By Anait Brutian* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz
Peter Lewis, Australia
On June 16, 2010 the International Action Center circulated a petition entitled: Defend Gaza Freedom Flotilla Survivors' Right to Speak! The petition concerned a scheduled event for Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 7:00 PM at House of the Lord Church, 415 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn and a speaking tour by U.S. filmmaker Iara Lee, British political organizer Kevin Ovenden - both eyewitnesses to the massacre carried out by IDF commandos onboard Mavi Marmara - and former Member of Turkish Parliament Ahmet Unsal.
The event, called "Meeting for Truth," cosponsored by a number of organizations that includes Al Awda NY - The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Muslim American Society, National Lawyers Guild-NYC, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, American Muslims for Palestine, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Arab Muslim American Federation, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, ANSWER Coalition, Creative Nonviolent Resistance Against Injustice, Middle East Crisis Response, The Independent, Bailout the People Movement, Pakistan USA Freedom Forum, American-Iranian Friendship Committee and International Action Center, among many others, planned to encourage the two eyewitnesses to tell their stories and give a first-hand account of the massacre that shocked the world.
The violence employed by IDF commandos against unarmed civilians that left nine people dead and many injured, brought the viciousness of the Israeli Armed Forces into focus. While attacking Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship loaded with humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza with live ammunition - a clear indication that they intended to kill - the IDF confiscated all the photographic and video equipment from the passengers and the journalists. Cultures of Resistance director Iara Lee and a few others managed to smuggle a fraction of their footage containing details of the raid. An unedited hour-long video is available at Cultures of Resistance as well as You Tube. An edited 15 min. summary of the event can be seen on here and Iara Lee's UN press conference can be viewed on Vimeo as well.
Israel's confiscation of all recorded footage meant to obscure the true story and allow the perpetuation of the blunt lie called "Self-Defence," conveniently used by the Zionist State. A clear act of piracy in international waters, the IDF raid, disguised as "Self-Defence," would have added to the catalogue of Zionist deceit-stories. With no hard, documentary evidence, the crime would have simply vanished or would have been neglected, even if there were nine dead and many injured. The shock and disbelief caused by Israeli brutality would have remained in the hearts and minds of the passengers, but the world would not have heard of it. This is how the Zionist mind operated during the assault and this is how it operates today, when attempting to disrupt the event called "Meeting for Truth."
IAC's petition, sent on June 16, 2010, describes the details of the attempt to disrupt the event: "A group of politicians and Zionist organizations are trying to ban speakers to a major NYC meeting scheduled for this Thursday, June 17, 7 pm at House of the Lord Church, 415 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn and a speaking tour by a Turkish Member of Parliament, a U.S. filmmaker and other survivors of the horrific Israeli attack on the Turkish aid ship Mavi Marmara." The scope of the disruption effort is described in more detail by Al Awda NY, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition: "They come with nothing but words. But words of truth strike fear into the hearts of certain hate-filled New York politicians who have voted time and again to turn U.S. taxpayers' dollars into missiles and bombs for Israel's war machine. On June 14, City Council speaker Christine Quinn, Reps. Jerry Nadler, Anthony Weiner, Carolyn Mahoney, Charles Rangel and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer gathered in Times Square at the behest of the so-called 'Jewish Community Relations Council'. They shamelessly demanded that the State Department investigate the invited speakers for 'ties to terrorism'. They want to prevent or delay their entry [to] the United States. This is a clear attempt to not only deny the passengers' right to speak but to deny the people of the United States the right to hear their words."
Indeed, this is yet another attempt at killing the Truth. According to Al Awda NY, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, the same group is responsible for supporting "every act of terror" by the Zionist State: "They cheered the 2008-9 terror bombing and invasion of Gaza that slaughtered 1,400 people, including hundreds of children. They applauded Israel's 2006 mass murder of 900 Lebanese civilians. They hail the cruel blockade that denies food, medicine, electricity and sanitation to the people of Gaza and they dare to support the killing and kidnapping of Turkish, U.S., British and Irish citizens who tried to break that blockade."
Similar to their IDF counterparts that attempted to censor the May 31, 2010 raid by confiscating all cameras, shutting down satellites, smashing the CCTV cameras that were on Mavi Marmara, these political hackers exercise comparable censorship, this time targeting the U.S. citizens' right to learn the Truth. Their method is different but it serves the same goal: to keep the American people in perpetual ignorance on issues relating to the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza, Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel's apartheid laws that prevent Palestinians from having a dignified life in a country that once was their homeland are wrapped-up in a convenient package made up of misrepresentations, distortions and lies. Similarly, the Zionist agenda of colonizing the Middle East is disguised under the ruse called "Self-Defence." State Sponsored Terrorism that is part of the Zionist design of depopulating Palestine and creating an exclusivist state for Jews and Jews alone - a plan originally conceived before any of the so called terrorist organizations came into existences - sells as "Self-Defence."
Every opposition to the Zionist grand design for the creation of Greater Israel is labelled as "terrorism" or "support for terrorism" and every individual that calls for justice in the Middle East is labelled an anti-Semite. The tactics of avoiding political discussion or silencing the opposition betray the weakness of one's argument. Those who don't accept criticism, do so because they foresee the impossibility of defending their stand against logically constructed arguments. No dictionary defines "Piracy" as "Self-Defence," and no logic will ever justify Israel's total disregard for the loss of life and the use of excessive violence against unarmed parliamentarians, aid workers, activists, international observers and journalists.
The elected individuals and Zionist organizations that seek to muffle the Truth by demanding State Department's intervention first and foremost do great disservice and dishonour to the United States that praises itself for upholding democratic values. If there are "ties to terrorism" - and their uncompromising allegiance to the Terrorist State exposes an undeniable "tie to terrorism" - then the "ties" should be uncovered among these same politicians and Zionist organisations. Silencing the voices of Truth and Justice is in the interest of Israel that receives military aid from the United States. The endless stream of lies keeps the "U.S. guns and dollars" flowing to Israel. Uncovering the Truth would jeopardize their grand designs but most importantly would awaken the American public. People in the United States hold tremendous power that hasn't been put into effect till now. It's time to tell the Truth. It's time to shake off the lie-induced complicity of the American people. It's time to hold the Terrorist State accountable for its actions.
* Anait Brutian (B. Mus. with Honours in Theory, McGill University; M. A. in Music Theory, McGill University) is a student in the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill. Her previous research includes a self-published book entitled: Reconciling Geometry, Rhetoric and Harmony: A Fresh Look at C. P. E. Bach. She is currently working on another book on mathematical paradigms in literature (Old and New Testaments), art, architecture, and music. She can be contacted at anaitbrutian@videotron.ca
The title of the article is borrowed from the Petition: Defend Gaza Freedom Flotilla Survivors' Right to Speak!
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