Israelis Detain, Beat & Release US Citizen, THEN claim he's a "terrorist"

[Michael Tee]

Kenneth O'Keefe, a former U.S. Marine and veteran of the First Gulf War, arrested by the Israelis onboard the Mavi Marmara, beaten in custody and then released, was later accused by the Israelis of planning to train Hamas commandos.

O'Keefe, a long-time peace activist following his military service, went to Baghdad as part of the Human Shield initiative to try to protect civilian targets of the U.S.  military.  He's a long-time advocate of non-violent peace activism.

One more example of the Zio-Nazis' lying bullshit - - they release him, THEN they claim he's a terrorist.

http://www.antiwar.com/

[BT]

Wonder how he avoided the skirmishes on the ship.

[Michael Tee]

Maybe he was a coward and hid in the head till it was all over.  What's your point?  Mine was how the lying bastards make up the claim that he was a "terrorist" after they release him.  What's yours?

[BT]

Just curious why the importance of mentioning he was an ex marine, seems that would lead to him being in the thick of things.

I also notice Jason Ditz didn't source the claim about the man being beaten in custody.

[Michael Tee]

<<Just curious why the importance of mentioning he was an ex marine, seems that would lead to him being in the thick of things.>>

Just thought it would impress ya - - Duty, honour, country, Marines don't lie, etc.

<<I also notice Jason Ditz didn't source the claim about the man being beaten in custody.>>

I assume it was the guy himself, but I'll take another look.

[Michael Tee]

<<I also notice Jason Ditz didn't source the claim about the man being beaten in custody.>>

"reportedly after being beaten in custody"

Yeah, you're right, he didn't.

This might answer some of your questions:

http://www.israel-palestinenews.org/2010/06/american-ken-okeefe-beaten-brutally-by.html

[BT]

Wonder why they say he is an American citizen when he renounced his citizenship in 2001.

[BT]

The man has problems with timelines and he has no problem admitting he manipulates the media.

In 2007 I joined the Free Gaza  Movement with its plan to  challenge the blockade of  Gaza by travelling to Gaza by sea.  From the moment I heard of the plan I  knew it could succeed and  ultimately I served as a  captain on the first attempt.  The Israeli government said throughout  our preparation that we were no  better than pirates and  they would treat us as such.  They made clear we would not reach Gaza.   And still I knew we could succeed.  And  we did.  Two boats with 46 passengers  from various countries managed to sail into  Gaza on August 23, 2010; this was the first time this had been done in  41 years.

The truth is  the blockade of Gaza  is far more than three years old, and  yet we, a small group of conscientious  people defied the Israeli machine and celebrated with tens of thousands  of Gazans when we arrived that day.  We proved that it could be done.   We  proved that an intelligent plan,with  skilled manipulation of the media, could render the full might of the  Israeli Navy useless.  And I knew then that this  was only the tip of the iceberg.

Your link.

[Xavier_Onassis]

(1) Did he say he was a US citizen?
(2) It is certainly possible to hold US-Irish dual citizenship.If the PA issues him a passport, that is subject to their requirements.
(3) Where does it say he renounced US citizenship?

It sounds like his statements are sincere, and that he could have offed a couple of Israeli commandos and chose not to do so.

[BT]

The Irish-American activist renounced his American citizenship in 2001 in protest at what he described as the US funding of war, death and murder.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=129205&sectionid=351020202

It sounds like his statements are sincere, and that he could have offed a couple of Israeli commandos and chose not to do so.

I would suspect the commandos resisted and most likely that is when he received his injuries.

[Xavier_Onassis]

According to what he said, the Israelis shot a friend in the head and he wrested a pistol away from him and unloaded it, rather than shooting him. I imagine that one does not wrest a gun away from a commando without some resistance.

Obviously, he was bludgeoned. I am not disputing that: all I said was that he said that he COULD have killed the commando, but chose not to do so.

[BT]

And all i am saying is that his claim to have been beaten while in custody is only corroborated by a fellow blockade runner and that more likely he suffered the injuries while fighting on the ship instead of the more sympathetic claim that he was beaten while in custody.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I would say that neither side can be entirely trusted. Presumably, the Israelis arrived with paintball guns and sound cannons, and then went back for pistols and teargas guns: the ones with the clubs were supposedly the defenders of the ship. Both the arrival of the ship and the attack on the ship were propaganda photo-opportunities.

[Michael Tee]

If it makes anyone feel any better about all this, call him a former American citizen.  I guess that justifies the beating he got and sort of lets Obama off the hook for not protesting more vigorously over the beating.  While still not explaining his total silence over the murder of a 19-year-old U.S. citizen in the incident.

Yeah, he "manipulates" the media.  So did Gandhi.  So did Martin Luther King, Jr.  However if you really want to see the media manipulated, forget those amateurs and watch the master - - the Israelis.  They imposed a total communication ban on the ship and its passengers, released only one minute of video of the entire episode and for 48 hours had total control of the story, giving the MSM nothing but their version of the facts and all "reaction" or "commentary" restricted to endless loops of Israeli spokespeople or pro-Israeli American media personalities.

[BT]

If it makes anyone feel any better about all this, call him a former American citizen.

Just saying Jason Ditz could have fact checked his story a bit better. And Human Rights Watch claimed the human shields gave tacit aid and comfort to Saddam Hussein when they pulled their little stunt.

I agree a better poster boy for the movement probably could be found.