[THS] Haaretz: Gaza flotilla uproar exposes Knesset as sinking ship of fools

[The Harder Stuff in news and commentary]

http://www.planetarymovement.org/archives/middle-east-update/middle-east-update-%11-obama-rings-bibi-and-demands-new-gaza-policy/


Guardian
Gaza flotilla activist faces death threats
Haneen Zuabi, a Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset, has been sworn at by
parliamentary colleagues and received death threats since disembarking on Monday
By Rachel Shabi
June 3, 2010
Jerusalem - While other activists from the Gaza aid flotilla have returned home, one is
left facing death threats and abuse in Israel. Haneen Zuabi, a Palestinian member of
the Israeli Knesset who was aboard the Mavi Marmara, is now under armed
protection after nearly 500 people signed up to a Facebook page calling for her
execution.

During a heated parliamentary session yesterday Zuabi was sworn at and then
shoved out of the chamber amid shouts of "Go to Gaza, traitor".

The 41-year-old member of the Arab nationalist party Balad has also received death
threats by phone and mail. "I am not scared," she said, speaking from her home
town of Nazareth in northern Israel. "This is inherent here, it is not something that
started yesterday. It is just harder and harsher now."

Zuabi faces growing hostility for taking part in the Gaza aid flotilla, amid a climate of
rage at what has been portrayed in Israel as a premeditated attack upon its soldiers
by armed activists aboard the boats.

"Israel wanted many deaths to terrorise us and to send a message that no future aid
convoys should try to break the siege of Gaza," she told journalists this week.

Zuabi said that naval boats surrounded the Mavi Marmara and fired on it before
soldiers abseiled aboard from a helicopter. She went below to the ship's hold and
said that, within minutes, two dead passengers were brought inside, followed by two
more who had been seriously wounded.

Soldiers refused her requests for medical assistance for the injured passengers, who
died shortly after.

Zuabi – known in Israel as an articulate Hebrew speaker – said that soldiers
specifically asked her to translate their instructions. At first, she refused. "I shouted
back, 'Why didn't you ask for my help before you murdered these people?'"

But she realised that such assistance could prevent further violence. "My fear was
that miscommunication and panic could lead to more deaths," she said. "Everyone on
the boat was terrified, screaming and crying, and I felt a sense of responsibility
towards them."

Zuabi spent the next few hours conveying the Israeli soldiers' instructions to the
passengers as they were searched, while also relaying concern over injured
passengers and requests for water, medicine or to pray.

Disembarking with the others at Ashdod port on Monday, Zuabi, who has
parliamentary immunity, was interrogated three times before being freed.  The
remaining four Palestinian citizens of Israel aboard the aid boats were released from
Ashkelon prison this morning, but remain under house arrest until next week. They
have not been charged.

Having survived a situation in which she'd factored a "50% chance to come out
alive", Zuabi said she is now facing a different threat, "of racist, illegitimate ideas that
have turned violent".

Zuabi was elected last year and, as the first female Knesset member on an Arab
party list, views her support for the Free Gaza campaign as part of a wider fight for
democracy, race and gender equality in Israel.

She said she cannot yet allow herself to process the violent events aboard the Mavi
Marmara what happened. "I can't forget the images of the dead, but I haven't cried
for them yet. I have to stay strong in this climate of threats against me."


The Christian Science Monitor
Gaza flotilla raid pushes unknown Knesset member into spotlight
Hanin Zoabi, who was aboard the Mavi Marmara when it was seized Monday by
Israeli commandos, has stepped up as a leading domestic critic of her government's
Gaza flotilla raid. Meanwhile, senior statesman Ehud Barak faces calls for his
resignation.
By Joshua Mitnick
June 2, 2010
Tel Aviv - Reverberations within Israel from Monday's deadly raid on the Gaza flotilla
are thrusting an unknown Arab-Israeli parliamentarian into the spotlight while
Defense Minister Ehud Barak faces intense criticism over the botched operation that
left at least nine dead.

As Mr. Barak withstands a barrage of calls for his resignation, freshman parliament
member Hanin Zoabi has emerged as a leading domestic critic of her government,
calling their military operation "criminal."

"She is becoming a star even though she has a reputation for being quiet,'' says
Saed Adawi, an editor at the Israeli Arab Kul el Arab online news site. "She displayed
bravery.''

IN PICTURES: The Gaza flotilla and the aftermath of the Israeli naval raid

Ms. Zoabi was aboard the Mavi Marmara, one of six ships in the so-called Freedom
Flotilla that attempted to break Israel's three-year blockade on the Gaza Strip and
bring in 10,000 tons of humanitarian supplies. She was detained, along with more
than 600 others, when Israeli naval forces rerouted all six ships to Ashdod port.

Since the incident, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has launched an intense media
campaign, posting videos on its website and YouTube that portray its soldiers as
victims of pre-meditated violence from activists aboard the Mavi Marmara.

Zoabi: 'Are you sure of the Israeli story?'

Zoabi was released from police custody Tuesday because of her parliamentary
immunity, and today addressed Israeli parliament in a fiery speech challenging
Israel's narrative that clashes were started by club-wielding activists.

"Israel spoke of a provocation, but there was no provocation," she told the Knesset.
"Why does the government of Israel oppose an investigation? Are you sure of the
Israeli story?"

Her address to the Israeli Knesset was repeatedly interrupted by Jewish lawmakers
calling her a traitor and shouting, "Go to Gaza, traitor!"

In a televised address Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused
Israel's critics of "hypocrisy."

But Zoab has not tempered her rhetoric. During a press conference Tuesday,
according to Ynet news, she said: "It was clear from the size of the force that
boarded the ship that the purpose was not only to stop this sail, but to cause the
largest possible number of fatalities in order to stop such initiatives in the future."

Zoabi, 41, has been in the Knesset for just over a year as part of the Arab nationalist
Balad party. She is the latest Arab member of the parliament to be accused of siding
with Israel's enemies, underlining the heat on the country's one-fifth minority.

Ehud Barak under fire

While Zoabi emerges as a leader among Israeli Arabs, the flotilla incident has
damaged the image of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who is seen as the
architect of the botched operation. A public opinion poll published Wednesday by the
daily Maariv newspaper showed Mr. Barak as the focus of the blame.

"People were satisfied with him as a defense minister. This is the first time that he
has faced real criticism,'' says Noam Shezeif, an Israeli journalist writes the Promised
Land political blog. "In the long run, it causes real damage, because it hits him in his
strong point.''

On Tuesday he faced a call from a party colleague to resign – which would almost
certainly destabilize Netanyahu. Barak has been an important envoy for Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the US administration on peace talks, and his
Labor Party is somewhat of a political counterweight and linchpin to Netanyahu's
otherwise right wing coalition.

Analysts doubt he will resign, however, because it would amount to a mea culpa for
Israel. But in the coming months, after the shock of international criticism wears off,
analysts say Israelis are likely to be less forgiving of the Barak-Netanyahu duo's
mishandled foreign policy.

"Mainstream Israelis are not satisfied with the justifications that there's nothing we
can do about it,'' says Akiva Eldar, a political commentator from the liberal Haaretz
newspaper. Such a justification is especially hard when numerous governments and
the UN Security Council have condemned the violence and called for an independent
inquiry.

"You can't convince [Israelis] that the Italians, Germans, and the new conservative
British government, and that everyone is wrong, and they are the only one that sees
the reality right."


Haaretz
ANALYSIS / Gaza flotilla uproar exposes Knesset as sinking ship of fools
For the first time in its history, the Knesset came dangerously close to fisticuffs, with
only a small step separating an exchange of words and an exchange of blows.
By Yossi Sarid
June 3, 2010
Jerusalem - Now that around 10 members of Knesset were ejected from the plenum
on Wednesday- an unusually large number - we are left with no choice but to
consider the possibility of expelling all 120 MKs and dissolving the parliament. This
subpar Knesset has no recourse but to head to new elections so that a new
parliament can be constituted. This is only on condition, however, that the public will
(for a change) be discriminating enough to oust the riffraff. Truth be told, though,
the chances of this happening are slim.

Today many citizens will surely tsk-tsk and say things like, “Oh, what a Knesset we
have, it’s unbelievable.” Or: “They should be ashamed of themselves over the poor
example they are setting.” However, it would behoove the citizens - both Jews and
Arabs - to remember that it is they who sent the MKs to the Knesset out of their own
free will and gave them the right to represent them.

There have been stormy sessions in the past. It’s not a big deal, since our house of
representatives is not the House of Lords, and many of those unruly sessions occur
during the most tumultuous periods of our lives, moments that whip up a frenzy. But
a session like this has not been seen before. MKs rampaged as if they were under the
influence of drugs, hollered like a crane with a fish stuck in its throat. As though in
the throes of hysteria, they stood up and sat down, sat down and stood up again,
the better to hurl epithets. They scampered around as if they had forgotten their
Ritalin at home.

For the first time in its history, the Knesset came dangerously close to fisticuffs, with
only a small step separating an exchange of words and an exchange of blows.

Reports from the scene spoke of an escalation. This is a mistake. This wasn’t an
escalation, but a descent straight down to the bottom. The Knesset jumped headfirst
into the public swimming pool, which has long been drained of goodwill and
confidence.

I have never harbored any sympathy for MKs whose stock-in-trade is provocation.
Without it, who would know that they exist? Hanin Zuabi boarded the ship to grab
center stage, and Miri Regev sent her to Gaza by employing colloquial Arabic because
she too wants to live the good life and grab a few crumbs from the grown-up table.

If only they could surmise how similar they are to one another, and how Anastassia
Michaeli is similar to both of them. If they only had more self-awareness they would
have spared us those images.

I am all for MKs who neither spit or whistle, who don’t tear up documents at the
podium and don’t use props. I’m all for MKs whose megaphone - whether at sea or
on land - is their ability to speak their mind eloquently and convincingly. A bit of
humor wouldn’t hurt either, especially if it’s of the self-effacing kind.

Don’t think for a moment that the vitriol on either side was born of genuine outrage.
Everything was pre-planned and calculated to gain the public’s adoration, whatever
the constituency.