BACK in May 2012, Conal Urquhart told Guardian readers that Israel had offered £4m compensation to Turkish victims of the raid on the Mavi Marmara flotilla. The boat was bound for the Gaza Strip when Israeli commandos landed on deck.
There is much dispute as to what happened. But Urquart is misleading:
Turkey cooled diplomatic relations with Israel after nine of its citizens were shot dead by Israeli commandos who landed on the Mavi Marmara to prevent its passage to Gaza. Protesters on the ship repelled the first wave of lightly armed commandos, but then the Israeli soldiers used lethal force against the unarmed passengers to end their resistance.
LAUREN Booth, working for Press TV has fallen foul of Ofcom, the UK’s media standards authority. It seems that the coverage of event son the Mavi Marmara was not all that impartial.
Press TV is an Iranian international news network, which broadcasts in English.
Highlight of the show – and get a load of that set:
Lauren Booth: “Israeli commandoes…committed a massacre of innocent civilians sailing aid ships to the besieged Gaza strip”.
Kevin Ovenden (Viva Palestina): “[Israel‟s] inhuman and illegal blockade of the people of Gaza…This was the use of lethal force for political ends”.
Bahjat El-Helou (Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights): “[Israel] is a state above the law”.
Yousef Al-Helou (Press TV correspondent): “Israel‟s piracy in the Mediterranean Sea ended with a massacre”.
Haidar Eid (Political analyst): “The martyrdom of the supporters of the Palestinian people on the freedom flotilla”.
Lauren Booth: “This was obviously a barbarous attack on civilians…One thing is certain: As Turkey buries its murdered citizens and in Britain we welcome home our brave and injured, the brave men and women on those ships, in one move, have shifted world opinion against Israeli apartheid”
MOHAMMED BELTAGY was on the Mavi Marmara – you know, the peace boat on the fauxtilla – when the “massacre ” began. He’s telling his story to the Egyptian press. And they don’t want to hear it. YNet News reports:
This admission of employing force against IDF soldiers has evoked a media storm among Egyptian columnists, who claim this was a “public relations gift to Israel.”
Under the headline “The Muslim Brotherhood’s Gift to Israel,” columnist Abdullah Kamal criticized Beltagy’s admission. “He said that he and those with him on the ship overtook three Israeli commando soldiers who had broken onto the ship and took control of their weapons. He boasted of this without understanding that he is granting Israel a massive, recorded gift that it will gain benefit from in the commission of inquiry it will carry out following the massacre.” . . .
The daily newspaper el-Gomhuriah also did not spare the parliament member. “This is dangerous talk that serves Israel.”