 6 of Security Council Resolution 1559. "These aid campaigns should not be restricted to food and water. The [ships] could also include returning refugees and weapons for the Palestinian revolutionaries. The MEMRI material, including more of the above interview, can be found at http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4249.htm Lastly, we're supposed to shed lots of tears because one of the terrorists who died in the flotilla was an American. My buddy Duane Lester did a bit of research. Furkan Dogan was indeed born in the US when his family briefly lived here. When he was 2 years old his family returned to Turkey with him, and there is no evidence he has been here since. When his body was sent home for burial, it was sent to Turkey. What we actually had was a Turk who had dual citizenship because his mother downloaded him in the US. I've gone a bit long so I shan't get into the demonstrations of support all over the world. I'll just say that it was convenient that mobs with signs in English were ready all over the world to appear on short notice. The media should be doing their job and investigating, not serving as a transcriptionist as the Muslim world perpetuates another blood libel.