RIGHT SWALLOWS ISRAEL'S FLOTILLA LIES
By Rev. Ted Pike
14 June 10
As nearly 700 “Free Gaza” flotilla survivors return
to 20 nations, they bear witness to the same message—all five
vessels, bringing aid to Gaza, were attacked by Israel. Preliminary
shooting, including live rounds, came from Israeli attack boats and
helicopters. All passengers were poorly, if not roughly, treated or
assaulted. Are these the ravings of terrorist sympathizers, worthy
of attack – as Israel and its PR rep, the ADL – as well
as most evangelicals, contend?
The flotilla carried professionals, public officials and parliamentarians – including
a member of Israel’s Knesset. Those contradicting Israel's story
include a Brazilian filmmaker, a retired German parliamentarian and
professor, two German parliamentarians, an acclaimed Swedish academic,
an Irish Ulsterman with American citizenship, an Irish medical doctor,
a retired Jewish-American math teacher, an American structural engineer,
a best-selling Swedish novelist and an Israeli-born Swedish artist.
The subsequent flotilla of ships included former United Nations Deputy
Secretary-General Denis Halliday and Irish Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Mairead McGuire. (Click
here for testimonies.)
Incredibly, Christian/conservatives reject testimony from these credible
witnesses and accuse them of crafting an elaborate and bizarre falsehood.
Such false testimony would not be successful for long. Their stories
would quickly unravel as more honest members of the flotilla confirmed
Israel’s account. Today, two weeks after the attack, the nearly
700 members of the flotilla speak with one voice. The British
Guardian tells us, “The details of the wounds came as yet
more survivors return to the UK and gave their account of the attacks.”
…Ismael Patel, the 47-year-old chairman of
the Friends of aal Aqsa…claimed that as soon as the Israeli
Defense Force helicopter appeared above the Mavi Marmara, ‘it
started using…live
ammunition,’ without any warning being issued. After the
first victim fell the white flag was raised, he said, ‘But
Israeli forces continued firing.’ Patel: ‘I think
the Israeli soldiers were shooting to kill because most of the
people who died were shot in the top part of their bodies.’ He
called it, ‘the cold-blooded
murder and killing of our colleagues. These deaths were avoidable…’ ("Gaza
flotilla attack autopsies Reveal Intensity of Israel's Military
Force," June
4)
Patel calculated that during the bloodiest part
of the assault, Israeli commandos shot one person every minute.
One man was fatally shot in the back of the head just 2 feet
in front of him and another was shot once between the eyes. He
added that as well as the fatally wounded, 48 others were suffering
from gunshot wounds… ("Gaza Flotilla
Activists Were Shot in Head at Close Range," June 4 th)
Alex Harrison, on the smaller Challenger I, said the Israelis
attacked using "rubber bullets, sound bombs, and tasers against
them…. We stood and tried to obstruct the armed, masked men
and made no other defense and still they used violence." Harrison
saw the Mavi Marmara stormed and said the "Israelis started
firing before the troops landed on the boat… You must remember
that these are unarmed civilians on their own boat in the middle of
the Mediterranean. People picked up what they could to defend themselves
against armed, masked commandos who were shooting." ("Gaza
flotilla attack autopsies Reveal Intensity of Israel's Military Force," June
4)
Turkish Autopsies Reveal Israel's Violence
Citing the coroner’s report of the Turkish government, the Guardian suggests
that Israeli commandos were hardly intent on non-violence. It relates
that Furkan Dogan, the 19-year-old American-Turkish activist, was shot
5 times from a close range: in the right side of his nose, the back
of his head, his back, and twice in his left leg. The oldest victim
was 60-year old Ibrahim Bilgen, a Turkish politician, engineer and
activist, who was married with 6 children. He was shot once in the
right temple, once in the right side of his chest, once in his back
and once in his hip. Cetin Topeuoglu, a 54-year-old former taekwondo
champion who worked as a coach for the Turkish national team, was shot
three times – once in the back of his head, once in his hip,
and once in his belly.
Here is a summary of the other seven:
Alquyz: 4 gunshot wounds - back of head, side of face, back, leg.
Yaldiz: 4 gunshot wounds – chest, left leg, right leg twice.
Bengi: 6 gunshot wounds – chest, belly, right arm, right leg,
left hand twice.
Topeuoglu: 3 gunshot wounds – back of head, left side, right
belly.
Yildirim: 2 gunshot wounds – right shoulder, left back.
Kiliclar: 1 gunshot wound, middle of forehead.
Songur: 1 gunshot wound – front of neck.
Injuries to these nine Turks tell a different story than Israel’s.
It was an orgy of excessive gunfire—yes, a massacre. Do you
really think nine dead and 47 injured from gunshot wounds constituted
a proportionate response to a group wielding rods, batons, kitchen
knives and a sack of marbles?
If Israel had really intended non-violence, it could have snarled
the ships’ propellers and rudders with no loss of life. Negotiations
could have occurred in daylight to allow the orderly, nonviolent transfer
of command. Instead, Israel chose to take over the ships in darkness
in the most terrifying manner. It was a terrorist attack.
If Israel is so intent on sharing the whole truth, and has no need
of a “biased” international investigation, why did it sabotage
the flotilla passengers’ communication with the outside world
before, during, and for days after the raid? Why did Israel
seize their cameras, computers, and notebooks? Why does Israel insist
that in its investigation IDF forces involved in the raid will not
be questioned? Clearly, Israel wants no contrary voices as it propagandizes
the world – including 70 million gullible evangelicals and their
media who are eager (in fact, theologically duty-bound) to believe
Israel.
Tea Party Leaders Believe Israel
For the past six months, e-alerts from the National Prayer Network
have been educating over 500 Tea Party chapters in America. Yet after
my article "Is
Israel Exempt from International Law?" a torrent
of protest came back. Readers shouted the same thing: “Pro-terrorist
flotilla members are involved in an elaborate scam to make Israel look
bad. Only Israel can be trusted!”
Most evangelicals will probably remain uninterested in more evidence
from survivors in the weeks ahead. They are content to believe anything
Israel says. This choice will doubtless show itself even more adaptive
as Israel, which scripture portrays as Babylon the Great ascends to
its prophesied rulership of the nations. (See, "'Babylon
the Great' is Israel") Scripture predicts that Israel will
be able to deceive the whole earth because the nations have capitulated
to its lies. By prostituting their God-given birthright to speak only
the whole truth, Israel-first evangelicals have also drunk the wine
of Israel's spiritual whoredom. As a result, regarding matters Jewish,
they have gone theologically and politically insane. It is clear that
evangelicals’ support
for Israel is so boundless and unquestioning that even as Israel ascends
to world dominion they will be compelled to bless and promote the Great
Harlot.
Christ foretold that someday believers will be drawn up to the synagogues
of Satan in Jerusalem to be tried and convicted (Luke
21:12)—probably
by ADL as "anti-Semitic" hate criminals. Evangelical response
since the flotilla attack leads us to predict many will
bless and believe in apostate Israel right to the bitter end— to
the very moment when Israeli firing squads, like Israel’s commandos
on the Marmara, put bullets between their eyes.
TAKE ACTION!
Contact the United Nations. Fax: 1-212-963-2155 E-mail: sg@un.org
Address: United Nations, New York, NY 117. Demand a full, unbiased
international investigation of Israel's raid of the "Free
Gaza" flotilla. (More
contact information on freegaza.org)
Rev. Ted Pike is director of the National Prayer Network, a Christian/conservative
watchdog organization.
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