It appears that the organizers of the Freedom Flotilla 2 have decided to ignore the various intimidations made by Israeli and US politicians and that the Freedom Flotilla 2 (FF2) is about to sail to Gaza. Predictably, Netanyahu's threat to deport all journalists on the FF2 for 10 years and Hillary Clinton's threat to arrest any US citizens involved in "aiding Hamas" had no effect at all the the FF2 organizers. It also appears that, just as with the first Flotilla, some Israeli spooks have sabotaged one of the ships in Greece while the Greek government attempted to keep a ship in port under spurious pretexts.
As always, the Zionists showed their total inability to understand public opinion (some even accused the FF2 of carrying chemical weapons!) and the US ZPC, having just given Netanuahu its most abject display of subservience (29 standing ovations), reacted with its usual Zio-piety. Hardly a surprise.
As for the FF2 organizers, they succeeded in gathering a beautifully diverse flotilla, including US citizens, EU politicians, Holocaust survivors and enough reporters to cover it all. They also came up with an absolutely brilliant slogan "Stay Human!". Their website is decent, though too gimmick heavy and not up to date. Their is another website, Freegaza, which also is well designed.
All in all, I would say "so far, so good". And yet I am still worried.
First, there is absolutely no information anywhere on what exactly the FF2 will do when the Israelis intercept it. True, the Israelis have also remained very vague about their exact plans, hinting only that they will "avoid physical contact" as much as possible. But while I can see how the Israelis could keep their plans secret, I cannot imagine how the FF2 organizers could also do so.
Second, I see no mention at all of Ken O'Keefe in connection with the FF2. I know that he was recently the object of political attacks, and that the last update on his blog is of June 5th. Now, I am not saying that without O'Keefe the FF2 is doomed, but I will notice that a person whose thinking about what to do when the FF2 is boarded next time is now conspicuously absent and that worries me a great deal. Here is why:
The Israelis are stupid, of course, but they are clever idiots and I do trust them to come up with some way to prevent the FF2 from reaching Gaza. How? Well, that would depend on the size and type of each boat, but the basic choices are a) disabling the boat or b) literally pushing it off its course (both options have been successfully used past maritime confrontations when it the use of conventional firepower was deemed undesirable by political authorities). My question is this: has the FF2 prepared for such a response? Even more relevantly: how could the FF2 be ready for such a contingency without numerous rehearsals, drills or clear chain of command, etc? Do we even know who is in charge of the FF2 or will this be a "democratic" exercise?
There are many sound tactical options available to the FF2 including fake movements towards Gaza followed by withdrawals, coordinating boat movements (which seems not to have been done last time), "hardening" the boats against landing commandos (pretty easy to do, in particular if the attacking side cannot use regular firepower), launching small speedboats, using Egyptian coastal waters, or even waiting far off the Gaza coast in the high seas without moving much at all, or while constantly changing course (that kind of behavior will rapidly wear down the Israeli defense perimeter). But all such options require careful planning and endless training.
Or take this simple question: what will the FF2 do when the Israelis begin to jam the entire electromagnetic spectrum? Have provisions been made to communicate by light, sonar or laser
While civilians tend to believe that good intentions and idealism prevail, military men know that only endless practice, drills and training make it possible to "train hard, fight easy". Has the FF2 trained hard enough to meet the Israelis on the high seas? Unfortunately, I very much doubt it. The absence of O'Keefe - or other men with a similar mindset - could well turn into a great weakness of the entire FF2 "engagement doctrine" (I assume - and hope! - that there is one).
As for the Israelis - they had a full year to prepare for FF2 and I am quite sure that they have done so carefully and systematically and that they will not simply engage in another wanton massacre as was the case with the Mavi Marmara. Of course, if things do not go their way, they will sooner or later fall-back on their usual policy of indiscriminate atrocities to teach the guilty goyim not to mess with the Chosen People, but that will probably not be their first choice this time.
Yes, I am worried. The Establishment's corporate media is already in total lockstep with the Israeli propaganda machine. Worse, not a single high-visibility personality has joined the FF2: no Nelson Mandela, no famous Rock singer, no Nobel Peace Prize winner, not a single major religious leader (not even the Dalai Lama - but that was predictable), no Danielle Mitterrand, no Jimmy Carter, not even a popular rap singer or sport hero (Ann Wright or Ray McGovern are great people, but they cannot be considered "high visibility"). Let's face it - the list of participants in the FF2 is completely lacking any kind of recognizable public figure and that, in itself, is a major victory for the Israelis: just as with the 9-11 Truth movement, the Zionists will easily dismiss all the FF2 participants as deluded or manipulated folks as easily as anybody daring to doubt the official propaganda about 9-11 found himself dismissed as a part of the "lunatic fringe". Ken O'Keefe understood that, and that is why he said that having such well-known public figures on board was essential. Alas, the organizers of the FF2 either disagreed, or did not have the resources to attract any public figure.
One more thing: what will Hamas or the folks in Egypt do to make maximum use of the FF2 operation? Surely they understand that now is the time to overwhelm the Israeli security forces, not later. Soon the Israelis will have their full attention on the FF2 and if something "big" happens in Rafah or even along the other crossing points into Israel the Israelis will be overwhelmed. The Israelis typically expect the Arabs to act passively and I am confident that if Hamas decided to engage into a surprise operation (say large civilian protest in North Gaza combined with a simultaneous commando sortie on Israeli positions along the Khan Yunis or Rafah districts) they would rapidly panic. Sure, they will eventually re-group and regain control of the situation, but that will be too late to prevent a deepening of the sense of doubt, fear, and insecurity in the Israeli general public.
Unlike the FF2 organizers, Hamas has the means to secretly plan and prepare a coordinated operation. But does it have the strategic vision to do so? So far, Hamas has shown some excellent tactical skills combined with an appalling strategic blindness and my hopes are not very high that Hamas will do anything at all to help the FF2 or even use this opportunity to weaken the Israeli grip on Gaza.
As I said above - so far so good. And I hope that all my fears are unjustified, that they are an expression of my natural paranoia and not of how things are shaping up. When I feel really discouraged, I remind myself that I can always count on the boundless arrogance of the Israelis who are clever, of course, but who are only clever fools whose racist delusions only serve to hasten the inevitable demise of their ugly experiment in a racially pure "Jewish state". They are their own worst enemies.
In the meantime, my thoughts and prayers are now with all the decent and courageous people on the FF2. May God keep them safe!
The Saker
