Israel denounces ‘incitement’ in wake of flotilla fiasco
JERUSALEM — Faced with world outrage over its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound activist flotilla, Israel is circling the wagons and lashing out at critics, accusing them of “incitement” against the Jewish state. But opponents claim it is Israel which is doing the inciting. An Arab-Israeli MP who had been on the aid-laden Turkish ferry Mavi Marmara when Israeli commandos killed nine activists on May 31 has received death threats after fellow legislators accused her of being a traitor. Rightwing commentator Hagai Segal, meanwhile called for the Al-Jazeera news network to be kicked out of Israel, and possibly designated as a “terrorist organization,” claiming its coverage of the flotilla was marked by “lies, incitement and hatred for Israel.” Since the raid, which sparked worldwide outrage, Israel has launched a huge public relations campaign to depict the soldiers who boarded the ferry as victims of premeditated violence. “The current internal discourse is that it is us against them, that the entire world is against us,” says Yizhar Beer of the Keshev Centre for the Protection of Democracy in Israel. “Israelis feel a strong threat from outside, and see themselves as the victims,” says Beer. “It takes on mythological proportions: A small people surrounded by enemies, victims with no friends.” Hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called world criticism of the commando operation an “attack of international hypocrisy.” Several MPs accused Arab-Israeli parliamentarian Haneen Zuabi of incitement — in some cases even treason — for taking part in the ill-fated six-ship flotilla that aimed at breaking Israel’s blockade of Hamas-run Gaza. Source: The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100609com5.html |
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