The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting this afternoon to discuss the Israeli attack on a civilian aid ship in international waters, an attack which killed at least 19 aid workers and left dozens wounded. It resulted in criticism of the attack and calls on Israel to lift the aid blockade on the Gaza Strip.
“I believe Israel must urgently provide a full explanation,” insisted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Several governments have summoned Israeli ambassadors to demand an explanation of the attacks, and Turkey has recalled its ambassador from Israel in protest.
Incredibly, Israeli officials are praising the attack and shrugging off the large civilian toll. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the massacre constituted “self defense” and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon accused the aid workers of secretly being terrorists in league with al-Qaeda.
The killings sparked massive protests across the Middle East, and Israeli police were out in force, arresting anyone inside the nation who protested against the attack.
But while Western governments expressed official “shock” at the killings, few seem inclined to do much of anything about them, with Germany adding that it “supports unconditionally Israel’s right to self defense.”
The claims to self defense are common from Israel whenever it decides to slaughter civilians, but they ring particularly hollow in this case as the attack on the ship was decidedly illegal to begin with. Claiming self defense in the midst of commiting a crime of this caliber is akin to a bank robber claiming self defense in shooting the teller who threw a roll of pennies at him.
I wish people would understand that when nations claim the right to slaugher civilians based on any pretext, that's YOU AND ME AND EVERYONE WE KNOW that they are claiming the right to slaughter based on any pretext.
Wow–they specifically mentioned a link with "Al Qaeda" too?
Everyone knows the Saddam Hussein–Iran-Al Qaeda axis destroyed the Twin Towers, don' they?
Question–are the American masses dumber or smarter than the Germans Goebbels propagandized?
Definitely dumber. And the Germans did not have TV then.
The American public education system has been under attack for the last 50 years. Its no accident that most Americans are dumb and couldn't find Cyprus on a map.
The Zionists have nothing to fear, as always. Uncle Shmuel will veto anything the UN might try to do.
And we can defeat his party at the polls in November.
Don't even have to win ourselves. We just need to unleash the holy hand grenade of political retribution. If all the lefties who are outraged today vote Green or Independent in the fall, the Democarts lose massively. Send that message. Then see how long those resolutions keep getting vetoed.
If we organize. If we are mad enough, we can push Obama to a position where he has to decide between supporting Israel or his own party losing its majority and Obama becoming a 1 term President.
Hey Schmuck … do you think Obama will sell out his own political career for your precious Israel? Better not bet the future or your country on it, because Obama's slick, and a political survivor and he'll cut his losses and cya as soon as your precious Israel becomes a political liability to him.
There's a big pile of bodies of humanitarians murdered by Israel that means that day is here. Bye bye Israel, hope you weren't going to always rely on American protection and money.
Will miracles never cease?
The US has done yeoman's work in uniting Shi'a and Sunni.
Now Israel has done more in one day to unite Greek and Turk than anything that has happened from seven hundred years.
A united Cyprus on the screen perhaps, and Turkey in the EU?
A united Cyprus would make a lovely place from which to protect vessels from evil Israeli pirates. It would also be a good base to bombing missions on the ports that shelter and supply evil Israeli pirates.
The world can end this. It might not be pretty, but the world can end this. What we have to do is to translate the world's out rage into making that happen. This must end. We can no longer tolerate an evil nuclear armed Israeli rogue state that attacks peaceful vessels on the high seas.
Yes, because a gun shot wound, being stabbed, and being thrown down thirty feet is exactly like what you said ditz, a bank teller throwing pennies at the robber–how convenient of you to neglect mentioning that to suite your one-sided narrative.
If the gaza flotilla really cared about getting the aid to Gaza, they would have accepted being docked in Haifa. This just shows the priority was made at making Israel look bad.
"This just shows the priority was made at making Israel look bad."
Netanyahu and the IDF have certainly done that. Pirates board a Turkish ship far out in international waters, guns blazing, including firing at and wounding the Captain.
Poor dear, your script don't fly. Better luck next time around.
Really, you should demand higher class writers and editors of your talking points.
By the way, there was that altogether curious incident of a Russian ship being boarded, and disappearing for some time–do you remember that? The Russians do.
But, go ahead, follow your great Fuehrer Netanyahu to the death, if that's what turns you on.
What does the Russians have to do with this?
Israel had every right to board the ship be it in international or territorial waters. Of course, it would have been better to have waited till the ship entered its terrority (which you and your ilk deny anyway) to not give the polemics another gratuitous talking points.
The fact remians your beloved IHH has links to various terrorist organizations. Whether Israel seized a boat under the auspices of a group with known terrorist connections in internatinoal waters is trivial.
What total nonsense.
You just murdered 16 or more people cold blood, and this nonsense is the best you can come up with to justify it? That they wanted to make Israel look bad …. what, that's cause for being machine gunned in the night by Israeli commandos?
That some Israeli whack job says that people bringing in building supplies have links with some other organization that some other Israeli whack job has also called a terrorist organization …that means that people get machine gunned to death in the night.
You've got to be freaking kidding me. This is your justification for the cold blooded murder of 16 people who were on a humanitarian mission. This is your justification for wounding 60 more.
Israel has no right to board a boat in international waters. You are just making that up. No surprise. Israeli pretty much translates to liar these days.
Its time to make Israel a pariah state. There are many in America who are sickened today. Its time to use that to END the relationship between Israel and the US. Its time to treat every pro-Israeli American politician like the traitor to the good ol USA that they are.
This is going to end. And it won't end well for a little nation like Israel that seems intent on making everyone else in the world that the Israelis are all evil murderers and torturers who murder humanitarians on the high seas. That's the path you are heading down, and it won't end well at all for you.
Picture a day when your precious Israel gets no US money, no US protection, and if the US Navy is doing anything its escorting peaceful vessels like these and protecting them against Israeli pirates. That day is coming you Schmucks.
The claim that they had 'sharp objects' on the boat is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
Of course they have sharp objects. Boats are covered with sharp objects. Because they also have ropes and if you work on a boat you frequently have to cut things. Anyone who works on a boat carries a knife.
Claiming that they had to open fire and murder 16 or more and wound 60 or more because they saw someone carrying sharp objects is like someone saying they had to open fire on a restaurant with a machine gun because they saw someone holding a steak knife.
Schmuck … tell your bosses the whole world is disgusted with Israel. We've had enough with a nuclear armed rogue state that keeps attacking its neighbors, killing innocent civilians, and now acting like pirates on the high seas by attacking bringing building supplies and children's toys to people made desperate by Israel's evil policies.
Personally, I'm voting for a candidate in the next election who would cut off all aid to Israel and use the US Navy to escort in aid ships. And I'm not joking. He's already on the ballot and I'm already helping his campaign. What we need is for everyone who's outraged to join me in this.
Its time to elect a whole new Congress, one who recognizes Israel as a pirate rogue nuclear armed state that is a threat to the health and safety of all decent people.
Schmuck … tell you bosses we are mad as hell and we've had enough. Our goal is to make any politician that supports Israel a certain loser. Then you are going to have one heck of an angry world to answer to.
Oh, one forgot–and Turkey is a member of the UN Security Council at the moment, aren't they?
Russian reaction (Xinhuanet):
"Russian Foreign Ministry noted in a statement that the incident was "a confirmation that Israel's blockade to the Gaza Strip must be lifted as soon as possible."
"'Moscow condemns and expresses its deep concern over the issue, first of all for the loss of lives and injuries among the humanitarian convoy participants … It is obvious that using arms against the civilians and stopping the vessels in open sea with no judicial ground is a gross violation of the international norms,' the ministry said."
typical israeli reaction, claiming "self defense" and painting themselves as the victims despite almost universal condemnation around the world. This just shows that all they are interseted in at this point is delivering talking points and sound bites for their media "buddies" in the U.S. to spin into a completely warped narrative of what happened today, for the benefit of the American sheeple. They really could give a damn what the world thinks of their genocidal agenda, just so long as they can keep a grip on U.S. foreign policy and veto in the UN. I am getting my pepto bismol ready now to prepare for our Congress's inevitable nauseating warped pro-israel response.
There is no doubt now that Obama is a Corporate Fascist, at least in all his actions so far.
On the other hand, there is this testimony about Obama when it came to Obama covering his own ass, to wit, from Ron Blagoyevich, "Obama is a motherfucker."
That from someone who supported Obama and won votes for him.
It is quite obivous that Netanyahu and the Israel Right want Obama and Emanuel out of office, though they are by all indications no threat to Isrrael at all.
So what will Obama and Emanuel do as they get closer and closer to realzing this, and that there is nothing that they can do to placate either the Israel Right or AIPAC or Netanyahu?
Uh, duh! No one gets to be president without being a mf at covering their own rear. The dude came out of Chicago politics. That's probably the first lesson he won.
The good thing is that you learned from it. Now the next time a Democrat comes along talking Change with one hand and taking millions from wall street and defense contractors with the other, you'll see the con and won't fall for it again.
Although, we're at the other end of that cycle. The next bunch to feel totally conned will be all the rightwingers who fall for a fake Republican populist who takes wall street money and defense contractor money and who promises change … and who won't change a thing.
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We do have a corrective mechanism in this country. They are called elections. Start organizing. Don't wait for the corporate TV channels to show you the way to change. They won't You'll have to build it yourselves. But somewhere there's a pro-Israel politician just waiting for you to come kick them out of the Congress.
"The good thing is that you learned from it."
Dearie, you don't know what you are talking about. "Corrective mechanism…called elections"–HAHAHAHAHA.
There are two parties in the duopoly:(1)Right Wing (Democrats);(2) Even More Right Wing(Republicans).
There are corrective mechanisms in progress but they are not elections, dearie.
Elections are marginally pertinent tactically.
That's all.
There are extremely good tactical reasons to have elected Obama that had nothing to do with his rhetoric.
And there may be very good tactical reasons to cede him the presidency next time around–purely tactical.
Even if you consider him total trash.
But that is not clear yet.
Running Third Party candidates for president is simply being coopted.
There are two circumstances that must be satisfied before a Third Party presidential candidate is worth supporting:(1) that the number of votes he or she can win will determine the outcome;(2) the other parties know it beforehand and negotiate in return for specific demands, solidly guaranteed.
Even then,given the milieu, that is marginal.
"Now the next time a Democrat comes along talking Change with one hand and taking millions from wall street and defense contractors with the other, you'll see the con and won't fall for it again. "
Dear child, saw it last time and many times before that. So what? You must be an idealist working within the "System".
News for you:the whole system is a con.
With Obama there have been a few surprises, worse than predicted,but it would take a long essay to even get to the point of explaining to you what they are and why and to what degree.
One notes a few only by subject:
(1) ambassador to China
(2) ambassador to Mexico
(3) Geithner
(4) Summers
(5)Pakistan
(6) offshore drilling
One did predict before Obama was elected that he would get a Health Insurance bill passed and that it might very well be the worst of both worlds, which it is.
And at what point do Obama and Emanuel arrive at this enlightenment: that it is no longer the case that one is automatically going to lose a national election by being anti-Israel?
Are Netayahu's days numbered then?
On verra.
Has Israel just scuppered any chances of a success in the forthcoming UN vote on sanctions against Iran?
Talk about a self inflicted injury! Serves them right.
I've often wondered; just what hold does Israel have on the US? And, how did it get that hold?
Well, no surprise that the Germans would agree to this. Its right out of their old playbooks.
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We enlighten Mr. Obama and Mr. Emanual by kicking the heck out of all the Democrats in this fall's elections. If you want to get a politician's attention, that's how you do it. The Democrats have been lining up and voting almost unanimously for AIPAC written resolutions that basically applaud Israeli war crimes. Now its time for that to come back and bite them.
If you want to get a politician's attention, organize politically. Sending emails won't do it. But peace candidates taking away an incumbent's votes in tight races will get their attention in a hurry. How about we run a Libertarian opponent against every pro-Israel Republican incumbent, and a Green opponent against every pro-Israel Democrat incumbent. Just take enough votes away from the incumbent so they lose. And make it very obvious that you are doing exactly that. The next incumbent will know they can't take you for granted, and suddenly they'll be listening to you and calling you in for meetings so they can make sure you don't take them down the way you took down their predecessor.
To get a politician's attention, you organize against them politically. If Obama and Emanual look around the country and see 30 Democrat incumbents who are in trouble politically because of the opposition that springs up out of this, then you will get their attention.
No thanks.
Classic British Liberal Social Darwinist "free market" Capitalists were passe already a century ago.
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