It was bad enough that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was made to apologize to Turkey’s PM, Recep Tayyip Erdogan for Israel’s handling of the 2010 Gaza flotilla but check out how Al Jazeera – a network Al Gore claims is one that delivers ‘honest to goodness news’ – covered the story. In short, these reporters accepted the premise that what Israel did was something it should apologize for.
For example, the anchor – reporting from Doha, Qatar – asserts the ship raided by Israeli soldiers was part of an ‘aid flotilla’ that was ‘attack(ed)’ without mentioning that the aid ships had a significant amount of makeshift weapons on board in addition to any aid that it had. She also reports that what the Israelis did constituted an ‘attack’ while not referring to the attempt to break the blockade as an attack.
The anchor then goes to a reporter named Anita McNaught in Cairo, who refers to the Israeli blockade of Gaza as a ‘siege’ by Israel.
Wait a minute. Israel’s blockade, meant to prevent weapons and terrorists from making their way into Gaza is a siege of Gaza?!
As for the truth about the flotilla, even black and white video of the incident – which vindicates Israel – wasn’t good enough to stop the pro-Palestinian / pro-Turkey propaganda put forth in this video report by Al Jazeera. When people attempt to dismiss the arrival of Al Jazeera America in the U.S., thanks to the deal between it and Al Gore’s Current TV, this is they type of propaganda that is set to be broadcast into millions of American homes.
Contrast that account with this Wall Street Journal article published shortly after the incident. It said, in part:
Israeli officials had said they were sensitive to the possible public-relations fallout from appearing too heavy-handed in dealing with the flotilla, which was organized, in part, by a controversial Turkish charity, the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, and several other groups, including the Cyprus-based Free Gaza Movement, which has sponsored past blockade-busting missions.
Last week, Israel said if the ships docked at an Israeli port first, it would allow the full shipment of humanitarian cargo to reach Gaza, after undergoing security checks. Israeli officials have for days warned that they wouldn’t let the flotilla reach port in Gaza. Organizers said they would ignore the warning an try to break the blockade.
Well, indeed, the presence of weapons on the ships would speak to why the flotilla refused security checks.
The very fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was made to apologize to Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the former’s response to the 2010 Gaza flotilla is outrageous. It’s also somewhat instructive when it comes to Turkey’s historical unwillingness to accept responsibility for the Armenian genocide; it’s similar type behavior.
As for Al Jazeera’s reporting on the Netanyahu apology, it provides more anecdotal evidence for Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), who should convene hearings and begin investigating the sale.