Once Israel’s closest ally in the region, the Turkish government has reacted with fury at last night’s Gaza aid ship massacre, condemning it as ‘inhuman state terror.’
The attacked ship was Turkish in origin and at least two of the slain aid workers were Turkish citizens. Turkey says future aid ships will be dispatched with a military escort so as to prevent future Israeli attacks.
Turko-Israeli relations have been on the decline in recent months, including a staged photo-op by the Israeli Foreign Ministry designed to shame Turkey’s ambassador. Israel also reportedly arrested a Turkish citizen weeks ago for being a member of a humanitarian group involved with the aid ship.
Israeli officials have defended the killings as “self defense,” claiming the aid workers were secretly in league with al-Qaeda. A top Israeli investment house has also called for a divestment from Turkey to protest Turkey’s criticism of the massacre.
Did the Israelis seriously believe the Turks were going to back down?
1. Turkey has been drifting increasingly away from being a close ally to Israel.
2. If Turkey thinks it can run a blockade because they have military folks on board then they are asking fr an act of war…Israel agrees to allow aid ships in but insists–rightfully–that they first be screened.
Yeah, the aid has to be screened. Dangerous munitions like chocolate, paper and other such weapons of mass destruction have to be removed as the Israeli's have decided they are contraband. Fred you need to go back to publishing erotic pictures on your site
http://extragoodshit.phlap.net/
You are better at that than moral and ethical judgments.
you all sound like idiots honestly. Where do you think the 6000 kassam rockets came from. How come none of you place blame on the people who intently did this to provoke a response in the hopes for this to happen. You people dont care about palestinians you care about hating israel otherwise they could have easily stopped the boat to be inspected as the other 5 did with no problems whatsoever.
Nobody had to stop the boat in international waters!! This was a blatant act of aggression of a fascist country!
W
Now THAT'S how to set up a blog!No idea what was said there of course-but good shit nonetheless.
Yes, indeed Israel's firing on or trying to blockade Turkish vessels in international waters is an act of war.
Go for it–follow your Fuehrer Netanyahu to the death, if that's what turns you on.
turkey sending ships in to provoke a response by israel would be an act of war from turkey not the other way around bud
Yes yes yes, we have all heard this before. War is peace.. Sending aid to persecuted peoples is an act of war. Yawwwwwwn.
Turkey could have nuclear weapons in six months if they wanted them.
But they don't need them to deal with Israel.
If Israel wants to start a nuclear war, what's to stop them? Fire away.
Oh by the way, declaring war on Turkey would be attacking NATO.
Shalom, mon petit meshugeneh.
turkey is busy with its own war crimes and tring to kill kurds. you really dont need a war with israel. Israel boarding those ships was completely justified. Any logical person is aware of this
Our buds…the Israelies…
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/03/19/22329/
You are suggesting you would like a war? You do not understand what is going on here. Turkey will send an escort of military ships. Israel will still enforce its 100% legal by international law blockade of Gaza, the same legal blockade that Egypt and NATO continue to enforce. Thus if Turkey tries to stop Israel by firing weapons they will be causing a war. A war you do not wish to have. This would then cause Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq into it also. So Israel who has the 11th strongest military will be going against the 10th strongest in Turkey. Both countries would be forced to use 100% of its military might. This means that the US will be forced to get involved thus causing a world war and millions of people dying. So you do not understand what you are saying because any sane person would not want such a result. You sir are participating in the plan that was developed by the Turkish Insani Yardim Vakfi – IHH terrorist group to infiltrate the ship and cause this provocation. The world's lack of support to Israel's sovereignty will cause the end of the world. Thank you to everyone.
Your link is bogus. Turkey has not said that they will provide a military escort.
The link provided was linked to a Turkish news source.
Even if it isn't true, it should be….and probably will be….and not only by Turkey. Suppose several nations join in, because it will be in international waters. Let's see what happens when Israel fires on all of them, which is no doubt what you would wish. Israel is digging itself deeper and deeper into what may become its demise. Nemesis awaits.
Now let's see other nations join with Turkey on this.
At last! A nation with some courage! The Israelis are bullies, and bullies are always cowards. Let's see them attack Turkish (NATO) military ships in international waters; they won't, the cowards only attack civilians! If Israel would dare attack a NATO ally, then let's get this war started! I for one volunteer to fight!
Google USS Liberty-they've done it.
"Ankara warned that further supply vessels will be sent to Gaza, escorted by the Turkish Navy, a development with unpredictable consequences."
From the link.
noone cares to claim that would be an act of war clearly
the assault is already an act of war, by Israel. It is piracy on the high seas.
Boarding a ship in international waters is as well but I guess that doesn't bother you too much
Correct, Egypt is also on the other flank, and anything can happen there. I would predict that Israel once again attack Gaza big time. The Israelis are letting themselves fall into a trap; rockets will becoming from Hezbollah in Lebanon, Turkey, and possibly Gaza. Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion Airport, the Dimona Reactor, and many other places in Israel will be leveled. Pakistan will react. The devastation will make it appear that Israel has been hit by a cyclone, and there will be several hundred thousand Israelis killed. Turkey is more than a match for Israel militarily, both on the sea and on the land, unless Israel uses nukes on it. It really is time for Israel to get the hell out of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, and make a comprehensive settlement in a two state solution. Time is not on Israel's side, but making a comprehensive two state settlement will play out well for Israel.
There is a really interesting dynamic transpiring here, especially when you put both NATO membership and the EU into the equations, as well as the many Israelis agents among the Kurds, and Turkey's mediation with Brazil regard to Iran.
The Israelis really should look at a map of the Eastern Mediterranean closely one of these days rather than spending all their time studying the New York subway system, and Times Square,and Battery Park, etc.
The Turks used to be the new kids on the block in this hood–only been around three quarters of a millennia or so, since the Sultan of Iconium (Seljuk, wasn't it?).
But now it's the Neo-Israelis, mostly Europeans in origin, who haven't been around long enough as a "state" even to get their footprints in Gruman's Chinese.
As Confucius say: Israel? Israel? You call Israel an ancient state? Never heard of them.
By the way, the Israeli online disinformation taskforce hasbeen really busy, they already have subtly tendentious pro-Israelaccoundat wikipedia titled "Gaza flotilla clash".
Check it out.
The article was probably already written last week.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_flotilla_clash
Excerpt from the Israeli-composed wikipedia article, "GazaFlotillaClash", already up:
"The flotilla intended to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, thus breaking the blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel and was boarded by Israeli forces after it refused requests to change its route to Ashdod's port. Although five of the six ships were subdued peacefully, on one of the ships, the MV Mavi Marmara, between 9 and 19 passengers were reported to have been killed by Israeli forces who boarded the ship,[with up to 60 passengers and as many as 10 Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers wounded.
The Free Gaza Movement's flotilla had planned to break through the Gaza blockade, despite Israeli declarations that they would turn the ships back and transfer the aid via land through Ashdod port. After the flotilla activists ignored repeated calls to turn back, Israeli soldiers armed with paintball rifles and handguns] boarded the ships."
The article also argues that the Israelis had a right to attack the Turkish shipin internationalwaters as part of the blockade–which is simply a lie.
No doubt his definitive "encyclopedia" article will be constantly changing.
Copying different versions and writing an article on the changes would be an interesting little project in the new online propaganda for someone who has the time and interest.
The boarding of one of the ships, the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, turned violent, when activists attacked and beat soldiers with iron clubs while the latter were rappelling onto the vessel.[9] The activists proceeded to assault each soldier as he landed, managing to capture one of the soldiers, wrest away his handgun, and hold him below deck.[7] A firefight ensued. The Israel Defense Forces said that the activists fired on them,[10] while activists said soldiers opened fire immediately after boarding…."
this is actually the events that took place. You guys are just so against israel you hate to acknowlege the facts
Yes, ilan, these are actually the events that took place. While illegally boarding private vessels in international waters, the criminals of the IDF were met with resistance from their intended victims. That more of them weren't killed in the commission of this crime was their good fortune, but would have been absolutely justified, just as a homeowner is justified in shooting the robber breaking into his home. These are the facts that YOU hate to acknowledge, given your obvious fealty to the terrorist state of Israel
Even if the Israeli government's account of the incident is true, that Israeli soldiers were assaulted while attempting to board the ship, the dynamics of the situation do change one bit. The reason for this fact is that the Israeli navy had no right to forcefully board an unarmed civlian ship in international waters. In this case the Israeli navy and its soldiers were the aggressors, and there is no such thing as a right to self defense for aggressors. Further as the aggressor in this incident the Israeli government is not only responsible for all the civilian dead on the Mavi Marmara, they are also responsible for all Israeli soldiers who might have died or been wounded in this incident.
The whole world hates Israel now.
the whole world hates israel before it just looks for a reason to express it. The world doesnt care about palestinians it cares about hating israel
yes, now we are against Israel. Israel has lost all credibility. You have dug your own s**t hole by doing this piracy.
The whole world hates the Israeli government except, the Likud lobby here in the United States and its "amen corner in congress".
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.'
'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."
except when civilians stab you and club you and throw you overboard they cease to be civilians genius
yeah; when they sit there and take it like doormats they're civilians.
right.
Israel…our BUDS! http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/03/19/22329/
Except for the name "Israel", and the romanticism based on an ancient tribal religion and text, the Israelis, except for the Samaritans, are about as native to the area as the French colonists were in Algeria–in fact, in some ways, less so.
After Confucius and Plato, then, one wonders what effect it would have simply for "Israel "to name itself correctly, as, say, "New Israel" or even "New Zion"or something like that?
Or how about this–"The Judaic Republic of Palestine"?
Right on! How about "The Ethnically Cleansed Zionist Colony", or "The Occupied Base of Zionists", or "The Apartheid State of Zionism". I could go on, but you get the drift….
When this story first broke I suspected that this was intended to provoke a rash, maybe violent, reaction from Turkey, turning into an armed conflict and dragging Syria and Iran in. The past year has seen growing diplomatic ties between these countries and I wonder how threatened Israel feels by it.
I mean, Israel didn't HAVE to do this. They didn't have to engage in a bloodbath to prevent aid from reaching Gaza – they could've simply blocked their path for days or weeks or however long necessary to keep those contraband wheelchairs out. This would have been a PR nightmare for Israel whether the ships got through or not; it would shed light on the blockade if they did and if they didn't it would just make Israel look bad. BUT, if Israel's ultimate goal is to prevent any future aid from reaching Gaza by striking fear in the hearts of prospective volunteers, then their brutality makes sense.
It surely was planned by those so-called "peace activists". Why else did they bring weapons and attack a military force that was boarding the ship? Surely they knew from the start that they would not win. Their clear intention was to get a bloody confrontation in which a small number of them would be killed, so that the wedge between Turkey and Israel is driven in harder. The idea is to accelerate the Islamization process that is turning Turkey and Israel into outright enemies.
If the Turks are going to back the Palestinians, then Israel should strike back by arming the Kurdish terrorists to the hilt.
Yes, and the U.S. should STOP arming Israel. Cut off the aid, and Israel is just another ugly footnote in the history books in a few years. Andrew, the whole world will be "backing" the Palestinians…but it's nice to know that Israel thinks enough of antiwar.com to keep posting here 🙂
Actually, the Israelis fired upon and killed at least 1 of the passengers and wounding several before even boarding the ship, THEN the passengers reacted by defending themselves.
ok we arm the palestinian u arm the kurdish see whos gonna win then u cunt
Yep, they planned the whole scenario,including the bloodbath on the Turkish ship, and they planned it openly at the Cabinet level.
The timing was planned too, leaving Obama and Emanuel holding the bag.
But the brutality backfires, doesn't it?
How many killed and wounded were not even Palestinian?
There was one interview with a wounded Greek.
A Greek wounded on a Turkish ship bringing aid to Palestinians in Gaza!
israelis are fleeing turkey en masse
the turks are enraged
So these slain workers were now in secret league with that bogey of bogeys, Al-Qaeda . . . Wow, the hasbara arsenal is looking mighty sparse these days. Even the old antisemitism slur has nearly lost its potency; heck, it's hardly good for a laugh anymore.
Anyone possessing a modicum of intelligence and human decency will realize that brazen PIRACY and MURDER in INTERNATIONAL WATERS cannot be explained away as self-defense or victimization. Such limp excuses for propaganda will find acceptance only among the politically and financially interested (which is to say our own corrupt ruling classes), the true believers (that is, radical Zionists of both the Jewish and Christian varieties), and the thoroughly ignorant.*
*Note that these groups are not mutually exclusive.
When will the world discover that Israel is NOT an 'ally' to anyone – it is an enemy to all!
"Turkey: Future Gaza Aid Ships Will Have Military Escorts"
There is no basis for this claim.
"Turkey threatens action; Israel on alert
Two Turkish activists were reported to be among those killed in the flotilla. Ankara warned that further supply vessels will be sent to Gaza, escorted by the Turkish Navy, a development with unpredictable consequences."
[linksalpha]
Bets are on that most of the International peace activists on the flotilla have ties to terrorist organizations. Their interrogation will result in thousands of sleeper cells being uncovered and break the back of international terrorism. They should remain imprisoned until every drop of information is water boarded from their evil minds. This has been a Bonanza for anti-terrorism intelligence units.
You think so-you think hijacked, kidnapped hostages in a murderous attack by Israeli pirate goons in international waters are just going to rot in Israel and be interrogated as terrorists?
Get a new script writer.
Netanyahu and the Israel Right Wing have dug themselees into a really deep hole.
Keep helping them dig deeper.
Melpol, I believe you have fallen victim to the lies of the Israeli media, and it is sad that you can not make an impartial judgement between wrong and right. You are the perfect example of successful thought manipulation through the use of media propaganda.
Can't you tell when someone is being sarcastic?
Israel is the biggest terrorist cell in world, Netanyahu and his cohorts should meet the same treatment and fate as was in the Nuremberg trials and the same legal fate as Saddam Hussein. Israeli terrorism is turning this world into poison.
Why stop at water boarding?
Bamboo under the fingernails is a great one! Pretend executions usually gets their undies dirty too.
And I don't think Israel stopped at wate rboarding… http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/03/19/22329/
In raw video, reporters claim Israelis fired on activists before boarding ship
By Stephen C. Webster
Monday, May 31st, 2010 — 6:49 pm
In what could be a serious blow to Israel's narrative on the killing of at least nine humanitarian activists making their way to Gaza through international waters, raw video by an Al Jazeera producer, who was filming during the raid, appears to provide evidence that the IDF opened fire on the flotilla even before boarding it.
Israeli forces assert they came under attack by the pro-Palestine civilian group, and video released by the IDF appears to show one soldier being tossed overboard amid a scuffle with unidentified individuals wielding melee weapons, like clubs and chairs.
However, in raw video captured by an Al Jazeera producer and published to YouTube late Monday, two journalists provide a play-by-play of the harrowing event as pops and cracks echo in the background. Even before the Israeli forces were aboard, one says, they were pelting the boat with tear gas and stun grenades, injuring numerous people.
Then he confirms the first death, saying the individual was killed by "munitions," but not specifying whether it was a bullet or something else. Then he confirms that Israeli forces were boarding the ship.
[Raw story]
If Turkish military escorts ships to Gaza, then there will be a real shooting war between Israel and Turkey – which could go nuclear very fast. I'm sure that was the plan from the beginning. The so-called "activists" were there for one reason – to start a bloody confrontation with Israel. They were publicly running a blockade and knew they would be stopped. They were lightly armed, but armed well enough to get something started. The whole plan was probably cooked up between Turkish Islamists (who currently govern Turkey), Iran, and other Islamic forces. It is a good, clever plan too. The idea is to get a unified Islam attacking Israel in the next war, or the one after that. And it will probably work.
Strange, that sounds just like what Netanyahu is after–that is provoking an attack on Israel, just as the US is trykng to provoke Iran into some action it can use as an excuse to attack.
But guess what? It's no go.
Israel will just have to make the first move.
And you know what Niels Bohr said about Mexican standoffs, don't you?
You have a rich phantasie! But, the facts speak another language, even though you don't like the facts! I don't think any of those peace activists could have imagined such a reaction by Israel. And the entire action was only possible by surprise. Actually, I have made the experience that people who do crimes always think that the others are the bad ones. Just ask a judge.
Sorry, but your country is now running out of pity and you can't blame some ancient history!
Israel is our BUD!
Watch this to see how much they are our buds…gag me with a place setting.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/03/19/22329/
Another fact is – Israel is the only nuclear-armed terrorist state in the ME. So, if you use nukes against Turkey after starting a war, the U.S. will absolutely not be able to cover your slimy ass.
Why does the world hate Israel (but not all Israelis)? Because they are always the A-holes!
Here's some more commentary about Turkey's response and a columnist from an Israeli news site's prediction.
http://talkingskull.com/article/turkish-navy-to-e…
God Bless Turkish leadership for standing up to Israeli Nazis.
Perhaps Israel should send a "civilian" supply ship to the Kurds and put some people on board with sympathy for the PKK. Let's see how they would respond then.
the Turks are not running a blockade of Northern Iraq where the PKK are located and the Kurds there are not in want of food or supplies. Your analogy does not fit nor does it make any sense.
We Turks would help them to unload the supplies. We love the kurds as our own brothers!
if there is a war between Israel and Turkey, I put my bets on Israel since Turkey is like a big balloon that can be pop. Turkey has never won any wars and it does not matter how many uneducated soldiers they have in their army that do not know how to shoot. Israeli Army will butcher Turkish Army just like cattle. Turkey back down unless you want lot of your cattle solders killed and the world will know that Turks don't know how to fight.
Considering that the Lebanese handed you Jews your own asses on a platter in 2006, you're going to need a lot more than chutzpah against the Turks.
ever heard of Gallipoli? Turkish infantry action in Korean war? Look those up to see what's in store for you.
you kidding right? i guess you didnt read any history book or something. just try to search ottoman at google. i dont believe someone said that :/
dude i just asked turkish authorities. they said " try us" i m just passing the word.
i dont want you to do something hard and boring, just open wikipedia and searh for ottoman, if you are not conviced that turkish military ruled europe and some of africa and asia, just to understand the capability of turkish forces search gallipoli or türkish war of independence. if you are still not convinced just look this website for a minute or two http://www.globalfirepower.net
Dream on, Turkey will fight until the last man, they are not cowards like Israel are. Israel will not survive a week, the IDF made martyrs out of the innocent Turkish peace activists, this will prove to be a big mistake for Israel.
When they attacked a peaceful ship in international waters, they declared war on humanity and the free world. Just like the USA were so hungry for oil, and now they have more oil then they asked for!!!, Israel was so hungry for trouble, and they have more trouble than they asked for.
Good.I'd Blow em out of the Water if they tried anything too……Rotten to the CORE SPIDERS
@Andrewp111… whatever it is… whether it is cooked or had gone without any cooked up stuff… whether there will be a between israel and turkey or not, muslims are much aware now and getting united day by day, you ll see big war between israel and muslims in near future insha'Allah and we ll nuke isreal too….
So many would like to under estimate Turkey as a confrontational force against Israel, it may well be that based on pure military strength and technology Israel have the edge, but wars are not just won by military power alone. The old saying `you may win the battle but the lose the war´ can be applied here, Israel can be brought to its knees quicker than anybody thinks.
A strong military is of no use without, political, economical and patriotic public support and Israel is rapidly losing on all 3 counts. Turkey will amass huge active military support througout the region from day one should armed conflict prevail with Israel.
Israel will be fighting wars on many fronts and will not be able to sustain this type of battering, unless the US lends a hand, and if that happens, then we can expect Iran to unleash an unprecedented response, which will lead to an irreversible escalation, involving Russia and maybe China, and so the stage is set for a World War 3 declaration. This scenario is what is unveiling now, most countries want closure on what has been decades of tensions and uncertainties.
I think within a few weeks it will be clear that the catalyst to the coming major conflict will prove to be Turkeys military escort to Gaza. Israel are behaving like psychotic maniacs, they truly believe in their own self imposed immunity and unaccountability, they couldn`t careless for international law or much less for a dwindling US ally.
One thing for sure is, that yesterdays massacre onboard the ship has defined and pushed the world to a place where it does not really want to be, all options for peace and negotiations are used up.
Damn you Israel
The Turks have balls, they aren't a bunch of wimps like the Americans. This could be the end of NATO since if Israel attacks Turkish ships NATO is obligated to help militarily. You know the US government would rather attack Washington DC itself rather than upset the poor Israelis.
Way to go, Turkey! When you fire back at the Zionist scum, please fire a few rounds as payback for the USS Liberty.
Let me tell you this story. Yesterday in New York a group of people clubbed some Jews with base ball bats and passers by's asked whether they could join and help to finish those "Jews" off.
The Semite and the self acclaimed Jews are heading into another Crystal night.
HORRAY!
The IsraeLIES are our buds! Just watch this to see! http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/03/19/22329/
I'm sure if the flotilla had been transporting a group of blue eyed,blonde haired gentile sex slaves from eastern Europe that,Israel would have welcomed them with open arms. Not firearms
turkey has gigantic army more than 1.5 million educated soldiers and they are willing to strike the israel for sure.
turks have same military poltics as israel. every man spend his 15 mounths in army. and becouse of pkk they are active and ready for a fire fight more than 20 years.
israel is going to suicide if they fire turkish war ships.
as a military expert i can say that if israel is even considering the possibility of a war against turkey then they playing with the fire. in this case mossad should know military facts about turkey if don't then they suck just like israeli political authorities.