At approximately 10:50 PM eastern time, Israeli warships captured the MV Rachel Corrie, an Irish aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops are said to have boarded the vessel and arrested everyone on board, which included a high ranking former UN official, Assistant Secretary General Denis Halliday, and a Nobel laureate. No violence or injuries were reported so far.
Reports from the Rachel Corrie, named after a US-born peace activist who was slain by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip in 2003, were available right up to 10:35 PM, when they reported that their radar was being jammed. The ship had hoped to reach the Gaza Strip early Saturday morning.
Israel’s military launched a high profile attack on a Turkish aid ship earlier this week, killing at least nine aid workers and sparking international outcry. Ireland had warned Israel against a repeat performance against the Rachel Corrie.
Israel had demanded that the ship divert to Ashdod, but said it would forward the cargo to the Gaza Strip after it was searched. Crew on the Rachel Corrie suggested that Israel search the ship at sea but allow it to dock in Gaza, a proposal which Israel rejected. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised that never again will an aid ship reach the enclave.
The ship is said to be carrying upwards of 560 tons of cement as well as CAT scanners, wheelchairs and other aid, and around 20 activists. It was organized by the Free Gaza Movement, a privately funded aid group which has gotten a large donation from the Perdana Global Peace Organization in Malaysia.
Ron Paul 2012.
What Ireland should do now is demand that Israel NOT stop its ships, and insist on it. But, of course, they won't.
That used to be US policy. We've gone to war over insisting that our neutral ships carrying goods not be stopped or sunk. (War of 1812 over stoppings and seizing of crew … WWI over sinkings)
The barbarians have no business stopping these boats bringing needed mercy supplies to the Gazans.
Ireland is a british colony
LOL no
Is that supposed to be an insult or to display your ignorance?
These activists seem motivated more by personal and political, rather than humanitarian, considerations. They want to draw attention to themselves, and to the "evil" Israelis, not the people of Gaza. If the people of Gaza were their main concern, they would cooperate with the Israelis to ensure that their goods were delivered to the intended recipients. These "peace activists" also surely know that if they helped break the blockade, they would be helping weapons reach jihadists who would use them to kill Israelis indiscriminately. They want publicity first, harm to Israel second, and help for Gaza third.
Are you a paid hasbara shill or unpaid gullible Zionist p.r. tool?
So far they have been really good at number two, but ,of course, they had lots of help from Bibi.
Israel is finally being exposed as the cancer upon the world which it has become. It is the only country in the world that has yet to define its borders and at the same time insisting on being recognized as a growing state with no definite borders. A true definition of a cancerous Khazarian invasion.
The literary device of putting 'evil' in quotation marks is a vain attempt to bolster the image and moral standing of the Israelis. It won't work. They ARE evil. You are a shill. Everyone other than their dwindling fan base knows that they are evil. And evil needs to be eradicated.
You have picked the PERFECT identification precisely reflecting the kind of human BEING you are ( if such categorization can be used ), The more i try to understand the putrid nature of your so called CHOSEN PEOPLE the more i get to the sad conclusion that there is no REDEMPTION for all you guys.
Someone like yourself, who spews such contemptible bigotry, is the one in need of "redemption". Folks like you are everywhere on the internet, always lashing out in a blind rage. You can't discuss a political matter without maligning an entire race of people. You discredit yourself with your ignorant, hateful remarks, but you're too obtuse to realize it.
Nobody here would mind if Iranian weapons reached Gaza, and Hamas used them to kill Israeli children. I notice that prospect never comes up whenever you people fly into yet another fit of righteous rage against the blockade. Clearly, it falls to the Israelis to look out for their own, without considering the input of leon vargas and the rest of the drooling wolf pack.
"Nobody here would mind if Iranian weapons reached Gaza, and Hamas used them to kill Israeli children."
As if you mind if US weapons reach Israel and are used to kill Arab children.
If it falls to the Israelis to look out for their own, can the US stop sending them 3 billion + dollars a year?
the Israelis malign the entire muslim religious population; therefore one good turn deserves another such as maligning "an entire race of people." When the Israelis stop agressively taking the land of the Arab nations, they will have peace. One thing the Israelis should not have is peace while keeping the land they are occupying through war! The 1948 borders recognized by the UN and the US must be the borders for Israel!
Israeli exceptionalism at its finest ! All of the standard talking points. Why don't you just come out a say that the Talmud says it's ok to kill and dispossess us goyoyes for whatever (convoluted) reason and that your G*d is ok with that.
Your Hasbara-fu is good.
The real problem: The State of Israel is sitting on an occupied territory against which it runs an illegal blockage and seems to hope that the people just die off by themselves, swim to Cyprus or tunnel to Egypt. The only other solution is to just lift the blockade and restore a situation from which things may proceed to normal over a loooong time. In the case of normalization, attacks against Israeli territory could be met with police action instead of F-16s and Merkavas. Want to have zero probability of Arabs attacking you? Don't live in Israel, then.
The reframed problem: The blockade is taken as given, a justifiable status quo. Any attempt to circumvent it or draw attention to it is labeled as provocation, attention seeking, a stunt done by hotheads (surprise!) and Iranian Al-Qaeda types, ultimately helps Arabs kill Israeli babies and is anyway unnecessary because there is no blockade in the first place.
The activists are only pointing out the situation in Gaza. If that's embarrassing, well, that's Israel's own damn fault. If you feel embarrassed, that's your soul trying to tell you something.
Activists want publicity, yes.
But its not activists that are murdering people using the sick excuse that trying to "embarrass Israel" is grounds for machine gunning down 70 people.
Blockades are sick and illegal and wars have started over them in the past.
Israels excuse is not that Israel was being embarrased.
Blockades are not illegal when used agains hostil territories.
No machine guns were used.
Some more Talmud-sanctioned lying; those things with the long ammo clips and bullet belts coming out of them, your "elite commandoes" are wearing, they're just paint guns not machine guns, right ?
And blockades are entirely ok, too, as long as it's Israel doing the blockade of the dumb goyes, but not if it's like Egypt in 1967 just mumbling about blockading Eilat, no way !
What long ammo clips and bullet belts?
Oops, no personal assault rifle used by the Israel Defece Forces uses bullet belts.
Yes, these are paitball guns.
The live ammo guns that the commados used were Glock 9mm handguns.
And blockades are not entirely ok, but its ok when it comes to blocking arms and potentially hazardous materials from reaching an enemy. Plus, Israel sends thousands of tonnes of aid into Gaza every week.
automatic fire was so reported from the marmara and from the rest of the relief flotilla before before they were silenced
Well, they also reported that Israeli warships fired missiles at them.
Dont believe everything they say.
In none of the video or audio recording released by the IDF, and the flotilla passangers, can automatic fire be seen or heard.
There was no automatic fire. Only paintball guns and Glock pistols
We often hear the phrase "Israel's right to exist" and along with it, "Israels' right to self-defense." Notwithstanding the faux-legitimacy given these concepts by decades of repetition, there is another, truth-based, ethics-based point of view.
In 1917, the British imperial executive (the Foreign Office) and the World Zionist Organization colluded in a criminal conspiracy to steal Palestine from the 95% Arab population who had lived there for 70 generations, and to give it to the Jews/Zionists. This "plan" was a crime then, as it is a crime now. A crime is still a crime, despite control and censorship of the media. A crime is still a crime despite 90 years of impunity from prosecution or 90 years of propaganda. NO AMOUNT OF TIME CAN CHANGE A LIE INTO THE TRUTH; NO AMOUNT TIME CAN CONVERT A CRIME INTO A LEGAL ACT.
The Zionist entity called Israel is nothing less than a geopolitical crime-in-progress. No amount of propaganda can expunge this reality .
So when next you hear about Israel's "right to exist", consider: no crime has a "right to exist", no criminal enterprise has a "right to exist". Correspondingly, no criminal has a "right to self-defense". No criminal has a right to commit violence in the furtherance of a crime. No criminal has the right to fight back against the lawful authority that arrives to halt the crime and arrest the criminals.
Israel, the Zionists, their supporters and enablers are criminals: thieves and murderers on a global scale. They have no "right to exist" (as criminals) and they have no "right to self-defense" as they commit their crimes.
But they do have rights. They have the right to surrender to a competent authority. The right to a fair trial. If found guilty, the right to a proportionate penalty. And once the offending parties have "done their time", the right to rejoin society and resume a peaceful cooperative existence.
"In 1917, the British imperial executive (the Foreign Office) and the World Zionist Organization colluded in a criminal conspiracy to steal Palestine from the 95% Arab population who had lived there for 70 generations, and to give it to the Jews/Zionists"
Can you please cite this, with a non-disputable source?
At night again, under cover of darkness, as thieves and murderers normally do.
Does anyone in their right mind believe that an ounce of all the materiel provided by peace lovers around the world will ever get to Gaza? It will be diverted to use in Israel.
Regards, Alex
The Rachel Corrie was boarded in broad daylight
Proof:
http://idfspokesperson.com/
Daylight or not, it's an act of piracy. Under what law does Israel act? Not international law. This ship contained no weapons nor "terrorists", so Israel law is the law of the strongest. Suppose the ship contained weapons, then that would still be allright because how can you oppose Palestine getting a few weapons while Israel buys billions of the stuff every year? That Palestinians use them to rocket Israel? Doesn't the IDF and the Mossad bomb and assassinate Palestinians all the time?
No, they dont.
When a government bombs a defenseless population fully knowing that this is going to cause "collateral damage", then this is state terrorism. The Mossad has a policy of "selective" assassinations which covers the whole world (this policy has become an Israeli trademark to the point where other repressive governments ask Israel to advise them on this). It's easy to reply with a short answer when the ideas and the inmoral justifications run short.
No, its not state terrorism when a government bombs known military areas within a population as the only way of stopping an average of 80 rockets a day fired into completely civilian Israeli towns surrounding the gaza strip.
Many other Western governments perform assasinations. You and I just dont know about the vast majority of them.
And why did you put the word "selective" in apostrophies? Are you suggesting that Israel carries out non-selective assasination? Im afraid that that is not possible, due to the definition of assasination being selective killing.
I use quotation marks because that policy is only nominally selective. The truth is that, given the results, it is basically criminal because your government doesn't care whether innocents are killed. In fact, by what Israel did in Lebanon, they want to deliberately kill wantonly. You may say whatever you want but the hard evidence says otherwise. If you don't believe me, read Judge Goldstone's report.
Judges are as prone to bias just as any other human beig is.
And the Israeli government does care whether civilians are killed, and have in many cases aborted missions due to a chance of civilians being injured.
If you want, I can quote many cases.
Don't bother because whatever I may say, you will continue bringing up new and more forced arguments. Of course, judges are as prone to bias as anybody else, but there are some whose decisions command respect because of their decency. This is the case of Judge Goldstone. Obviously you prefer to believe a person like Netanyahu. That, in itself, speaks volumes about your common sense and even your integrity.
No, you are missing the fine distinctions of Talmudic logic that separate crime and lawfulness, treachery and virtue, lies and truth.
Here's an example of Talmudic logic: It's permissible to deny life-saving medicine and apparatus to thousands of suffering and dying children, since if these children grow up, one or more of them may want, for whatever reason, to kill a Jew. But to deny Jewish children would be an intolerable crime.
Pariah,
Murder and violence are all that Israel understands. And so they should be spoken in that language:
You must be high! Israel has no intentions of allowing anything other than what they wish to allow to enter Gaza. That's what blockades are about and that is what states built on mass murder and genocide are all about. If these people are serious about breaking the blocade, the next flotilla needs to be escorted by WARSHIPS. Turkey could break this blockade by sending aid ships escorted by warships. And they should consider any attempt by Israel to stop them AN ACT OF WAR AND RESPOND ACCORDINGLY.
Turkey sending warships to an Israeli enforced blockade would be an act of war
The act of war was committed by the IDF when it committed state piracy and murder on the high seas. The blockade is entirely illegal. No matter how many whores and stooges say differently. Law is law. That is the whole principle of civilized society. Contrary to the chauvinists, there is no "higher" law that applies to a select group. It is only the forbearance of the imperialist US ruling class that allows this legal fiction to continue. Do not flatter yourself that we are fooled by your linguistic tricks.
The blockade isn't really illegal. Before the blockade, 80 rockets a day were fired from Gaza into southern Israel. The blockade has reduced the rockets to only a couple every month.
Israel is in a state of armed conflict with Hamas, which governs Gaza. Therefore Israel had a full right to impose a blockade.
I don't see any other way Israel could stop the rockets if there were no blockade. They would have to invade Gaza again. I don't think that that is what you would want.
This is an Israeli spin line. They want everyone to think blockades are normal.
They aren't. A blockade is an act of war.
War of 1812 — US went to war with England over its blockade of Europe that was stopping and seizing US ships and crews.
Civil War — England and Europe objected to the US blockade of the South. England came very close to joining the war on the Confederate side over the issue.
WWI — Neutrals around the world objected to the English blockade of Germany. There were long arguments over proceedures and lists of banned goods. Interestingly, the English never machine gunned to death the crews of any merchant ships on the way to Germany.
WWI — The US and other countries enter WWI over the German submarine blockade of England.
Persian Gulf — in the 1980's, the US was willing to 'reflag' neutral ships and protect them with the US Navy in order to break the blockades on oil in the Persian Gulf.
Cuban Missile Crisis — Kennedy's adivsors told him not to call his blockade of Cuba a blockade, as the entire world would immediately recognize the word 'blockade' as an act of war. So, they called it a "quarantine" instead. Kennedy's advisors still thought that the act of intercepting boats on the high seas that clearly had missiles on their decks would be considered an act of war and lead to immediate war with Russia.
Blockades are not legal, and they have been objected to over history and wars have been fought over them. And note that these are much more obvious cases than the bizarre Isreali argument that says that building supplies are the equivalent of weapons of mass destruction. In most of the blockades listed above, the cargo of these ships would have been declared to be ok and allowed through the blockade. Even England would have let Germany in 1916 have sacks of concrete.
Blockades are legal in times of war, against hostile areas.
However you are right in that complete halting of access for any goods is illegal.
But no country would allow arms and other potentially dangerous materials reach their enemies under their noses. Israel doesn't.
The blockade is legal, because Israel allows thousands of tonnes of food and other aid supplies into Gaza every week.
"The blockade is legal, because Israel allows thousands of tonnes of food and other aid supplies into Gaza every week."
But does not permit international journalists to enter to report on their benevolence.
Yes it does.
There are many international Journalists in Gaza.
I appreciate your tone… most replies I get here are sarcastic and uncivilised.
I think that the blockade is legal because it is neccesary to ensure the safety of Israel. The government in Gaza is the terrorist group Hamas, and they use any supplies that they possibly can to attack Israel. This ranges from cement to build bunkers, to plastic guttering tubes to build rockets.
The food is not adequate to western standards. But this is not because of Israel. Israel offers anyone who wishes to, to send food and aid for Gaza as long as it is not on the blacklist. Israel cant be expected to sustain 1.5 million Gazans out of its own pocket
Israel doesn't even sustain Israel "out of its own pocket". Israel sustains Israel out of the US taxpayers pocket.
Israel has been heavily aided by the US throughtout its existence, correct.
But its not as if Israel hasnt made tremendous contribution to the world economy.
You cant really argue with that fact
Well, bunkers would be a defensive measure. Rockets made from plastic gutters are the best the Palestinians can do against, let's see, the jets, helicopters, tanks, missiles of the IDF. That's right, and the Palestinian kids throw rocks at IDF troops armed with ,let's see, automatic rifles, pistols, sting grenades, tear gas cannisters, et al. What is the military nature of the seeds and fishing rods that Israel will not let through the blockade?
Absolutley none, youre right.
For no good reason.
Israel purposefully denies the Gazans all it can, in order to make there lives as miserable as possible, because it makes the Israelis feel good inside, and does great things to thier public image.
By the way, this is a lie…. Hamas had agreed to a cease fire with Israel BEFORE Israel bombed Gaza and killed nearly 1500 people. The number of rockets fired was down to one or two a month. And, even after Israel killed 1500 people, they haven't resumed. Nor have suicide attacks.
So, the excuse that keeping CAT scanners our of Israel to stop "80 rockets" a day is an obvious and complete lie.
Where did you hear that this is a lie? The number of rockets fired was not down to one or two a month.
I know people who live in southern Israel, who in the days and weeks before the Israeli attack were receiving tens of rockets a day.
I know a guy in Eastern Montana who thinks his trailer is bugged, and that chemical waste is being spread all across the country in "chem trails", just to kill him. Similar level of credibility.
The indiscriminate tossing of explosives is always wrong-no matter who does it, Israel, Hamas, the Marines, or Anarco-syndicalists. I hope it all stops. I truly think though, that the Israeli gov't (or any gov't) makes more such wrongs likely by bringing hardship and death to civilian populations.
I also think that such wrongs-big booms of the lethal kind, no matter who they damage-make it easier for the vampiric bastards that run the "state"-and not just Israel. Meaning more can be expected, from all corners, particularly with the current economic situation.
Guy, there is no such thing as bad guys and good guys-just people. And sadly in today's world too often people can be broken down into those who would corral, and those who are corralled.
Why do you think that the following two claims:
1) I know people in southern Israel
2) I know a guy in Eastern Montana who thinks his trailer is bugged, and that chemical waste is being spread all across the country in "chem trails", just to kill him
bear a similar level of credebility?
Yes, i do know people in southern Israel.
If you would like me to proove this to you, respond with your email adress.
Hamas has offered a cease fire of all rockets if Israel will agree to stop all rockets and missiles fired against Gaza. THE ISRAELIS HAVE REFUSED. Israel also claims the right to assassinate Hamas leaders.
I dont know where you get your facts from…
Hamas has offered no such cease fire, only recently claimed to have offered it as a means of creating propaganda.
Hamas is a terrorist organisation, is it not? Dont believe everuthing they say.
Israel only ever fires at Gaza as a direct response to individual cases of rockets being fired at Israel. Even then, only the perpetrators are targeted, and in most cases they are the only ones hit.
Do you have a definition for "terrorist organization"?
Just curious.
anything defined by the UN securtiy council, the CIA, the Mossad, MI5, and NATO as being so.
Thereby Hamas is a terrorist organisation.
And lets not forget the suicide bombs and other terrorist acts it has accounted for
Hamas IS the popularly elected representative government of Gazans, and soon to be, of all Palestinians. Before there was Israel there were the Stern Gangs, Irguns, etc. Then THEY became Israel. And in general no govts are spotless anymore these days. Get used to it.
If you honestly believe that Hamas was popularly and fairly elected, then you are living in a dream world.
The popularly elected government was Fatah (Also a terrorist organisation). Hamas overthrew them by force and terror, and has a policy of executing all supportes.
The last elections were anything but fair and honest.
it was an internationally monitored election widely regarded as fair and honest. Hamas won the majority. Fatah would not relinquish control. Israel and US refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Hamas government and withheld monies that legally should have been dispensed to the government (taxes collected from the Palestinians, not aid, although aid was withheld also).
Ther result of the election was a fatah-hamas coalition government. Hamas did not win a majority, in fact only 43 percent of the vote. However this did make Hamas the strongest party.
Hamas and Fatah did not agree to a coalition government, so started laughtering each other.
And it was not just Israel and the US who refused to recognise legitamacy of the Hamas government. It was also the European Union.
*started slaughtering
Not only are blockades illegal under published international law, but they are morally repellent acts especially when part of a larger overall program of genocide and racial cleansing.
But in the case of the Israeli blockade of Gaza, they are not part of a "larger overall program of genocide and racial cleansing".
And, again, blockades are legal when they are used agains enemy territory and food and aid is allowed in under supervision.
Therefore the Israeli blockade of Gaza is legal
"The blockade is entirely illegal. No matter how many whores and stooges say differently…. Do not flatter yourself [guy] that we are fooled by your linguistic tricks. "
Dminor7th very nicely put, Dminor7th.
How is that nicely put, can you please explain?
I dont understand how any part of what I said is a linguistic trick.
And happens to be a website on which the collumnists recklessly use linguistic tricks at will
I'm a man of peace. I oppose violence to settle issues.
But, there are limits. When one side is machine gunning down peaceful people involved in an act of non-violent resistance, using frankly bizarre excuses like saying that it might embarrass Israel or that any building supplies are the equivalent of weapons of mass destruction, well, when you see the machine guns firing … at some point, people of conscience will demand that they stop. And use what means necessary, and as little force and violence as necessary to make them stop. But the gunning down of unarmed people must be stopped.
No one claimed that building supplies are equivalent to weapons of mass destruction.
But, when building materials were allowed into Gaza, none of them reached the civilians, or the infrastructure. Hamas militants trafficked them all for use in building military bunkers.
That's why Israel doesn't let building materials in.
By the same logic, the Nazis were entirely justified in blockading and then reducing the Warsaw ghetto, (and, eventually, the entire city) because some Jews fought alongside the Underground Army and made life miserable for the Germans.
No, he's not high. I'm sure the Israeli propaganda ministry doesn't allow its employees to get high while at work. But hey, if Pariah has managed to sneak a joint at lunch time ….. well, then he might be peaceful and realize the horror of what he says. Which is probably why they don't allow their employees to get high.
Warships are no longer viable weapons of war. Jet planes and cruise missles destroy them easily. Just sayin'.
No country ever goes to war for interests other than its own.
If Turkey were to do that it would mean their entire foreign policy had changed and that they are now seeking other objectives.
A very astute observation, and almost uniformly true. However, "country" is a broad noun inclusive of diverse segments of a society. The ruling elite are the key, and may choose to pursue a policy which serves their narrower interests rather than the interests of the country as a whole (cf the Bush administration's war in Iraq). Then too, the elite can be expected to act based on their particular cultural tendencies and in accord with their perceptions ***and*** misperceptions.
Taking that into consideration, it is unlikely the Turks will go to war with Israel. Clearly it's a major losing proposition. However there might be reason for them to engage in some less-than-war push back. For instance if the Turkish populace is sufficiently angry, there could be domestic political advantage to some push back, and disadvantage to the current administration for not pushing back enough. The Turkish military, too, which has been a dominant force in Turkey and protector of Turkey's secular tradition, but has lately been losing power to the political class, might see some advantage in asserting itself. And finally, there is the NATO wild card. Turkey, as a member of NATO, can expect (but will it receive?) NATO military back-up if it is attacked. That's a "force multiplier" for Turkey, and an entangling alliance which spreads the danger to the rest of the world. Turkey could simply escort relief vessels, and leave it to Israel to ponder actually initiating an attack.
I doubt any of this will happen. Other countries will intervene to prevent it because, as you rightly observe, it's in their interest to do so.
Pariah, if the HUMANITARIAN cargo (bound for Gaza) is unloaded in Israel very few items will actually reach Gaza because Israel PROHIBITS nearly all types of humanitarian items. Therefore, the only way that any significant shipment of aid can reach Gaza is via ship NOT overland via the Israelis. I might add that the Gaza aid ships offered to allow Israeli officials to search them while at sea and those offers were flatly declined by Israel, which proves that Israel wants to collectively starve the Gazans at ALL costs. Israel is a rogue state that continually violates human rights and International Law. Unfortunately, since Israel controls the US, it will continue its DIRTY DEEDS.
Israel sends to Gaza thousands of tonnes of aid every week
For more than a million people.
And, if you want to get away from liars and their statistics, just go to Gaza and take a look at the result.
Oh, wait a minute, the Israelis won't let you do that, because they'll say that if you try to go to Gaza and look for yourself that you are out to 'embarrass' the Israelis and probably gun you down with machine guns.
But hey, if you get through to Gaza and find this land of fat people that Israel says is there, please send back pictures. Oh wait, Israel won't allow that either.
Why does everyone seem to forget that Egypt, who also shares a border with Gaza, is also imposing a blockade, and not sending any aid at all, while Israel does?
Do you expect Israel to supply the needs of 1.5 million Gazans?
Israel does allow aid to be sent by foreign parties, if it is inspected.
Egypt has imposed a blockade because it has 1.5 billion reasons to do that. This is the amount of money Cairo received from Washington in 2009 only in military aid. And of course, the US being a servant of Israel, Egypt will never do anything that may annoy the US (Israel).
So Egypt's blockade is justified, and Israel's isn't?
Logic seems to be your weak point. When did I say that I justify Egypt's blockade? It is precisely the opposite. If anything, Egypt's behavior is even more repulsive because rather than supporting the weak and defenseless, they help the strong and evil (Israel and the US).
Logic is not my weak point.
I was merely pointing out, that even though Egypt is as much a part of this as Israel, all the world fury seems to be directed at Israel.
Of course you're right, logic is not your weak point, because you don't bother with it.
Youre comment is not logical.
Person does not bother with something = that something is not the persons weak point?
Your logic seems to ba a tad off.
If you had wanted to send goods to the Warsaw Ghetto, would you have called Himmler up and just said "hey, could you deliver these for us."
When one group of people are trying to starve another into submission, handing over food to the blockaders is pointless. They are the ones keeping it out in the first place.
What a ridiculous argument these Israeli propagandist make.
Are you claiming that Israel doesnt supply thousands of tonnes of aid to gaza every week?
Israel does.
Go and see for youself. I have.
Why post a comment like that if you do not even know if what you are saying is correct?
The Hasbara bunny, he just keeps going and going and going. Even the inmates of Auschwitz got some gruel now and then. Same as the inmates of Gaza. The Israelis learned well from the Nazis. Or was it the other way round, since the Zionists formulated their plan decades before the Nazis came to power?
And yes, I'm pleased to make the comparison, both because it's apt, and because of the sting. Before the eyes of the world we are seeing a textbook example of the cause of Jewish "persecution" for the last five thousand years. And soon you'll see an example of the consequences.
Five thousand years of attempted "suicide by goy". Will they succeed this time? It would be sad if it weren't so dangerous.
Are you suggesting that the Jews brought the murder of 6 million upon them selves?
Your suggesting that they brought their european death-camp fate upo themselves?
Very entertaining. Israel is rapidly closing in on Somalia as a hub for pirates. The Israeli pirates are certainly much better equipped than their Somali cousins, but on moral grounds, they're are definitely far behind.
Wouljd any country have the guts to airlift food and other supplies into Gaza, as in the "Berlin Airlift?"
The Israelis would shoot the planes down before they come even close to Gaza.
There is no Palestinian airport. One was built in Gaza after the Oslo Accord but the Israelis bombed it destroying both the buildings and the runways. Israel has no legal right to the airspace over Gaza, but they control it anyway just as they have no legal right to fly over Lebanon but they do it anyway.
As far as I know Israel and Gaza are in a state of armed conflict.
Now, in most states of armed conflict, planes of one party fly over the airspace of the other.
Besides, Israel has a full right to defend itsslef against the rockets coming from Gaza
By the same token what would happen to Egypt if the aid was landed there and all of the supplies would be inspected ( by Israelies) prior to crossing the border ?
Aaah, the Egyptian question. First, let's set aside the Hasbara point that the blockade is also an Egyptian blockade. The Egyptian dictatorship's role in the blockade is clearly coerced.
Note that the Egyptians have opened their border crossing into Gaza in response the commando boarding of the Marmara. I suspect this was done to quiet the Egyptian populace which — does anybody know? — is probably damn near as angry as the Turks.
Personally, what with the immense propaganda victory this is proving for the Gazan/Palestinian side, I fully expect that other convoys of blockade challengers are forming even as we write. (While gov'ts are hustling to find a way to end this sure-to-escalate process.) When they try next time, they will upgrade their strategy. I'd like to see them skirt the Egyptian coast, bring the Egyptian navy into play, and see what happens when the Israels piss on the Egyptians in Egyptian territorial waters.
People should be more creative.
I have noticed that any views regarding Israel that you do not like, you simply label "Hasbara", instead of constructing an argument against them.
Israel arrested them on what charge? "Being on a boat in International waters?"
No, attempting to run a military blockade, and ignoring four calls to redirect
In international water? I'm honestly curious-the story did not specify.
I am not sure, I think it happened about 12 km of the shores of Gaza. Israel gave them as much chance as possible to comply
They were not arrested, they were seized.
In the future I wonder who the Jewish State expects to be its 'supporter' if they have dismayed
and de-moralized any and all foreign soldiers.
In the event of a wider Middle Eastern Conflict no country can send troops ( ordered or requested )
and for Israel to assume they will fight for their cause.
Imagine the Iranians herding Jews in Iran into a sliver of land on the Persian Gulf and blockading necessary supplies. Then imagine European countries trying to supply the Jews in Iran with humanitarian supplies. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards attack and seize the ships, killing and wounding dozens of people and then they "detain them" in an Iranian prison.
Can you imagine Biden saying "What's the big deal?" if that happened? (I can't either.)
I wonder what future support Israel expects from so-called 'supporting allies'
if all of their troops are de-moralized and un-reliable.
Wether ordered or requested no foreign soldier will champion their cause.
Declare war on Israel. Deport all their citizens and close down all their embassies until they respect international law and human rights. And remove from public office any politican that supports that militarized ghetto.
"Declare war on Israel"
So speaks a regular contributor to "Antiwar.com".
Who do you people think you're fooling?
Who do you think you are fooling Hasbara shill? Better hurray I bet your megaphone screen is well lit up as people react to the Zionist entities butchery and murder.
Antiwar applies up to a point, that point being when a rouge nation is taking the antiwar stance as a position of total passivity, and takes advantage of it, accordingly.
I'm peaceful, but if you slap me in the face I'll punch you in the nose.
So you dont mind Israel responding to countless rocket attacks with a blockade?
Good.
Here is the unfortunate part……no citizens of any country (including Israel) want any WAR.
However there are those that profit substantially ,who do.
Let all of us people in the world give them no chance to proliferate any Fight.
When push comes to shove, and if all common citizens layed down their 'arms', all WARS
would instantly end.
Send missiles to tele aviv !!!
Isn't this website called "anti war"?
Sending missiles to a huge civilian city is an act of war. Especially when the government of the country isn't even situated there.
MVGuy wrote: “Ireland is a british colony”
Such simplicity is charming. Ihe island known as Ireland has two political parts. Southern Ireland is the Eire an independent country. Northern Ireland or the 6 Counties is part of the UK. SInce the American-fiunded terrorism stopped, the once-terrorists representing Catholic part of the population are now mainstream political units with representatives in the legislature and control over parts of the government. Both politcal parts of Ireland are members of the EU. There are still the occassional residual terrorist actions, but the British government has not taken the approach of bombing the terrorists’ enclave back into the Stone Age.
All depends on how you define a "terrorist" Wilber. Washington and all the other founding fathers would have been hanged for treason to the British crown had the revolutionary war been lost. How about the carpet or area bombing of German cities in WW2 or the firebombing of Tokyo? What about the starvation blockade of Germany by Britain in WW1? During the civil war Lincoln was nothing short of a dictator.
American taxpayers dollars hard at work starving the innocent Palestinians.
Breaking news The Israeli barbarians already atacking Rachel corrie ship right now
Breaking news The Israeli barbarians already attacking Rachel corrie ship right nowX-( Israel Nazi:-t
Clearly, the US and the international Community is complicit in Israel's murder and kidnapping of Flotilla members. For example, the US could have had F-16's in the air in the vicinity of the Rachel Corrie or the main Flotilla with order to protect the relief effort from Israeli aggression. Any NATO member nation could have done the same. The fact that the international community did nothing and therefore allowed murder and war crimes on the high seas demonstrates their complicity. Robert Fisk is right: the leaders of the west are cowards and under Israel's jackbooted heel. Obscene isn't it?
Take a look at this:
http://blogs.news.sky.com/middleeastblog/Post:a10…
So.
At this point, analogies between Gaza and the German camps seem very valid. Although personally, I'd tend to use the Warsaw Ghetto as an analogy. But if someone doesn't draw the best historical analogy in the heat of the moment when being attacked by armed pirates at sea, well I can excuse them.
So, what, were they supposed to greet armed pirates with Shalom and lay down flowers as they boarded the ship. If the Blackbeard's of the world are writing the rules, maybe. But if any free countries that believe in "freedom of the seas" are still writing the rules, there's nothing wrong here.
Hey Israel, here's one for ya …. "Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Words don't justify machine gunning 70 people.
Guy, when reading Western Journalism, you need to understand that the important part of the story is usually "below the fold", for various reasons-mostly to be able to maintain some strained semblance of credibility while still presenting 'managed' news. To wit, the story you linked is rather viciously critical of the IDF, if one bothers to read the whole thing. Here is the nut(from the skynews story):
"In a separate development, the unit is being criticised by the Foreign Press Association of Israel and the New York based Committee to Protect Journalists for selectively releasing the footage its forces took during the operation and the footage it confiscated from journalists and activists on board.
The FPA demanded Thursday that the military stop using the captured material without permission and identify the source of the video already released. The material appeared Wednesday on the army's YouTube site labeled as "captured.”
The FPA says the military is now selectively using footage to bolster its claims that commandos opened fire only after being attacked"
My link was not in order to show the article, but to show the transcript of the communication. I could have taken it from countless other articles, some critical of the IDF and some supportive
It seems obvious to me that the Turkish ship was attacked in a military way so that an example would be made of it, and to "send a message" to Turkey. The message happened to be political and not defensive in any real way.
The corresponding attack on American and other foreign students demonstrating in Israel against the attack, which took out the eye of a New York Jewish woman on an exchange program from Cooper Union, where tear gas canisters were deliberately shot at the heads of the students, was another political message against dissent. If all Jews are welcome in Israel, they must check their politics at the border and adhere to the extreme right line. Noam Chomsky was not allowed to go to Gaza for that reason.
I think we are witnessing a Soviet-style state emerging, in which dissent is met with deadly force. No excuses should be made for it, but our press is so mesmerized by fear, money and false prestige that an honest assessment has never been made. Unfortunately, Israel will now push us to ruin in a war with Iran and Turkey and who knows who else. We will richly deserve our own civil war which will result.
Time for:
One Thousand Ships for Gaza.
And, ten thousand more after that. We need so many boats to Gaza that we can walk from Cyprus to Gaza without getting our feet wet.
When's the next boat to Gaza. We all need to be on it.
Bingo! I'm ready to leave now.
This is the very essence of the power of non-violence. When you outrage enough people the world over, they can show up in sailboats, dingies, trawlers, hobie cats, jet skis, cabin cruisers, pontoon boats, rafts, barges, etc. in numbers so great that even the Israelis can't kill them all. It's called escalation. It's called upping the ante. And dress them all up in the stripey "uniform" of Nazi death-camp inmates. Emblazon the boats and flags and banners with "Never Again!" and with Treblinka, Sobibor, Dachau, Auschwitz, Teresianstadt, Lidice, etc. Jam the faces of the Zionist criminals four square ito their hypocrisy and do in full view of the entire world.
Did you have to look up the names of the death camps?
At the point of the communication they were not under attack.
navy: "This is the Israeli navy. You are approaching an area under a naval blockade"
reply: "shut up, go back to Auschwitz"
At this point, the ship hadn't even been asked to redirect.
I cant believe you're justifying this.
The commandos did not shoot because of the words used during communication. They shot because they genuinely believed their lived were in danger. And they did not have machine guns, they had Glock 9mm handguns.
And, in the same story where you got the alleged communications, the IDF is roundly criticized for 'selectively' releasing info in order to justify its action. The demand is for source information, and verification of provenance(and ending use without permission)-about as close as an MSM source is going to get to saying, "Bullshit".
By the way-I watched a good bit of the IDF "footage" of the raid-while I doubt very much that they had "machine guns"(a seldom understood term), but it did look like they certainly did have shoulder weapons-looked like HK MP 5's, or some close variant-which are usually selective fire. In any event, it doesn't matter if it was zip guns-there are an awful lot of perforated people.
The shoulder weapons were paintball guns.
the perforations were caused by Glock 9mm hand pistols.
And who cares if the IDF is criticises for selectivly releasing info? The point is that the aid ships were hostile from the first communication.
The point is that the Zionists have been hostile (premeditated criminals) since early in the last century.
This doctored version was immediately debunked at:
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/06/idf-releases-app…
That site is the last news source that should be deemed credible. Even the journelism is appaling: " And the reply from the Mavi Marmara sounded like an impersonation of an Arab by a mentally challenged pre-adolescent ".
Anyone who writes an article like that is clearly predjudiced.
I believe that you are a specialist on prejudice. – it is evident from your posts.
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/
Try again
Evident from my posts? Of course my posts fit my oppinions, because I am not a journalist, and I am not writing articles. I am commenting on a post system where people are supposed to write thier oppinions. However, journalists are supposed to write facts and not convey thier biased oppinions or take sides.
So this is what MSM was doing ! "Writing facts" and nothing else (like "conveying their biased oppinions" for instance) .
How silly of me I haven't figured it all by myself. Thank you so much, Guy, for lifting the veil on my eyes,
what is MSM?
MSM = "MainStream Media"
Thankyou.
conumishu, your right. This website is a beacon of truth among the lie spreading MSM.
Wake up
Turkey should declare war on Israel – Israel's attack on a Turkish flagged ship in international waters is cut and dried, no freaking questions asked – an Act Of War.
They should then, being a NATO member, assert Article 5 of the agreement: NATO would either have to help Turkey in it's defense against Israel or publicly admit it's utter worthlessness – which would go a long way to finally dismantling this hideous relic.
As well-equipped as Israel's forces may be (by the USA) Turkey would probably dismantle them fairly quickly – barring outside (US/UK) help.
This is a Golden Opportunity for both Turkey taking it's place as the Central Hub into Central Asian waters, it''s regional influence, and once and for all ending the idiotic illusion that they will ever become part of EU – who the fuck would want to at this point, anyway!?!
Take the shot man, you're in the driver's seat, Turkey!
2010 -> gaza, the 'modern form' of a concentration camp in this world! shame over all nations who bow to Israel, it's so sickening and perverted!
2012 -> vote Ron Paul!
Of course the objective is political. So were Marin Luther King's, Mandela's and Ghandi's. What I hope to see now is the crew of the Rachel Corrie demanding their cargo in its entirety and ship back, as is surely their right. I would then like to see the ship sail back out into international waters and anchor if possible off the coast of Gaza, where the world would then come to see the ship and its cargo languishing, so close but yet so far from its sorely needed use. I would remain there until such time as the embargo is ended.
Minor correction to my just posted comment: it should read "* * * until the blockade is ended", not embargo.
The BBC title is: " Israel takes control of aid ship
Israel says it has peacefully taken control of an aid ship off Gaza, " using the vocabulary of Israel, "take control" instead of "seized" which I think is the proper term for ships at sea.
The Israeli PR machine never sleeps!
If I was an Iranian witnessing the assault on the relief ships, the nauseating propaganda and the western bias, Bibi's despise of international rules and even the reaction of a significant portion of the Israeli public, I'd sure want my country to build an arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Now I better understand the Israelis' psyche. Sitting on a pile of nuclear weapons and regarding themselves in the mirror they become afraid of what they see and can easily imagine the hubris corrupting their rivals' perception if they'd find themselves in the same situation.
Either a nuclear free region or even a "balance of terror" is preferable to the increasing risks one's sensation of impunity arise.
As for the Palestinians, they have no hope. Under the current rule of western hypocrisy there will never be a state for them where they could live in dignity. Fueled by despair and anger nothing good will come out of this confrontation as long the hellish deadlock is maintained.
Nuclear weapons are obsolete.
Why?