Under Scrutiny, IDF Retracts Claims About Flotilla’s Al Qaeda Links

Oh dear! internal problems at the ministry of propaganda?

Under Scrutiny, IDF Retracts Claims About Flotilla’s Al Qaeda Links

When placed under journalistic scrutiny, the IDF is being forced to admit that its claims about the flotilla’s links to international terror are based on innuendo, not facts.

On June 2, the IDF blasted out a press release to reporters and bloggers with the shocking headline: “Attackers of the IDF soldiers found to be Al Qaeda mercenaries.” The only supporting evidence offered in the release was a claim that the passengers “were equipped with bullet proof vests, night vision goggles, and weapons.” A screen capture of the press release is below:

Not content to believe that night vision goggles signal membership in Al Qaeda, reporter Lia Tarachansky of The Real News Network and I called the IDF press office to ask for more conclusive evidence.

Tarachansky reached the IDF’s Israel desk, interviewing a spokesperson in Hebrew; I spoke with the North America desk, using English.

We both received the same reply from Army spokespeople: “We don’t have any evidence. The press release was based on information from the [Israeli] National Security Council.” (The Israeli National Security Council is Netanyahu’s kitchen cabinet of advisors).

Today, the Israeli Army’s press office changed the headline of its press release (see below), basically retracting its claim about the flotilla’s Al Qaeda links. The new headline reads: “Attackers of the IDF Soldiers Found Without Identification Papers” (the top of the browser screen still contains the original headline about Al Qaeda). The more Israel’s claims about the flotilla’s terrorist links are challenged, the more they fall apart.

Links to official Israeli sources in the linked article:

maxblumenthal.com...

I find all this to be quite amusing considering the rabid pro Israeli propaganda blitz here this last week where many were parroting propaganda and disinformation from both the American and Israeli mainstream media & from the IDF spokes-persons and other sources to be nothing but the total unbiased truth, according to them.

And that anyone who questioned this (dis)information and the action of the Israeli regime was an anti-semite and a total idiot in their eyes.

But nothing is that simple of course!

Now stuff after stuff appear to show that "some" of the information which circulated in the press and was spread around here on ATS during the propaganda blitz - was not correct - and therefore have now even IDF retracted certain statements which many were parroting here.

Here's a video report from The real New's Lia Tarachansky who in the article above, investigated several circumstances and claims regarding these statements to see if there were any real evidences behind them.

It turns out that after she had spoken to the IDF in Hebrew that the information on their site was not correct.

She asked them; is there any evidences for this - to which they replyed:

No! the information came from The National Security Council.

Which is Netanyahu’s kitchen cabinet of Hawks!

So this is more or less nothing more than a "Party Line Statement" with some information which NOW has been RETRACTED by the IDF Military as well! LOL!

So while in the beginning the American and Israeli media shills were pumping out the statement that the flotilla activists were terrorists with AQ links - the truth is that these statements has NOW been retracted even by IDF on their site because there were NO EVIDENCES.

But the damage for the whole humanitarian aid flotilla and the activists was already done. Even if all the activist wer quickly released and deported from Israel.

And apparently there were also a lot of confusion about this in Israel as well.

Imagine, they were being told by their media and politicians that these humanitarian activists and aid flotilla were real terrorists and they were coming to Gaza with weapons and rockets! Like the real deal!

And you can actually understand how this false information was presented to the Israeli citizens in this video.

They had apparently been told and brainwashed by their own authorities and media that terrorists were really coming with weapons to Gaza.

Well of course, many directly bought this misinformation hook, line and sinker!

Many maybe did this because they didn't knew any better and fully trusted their Government and media?

And many others maybe outright knew that this was fabricated false information from the Government, but didn't care about it and choosed to go with the national flow because it fitted well with their nationalist agenda?

Anyway, this whole story now stinks to high heaven!

Here we have a story of false information planted directly by Netanyahu’s own kitchen cabinet of hawks - falsified audio tapes - a debunked photoshopped knife (from the main flotilla thread) - and a lot of other suspicious stuff that have surfaced in these latest recent days!

I wonder what will come next week?

But seriously! I feel sorry for many Israelis who I now understand has been more or less being led astray (brainwashed) and bombarded with all this false information by their own Government.

And maybe, if I was an Israeli and lived in Israel - maybe I myself had been out there in the streets protesting against the humanitarian "terrorist" flotilla? LOL!

If I had been fooled by the Government sanctioned misinformation and had been affacted by the brainwashing propaganda - that is!

But sure - at least now i feel sincerely sorry for these Israeli citizens for living in a police state were they're being bombarded day in and day out with all this propaganda crap from the pirates in their own Government! - and I feel sorry for them for being victims for a greater agenda by some dishonest political cabal of pesky corrupted politicians.

How Israel planned the Flotilla attack

As the MV Rachel Corrie, the last boat in the Free Gaza Movement's Flotilla, is being dragged to Israel's Ashdod port after being boarded and taken over in the early hours of Saturday, Israel continues to react to its Flotilla attack.

Protests have been taking place throughout Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories. In the meantime, The Real News' Lia Tarachansky investigates how Israel prepared for the Flotilla attack, and how the media repeatedly portrayed a connection between the activists and terrorism.

After the attack, Israel went on the offensive to prove there was indeed a connection to terrorism. The IDF published a press release saying the activists on board the Mavi Marmara ship that was the site of at least 9 deaths on Monday morning were actually al Qaeda mercenaries.

When Tarachansky and journalist Max Blumenthaul questioned the IDF for evidence of this allegation, the IDF said it didn't have any and changed the title of the press release to "attackers of the IDF soldiers found without identification papers."

The Real News Network




[edit on 6-6-2010 by Chevalerous]

Lol, as if no one saw this coming!

The whole things a joke. Israel has about as much credibility as George bush.

reply to post by VonDoomen


Yeah! lol! their military seems to be worried about this because they retracted this "wrong" info rather quickly when their information was outed by this journalist!

I'm beginning to suspect that this whole operation was completely governed and led by the political hawks in the top and not by the Israeli military command at all.

I think that's why we are now seeing this messy result and totally insane cock-up!

Oh dear! What a Circus, What Clowns!


[edit on 6-6-2010 by Chevalerous]

Yes, the politics have alot to answer for.

Difficult to accuse anyone of having links to Al Qaeda, as the evidence of it existing in the context intended is as good as the evidence that Santa Clause visits us every year.

However, this may contradict the OP's source;

IDF: Five Gaza flotilla activists linked to Hamas, Al-Qaida

The other activists singled out by the IDF were Hassan Iynasi, a 28-year-old Turkish citizen who belongs to an Islamic charity and regularly contributed financial assistance to Islamic Jihad; Hussein Urosh, a supporter of the Turkish IHH who was allegedly planning to help bring Al-Qaida militants from Turkey to Gaza; and Ahmad Umimon, a 51-year-old Moroccan-born resident of France and allegedly a member of Hamas.

www.haaretz.com...




[edit on 6-6-2010 by Skellon]