Monday, September 13, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Shoes and eggs thrown at Blair
Saturday, 4 September 2010
Belfast Telegraph
[Yeahhhh! My personal choice would have been a wellie. Good job lads.]
Tony Blair appears on The Late Show at RTE TV studios in Dublin
Shoes and eggs have been pelted at Tony Blair as he attended his first book signing in the Irish Republic.
The missiles, which were thrown by anti-war protesters, did not hit the former prime minister as he arrived at a bookshop in Dublin.
Activists clashed with Gardai as they tried to push down a security barrier outside the Eason store on O'Connell Street.
Read more
Arrests made at Blair booksigning in Dublin
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 4, 2010 BBC
Blair pelted with eggs in Dublin Al Jazeera Video
Belfast Telegraph
[Yeahhhh! My personal choice would have been a wellie. Good job lads.]
Tony Blair appears on The Late Show at RTE TV studios in DublinThe missiles, which were thrown by anti-war protesters, did not hit the former prime minister as he arrived at a bookshop in Dublin.
Activists clashed with Gardai as they tried to push down a security barrier outside the Eason store on O'Connell Street.
Read more
Arrests made at Blair booksigning in Dublin
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 4, 2010 BBC
Blair pelted with eggs in Dublin Al Jazeera Video
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Oil all gone! Bippity boppity boo.
Has anyone noticed how the 'Oil spill' just vanished from mainstream media? Crisis over. Look this way to ring number three, folks, where we have Glenn Beck performing his high wire act on a teabag string.
I do not think for a nanosecond that the absence of coverage of the continuing effects of the BP oil spill is accidental. The ghastly consequences of the toxic soup in the Gulf is just beginning to be uncovered.
Though the mainstream media has found another side show to preoccupy Americans, people who live in the South continue to present their evidence on the net, through Youtube, local newspapers, radio shows, blogs and newsites.
Following here is a list of scores of links which I keep, as of today, updated presenting information and real experiences conveniently omitted from mainstream media menus. For links prior to September 1, 2010, see here.
EXCLUSIVE: Tests find sickened family has 50.3 ppm of Corexit’s 2-butoxyethanol in swimming pool — JUST ONE HOUR NORTH OF TAMPA (lab report included)
August 30th, 2010 Levels over 2.6 ppm of corexit are considered toxic.
Is Using Dispersants on the BP Gulf Oil Spill Fighting Pollution with Pollution? - Scientific American Journal
It remains unclear what impact chemical dispersants will have on sea life--and only the massive, uncontrolled experiment being run in the Gulf of Mexico will tell
Miles of Dead Fish in lower Plaquemines by jackbnimblenquic Aug 31, 2010
Uncovering Lies About Disappearing Oil And Toxic Dispersants Found In BP Gulf Oil Spill Waters Opened For Fishing
I do not think for a nanosecond that the absence of coverage of the continuing effects of the BP oil spill is accidental. The ghastly consequences of the toxic soup in the Gulf is just beginning to be uncovered.
Though the mainstream media has found another side show to preoccupy Americans, people who live in the South continue to present their evidence on the net, through Youtube, local newspapers, radio shows, blogs and newsites.
Following here is a list of scores of links which I keep, as of today, updated presenting information and real experiences conveniently omitted from mainstream media menus. For links prior to September 1, 2010, see here.
EXCLUSIVE: Tests find sickened family has 50.3 ppm of Corexit’s 2-butoxyethanol in swimming pool — JUST ONE HOUR NORTH OF TAMPA (lab report included)
August 30th, 2010 Levels over 2.6 ppm of corexit are considered toxic.
Is Using Dispersants on the BP Gulf Oil Spill Fighting Pollution with Pollution? - Scientific American Journal
It remains unclear what impact chemical dispersants will have on sea life--and only the massive, uncontrolled experiment being run in the Gulf of Mexico will tell
Miles of Dead Fish in lower Plaquemines by jackbnimblenquic Aug 31, 2010
Uncovering Lies About Disappearing Oil And Toxic Dispersants Found In BP Gulf Oil Spill Waters Opened For Fishing
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The cost of war to your (USA) town: interactive site
It's very fun, if not funny: really, try it. Right click 'open in new tab' if the sizing is distorted.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Who are the terrorists again, please?
It's getting harder and harder to tell who is a terrorist. Apparently, the American government is concerned with being perceived as a terrorist government!
I can well see their concern: after relabelling every independence battle in the world as terrorist activity, present and past; after causing more than a million unnecessary deaths and untold suffering in Iraq and Afghanistan - they should be worried.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Illegal GM maize grown in Ireland
ILLEGAL GM MAIZE GROWN IN IRELAND
MEDIA RELEASE GM-FREE IRELAND,
23 JULY 2010 ILLEGAL GM MAIZE GROWN IN IRELAND
• Government destroys its own field trials
• Pioneer Hi-Bred seeds contaminated by Monsanto’s NK603
• Call for investigation to determine extent of contamination www.gmfreeireland.org/press/GMFI50.pdf DUBLIN and GENEVA —
The Irish Government has been accidentally growing GM maize, despite its own policy to ban field trials and commercial cultivation of GM crops in the Republic. [1] The blunder is doubly embarrassing because this GM maize is an illegal variety that is not allowed for cultivation anywhere in the EU.
The discovery was made by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF) at four of its own field trial sites including the National Crop Variety Testing Centre at Backweston in Co. Kildare, and at three other undisclosed locations in Counties Kildare, Kilkenny, and Cork. DAFF carried out the field trials with a supposedly Non-GM maize variety PR39T83 supplied by Pioneer Hi- Bred Northern Europe, a subsidiary of DuPont, the world’s second biggest seed company and sixth biggest agrochemicals company. The purpose of the trials was to find out if this conventional maize is “suitable for cultivation and use under Irish farming conditions”.
According to a press release issued late yesterday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [2], routine tests by DAFF discovered that the Pioneer Hi-Bred maize is contaminated by Monsanto’s patented GM “event” NK603. The genetic modification forces the crop to survive heavy spraying with glyphosate, part of the cocktail of toxic chemicals contained in Monsanto’s controversial Roundup herbicide. [3]
Cultivation of this GM maize is illegal the EU, although importation is allowed for animal feed and human food. It is unclear when DAFF first discovered the contamination. The EPA says it was only notified on 3 June - 3 months after the same seeds were found to be contaminated in Germany, and long after they were sown in Ireland. DAFF re-confirmed the contamination on 19 July.
The EPA says that Pioneer provided a “certificate of analysis” claiming the maize was GM-free. But random tests by DAFF found that 3 out of every 1,000 plants were contaminated by the illegal GM maize variety. That’s about 300 illegal GM crops per hectare. DAFF says it destroyed its fields of contaminated maize plants before they reached the flowering stage, in order to prevent pollen drift that would further contaminate neighbouring conventional and organic farmers, whose crops would then also have to be destroyed.
This is the first time a GM crop has been grown – albeit accidentally - in Ireland since protestors destroyed field trials of Monsanto’s patented GM beets in 1998. Economic threat to Irish farmers and food producers It is unclear how much, if any, of the illegal GM maize seeds have been sold and are now being cultivated by Irish farmers. This would cause large economic losses, and would be an ironic blow for farmers who would lose their biggest maize crop in history, thanks to this year’s unusually hot and sunny summer.
Contamination by pollen drift and seed dispersal from GM maize has already contaminated hundreds of conventional and organic farmers in Spain. [4] Lack of due diligence and false certificates GM-free Ireland spokesperson Michael O’Callaghan said “The Pioneer company has provided false GMfree certificates for its GM seeds on at least two previous occasions. The first was in 2007 when we discovered thousands of tonnes of Pioneer’s Herculex GM maize (which was then illegal) entering the EU through Dublin port [5].
The second scandal occurred in March of this year, when Pioneer and other agribiotech corporations sold 23 different varieties of maize seeds contaminated by Monsanto’s illegal NK603 to farmers who cultivated them on 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) in seven states in Germany, where contaminated farmers had to destroy their crops. [6]
According to the German-based Foundation on Future Farming [7], the seed companies refused to accept liability and have not compensated farmers for up to hundreds of millions of Euro in economic losses.” “The Department of Agriculture knew this and should therefore have exercised due diligence by testing Pioneer’s maize seeds before the field trials began.
This is another example of the Government’s failure to implement the GM free policy it first agreed three years ago in 2007 and again in 2009.” 2 Call for investigation Michael O’Callaghan called on the Government to answer the following questions so as to protect the ability of Irish farmers and food producers to retain their share of the rapidly growing EU and US markets for GM-free meat and dairy produce. [8]
• Why did the Department of Agriculture (DAFF) trust the GM-free certification provided by Pioneer Hi-Bred, even though it must have known that similar assurances provided in Ireland in 2007 and in Germany in 2010 proved to be false? •
• Why did DAFF not test the seeds before it planted them, in view of the fact that the same contamination by Monsanto’s NK603 was discovered 3 months ago in Germany, in early March?
• When did DAFF make the discovery? Why did it wait until 3 June to notify EPA? And why did EPA wait until 22 July to issue a press release? •
• Will the Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly require Pioneer Hi-Bred to provide a list of its customers in the Republic and Northern Ireland, publish the names of dealers that may have received the contaminated seeds, and make this information publicly available to farmers?
• Does the Government know if the illegal seeds have been sold and planted by Irish farmers? If so, how many acres of maize will have to be destroyed? •
• Will the Government test all maize seed stocks and fields of maize crops for GM contamination? •
• Who will pay the costs for testing, crop destruction, and related economic losses? Will the Government apply the Polluter Pays principle and demand reparation from Pioneer Hi-Bred, or will taxpayers and/or farmers end up having to foot the bill?
• Is this an isolated case? Will the Government now make a commitment to test every shipment of imported seeds for GM contamination, or will it continue business-as-usual with random tests?
ENDS CONTACT Michael O’Callaghan, Founder and Acting Co-ordinator, GM-free Ireland Network Now based in Geneva, Switzerland: tel + 41 22 732 8685 mobile: + 41 948 5491 • mail@gmfreeireland.org • www.gmfreeireland.org NOTES FOR EDITORS 1. In 2007 the Irish Government said it would “seek to negotiate to declare the island of Ireland as a GMO-free zone”, but there is no record of any such negotiations having taken place. Ireland’s official policy to ban GM crops is published on page 11 of the Renewed Programme for Government, 10 October 2009: http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Publications/Publications_2009/Renewed_Programme_for_Government, _October_2009.pdf But as of June 2010, the Government had not even begun to draft any related legislation. 2. Unauthorised release of GM event NK603 in conventional maize seed, EPA press release, 22 June 2010: http://www.epa.ie/news/pr/2010/name,30182,en.html 3. Time and Dose-Dependent Effects of Roundup on Human Embryonic and Placental Cells, Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 53, 126–133 (2007) DOI: 10.1007/s00244-006-0154-8. http://www.springerlink.com For more information on Glyphosate and other toxic ingredients of Monanto’s RoundUp herbicide see: http://www.criigen.org/SiteEn/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=71&Itemid=102 3 4. Testimonies of Contamination, Greenpeace, 15 October 2009. This report documents the socioeconomic and human impacts of GM contamination, based on testimonials from farmers and food producers who have been directly or indirectly harmed as a result of contamination in Spain, the only EU Member State whose government allows the commercial cultivation of GM maize. The testimonials depict the stark reality of serious contamination of conventional and organic crops and the food chain. Download report: http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/eu-unit/press-centre/reports/testimonies-ofcontamination- 15-10-09.pdf 5. A joint Greenpeace / GM-free Ireland investigation discovered thousand of tones of Pioneer’s illegal Herculex GM maize from the USA entering the EU through Ireland in 2007. The shipment was accompanied by laboratory certificates from Eurofins GeneScan Inc. which specifically claimed that the cargo contained no Herculex. But subsequent tests commissioned from Genetic ID by Greenpeace and by the Dutch Government proved contamination by the illegal GMO. The mistake triggered a moratorium on transatlantic shipments of animal feed from the USA to Europe, and hundreds of millions of dollars of losses for grain traders.
For related information see:
• http://www.gmfreeireland.org/pakrac/index.php
• Illegal GM maize enters EU through Ireland, GM-free Ireland press release, 30 April 2007: http://www.gmfreeireland.org/press/GMFI35.pdf
• Ireland’s Genetically Modifed Food Scandal, GM-free Ireland press release, 23 May 2007: http://www.gmfreeireland.org/press/GMFI36.pdf 6. These include five seed varieties sold by Pioneer Hi-Bred and 18 by Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow AgroSciences and other agri-biotech companies. The contamination was discovered by Lower Saxony’s Ministry of Agriculture at the beginning of March 2010. For details see:
• Banned GM maize sown in Germany, BBC News, 7 June 2010: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/10254080.stm • Genetically modified corn contaminates crops in seven German states, Deutsche Welle, 7 June 2010: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5657053,00.htm 7. Foundation on Future Farming: http://www.gmo-free-regions.org/foundation.html 8. See GM-free Irish label good for business: Added value, increased market share, better branding and unique selling point: the most credible GM-free food brand in Europe. GM-free Ireland Network press release, 17 November 2009: http://www.gmfreeireland.org/press/GMFI46.pdf See also: GM-free production: a unique selling point for Ireland - the food island. 47-page briefing with GM-free market survey, 17 Nov. 2009 (1.2MB pdf). http://www.gmfreeireland.org/GMFI-briefing-3.pdf
RELATED
Genetically Manipulated Crops: The GMO Catastrophe in the USA. A Lesson for the World by F. William Engdahl
Protestors of toxic GM crops resort to literally destroying them A worthwhile site to visit if you like news on natural living.
MEDIA RELEASE GM-FREE IRELAND,
23 JULY 2010 ILLEGAL GM MAIZE GROWN IN IRELAND
• Government destroys its own field trials
• Pioneer Hi-Bred seeds contaminated by Monsanto’s NK603
• Call for investigation to determine extent of contamination www.gmfreeireland.org/press/GMFI50.pdf DUBLIN and GENEVA —
The Irish Government has been accidentally growing GM maize, despite its own policy to ban field trials and commercial cultivation of GM crops in the Republic. [1] The blunder is doubly embarrassing because this GM maize is an illegal variety that is not allowed for cultivation anywhere in the EU.
The discovery was made by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF) at four of its own field trial sites including the National Crop Variety Testing Centre at Backweston in Co. Kildare, and at three other undisclosed locations in Counties Kildare, Kilkenny, and Cork. DAFF carried out the field trials with a supposedly Non-GM maize variety PR39T83 supplied by Pioneer Hi- Bred Northern Europe, a subsidiary of DuPont, the world’s second biggest seed company and sixth biggest agrochemicals company. The purpose of the trials was to find out if this conventional maize is “suitable for cultivation and use under Irish farming conditions”.
According to a press release issued late yesterday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [2], routine tests by DAFF discovered that the Pioneer Hi-Bred maize is contaminated by Monsanto’s patented GM “event” NK603. The genetic modification forces the crop to survive heavy spraying with glyphosate, part of the cocktail of toxic chemicals contained in Monsanto’s controversial Roundup herbicide. [3]
Cultivation of this GM maize is illegal the EU, although importation is allowed for animal feed and human food. It is unclear when DAFF first discovered the contamination. The EPA says it was only notified on 3 June - 3 months after the same seeds were found to be contaminated in Germany, and long after they were sown in Ireland. DAFF re-confirmed the contamination on 19 July.
The EPA says that Pioneer provided a “certificate of analysis” claiming the maize was GM-free. But random tests by DAFF found that 3 out of every 1,000 plants were contaminated by the illegal GM maize variety. That’s about 300 illegal GM crops per hectare. DAFF says it destroyed its fields of contaminated maize plants before they reached the flowering stage, in order to prevent pollen drift that would further contaminate neighbouring conventional and organic farmers, whose crops would then also have to be destroyed.
This is the first time a GM crop has been grown – albeit accidentally - in Ireland since protestors destroyed field trials of Monsanto’s patented GM beets in 1998. Economic threat to Irish farmers and food producers It is unclear how much, if any, of the illegal GM maize seeds have been sold and are now being cultivated by Irish farmers. This would cause large economic losses, and would be an ironic blow for farmers who would lose their biggest maize crop in history, thanks to this year’s unusually hot and sunny summer.
Contamination by pollen drift and seed dispersal from GM maize has already contaminated hundreds of conventional and organic farmers in Spain. [4] Lack of due diligence and false certificates GM-free Ireland spokesperson Michael O’Callaghan said “The Pioneer company has provided false GMfree certificates for its GM seeds on at least two previous occasions. The first was in 2007 when we discovered thousands of tonnes of Pioneer’s Herculex GM maize (which was then illegal) entering the EU through Dublin port [5].
The second scandal occurred in March of this year, when Pioneer and other agribiotech corporations sold 23 different varieties of maize seeds contaminated by Monsanto’s illegal NK603 to farmers who cultivated them on 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) in seven states in Germany, where contaminated farmers had to destroy their crops. [6]
According to the German-based Foundation on Future Farming [7], the seed companies refused to accept liability and have not compensated farmers for up to hundreds of millions of Euro in economic losses.” “The Department of Agriculture knew this and should therefore have exercised due diligence by testing Pioneer’s maize seeds before the field trials began.
This is another example of the Government’s failure to implement the GM free policy it first agreed three years ago in 2007 and again in 2009.” 2 Call for investigation Michael O’Callaghan called on the Government to answer the following questions so as to protect the ability of Irish farmers and food producers to retain their share of the rapidly growing EU and US markets for GM-free meat and dairy produce. [8]
• Why did the Department of Agriculture (DAFF) trust the GM-free certification provided by Pioneer Hi-Bred, even though it must have known that similar assurances provided in Ireland in 2007 and in Germany in 2010 proved to be false? •
• Why did DAFF not test the seeds before it planted them, in view of the fact that the same contamination by Monsanto’s NK603 was discovered 3 months ago in Germany, in early March?
• When did DAFF make the discovery? Why did it wait until 3 June to notify EPA? And why did EPA wait until 22 July to issue a press release? •
• Will the Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly require Pioneer Hi-Bred to provide a list of its customers in the Republic and Northern Ireland, publish the names of dealers that may have received the contaminated seeds, and make this information publicly available to farmers?
• Does the Government know if the illegal seeds have been sold and planted by Irish farmers? If so, how many acres of maize will have to be destroyed? •
• Will the Government test all maize seed stocks and fields of maize crops for GM contamination? •
• Who will pay the costs for testing, crop destruction, and related economic losses? Will the Government apply the Polluter Pays principle and demand reparation from Pioneer Hi-Bred, or will taxpayers and/or farmers end up having to foot the bill?
• Is this an isolated case? Will the Government now make a commitment to test every shipment of imported seeds for GM contamination, or will it continue business-as-usual with random tests?
ENDS CONTACT Michael O’Callaghan, Founder and Acting Co-ordinator, GM-free Ireland Network Now based in Geneva, Switzerland: tel + 41 22 732 8685 mobile: + 41 948 5491 • mail@gmfreeireland.org • www.gmfreeireland.org NOTES FOR EDITORS 1. In 2007 the Irish Government said it would “seek to negotiate to declare the island of Ireland as a GMO-free zone”, but there is no record of any such negotiations having taken place. Ireland’s official policy to ban GM crops is published on page 11 of the Renewed Programme for Government, 10 October 2009: http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Publications/Publications_2009/Renewed_Programme_for_Government, _October_2009.pdf But as of June 2010, the Government had not even begun to draft any related legislation. 2. Unauthorised release of GM event NK603 in conventional maize seed, EPA press release, 22 June 2010: http://www.epa.ie/news/pr/2010/name,30182,en.html 3. Time and Dose-Dependent Effects of Roundup on Human Embryonic and Placental Cells, Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 53, 126–133 (2007) DOI: 10.1007/s00244-006-0154-8. http://www.springerlink.com For more information on Glyphosate and other toxic ingredients of Monanto’s RoundUp herbicide see: http://www.criigen.org/SiteEn/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=71&Itemid=102 3 4. Testimonies of Contamination, Greenpeace, 15 October 2009. This report documents the socioeconomic and human impacts of GM contamination, based on testimonials from farmers and food producers who have been directly or indirectly harmed as a result of contamination in Spain, the only EU Member State whose government allows the commercial cultivation of GM maize. The testimonials depict the stark reality of serious contamination of conventional and organic crops and the food chain. Download report: http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/eu-unit/press-centre/reports/testimonies-ofcontamination- 15-10-09.pdf 5. A joint Greenpeace / GM-free Ireland investigation discovered thousand of tones of Pioneer’s illegal Herculex GM maize from the USA entering the EU through Ireland in 2007. The shipment was accompanied by laboratory certificates from Eurofins GeneScan Inc. which specifically claimed that the cargo contained no Herculex. But subsequent tests commissioned from Genetic ID by Greenpeace and by the Dutch Government proved contamination by the illegal GMO. The mistake triggered a moratorium on transatlantic shipments of animal feed from the USA to Europe, and hundreds of millions of dollars of losses for grain traders.
For related information see:
• http://www.gmfreeireland.org/pakrac/index.php
• Illegal GM maize enters EU through Ireland, GM-free Ireland press release, 30 April 2007: http://www.gmfreeireland.org/press/GMFI35.pdf
• Ireland’s Genetically Modifed Food Scandal, GM-free Ireland press release, 23 May 2007: http://www.gmfreeireland.org/press/GMFI36.pdf 6. These include five seed varieties sold by Pioneer Hi-Bred and 18 by Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow AgroSciences and other agri-biotech companies. The contamination was discovered by Lower Saxony’s Ministry of Agriculture at the beginning of March 2010. For details see:
• Banned GM maize sown in Germany, BBC News, 7 June 2010: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/10254080.stm • Genetically modified corn contaminates crops in seven German states, Deutsche Welle, 7 June 2010: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5657053,00.htm 7. Foundation on Future Farming: http://www.gmo-free-regions.org/foundation.html 8. See GM-free Irish label good for business: Added value, increased market share, better branding and unique selling point: the most credible GM-free food brand in Europe. GM-free Ireland Network press release, 17 November 2009: http://www.gmfreeireland.org/press/GMFI46.pdf See also: GM-free production: a unique selling point for Ireland - the food island. 47-page briefing with GM-free market survey, 17 Nov. 2009 (1.2MB pdf). http://www.gmfreeireland.org/GMFI-briefing-3.pdf
RELATED
Genetically Manipulated Crops: The GMO Catastrophe in the USA. A Lesson for the World by F. William Engdahl
Protestors of toxic GM crops resort to literally destroying them A worthwhile site to visit if you like news on natural living.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Fourteen year old tortured and held in Gitmo for 8 years - Update
Omar KhadrDo you ever wonder what happens to those unfortunates like this boy: Another proud moment in US history -Omar Kahdr's Interrogation Video From Guantanamo, and Aafia Siddiqui both in US custody after years and years have past? Mostly, they are still being held and noone can help them. And no trial for 5-8 years.
Here is an update on the boy who has been held in US custody since 2002 without a trial - he is finally getting one - a military one.
KADR GITMO TRIAL BEGINS THIS WEEK
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Chemtrails in Ireland
I have been watching the evidence of chemtrails for some years now. It's amazing more people don't notice these patterns in the sky and question what the feck they are.
Recently on two separate occasions, I photographed chemtrails over the midlands of Ireland. These images are taken in June and July 2010 over Roscommon. I couldn't understand why the planes deliberately made 'X' patterns. Then I ran across the video below.
We should be asking more questions about what these planes are doing and dispersing in the air. There are only two airports in the west of Ireland that these planes could hail from: Shannon and Knock. Are there any watchers out there with more info?
More pix of 'X' patterns
And yet more.
Chemtrails (contrails) in Wiki
Chemtrails over Kingsville Texas in 'X' pattern
Chemtrails over NE Texas in 'X' pattern
What does it all mean?
Monday, August 2, 2010
The most dangerous man in America
"Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty
as is cooperation with good." - Ghandhi
The three videos below detail how and why Daniel Ellsburg released the Pentagon Papers in 1971. The similarity of the cover-up behind the Viet Nam invasion to the invasion of Afghanistan today is shocking and humbling, and could not be more pertinent to the situation citizens find themselves in today vis-a-vis media manipulation by the government.
There was still a semblance of separation of powers in American government in the 1960's: something that is gone today. When will American citizens refuse to fund the illegal war in Afghanistan? Perhaps we must look to the past to find the future.
Bradley Manning is the conscience of the American people today: no doubt he will pay a heavy price for this burden.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil
is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke
is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke
2 minute trailer for the full length video posted below.
FULL LENGTH (128 min)
INTERVIEW WITH DANIEL ELLSBERG/REAL NEWS (18 min) - Absolutely excellent! Ellsberg's comments were made before the dismissal of McCrystal and read like a prophecy come true.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Oil spill links
I have compiled a list of links from both mainstream and other media sources here to better understand the reality of the Deepwater disaster. Included are only the best I have found.
It is black irony indeed, that the scarcity of oil has fueled so much death misery and destruction on the planet; and now Mother Nature forces more oil on us than we can live with.
Hope you find some value or clarity in these links, together or singly.
As I find links, I will add to this list. Posts in chronological order; first earliest, last most current.
Is oil leaking from the sea floor around the BP well? Video
Hell Has Come to South Louisiana
Toxicologists: Corexit “Ruptures Red Blood Cells, Causes Internal Bleeding”, "Allows Crude Oil To Penetrate “Into The Cells” and “Every Organ System"
Doomsday Methane Bubble Rupture?: How the BP Gulf Disaster May Have Triggered a 'World-Killing' Event
JULY 2010 - BANNED FILM - BP GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL
Dr.Riki Ott alleges BP engaged in massive cover-up to hide Gulf Disaster damage video
Technician: Deepwater Horizon Warning System Disabled video The chief engineer on the Deepwater Horizon tells a government panel that warning systems on the drilling rig were inhibited because the crew did not want to be disturbed in the middle of the night.
Methane Release From the Gulf Oil Spill: What Does It Mean? How Bad Could It Get?
Short videos on the Blow out preventer failure. Very well explained
The New York Times page of videos on various aspects of the Macondo spill. Very worthwhile and fascinating.
Corexit vapour turns planes orange/causes acid rain? video
New Photos: Suffering Dolphins in Barataria Bay - oil bp
Gulf Citizens Do Media’s Job, Find Deadly Amounts of Toxins at Grand Isle
Barge crashes into oil well in Gulf, NEW 20ft High Oil Gusher (RAW FOOTAGE)
NWS: Oil spill [another one!] could reach Lake Michigan by Sunday
Growing Health Crisis in the Gulf
BP Gulf Oil Spill Seeps Mapped In Google Earth – Feds Explanation Of Sea Floor Leaks Don’t Add Up
Irish firm gambles on extinction
Online betting site calculates the odds of several species' demise due to Gulf oil spill.
Admiral Allen Says Gas Seep is from the Rigel Gas Field ... Did BP Accidentally Tap Into the Rigel Gas Field?
Attempted arrest of BP executives in DC recently
Dublinmick Many links and videos here I have not seen before.
Good toxic rain video/links
Michigan oil spill
Find more videos like this on 12160.org
BP's oil now oozing out from Beach sand in Louisiana
Breaking Gulf news: Land Surveyor proves Simmons right. TV well sham. These videos use BP/Dept of Interior's own documents to show there are 2 wells.
And from a different source, the 2 well conclusion.
Crabs provide evidence oil tainting Gulf food web
BP's Insidious Coverup and Propaganda Campaign: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Disturbing discovery of crabs filled with black substance
BP's oil lingers, seen and unseen: An editorial
Oilgate! BP and All the President's Men (Except One) Seek to Contain Truth of Leak in the Gulf (PHOTOS)(VIDEO) Alot of info in this one including pics of blisters and rashes on Gulf workers
Censored Gulf health news: Call it what it is: Genocide. Crime Against Humanity (videos) Another excellent article with docs on health effects
Plant damage in Minnesota - What acid rain might look like
Oil well blowout in Louisiana
This is a new one as of Aug 11, 2010 in a sugar field in rural LA. Area evacuated.
Officials deny dispersant use, residents beg to differ
Nothing like eye witness reports to show up official liars. Aug 10, 2010
UV Light Reveals Hidden Sand Contamination from the Gulf oil disaster Aug 13, 2010
Hundreds of Thousands of DEAD FISH on NEW JERSEY SHORE AUG 12 2010
BP downsizes Miami oil spill operations center
BP: Dispersing Oil or Criticism?
Toxic chemicals helped the oil giant save face, but their health and environmental impacts are unknown
The BP oil-methane-dispersant-drilling fluids disaster
Huge volumes of methane from the well along with toxic dispersants used to break up the oil could do vast damage
Mojo's BP Oil Spill Coverage
Stationary Corexit Device at Sea Floor
Brazil beaches - oil washed up
Millions of Dead Fish, Alligators, Turtles Floating Down Bolivian Rivers!
Amazon Crude (60 Minutes - length 13 min) How long does it take to sue an oil company for environmental damage? After 16 years, the case againsy Chevron for 27 billion dollars has not been heard.
Journalist Exposes How Private Investigation Firm Hired by Chevron Tried to Recruit Her as a Spy to Undermine $27B Suit in Ecuadorian Amazon
Mid August, 2010 - More and more eyewitness accounts of oil spill evidence (since BP said the oil is 75% cleaned up) floods you tube. Just a few below.
Fisherman and Families know Gulf Seafood is unsafe, DEMAND Dispersants stop being sprayed!
Two officials from different Florida counties report “what looks like ‘a congealed GLOB of VASELINE’ that is HOVERING just offshore”
Uncovering the Lies That Are Sinking the Oil Nothing like eyewitness testimony from locals to make BP's clean up claims look ridiculous. Good article.
dead fish all over the east coast, lack of oxygen from gulf disaster Aug 16, 2010
Louisiana Fishermen Slam Claims that Oil Almost Gone, Seafood Safe
Gulf Fishermen Debate Whether to Risk Selling Seafood Again - PBS News hour
Gulf Shrimpers Find Oil In Reopened Fishing Areas. Governnment Says "Shut Up". Sierra Club Alleges Areas Were Solely Reopened to Limit BP's Liability
Is the Spill Victims' Fund Keeping BP and the Feds in Bed?
Scientists: Oil Contaminating Vital Gulf Habitat Democracy Now - corroboration for other articles from various sources above
The BP Cover-Up: BP and the government say the spill is fast disappearing—but dramatic new science reveals that its worst effects may be yet to come. Easy reading article detailing the food chain in the Gulf and how it is affected by the oil spill.
The spider web of gas pipelines lurking under the Gulf.
The 15 Biggest Oil Spills As of Aug 2010
BP's Damage Control: A Timeline
"The Goal Is Not to Let It Blow Up": A Tour of BP's Relief Rig
August 13, 2010 Video Oil all gone?
"We are just uneducated fisherman, if we can find it (oil), anyone can."
"Everything is Dead Out There": Uncovering the Lies That Are Sinking the Oil What if the 'news' were written by real people on the scene of the disaster? This article is good reading to show the difference of 'official' news releases about the 'clean up' and the reality experienced by residents.
The James Fox reports - eyewitnesses on the media black out etc. More of these videos can be found on Youtube.
Source
Video - who is responsible for 'contaminated fish' brought in by fishermen? Dock Owners Asking Fishermen to Sign Waiver Stating That They Would be Responsible for Contaminated Fish?
Gulf Oil May Not Degrade for DECADES
Source
BP's "Cloak of Silence": Geology is "Fractured", Relief Wells May Fail Few people in the world know more about oil drilling disasters than Dr. Robert Bea.
Bea teaches engineering at the University of California Berkeley, and has 55 years of experience in engineering and management of design, construction, maintenance, operation, and decommissioning of engineered systems including offshore platforms, pipelines and floating facilities. Bea has worked for many years in governmental and quasi-governmental roles, and has been a high-level governmental adviser concerning disasters.
(DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala.) Residents living in DeSoto Landing say they've never seen this black mess before. They believe the stained sand covering their beautiful white beach is a sign the oil spill is far from over.
Major study charts long-lasting oil plume in Gulf
Scientist Accuses Obama Administration and BP of Underestimating Amount of Oil Left in Gulf of Mexico Democracy Now - short video
Fishing Industry in Gulf Still Worried About Levels of Toxins in the Water and the Impact on Marine Life Democracy Now - short video
Gulf Chemist: Mercenaries Hired By BP Are Now Applying Toxic Dispersant - at Night and In an Uncontrolled Manner - Which BP Says It No Longer Uses
New Orleans TV: “Alarming discovery” of adult crabs “filled with some sort of black substance” (VIDEO)
Oiled crabs stoke fears spill is tainting food web
Corexit found in Orange Beach Waters Orange Beach, Alabama resident Margaret Long took her own samples of a strange substance in the water near her home and sent it to a chemist. The result? Corexit.
What’s the Rush? “NOAA sends its samples to a lab in POLAND” — “Will take MONTHS” to know
August 25th, 2010
Underwater 'River' of Oil Confirmed in Gulf Source: Adam Sharp, Wealth Daily 08/23/2010
Alabama Charges BP, Transocean For BP Gulf Oil Spill Coverup and Using Dangerous Toxic Dispersants WKRG News 5 in Alabama reports that the Attorney General of Alabama has filed charges against BP and Transocean for covering up the BP Gulf Oil Spill and using a dangerous and highly toxic choice of chemical dispersants among other things.
Gulf Loop Current Stalls from BP Oil Disaster: Global Consequences if Current Fails to Reorganize
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
BP's Crude Oil May Be Radioactive
It is black irony indeed, that the scarcity of oil has fueled so much death misery and destruction on the planet; and now Mother Nature forces more oil on us than we can live with.
Hope you find some value or clarity in these links, together or singly.
As I find links, I will add to this list. Posts in chronological order; first earliest, last most current.
A compilation of video and quotes from BP and others addressing the seriousness of the oil leak..
Oceanographer John Kessler analyses methane.
Corexit and crop damageReports Say Huge Explosions Cause Seafloor Collapse Beneath Gulf Oil Spill (Update 9)
Oil And Gas Leaks From Cracks In Seabed Confirmed – Videos Show Gulf Oil Spill Leaking From Seafloor
BP Gulf Oil Spill Is Already In Gulf Stream And May Hit North Carolina Beaches Any Day
MSNBC July 15: Matt Simmons still says BP covering up MASSIVE HOLE miles away, cap test is "absurd"
Why BP is readying a ’super weapon’ to avert escalating Gulf nightmare
Oil Pressure Stopping Short of Target ... Does that Mean the Well Integrity Test Is Failing? Washington's blog is an excellent compilation of all the media waffle out there.Is oil leaking from the sea floor around the BP well? Video
Hell Has Come to South Louisiana
Toxicologists: Corexit “Ruptures Red Blood Cells, Causes Internal Bleeding”, "Allows Crude Oil To Penetrate “Into The Cells” and “Every Organ System"
Doomsday Methane Bubble Rupture?: How the BP Gulf Disaster May Have Triggered a 'World-Killing' Event
Republicans Block Investigative Power for Oil Spill Commission
JULY 2010 - BANNED FILM - BP GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL
Dr.Riki Ott alleges BP engaged in massive cover-up to hide Gulf Disaster damage video
Technician: Deepwater Horizon Warning System Disabled video The chief engineer on the Deepwater Horizon tells a government panel that warning systems on the drilling rig were inhibited because the crew did not want to be disturbed in the middle of the night.
Methane Release From the Gulf Oil Spill: What Does It Mean? How Bad Could It Get?
Short videos on the Blow out preventer failure. Very well explained
The New York Times page of videos on various aspects of the Macondo spill. Very worthwhile and fascinating.
Corexit vapour turns planes orange/causes acid rain? video
New Photos: Suffering Dolphins in Barataria Bay - oil bp
Gulf Citizens Do Media’s Job, Find Deadly Amounts of Toxins at Grand Isle
Barge crashes into oil well in Gulf, NEW 20ft High Oil Gusher (RAW FOOTAGE)
NWS: Oil spill [another one!] could reach Lake Michigan by Sunday
Growing Health Crisis in the Gulf
BP Gulf Oil Spill Seeps Mapped In Google Earth – Feds Explanation Of Sea Floor Leaks Don’t Add Up
Irish firm gambles on extinction
Online betting site calculates the odds of several species' demise due to Gulf oil spill.
Admiral Allen Says Gas Seep is from the Rigel Gas Field ... Did BP Accidentally Tap Into the Rigel Gas Field?
Attempted arrest of BP executives in DC recently
Dublinmick Many links and videos here I have not seen before.
Good toxic rain video/links
Michigan oil spill
Find more videos like this on 12160.org
BP's oil now oozing out from Beach sand in Louisiana
Breaking Gulf news: Land Surveyor proves Simmons right. TV well sham. These videos use BP/Dept of Interior's own documents to show there are 2 wells.
And from a different source, the 2 well conclusion.
Crabs provide evidence oil tainting Gulf food web
BP's Insidious Coverup and Propaganda Campaign: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Disturbing discovery of crabs filled with black substance
BP's oil lingers, seen and unseen: An editorial
Oilgate! BP and All the President's Men (Except One) Seek to Contain Truth of Leak in the Gulf (PHOTOS)(VIDEO) Alot of info in this one including pics of blisters and rashes on Gulf workers
Censored Gulf health news: Call it what it is: Genocide. Crime Against Humanity (videos) Another excellent article with docs on health effects
Plant damage in Minnesota - What acid rain might look like
Oil well blowout in Louisiana
This is a new one as of Aug 11, 2010 in a sugar field in rural LA. Area evacuated.
Officials deny dispersant use, residents beg to differ
Nothing like eye witness reports to show up official liars. Aug 10, 2010
UV Light Reveals Hidden Sand Contamination from the Gulf oil disaster Aug 13, 2010
Hundreds of Thousands of DEAD FISH on NEW JERSEY SHORE AUG 12 2010
BP downsizes Miami oil spill operations center
BP: Dispersing Oil or Criticism?
Toxic chemicals helped the oil giant save face, but their health and environmental impacts are unknown
The BP oil-methane-dispersant-drilling fluids disaster
Huge volumes of methane from the well along with toxic dispersants used to break up the oil could do vast damage
Mojo's BP Oil Spill Coverage
Stationary Corexit Device at Sea Floor
Brazil beaches - oil washed up
Millions of Dead Fish, Alligators, Turtles Floating Down Bolivian Rivers!
Amazon Crude (60 Minutes - length 13 min) How long does it take to sue an oil company for environmental damage? After 16 years, the case againsy Chevron for 27 billion dollars has not been heard.
Journalist Exposes How Private Investigation Firm Hired by Chevron Tried to Recruit Her as a Spy to Undermine $27B Suit in Ecuadorian Amazon
Mid August, 2010 - More and more eyewitness accounts of oil spill evidence (since BP said the oil is 75% cleaned up) floods you tube. Just a few below.
Fisherman and Families know Gulf Seafood is unsafe, DEMAND Dispersants stop being sprayed!
Two officials from different Florida counties report “what looks like ‘a congealed GLOB of VASELINE’ that is HOVERING just offshore”
Uncovering the Lies That Are Sinking the Oil Nothing like eyewitness testimony from locals to make BP's clean up claims look ridiculous. Good article.
dead fish all over the east coast, lack of oxygen from gulf disaster Aug 16, 2010
Louisiana Fishermen Slam Claims that Oil Almost Gone, Seafood Safe
Gulf Fishermen Debate Whether to Risk Selling Seafood Again - PBS News hour
Gulf Shrimpers Find Oil In Reopened Fishing Areas. Governnment Says "Shut Up". Sierra Club Alleges Areas Were Solely Reopened to Limit BP's Liability
Is the Spill Victims' Fund Keeping BP and the Feds in Bed?
Scientists: Oil Contaminating Vital Gulf Habitat Democracy Now - corroboration for other articles from various sources above
The BP Cover-Up: BP and the government say the spill is fast disappearing—but dramatic new science reveals that its worst effects may be yet to come. Easy reading article detailing the food chain in the Gulf and how it is affected by the oil spill.
The spider web of gas pipelines lurking under the Gulf.
The 15 Biggest Oil Spills As of Aug 2010
BP's Damage Control: A Timeline
"The Goal Is Not to Let It Blow Up": A Tour of BP's Relief Rig
August 13, 2010 Video Oil all gone?
"We are just uneducated fisherman, if we can find it (oil), anyone can."
"Everything is Dead Out There": Uncovering the Lies That Are Sinking the Oil What if the 'news' were written by real people on the scene of the disaster? This article is good reading to show the difference of 'official' news releases about the 'clean up' and the reality experienced by residents.
The James Fox reports - eyewitnesses on the media black out etc. More of these videos can be found on Youtube.
Source
Video - who is responsible for 'contaminated fish' brought in by fishermen? Dock Owners Asking Fishermen to Sign Waiver Stating That They Would be Responsible for Contaminated Fish?
Gulf Oil May Not Degrade for DECADES
Source
BP's "Cloak of Silence": Geology is "Fractured", Relief Wells May Fail Few people in the world know more about oil drilling disasters than Dr. Robert Bea.
Bea teaches engineering at the University of California Berkeley, and has 55 years of experience in engineering and management of design, construction, maintenance, operation, and decommissioning of engineered systems including offshore platforms, pipelines and floating facilities. Bea has worked for many years in governmental and quasi-governmental roles, and has been a high-level governmental adviser concerning disasters.
(DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala.) Residents living in DeSoto Landing say they've never seen this black mess before. They believe the stained sand covering their beautiful white beach is a sign the oil spill is far from over.
Major study charts long-lasting oil plume in Gulf
Scientist Accuses Obama Administration and BP of Underestimating Amount of Oil Left in Gulf of Mexico Democracy Now - short video
Fishing Industry in Gulf Still Worried About Levels of Toxins in the Water and the Impact on Marine Life Democracy Now - short video
Gulf Chemist: Mercenaries Hired By BP Are Now Applying Toxic Dispersant - at Night and In an Uncontrolled Manner - Which BP Says It No Longer Uses
New Orleans TV: “Alarming discovery” of adult crabs “filled with some sort of black substance” (VIDEO)
Oiled crabs stoke fears spill is tainting food web
Corexit found in Orange Beach Waters Orange Beach, Alabama resident Margaret Long took her own samples of a strange substance in the water near her home and sent it to a chemist. The result? Corexit.
What’s the Rush? “NOAA sends its samples to a lab in POLAND” — “Will take MONTHS” to know
August 25th, 2010
Underwater 'River' of Oil Confirmed in Gulf Source: Adam Sharp, Wealth Daily 08/23/2010
Alabama Charges BP, Transocean For BP Gulf Oil Spill Coverup and Using Dangerous Toxic Dispersants WKRG News 5 in Alabama reports that the Attorney General of Alabama has filed charges against BP and Transocean for covering up the BP Gulf Oil Spill and using a dangerous and highly toxic choice of chemical dispersants among other things.
Gulf Loop Current Stalls from BP Oil Disaster: Global Consequences if Current Fails to Reorganize
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
BP's Crude Oil May Be Radioactive
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Rare oil spill video and pictures
This is the best collection of images and videos depicting the oil spill damage in the Gulf of Mexico I have so far seen.
The great thing about the net, is that when a corporation like BP calls for a media blackout, the corporation can NOT blackout net information about the blackout.
Absolutely must see videos and pix here.
The great thing about the net, is that when a corporation like BP calls for a media blackout, the corporation can NOT blackout net information about the blackout.
Absolutely must see videos and pix here.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
What we need is a good war
The USA/Israel war machine is gearing up for a war with Iran. The UN sanctions against Iran and the unilateral sanctions imposed by the US this week are the smokescreen out of which will appear some catastrophic event at sea, that will trigger WW3.
I hope I am wrong. But I am afraid I might be right. Paul Craig Roberts blows away the smoke to look at the possibility of world war in the near future. I wonder if we add up all the expenditures on technology to kill people, if the sum will equal or surpass the amount we spend to ensure the dignity of life. Have to be careful with this question: I might not like the answer.
I hope I am wrong. But I am afraid I might be right. Paul Craig Roberts blows away the smoke to look at the possibility of world war in the near future. I wonder if we add up all the expenditures on technology to kill people, if the sum will equal or surpass the amount we spend to ensure the dignity of life. Have to be careful with this question: I might not like the answer.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Even more flotillas going to Gaza
German-Jewish organisation to send flotilla to Gaza
Gaza: George Galloway announces new convoys
Iranian Aid Ships to Set Sail for Gaza
This one might be the one to watch. If Israel shoots its friends from Turkey and the US in their heads, at point blank range multiple times, I wonder what sort reception Iran's flotilla will get.
Gaza: George Galloway announces new convoys
Iranian Aid Ships to Set Sail for Gaza
This one might be the one to watch. If Israel shoots its friends from Turkey and the US in their heads, at point blank range multiple times, I wonder what sort reception Iran's flotilla will get.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Scary facts about the US economy
This article reveals some very frightening statistics about the US economy.
Desperate Financial Situation,
Biggest Debt Bubble in World History:
Fifty Statistics About The U.S. Economy
Biggest Debt Bubble in World History:
Fifty Statistics About The U.S. Economy
It's definitely worth a read but don't expect to be in a good mood afterwards. Here are a few highlights:
#50) In 2010 the U.S. government is projected to issue almost as much new debt as the rest of the governments of the world combined.11 Points Of Comparison Between Life In The United States And Life Under Hitler From A Woman Who Has Experienced Both
#44) U.S. corporate income tax receipts were down 55% (to $138 billion) for the year ending September 30th, 2009.
#39) More than 40% of those employed in the United States are now working in low-wage service jobs.
#34) According to RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings were reported on 367,056 properties in March 2010, an increase of nearly 19 percent from February, an increase of nearly 8 percent from March 2009 and the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in January 2005.
#29) For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.
#17) Paychecks from private business shrank to their smallest share of personal income in U.S. history during the first quarter of 2010.
#15) 39.68 million Americans are now on food stamps, which represents a new all-time record. But things look like they are going to get even worse. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting that enrollment in the food stamp program will exceed 43 million Americans in 2011.
#7) According to economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez, two-thirds of income increases in the U.S. between 2002 and 2007 went to the wealthiest 1% of all Americans.
#6) The bottom 40 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.
Related:
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Victory! Flotilla 100, Israel -10.
If Palestinian supporters had spent one hundred million dollars on a media campaign to make the world aware of the Gaza blockade, they could not have done a tenth as well as the Gaza Flotilla in capturing the attention of the world. The Flotilla did not reach Gaza; but it reached into the hearts and minds of people the world over. People, busy coping with the realities of modern life, paused and really saw the brutality of Israel, and the suffering of 1.5 million Gazans, just for a moment. And in that moment, anger and outrage desended on Israel from the hearts of people and governments the world over.
Israel has been dealt a mortal wound by a scraggly group of peace activists delivering humanitarian aid. The Likud party has yet to fully realise this: but the political fallout from the attack on the flotilla will change the future of Israel in a major way. Not only are its allies shrinking in horror from its tactics, but previous neutral countries like Ireland are becoming anti-Israel. This universal outrage of Israel's bullying aggression is the death knell for Talmudic Imperialism.
Other atrocities by Israel have been certainly more brutal than the attack on the Flotilla; yet, the Flotilla is the final stone that tips the weight of world opinion against Israel. It is the small magnifying glass that focused the sunlight into a searing hot beam exposing the absurdity of Israeli propaganda. Without the input of millions of volunteer activists, in blogs, in protests, in organising, in donations, throughout time, the Flotilla might not have succeeded.
This victory belongs to all who have untiringly, against overwhelming odds, continued to raise their voices for and lent their hands to helping the people of Gaza. It belongs to all the countries who have raised their voices in a chorus of outrage about the Gazan occupation. The activists aboard the Flotilla were brave. They are brave not because they are heroes, but because in the face of personal harm and uncertain outcome, they laid their lifes on the line in spite of their fear and possible losses.
This victory also belongs to those people who are just waking up and taking note that Israel maintains a constant state of war in order to sustain its existence. People are now realising the price tag for allowing Israel to do as it pleases, disregarding UN resolutions, invading it's neighbours, maintaining a nuclear arsenal while criticising other Mideast countries for defending themselves.
People in Israel are also waking up and many Israelis do not support the tactics the government has used against its neighbours and vehemently criticise the Likud government and its paranoic and psychotic world view. In a way these people are the bravest of all; because they dare to challenge the authority which rules their lives for no other reason than they can not morally countenance the actions of their (democratically elected) government.
This victory of course belongs to the Gazan people too. For their long suffering internment under the Israeli military, their battle against the goliath of the Israeli media domination, their undisclosed suffering and losses, they now have the world on their side.
Best of all, the repercussions to Israel for it's barbaric behaviour have not yet really arrived. The victory of the Flotilla will curse every trade and political negotiation Israel attempts for years to come. Already the global boycott of Israel has accelerated with no end in site. Even it's 'best friends' are hoping to avoid the fallout from the Flotilla attack.
So .... it's a great week - a week which I believe will change the future irrevocably for all nations. Congratulations to all who have supported Gaza and Palestine: every little contribution will be a pixel in the new picture of the Mideast.
And congratulations to Israel and the Likud party. You have now shot yourself in both feet and I think may be in danger of suicide. And nothing would delight me more than to see the obnoxious hubris of your rhetoric poison your body politic.
You see....it's win-win Mr Netanyahu.
Israel has been dealt a mortal wound by a scraggly group of peace activists delivering humanitarian aid. The Likud party has yet to fully realise this: but the political fallout from the attack on the flotilla will change the future of Israel in a major way. Not only are its allies shrinking in horror from its tactics, but previous neutral countries like Ireland are becoming anti-Israel. This universal outrage of Israel's bullying aggression is the death knell for Talmudic Imperialism.
Other atrocities by Israel have been certainly more brutal than the attack on the Flotilla; yet, the Flotilla is the final stone that tips the weight of world opinion against Israel. It is the small magnifying glass that focused the sunlight into a searing hot beam exposing the absurdity of Israeli propaganda. Without the input of millions of volunteer activists, in blogs, in protests, in organising, in donations, throughout time, the Flotilla might not have succeeded.
This victory belongs to all who have untiringly, against overwhelming odds, continued to raise their voices for and lent their hands to helping the people of Gaza. It belongs to all the countries who have raised their voices in a chorus of outrage about the Gazan occupation. The activists aboard the Flotilla were brave. They are brave not because they are heroes, but because in the face of personal harm and uncertain outcome, they laid their lifes on the line in spite of their fear and possible losses.
This victory also belongs to those people who are just waking up and taking note that Israel maintains a constant state of war in order to sustain its existence. People are now realising the price tag for allowing Israel to do as it pleases, disregarding UN resolutions, invading it's neighbours, maintaining a nuclear arsenal while criticising other Mideast countries for defending themselves.
People in Israel are also waking up and many Israelis do not support the tactics the government has used against its neighbours and vehemently criticise the Likud government and its paranoic and psychotic world view. In a way these people are the bravest of all; because they dare to challenge the authority which rules their lives for no other reason than they can not morally countenance the actions of their (democratically elected) government.
This victory of course belongs to the Gazan people too. For their long suffering internment under the Israeli military, their battle against the goliath of the Israeli media domination, their undisclosed suffering and losses, they now have the world on their side.
Best of all, the repercussions to Israel for it's barbaric behaviour have not yet really arrived. The victory of the Flotilla will curse every trade and political negotiation Israel attempts for years to come. Already the global boycott of Israel has accelerated with no end in site. Even it's 'best friends' are hoping to avoid the fallout from the Flotilla attack.
So .... it's a great week - a week which I believe will change the future irrevocably for all nations. Congratulations to all who have supported Gaza and Palestine: every little contribution will be a pixel in the new picture of the Mideast.
And congratulations to Israel and the Likud party. You have now shot yourself in both feet and I think may be in danger of suicide. And nothing would delight me more than to see the obnoxious hubris of your rhetoric poison your body politic.
You see....it's win-win Mr Netanyahu.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Why the US can't condemn Gaza blockade
No one is really surprised at Joe Biden's response to the attack of the flotilla in international waters. Most assume this is because Israel and the USA are really grotesque Siamese twins; but there may be another reason why the US cannot condemn Israel.
The US plans a blockade of Iranian waters and currently has a nuclear submarine near the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran Detects US Nuclear Sub in Persian Gulf
(Sunday, May 30th, 2010)
According to a report released at the end of the week by Iran’s Fars News Agency, Iranian naval forces detected the presence of a US navy nuclear submarine in the Persian Gulf, in the Strait of Hormuz area. This is a critical passage, which permits 90% of the oil produced by Persian Gulf state to get to Asia, W. Europe and the United States.In addition, Israel is also planning on stationing nuclear subs in the Persian Gulf.
Report: Israel to station nuclear missile subs off Iran
Sunday Times says Jewish state plans to deploy three submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles in Persian Gulf. According to report, decision has been taken to ensure permanent presence of at least one of vessels...The US can hardly condemn a blockade on Gaza when it is in fact planning the same for Iran in the Persian Gulf.
While most of the world reels from the sheer brutality of Israel's actions and Israel PR desperately spins its 'we are the victims' tale of woe, the geopolitical plans of US hegemony provides a larger context from which to view this event. If the Gaza blockade stands, then the world will also permit the actions of the US/Israel in interfering with traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Freedom Flotilla must indeed be a thorn in the paw of the US in its efforts to isolate Iran via economic sanctions in the UN. I truly hope it is. The outcome of the Freedom Flotilla's efforts to break this illegal blockade will not just influence the life of Gazans. It will set the global stage for the tactics US/Israel will use in the Persian Gulf; and in this sense would quicken the pace to war.
What we permit Israel to do to Gaza now, will also be permitted against Iran in the Persian Gulf. This is why the USA CANNOT condemn Israel's interference of ships in international waters.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
'Next time we'll use more force'
This is the comment of an Israeli top navy commander:
Jerusalem Post
What a great strategy! It's a sure fire plan for Israel to become THE international pariah. I could hardly approve more. As the world sees the truth about Israeli brutality, Israel sinks deeper and deeper into the public relations hole it is digging for itself globally. It seems poetic justice that Israel should annihilate itself. Good job Netanyahu: you have accomplished in a day more than Palestinian activists have managed in three years.
Of course Israel is at war with the entire world, in it's collective mind. And like a self fulfilling prophecy, the country now ensures that it's worst fears are coming true. It does not occur to the Israeli leadership that the country is committing political suicide with it's paranoic and psychotic world view. See Flotillas and the Wars of Public Opinion
In this world view, the bully becomes the victim. Noam Chomsky, professor of linguistics at MIT, responded to this classic argument best:
At present, the MV Racheal Corrie heads to Gaza, arriving on Friday. Will Israel use more force? Will it board the ship in international waters? Will it shoot itself in it's other foot on the world stage? I hope so. It's high time for the bully of the Mideast to depose itself: what better way than political suicide? The 11 brave activists onboard are willing to put their lives on the line to uncover the truth about Israeli brutality for all the world to see.
Jerusalem Post
Israel will use more aggressive force in the future to prevent ships from breaking the sea blockade on the Gaza Strip, a top Navy commander told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
"We boarded the ship and were attacked as if it was a war," the officer said. "That will mean that we will have to come prepared in the future as if it was a war."
What a great strategy! It's a sure fire plan for Israel to become THE international pariah. I could hardly approve more. As the world sees the truth about Israeli brutality, Israel sinks deeper and deeper into the public relations hole it is digging for itself globally. It seems poetic justice that Israel should annihilate itself. Good job Netanyahu: you have accomplished in a day more than Palestinian activists have managed in three years.
Of course Israel is at war with the entire world, in it's collective mind. And like a self fulfilling prophecy, the country now ensures that it's worst fears are coming true. It does not occur to the Israeli leadership that the country is committing political suicide with it's paranoic and psychotic world view. See Flotillas and the Wars of Public Opinion
In this world view, the bully becomes the victim. Noam Chomsky, professor of linguistics at MIT, responded to this classic argument best:
"You can't defend yourself when you are militarily occupying someone else's land. Call it what you like, it is not self-defense." Flotilla Attack: Media Reporting Lacked Critical ThinkingThe world sees this more clearly now thanks to the Freedom Flotilla and it's brave activists.
At present, the MV Racheal Corrie heads to Gaza, arriving on Friday. Will Israel use more force? Will it board the ship in international waters? Will it shoot itself in it's other foot on the world stage? I hope so. It's high time for the bully of the Mideast to depose itself: what better way than political suicide? The 11 brave activists onboard are willing to put their lives on the line to uncover the truth about Israeli brutality for all the world to see.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Flotillas and the Wars of Public Opinion
May 31, 2010 | 1828 GMT
By George Friedman
Stratfor
On Sunday, Israeli naval forces intercepted the ships of a Turkish nongovernmental organization (NGO) delivering humanitarian supplies to Gaza. Israel had demanded that the vessels not go directly to Gaza but instead dock in Israeli ports, where the supplies would be offloaded and delivered to Gaza. The Turkish NGO refused, insisting on going directly to Gaza. Gunfire ensued when Israeli naval personnel boarded one of the vessels, and a significant number of the passengers and crew on the ship were killed or wounded.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon charged that the mission was simply an attempt to provoke the Israelis. That was certainly the case. The mission was designed to demonstrate that the Israelis were unreasonable and brutal. The hope was that Israel would be provoked to extreme action, further alienating Israel from the global community and possibly driving a wedge between Israel and the United States. The operation’s planners also hoped this would trigger a political crisis in Israel.
A logical Israeli response would have been avoiding falling into the provocation trap and suffering the political repercussions the Turkish NGO was trying to trigger. Instead, the Israelis decided to make a show of force. The Israelis appear to have reasoned that backing down would demonstrate weakness and encourage further flotillas to Gaza, unraveling the Israeli position vis-Ã -vis Hamas. In this thinking, a violent interception was a superior strategy to accommodation regardless of political consequences. Thus, the Israelis accepted the bait and were provoked.
The ‘Exodus’ Scenario
In the 1950s, an author named Leon Uris published a book called “Exodus.” Later made into a major motion picture, Exodus told the story of a Zionist provocation against the British. In the wake of World War II, the British — who controlled Palestine, as it was then known — maintained limits on Jewish immigration there. Would-be immigrants captured trying to run the blockade were detained in camps in Cyprus. In the book and movie, Zionists planned a propaganda exercise involving a breakout of Jews — mostly children — from the camp, who would then board a ship renamed the Exodus. When the Royal Navy intercepted the ship, the passengers would mount a hunger strike. The goal was to portray the British as brutes finishing the work of the Nazis. The image of children potentially dying of hunger would force the British to permit the ship to go to Palestine, to reconsider British policy on immigration, and ultimately to decide to abandon Palestine and turn the matter over to the United Nations.
There was in fact a ship called Exodus, but the affair did not play out precisely as portrayed by Uris, who used an amalgam of incidents to display the propaganda war waged by the Jews. Those carrying out this war had two goals. The first was to create sympathy in Britain and throughout the world for Jews who, just a couple of years after German concentration camps, were now being held in British camps. Second, they sought to portray their struggle as being against the British. The British were portrayed as continuing Nazi policies toward the Jews in order to maintain their empire. The Jews were portrayed as anti-imperialists, fighting the British much as the Americans had.
It was a brilliant strategy. By focusing on Jewish victimhood and on the British, the Zionists defined the battle as being against the British, with the Arabs playing the role of people trying to create the second phase of the Holocaust. The British were portrayed as pro-Arab for economic and imperial reasons, indifferent at best to the survivors of the Holocaust. Rather than restraining the Arabs, the British were arming them. The goal was not to vilify the Arabs but to villify the British, and to position the Jews with other nationalist groups whether in India or Egypt rising against the British.
The precise truth or falsehood of this portrayal didn’t particularly matter. For most of the world, the Palestine issue was poorly understood and not a matter of immediate concern. The Zionists intended to shape the perceptions of a global public with limited interest in or understanding of the issues, filling in the blanks with their own narrative. And they succeeded.
The success was rooted in a political reality. Where knowledge is limited, and the desire to learn the complex reality doesn’t exist, public opinion can be shaped by whoever generates the most powerful symbols. And on a matter of only tangential interest, governments tend to follow their publics’ wishes, however they originate. There is little to be gained for governments in resisting public opinion and much to be gained by giving in. By shaping the battlefield of public perception, it is thus possible to get governments to change positions.
In this way, the Zionists’ ability to shape global public perceptions of what was happening in Palestine — to demonize the British and turn the question of Palestine into a Jewish-British issue — shaped the political decisions of a range of governments. It was not the truth or falsehood of the narrative that mattered. What mattered was the ability to identify the victim and victimizer such that global opinion caused both London and governments not directly involved in the issue to adopt political stances advantageous to the Zionists. It is in this context that we need to view the Turkish flotilla.
The Turkish Flotilla to Gaza
The Palestinians have long argued that they are the victims of Israel, an invention of British and American imperialism. Since 1967, they have focused not so much on the existence of the state of Israel (at least in messages geared toward the West) as on the oppression of Palestinians in the occupied territories. Since the split between Hamas and Fatah and the Gaza War, the focus has been on the plight of the citizens of Gaza, who have been portrayed as the dispossessed victims of Israeli violence.
The bid to shape global perceptions by portraying the Palestinians as victims of Israel was the first prong of a longtime two-part campaign. The second part of this campaign involved armed resistance against the Israelis. The way this resistance was carried out, from airplane hijackings to stone-throwing children to suicide bombers, interfered with the first part of the campaign, however. The Israelis could point to suicide bombings or the use of children against soldiers as symbols of Palestinian inhumanity. This in turn was used to justify conditions in Gaza. While the Palestinians had made significant inroads in placing Israel on the defensive in global public opinion, they thus consistently gave the Israelis the opportunity to turn the tables. And this is where the flotilla comes in.
The Turkish flotilla aimed to replicate the Exodus story or, more precisely, to define the global image of Israel in the same way the Zionists defined the image that they wanted to project. As with the Zionist portrayal of the situation in 1947, the Gaza situation is far more complicated than as portrayed by the Palestinians. The moral question is also far more ambiguous. But as in 1947, when the Zionist portrayal was not intended to be a scholarly analysis of the situation but a political weapon designed to define perceptions, the Turkish flotilla was not designed to carry out a moral inquest.
Instead, the flotilla was designed to achieve two ends. The first is to divide Israel and Western governments by shifting public opinion against Israel. The second is to create a political crisis inside Israel between those who feel that Israel’s increasing isolation over the Gaza issue is dangerous versus those who think any weakening of resolve is dangerous.
The Geopolitical Fallout for Israel
It is vital that the Israelis succeed in portraying the flotilla as an extremist plot. Whether extremist or not, the plot has generated an image of Israel quite damaging to Israeli political interests. Israel is increasingly isolated internationally, with heavy pressure on its relationship with Europe and the United States.
In all of these countries, politicians are extremely sensitive to public opinion. It is difficult to imagine circumstances under which public opinion will see Israel as the victim. The general response in the Western public is likely to be that the Israelis probably should have allowed the ships to go to Gaza and offload rather than to precipitate bloodshed. Israel’s enemies will fan these flames by arguing that the Israelis prefer bloodshed to reasonable accommodation. And as Western public opinion shifts against Israel, Western political leaders will track with this shift.
The incident also wrecks Israeli relations with Turkey, historically an Israeli ally in the Muslim world with longstanding military cooperation with Israel. The Turkish government undoubtedly has wanted to move away from this relationship, but it faced resistance within the Turkish military and among secularists. The new Israeli action makes a break with Israel easy, and indeed almost necessary for Ankara.
With roughly the population of Houston, Texas, Israel is just not large enough to withstand extended isolation, meaning this event has profound geopolitical implications.
Public opinion matters where issues are not of fundamental interest to a nation. Israel is not a fundamental interest to other nations. The ability to generate public antipathy to Israel can therefore reshape Israeli relations with countries critical to Israel. For example, a redefinition of U.S.-Israeli relations will have much less effect on the United States than on Israel. The Obama administration, already irritated by the Israelis, might now see a shift in U.S. public opinion that will open the way to a new U.S.-Israeli relationship disadvantageous to Israel.
The Israelis will argue that this is all unfair, as they were provoked. Like the British, they seem to think that the issue is whose logic is correct. But the issue actually is, whose logic will be heard? As with a tank battle or an airstrike, this sort of warfare has nothing to do with fairness. It has to do with controlling public perception and using that public perception to shape foreign policy around the world. In this case, the issue will be whether the deaths were necessary. The Israeli argument of provocation will have limited traction.
Internationally, there is little doubt that the incident will generate a firestorm. Certainly, Turkey will break cooperation with Israel. Opinion in Europe will likely harden. And public opinion in the United States — by far the most important in the equation — might shift to a “plague-on-both-your-houses” position.
While the international reaction is predictable, the interesting question is whether this evolution will cause a political crisis in Israel. Those in Israel who feel that international isolation is preferable to accommodation with the Palestinians are in control now. Many in the opposition see Israel’s isolation as a strategic threat. Economically and militarily, they argue, Israel cannot survive in isolation. The current regime will respond that there will be no isolation. The flotilla aimed to generate what the government has said would not happen.
The tougher Israel is, the more the flotilla’s narrative takes hold. As the Zionists knew in 1947 and the Palestinians are learning, controlling public opinion requires subtlety, a selective narrative and cynicism. As they also knew, losing the battle can be catastrophic. It cost Britain the Mandate and allowed Israel to survive. Israel’s enemies are now turning the tables. This maneuver was far more effective than suicide bombings or the Intifada in challenging Israel’s public perception and therefore its geopolitical position (though if the Palestinians return to some of their more distasteful tactics like suicide bombing, the Turkish strategy of portraying Israel as the instigator of violence will be undermined).
Israel is now in uncharted waters. It does not know how to respond. It is not clear that the Palestinians know how to take full advantage of the situation, either. But even so, this places the battle on a new field, far more fluid and uncontrollable than what went before. The next steps will involve calls for sanctions against Israel. The Israeli threats against Iran will be seen in a different context, and Israeli portrayal of Iran will hold less sway over the world.
And this will cause a political crisis in Israel. If this government survives, then Israel is locked into a course that gives it freedom of action but international isolation. If the government falls, then Israel enters a period of domestic uncertainty. In either case, the flotilla achieved its strategic mission. It got Israel to take violent action against it. In doing so, Israel ran into its own fist.
Reprinting or republication of this report on websites is authorized by prominently displaying the following sentence at the beginning or end of the report, including the hyperlink to STRATFOR:
"This report is republished with permission of Stratfor"
By George Friedman
Stratfor
On Sunday, Israeli naval forces intercepted the ships of a Turkish nongovernmental organization (NGO) delivering humanitarian supplies to Gaza. Israel had demanded that the vessels not go directly to Gaza but instead dock in Israeli ports, where the supplies would be offloaded and delivered to Gaza. The Turkish NGO refused, insisting on going directly to Gaza. Gunfire ensued when Israeli naval personnel boarded one of the vessels, and a significant number of the passengers and crew on the ship were killed or wounded.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon charged that the mission was simply an attempt to provoke the Israelis. That was certainly the case. The mission was designed to demonstrate that the Israelis were unreasonable and brutal. The hope was that Israel would be provoked to extreme action, further alienating Israel from the global community and possibly driving a wedge between Israel and the United States. The operation’s planners also hoped this would trigger a political crisis in Israel.
A logical Israeli response would have been avoiding falling into the provocation trap and suffering the political repercussions the Turkish NGO was trying to trigger. Instead, the Israelis decided to make a show of force. The Israelis appear to have reasoned that backing down would demonstrate weakness and encourage further flotillas to Gaza, unraveling the Israeli position vis-Ã -vis Hamas. In this thinking, a violent interception was a superior strategy to accommodation regardless of political consequences. Thus, the Israelis accepted the bait and were provoked.
The ‘Exodus’ Scenario
In the 1950s, an author named Leon Uris published a book called “Exodus.” Later made into a major motion picture, Exodus told the story of a Zionist provocation against the British. In the wake of World War II, the British — who controlled Palestine, as it was then known — maintained limits on Jewish immigration there. Would-be immigrants captured trying to run the blockade were detained in camps in Cyprus. In the book and movie, Zionists planned a propaganda exercise involving a breakout of Jews — mostly children — from the camp, who would then board a ship renamed the Exodus. When the Royal Navy intercepted the ship, the passengers would mount a hunger strike. The goal was to portray the British as brutes finishing the work of the Nazis. The image of children potentially dying of hunger would force the British to permit the ship to go to Palestine, to reconsider British policy on immigration, and ultimately to decide to abandon Palestine and turn the matter over to the United Nations.
There was in fact a ship called Exodus, but the affair did not play out precisely as portrayed by Uris, who used an amalgam of incidents to display the propaganda war waged by the Jews. Those carrying out this war had two goals. The first was to create sympathy in Britain and throughout the world for Jews who, just a couple of years after German concentration camps, were now being held in British camps. Second, they sought to portray their struggle as being against the British. The British were portrayed as continuing Nazi policies toward the Jews in order to maintain their empire. The Jews were portrayed as anti-imperialists, fighting the British much as the Americans had.
It was a brilliant strategy. By focusing on Jewish victimhood and on the British, the Zionists defined the battle as being against the British, with the Arabs playing the role of people trying to create the second phase of the Holocaust. The British were portrayed as pro-Arab for economic and imperial reasons, indifferent at best to the survivors of the Holocaust. Rather than restraining the Arabs, the British were arming them. The goal was not to vilify the Arabs but to villify the British, and to position the Jews with other nationalist groups whether in India or Egypt rising against the British.
The precise truth or falsehood of this portrayal didn’t particularly matter. For most of the world, the Palestine issue was poorly understood and not a matter of immediate concern. The Zionists intended to shape the perceptions of a global public with limited interest in or understanding of the issues, filling in the blanks with their own narrative. And they succeeded.
The success was rooted in a political reality. Where knowledge is limited, and the desire to learn the complex reality doesn’t exist, public opinion can be shaped by whoever generates the most powerful symbols. And on a matter of only tangential interest, governments tend to follow their publics’ wishes, however they originate. There is little to be gained for governments in resisting public opinion and much to be gained by giving in. By shaping the battlefield of public perception, it is thus possible to get governments to change positions.
In this way, the Zionists’ ability to shape global public perceptions of what was happening in Palestine — to demonize the British and turn the question of Palestine into a Jewish-British issue — shaped the political decisions of a range of governments. It was not the truth or falsehood of the narrative that mattered. What mattered was the ability to identify the victim and victimizer such that global opinion caused both London and governments not directly involved in the issue to adopt political stances advantageous to the Zionists. It is in this context that we need to view the Turkish flotilla.
The Turkish Flotilla to Gaza
The Palestinians have long argued that they are the victims of Israel, an invention of British and American imperialism. Since 1967, they have focused not so much on the existence of the state of Israel (at least in messages geared toward the West) as on the oppression of Palestinians in the occupied territories. Since the split between Hamas and Fatah and the Gaza War, the focus has been on the plight of the citizens of Gaza, who have been portrayed as the dispossessed victims of Israeli violence.
The bid to shape global perceptions by portraying the Palestinians as victims of Israel was the first prong of a longtime two-part campaign. The second part of this campaign involved armed resistance against the Israelis. The way this resistance was carried out, from airplane hijackings to stone-throwing children to suicide bombers, interfered with the first part of the campaign, however. The Israelis could point to suicide bombings or the use of children against soldiers as symbols of Palestinian inhumanity. This in turn was used to justify conditions in Gaza. While the Palestinians had made significant inroads in placing Israel on the defensive in global public opinion, they thus consistently gave the Israelis the opportunity to turn the tables. And this is where the flotilla comes in.
The Turkish flotilla aimed to replicate the Exodus story or, more precisely, to define the global image of Israel in the same way the Zionists defined the image that they wanted to project. As with the Zionist portrayal of the situation in 1947, the Gaza situation is far more complicated than as portrayed by the Palestinians. The moral question is also far more ambiguous. But as in 1947, when the Zionist portrayal was not intended to be a scholarly analysis of the situation but a political weapon designed to define perceptions, the Turkish flotilla was not designed to carry out a moral inquest.
Instead, the flotilla was designed to achieve two ends. The first is to divide Israel and Western governments by shifting public opinion against Israel. The second is to create a political crisis inside Israel between those who feel that Israel’s increasing isolation over the Gaza issue is dangerous versus those who think any weakening of resolve is dangerous.
The Geopolitical Fallout for Israel
It is vital that the Israelis succeed in portraying the flotilla as an extremist plot. Whether extremist or not, the plot has generated an image of Israel quite damaging to Israeli political interests. Israel is increasingly isolated internationally, with heavy pressure on its relationship with Europe and the United States.
In all of these countries, politicians are extremely sensitive to public opinion. It is difficult to imagine circumstances under which public opinion will see Israel as the victim. The general response in the Western public is likely to be that the Israelis probably should have allowed the ships to go to Gaza and offload rather than to precipitate bloodshed. Israel’s enemies will fan these flames by arguing that the Israelis prefer bloodshed to reasonable accommodation. And as Western public opinion shifts against Israel, Western political leaders will track with this shift.
The incident also wrecks Israeli relations with Turkey, historically an Israeli ally in the Muslim world with longstanding military cooperation with Israel. The Turkish government undoubtedly has wanted to move away from this relationship, but it faced resistance within the Turkish military and among secularists. The new Israeli action makes a break with Israel easy, and indeed almost necessary for Ankara.
With roughly the population of Houston, Texas, Israel is just not large enough to withstand extended isolation, meaning this event has profound geopolitical implications.
Public opinion matters where issues are not of fundamental interest to a nation. Israel is not a fundamental interest to other nations. The ability to generate public antipathy to Israel can therefore reshape Israeli relations with countries critical to Israel. For example, a redefinition of U.S.-Israeli relations will have much less effect on the United States than on Israel. The Obama administration, already irritated by the Israelis, might now see a shift in U.S. public opinion that will open the way to a new U.S.-Israeli relationship disadvantageous to Israel.
The Israelis will argue that this is all unfair, as they were provoked. Like the British, they seem to think that the issue is whose logic is correct. But the issue actually is, whose logic will be heard? As with a tank battle or an airstrike, this sort of warfare has nothing to do with fairness. It has to do with controlling public perception and using that public perception to shape foreign policy around the world. In this case, the issue will be whether the deaths were necessary. The Israeli argument of provocation will have limited traction.
Internationally, there is little doubt that the incident will generate a firestorm. Certainly, Turkey will break cooperation with Israel. Opinion in Europe will likely harden. And public opinion in the United States — by far the most important in the equation — might shift to a “plague-on-both-your-houses” position.
While the international reaction is predictable, the interesting question is whether this evolution will cause a political crisis in Israel. Those in Israel who feel that international isolation is preferable to accommodation with the Palestinians are in control now. Many in the opposition see Israel’s isolation as a strategic threat. Economically and militarily, they argue, Israel cannot survive in isolation. The current regime will respond that there will be no isolation. The flotilla aimed to generate what the government has said would not happen.
The tougher Israel is, the more the flotilla’s narrative takes hold. As the Zionists knew in 1947 and the Palestinians are learning, controlling public opinion requires subtlety, a selective narrative and cynicism. As they also knew, losing the battle can be catastrophic. It cost Britain the Mandate and allowed Israel to survive. Israel’s enemies are now turning the tables. This maneuver was far more effective than suicide bombings or the Intifada in challenging Israel’s public perception and therefore its geopolitical position (though if the Palestinians return to some of their more distasteful tactics like suicide bombing, the Turkish strategy of portraying Israel as the instigator of violence will be undermined).
Israel is now in uncharted waters. It does not know how to respond. It is not clear that the Palestinians know how to take full advantage of the situation, either. But even so, this places the battle on a new field, far more fluid and uncontrollable than what went before. The next steps will involve calls for sanctions against Israel. The Israeli threats against Iran will be seen in a different context, and Israeli portrayal of Iran will hold less sway over the world.
And this will cause a political crisis in Israel. If this government survives, then Israel is locked into a course that gives it freedom of action but international isolation. If the government falls, then Israel enters a period of domestic uncertainty. In either case, the flotilla achieved its strategic mission. It got Israel to take violent action against it. In doing so, Israel ran into its own fist.
Reprinting or republication of this report on websites is authorized by prominently displaying the following sentence at the beginning or end of the report, including the hyperlink to STRATFOR:
"This report is republished with permission of Stratfor"
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