Jaume Renyer

Before civilian blood hit the deck of the ill-fated Mavi
Marmara, the Israeli government, IDF and right-wing press had already
launched their PR offensive.

The propaganda battle had begun the previous Friday with official
statements characterising the activists as violent terrorist
sympathisers. To steal a word from Israeli military jargon, such
statements were directed at ’delegitimising’ the flotilla’s passengers,
who, stripped of their rights as people, could now expect the brutality
routinely directed at Israel’s perceived enemies.

Phase two followed on Monday before the attack. Media and
communication channels from the boats were scrambled, preventing all
but one Al-Jazeera journalist from broadcasting live footage. Mobile
phones were later jammed for the duration of the attack. Phones and
laptops were confiscated and remain impounded.

As reports of the massacre hit the wires, prompting outrage around
the world, the navy revealed their version of events. At this time
there could be no contradiction, as all activists and journalists were
being quietly herded to Ashdod without means of communication to the
outside world.

Before they arrived stories of the lynch mob had been widely
disseminated. Foreign Ministry Deputy Danny Ayalon terrified the
world’s media that morning, announcing the aid flotilla was in fact an
“armada of hate and violence in support of the Hamas terror
organization. The organizers are well-known for their ties to Global
Jihad, Al-Qaeda and Hamas. They have a history of arms smuggling and
deadly terror.” Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu continued in the same
vein, “they were mobbed, they were clubbed, they were beaten, stabbed,
there was even a report of gunfire. Our soldiers had to defend
themselves”.

The IDF information channels were full of accounts from the real
victims, Israeli commandos. One frightened young man, still in a state
of shock and disbelief reported “we came to talk, but they came to
fight”. One Naval Special Forces Commander stated on Tuesday that
“there were terrorists who wanted to kill us. I cannot explain it any
other way.” Meanwhile a steady stream of videos was released by the IDF
to bolster their story. 13
videos have been uploaded to the their YouTube channel.

Meanwhile journalists not on the flotilla have been banned from
entering the interrogation facility at Ashdod port. The Independent
reports IDF officials fanned out through the crowd of reporters outside
and on Jonah’s Hill overlooking the facility, recounting the military’s
version of events.

But for all the speed and efficiency with which the military built
their defence, holes began to emerge. First the Free Gaza movement
released a statement that “under darkness of night, Israeli commandoes
dropped from a helicopter onto the Turkish passenger ship, and began to
shoot the moment their feet hit the deck.”

This is confirmed by video reports from journalists aboard the
flotilla during the attack, who detail the use of teargas and stun
grenades as well as live ammunition, making no mention of violence from
the activists. Al Jazeera confirmed that Israeli commandos continued to
fire even when a white flag had been raised. IDF claims that
passengers used live rounds were not backed up by any independent
sources aboard the ship.

Report of live fire against the army initially suggested the ships’
passengers were armed. The IDF later admitted this was untrue,
subsequently claiming two handguns had been taken from soldiers and
used against them. This morning the IDF released a video of soldiers
taking fire “from all directions”. The video does not show the origin
of the shots, but the volume generated is clearly incompatible with two
hand guns. The dialogue between two soldiers is a little too on
message.

Scaling down the claims of live fire, army spokesmen have taken to
broadcasting pictures of the tools found aboard. Among them are bags of
marbles and an angle grinder, allegedly a weapon “used to saw off
metal railings used to hit soldiers”. Little to suggest the ensuing
massacre was a proportional response. Stretching credibility, Foreign
Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor told us “we havent inspected the ship
yet”, despite soldiers turning up any object that could conceivably
have been used in violence, including parts of the ship itself. Palmor
suggested more serious weapons could yet be found, recalling memories
of Saddam’s WMDs. Palmor was unwilling to contradict the claims of
’Free Gaza’ activists that “every item on board each ship had been
inspected by port authorities and manifests issued”.

The focus now is on establishing links between global terror
networks and the flotilla. To this end most of the attention has been
directed toward the Turkish humanitarian group IHH, drawing on the
supposedly independent NGO ’Intelligence and Information Centre’, which
is funded and staffed by army officials. The group have published a
report in which Danish security services accuse the IHH of funding
terrorist groups.

Given that the Afghan groups referred to have taken funding from a
colourful array of sources (the White House and Downing Street) and
that Hamas has itself been funded by Israel in the 1980s against the
Palestinian Authority, it would be unwise to dismiss these claims out
of hand. But even the Danish report describes only a fractional
minority of the IHH to have any links whatsoever with these groups.
Given that IHH members made up a small percentage of the Mavi Marmara’s
600 passengers, which included hundreds of unaffiliated citizens from
dozens of other nations, Palmor’s claim “terror elements were not a
minority” is poorly founded. When asked if he believed the flotilla
intended to supply arms to Hamas he commented “that is the reason we
were concerned. They are establishing a supply line to Hamas. If there
were not weapons on this ship, they will be on the next one.” So pity
the Rachel Corrie, still en route to Gaza, carrying such dubious
individuals as Nobel peace prize winner Mairead Maguire and former UN
diplomat Denis Halliday.

Smearing of the IHH has been undermined by today’s debunking of
another piece of army fiction. The IDF had claimed the five ships other
than the Mavi Marmara were re-directed peacefully. Greek activist
Dimitris Gielalis from the Sfendoni vessel disagrees, “they came up and
used plastic bullets, we had beatings, we had electric shocks, any
method we can think of, they used”. Similar accounts have emerged from
the other ships.

Within Israel chinks have emerged in the united front. While
Netanyahu and Barak have praised their armed forces, dissenting Knesset
members have made their voices heard “The crimes of the pirate
government in killing some of the sail’s participants put the
government beyond international and human law. Tyrants like Bibi and
Barak will find themselves in the suitable place in the garbage can of
history”, said MK Barake of the Democratic Front for Peace and
Equality. Even the staunch nationalists of the Jerusalem Post agreed
the navy had “erred strikingly” and would now be “overwhelmed in the
media”. MK Haneen Zoubi, on board the Mavi Maria reported “the army
wanted many deaths to terrorise us”.

As facts emerge from those onboard the flotilla, more holes are
shot through the official version of events. As the façade crumbles,
the cover up grows more obvious. Israel may finally be held to account
for its crimes. This time it wont go away.