We know what the Exodus was

This is a guest post by AKUS
“I knew Jack Kennedy, and you are no Jack Kennedy” – Lloyd Bentsen
There are comedians who mourn the fact that George Bush is no longer among us to provide easy fodder for a long string of jokes about his “mis-underestimations”. I may one day mourn the Guardian for similar reasons. Or, perhaps, I may not. But, in an evil sort of way, the Guardian is the gift that keeps on giving to those who would mock it and oppose its “Satanic verses”.
The ridiculous lies keep pouring out in a flood that could keep one rolling on the floor convulsed with helpless laughter – Lauren Booth, today: “hundreds of the world’s most notoriously violent soldiers started falling from the sky” – which drew down numerous derisive comments (in addition to SantaMoniker’s biting and now deleted reference to Booth’s “form”), even from some not known for their broad support of Israel:


But even more than blatant lies and extraordinary exaggerations, there is nothing the Guardian and its Israel-bashing commenters like more than trying to draw parallels between genuine suffering by Jews during and immediately after WW II and the well-fed, cosseted people of Gaza to show how evil today’s Jews are, “who have learned nothing, nothing, from their centuries of persecution” (I paraphrase slightly, so here’s a real example):


Which is how we get an article that incredibly tries to compare the Marmara with the Exodus and its group of fools and thugs with the persecuted remnants of the concentration camps. It is written, of course, by another “activist”, Richard Irvine, who teaches at Queen’s University in Belfast. In order to distract himself from the problems of that city, he occasionally picks olives on the West Bank and works in refugee camps in Lebanon – no doubt to protest the Lebanese treatment of the Palestinians. Oh, I kid Richard Irvine, as Bill Maher would say – we know he’s there to demonstrate his hatred of Israel.
Space will not permit the line-by-line demolition and mockery that this incredible article deserves, so let me cherry-pick a few choice examples.
Irvine himself points out that:

“The ship [the Exodus] was crowded with Holocaust survivors determined to make a new life for themselves in British-controlled Palestine.”

He then extrapolates in a marvelous non-sequitor:

This week another small flotilla of ships was making its way to Palestine. Crammed with humanitarian aid and some 600 international peace activists and human rights workers, it was set for Gaza.

Comparing the two:

Exodus: “crowded with Holocaust survivors”
Marmara: “Crammed with international peace activists and human rights workers” – and brutal thugs, very likely mercenaries given the weapons they prepared and the pockets with holding their forged dollars.

The purpose of the trips was, apparently, identical to Irvine, though I confess, not to me:

Exodus: “determined to make a new life for themselves in British controlled Palestine”
Marmara “set for Gaza” – to make a political point

Next false comparison:

Exodus: “From there these Holocaust survivors were transported back to Germany and were once again placed in camps” – and, were later detained in camps in Cyprus without trial for about a year for the crime of attempting to escape from their new camps in Germany
Marmara: “the survivors transferred to holding camps or prisons inside Israel before deportation.” – yes, the “survivors” who had not fired on or tried to stab or beat to death Israeli commandos were taken to hospitals where necessary, and a local prison before being deported, by bus to Jordan and by air to other countries, within approximately 24 hours.

And the cheering for these false parallels begins immediately:


With an occasional glimmer of understanding (so many pro-Israeli comments have been deleted I can’t find any before this one):


Next let’s look at a string of outright lies from Irvine:

“Beset by violence and poverty, Gaza is home to 1.5 million dispossessed and imprisoned Palestinians. Under Israeli control since 1967, Gaza has seen it all and been through it all.”

Those Palestinians now have their own little strip of the world, to do with as they will and as they wanted (well, they really want all of Israel and the West Bank too, but let’s leave that aside) – so are they still “dispossessed”? If a Palestinian State arises alongside Israel in some unimaginable combination of Gaza and the WB, will the people living there be forever “dispossessed”?
It has escaped the notice of this eminent lecturer who “teaches a course entitled “The Battle for Palestine” at Queen’s University Belfast” that Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip completely and it has not been “under Israeli control” since September 12, 2005. One can only shudder to think what the final essays from his gullible students must contain, and perhaps this explains why there is still a boat limping towards Ashdod from Ireland (they think they are going to Gaza … yet another error).
On he goes:

“Of course you can agree with all this and say it is the terrorist organisation Hamas that is to blame. You can say that even though all this is illegal under international law it is necessary for Israel’s security. Or you can ask how banning toys is fighting terror.”

Actually, I think it is the Turks, the IHH, the Gaza Now crowd, and the naïve fools that they work their lies upon who are to blame. And no, I can say that when the goods were unloaded from the Marmara at Ashdod, toys were immediately transported , along with much of the rest of the cargo except outdated medicines (a favorite “gift” of the Free Gaza crowd) and proscribed materials to Gaza, where Hamas refused to allow the goods in:

Flotilla aid refused by Hamas
“Hamas has refused to allow those trucks to go in,” the [Israeli] official said, “and if the aid is so urgent, my question is, why are they not allowing it into Gaza?”
The official added that “we have conducted talks with the Red Cross [to try and get the aid in], but Hamas is still refusing. In the meantime, the rest of truckloads will wait in Israel until further notice.”

Then Irvine adds an enormously over-the-top citation form Mary Robinson:

“Their whole civilisation has been destroyed. I’m not exaggerating … It’s almost unbelievable that the world doesn’t care while this is happening.”

“Civilization destroyed”? Really? Well, not exactly – perhaps she said that while selecting her food from the 15 page menu at the exclusive Roots Restaurant, unaware that for a fraction of the price she could get a felafal round the corner from a more representative, and still flourishing, member of the Gazan traditional “civilization”. Or purchase a Mercedes Benz smuggled in via the tunnels after a hard day bargaining in the souk.
As for the “world doesn’t care”, this crowd of parasites on the world’s largesse has been supported for over 60 years by UNRWA, the only organization ever set up to provide global assistance to just one particular group of people.
To wrap up we have the smug comment:

“Regardless of whom you choose to believe, this week the world witnessed another example of Israel’s humanity. Just like the British all those years ago, Israel boarded and attacked the small flotilla far out to sea;”

But I doubt the Guardian ran 30 or 40 articles about it in three days, nor protested about the action “far out to sea” and the Exodus was not packed with thugs wielding iron bars and slingshots spoiling for a fight.
Perhaps I’m wrong – perhaps the Guardian did write about it, at a time when it could still differentiate between right and wrong. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some pictures. Try to see the similarities between the Exodus and the Marmara, and the passengers:
The Exodus:


The Marmara:

Passengers on the Exodus:


A passenger on the Marmara:


Yes – the parallels are blatantly obvious – but only to the hopelessly biased.

Tags from the story
,
Written By
More from Hawkeye
Why was this deleted?
Here’s another deleted comment from the Carlo Strenger thread from last week....
Read More
Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *