Roee Nahmias
Photo: Gabi Menashe
Arab papers: Israel drowning in lies
Global newspapers slam Israel for raid on flotilla to Gaza, saying it slaughtered freedom fighters
Arab newspapers all over the world on Tuesday cried out against Israel following a deadly raid
on the flotilla to Gaza Monday.
"Israel has murdered the freedom flotilla," said a headline by the London-based al-Hayat. Also in London, al-Sharq al-Awsat wrote of "Global fury against Israel", while al-Quds al-Arabi described a "World enraged by Israeli slaughter".
Other Media Responses
Jonathan Weber
Global media spares no criticism of Israel over deadly takeover of Gaza-bound sail, say incident complicates ties with US, distracts world from push for Iran sanctions, disrupts peace efforts
As-Safir's commentator on Israeli affairs, Helmi Moussa, opined that "Israel has failed in marketing its version of self-defense as justification for the bloody raid on the freedom sail ships, and has failed even worse at justifying the harm done to innocents."
"It attacked with a brute force that stunned much of the world the civilians on ships in international waters, and claimed that it had been ambushed. After it killed those it killed and wounded those it wounded, it claimed it had been under attack," he added.
"When no one bought this version, it was forced to defend itself with lies and libel about weapons arriving in Gaza and the belonging of Turkish activists to al-Qaeda and Hamas. It started drowning in its own lies."
Cartoon published by al-Quds al-Arabi
No mention was made by any Arab newspaper of Israel's side of the story, namely that its soldiers were lynched by an armed mob aboard the Marmara.
But some praised the consequences of the flotilla. "Don't be sad – this is a huge achievement," wrote al-Quds al-Arabi editor Abd al-Bari Atwan.
"It is certain that Benjamin Netanyahu and the ministers of his extreme-right government did not imagine for a moment the size of the achievement they awarded the Palestinian people and the Arab Islamic nation when they executed a slaughter on board the freedom ships in the middle of the sea," he added.
"It is true we've lost dozens of shahids (martyrs), many of them Turkish, but we've gained more than 70 million Turkish people who are standing up for the main Arab problem (i.e the Palestinian issue)."
Drawing published by Qatari al-Watan
'Soldiers ordered to kill'
Atwan thanked Turkey for its efforts, and concluded, "The besieged Gazans, who invented human bombs, produced missiles, and entered history by engineering tunnels to break the siege and infiltrate the heart of the settlements and Israeli army bases, were the ones gathered on the Gazan shore to welcome the flotilla heroes and their ships."They are the ones who strengthen our belief in their goal, which is not only to break the siege but also to return to Haifa, Jaffa, Ashdod, Akko, Jerusalem, and every valley in Palestine. They realize they are not alone and that their dream is about to come true."
Abdul Rahman al-Rashed, former editor of al-Sharq al-Awsat who now manages the al-Arabiya network, said Israel had raided the ships in order to derail talks between Fatah and Hamas, as well as peace talks between the state and the Palestinians.
"Because of the crimes that killed protestors on the freedom sail (Palestinian) President Mahmoud Abbas will not be able to begin the negotiations he wants without first receiving international guarantees," al-Rashed wrote.
"Now everything has sunk into the depths because of Iran's pressure, which led the flotilla, and Netanyahu's crime, which has turned the issue into an international one."
He claimed Israel could have allowed the flotilla to dock in Gaza without sustaining any damage. "Despite all its options, the Israeli leadership chose an armed attack, and it is clear that the orders were to kill a number of innocent passengers. There were a number of wounded and dead who were shot directly in the head, which proves intent to kill," he wrote.
