Thursday, June 3, 2010

sojo spins the Israrel blockade incident

Yep, here we go, Sojo's pulled out the big guns, and of course, we can easily guess who they are for and against.

Nonviolence and the Gaza Freedom Movement

Their primary cargo was humanitarian aid, and their purpose was to make a political point, not engage Israeli forces in combat. If fighting broke out when armed Israeli forces arrived that is to be regretted, but that should not be mistaken for the Gaza Freedom Movement’s intentions.


Ah, yes, so he says. But just in case...

The Israeli government has already been hurriedly trying to explain its own violence with allegations that the activists were armed and intent on delivering materials meant to be weaponized. If Israel were to plant weapons on the scene after the fact to distort the investigation, it would only be following the U.S.’s example in Iraq. Since this incident took place in international waters, involving people from around the world, a truly international investigation should take place immediately


So, the claim is that that flotilla was carrying only "primarily humanitarian" stuff. And just in case Israel says they find weapons, well, those were planted by the Israelis.

Oh, and this is rich.

There is already a tendency in the reportage to point out the support of violent actors, such as Gaza’s Hamas regime, for the flotilla. Some will contend that the activists are therefore “supporters of terrorism.” Attempts are also being made to link the activists to extremists in Turkey, which the Turkish government reportedly has investigated and strenuously denies. Whatever the case may be, it’s important that we not let the activists’ actions be falsely conflated with those of others. Making such conflations are very much in the interests of those who would want to justify Israel’s disproportionate violence; nonviolent resistance is often more threatening to the powerful than violent resistance because it so visibly undermines their claim to moral superiority.


Yes, don't confuse us with the facts about Hamas, IHH, and others who are using the flotilla and this incident for propoganda reasons. Just focus on those nonviolent activist (don't bother mentioning that they attacked soldiers) and feel sad.

Sad, really. One would think Sojo would be interested in the truth, but they seem to be only concerned with the propoganda value of the incident, and how they can use it for their own ends.

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