Deep Politics Forum

From The Australian:

Quote:ISRAEL has announced that "an independent public commission", including two foreign observers, will investigate its naval raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in which nine Turkish activists were killed.

Israel, which had rejected calls for an international probe into the May 31 incident, said retired Israeli supreme court judge Yaakov Tirkel would chair the commission.

In an apparent bid to boost the credibility of the probe, Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner David Trimble and Ken Watkin, a former judge advocate general of the Canadian armed forces, were named as observers.

“In light of the exceptional circumstances of the incident, it was decided to appoint two foreign experts who will serve as observers,” said a late-night statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But Mr Trimble and Mr Watkin “will not have the right to vote in relation to the proceedings and conclusions of the commission,” the statement added.

And the two could also be denied access to documents or information if it was “almost certain to cause substantial harm to national security or to the state's foreign relations”.

Earlier, Mr Netanyahu told senior members of his right-wing Likud party that the composition and mandate of the commission was being coordinated with the United States.

Government ministers at the Likud meeting said the Israeli leader had spoken by telephone with US President Barack Obama late on Saturday and updated him on the commission.

The US welcomed the announcement as “an important step forward,” but said it expected the investigation to be carried out promptly.

“While Israel should be afforded the time to complete its process, we expect Israel's commission and military investigation will be carried out promptly,” said a statement by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

“We also expect that, upon completion, its findings will be presented publicly and will be presented to the international community.”

The UN Security Council had called for an “impartial” investigation into the incident, stopping short of calls by Turkey and other countries for an independent, international investigation.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had said that Israel should accept an international inquiry if it wanted to restore Israeli-Turkish ties

The announcement came as Israel faced mounting pressure to end its blockade of the Gaza Strip in the wake of the botched commando raid on the aid flotilla.

Mr Netanyahu said yesterday he had been looking at how to meet Gaza's humanitarian needs while keeping weapons out of the Hamas-run coastal strip before the latest crisis.

“Before the flotilla set sail for Gaza, we discussed, in various forums, the continuation of our policy toward the Gaza Strip,” Mr Netanyahu said.

He said he had held talks on the issue with Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair, who represents the UN, the US, the European Union and Russia.

In a statement, Mr Blair welcomed Mr Netanyahu's latest comments, saying they made a clear distinction between Israel's security concerns and the need to let Gazans live a normal life.

The Israeli statement said the commission would examine Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and its legality under international law and the “actions taken by Israel to enforce the naval blockade in the incident of May 31, 2010 with the rules of international law”.

It would also examine “the actions taken by the organisers of the flotilla and its participants, as well as their identity”.

Mr Netanyahu planned to seek the approval of his cabinet later today for the proposed commission.

Also al Jazeeera

David Trimble (Baron and HM Privy Councillor for services rendered), knows a thing or two about state sponsored assassinations - from the State's perspective naturally - too. Having been at the sharp end of Northern Ireland Unionist (ie British State Establishment) politics throughout the infamous shoot to kill and Security Forces collusion/sponsorship of 'Loyalist' assasinations periods.

As for Ken Watkin. Don't know much about him except that he is a retired Brigadier Genral in the Canadian armed forces.

Actually - all that lends far more credibility to the thing than it warrants - a total bloody whitewash fits the proposal rather better.

The Anti-Empire Report

June 10th, 2010
by William Blum
http://www.killinghope.org
The worst thing that ever happened to the Jewish people is the Holocaust. The second worst thing that ever happened to the Jewish people is the state of Israel.

Things internationally are so dispiriting there's nothing left to do but fantasize. I picture Turkey, as a member of NATO, demanding that the alliance come to its defense after being attacked by Israel. Under Article 5 of the NATO charter an armed attack on one member is deemed to constitute an armed attack on all members. That is the ostensible reason NATO is fighting in Afghanistan — the attack against the United States on September 11, 2001 is regarded as an attack on all NATO members (disregarding the awkward fact that Afghanistan as a country had nothing to do with the attack). The Israeli attack on a Turkish-flagged ship, operated by a Turkish humanitarian organization, killing nine Turkish nationals and wounding many more can certainly constitute an attack upon a NATO member.

So, after the United States, the UK, Germany, France and other leading NATO members offer their ridiculous non-sequitur excuses why they can't ... umm ... er ... invoke Article 5, and the international media swallows it all without any indigestion, Turkey demands that Israel should at least lose its formal association with NATO as a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue. This too is dismissed with scorn by the eminent NATO world powers on the grounds that it would constitute a victory for terrorism. And anti-Semitism of course.

Turkey then withdraws from NATO. Azerbaijan and five other Central Asian members of NATO's Partnership for Peace with Turkic constituencies do the same. NATO falls into a crisis. Remaining member countries begin to question the organization's policies as never before ... like please tell us again why our young men are killing and dying in Afghanistan, and why we send them to Kosovo and Iraq and other places the Americans deem essential to their endlessly-threatened national security.

When Vice President Biden tells the eminent conservative-in-liberal-clothing pseudo-intellectual Charlie Rose on TV that "We have put as much pressure and as much cajoling on Israel as we can to allow them [Gaza] to get building materials in," 1Rose for once rises to the occasion and acts like a real journalist, asking Biden: "Have you threatened Israel with ending all military and economic aid? ... Have you put the names of Israeli officials on your list of foreigners who can not enter the United States and whose bank accounts in the US are frozen, as you've done with numerous foreign officials who were not supporters of the empire? ... Since Israel has committed both crimes against the peace and crimes against humanity, and since these are crimes that have international jurisdiction, certain Israeli political and military personnel can be named in trials held in any country of the world. Will you be instructing the Attorney General to proceed with such an indictment? Or if some other country which is a member of the International Criminal Court calls upon the ICC to prosecute these individuals, will the United States try to block the move? ... Why hasn't the United States itself delivered building materials to Gaza?"

When Israel justifies its murders on the grounds of "self-defense", late-night TV comedians Jay Leno and David Letterman find great humor in this, pointing out that a new memoir by China's premier at the time of the 1989 Tiananmen Square violent suppression defends the military action by saying that soldiers acted in "self-defense" when they fired on the democracy activists. 2

When Israel labels as "terrorists" the ship passengers who offered some resistance to the Israeli invaders, the New York Times points out that the passengers who resisted the 9-11 highjackers on the plane which crashed in Pennsylvania are called "heroes". (As an aside, it's worth noting that the United States uses 9-11 as Israel uses the Holocaust — as excuse and justification for all manner of illegal and violent international behavior.)

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reminds its readers that in 2009 Israel attacked a boat on international waters carrying medical aid to Gaza with former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney aboard; and that in 1967 Israel attacked an American ship, the USS Liberty, killing 34 and wounding about 173, and that President Johnson did then just what President Obama is doing now and would have done then — nothing.

And finally, Secretary of State Clinton declares that she's had a revelation. She realizes that what she recently said about North Korea when it was accused of having torpedoed a South Korean warship applies as well to Israel. Mrs. Clinton had demanded that Pyongyang "stop its provocative behavior, halt its policy of threats of belligerence towards its neighbors, and take irreversible steps to fulfill its denuclearization commitments and comply with international law." 3 She adds that the North Korean guilt is by no means conclusive, while Israel doesn't deny its attack on the ship at all; moreover, it's not known for sure if North Korea actually possesses nuclear weapons, whereas there's no uncertainty about Israel's large stockpile.

So there you have it. Hypocrisy reigns. Despite my best fantasizing. Is hypocrisy a moral failing or a failure of the intellect? When President Obama says, as he has often, "No one is above the law" and in his next breath makes it clear that his administration will not seek to indict Bush or Cheney for any crimes, does he think that no one will notice the contradiction, the hypocrisy? That's a callous disregard for public opinion and/or a dumbness worthy of his predecessor.

And when he declares: "The future does not belong to those who gather armies on a field of battle or bury missiles in the ground", 4does it not occur to him at all that he's predicting a bleak outlook for the United States? Or that his conscious, deliberate policy is to increase the size of America's army and its stockpile of missiles?

Comrades, can the hypocrisy and the lies reach such a magnitude that enough American true believers begin to question their cherished faith, so that their number reaches a critical mass and explodes? Well, it's already happened with countless Americans, but it's an awfully formidable task keeping pace with what is turned out by the mass media and education factories. They're awfully good at what they do. Too bad. But don't forsake the struggle. What better way is there to live this life? And remember, just because the world has been taken over by lying, hypocritical, mass-murdering madmen doesn't mean we can't have a good time.
Bad guys and good guys

In Lahore, Pakistan, reported the Washington Post on May 29, "Militants staged coordinated attacks ... on two mosques of a minority Muslim sect, taking hostages and killing at least 80 people. ... At least seven men armed with grenades, high-powered rifles and suicide vests stormed the mosques as Friday prayers ended."

Nice, really nice, very civilized. It's no wonder that decent Americans think that this is what the United States is fighting against — Islamic fanatics, homicidal maniacs, who kill their own kind over some esoteric piece of religious dogma, who want to kill Americans over some other imagined holy sin, because we're "infidels". How can we reason with such people? Where is the common humanity the naive pacifists and anti-war activists would like us to honor?

And then we come to the very last paragraph of the story: "Elsewhere in Pakistan on Friday, a suspected U.S. drone-fired missile struck a Taliban compound in the South Waziristan tribal area, killing eight, according to two officials in the region." This, we are asked to believe by our leaders, is a higher level of humanity. The United States does this every other day, sending robotic death machines called Predators flying over Afghanistan and Pakistan, to send Hellfire missiles screaming into wedding parties, funerals, homes, not knowing who the victims are, not caring who the victims are, many hundreds of them by now, as long as Washington can claim each time — whether correctly or not — that amongst their number was a prominent infidel, call him Taliban, or al Qaeda, or insurgent, or militant. How can one reason with such people, the ones in the CIA who operate the drone flights? What is the difference between them and a suicide bomber? The suicide bomber becomes one of the victims himself and sees his victims up close before killing them. The CIA murderer bomber sits safely in a room in Nevada or California and pretends he's playing a video game, then goes out to dinner while his victims lay dying. The suicide bomber believes passionately in something called paradise. The murderer bomber believes passionately in something called flag and country.

The State Department's Legal Advisor justifies the Predator bombings as ... yes, "self-defense". 5 Try reasoning with that.

These American drone bombings are of course the height of aggression, the ultimate international crime. They were used over Iraq as well beginning in the 1990s. In December 2002, shortly before the US invasion in March, the Iraqis finally managed to shoot one down. This prompted a spokesman for the US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, to call it another sign of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's "campaign of military aggression." 6

This particular piece of hypocrisy may have actually been outdone by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's comment about the US flights and bombings over Iraq during that period: "It bothers the dickens out of me that US and British pilots are getting fired at day after day after day, with impunity." 7

Send me a stamped self-addressed envelope for a copy of the revised edition of "An arsonist's guide to the homes of Pentagon officials".
When politicians misbehave. By speaking the truth.

The German president, Horst Koehler, resigned last week because he said something government officials are not supposed to say. He said that Germany was fighting in Afghanistan for economic reasons. No reference to democracy. Nothing about freedom. Not a word about Good Guys fighting Bad Guys. The word "terrorism" was not mentioned at all. Neither was "God". On a trip to German troops in Afghanistan he had declared that a country such as Germany, dependent on exports and free trade, must be prepared to use military force. The country, he said, had to act "to protect our interests, for example, free trade routes, or to prevent regional instability which might certainly have a negative effect on our trade, jobs and earnings".

"Koehler has said something openly that has been obvious from the beginning," said the head of Germany's Left Party. "German soldiers are risking life and limb in Afghanistan to defend the export interests of big economic interests." 8

Other opposition politicians had called for Koehler to take back the remarks and accused him of damaging public acceptance of German military missions abroad. 9

As T.S. Eliot famously observed: "Humankind can not bear very much reality."
What is the opposite of being a conspiracy theorist?

David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker magazine and former Washington Post reporter, has a new book out, "The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama". In the three pages Remnick devotes to Obama's 1983-4 employment at Business International Corporation in New York he makes no mention of the well-known ties between BIC and the CIA. In 1977, for example, the New York Times revealed that BIC had provided cover for four CIA employees in various countries during earlier years of the Cold War; 10BIC also attempted to penetrate the radical left, including Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). 11

Did Remnick not think it at all interesting and worthy of mention that the future president worked for more than a year with a company that was a CIA asset? Even if the company and the CIA made no attempt to recruit Obama, which in fact they may have done? It's this kind of obvious omission that helps feed the left's conspiracy thinking.

Because Remnick has impeccable establishment credentials the book has been widely reviewed. But none of the many reviewers has seen fit to mention this omission. And the way it works of course is that if it's not mentioned, it didn't happen. And if you mention such a thing, you're a pathetic conspiracy theorist. Like me, who discussed it in the January edition of this report. 12
Spam, myself and my readers

As some of you now know, someone hacked into my website and used my address book to send out emails to many of the readers of this report. The emails indicated that they had been sent by me and directed people to a website which sells handbags, shoes and watches. What bothers me the most about this incident is that several of my readers believed that it was actually me who had sent out the emails, that I was peddling handbags, shoes and watches. The only thing I sell are books. But I think these readers have now learned something about spam. And hopefully about me.

Oh, by the way, can I interest any of you in some nice T-shirts, hats, or sunglasses?
Notes
Charlie Rose Live, June 2, 2010 program ↩
Associated Press, June 4, 2010 ↩
State Department press conference, May 24, 2010 ↩
Talk given in Moscow, July 7, 2009, text released by the White House ↩
National Public Radio, March 26, 2010 ↩
Washington Post, December 24, 2002 ↩
Associated Press, September 30, 2002 ↩
London Times Online, May 31, 2010 ↩
Associated Press, May 31, 2010 ↩
New York Times, December 27, 1977, p.40 ↩
Carl Oglesby, "Ravens in the Storm: A Personal History of the 1960s Antiwar Movement" (2008), passim ↩
William Blum, The Anti-Empire Report, January 3rd, 2009 ↩

–

William Blum is the author of:
Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2
Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower
West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir
Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire

Peter Presland Wrote:From The Australian:

Quote:ISRAEL has announced that "an independent ? public commission", including two foreign observers, will investigate its naval raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in which nine Turkish activists were killed.

Israel, which had rejected calls for an international probe into the May 31 incident, said retired Israeli supreme court judge Yaakov Tirkel would chair the commission.

In an apparent bid to boost the :hahaha:credibility of the probe, Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner David Trimble and Ken Watkin, a former judge advocate general of the Canadian armed forces, were named as observers.

“In light of the exceptional circumstances of the incident, it was decided to appoint two foreign experts who will serve as observers,” said a late-night statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But Mr Trimble and Mr Watkin “will not have the right to vote in relation to the proceedings and conclusions of the commission,” the statement added.

And the two could also be denied access to documents or information if it was “almost certain to cause substantial harm to national security or to the state's foreign relations”.

Earlier, Mr Netanyahu told senior members of his right-wing Likud party that the composition and mandate of the commission was being coordinated with the United States.

Government ministers at the Likud meeting said the Israeli leader had spoken by telephone with US President Barack Obama late on Saturday and updated him on the commission.

The US welcomed the announcement as “an important step forward,” but said it expected the investigation to be carried out promptly.

“While Israel should be afforded the time to complete its [whitewash]process, we expect Israel's commission and military [whitewash]investigation will be carried out promptly,” said a statement by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

“We also expect that, upon completion, its findings will be presented publicly and will be presented to the international community.”leep:

The UN Security Council had called for an “impartial” investigation into the incident, stopping short of calls by Turkey and other countries for an independent, international investigation.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had said that Israel should accept an international inquiry if it wanted to restore Israeli-Turkish ties

The announcement came as Israel faced mounting pressure to end its blockade of the Gaza Strip in the wake of the botched commando raid on the aid flotilla.

Mr Netanyahu said yesterday he had been looking at how to meet Gaza's humanitarian needs while keeping weapons out of the Hamas-run coastal strip before the latest crisis.

“Before the flotilla set sail for Gaza, we discussed, in various forums, the continuation of our policy toward the Gaza Strip,” Mr Netanyahu said.

He said he had held talks on the issue with Middle East Quartet envoy :hahaha:Tony Blair, who represents the UN, the US, the European Union and Russia.

In a statement, :hahaha:Mr Blair welcomed Mr Netanyahu's latest comments, saying they made a clear distinction between Israel's security concerns and the need to let Gazans live a normal life.

The Israeli statement said the commission would examine Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and its legality under international law and the “actions taken by Israel to enforce the naval blockade in the incident of May 31, 2010 with the rules of international law”.

It would also examine “the actions taken by the organisers of the flotilla and its participants, as well as their identity”. [that's what this is all about, deflect and blame the victim]

Mr Netanyahu planned to seek the approval of his cabinet later today for the proposed commission.

Also al Jazeeera

David Trimble (Baron and HM Privy Councillor for services rendered), knows a thing or two about state sponsored assassinations - from the State's perspective naturally - too. Having been at the sharp end of Northern Ireland Unionist (ie British State Establishment) politics throughout the infamous shoot to kill and Security Forces collusion/sponsorship of 'Loyalist' assasinations periods.

As for Ken Watkin. Don't know much about him except that he is a retired Brigadier Genral in the Canadian armed forces.

Actually - all that lends far more credibility to the thing than it warrants - a total bloody whitewash fits the proposal rather better.

Why bother? Why bother with this stupid pretense? No one with 2 neurons will hold their breath waiting for anything remotely resembling the truth to come out of such a charade. Anything that has the support of Bliar can only be bad. And why has that slimey idiot not been put back in his box and shoved to the back of the cupboard. He is such a walking talking embarrassment for brand UK and humanity in general. Where are all these lone assassins? leep:

Israel's Gaza blockade breaks law, says ICRC

Written by Free Gaza Team | 14 June 2010

14 Jun 2010 00:03:31 GMT
Source: Reuters
ICRC says for first time blockade breaks international law, Urges Hamas to allow Gilad Shalit contact with family By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA,
June 14 (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip violates the Geneva Conventions and called for its lifting. The neutral humanitarian agency also urged Hamas militants holding Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured nearly four years ago in a cross-border raid, to allow his family to have regular contact with him, in line with international law.
Israel's raid on a Gaza aid flotilla two weeks ago, in which nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists were killed, highlighted acute hardships faced by 1.5 million Gazans due to the closure since 2007, it said. They endure unemployment, poverty and warfare, and health care whose quality is at an "all time low". "The whole of Gaza's civilian population is being punished for acts for which they bear no responsibility. The closure therefore constitutes a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law," the ICRC said in a five-page statement. It was the first time the ICRC has said explicitly that Israel's blockade constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law embodied in the Geneva Conventions, an ICRC spokeswoman said.
The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, ratified by Israel, bans collective punishment of a civilian population. Israel is entitled to impose restrictions on military material for legitimate security reasons, but the scope of the closure is disproportionate, covering items of basic necessity, according to the ICRC. "We are urging Israel to put an end to this closure and call upon all those who have an influence on the situation, including Hamas, to do their utmost to help Gaza's civilian population," said Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, head of ICRC operations for the Middle East. The ICRC said Hamas had continually rebuffed its requests to allow its officials to visit Shalit in detention. "In violation of international humanitarian law, it has also refused to allow him to get in touch with his family," it said.
Under customary international humanitarian law, captors holding detainees must allow them family contacts, while the Geneva Conventions require that they be treated humanely.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa visited the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the highest Arab official to do so since its seizure by Hamas Islamists in 2007, and called for an end to Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks on Friday with Middle East envoy Tony Blair on the blockade. Netanyahu said on Sunday Israel would continue discussions with the international community to prevent weapons and military equipment from reaching Gaza and to allow in humanitarian aid, an apparent signal it was open to revising blockade procedures. "Under international humanitarian law, Israel must ensure that the basic needs of Gazans, including adequate health care, are met," the ICRC said. The blockade, about to enter its fourth year, was "choking off any real possibility of economic development", it said.
States are obliged to allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of all relief supplies, equipment and personnel, according to ICRC which deploys 100 staff in Gaza."The Palestinian authorities ... must do everything within their power to provide proper health care, supply electricity and maintain infrastructure for Gaza's people," it added. Fuel reserves in Gaza, vital for keeping hospital generators running during daily power cuts, keep drying up, it said. Stocks of essential medical supplies were at an all-time low because of a halt in cooperation between authorities in Ramallah, the Fatah-ruled West Bank, and Gaza, the agency said.
"The state of the health care system in Gaza has never been worse," said ICRC health coordinator Eileen Daly. "Health is being politicised: that is the main reason the system is failing." Only 60 percent of Gazan residents are connected to a sewage collection system, according to the ICRC which voiced concern that drinking water in most of Gaza is unfit for consumption. (Editing by Janet Lawrence)...continues... http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/56-news/...says-icrc-

Footage proves indiscriminate Israeli live fire at Mavi Marmara passengers in Gaza Flotilla

Ali Abunimah

June 13, 2010

The one hour long raw footage released by the Cultures of Resistance Foundation (CoR) of the 31 May Israeli attack aboard the Mavi Marmara shows clear evidence of indiscriminate Israeli fire aboard the ship. Nine people were killed and dozens injured when Israeli forces boarded and seized the vessel, the largest passenger vessel in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea about 80 miles west of the coast of Israel.
Starting at about 43 min 29 sec into the footage we begin to see injured people being carried by other passengers. This continues throughout the rest of the footage -- some of the people have gunshot wounds in the neck, shoulders, stomach, legs, or are so covered in blood it is difficult to tell where they have been hit. At 46 min 58 sec, for example, we see a white-haired man with blood pouring from his legs being carried down a main staircase into a lower deck of the ship to an area where other injured people are being treated:
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The injured man in the picture above appears to be Çetin Topçuoglu, 54, who coached Turkey's national Taekwondo team, and who subsequently died of his injuries. As he is brought downstairs a woman, who appears from many other published photographs to be his wife Çigdem Topçuoglu, watches:
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There are several other disturbing scenes of severely injured and dead people. Israel claims that its soldiers, who invaded and hijacked the Mavi Marmara and then kidnapped all its passengers and forced them to the Israeli port of Ashdod, fired live ammunition only in self-defense -- when they faced imminent risk of harm. But at least one sequence in the CoR footage disproves this claim.
Starting at about 50 minutes the camera operator walks up the staircase from the area wjere the injured are being treated on blood covered floors. There are many people on the landing and up the next flight of stairs. Some are holding sticks, others cameras. There is blood on the wall:
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At the top of the stairs one man is standing against the wall trying to peer out of a porthole through the door leading to the outside deck. On the wall is a sign that says "5 Bridge Deck." At about 51 min 5 sec there is the sound of a gunshot and the man dives. There is commotion as people apparently prepare to defend the lower deck area in case of an Israeli invasion. Someone shouts "la ilaha illa allah" (There is no God but God) -- a common exclamation in the face of danger. It is apparent that Israelis are shooting through the porthole. At 50 min 52 sec, the red dot from a laser gunsight comes through the porthole and illuminates the internal wall of the ship:
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At about 52 min 25 sec one of the passengers pushes open the door with a pole but recoils as there is a loud popping sound and flash, possibly another gunshot. After this the camera operator pans away and goes back down the stairs to the area where injured people are being treated.
Careful analysis of the frames shows that the Israelis had been using live fire. This can be seen by the damage done to the door jamb in the following stills, the first taken at 50 min 31 sec and the second about a minute later at 51 min 47 sec:
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This single sequence proves that Israeli hijackers fired live ammunition into crowded spaces when they were not threatened from inside the space and could not have had a clear view of whom they might hit. The cameras and recordings that Israel seized and confiscated may contain many other such sequences. No wonder Israel is so adamant about hiding the evidence and rejecting a true independent investigation.
See also:
Video reveals European, American weapons used in Israeli attack on Gaza Flotilla


[size=12] :: Article nr. 67006 sent on 14-jun-2010 05:17 ECT
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Not only is it the stooge Trimble, but he doesn't even get a say in the final report:

Quote:But Mr Trimble and Mr Watkin “will not have the right to vote in relation to the proceedings and conclusions of the commission,” the statement added.

As for Watkin, see here:

Quote:Lawyer stonewalls questions on Afghan prison torture

The Canadian Press

Date: Thursday Nov. 5, 2009 7:02 AM ET

OTTAWA — A House of Commons committee investigating what the federal government may have known about possible prisoner torture in Afghan jails ran into a brick wall Wednesday, with the military's top lawyer refusing to answer questions.

Brig.-Gen. Ken Watkins, the military judge advocate general, claimed solicitor-client privilege about whether he'd seen warnings from a diplomat in Kandahar and whether he'd received direction from the prime minister's office.

"Obviously the coverup continues," said Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh.

"It is not part of solicitor-client privilege to hide who instructs you or who your client is. If the (Prime Minister's Office or Privy Council Office) instructed these individuals, we ought to know."

Watkins' office was copied on reports written by diplomat Richard Colvin in 2006, which laid out stark warnings about possible torture in Kandahar jails. Senior members of the Conservative cabinet say they never saw the reports.

The judge advocate general has the power to order military police to conduct an investigation if wrongdoing is suspected.

Watkins refused to say whether he -- or anyone else in his office -- saw Colvin's reports.

Colvin was the political officer at the Canadian-run provincial reconstruction base in mid-2006 when Canadian troops began handing over prisoners to Afghan authorities.

New Democrat defence critic Jack Harris said the military's top lawyer had a duty to act, if such startling information was before him.

"He should tell us and he should be able to tell us if he became aware of allegations," Harris said.

Watkins refused to say whether he'd seen published annual reports from the Foreign Affairs Department that detail Afghanistan's abysmal human-rights record. At one point, Watkins wouldn't even acknowledge whether he had read newspaper accounts of torture allegations.

All of it left opposition MPs fuming and Conservative members hinting that the committee's investigation had already turned into an inquisition.

"We've gotten off to a terrible start," said Bloc Quebecois defence critic Claude Bachand.

"I have the greatest respect for the House of Commons," Watkins told exasperated opposition MPs.

But he said his role before the committee was to answer questions about the legal framework governing the transfer of prisoners, not government policy.

While captured Taliban fighters are not considered prisoners under the Geneva conventions, they are accorded the same treatment, said Watkins.

Transferring prisoners, knowing that they face the possibility of torture, violates international law.

The committee also set out a list of witnesses it intends to call.

Gen. Rick Hillier, who retired as chief of defence staff last year, is among the top witnesses.

The committee said it also intends to call retired lieutenant-general Michel Gauthier, who commanded all overseas operations, and Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, the ground commander throughout much of 2006.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay and two former defence ministers -- Gordon O'Connor and Bill Graham -- are also on the witness list.

It's unclear how many of the hearings will be public.

The government has cast a blanket national-security exemption over a lot of information related to the case -- a move that effectively derailed a separate investigation by the Military Police Complaints Commission.

Robert Walsh, the Commons law clerk, cautioned MPs that they have the power to hold the government to account and shouldn't necessarily be trying to investigate the military.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStoriesV2/2...e=&no_ads=

Israel knows well the lesson of the Warren Commission: if you carefully select the inquiry members, then you don't have worry about the outcome.

Of course it's not quite as brazen or transparently crass as Dubya Bush trying to get Kissinger to run the 9/11 official inquiry.

:evil:

Mossad photographed Rachel Corrie before it left Dundalk
Mark Hilliard

Jenny and Derek Graham

ISRAELI intelligence agents photographed members of the Rachel Corrie aid mission before the ship left dock in Dundalk, the first mate of the vessel has claimed.


In an interview with the Sunday Tribune, Derek Graham maintained that during their time in Israeli custody they saw photographs of several members of the group clearly taken in Ireland.


"They had people in Dundalk taking pictures. I would say it is standard. They would be either Mossad or IDF intelligence," he said.


"There was a picture of Jenny [his wife] and when she saw it she knew it was taken in Dundalk because of the background. That is where we bought the ship and got it ready and got it loaded."


The claims are significant in light of the recent controversy surrounding a suspected Mossad operation in Dubai in which Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was assassinated.


Those involved in the murder used fake passports, some of which had authentic Irish serial numbers.


"It wasn't startling because we had an idea that we were being watched," said Graham.


"I have done this [humanitarian aid missions] for three years and I had them outside my house in Cyprus and following us to the shops.


"I don't mind the ones that you can see – they are there for intimidation or just to let you know [you are being watched]. But it's the ones you can't see that I don't like."


Graham believes the Israeli authorities had carried out considerable research on the party before they left for Gaza.


Aside from photographing members of the aid mission, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) was also aware of the original name of the MV Rachel Corrie and refused to address it by its new one.


"They had their research done to know it was called the MV Linda before we renamed it," he said.


Nobody in the Israeli embassy could be reached for comment yesterday.


Labour's spokesman on foreign affairs, Michael D Higgins said that such actions could be seen as a potential diplomatic incident.


"If it was true, and taken in the context of all the other actions that have taken place [involving clandestine Israeli operations], it has to be part of the judgement of Micheál Martin in terms of what is done on the passport issue," he said.


"It would be of the same category of action and impropriety as the use of Irish passports [by Israeli agents]. These are not the actions of countries with friendly diplomatic relations."
http://www.tribune.ie/news/article/2010/...it-left-d/

Here's a doozy on that Israeli "Inquiry" from Craig Murray:

Quote:A Tale of Two Inquiries: the David Trimble Factor

There is a peculiar symmetry about the Bloody Sunday inquiry into the killing by soldiers of unarmed demonstrators concluding just as the Israeli inquiry into the shooting of unarmed peace activists is set up. But there is another fascinating common factor - David Trimble.
Trimble opposed the Bloody Sunday inquiry from the start. This from the BBC in 1998:

But the Ulster Unionist leader, David Trimble, dismissed Mr Blair's hope that an inquiry could be part of the healing process in Northern Ireland. "Opening old wounds like this is likely to do more harm than good," Mr Trimble said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/51740.stm This week Trimble has been reinforcing that opposition to the diminsihing numbers who will listen - his reason? He thinks it is wrong that any soldier should be treid for murdering unarmed people:

David Trimble, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who led Protestants into Northern Ireland's 1998 peace accord, told The Guardian newspaper he had long opposed the idea of a new Bloody Sunday inquiry because it would be certain to provide fresh ammunition for those seeking to convict or sue the soldiers involved. Trimble was quoted as saying he advised then-
British prime minister Tony Blair not to throw out Widgery's verdict, because "if you moved one millimeter from that conclusion, you were into the area of manslaughter, if not murder."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100611/ap_o...ody_sunday Why the Israelis would view Trimble as a good international frontman for their whitewash is blindingly obvious. Even more so when you consider that on the very day of the flotilla murders, David Trimble was in Paris chairing the glitzy launch of a new "Interrnational Friends of Israel" group.
It is therefore no surprise at all that it was that indefatigable - and extremely well remunerated - Friend of Israel, Tony Blair, who gave Netanyahu Trimble's name as a safe pair of hands for the cover-up.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun...id-inquiry

Some one pass me my smelling salts please!

http://www.counterpunch.org/weir06162010.html

June 16, 2010

Another Compromised Reporter

The NYT and the Flotilla Inquiry

By ALISON WEIR

The New York Times, whose regional bureau chief has a son in the Israeli military, reports that Israel has just appointed a panel charged with investigating its attack on an aid flotilla that killed nine aid volunteers, including a 19-year-old American.

Isabel Kershner, who is an Israeli citizen and has refused to answer questions about her possible family ties to the Israeli military, writes the report.

Kershner reports that the White House hailed the announcement of the panel as an “important step forward,” stating that “the structure and terms of reference of Israel’s proposed independent public commission can meet the standard of a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation.”

In her story, Kershner reports that the panel will include eminent Irish Nobel Peace Laureate Lord David Trimble as an observer, but omits the fact that Trimble is a leader of the newly formed pro-Israel organization “Friends of Israel” and is close to Netanyahu associate Dore Gold.

Irish journalist Patrick Roberts writes, “This is a little like putting the fox in charge of the hen house.”

Kershner reports that the other foreign observer is Brig. Gen. Ken Watkins, former judge advocate general of Canadian Forces, but fails to mention that Watkins is known for stonewalling a 2009 House of Commons investigation into Afghan prisoner abuse.

One House of Commons member commented at the time about Watkins’ lack of cooperation with the investigation: "Obviously the cover-up continues."

Kershner informs readers that the panel will be led by a retired Israeli Supreme Court Justice, but fails to mention reports that he does not believe in such a panel and opposed foreign participation.

Kershner reports in the bottom half of her story that Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper calls the proposed panel a “farce,” but does not mention that this is a longstanding pattern for Israeli governmental investigations (and lack thereof) into military human rights abuses. For example:

° From 2001 through 2006 the Israeli State Attorney’s office received more than 500 complaints about abuse of interrogees. There was not a single criminal investigation.

° In 2005 Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem released a report entitled “Israeli military grants impunity when soldiers kill Palestinian civilians,” finding that although Israeli soldiers had killed at least 1,694 Palestinian civilians, including 536 minors, only one soldier had been convicted of “causing the death of a Palestinian.”

° In 2009 eleven Israeli human rights organizations released a joint report in which they called on the Israeli government to “Stop whitewashing suspected crimes in Gaza."

° In 2010 B’Tselem found that the Israeli military’s “cover-up of phosphorous shelling in Gaza proves army cannot investigate itself.” An Amnesty International report concurred in this conclusion, finding that Israel’s investigations into Cast Lead had not met “international standards of independence, impartiality, transparency, promptness and effectiveness.”

In her story Kershner reports Netanyahu’s allegation that the blockade “is necessary to prevent Hamas from smuggling in weapons or materials needed to make them, and to weaken Hamas control.” She goes on to acknowledge that “there is a growing consensus abroad that the blockade has taken a toll mainly on civilians,” but neglects to report the fact that Israeli closures of Gaza preceded the election of Hamas and that the “toll” is massive and calamitous.

She also fails to include any of the vast evidence for such a consensus, for example:

Nearly 99 percent of Gaza's 4,000 fishermen are now considered either poor (making between $100 and $190 a month) or very poor (earning less than $100 a month); there are acute, sometimes lethal shortages of fuel, cash, cooking gas and other basic supplies; 98 percent of industrial operations have been shut down since 2007; and 3,500 families are still displaced from last year’s invasion due to Israel’s blockade on building materials.

Although the Israeli government has failed to investigate itself honestly and thoroughly through the years, a great many respected international human rights organizations from Christian Aid to the Red Cross have done so, documenting a pattern of widespread human rights abuses by the Israeli military.

In 2006 independent researchers Patrick O’Connor and Rachel Roberts found that since fall 2000:

“[T]hree of the leading human rights organizations focusing on Israel/Palestine – Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Israeli organization B'Tselem – published 76 reports focused primarily on Israeli abuses of Palestinian rights, and four reports primarily focused on Palestinians abuses of Israeli or Palestinian rights. This weighting suggests that Israel has committed a disproportionate share of the human rights violations.”

During this time, the New York Times published two news stories on reports documenting Israeli human rights abuses and two stories on reports documenting Palestinian human rights abuses.

In other words, in its “even-handed” style, the New York Times covered fifty percent of the reports on human rights abuses committed by Palestinians, while covering under three percent of those detailing human abuses perpetrated by Israelis.


Alison Weir is executive director of If Americans Knew and a board member of the Council for the National Interest. She can be reached at contact@ifamericansknew.org