Monday, June 7, 2010

David Segarra interacts with El Mundo's readers.

David Segarra is a Spanish journalist who was one of the three Spaniards on board the Mavi Marmara, the ship which was boarded by the Tzahal last week. While writing this, he's interacting with El Mundo's readers through its Internet website. Of course, his intervention consists of accusing Israel and exonerating the activists; he has been answering questions for the last hour (at the moment I'm writing this).
The hypocrisy he's showing is evident. For example, in the question #21, a reader asks him about the violence in Congo, where more than 5,000,000 people have been killed in the last years. The reader writes that activists usually denounce the violence suffered by the Palestinians while ignoring millions of people being slaughtered in other parts of the world. Segarra's answer? All the human beings are equal and they deserve the same attention; but neither Segarra himself nor the activists are leading a humanitarian campaign in favour of the Congolese people.
Segarra's eyewitness account was confronted with this question (#6, translated as accurate as possible, between quotation marks):

"Hello, David. You affirm that the Israelis began to shoot before the boarding and that they killed at least two people from the helicopters. However, autopsies say that all of the deads were killed by 9mm pistol shots at point-blank range. Doesn't this contradict your testimony? Do you have visual proofs which support your version?"

Segarra's answer began with this statements:

"Those who have visual evidencies are they. The facts: 10 deads, 40 wounded, they were journalists and voluntary workers. On the Israeli side, four wounded, none of them being in danger."

Segarra continues his answer through talking about his personal experience, telling, for example, that he and some other individuals were involved in a shooting aimed at them.
Of course, all of this, along with Israeli soldiers' accounts, leave every single observer with a reasonable doubt about Israeli soldiers' actions, while demonstrating the violence exercised by the activists.
Regarding the idea of the blockade and the boarding themselves, Segarra sustains they were illegal according to internaional law. Maybe the time has come to clarify that, according to the article 67 of the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea:

"Merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral States may not be attacked unless they:

(a) are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture;".

Segarra denied that Israel allows humanitarian aid to be sent to the Gaza Strip through its border, despite all the visual evidencies showing humanitarian aid being delivered and Gaza Strip's stores and markets plenty of food and clothes.

Segarra also fails to specify the connection between the organization behind the flotilla (I.H.H.) and terrorist organizations (see here, from page 10).

Now the interview is closed. I tried to participate through asking Segarra about the violence which erupted aboard the Mavi Marmara, but I wasn't answered.

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