With the Israeli government promising to treat any aid ships coming from Lebanon as “terrorists” and threatening to hold the Lebanese government “responsible” for any ships that attempted to reach the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid, Beirut appears to have blinked first, with reports saying that they will now block the ships from leaving.
Incredibly enough the Lebanese government will argue that sending aid ships to the Gaza Strip is illegal because it is illegal to send ships to an “Israeli-controlled port.” Though Israel has no legal control over the port itself, their navy has been attacking ships in international waters when it believes they will attempt to deliver aid to the besieged enclave, part of a blockade the government claims is legal under international law.
The Lebanese ships were just one of many groups planning to dispatch aid in response to the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara, which left nine aid workers dead. Israeli officials insisted that they consider Lebanon an “enemy state” and that therefore any aid ships would be treated as hostile acts by the Lebanese government. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak threatened a “violent and dangerous confrontation” if the ships attempted to enter Gazan waters.
It remains to be seen if the aid ships will attempt to sail to Gaza in defiance of the Lebanese government’s wishes, however a number of other aid flotillas, including one from a German Jewish group and another from the Iranian Red Cross, are planned to attempt the trip in the near future.
The Lebanese of different factions have finally got their act together.
It is not a question of "blinking" in regard to Israeli threats.
They are playing a very subtle, very deep game.
I usually like your posts because they make me research things I didn't know about. In this case, I can't figure it out. The riddle is too deep so can you post what you mean in a more elementary way.
The Lebanese have got their collective act together and are playing a very deep game.
i don't know what that means. Looks to me like they are playing the bend over and take it game. if you'd care to elaborate on this "very deep game" they're playing i'd love to hear it.
ya it's called "please don't carpet bomb our entire country over some minor incident again… "
You really think so? You think the Israelis really think so?
What you blithely call a "minor incident" involved the brutal torture and mutilation of the Israeli soldiers snatched by Hezbollah.
Your description is just as cold-blooded as describing Lebanese casualties as "collateral damage".
soldiers engaged in border skirmishes over contested borders happen every day everywhere, the deliberate attacks of densely populated civilian area and destruction of civilian infrastructure does not.
second im sorry but you join the military and you lose some of my sympathy, a family walking home have far more moral standing as a subject of sympathy then a soldier patrolling a contested border.
and even if you do sympathize with the solders because part of the border was resolved in the process of israel ending its 20 year occupation of that country.
if you have been awake these past 10 years 3 soldiers killed fits very well in with what i would consider a minor incident.
or do you wake up every morning and flog your self to the endless casualty lists from around the world?
soldiers engaged in border skirmishes over contested borders happen every day everywhere, the deliberate attacks of densely populated civilian area and destruction of civilian infrastructure does not.
second im sorry but you join the military and you lose some of my sympathy, a family walking home have far more moral standing as a subject of sympathy then a soldier patrolling a contested border.
and even if you do sympathize with the solders because part of the border was resolved in the process of israel ending its 20 year occupation of that country.
if you have been awake these past 10 years 3 soldiers killed is fits very well in with what i would consider a minor incident.
or do you wake up every morning and flog your self to the endless casualty lists from around the world?
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx…
oh ya and i really have no sympathy for a corpse that is "brutally tortured and mutilated"
Lebanon blinks. Capitulation wins the day.
Its the please don't bomb us again game. LOL.
Lebanon not blocking the aid ships >>> the lebanease aid ships leaving to Gaza soon >>lebanon not capitulating >> Hezbolah rockets fearing Israel >>Telaviv under fire remember
Lebanon blinks. Safe from Israeli carpet bombing. Ergo, capitulation is diplomatic if not craven.
The Lebanese–all factions–have other fish to fry.
Lebanease ships sailing to Gaza for sure
In thanks, Israel will declare Beirut another "Israeli contolled port" and then they'll be screwed too.
In thanks, Israel will declare Beirut to be another "Israeli controlled port". Then they'll be in the same can't-be-allowed-to-have-even-a-boat boat as Gaza.
Breaking news >>>Lebanease goverment allowed aid ship to leave to cyprus then Gaza
Minister of Transport and Public Works Ghazi Aridi is insisting the opposite is the case, that they have not given such permission and will not.
on the board will be of Lebanease aidships a lot of american christian ladies>>.very soon the two ships leaving to cyprus then gaza
I guess France is a "hostile state" too since Barak was going to be arrested there, which is why he cancelled his recently planned trip. Similarly, the UN is a hostile organization because it deems the blockade of Gaza illegal and has enacted UNSC Resolution 1860 that calls upon the entire international community to support all efforts to supply Gaza with humanitarian relief. So, we can just say that the Zionist State sees the entire world as hostile–except for its patron, the US Empire.
"The Lebanese have got their collective act together and are playing a very deep game…"
yes- it's called Zionist Deep Throat and Netanyahu is Linda Lovelace…
I hope someone figures out that capitulating to Israel makes things worse.
Shame on Lebanon
The fact that the Lebanese govt is a bunch of cowards is not going to help them. As the Israelis prepare to attack Iran you can bet they will blast Lebanon/Hizbollah first to minimize danger from the north before the real war starts. If I lived in south Lebanon, I’d have my bag packed and be ready to run because you can be sure Israel is going to bomb the Hell out of Lebanon. Nobody, especially the US, will lift a finger to help the Lebanese or restrain the Israelis.
On the contrary, it seems rather that it is both the US and Israel that seem a bit thin, though quite thick with video game cowards, it is true.
What is this comment about? Am I missing something? I didn't see any previous comment from Tom Englehardt. And what does gatekeeping refer to? Please explain. Thanks.
Every sane and honest govt should allow their ships to visit Gaza with aid. Let Israel's true colours be exposed to the world. Israel is a rogue state with no compassion whatsoever. An average Israelis is a brain washed zombie like his fellow counterpart in the U.S. Unfortunately, the zionists have mastered the art of media based propaganda. But now after the 31st may cold blooded execution of innocent humanatarian aid workers by the Israeli pirates, not only the whole world, but even conscientious jews are shocked by israeli bahaviour. And rightfully so.
Yes, you recall the US Coast Guard cutter and other US warships that brought Saakashvili's Georgia "humanitarian aid" after Saakashavili's criminal sneak attack–sided by the US, NATO, and Israel–on Russian peacekeepers and civilians in Osetia.
No doubt the great US "humanitarians" will be sending warships to Gaza stocked to the brim with bottled water and MRE's any day now, right?
So when is Antiwar going to stock an American ship and send it to Gaza rather than calling the Lebanese "cowards"?
McKinney certainly had the balls to sail on an aid ship to Gaza–when is one going to see the Great and Good Doctor Ron Paul put his campaign contributions where his mouth is?
A sitting US Congressman on such a ship–my, wouldn't that be interesting?
The Lebanese government is in kind of a tough spot. Israel dropped over a million cluster bombs on Lebanon only a few years ago – not to mention destroyed the infrastructure of the country – in supposed retaliation for two(2) kidnapped Israeli soldiers. If sending an aid ship to Gaza might well result in a massacre of your citizens, priorities are going to conflict.
On a semi-related note, Stephen Harper called the Israeli attack on Lebanon 'balanced,' and throughout the slaughter maintained that Israel 'has a right to defend itself.' What a proud moment.
Israel's attempted destruction and domination of Lebanon, with US approval, connivance, or indifference, began in 1968.
It failed.
And the times have changed.
They just ain't making Danny Thomases like they used to anymore.