The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
June 4, 2010

Israeli Military Retracts Claim Passengers "Al Qaeda Mercenaries"
-----------------------------------------------------------------



The Israeli military, meanwhile, has been forced to retract its claim
that passengers aboard the flotilla were agents of al-Qaeda. An Israel
Defense Forces press release sent out two days after the assault says
approximately forty flotilla passengers "are mercenaries belonging to
the Al Qaeda terror organization." The independent journalist Max
Blumenthal says both he and an Israeli colleague asked the Israeli
military press office to substantiate its claim. No evidence was
provided, and one day later the press released was modified. The
original headline was changed from "Attackers of the IDF Soldiers Found
to be Al Qaeda Mercenaries" to "Attackers of the IDF Soldiers Found
Without Identification Papers." Commenting on the retraction, Blumenthal
writes, "The more Israel’s claims about the flotilla’s terrorist links
are challenged, the more they fall apart."



.