It isn't just the pro-Palestinian press that is attempting to distort the reality behind the recent flotilla incident off the coast of Gaza.
Former Democratic Congresswoman, and 2008 Green Party candidate for President of the United States, Cynthia McKinney, has voiced her own version of reality through an anti-Israeli rant in Arab News. McKinney is of course, a reliable source on the topic, having been involved in her own little attempts at defying and breaking an Israeli blockade of Gaza (translation - aiding and abetting a terrorist regime).
In her column for Arab News, McKinney expresses outrage over ‘Israel's needless, senseless act against unarmed humanitarian activists.' Having been involved in previous attempts to defy the authority of the Israeli Navy, McKinney knows full well that the Free Gaza Movement, organizers of this flotilla, consists of anything but unarmed humanitarian activists. In case memory has failed her, here is a handy reminder:
- A report from the Intelligence & Terrorism Information Center highlights the link between flotilla organizers and radical human rights violators.
- The Jerusalem Post points out that ‘soldiers encountered fierce resistance from the passengers who were armed with knives, bats and metal pipes.' The article then goes on to say that the already armed protestors upgraded their arsenal by ‘stealing two handguns from soldiers', opening fire, and ultimately escalating the violence that they themselves had already started.
More after the break...
- The Jawa Report features an image of an alleged peace activist on board the Turkish ship prior to the skirmish. The activist is holding a rather large knife that some people with eyes and an adequate fear of sharp objects would consider a weapon. They also have video footage of the violence perpetrated by the demonstrators, along with a clip showing the weapons used.
- Michelle Malkin's site has a video clip from the Palestinian Media Watch which shows flotilla participants chanting about the return of ‘The Army of Mohammed' and invoking the killing of Jews through martyrdom.
Yet to McKinney and much of the mainstream media, they were nothing more than humanitarian activists. This distorted view gets worse in the article, and highlights McKinney's personal and long-running anti-Semitic views.
She states her point of view (emphasis mine throughout):
"But I'm even more outraged that once again, Israel's actions have been aided and abetted by a US political class that has become corrupted beyond belief due to its reliance on Zionist finance and penetration by Zionist zealots for whom no US weapons system is too much for the Israeli war machine, and the silence of the world's onlookers whose hearts have grown cold with indifference."
Where have we seen McKinney blame Zionists for the ills of the world before? Her concession speech back in 2006, at which members of her Black Panther Party security entourage spewed racist, anti-Semitic comments, including a claim that her election loss was directly due to ‘the Zionists'.
Referring to her personal encounter with the Israeli Navy, McKinney makes a laughable attempt to change the history of her own law-breaking activity:
"During my imprisonment in Israel for attempting to take crayons to the children of Gaza, I called Israel a failed state."
Unless crayons are now considered medical supplies, she was most definitely not detained for taking crayons to the children of Gaza. According to Fox News in July of 2009:
"In a press release from the Green Party, McKinney said the form states that the Spirit of Humanity, a Greek-flagged relief boat carrying 21 activists, medical supplies, cement, olive trees and children's toys en route to Gaza, was violating the Israeli blockade and trespassing the country's territorial waters."
If the only thing being delivered here is humanitarian aid, then why misstate your intentions? Why cherry pick the supplies being mentioned? Why leave out medical supplies (to aid Hamas), and cement (to possibly build bunkers)?
In a previous Gaza-bound mission, via the Atlanta Journal Constitution in December of 2008:
"The activists, organized by the Free Gaza Group, said their 66-foot yacht called ‘SS Dignity' would defy an Israeli blockade of Gaza and ferry 16 activists and three tons of Cypriot-donated supplies. The supplies are intended to help treat the wounded from Israeli bombings against targets in Gaza, in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns."
Again, they were delivering medical aid for terrorists - no mention of any boxes being labeled with the word ‘Crayola'.
Later on in her article, McKinney shifts from having delivered crayons for the children to a much different commodity:
"...the Israelis could very well conclude that they can do anything - imprison me for trying to take love to the children of Gaza and kill humanitarian activists trying to do the same..."
Those children who were expecting a delivery of love but received crayons instead, were probably just a bit disappointed.
McKinney's article is a roller coaster ride of random statements and hyperbole, putting it directly in line with the main stream media reports of this and past incidents with Israel. That said, a little advice for the MSM:
Being fair and balanced means presenting both sides of the story, not simply taking the account of a lunatic fringe protest group who is trying to promote a cause - a cause that directly harms an ally of the United States.
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