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AUGUST 11, 2016
Meet the Gaza Navy
On June 11, 2015, the Israeli Defense Force issued a statement. It was the end of their investigation of the well documented shelling on the beach at Gaza during Operation Protective Edge where four young boys were killed. The military completely exonerated itself of any wrong doing.
You can find the posting from the Israeli Defense Force here:
Blood on the Sand
It's summer, the perfect time to head to the beach to enjoy a swim to cool off from the hot sun, or take a leisurely stroll along the shore to clear one’s mind with the calming sound of the surf as a sound track.
For virtually everyone in the Western world this is completely normal. There are no thoughts whatsoever of death coming from the sky or from Naval ships at sea…..not so in the Middle East. And certainly not so in Gaza.
I think that is why when reading an article in The Guardian a few days back I became even more incensed than usual.
It seems the Israel security services has arrested and charged a UNDP staffer, Waheed Al Borsh, with conspiring with the Hamas government in Gaza to help reinforce the jetty surrounding the Gaza fishing harbor. Seems the Israeli military think this is a Naval Military Base of major proportions. And when you read such a news article without visual documentation, as is the case the the Guardian article, you might think the area is walled off and full of armored ships….nothing could be further from the truth.
Without hype I offer a video introduction to the Gaza Navy; on review as they rehearsed for a celebration to welcome the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Of course the Freedom Flotilla never did arrive to the harbor; it was seized in opened waters with the Israeli Navy killing nine and injuring many others.
Can one only shake one’s head in complete disbelief at the total inequity of the situation?
I sincerely hope not.... I hope we can speak out and make our voices heard above the din.
You can find a New York Times background article on the events surrounding the tragedy here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/world/middleeast/gaza-strip-beach-explosion-kills-children.html
Reading the Israeli Defense Force dismissal it is sad and distressing that so many who follow the conflict take it at face value. From personal experience, having photographed from the exact location where the shelling took place I can honestly say the IDF report is so blatantly full of disinformation that it needs to be challenged. Not only to help bring justice to the boys killed, but to bring attention to the hypocrisy so rampant in Israel's response to criticism.
The section of beach that was targeted is immediately adjacent to the Al Diera Hotel. A world class facility that is home to many of the mainstream media covering Gaza. It has a huge restaurant/cafe that overlooks the ocean. On the beach, during the summer, in times of peace, there are sun umbrellas and a cafe used by thousands of locals who use this stretch of sand for escape from the hardships of daily life.
To say the area in question was used "exclusively by militants" is blatantly wrong. It is a common area immediately adjacent to the Gaza fishing harbor. To give you a sense of the locations I offer two videos. The first are images from the exact area of the bombing toward the beach and the Al Diera Hotel. The next series were taken from the balcony of the Hotel toward the harbor
From personal observation and journalistic conversations with members of the government, Hamas does not have a "death wish". They do not use the citizens of Gaza as "human shields". They are not callous by using high profile public spaces as military launching sites; locations they know are frequented by large numbers of the population. They are not stupid. They would not use an area directly across from the hotel, where the world media could and would document their every move.
How anyone can buy into Israeli's one size fits all justification is beyond comprehension. They absolutely need to be challenged in public discourse and in a court of law. They truely need to be held accountable for their actions.
