[THS] !!!!! Gideon Levy: Gaza Flotilla Drives Israel Into a Sea of Stupidity

[The Harder Stuff in news and commentary]

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25573.htm

Gaza Flotilla Drives Israel Into a Sea of Stupidity

Of course the peace flotilla will not bring peace, and it won't even manage to reach
the Gaza shore. The action plan has included dragging the ships to Ashdod port, but
it has again dragged us to the shores of stupidity and wrongdoing

By Gideon Levy

May 30, 2010 "Haaretz" -- The Israeli propaganda machine has reached new highs
its hopeless frenzy. It has distributed menus from Gaza restaurants, along with false
information. It embarrassed itself by entering a futile public relations battle, which it
might have been better off never starting. They want to maintain the ineffective,
illegal and unethical siege on Gaza and not let the "peace flotilla" dock off the Gaza
coast? There is nothing to explain, certainly not to a world that will never buy the
web of explanations, lies and tactics.

Only in Israel do people still accept these tainted goods. Reminiscent of a pre-battle
ritual from ancient times, the chorus cheered without asking questions. White
uniformed soldiers got ready in our name. Spokesmen delivered their deceptive
explanations in our name. The grotesque scene is at our expense. And virtually none
of us have disturbed the performance.

The chorus has been singing songs of falsehood and lies. We are all in the chorus
saying there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We are all part of the chorus claiming
the occupation of Gaza has ended, and that the flotilla is a violent attack on Israeli
sovereignty - the cement is for building bunkers and the convoy is being funded by
the Turkish Muslim Brotherhood. The Israeli siege of Gaza will topple Hamas and free
Gilad Shalit. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy, one of the most ridiculous of the
propagandists, outdid himself when he unblinkingly proclaimed that the aid convoy
headed toward Gaza was a violation of international law. Right. Exactly.

It's not the siege that is illegal, but rather the flotilla. It wasn't enough to distribute
menus from Gaza restaurants through the Prime Minister's Office, (including the
highly recommended beef Stroganoff and cream of spinach soup ) and flaunt the
quantities of fuel that the Israeli army spokesman says Israel is shipping in. The
propaganda operation has tried to sell us and the world the idea that the occupation
of Gaza is over, but in any case, Israel has legal authority to bar humanitarian aid. All
one pack of lies.

Only one voice spoiled the illusory celebration a little: an Amnesty International report
on the situation in Gaza. Four out of five Gaza residents need humanitarian
assistance. Hundreds are waiting to the point of embarrassment to be allowed out for
medical treatment, and 28 already have died. This is despite all the Israeli army
spokesman's briefings on the absence of a siege and the presence of assistance, but
who cares?

And the preparations for the operation are also reminiscent of a particularly amusing
farce: the feverish debate among the septet of ministers; the deployment of the
Masada unit, the prison service's commando unit that specializes in penetrating
prison cells; naval commando fighters with backup from the special police anti-terror
unit and the army's Oketz canine unit; a special detention facility set up at the
Ashdod port; and the electronic shield that was supposed to block broadcast of the
ship's capture and the detention of those on board.

And all of this in the face of what? A few hundred international activists, mostly
people of conscience whose reputation Israeli propaganda has sought to besmirch.
They are really mostly people who care, which is their right and obligation, even if
the siege doesn't concern us at all. Yes, this flotilla is indeed a political provocation,
and what is protest action if not political provocation?

And facing them on the seas has been the Israeli ship of fools, floating but not
knowing where or why. Why detain people? That's how it is. Why a siege? That's how
it is. It's like the Noam Chomsky affair all over again, but big time this time. Of course
the peace flotilla will not bring peace, and it won't even manage to reach the Gaza
shore. The action plan has included dragging the ships to Ashdod port, but it has
again dragged us to the shores of stupidity and wrongdoing. Again we will be
portrayed not only as the ones that have blocked assistance, but also as fools who do
everything to even further undermine our own standing. If that was one of the goals
of the peace flotilla's organizers, they won big yesterday.

Five years ago, the noted Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who is a Jerusalem
Prize laureate, after concluding his visit to Israel, said the Israeli occupation was
approaching its grotesque phase. Over the weekend Vargas Llosa, who considers
himself a friend of Israel, was present to see that that phase has since reached new
heights of absurdity.