Americans Kidnapped, Maimed, and Executed by Israel

Updated June 8, 2010

Furkan Dogan, a U.S. teen on the Freedom Flotilla, was executed by Israeli commandos on May 31, 2010

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know the good from the evil.
- Jesus Christ, Sermon on the Mount


American Kenneth O'Keefe was beaten savagely by Israeli agents.  O'Keefe, a Gulf War veteran and Defender of M/V Mavi Marmara - was among the 600 people kidnapped by the Israeli military when their vessel was illegally hijacked by Ehud Barak's forces in international waters.  How will Obama respond to this latest Israeli outrage against American citizens on the high seas?  When will the international community issue arrest warrants for the Israeli terrorists Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu?

I remember being asked during the TJP Human Shield Action to Iraq if I was a pacifist, I responded with a quote from Gandhi by saying I am not a passive anything. To the contrary I believe in action, and I also believe in self-defence, 100%, without reservation. I would be incapable of standing by while a tyrant murders my family, and the attack on the Mavri Mamara was like an attack on my Palestinian family. I am proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder with those who refused to let a rogue Israeli military exert their will without a fight. And yes, we fought... 

O'Keefe on his arrival in Istanbul airport

I would especially love to debate with any Israeli leader who accuses us of wrongdoing, it would be my tremendous pleasure to face off with you. All I saw in Israel was cowards with guns, so I am ripe to see you in a new context. I want to debate with you on the largest stage possible. Take that as an open challenge and let us see just how brave Israeli leaders are...

No matter how vile and wrong the Israeli agents and government are, they are still my brothers and sisters and for now I only have pity for them. Because they are relinquishing the most precious thing a human being has, their humanity. 
- Kenneth O'Keefe in Defenders of Mavi Marmara

Participating in the Freedom Flotilla is like a family reunion to me. It is my long lost family whose conscience is their guide, who have shed the fear, who act with humanity.
- Kenneth O'Keefe, June 5, 2010


Moses breaking the tablet of the Ten Commandments
And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
- Exodus 32:19

I am speaking to them in their own language. The sixth commandment says 'thou shalt not kill'. Did you not understand?"
- Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in a televised speech.


Mass funeral in Istanbul for those killed by Israeli forces on May 31

"Turkey will never forget such an attack on its ships and its people in international waters. Turkey's ties with Israel will never be the same again."
- Abdullah Gul, President of Turkey

M/V Rachel Corrie HEADING FOR GAZA

Despite the violent incident on May 31, another aid ship is currently on its way to Gaza.  The Irish-owned M/V Rachel Corrie, carrying Nobel peace laureate Mairéad Corrigan-Maguire and former UN official Denis Halliday, is expected to hit the Israel-imposed exclusion zone by Saturday morning. M/V Rachel Corrie, a vessel named after the 23-year-old American girl killed in Gaza in 2003, is still bound for Gaza.

The Rachel Corrie, an Irish ship planning to break Israel's blockade on Gaza was reported early Saturday to be sailing along the North African coast and had recently passed Alexandria in Egypt.

According to the report on Israel Radio, the ship was planning to reach Gaza at 7 AM when it would be visible from the coast, so that any boarding could be filmed.

Early Saturday morning, a spokesman for the Gaza-based welcoming committee told Agence France Presse the Rachel Corrie had been intercepted and all communications with the ship cut.

"Several Israeli boats surrounded them between 30 and 35 miles off Gaza and prevented them from reaching Gaza," Amjad al-Shawa said after speaking by telephone with passengers on the boat.

In a last communique issued at around 5:38 am (0238 GMT), activist Jenny Graham, who is on board the Rachel Corrie, told organisers the vessel was being approached by two Israeli warships.

Graham said equipment on board had been "jammed by the Israeli navy, and that they expected their satellite phone to be jammed soon as well," the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign said, adding that it was not able to determine the ship's location when it was intercepted.

Israeli public radio, which also reported that the ship had been intercepted, said it was being escorted by three navy vessels through a stretch of water some 35 miles from the Egyptian coast.

The Rachel Corrie, was delayed due to mechanical problems and is the last ship - the lone survivor - from the original Freedom Flotilla, which was attacked by Israeli commandos on May 31 with heavy loss of life among the peace activists.  Rachel Corrie is carrying desperately needed aid and is still heading for the blockaded 1.5 million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, despite Israeli proclamations that it will not be allowed to dock. The ship is due to arrive in Gaza at 8 a.m. on Saturday, organisers said today. 


M/V Rachel Corrie is expected to reach the blockaded Gaza Strip on Saturday morning

Martin O'Quigley, from the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which is working with the Free Gaza Movement, which organised the ship, said he spoke to two people on board at 7.30 a.m. this morning.  "They're 150 miles from Gaza, and they should be approaching the exclusion zone at 8am tomorrow morning," O'Quiqley said. "They're about 80 miles from the previous interception point."  O'Quigley said he had spoken to both Máiread Maguire, the Nobel peace prize laureate, and Jenny Graham, from the Free Gaza Movement, two of a total of 11 passengers on the ship.

The Rachel Corrie is attempting to defy the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who said yesterday that the ship would not be allowed to reach the blockaded area. "We shall not allow the ships to reach Gaza. Not now and not later on," the Israeli news website Ynet reporting him as saying.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a Zionist extremist of the Likud, the political party of Menachem Begin and former Irgun terrorists like Yitzhak Shamir.  These are very dangerous people who are utterly amoral in advancing their racist war on humanity.  The massacre of peace activists on the high seas is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Zionist terror.  These are the very people who planned and carried out the false-flag terror of 9-11.

Irish minister for foreign affairs, Micheal Martin, has warned: "We want maximum restraint and we do not want any interception in international waters."  Mr Halliday has spoken from the ship, saying: "We all remain in good spirits, and we want to thank everyone all over the world for all their support."  He also issued an urgent appeal to the Irish diaspora.

HALLIDAY APPEALS TO IRISH-AMERICANS

"We also feel there is a role for the Irish diaspora here, in the US and elsewhere to lobby politicians over this continued illegal blockade of Gaza, which is causing such hardship to the Palestinian people."
- Denis Halliday, aboard M/V Rachel Corrie, June 3, 2010  

M/V Rachel Corrie, an Irish-owned boat laden with humanitarian supplies is continuing its journey towards Gaza despite Israel’s insistence it will not allow any vessel break its blockade on the territory.

The MV Rachel Corrie, which has five Irish citizens aboard, including Nobel peace laureate Mairéad Corrigan-Maguire and former UN official Denis Halliday, is currently in Libyan waters some 640 km (400 miles) from Gaza.

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign tonight dismissed some reports that the boat was due to dock in Turkey and insisted it intends to maintain course with no stops until it reaches the Gazan port.

Source:  'Rachel Corrie' proceeding to Gaza, The Irish Times, June 3, 2010, 18:44
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0603/breaking60.html

Will Obama Prevent Israel from Attacking the M/V Rachel Corrie?

THE 'RACHEL CORRIE': FORMER UN assistant secretary general Denis Halliday has called on the Government to highlight the situation of the Gaza-bound Irish aid ship M/V Rachel Corrie with US president Barack Obama’s administration and the EU.

Speaking by satellite phone on board the Rachel Corrie yesterday several hundred miles from Gaza, Mr Halliday said it was imperative that the Obama administration and the EU supported Ireland’s call on the Israeli authorities to ensure safe passage for the ship, which is carrying aid supplies.

Source:  The Irish Times, June 3, 2010
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0603/1224271744165.html

AMERICAN PROTESTER MAIMED

Emily Henochowicz, 21, a U.S. citizen who studied art in Jerusalem and New York and whose Israel-born father is a prominent medical doctor in the Washington, D.C. area, was shot directly in the face with a tear gas canister by Israeli police as she demonstrated non-violently near Jerusalem against the massacre of civilians bringing aid to the besieged and blockaded population of Gaza.

A Palestinian woman reacts as she holds a cloth to the face of Emily Henochowicz, 21, of Maryland who was hit in the face and eye by a tear gas canister shot by an Israeli border policeman at the Kalandia checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah.  Jonathan Pollak, who witnessed the incident, said Henochowicz did not participate in any violence and was standing at a safe distance from Palestinian activists. 


The moment Emily was shot in the face.  From the cars in the background one can see that Emily was not on the frontline of a confrontation, but had been targeted by a soldier shooting tear gas canisters.


After being shot, Emily is aided by Palestinians. 

Emily was apparently targeted (a common practice among Israeli soldiers).  She lost her left eye.  “They clearly saw us,” said Sören Johanssen, a Swedish ISM volunteer standing with Henochowicz. “They clearly saw that we were internationals and it really looked as though they were trying to hit us. They fired many canisters at us in rapid succession. One landed on either side of Emily, then the third one hit her in the face.”  Henochowicz is an art student at the prestigious Cooper Union, located in East Village, Manhattan.  Her father, Dr. Stuart I. Henochowicz is an Israeli-American who was born in Tel Aviv in 1956. 

INVESTIGATION DEMANDED

"We demand a full and transparent investigation from the Israeli government," Emily's mother told the AP.  "Certainly, we want an apology.  She's a beautiful young girl and she's been maimed for life."  Sarit Michaeli, from the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, said police and soldiers often fire tear gas canisters directly at people — a practice she called "illegal and dangerous."

Emily has a personal blog entitled Thirsty Pixels.  It is an uncanny coincidence that the picture for Emily's "A Visual Adventure" blog is an eye.

Thirsty Pixels
A Visual Adventure by Emily Henochowicz

AMERICAN TEEN KILLED IN ISRAELI MASSACRE

An American citizen, a teenager identified as Furkan Dogan, a 19-year-old student, was among those killed by the Israeli military in the massacre on the Gaza aid flotilla. Dogan’s body had four bullet wounds to the head and one to the chest.

Furkan Dogan

According to the Anatolian news agency, a forensic report states Dogan was shot five times at close range, with four bullets in his head and another in his chest.

U.S. citizen among those killed in Israeli flotilla raid, Washington Post, June 3, 2010
 

The World Protests Israel's Murder, Piracy, and Blockade of Gaza

"They shot people who were sleeping."

Henning Mankell of Sweden
Aftonbladet, 2 June 2010

"They were executed.  Shot in their foreheads."

"I am mourning my friends who were murdered and my thoughts are with their families...In at least four cases the victims were executed.  They were shot in the forehead, in the back of the head, and in the chest." (He said the Israeli commandos were shooting live rounds at the passengers while they were still in the air, i.e. before landing on the ship.)
- Mattias Gardell, Swedish religious historian and spokesman for Ship to Gaza convoy, to Aftonbladet, 3 June 2010

The world has reacted with outrage to the Israeli action with demonstrations in nearly every nation.  While the U.S. media and government have ignored the brutality and sheer criminality of the Israeli action, the rest of the world has not.  There has been a massive and spontaneous global protest against the Israeli atrocity on the high seas.  It seems that this is a turning point in the history of the Zionist state.   The people of the world are simply fed up with the Israeli criminal regime.  The tide of public opinion has turned against the state of Israel.  The European press is calling for Israel to be isolated and the blockade of Gaza to be lifted.  There is a huge difference between the way this Israeli atrocity has been covered in the European media and in the controlled press in the United States.  The largest European dailies rightly call the Israeli action "state terrorism" and "piracy", while U.S. papers like the New York Times feature Zionist explanations from people like Thomas L. Friedman and the Israeli ambassador Michael Oren.

The papers of Europe call Israel a "pirate state" that practices "state terrorism".

Athens, Greece


Madrid, Spain


In Israel, at the Ministry of Defense: "End the Occupation - Start to Live"


At the United Nations in New York City


 In Jakarta, Indonesia, a sign of the times

EHUD BARAK'S ATTACK ON FLOTILLA "A GROSS BREACH OF INTERNATIONAL LAW"

"This action, totally contrary to the principles of international law, is inhumane state terrorism. Nobody should think we will keep quiet in the face of this."
- Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan

"As far as I can see, there is no legal basis for boarding these ships."
Robin Churchill, Professor of International Law, University of Dundee, Scotland

"These people did not enter Israel illegally. They were essentially kidnapped from international waters, taken into Israel, and asked to sign documents confirming that they entered illegally. That is unacceptable.”
- Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin

At least 15 civilians were killed by Israeli forces on 31 May 2010 when the Israelis launched a pre-dawn commando raid on the international civilian aid flotilla headed for the blockaded population of Gaza.  The Israeli raid occurred in international waters which makes it a "gross breach of international law", as a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry noted.  

Israeli forces have attacked a flotilla of aid-carrying ships aiming to break the country's siege on Gaza.  At least 15 people were killed and dozens injured when troops intercepted the convoy of ships dubbed the Freedom Flotilla early on Monday, the Israeli military said.  The Israeli action, which is clearly illegal, was carried out under orders from Israel's Minister of Defense Ehud Barak.  Barak is also legally responsible for Israeli war crimes committed during Israel's military assault on the Gaza Strip in late 2008 and early 2009.  Barak is also suspected of being the Israeli mastermind behind the false-flag terror attacks of 9-11.

IDF STARTED SHOOTING - LET VICTIMS BLEED TO DEATH

One of the survivors from Mavi Marmara was a member of the Israeli government named Hanan Al-Zoubi.  She explained in a press conference in Israel that the military had begun shooting at the vessel before any troops came aboard:

“I did not see any passengers carrying a stick, or a sharp object. The Israeli attack gave the impression that something big would happen. The commandos started shooting between quarter and half past four before landing. There was a clear message that our lives are in big danger, and that the goal was not to stop the ship, but more than that.”

Al-Zoubi said that the Israeli military failed to treat several seriously wounded people, who bled to death:

Al-Zoubi pointed out that the Navy commandos moved the ship to the of port Ashdod. “We arrived at six in the morning.”  She added: “We knew that there were 5 bodies and dozens of wounded, among them 7 injured in critical condition. I asked several times to provide them with first aid of emergency, but the military did not cooperate with us. The consequence of not giving them of any kind of relief was that two wounded peace activists bled to death."

Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak (center) and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (right) were all smiles at an military base near Gaza on January 8, 2009, as they oversaw the commission of a host of serious war crimes in Israel's military assault on the defenseless population of the Gaza Strip.  Both Olmert and Barak are key suspects in the false-flag terrorism of 9-11.  Olmert, for example, was on a secret visit to New York City on September 10-11, 2001 - a visit that has never been discussed openly.  Barak lived in the United States during most of 2001 and worked with a firm that owns a company that makes nano-thermite, exactly like that found in the demolished Twin Towers.

The Israeli use of lethal force on the high-profile civilian aid flotilla is not unusual or unexpected.  It is actually a typical Israeli response to peaceful actions taken to help the beseiged Palestinian population.  The murder of the young American Rachel Corrie with an Israeli military bulldozer in March 2003 comes to mind.  Rachel, age 23, was peacefully trying to prevent the Israeli military from bulldozing the home of a Palestinian pharmacist in the Gaza Strip when she was killed - with the blade and tracks of the monstrous machine. 

Rachel Corrie from Olympia, Washington was killed in cold blood by the Israeli military in Gaza Strip in 2003, an outrageous Israeli crime that has gone unpunished.  One of the vessels in the Gaza aid flotilla is named after Rachel and is on its way to Gaza with much-needed supplies for the population.  Will the Israeli army commit another atrocity?


The Israeli military bulldozer was blocked from destroying a home in the Gaza Strip by the brave protester Rachel Corrie...


so it ran her over and killed the young American.  The murderer has not been held accountable for his crime.

The current Israeli leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak is a government of dangerous Zionist extremists who prefer the use of violence to talking peace.  In April 2010 I warned that Netanyahu and Barak are likely to react with an act of terrorism in the face of international criticism: 

The fact that the U.S. and the international community have now clearly condemned illegal Israeli settlements is piling pressure on Netanyahu and his government of extremists.  The crucial question now is how will Netanyahu respond to this pressure?  This is a dangerous situation because Zionist zealots, when pressed to make compromises for peace, usually react with violence and terrorism. 
- "Fearing 9-11 Protests Netanyahu Cancels U.S. Visit"

The flotilla was attacked in international waters, 65 kilometers off the Gaza coast.  The Israeli action is clearly an act of piracy on the high seas (not unlike what happens in the waters off the Horn of Africa) in which hundreds of international civilians have been taken hostage.  Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister, said the Israeli abduction of the 700 civilians from the flotilla could be described as an act of kidnapping.  The Israelis had plenty of time to prepare for a legal and non-violent response when the flotilla reached Gaza, or even territorial waters off the coast of Gaza, but instead of being sensible they chose to launch an outrageous illegal military raid with live ammunition under the cover of darkness -- in international waters. 

It makes no sense at all to a normal person but Ehud Barak, the head of the Israeli military, is certainly not a normal person.  The Israeli action against the aid convoy seems extremely counter-productive and even suicidal, but one needs to remember that Israel does not follow normal logic, but prefers to employ the Anti-logic of a Madman - the Madman who is never disciplined or reined in.  Israel is a state in which blood-thirsty and violent criminals like Charles Manson are not locked up, but are promoted by the military and given high positions in the Zionist state - an outlaw state of nuclear-armed pirates.

Ehud Barak, the Israeli military chief implicated in the false-flag terrorism of 9-11, is what Socrates would call an utterly immoral arch-criminal, who successfully avoids being criticized and disciplined and punished for his crimes.  The arch-criminal's success in avoiding punishment is, however, not at all to his benefit, as Socrates says:  "The worst thing in the world, the supreme curse, is to do wrong and not pay the penalty for it." 

Barak and Netanyahu, like President of Israel Shimon Peres, are actually completely amoral arch-criminals (i.e. Zionist pragmatists) who would have been dragged into the international court in the Hague many years ago if they had come from any nation other than Israel.  The failure by the international community to punish Israeli criminals over the decades is largely to blame for the outrageous crimes the Zionist state continues to commit.  How do Israelis benefit from belonging to a state that is hated for its cruelty and crimes?  How do Jews around the world benefit from being associated with such a pariah state?

Footage from the flotilla's lead vessel, the Mavi Marmara, showed armed Israeli soldiers boarding the ship and helicopters flying overhead. Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal, on board the Mavi Marmara, said Israeli troops had used live ammunition during the operation.

"American hit in anti-Israeli protest loses eye," Associated Press, June 2, 2010
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkRx0N5aDIQc9V-dua0zuHm1JoqwD9G2P00O0

"Anti-Israel protests over flotilla attack intensify" (Emily is in 15th photo), Guardian, (U.K.)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/jun/01/gallery-protests?picture=363244706

"A government of pyromanics sets fire to the region", by Uri Avnery, May 31, 2010, Gush Shalom, Israel
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1275331484

"Fearing 9-11 Protests Netanyahu Cancels U.S. Visit", by Christopher Bollyn, April 2010
http://www.bollyn.com/obama-runs-into-israels-wall-of-apartheid