News of the Restless

Via Twitter, this came to my attention–an ugly shouting match in the Israeli parliament against an Arab-Israeli member, Hanin Zoabi, who was on the Freedom Flotilla:

I don’t understand Arabic or Hebrew, so I’m going to attach a portion of the English text that was helpfully included with the YouTube:

Knesset members on Wednesday slammed MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad), who took part in the flotilla to Gaza raided by the IDF on Monday. Fears of violence against her by other MKs have led the Knesset to grant her personal security guards.

Arab Knesset member who participated in Gaza aid flotilla holds press conference says, ‘It was clear from size of force that boarded ship that purpose was not to stop sail, but to cause largest number of fatalities to prevent future initiatives’

MK Anastassia Michaeli (Yisrael Beiteinu) chased Zoabi in an attempt to keep her from speaking, and a fight broke out at the podium. Other MKs tried to separate between the two women, and eventually Michaeli was removed from the hall.

Each MK was allotted one minute to speak, but Zoabi took longer because of the many disruptions by other MKs present. When Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin asked her to descend from the podium she refused, and also had to be physically removed.

MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad) was also one of the MKs forced out of the debate. Zahalka said that the entire world condemns the IDF raid on the flotilla to Gaza.

“I want to call for the release of leaders of the Arab public,” he told the plenum before his removal, referring to Sheikh Raed Salah and others who were arrested for taking part in the sail. “MK Zoabi deserves an award. She fulfilled her duty.”

MK Yoel Hasson (Kadima) intervened and said, “She deserves an award from Hamas!” He was also removed from the debate.

A heated debate took place before the speeches as well. “Zoabi is party to a double crime — joining terrorists and a moral crime against the State of Israel,” she said during a heated Knesset session Wednesday. “She must be punished. We don’t need Trojan horses in the Knesset.” MK Miri Regev (Likud) even shouted at Zoabi in Arabic, “Go to Gaza, traitor.”

“She (Zoabi) stood here over a year ago and pledged her allegiance to the State of Israel and its laws. My intention is not to harm freedom of speech — but in MK Zoabi’s case — this isn’t freedom of speech. The sail to Gaza was a sail of terror. Zoabi must be punished. We don’t need Trojan horses in the Knesset,” Regev said.

MK Yohanan Plesner (Kadima) also told Zoabi to visit the Strip. “I just wish you would go to Gaza for at lease a week and then we’ll see how you talk about women’s rights and civil rights. Just one week, and we’ll see what happens. One week in Gaza as a 38-year old single woman and we’ll see how they treat you! You are the last person capable of preaching morals to us,” he cried out.

Rightist lawmaker Moshe Mutz Matalon (Yisrael Beitenu) told Zoabi, “Nice work. In one day you’ve managed to accomplish what the treacherous people around you have been trying to do for years. Unfortunately, the (commando) fighters (who raided the aid flotilla) acted with too much restraint. They left only nine floating voters.”

MK Nachman Shai’s (Kadima) attack on Zoabi was a bit more refrained. “I respect democracy, but an MK cannot participate in such a journey, which is against the law and deifies the country that is mine just as much as it is yours.

“I respect your opinions, but it was wrong of you to stand on that ship’s deck. It’s unacceptable,” he added.

So, there you go…the vileness of the Israeli right-wing, stark naked to the light of day, along with their thinly disguised intolerance for Arab-Israelis and Palestinians. The Likudniks and Kadima now have an image problem of their own, right along with the IDF. Apparently they forgot that when you shit in your own hand and throw it at someone else, the stench still clings to you.

Meanwhile, watching Zoabi (in a dark suit, at the lectern) standing there very calmly while the wingnuts hurl abuse at her (and the security personnel then lead them away), is also telling–it tells something about the spirit of the people on board the flotilla.

By now, it’s widely acknowledged that state-sponsored piracy did not die when Captain Kidd was hanged (thanks, Jim, for that illuminating comment). It’s alive and well, and not just off the coast of Somalia or the Straits of Malacca. The Mediterranean is a thriving hub for high-seas crime, and as in the case of merry old England, there are state-sponsored buccaneers out there plying the waters, terrorizing the ships, and sending innocent souls to Davy Jones’ locker. But the pirates aren’t who you think they are. They don’t wear billowy shirts or big feathered hats, nor do they strut around with parrots on their shoulders. They don’t have wooden legs or eyepatches. They wear modern military uniforms. And they do their vile deeds (which can well be classified as terrorism) under the flag of a nation:

According to a report in The Guardian, an Algerian activist, who gave her name as Sabrina, revealed that Israeli troops pointed their gun at a one-year-old Turkish child in front of his parents to force the captain of the Mavi Marmara to stop sailing.

Many reports have emerged from among the 124 activists who crossed over into Amman, Jordan, yesterday.

In an interview with Sky News, IT professional Hasan Nowarah, from Glasgow, described the moments as the Israeli troops descended on the ship.

“All you could see was screaming and bullets. Out of the blue as I looked around our ship, all I could see were hundreds of Zodiacs. Hundreds of Zodiacs full of soldiers, and big ships, lots of ships, and I believe as well submarines in the sea.”

Kuwaiti MP Walid Al Tabtabai said the Israelis were “brutal and arrogant”.

“Israelis roughed up and humiliated all of us, women, men and children,” he said.

Algerian Izzeddine Zahrour said Israeli authorities “deprived us of food, water and sleep and we weren’t allowed to use the toilet”.

“It was an ugly kidnapping and subsequently bad treatment in Israeli jail,” he said.

“They handcuffed us, pushed us around and humiliated us,” Egyptian MP Hazem Farouq, who was also on the boat, said and added what he witnessed on the ship “defied his imagination”.

“It was hell on the sea. I saw Israeli soldiers killing activists in cold blood and then walking on their bodies,” Farouq, who was one of more than 700 activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla attacked by Israeli commandos, said on Tuesday in Cairo.

“The Israeli soldiers sprayed bullets as if they were a mafia in an American film.”

But the piracy is not going unremarked. Many heroes are speaking out against it:

Monia Mazigh, wife of Canadian abduction/torture victim Maher Arar. She worked tirelessly to secure his release and get the facts out into the public eye. His eventual return was not the end of her activism, but a beginning. Now she’s engaged on behalf of the Palestinians, and was out yesterday demonstrating against the siege of Gaza and the piracy of the IDF.

Robert Scheer. He calls it an act of terrorism, and demands that Palestinians be treated the same as Jews. He also notes how hard it is to get major media, and even some “progressive” media, to be honest about Israel’s crimes.

Ann Wright, former US army colonel and now peace activist and human-rights advocate. She was apparently seen being led off the ship by the pirates-in-uniform. Her cellphone is on, but so far, no one’s answered. What do you bet it was one of the ones confiscated by the IDF to keep the facts from leaking out until the hasbara came out and was making the rounds?

Greta Berlin, a US-based co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement. And one of the first to dispel the hasbara lies.

Swedish author/activist Henning Mankell, who singlehandedly showed just what a joke the IDF’s claims of a weapons cache on board the ships really is.

Rather surprisingly, Reporters Without Borders. The org has taken some time out from its usual Venezuela-bashing, and accurately reported the Israeli military’s efforts to stifle independent reporting. A brief aberration from their usual pattern, I’m sure. They will probably soon enough issue an IDF-dictated “correction” and express “regret” for the “error”. (Remember, you saw it here first.)

And if you’re really in the mood for a good laugh, guess what this astute netizen found! “Weapons cache” photos dating back to 2003, 2006 and who knows when else. Gosh, who knew the Mavi Marmara could travel through TIME, as well as the Mediterranean? (Note: The IDF has since “corrected” the dates on the “incriminating” photos. Too late, the truth is already out!)