israeli navy fires on Gaza aid flotilla

[Lemon law]

So, you're betting that nations around the world will try to militarily invade Israeli territory?

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But Gaza is not Israeli territory remember?

 

[SamurAchzar]

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But Gaza is not Israeli territory remember?

It is no longer Israeli territory, but the water around it, as well as the airspace above it, are still under Israeli control. Even the UN does not dispute this.

 

[Oric]

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[PJABBER]

In terms of just a early sampling of international reactions, try this link from yahoo news.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100531...5bl9oZWFkbGluZV9saXN0BHNsawNpc3JhZWxib2F0cmE-

If nothing else, this incident may end the three year illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza, and if not, the next and ninth Gaza relief flotilla is likely to be escorted to Gaza beaches with armed war ships from a variety of nations.

While the USA has issued a non committed deeply troubled response, other nations are deeply angry and are taking action, but what is really telling is that not one nation on the planet has sided with Israel. NOT ONE.

Your link shows nothing of what you are claiming, though your commentary reflects what you HOPE will happen.

As has been recounted several times already in this thread, this was a deliberate and planned confrontation by "peace" activists (I really wonder why they never seem to be peaceful. But, I digress.)

This group was warned time and again that they would not be allowed to pass, they knew they would be met with a naval cordon but went forward anyway. Not to actually deliver relief supplies, as the Israelis had agreed to deliver those for them, but to force a confrontation.

Some are feeble dupes in the Palestinian "cause," some are die hard terrorists, some are camp followers, some are typical Eurotrash... the usual assortment of rabble rousers that might care to find themselves enmeshed in such a deliberate confrontation. Their fondest hope was that they would encounter resistance so that they could be "martyrs." That is just the way it is there.

From the accounts I have read, the Palestinian supporters on one boat actively resisted the boarding. Events escalated and casualties mounted. Hooray for the cause! We have martyrs!

It doesn't take much to enrage the fanatical Muslims, hey, a couple of cartoons drawn by their imams will set them right off. Expect lots of demonstrations and a firestorm of chanting crowds, burned buildings, UN speechifying. Ho hum, been there, seen that.

Now, on a substantive level, will Turkey sent a flotilla of warships, will any other country send a flotilla of warships, to escort Palestinians, of all people, to invade Israel?

Only in your wildest dreams and in everyone else's wildest nightmares, because a direct confrontation of naval forces really will result in a bloodbath. And most rational people and most national leaders do not want to see that happen.

Right now there is a significant buildup going on to confront Iran militarily. Everybody knows this, though the time of the strike is not exactly clear.

Expect the Iranian surrogates to continue to push for more of these distractions with an aim to disrupt the possibility of an allied strike at Iran. And expect the Israelis to continue to be ever firmer in responding as they seek to keep their enemies at bay.

But don't count on another Mid-East War over this. Oh, there will be war, but it won't be over some rabble trying to break a naval blockade.

 

[NFS4]

Breaking News on CNN:


Netanyahu cancels Washington visit, returning home early from Canada

 

[Lemon law]

It is no longer Israeli territory, but the water around it, as well as the airspace above it, are still under Israeli control. Even the UN does not dispute this.

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That is one issue the UN will soon have to revisit as a result of this incident.

 

[Noobtastic]

let's see...750 persons in a flotilla, been warned 6 times to return to cyprus ports, then messaged by the IDF to go to ashdod port where the "aid" can be checked and then escorted into gaza.

activists refuse to respond, knowing full well israel navy will board.

thousands of troops storm the ship, but instead of finding aid they see dozens of "activists" armed and waiting.

luckily israel learned from last years incidents and sent in highly-trained special forces dedicated to non-lethal force, but ive heard a couple israelis died.

so fucked up. Now a member of the Islamic movement in the Knessnet was wounded and is being treated by ISRAELI SURGEONS. What a fucking job. Drown him the mediterren. Treason treason treason!

palestinian militants get killed for doing less. all those "collaborators."

im sure LL is just jizzing in his pants right, 6 months of mostly quiet and now he got this incident to protest.

another propaganda victory for hamas, brought to you by BBC, the Guardian, and every other mainstream media taken over by "palestinian sources."

 

[Harabec]

Should have sunk those ships before they even left port, problem solved.

 

[fallout man]

Thread delivers!

 

[Lemon law]

Earth to IHV, Earth to IHV, you show how foolish you are by saying, "palestinian militants get killed for doing less. all those "collaborators."

These people are not Palestinian residents of Gaza cowed into abject terror like beaten dogs, these people are the citizens of many nations carrying at least one Nobel laureate, and they do not recognize any non existent right of Israel to stop ships in international waters.

And funny thing, seeming no one else in the entire world is siding with Israel this time.

IHV, what part of international waters do you not understand? Or are you at long last willing to admit, Israel is not divinely permitted by GOD to what ever it diddy darn pleases?

Because one thing is certain, a ninth relief flotilla will soon be coming to Gaza containing Israeli contraband materials like cement and building materials.

 

[nageov3t]

Now the question is, what will the international community do about it?

I'm gonna go with a strongly worded letter of condemnation followed by absolutely nothing.

because as much as European peaceniks might dislike Israel, they hate Muslims more.

 

[fallenangel99]

Honestly, those activists should have been expecting this kind of surprised. Though I am surprised Israel did not use a knockout gas

 

[Jaskalas]

I support forcibly removing Palestinian aid.

It would have made more sense to wait until they arrived near shore and then sunk the ships entirely. Storming them in international waters is quite a mistake, but the outcome itself is far less severe than I would have done.

 

[sandorski]

Fail

 

[mrCide]

Fuck Israel and the idiots who support their illegal actions. Have fun.

 

[KMFJD]

The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea says in paragraph 67:

67. Merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral States may not be attacked unless they:

(a) are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture.

 

[grebe925]

All the countries bleating their heads off against this manufactured outrage like Jordan, Egypt, Iran etc. are run by two-bit dictators who smash the heads of their own citizens if they became a little uppity. Turkey has it's own Gaza in the form of part of Kurdistan and it yet to take responsibility for the Armenian genocide. And we've all seen how little it takes to get Muslims riled up against any and every real or perceived insult.

More than anything else, these Muslim and Arab countries need the Palestinians to be eternally miserable as a lightning rod to draw attention away from the misrule of their rulers. In that sense, I feel sorry for the Palestinians that they're caught between the rock called Israel and the hard place that is the grave already dug for them by their Arab/Muslim brethren over which they can shed their crocodile tears.

 

[Perknose]

Not the smartest move by the Israelis. Not the smartest move at all.

Historical perspective: The British had more legal right to stop the illegal immigration ship Exodus in 1947 and did so, injuring several dozen and killing three, including a Jewish American sailor, by bludgeoning them to death in the resulting melee, you know, because they were "terrorists" who were obviously spoiling for a fight.

The people on that ship, like on this ship, had no guns, but like here, some resisted. So they deserved what they got, right?

The British won that battle but lost big time in the court of public opinion and ultimately lost that "war."

Israel beware.

The bitter and tragic irony here is compelling.

 

[Sinsear]

Should have sunk those ships before they even left port, problem solved.

I'm inclined to agree. Israel should be commended. Supplies need not reach terrorists.

 

[nageov3t]

according to Israel at least, they were met with live fire on the ship. if that's the case, I'd say that they were perfectly within their rights to return fire.

 

[NFS4]

according to Israel at least, they were met with live fire on the ship. if that's the case, I'd say that they were perfectly within their rights to return fire.

But what were they doing on the ship in the first place in international waters?

 

[SamurAchzar]

But what were they doing on the ship in the first place in international waters?

Mark Regev, spokesman for the Prime Minister of Israel has stated that "the San Remo memorandum states, specifically 67A, that if you have a boat that is charging a blockaded area you are allowed to intercept even prior to it reaching the blockaded area if you've warned them in advance, and that we did a number of times and they had a stated goal which they openly expressed, of breaking the blockade. That blockade is in place to protect our people."[49]
The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea was adopted in June 1994 after a series of round tables of naval and legal experts convened by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law. In paragraph 67 it permits belligerents to attack merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral States if they "are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture". Paragraph 146 permits the capture of neutral merchant vessels outside neutral waters if they are engaged in any of the activities referred to in paragraph 67.[50] Yochanan Visser, a Dutch-language analyst for the Israel Facts Group, contended in an article for Het Vrije Volk that the provisions of the San Remo manual made Israel's action legal under international law.[51]

(from Wiki on the incident). I can only assume Israel wanted this to take place during night (tactical reasons as well as to minimize the media circus around it), and the ships intentionally held off until the morning to get into Israeli waters. They probably weren't very knowledgeable on maritime law, I guess.

 

[fallout man]

But what were they doing on the ship in the first place in international waters?

Handing out leaflets.

 

[SamurAchzar]

Handing out leaflets.

Hey buddy, if you want to join the next flotilla, I'll split the cost of logistics with you.

 

[Sacrilege]

What if Egypt had been enforcing a blockade?

It probably would have been a lot messier, I suspect Israeli special forces and naval personnel are better trained than their Egyptian counterparts.

And there would be none of this "outrage" from the submissive left-wingers here.