Humanitarians Attempt to Break Gaza Siege

Al Jazeera writes about a new attempt by humanitarians to break the Gaza siege by boat.

During a news conference in Athens, the group said that they would leave Athens on August 1 to draw attention to the plight of 1.5 million Palestinians suffering from acute shortage of basic necessities from fuel to food.

The project is said to be organized by over 100 humanitarian organizations. 40 people from 17 countries are planning to sail from Cyprus to Gaza in two ships. The names of the ships, the names of the organizers, and the companies transporting the passengers have not been publicized.

This could be because if Israel doesn't want these guys to break the Gaza siege, they won't make a big diplomatic stink, they will just sink the ships while they sit in the harbor.

Al Jazeera also says:

Paul Larudee, one of the event's organizers, said, "Israel says it's pulled out its soldiers from Gaza so they should have no objection to us going there,"

"We have been in contact with the authorities in Greece, in Cyprus and with the Palestinians ... There is no reason to contact the Israeli authorities because we will not be using their territory," the Canadian Press quoted Larudee as saying.

This endeavor is reminiscent of several such attempts made throughout Israel's history.

One of the most famous examples is the story of the Al-Awda (Ship of Return). In 1988, a group of exiled Palestinians and about 130 of their international supporters contracted with a private shipping company to sail in a highly publicized trip to Haifa. Israel first put commercial pressure on the company to cancel the trip. Likewise with other companies that were hired. Later, when the group purchased an old ferry for the trip, "unidentified persons" caused an explosion which sunk the Al-Awda in the harbor.

This event was itself reminiscent of an even earlier attempt by another group. In 1947 the ship Exodus, full of Holocaust survivors, attempt to sail to Haifa and was refused by a British blockade. One passenger on Exodus was even set to sail on Al-Awda.

Another organization, the Popular Committee Against Siege (PCAS), plans to sail from Cyprus to Gaza with 45 people between August 5th and August 10th. (Source)

The siege has lasted two years so far, and was instituted to prevent Gaza from acquiring more arms with which to attack Israel. The siege was tightened in June due to increasing pressure from Israeli citizens to stop the daily missile attacks.

It is difficult to predict the outcome of this endeavor based on the story of Al-Awda, which planned to sail to Haifa, a city clearly under Israeli jurisdiction. As Larudee mentions, Gaza is not part of Israel. However, Israel has reportedly fired upon Gazan fishing vessels during the siege.

IDF Continues Passing the Buck

In a previous post I wrote about the case of Lieutenant Colonel Omri Fruberg, who was accused of ordering an IDF soldier under his command to open fire on a handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian prisoner.

In more recent news reports Fruberg is referred to as Bruberg, perhaps in a correction of an earlier mistake.

The IDF's first response to the accusation was:

Lieutenant Colonel Omri was unaware of the incident and that the door of his patrol vehicle blocked his line of vision.

But then they reviewed the video footage of the event and figured out nobody would fall for that crap.

Then they launched an investigation, during which Bruberg took a polygraph at a private institute. The test confirmed he did not give the order to fire. But then he took another polygraph under military supervision, and this time he failed.

Haaretz says:

Bruberg said he told the soldier only to shake his rifle to frighten the Palestinian, according to a military investigation.

This guy is dumber than a box of rocks. He, and whoever is letting him talk, keeps forgetting that there is a video of this. Why would shaking the rifle scare the prisoner? He was blindfolded.

And furthermore...really??? You thought it would scare him because...people normally shake their rifle before firing it?

Bruberg must have also assumed that the prisoner had his ears plugged as well because that's the only way he wouldn't have heard "Shake your rifle to scare him."

UPDATE:
I have now uncovered all sorts of things the Israeli media is not reporting.

First of all, the prisoner who was shot, Ashraf Abu-Rahma, is well-known by the IDF and is considered to be the "Palestinian Che Guevarra" because of his frequent but non-violent resistance to Israeli activity in the West Bank.

Ashraf has been shot multiple times and arrested three times before this incident, which could, in part, explain his obvious lack of surprise at being shot this time. In an interview with IPS, he explained that he doesn't understand Hebrew very well and therefore could not confirm or deny that Bruberg gave the order to fire. However, he did recognize the word for rubber bullet, gumi. It was a rubber coated steel bullet that he was shot with.

Ashraf has gained his reputation for nonviolent resistance by doing things like camping out in homes that were set to be demolished or halting settlement construction by climbing onto the cranes themselves.

Another aspect of this story that nobody is reporting on is the actual situation of the IDF soldiers. For example, even though the media is not reporting his age, it is likely that Lieutenant Colonel Bruberg is between 22 and 25 years old. This is an advanced age for a soldier in his position but incredibly young for a soldier of this rank in any other army. Most active-duty IDF soldiers, especially those in direct contact with Palestinians, are between 18 and 22 years old.

They are dealing with complicated situations where they must often choose between their own life and the life of a stranger. A common example of this concept is the image of a dark figure approaching a guard tower at night. The figure holds what could be a stick or could be a gun. The soldier yells "stop!" but the figure continues to advance. This dark presence could be an adult militant, intent to kill. Or it could be a child.

These soldiers make the choice whether or not to fire before Americans of the same age are even allowed to drink alcohol. They do not have the life experience to act with wisdom and there is nobody supervising them.

McCain Backpedals on Iraq Timetable

Once upon a time, I wrote about how the Iraqi Prime Minister agreed with Barack Obama's timetable for troop withdrawal.

But then they backpedaled:

Mr. Maliki’s statement had been “as not conveyed accurately regarding the vision of Senator Barack Obama, U.S. presidential candidate, on the timeframe for U.S. forces withdrawal from Iraq.”

Now everyone is jumping on that bandwagon.

McCain backpedals on Wolfe Blitzer:


I think when you jump on your opponent's bandwagon, you have to admit at that point that he's got the upper hand.

Obama Visits Israel, Say Scary Stuff

At the end of Obama's Israel visit, he said to Prime Minister Olmert:

Obama reportedly told Olmert that he is interested in meeting the Iranians in order to issue clear ultimatums. "If after that, they still show no willingness to change their nuclear policy, then any action against them would be legitimate," an Israeli source quoted him as saying.

Really? Any action?

Let's not forget that the US and Israel have nuclear weapons in numbers that make a girl swoon.

Earlier in Sderot, he said:

"A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama stated.

The Illinois senator also warned that a situation in which Iran had achieved this capability would be "game-changing."

"Not just in the Middle East, but around the world," he added. "Whatever remains of our Non-Proliferation Treaty would begin to disintegrate."

The Non-Proliferation Treaty was a document signed by 189 countries back in 1968. The treaty consists of three parts: non-proliferation, disarmament, and the right to peacefully use nuclear technology.

While Iran continues to claim they are using nuclear technology peacefully, with no evidence to the contrary, they are not in violation of the NPT.

The US however, by threatening to nuke Iran (remember, Obama said "any action"), is in violation of the portion of the NPT that states nuclear weapon states should not use or threaten to use those weapons on non-nuclear weapons states.

But this is not the first time this has happened. From Wiki:

The U.S. also had nuclear warheads targeted at North Korea, a non-NWS state, from 1959 until 1991.

I Don't Know When, I Don't Know How...

I am reading a hilarious news report on Haaretz. Actually, I'm not sure it can be called news...or a report. It's more like a scary bedtime story. Basically it says that there was a mysterious explosion in Iran and nobody knows why or how. Plus, the explosion happened a week ago.

Haaretz tries to make it relevant by adding sinister insinuations, but there are no sources listed, even indirect ones, so as a thinking person I must conclude that at this time, the article is nothing more than a rumor in print.

But, for your entertainment, I will show you my favorite parts.

#1:

Western officials told the Telegraph that the Revolutionary Guards had launched an investigation into the cause mystery blast, which apparently took place on July 19.

Western officials? That is hilarious. So basically, anyone who works for any government in one half of the world.

#2:

The Guards are investigating the possibility that the explosion was the result of sabotage, the officials said. There have been a number of unexplained explosions in Iran of late, including on at a mosque in Shiraz during a military exhibition, and another at a missile site.

This could mean oh-so-many things. Is it possible that the writer is trying to insinuate that these mysterious "Western officials" have sabotaged Iranian weapons?

This is really brilliant writing. At this point, the reader believes they know something really incredible! But actually, they are dumber than before they started reading.

Seriously, it takes a word artist to do that.

#3:

Some of the weapons include long-range missiles that are being transfered through flights using Turkey's airspace, as well as overland though Turkey, under the guise of civilian cargo.

Enter the real manipulation. This is a classic example of Israeli knee-jerk reporting. Hezbollah has long-range missiles?! This is every Israeli's worst fear because it means that Israel's previously untouchable urban centers are now vulnerable targets.

But uh...does Hezbollah actually have long-range missiles? "The West" says so:

The West believes Iran has been increasing its military support of Hezbollah recently, in case of a future armed confrontation over its nuclear program.

The only question left is: who originally engineered this scare tactic?

Obama Visits Israel, Says Boring Stuff

Obama visited Israel today as part of his Middle East tour. He toured Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Museum) and bomb-riddled Sderot, among other things, and gave a speech in which he said:

I'm here on this trip to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the United States and my abiding commitment to Israel's security and my hope that I can serve as an effective partner, whether as a U.S. senator or as president.

He said some other stuff too, I think, but I fell asleep in the middle and when I woke up at the end, he was saying that part over again.

But more importantly, this is my dog:

He gave a speech in which he said:

Ruh-Row!

Polygraph Simultaneously Clears and Clouds the Issue

The IDF soldier that was filmed shooting a handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian protester in the foot was released back to his unit after asserting that his commanding officer ordered him to open fire.

The officer, Lieutenant Colonel Omri Fruberg, took a polygraph test at the urging of his lawyers that confirms that he did not give the order. He is scheduled to take another polygraph today.

Haaretz says:

The investigation began after the soldier, who was filmed shooting a Palestinian protester during a demonstration in the West Bank village of Na'alin, said he just been carrying out an order by Fruberg.

In the video, Fruberg is shown holding the arm of the Palestinian, Ashraf Abu-Rahama, 27, while a soldier under his command opens fire at close range. Abu-Rahama sustained light wounds to his foot in the incident.

This will likely clear Fruberg of wrongdoing, so the question is whether or not the soldier who fired will be held responsible. The outcome depends largely on how closely Israeli media continues to follow the case.