Media 'Discovers' Israel Attacks Aid Ships, Again
When Al-Monitor breathlessly informs us that activists used cameras and data to 'win global attention' after armed Israeli soldiers boarded an aid flotilla, it conveniently ignores that this isn't a new tactic—or a new crime. Israel has a well-documented history of intercepting, attacking, and even killing activists on humanitarian missions to Gaza. Remember the Mavi Marmara in 2010? Israeli
commandos killed nine unarmed civilians, including one Turkish-American teenager. Instead, mainstream media outlets like Al-Monitor frame these acts of state violence as a 'struggle for attention' or a 'messaging war.' Because the real story isn't the illegal blockade or the violence used to enforce it, but the ingenuity of those trying to expose it. One might wonder if the conversation would
shift if, say, the US Coast Guard routinely raided Red Cross ships outside a sovereign nation's waters. But then, those countries usually don't receive $3.8 billion annually in U.S. military aid, nor do their lobbying arms spend tens of millions influencing Congress, like AIPAC did for decades influencing votes like the $14 billion in U.S. military aid Rep. Smith (hypothetically) supported after
receiving $450K. Apparently, some cameras and data are more equal than others.