Gandhians come thundering

[Jefferson23]

July 9, 2011

By Victor Kotsev

TEL AVIV - At the current moment, it is impossible to say with a straight face that the Second Freedom flotilla, scheduled to run the Israeli naval blockade on the Gaza Strip over a week ago, is progressing well. The latest reports have it that most of the activists, stuck in Greece, are headed home. Depending on one's politics, one may feel the urge to smile bitterly or to smirk. But there is no denying a solid dose of irony in the developments so far.

The pro-Palestinian activists got a chance to try out some of their cherished non-violent tactics. They defied authorities, staged sit-downs, faced armed commandos and arrest, and even conducted a hunger strike, all the while guarding their flanks closely against sabotage. Remarkably, they did not use any violence.

The irony is that the authorities and the heavily armed commandos were Greek, <1> the hunger strike happened at the American Embassy in Athens, <2> and the sit-down took place at the Spanish Embassy in the Greek capital. <3> Previously, the expedition suffered a substantial loss when the Turkish Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH - The Foundation of Humanitarian Relief) charity pulled out of the venture, apparently under pressure from the Turkish government.

The would-be saboteurs, in the activists' own accounts, were Israeli special operations divers and spies dressed as Greek fishermen. The disguise of the latter was allegedly rather poor, and the watchful activists immediately noticed that the fishermen "had neither bait nor buckets". <4> It has all the elements of a comic spy story.

in full: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MG09Ak03.html

[aquart]

1. Everybody's alive, healthy, has a story to tell?

Amazing how Israeli sabotage is geared to leaving people breathing in one piece.

Did they at least get a brief tour of Greece?