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On Memorial Day: U.S. Writer Says U.S. Must Honor 34 Soldiers Killed By Israel
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U.S.
celebrates memorial day on May 27
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WASHINGTON,
May 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Writing for the Palestine
Chronicle, Sherri Muzher, a U.S. writer said that fear of embarrassing
U.S. ally Israel should not stop U.S. citizens from acknowledging the
death of 34 U.S. soldiers onboard the USS Liberty by Israeli troops in
1967.
“It was this week, 35 years ago when the famous Six Day War in the
Middle East took place,” said Muzher. “Numerous casualties
occurred then, and the casualties resulting from Israel's brutal
occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East
Jerusalem continue to occur now as Palestinians wage an uprising for
their freedom. But what many Americans probably don't realize is that
there were American casualties in the 1967 war, as well.
“Thirty-four young men gave their lives on June 8, 1967, defending
the USS Liberty against a sustained air and sea attack by the armed
forces of the State of Israel. The American intelligence ship USS
Liberty was attacked for 75 minutes in international waters by Israeli
aircraft and motor torpedo boats. Besides the 34 men who gave their
lives, 171 others were wounded.
“It
seems rather senseless to keep pretending this Israeli assault on our
military never happened,” said Muzher.
According to Muzher, Israel insisted that they mistook the USS Liberty
for the out-of-service Egyptian horse carrier El-Quseir. They also
alleged that the American men brought the attack upon themselves by
operating in a war zone without displaying a flag.
“According
to the survivors, this was absolutely not the case. They were in
international waters, far from any fighting, and flew a bright, clean,
American flag. That flag is on display at the National Cryptologic
Museum in Maryland,” she added.
Muzher said that according to Liberty survivors, this reasoning
doesn't wash as the attack occurred on a clear afternoon, after 13
reconnaissance over-flights were made. In addition, the U.S. Board of
Inquiry noted, ‘the USS LIBERTY was the only non-Israeli ship in the
area.’
“Israeli
intelligence even admitted, prior to the outbreak, of knowing ‘the
exact location of all opposition forces and equipment - military and
civilian’.”
In her article, Muzher quoted Israeli air force intelligence General
Yeshayuah Bareket's comments during the 1987 Thames Television
documentary concerning the USS Liberty attack: "The ship is an
obstacle or is disturbing our operations in the area."
“So
basically, our men were attacked and killed for more than an hour
because they were in Israel's way. As American taxpayers, who send
billions of dollars in aid each year to Israel, we should not be
satisfied with this kind of reasoning. Nor should the silencing of the
Liberty survivors satisfy us,” she added.
Speaking
to Muzher, Jim Ennes, who was Officer-of-the-Deck at the time and
author of the 1980 best-selling Assault on the Liberty said: “The
USS Liberty was deliberately attacked by Israel, knowing we were an
American ship, committing war crimes in the process, lying about the
circumstances for 35 years, and then persuading the U.S. Congress to
accept their version of the attack without even considering the
eyewitness accounts of survivors. That is a first in U.S.
history."
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