You may have seen the movie, "Divorce, Italian Style," in which Marcello Mastriani plays a Sicilian husband who wants out of his marriage and plans to get around Italian law forbidding divorce by killing his wife to marry his 16 year old bella cugina.
Well, we have just watched a sequel, "PR, Israeli Style," in which Israel "made a hit" on freedom of the press to steer reports of the flotilla raid into their home port, while it was hot off the presses and front page news.
Israeli soldiers arrested eyewitnesses, held them in communicado for days, tasered journalists to seize their cameras, pirated all recording and communication devices, edited their own and confiscated video to bolster their story, and set a press release afloat that was dutifully sailing on the Fox News sea of disinformation, Israeli Officials Claim Aid Flotilla Had Ties to Al Qaeda, PM Gives Military 'Full Support'.
The Israeli military attacked a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, leaving at least nine dead, after receiving reports that the fleet had links to al Qaeda, the Israeli ambassador to Denmark said Monday.
Glenn Greenwald wrote an excellent article on How Israeli propaganda shaped U.S. media coverage of the flotilla attack.
This campaign of suppression and propaganda worked to shape American media coverage (as state propaganda campaigns virtually always work on the gullible, authority-revering American media). The edited IDF video was shown over and over on American television without question or challenge. Israeli officials and Israel-devoted commentators appeared all over television -- almost always unaccompanied by any Turkish, Palestinian or Muslim critics of the raid -- to spout the Israeli version without opposition. Israel-centric pundits in America claimed, based on the edited IDF video, that anyone was lying who even reported on the statements of the passengers that Israeli fired first. In sum, that the Israelis used force only after the passengers attacked the commandos became Unquestioned Truth in American discourse.
Glenn Greenwald's previous post had this update:
Max Blumenthal catches the IDF trying to quietly withdraw its absurd claim that the flotilla was linked to Al Qaeda
Under Scrutiny, IDF Retracts Claims About Flotilla’s Al Qaeda Links, but the propaganda was launched when most people were paying attention, and the likelihood that FOX and other American news sources will set the record straight is low.
Max Blumenthal reports:
On June 2, the IDF blasted out a press release to reporters and bloggers with the shocking headline: "Attackers of the IDF soldiers found to be Al Qaeda mercenaries." The only supporting evidence offered in the release was a claim that the passengers "were equipped with bullet proof vests, night vision goggles, and weapons."
Israel-based freelance reporter Lia Tarachansky and I called the IDF press office to ask for more conclusive evidence. Tarachansky reached the IDF’s Israel desk, interviewing a spokesperson in Hebrew; I spoke with the North America desk, using English. We both received the same reply from Army spokespeople: "We don’t have any evidence. The press release was based on information from the [Israeli] National Security Council." (The Israeli National Security Council is Netanyahu’s kitchen cabinet of advisors).
Today, the Israeli Army’s press office changed the headline of its press release (see below), basically retracting its claim about the flotilla’s Al Qaeda links. The new headline reads: "Attackers of the IDF Soldiers Found Without Identification Papers" (the top of the browser screen still contains the original headline about Al Qaeda).
Journalists on raided flotilla leaving Israel, speaking out, Committee to Protect Journalists.
Firsthand accounts from reporters who were on the flotilla of humanitarian activists raided by Israeli forces on Monday are finally coming out as the journalists are released from custody. These early reports indicate that soldiers harassed international journalists—at least six had their equipment either confiscated or destroyed, according to CPJ interviews and news reports.
Israel's use of 'captured' video from flotilla raid draws criticism from foreign reporters, LA Times.
"The Foreign Press Association strongly condemns the use of photos and video material shot by foreign journalists, now being put out by the (military) spokesman's office as 'captured material'," the FPA said in a statement. It said the military was selectively using footage to back its claims that commandos opened fire only after being attacked.
I was 'Tasered' by Israelis, says Herald photographer, The Sydney Morning Herald.
Challenger One's first mate, Shane Dillon, saw [Kate] Geraghty being attacked and Israeli forces ripping equipment from McGeough. ''She was just doing her journalistic duties ... She advised them she was a bona fide photographer ... She was just attacked,'' Mr Dillon told the Herald from Dublin.
Freed journos tell of Israeli commandos like 'hyenas hunting', The Sydney Morning Herald.
Geraghty believes she was hit by a stun gun fired by Israeli commandos after they boarded her ship.
She suffered bruises, minor burns and nausea.
His deportation was "an absolute disrespect by Israel" for democracy and the fundamental rights of journalists, [Paul] McGeough said.
Journalists on raided flotilla leaving Israel, speaking out, Committee to Protect Journalists.
According to the Pakistani daily Express Tribuna, two journalists for Pakistan’s Aaj TV, Talat Hussain and Raza Mehmood Agha, who had been detained at Ela prison in Beersheba arrived in Jordan today. Their equipment was also confiscated.
Hussain was quoted as telling Aaj TV by phone from Jordan: "Four people were shot in the forehead in front me. I witnessed four people dying."
Passengers recount mid-sea horror, al Jazeera.
Issam Zaatar, Al Jazeera cameraman:
I was filming, and then he [an Israeli solider] ran after me with a stun gun.
He could not catch me. One of his colleagues hit my hand from behind with a stun gun. My camera fell down. He ran to crush the camera with his feet.
I told him, don't break my camera. If you want the tapes, I will give them to you. I told him these are media equipment.
Here is the eyewitness account of Al Jazeera journalist, Jamal Alshayyal, who broadcasted live aboard the Mavi Marmara during the raid, after his release about abusive treatment.
The common thread with how Israel dealt with anyone who could record the raid with cell phones, video camcorders, or cameras was to seize the equipment, and in some cases destroy the devices.
Another commonality is using stun guns to physically force journalists who refused to hand over their cameras to drop them.
Israeli soldiers were not acting extemporaneously, but obviously were trained and ordered not only to remove evidence from the flotilla ships, but in some cases destroy recording devices. If their mission were simply to prevent weapons from being transported to Gaza, why would they destroy cameras? If they were acting legally, why would they destroy evidence?
Journalists reported that once captured, they were handcuffed and not allowed to use the toilet, and in some cases humiliated, even after identifying themselves as journalists.
How does mistreating journalists defend Israeli citizens?
The journalists were detained longer than most of the other passengers, which created a news blackout until the story died down, so that the only story most Americans would hear or read is what the Israeli government fed our journalists, while eyewitnesses were emprisoned, and therefore, could not tell their side of the story.
If the raid were conducted entirely above board and only performed in self defense, why would Israel go to such lengths to muzzle the press? Why would they confiscate video recording devices? Why would they destroy cameras? Why would they taser international reporters?
