Maan News Agency (with video), June 5, 2010
On Monday morning, an Israeli army spokesperson released video footage of the Israeli Navy radioing the Mavi Marmara prior to the raid that took place in international waters and left nine activists dead.
But on Friday, an Israeli army spokesperson released a new version of the same footage—one that critics say has been very obviously tampered with.
In the first video, a soldier says, “Mavi Marmara, you are approaching an area of hostility which is under a naval blockade.”
There is no recorded response.
The soldier continues. “The Gaza area, coastal region, and Gaza harbor are closed to all maritime traffic.”
Again, there is no response.
The soldier radios again, saying, “The Israeli government supports delivery of humanitarian supplies to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and invites you to enter the Ashdod port…”
The updated version, released five days later, includes three different alleged responses from passengers who, according to the video, were supposedly on the Mavi Marmara. This new clip shows only a still of the soldier who appears in the first footage.
He does not address the Mavi Marmara as he did in the video released on Monday. Instead he says, “This is the Israeli navy, you are approaching an area which is under a naval blockade.”
A man with an odd, indistinct accent responds, “Shut up. Go back to Aushwitz.”
A voice of a woman follows. She states, “We have permission from the Gaza Port Authority to enter.”
The third response, which seems entirely disconnected from the events, comes from a man with a heavy Southern accent. “We’re helping Arabs go against the US. Don’t forget 9/11 guys.”
Ali Abuminah, founder of the website Electronic Intifada, reported on his blog that the woman’s voice is that of Palestinian-American activist Huwaida Arraf.
Speaking to Maan News Agency this afternoon, Arraf, chair of the Free Gaza Movement, confirmed that it is her voice. But she emphasized that she was on the Challenger 1, not the Mavi Marmara.
“I was by the radio the whole time there was any communication,” Arraf says. “Mine was the only boat in which I answered and not the captain and they all answered in a very professional manner.”
Arraf adds that while she might have spoken of having permission from the Gaza Port Authority on a previous attempt to break the blockade, she is certain that she did not say it on Monday morning.
“When they radioed us, we were still 100 miles away,” she comments.” There’s no doubt that this whole thing they put out is fabricated.”
When asked about claims that the video had been faked, an Israeli army spokesperson remarked, “There is no basis for the allegations.”
This seems to be the latest move of the Israeli army’s aggressive media campaign to sway public opinion.
Israel has seized all recording devices from journalists and activists who were on the flotilla. A journalist with Al Jazeera, however, managed to leak footage that indicates the Israeli army began shooting at the passengers of the Mavi Marmara before soldiers boarded the boat, bolstering the case that passengers who were armed with sticks and chairs were acting in self-defense.
The Israeli army has released a short video that shows soldiers dropping down onto the Mavi Marmara from helicopters. The clip does not include any footage of the moments prior to the soldiers’ boarding.
Image: screen shot from army footage of soldiers boarding Mavi Marmara