“Flotilla” Ship Given a Free Ride
October 21, 2012 17:08 by Simon PloskerThe Finnish-registered Estelle, whose passengers and crew included activists and members of parliament from Greece, Sweden, the US, Canada, Norway and Israel, was intercepted by the IDF on Saturday and brought to Ashdod port after attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
In a video accompanying its online coverage of the story, Sky News gives a platform to a spokeswoman for the organization that sent the ship. She claims, unchallenged:
The blockade is illegal, it’s not accepted by the international community
She also claims that the blockade has nothing to do with Israel’s security. This despite the fact that rockets continue to be fired from Gaza on to Israeli towns and cities and despite the fact that Gaza is ruled by the Hamas terrorist organization.
As for the claim that the Israeli blockade is illegal, this is patently not the case. The UN Secretary General himself created a panel of inquiry to examine the events surrounding the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident. The subsequent 2011 report by the Palmer Commission concluded that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is legal and Israel has the right to enforce the blockade, including in international waters.
This isn’t the first time that Sky News has ignored this piece of vital information when reporting on both this and the Mavi Marmara.
While Sky’s Colin Brazier questions why the IDF would seek to prevent “harmless” cargo, in this case reportedly two olive trees, 41 tons of cement, books, toys and medical equipment, from reaching Gaza, there is no mention of the potential dual usage for both cement and certain medical equipment that could be misappropriated by Hamas.
Also unmentioned is the fact that any humanitarian aid will be delivered to Gaza overland once it has been checked at Ashdod by the Israeli authorities. But, as the IDF has pointed out, no humanitarian aid has been found on board. Could it be that the Estelle is carrying non-humanitarian goods precisely because there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza?
Indeed, Sky’s interviewee clearly states that the Estelle’s mission is one of “solidarity” with the Palestinians of Gaza. The Estelle is not an aid ship and is meant only to provoke and create a media event. Unfortunately, the media have once again chosen to focus on a non-story, perhaps in the vague hope that it will end with another Mavi Marmara incident.
Lacking such compelling action, the media was, instead, forced to rely upon unsubstantiated claims of violence.
According to the IDF, after boarding the vessel by IDF soldiers, who did not need to use force, the passengers were attended to and offered food and beverages.
Perhaps so many of the media might have reconsidered the credibility of Stockholm-based Victoria Strand, who, despite not being on board the Estelle, told AFP that the ship was “under attack.” When this was shown not to be the case, Strand’s comments were edited down to state that the IDF’s actions were a ”demonstration of ruthlessness.”
Ultimately, the activists’ motivations were summed up by Israeli PM Netanyahu who said:
Even the passengers of the ship know there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but rather their goal is to create a provocation and muddy Israel’s name. … If human rights were really important to them, they would sail to Syria.
Send your considered comments to Sky News – news@sky.com – remembering to include the details of the relevant story that was aired on October 20.
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Image: CC BY-SA HonestReporting.com, flickr/Sam Lavy, flickr/Benn Wolfe.
Singer
6:17 pm
Oct 21, 2012
Because there was no violence used in stopping this ship the BBC chose to show footage of the violence which occurred during stopping the Mavis Mamara which of course left that scene in viewers memory instead of the peaceful stop this time.
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
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Frances (Rachav)
6:17 pm
Oct 21, 2012
They just never give up do they. Today I received some Palestinian propaganda against Israel from a friend of mine who believed it. I just cannot imagine how anyone can believe their continuous lies.
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Obama's Advisor on Jihad
7:00 pm
Oct 21, 2012
Perhaps the Israelis need to sink this ship and turn it into an artificial reef to help the sea creatures and therefore bolster Obama’s base of green environmentalists.
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harvey Jackson
7:22 pm
Oct 21, 2012
For quite some years now various well known pen name writers have been countering the Sky news slanted views with commentary talkbacks, Fortunately today the Sky News Middle East Journalist Tim Marshall is more even keeled with his articles -and we the commenters are doing our best almost daily to be informative and swing the pendulum of hatred by Israel bashers to the rubbish bin.
Turkey searched Syria bound planes for clandestine shipment of arms – is Sky news aware of Syria and Human Rights?
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IDNS: Assassination Roils Lebanon | Blogs about Israel aggregation
9:44 pm
Oct 21, 2012
[...] • Sky News gives unchallenged platform to a flotilla propagandist. [...]
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Murray Biluk
12:16 am
Oct 22, 2012
The world needs the Savior !
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Rosie
1:54 am
Oct 22, 2012
Turkey grounded a commercial passenger flight last week, en route to Syria, allegedly finding military contraband aboard, resulting in no flights to Syria over Turkish airspace. And yet, somehow, Israel is apparently unjustified in checking cargo going into Gaza which is openly and vehemently determined to destroy Israel and her people!!! Recently Turkish parliament passed the quaintly named ‘no war mandate’ giving herself permission to fire rockets into Syria responding to border skirmishes. Thousands of Hamas rockets into Israel apparently warrant no similar justifiable reply. Imagine if the Israeli Knesset passed a similar ‘no war mandate’? FULL story, level playing field please!
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pastors gary and gary middleton
3:15 am
Oct 22, 2012
MY BIBLE STATES THAT ALL NATIONS THAT COME AGAINST HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE
THE JEWS WILL ANSWER TO HIM NOT MAN , ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED THATS HIS
PROMISE, AND THAT ALL INJUSTICE WILL BOW TO YESHUA.
PRAISE HIS NAME .
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Mr. Light-Bright
5:32 pm
Oct 26, 2012
video timeline 0:45 “because of-course by stopping the vessel they arguably produce a lot of attention they could do without”
What is this¿ the ‘screw tape letters’ – by C.S. Lewis, which entails a conversation of two demons!
SKIT: We both know that by Israel legitimizing searches on the vessels from allied countries – Israel is not placing its trust/safety on them.
Of course there is no reason to think Sweden is going to smuggle weapons into Gaza; but it will inadvertently – despite their ill conceived good intentions.
I see opportunity everywhere, but it is up to Israel to beleive the seas are not like the air in which ALL passengers and their cargo, are searched.
I pity the tools!
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