**During a riot against rightful actions taken by Israel against a ship carrying HAMAS weapons and Islamic terrorists, an American Jewish, self hating,  art student – a radical herself supporting HAMAS – lost her left eye. Oh what a pity…she had it coming…send her and other radical terrorist supporters to federal prison!**Nope, don’t get me wrong – this not the way this Author feels, but how the right-wing, Islamophobic lunatic fringe  would describe this horrible event!  This is a sample of what we can expect from some we share this planet with. After all,  “Islam is taking over the West,” as well as “all Muslims are fanatical, all imams are radical, all mosques are hotbeds of radicalization.” You can tell how out of touch the Islamophobic lunatics are, as they are the only ones on Planet Earth that demonizes the activists of the Freedom Flotilla and hold Israel blameless.First of all, Emily Henochowicz is not some “radical” connected to any “radical organization,”  but a talented art student at Cooper Union in New York who is currently enrolled at  Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy. Henochowicz had her left eye and face destroyed after being hit by a tear gas canister shot by Israeli Border Police at Qalandiya checkpoint, near Ramallah. Some say that the police were targeting protesters. When we see the picture posted at the blog Palestine Monitor, we see Henochowicz  being caught by another protester after she is hit, a Palestinian woman.Although there were some clashes,  but Henochowicz was not among them:

At some point, they started shooting these tear-gas projectiles directly towards demonstrators in all directions. We started moving away. Emily was standing maybe ten meters away from where the clashes were taking place. And in these instances, these projectiles are very accurate. The border police officer that shot her shot her intentionally. She was holding—she was holding a flag and was very clearly not a threat to anyone, when she was shot or at any other stage. The projectile hit her in the face directly and caused the very serious injuries that you described before. [ Democracy Now!]

The canister that hit Henochowicz caused tremendous damage to her face. The visual artist and author of the blog  – Thirsty Pixels – not only lost her left eye, but suffered fractures to her eye socket, face and jaw. These are devastating injuries for someone who is studying to be an artist – and it’s here where we see that argument falling apart that “everyone” on the Spirit of Humanity was a “radical terrorist” and that “only radical terrorists” are the ones fighting against Israel’s current policies.Visit Emily’s blog at Thirsty Pixels—Yes – and we now know that the US-Turkish citizen killed on the Freedom Flotilla had been shot several times in the head and torso. Dogan was born in Troy NY – and this, and now the apparent attack on art student Emily Henochowicz may place strain on the Obama’s Administration’s “neutrality” in the current crisis with Israel. Two other Americans were injured in the raid on the Spirit of Humanity- Freedom Flotilla.According to the State Department personnel, they are “in constant contact with the state of Israel” as “protecting American citizens is our fundamental responsibility.”Bullcrap……and let’s not hold our breath on justice for the American victims of the Freedom Flotilla massacre. Given America’s culture and political practices, the interests of the Israeli lobby and Israel will be placed first above these peasants who are perhaps “radicals helping HAMAS terrorists.”  In the end “radical” American citizens that get injured abroad “in support of terrorism” don’t matter, and its surprising there are no calls to prosecute Emily Henochowicz coming from the Western right-wing, Islamophobic lunatic fringe. These brave Americans that have answered the call to fight tyranny abroad are clearly heroes. This fight is reminiscent of the brave Americans that fought – and died – in America’s Civil Rights movement over 40 years ago.Seeing though Israeli excuses. The actual moral of the story about the “violence by radical terrorists against Israeli commandos on a ship carrying arms for HAMAS” is this:  Don’t bring knives and pipes to fight commandos with MP5s and body armor. We should see Israeli justifications of “these terrorists attacked out soldiers with knives and metal pipes” as outrageous.  The world should see this, clearly, and find the Israeli “self defense” excuse as rubbish, as well as question the idea of sending well armed commandos, in the dark, in international waters – as an invitation for the flotilla activists to be killed in the first place.But – this was a boat of 700 “radical terrorists supporting HAMAS,” so who cares what happens![Three American Subplots in Flotilla Drama - NY Times] [Former US Diplomat Witnessed Israeli Raid - NPR]

FIRST OF ALL - there is an evil ilk that we share this planet with, the American-European  far-right, American neoconservatives, Israeli Likud Party, and Geert Wilders types, that want a Cold War with the estimated 1.57 billion Muslims on the planet. This evil ilk promotes the notion that Islam is “an ideology” like communism.  This evil and  hateful ilk promote a robot-like image of Muslims as “radical, deviant, violent, cold blooded killers” that want “to Islamifiy Europe and America” with a harsh sharia law. This ilk also seeks to label peaceful, human rights activists, using their free speech rights (people like me), as “silent jihadists” and “supporters of terrorism.” This ilk includes Geert Wilders, Benjamin Netanyahu, Daniel Pipes, talkshows hosts like Dennis Prager and Micheal Savage. Organizations include the the Likud Party, Tea Party, the English Defense League and, of course, the (anti-)Freedom Party of Wilders.

Now – we ask ourselves why Israel and Netanyahu would be so stupid and foolish as to send commandos in the middle of the night to commit such violence on board of an aid ship?Simple – Arabs and Muslims are not human beings. They are “radicalized animals” that want “to destroy our civilization with their murderous ideology of Islam.” Second those that support and advocate for them and “their stealth jihad” (like human rights) are “aiding terrorists in their terrorism,” and are, therefore, also “terrorists.” What is clear is that this hateful and violent ilk is placing itself outside civilized conduct and are actually opposed to human rights – from Gaza – to the Netherlands -to the UK – and on to US, in the name of “fighting” phony and politically defined “jihads” and under the crackpot notions of “Islamification” and that “Muslims and Islam are dangerous.”Given that this ilk wants a Cold War against all Muslims in Muslim countries – including democracies like Turkey – it comes as NO surprise that this ilk and their Likud puppets in the Israeli government want to drive Turkey from its traditional NATO and European allies.The attack on the Freedom Flotilla that killed 9 people and saw hundreds of innocent people, many of them notable artists, parliamentarians, diplomats, Nobel Peace Prize winners,  “arrested” by Israeli forces in international waters.  This “felt like 9-11″ to Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and indeed this major event has the same level of international condemnation.  Like the Taliban, Israel feels that it can conduct criminal conduct with impunity and with protection by the United States. Israel remains in defiance of the United Nations in the strong call to remove the blockade from Gaza.

Indeed – this attack on an aid ship gained just as much world condemnation as the September 11th attacks on the US. Very few, if any, members on the civilized international community have sided with Israel, just as only Saddam Hussein was the only one smiling after America’s 9-11 .  The few people  that sided with Israel were the usual delusional nutcakes that view Muslims as non-human “terrorist” robots and leftists and human rights activists as “terrorist sympathizers.”  This includes crackpot attempts by outlets like Fox News to paint the Nobel Peace Prize winners, former UN diplomats, parliamentarians, noted human rights activists and journalists in the freedom Flotilla as “terrorists trying to bring weapons to HAMAS.” —SECOND OF ALL- will the European Union final show that it’s not an appendage of the United States – stand on its own -and stand up against the impunity of Israel?Will the European Union use its normative power to curb Israel’s lawlessness and criminal behavior?

This is a classical battle between the nationalism of Israel and “big powers” like the US that protect Israel – and the will of the international community to impose law and order. What the United States is doing in protecting Israel is to excuse murder and violations of international law. Notice who is in defiance of the civilized community of nations and law and order – it’s the US and Israel.  Because of this relationship, Israel feels emboldened – much like a violent criminal who has bribed the police and judges. The EU should consider the association agreement it has with Israel. This can be suspended or changed until Israel’s behavior changes. The EU is a normative power, that is, its relations are also aimed at promoting respect for international laws and norms. In this regard – the EU – once political will is gained – can put the screws to Israel.The international community has called Israel’s blockade of Gaza a possible violation of international law, as well as the killings of aid workers on board the Freedom Flotilla. The stated major aim of the current Euro-Mediterranean Agreement between the EU and Israel is human rights, but trade is also a major feature. Refusing to submit to international law and standards of conduct, as well as an impartial international investigation, should be enough to start incrementally putting the screws to Israel though its agreements with the Union. [list of EU agreements with Israel]What the EU as a normative power should do and are typical practices for the EU:

• Provide support for international legal institutions to impartially investigate the actions of Israel, both in Gaza and the killing of aid workers on the Freedom Flotilla;
• Demand that Israel cooperate in an independent-international  investigation though threats of incremental suspensions of  benefits of the relationship to Israel;
• Suspend and revoke EU agreements with Israel, also on the national level;
• Help get sanctions with other international organizations until Israel complies and opens aid to Gaza.
• Draw closer to Turkey and join the international community, especially the UN,  in its investigations of Israel;
• Also – work to put an end to the same violent Islamophobic bigotry that fuels Europeans, like Geert Wilders, and far-right parties, like the PVV.  This calls for exposing the “Islamification” myth and attempts to label human rights activists (and anybody on the left) as “jihadists” and  “supporters of terrorists.”

There are officials in the EU that believe that Turkey’s active role in its region will help its membership bid. So far, as we can figure out (but not the insane that believe that “all Muslims are evil”) that Turkey is acting like a civilized member of the international community. Turkey is pushing sanctions against Israel – and this call is being heard by others. From peace groups to writers, including the crew on the Rachel Corrie, the call is starting to bring sanctions through European Union on Israel. Turkey should work though the EU also to bring pressure on Israel.  This is the perfect time for Turkey and the EU to form a deep friendship in its mutual concerns about Israel’s impunity and lawless conduct.Below in the video, we see MEPs calling on the same actions against Israel advocated by this Author and a growing number of others….[see also]International legal institutions are also framing responses, as we can see from the statements out of the ICC Review Conference at Kampala. Yes – the international legal institutions – and they need to operate and start an investigation into Israel’s conduct independent of the Security Council.

This tragedy is the result of the prolonged impunity granted to Israel by the international community, despite Israel’s documented, persistent disregard for international and humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and its violation of fundamental human rights, including the right to life. Many of these violations also entail criminal responsibility; however, so far no concrete action has been taken and impunity is a long standing feature of Israel’s illegal occupation policy. [read full statement] 

Well – if there is any time for international legal institutions to bring law and order and end Israel’s impunity – it’s now. If there are blocks in both the UN, from the US, and the Council (the Czech Republic) then alternative means to establish law and order need to be found. We have the defenders of Likud-controlled Israel, but we also have the lack of political will. What is needed, according to one observer, is for civil society to bust Israel’s blockade of Gaza city – which the UN has repeatedly asked Israel to left.Now – the Rachel Corrie, an Irish ship, is heading for Gaza with1,000 tons of cement and 20 tons of educational materials and toys, along with vital medical supplies. The Irish government has told the Israelis to keep their hands off the ship while in international waters. We should hold all those who are embarking with this great courage to face Israeli violence as heroes that must be given the highest honors!