GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War Day 613

All Theater

I told You So

Yesterday when I reported on the Freedom Flotilla I predicted what I saw happening and I wasn’t off at all. I said that the boat wouldn’t reach Gaza and it didn’t. I said that the Israeli Navy would warn the boat and if they refused to stop their approach they would be intercepted and boarded and that also happened. I then said that the 12 members on the flotilla would record they were going to be kidnapped and the footage is easily found online. And then I said the IDF would treat them well and would record it meticulously to counter any propaganda from the attention-grabbers. That occurred. Then I said that the boat would be commandeered and the protesters deported. The deportations are in progress and the boat offshore far away from Gaza. I also said that what little aid they had would be delivered by the Israelis which also took place. Then the IDF did something I didn’t see coming and it was a brilliant move. We’re told all about this spectacle in a report from The Times Of Israel:

Israeli forces took control of the Gaza-bound boat Madleen early Monday and detained the group of 12 activists who were on board, following repeated warnings to the activists against attempting to sail to the Gaza coast, which is under a strict maritime blockade.

As previously noted, this was not an attempt to deliver humanitarian aid, but a publicity stunt:

The group of activists — among whom are Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Brazilian activist Thiago Avila, and French-Palestinian European Parliament Member Rima Hassan — were to be handed over to police for deportation upon arrival at Ashdod Port.

Details of the commandeering of the flotilla were given:

The vessel had defied repeated warnings issued by Israel to turn around since it departed Sicily last Sunday. The last reported location of the vessel was at 1:15 a.m. local time, just north of Egypt’s Port Said, around 55 nautical miles from Israeli-administered waters. At around 3 a.m., as it approached Gaza, it was intercepted by the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit and the Snapir harbor security unit, a military official told The Times of Israel. Before it was boarded, it was given a final opportunity to change course, both by the Foreign Ministry and the Navy, but again refused.

The official statements made it clear to the activists why they needed to stop and turn around:

“The Gaza maritime zone remains an active conflict area, and Hamas has previously exploited sea routes for terrorist attacks, including the October 7th massacre,” warned the Foreign Ministry, which provided periodic updates in English throughout Sunday night and Monday morning. Unauthorized attempts to breach the blockade are dangerous, unlawful, and undermine ongoing humanitarian efforts,” the ministry said. It called for “all actors to act responsibly and to channel humanitarian aid through legitimate, coordinated mechanisms, not through provocation.”

The PR Battles Began

Both sides took to social media to give their sides of the events:

It (Israeli Foreign ministries office ) then published a video showing an Israeli Navy soldier communicating with the boat over loudspeaker, telling them that the maritime zone around Gaza was closed, but that the humanitarian aid could be delivered to the Strip via Ashdod Port.

The flotilla also gave their view of what was happening:

Activists on board the ship posted a video showing them hunkering down as a drone hovered overhead.

“We are right here surrounded by Israeli drones. Please sound the alarm,” an activist is heard saying. “Please take cover everyone. Assume positions.”

Then they posted the videos they recorded earlier:

It commenced publishing a series of pre-recorded videos of those aboard asking for help from their home countries. The activist crew was “kidnapped by Israeli forces,” it said. “The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo—including baby formula, food and medical supplies—confiscated.”

The drama queen also chimed in:

Thunberg also filmed herself asserting that she had been “kidnapped” by “the Israeli occupational forces.”

They then tried to say that they were being taken hostage which is a slap in the face of the Israelis held in captivity by Hamas:

The videos and language appeared designed to echo the plight of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Several prominent pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel Instagram accounts, with well over 1 million followers among them, appeared to further the comparison with a joint post that said, in all-caps, “Release the hostages now” — followed by a list of the passengers on the Madleen.

Of course nothing could be further from the truth:

Israel confirmed that it had taken control of the boat and was towing it toward Ashdod Port in a statement released via the Foreign Ministry, which said that the “selfie yacht” was “safely making its way to the shores of Israel.”

“The passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” it added.

So how much aid were these attention hogs carrying? Not much:

The Foreign Ministry said that the boat was carrying “less than a single truckload of aid.” In contrast, it said, “more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza.”

The Foreign Ministry added these comments concerning the right way to help while making fun of their true mission:

“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve Instagram selfies,” the Foreign Ministry said. “The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels.”

It published a video a short while later showing the detained activists being escorted to the Ashdod Port, confirming that the passengers were “safe and unharmed” and had been provided with sandwiches and water.

They then added this, which I totally agree with:

“The show is over,” it said.

Unsupported Complaints Ensued

Obviously these protesters must have a team managing their social media and have all along:

In an apparent attempt to ease concerns over the well-being of the Madleen’s crew, it said on X that Thunberg was “in good spirits,” and shared a photo of the climate activist smiling tightly as she was offered a plastic-wrapped pastrami sandwich by a soldier.

One Arab rights group is pursuing legal action to get the group of 12 safely released as if they are being detained as prisoners which could hardly be the case. You don’t offer sandwiches and drinks to hostages as the IDF did. Saint Greta is also seen smiling at how she was treated. But exaggeration and false embellishment plays well to the uninformed masses. The Israeli Defense Minister spoke up about the ordeal:

Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, praised the Israeli navy for its swift takeover of the ship. Footage from before soldiers boarded showed that the activists planned to make a show of not putting up resistance.

And then the surprise came:

Katz then announced that he had ordered the military to screen a video showing atrocities committed on October 7, 2023, to the detained activists once they had safely arrived at port.

The harrowing 43-minute video produced by the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s office shows uncensored, difficult-to-watch footage of people being massacred and bodies mutilated during the onslaught, much of it taken from terrorists’ bodycams.

Katz went on to say this:

“It’s appropriate that Greta the antisemite and her Hamas-supporting friends should see exactly who is the terror group Hamas that they support and act on behalf of, what atrocious acts they carried out on women, the elderly and kids, and who Israel is fighting for its defense against,” the defense minister said.

The footage always elicits strong responses as it should:

Israel has shown the atrocities video, titled “Bearing Witness,” to journalists and public figures in limited screenings around the world as part of its efforts to rally support for its war on Hamas, though its use of the footage has occasionally garnered controversy.

So the Hamas supporters are heading back to their homes, the aid delivered and the boat sitting offshore in Ashdod. And hopefully the theatrics are over. Until the next one.