Another Gaza Flotilla is arriving

[Mediocrates]

http://www.robinshepherdonline.com/prepare-for-media-onslaught-as-freedom-flotilla-approaches-gaza/

Prepare for another media bonanza over Gaza. This time it’s the turn of the Freedom Flotilla — a nine ship strong convoy heading to Gaza with hundreds of passengers (there are 600 on just one ship from Turkey which left Istanbul yesterday) and more than 10,000 tonnes of supplies. It is due to arrive on Thursday but is almost certain to be turned away by the Israeli navy. So get ready for a veritable firework display of grievance mongering, as “victims” from dozens of countries howl about their “oppression” at the hands of the dastardly Israelis. And by “get ready” I mean prepare to point out that giving succour to Gaza means giving succour to its rulers, Hamas — a terror group which openly parades its Protocols of Zion style anti-Semitism and is devoted to the destruction of Israel. Morally speaking, the attempt to break into Gaza is the equivalent of attempting to bust the sanctions imposed on Apartheid South Africa. Now there’s an apartheid analogy about the Middle East that Israel’s opponents will not be using this week.
And in addition to reminding the world of just how deplorable the actions of these people really are, it would also be worthwhile to follow the example of Abraham Cooper (writing in Ynet today) (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3892605,00.html) who has enumerated some inconvenient truths about Israel and Gaza thus:

“For starters,” he argues with reference to what the western media should be doing, “it can tell an indifferent world what actually entered Gaza legally from Israel just this last week of the “siege”: 637 truckloads, consisting of 14,069 tons of humanitarian aid.
“Among the goods for Gaza civilians were 810,209 liters of heavy duty diesel fuel; 21 truckloads of milk powder and baby food; 897 tons of cooking gas; 66 truckloads of fruits and vegetables; 51 truckloads of wheat; 27 truckloads of meat, chicken and fish products; 40 truckloads of dairy products; 117 truckloads of animal feed; 36 truckloads of hygiene products; 38 trucks of clothing; 22 trucks of sugar and 4 trucks of medicine and medical equipment.
“In addition to that, 781 medical patients and accompanying individuals from the Gaza Strip crossed into Israel to receive treatment in various hospitals and 191 staff members of international organizations crossed into the Gaza Strip, and 202 crossed back from Gaza.”
Pretty impressive, especially when you consider that this is all being done by Israel for a people that wants to destroy it. As Cooper adds, it would also be appropriate to remind the world of what was emanating from the Palestinian territories before barriers and sanctions were fully in place. Here is Cooper’s (partial) list:
** June 1, 2001 - 21 killed and 120 Israelis - mostly teenagers - wounded outside a Tel Aviv disco.
** August 9, 2001 - 15 people were killed, including 7 children, and 130 injured in a suicide bombing at Sbarro’s in downtown Jerusalem.
** December 1, 2001 - two genocide bombers detonated explosive devices on Jerusalem’s Ben Yehuda’s pedestrian mall on a Saturday night. A car bomb exploded nearby 20 minutes later. Ten people were killed, including many children, and 188 were injured.
** February 16, 2002 - A suicide bomber deliberately targeted Jewish children sitting at a pizzeria in the town of Karnei Shomron. Three children died and over 30 were wounded.
** March 9, 2002 - A suicide bomber kills 11 people and injures 54 in a crowded Cafe in Jerusalem
** March 27, 2002 – At a Passover Seder in a Netanya hotel, a genocide bomber belonging to Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs detonated an explosive device, killing 30 and injuring 132, including many children and elderly.
** January 5, 2003 - 23 people were killed, and more than 80 were wounded when two Palestinian murderers blew themselves up near the old Tel Aviv bus station.
** June 11, 2003 - Sixteen Israelis were killed and more than 100 were wounded when a homicide bomber, dressed as an ultra-Orthodox Jew, detonated his explosives belt on a bus in downtown Jerusalem. Palestinian terrorists have attempted 11 homicide bombings and murdered 23 Israelis in the last 4 days, since Palestinians “accepted” the international “roadmap for peace.”
** January 15, 2004 - Two Israeli soldiers, a border policeman, and a security guard for a private manpower company, were murdered by a female suicide bomber at the Erez Gaza crossing.
** September 1, 2004 - Two suicide bombers exploded almost simultaneously on two buses in central Beersheba, killing 16 innocents and wounding dozens.
It all puts things in some perspective, doesn’t it? Which is precisely why the BBC and company will not be mentioning it.

[Mediocrates]

They purport to bring in about 4-5 DAY's worth of materials and supplies, compared to the traffic that's been flowing into Gaza every week for about 2 years, from Israel.

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/flotilla-of-fools.html

In this link you will see a link to an earlier page that quotes FG (Free Gaza) as being morally and politically OPPOSED to humanitarian aid to Gaza. You read that right.

[bararallu]

They should be allowed to deliver what ever, then boarded, arrested for aiding and abetting terrorists.

[Mediocrates]

Can we pray for a hurricane?

[Mediocrates]

See also this short video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCobB4mzdiE

2:26

[Mediocrates]

http://idfspokesperson.com/2010/05/25/overview-of-the-humanitarian-situation-in-the-gaza-strip-25-may-2010/

[Mediocrates]

MFA Spokesman video on Gaza Flotilla:

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/HumanitarianAid/Palestinians/MFA_Spokesman_Gaza_flotilla_24-May-2010.htm

[Mediocrates]

http://www.robinshepherdonline.com/gaza-freedom-flotilla-activist-compares-israel-to-nazis-rationalises-terrorism/

As the nine-ship “Freedom Flotilla” approaches Gaza with thousands of tonnes of aid for the Hamas ruled territory, the extremist views of some of its participants have been revealed by an Israeli newspaper. Ynet (the English language version of Yediot Aharonot) carries an interview today (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3894282,00.html) with Greek university professor Vangelis Pissias, a prominent activist aboard one of the ships.
Pissias is quoted by the newspaper as saying the following: “We’re helping the Palestinians, just like the Greeks helped during World War II against the Nazis.” Turning to the question of Palestinian terrorism, he added: “These people are doing what reality causes them to do.”

Frankly, that some members of this group hold such appalling views is not really a suprise. But it is useful to have this on the record as the flotilla’s journey draws to what its organisers hope will be a very public finale.
On another matter, the Israel/Apartheid nuclear story continues to linger in the air. Cif Watch (http://cifwatch.com/) has another extensive posting about it today which readers should find interesting.

[Mediocrates]

Free Gaza, with lies:

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-many-lies-can-free-gaza-fit-in.html

[GratefulFred]

I bet they have some ketchup packs to apply to their foreheads to show how much they are bleeding as their already dented boat needs to just get an Israeli boat nearby to make the story complete.

I hope we shoot some of that stunk repellant onboard. Maybe they'll all jump and ask the sharks for help.

[Mediocrates]

No no clearly the sharks are Zionists; they will eat and/or oppress them.

[frizzer1]

Look...they should be smart about this situation...and let them in...but if they find weapons then they should arrest and jail them all.
And if there are no weapons....they should invite them to come again and invite others to come and bring food because everyone including israel wants to help the gazans.
Bet that would stop the convoys,

[Mediocrates]

The MFA has officially asked them to come to Israel and utilize the overland crossings that are already there. They of course refused.

[GratefulFred]

The best way to stop this is to figure a way to block all cell and satalite phones ontheir boat. Go onboard and steal all camera films. Make them all go through strip searches to ensure that they don't have any explosives hiden between their legs & also make sure that nude pictures surface online.

If they can't film it, they'll stop.

Bibi, you reading this?

[Mediocrates]

They telling whomever will listen that the evil Jews will put them in concentration camps

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3895338,00.html

You should also note that a group working to free Gilad Shalit sent a letter to this group asking them to broach the subject of quid pro quo. They refused. They couldn't have made it more plain. They want Jews dead.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/tobin/302256


So...screw them, get eaten by sea creatures and descend to hell, all of them.

[Mediocrates]

http://blog.z-word.com/2010/05/fascist-rule-in-gaza/#more-1584

Riad Malki, the PA’s Foreign Minister was in Buenos Aires yesterday and gave an interview to Pagina/12. With regard to the Hamas regime running Gaza he said (http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elmundo/4-146419-2010-05-27.html)the following,


They are running an authoritarian, fascist system and it’s for this reason that leaders of Hamas know they are losing the support of the people. It’s they who sent us signals that they wanted to open a dialogue. The leadership of Hamas in Damascus, by contrast, is more intransigent because they live far away and receive the support of Iran. Hamas is starting to split. We are trying to liberate Hamas from the influence of Iran and talking to the leadership in Gaza.
And those in the Free Gaza flotilla who are having wet dreams (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3895338,00.html) about being put in Zionist concentration camps, as well as those who sympathize with them, continue to either portray Hamas as a noble resistance movement or just pretend that it doesn’t exist and that only Israel may be legitimately criticized for the situation of people in Gaza.

[Mediocrates]

http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/05/gaza-freedom-freaks-at-sea/index.shtml

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/todays-free-gaza-lies.html

http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/05/the-free-gaza-flotilla/index.shtml

http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/05/no-comfort-for-gilad-shalit-the-mean-spi/index.shtml

http://cifwatch.com/2010/05/29/yo-ho-ho-and-a-bottle-of-rum/

[Elin]

IHH is an Islamic "humanitarian" group,all they want to do is provoke Israel. What will Israel do? What will happen?

[bararallu]

I would arrest them and jail them.

[Elin]

How will they stop flotilla?

I feel like a big crisis is approaching..

[Mediocrates]

Now the flotilla is chanting...“Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud, jaish Mohammed saya'ud.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137777

[wat0n]

Turkish TV: IDF boards ships, 2 dead

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=176961

If true, this is going to turn ugly for Israel...

[NewsGuy]

Turkish TV: IDF boards ships, 2 dead

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=176961

If true, this is going to turn ugly for Israel...

It now looks like the passengers in the flotilla, including convicted terrorists from Hamas and the PLO, etc., and various Turkish anti-Semites opened fire at the IDF troops who boarded the ships.

Obviously, things didn't go so well for the terrorists. 3 dead so far and 60 wounded.

To the unarmed Turks on the ship, I say:

1. It's the fault of the terrorists you sided with, who put your lives in danger.

2. If you would like to live safely, don't go willfully as an enemy into another country's territorial waters after being told not to.

3. If you have too much time on your hands, deal with your own country's problems, ranging from Islamism in government, pervasive molestation of women, your own mass-murder of the Kurds, etc., not to mention the Armenians.

4. Learn a lesson: If you're planning on a confrontation with armed soldiers, better make sure you have good health/life insurance.

[wat0n]

It now looks like the passengers in the flotilla, including convicted terrorists from Hamas and the PLO, etc., and various Turkish anti-Semites opened fire at the IDF troops who boarded the ships.

Obviously, things didn't go so well for the terrorists. 3 dead so far and 60 wounded.

To the unarmed Turks on the ship, I say:

1. It's the fault of the terrorists you sided with, who put your lives in danger.

2. If you would like to live safely, don't go willfully as an enemy into another country's territorial waters after being told not to.

3. If you have too much time on your hands, deal with your own country's problems, ranging from Islamism in government, pervasive molestation of women, your own mass-murder of the Kurds, etc., not to mention the Armenians.

4. Learn a lesson: If you're planning on a confrontation with armed soldiers, better make sure you have good health/life insurance.

Wow, they opened fire on the IDF? That would radically change things, any source?

[curlyg]

BBC is reporting 14 people dead

[NewsGuy]

Wow, they opened fire on the IDF? That would radically change things, any source?
The Israeli press is starting to report it. Hebrew news sources say that shots were fired at the IDF, passengers attempted to grab weapons from the IDF soldiers, and that 1 IDF soldier was stabbed in his stomach. 5 other IDF soldiers were wounded.
Partial report from Ynet English edition:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3896416,00.html


BBC is reporting 14 people dead
Right, as time passes, different reports are coming in. It seems that more than 20 may be dead. 6 IDF soldiers wounded.

The only reason that anyone would choose to attack Israeli commandos is to cause this type of incident. I guess that the Arabs and Turks got what they wanted.

[wat0n]

The Israeli press is starting to report it. Hebrew news sources say that shots were fired at the IDF, passengers attempted to grab weapons from the IDF soldiers, and that 1 IDF soldier was stabbed in his stomach. 5 other IDF soldiers were wounded.
Partial report from Ynet English edition:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3896416,00.html

They used the soldiers' weapons or they brought their own ones with them?

[Aliyah1995]

My comment on yahoo:


Well, Duh!!!! These flotilla "peace" ships were warned that if they approach that they would be turned away (although the supplies would be transferred to Gaza after inspection). These "peace activists" are not interested in human rights, but provocation. Otherwise, they would have been able to arrange with Israeli authorities to have all the supplies that pass security checks transferred to Gaza that they wanted. Israel transfers tens of thousands of tons of supplies to Gaza every month. But, they wanted provocation and they are reaping the consequences. It would have been easier for the Israeli Navy to just torpedo the ships after warning them several times, but instead they risked the lives of their commandos to board the ships and come under armed resistance. A heck of a lot more compassionate then was shown toward the Altalena ship coming to aid Israel, which was torpedoed by the Hagana (the pre-cursor of today's IDF) and then people jumping overboard being shot at back in 48.

[Womble]

I had a feeling something like that would happen. This time round, there was too much bravado and talk about how the Free Gaza crowd was going to fight off the IDF, and the heavy involvement of an Al-Qaeda-affiliated Turkish charity made violence much more likely.

[Aliyah1995]

Wow, they opened fire on the IDF? That would radically change things, any source?

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2010/Israel_Navy_warns_flotilla_31-May-2010.htm


IDF forces met with pre-planned violence when attempting to board flotilla
31 May 2010
Previously, Israel Navy warned the flotilla that the Gaza region is closed to maritime traffic.


Israel Navy warns flotilla that Gaza region closed to maritime traffic


IDF Spokesperson

(Communicated by the IDF Spokesperson)

Early this morning (31 May), IDF naval forces intercepted six ships attempting to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. This happened after numerous warnings from Israel and the Israel Navy that were issued prior to the action. The Israel Navy requested the ships to redirect toward Ashdod where they would be able to unload their aid material which would then be transferred over land after undergoing security inspections.

During the interception of the ships, the demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF naval personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs. Additionally one of the weapons used was grabbed from an IDF soldier. The demonstrators had clearly prepared their weapons in advance for this specific purpose.

As a result of this life-threatening and violent activity, naval forces employed riot dispersal means, including live fire.

According to initial reports, these events resulted in over ten deaths among the demonstrators and numerous injured; in addition, more than four naval personnel were injured, some from gunfire and some from various other weapons. Two of the soldiers are moderately wounded and the remainder sustained light injuries. All of the injured, Israelis and foreigners are currently being evacuated by helicopter to hospitals in Israel.

Reports from IDF forces on the scene are that it seems as if part of the participants onboard the ships were planning to lynch the forces.

The events are ongoing, and information will be updated as soon as possible. Israeli Naval commander, Vice Admiral Eliezer Marom is overseeing the events.

In the coming hours, the ships will be directed to the Ashdod port, while IDF naval forces will perform security checks in order to identify the people on board the ships and their equipment. The IDF Spokesman conveys that this event is currently unfolding and further details will be provided as soon as possible.

This IDF naval operation was carried out under orders from the political leadership to halt the flotilla from reaching the Gaza Strip and breaching the naval blockade.

The interception of the flotilla followed numerous warnings given to the organizers of the flotilla before leaving their ports as well as while sailing towards the Gaza Strip. In these warnings, it was made clear to the organizers that they could dock in the Ashdod sea port and unload the equipment they are carrying in order to deliver it to the Gaza Strip in an orderly manner, following the appropriate security checks. Upon expressing their unwillingness to cooperate and arrive at the port, it was decided to board the ships and lead them to Ashdod.

IDF naval personnel encountered severe violence, including use of weaponry prepared in advance in order to attack and to harm them. The forces operated in adherence with operational commands and took all necessary actions in order to avoid violence, but to no avail.

[Cellis]

great news!

I think Israel should send a humanitarian aid vessel to Turkey for its minorities hehe

[GratefulFred]

We are reaping the consequences of not siezing the cameras right away and allowing those images to show.

No one cares for right or wrong but what stories can be spun around what images can be gotten out.

The truth is meaningless as the Arab world will write whatever they want to support their anti-Israel positions and a few more people in America will see us as slightly more evil, considering now that even the Saudis own FOX news.

Goldstone had flim flam evidence and wrote what it did. Every image paints a a hundred thousand bad words against us.

When will it dawn upon people that our enemies cannot beat us militarily now but can fight us in other ways that over time may be more powerful.

Am I the only advocate of military censorship on all news from Israel?

[Womble]

Channel 2 reported that two of the crew members on Mavi Marmara opened fire on the soldiers with handguns. Another one managed to snatch a soldier's weapon and fire it.

In the Turkish footage, you can see a soldier being stabbed with a knife.

[Aliyah1995]

I wonder what fate would await any unauthorized ship approaching any other sovereign country in the world, including doeth protest too much, Turkey:

warning shot to the bow, refuse to turn back, torpedo out of the sea:stick:

[Kachah]

Hope none of Tsahal soldiers are being hurt.
As for the provotocators - taking them out and shooting is a standard modus operandi, has been for centuries, no reason to change anything.

[Sanket]

Which part of "naval blockade" didn't the protesters understand? And why were the Peace Activists attacking Commandos with Iron Rods ?

[Womble]

Hope none of Tsahal soldiers are being hurt.
10 soldiers were hospitalized. Two in serious condition. Channel 10 just said that one just went critical.


As for the provotocators - taking them out and shooting is a standard modus operandi, has been for centuries, no reason to change anything.
Get out of here. I don't want you on Israel's side.

[curlyg]

No matter what the background, this looks bad. Really, would it have killed Israel to wait an hour or two longer for the vessels to enter Israeli territorial waters?

[Sanket]

No matter what the background, this looks bad. Really, would it have killed Israel to wait an hour or two longer for the vessels to enter Israeli territorial waters?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKOmLP4yHb4

:rolleyes:

[curlyg]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKOmLP4yHb4

:rolleyes:

Yes, I know. But as always, bodies trump words.

[Mil]

I think this "Free Gaza People" are themselves embarrassed of the thing, at least going by their comments to the BBC. I think this will be the end of these flotillas either all together or for the nearest future.

[Cellis]

I heard that ak 47s found in the ship and idf will release operation video.

[Sanket]

Yes, I know. But as always, bodies trump words.


Understanding Israel’s response to the flotilla (http://acorn.nationalinterest.in/2010/05/31/understanding-israels-response-to-the-flotilla/)


Was Israel’s reaction—its forces killed 10 activists and injured several more—disproportionate? That’s a difficult judgement to make. After all, what is a proportionate response to deter non-state actors from violating its authority without any fear of consequences? If, instead of a ‘flotilla’, some state’s navy had attempted to violate the blockade, it would well have been interpreted as an act of war. Why should non-state actors be treated differently? The Israeli government was justified in preventing non-state actors from challenging its authority.

But could Israel’s reaction have been less forceful? Could the Israelis have turned the ships back without using lethal force? Perhaps yes. If you go by the official Israeli version of events, that is exactly what they say they first attempted. They used lethal force only when the activists on the ship put up a fight. The flotilla’s floaters might deny this and argue that they didn’t expect violence. This is disingenuous. It is also unbelievable. They should have foreseen such a scenario before putting civilian activists in harm’s way. It is unclear if there were unambiguous rules of engagement, communicated to the activists and to the Israeli authorities. In the event, the organisers cannot escape their part of the responsibility for the unfortunate casualties.

[Cellis]

people with brain can clearly understand Israel's response. we do not need very long texts, world media's opinions etc etc...

[Sanket]

people with brain can clearly understand Israel's response. we do not need very long texts, world media's opinions etc etc...

:D

Usually i don't copy paste from blogs...Today feeling a bit tried so C&P what i wanted to say...;)

[CanDo]

Israel's government should have known that the IDF was walking into a propaganda trap, yet NOTHING was done in advance to counter the significant harm that is going to befall Israel from this very successful Islamic, AntiSemitic propaganda stunt.

This could even lead to an excuse for Israel's enemies to start rocket attacks against Israel. If rockets came pouring down into Israel, most of the world would just sit back and watch and blame Israel for it's war crimes against the Islamists. Israel would be blamed for starting the conflict by it's ruthless, war crimes against innocent civilians on the flotilla! The worst part is that this should not have come as a surprise to Israel's government, BUT IT DID!!!

When will Israel's government ever learn that there is a war-wide Islamic propaganda war against Israel, and take effective steps to counter it!!!

[Womble]

Israel's government should have known that the IDF was walking into a propaganda trap, yet NOTHING was done in advance to counter the significant harm that is going to befall Israel from this very successful Islamic, AntiSemitic propaganda stunt.
So, what would you have done?

[CanDo]

So, what would you have done?

I don't have the experience in world affairs, propaganda and high level government contacts, in order to give a professional or effective answer to your question.

Buts...... someone in the Israel government should have the professional knowledge and experience to counter the devastating, constantly successful propaganda attacks against Israel. At least, I would expect someone in Israel to have the professional knowledge and skills to wage a better fight against the constant Islamic propaganda war against Israel.

[Djinn]

Based on what we currently know, do I understand correctly that exactly one of the boats in the flotilla was operated by the IHH terrorist front group, and that all of the gunfire in the incident was aboard that one boat?

[Aliyah1995]

No matter what the background, this looks bad. Really, would it have killed Israel to wait an hour or two longer for the vessels to enter Israeli territorial waters?

Why? The "peace activists" made it no secret where they were sailing to. Where did all those who protest too much think they were on their way to? Paris.

Besides, the goal of the Israeli Navy was to get them to agree to change their course and dock at Ashdod where all the supplies would be transferred to Gaza after security checks. They refused.

In a similar scenario, but substituting the UK Navy for the Israeli Navy, what would have happened? Divers would currently be searching for any remains of the ship/s and their passengers at the bottom of the ocean.

[CanDo]

Based on what we currently know, do I understand correctly that exactly one of the boats in the flotilla was operated by the IHH terrorist front group, and that all of the gunfire in the incident was aboard that one boat?

It doesn't matter. Facts don't matter. Justice doesn't matter. Being right doesn't matter. What does matter is that this is a huge propaganda defeat for Israel! Israel has NEVER won on the world propaganda stage. Why? Too stupid? Too inept? Too blind!?

For instance, from the Wall Street Journal: "The incident triggered strong condemnation from Israel's friends and foes alike, and plunged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into his worst diplomatic crisis since taking power early last year."

[CanDo]

Also from the Wall Street Journal"


In a statement, White House spokesman Bill Burton said the U.S. "deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained" in the incident. The statement said that administration officials are "currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy."

European capitals reacted more angrily. French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his "deep emotion in the face of the tragic consequences of Israel's military operation." In a statement, Mr. Sarkozy said he "condemns a disproportionate use of force."

In contrast, NATO will wipe out scores of Afghanistan or Iraqi civilians by dropping large, powerful bombs, and "fortunately" nothing gets said. OTOH, the IDF boards a ship carrying KNOWN violent, dangerous Islamic terrorists, and is forced to defend itself, and the world condemns Israel for killing known Islamic terrorists!

The US deeply regrets the "loss of life"!? Known Islamic militants were killed in self defense by the IDF. The US should regret the loss of the life of a noble, brave IDF soldier, but praise Israel for taking out the Islamic militants.

This should not have come as a surprise to the Israel government, but it did; and ALL of Israel is going to have to pay the price and suffer for this complete failure of Israel's leadership!

[Mediocrates]

http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=176962

http://www.yourish.com/2010/05/31/10973

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3896435,00.html

http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/new/Special_Alert_Flotilla_Battle_Unleashes_Anti-Israel_Wave.asp

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=176970

http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_e105.htm

http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_e107.htm

http://www.adl.org/israel/israel_int_solidarity.asp

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/if-idf-intended-to-kill-protesters.html

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/muqata-live-blogging.html

http://findalismonkeyinthemiddle.blogspot.com/2010/05/when-are-peace-activists-not-what-they.html

http://www.news1.co.il/Archive/001-D-240183-00.html?tag=14-50-38

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/video-of-peace-activists-stabbing-idf.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buzOWKxN2co

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/video-of-peace-activists-ambushing.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nRbcwnp-l8

http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/385ec082b509e76c41256739003e636d/7694fe2016f347e1c125641f002d49ce

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/peace-activists-with-guns-ihh.html

http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Publications/WP2006/DIIS%20WP%202006-7.web.pdf

http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/ism_fact_sheet_radical_politics_endangers_lives_

http://idfspokesperson.com/2010/05/31/idf-forces-met-with-pre-planned-violence-when-attempting-to-board-flotilla-31-may-2010/

http://idfspokesperson.com/2010/05/31/pistols-found-on-flotilla-activists-31-may-2010/

http://www.mako.co.il/news-military/security/Article-065be48a37de821004.htm

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=176655

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h7yTcRCKr5mtD5AryuuEGVT_sySg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKOmLP4yHb4

http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/114/294.html?hp=1&loc=2&tmp=2454

http://blog.z-word.com/2010/05/flotillistas-unleash-violence-on-board/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHXzeFJxJgw

http://blog.z-word.com/2010/05/casualties-and-martyrdom-the-free-gaza-flotilla/

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=37&x_article=1853

http://www.cicweb.ca/scene/2010/05/the-free-gaza-flotilla-sailing-away-from-human-rights/

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.investigativeproject.o rg%2Fdocuments%2Fcase_docs%2F312.pdf&pli=1

http://daledamos.blogspot.com/2010/05/10-deaths-aboard-gaza-flotilla-is-it.html

[Sanket]

Medio

RT @IsraeliSoldier: Report: Wanted Hamas terrorists held up in 1 boat that is still refusing to cooperate

Can u find the Link of the above news ?

[Mediocrates]

Still looking.

[Mediocrates]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3896796,00.html

[andak01]

European capitals reacted more angrily. French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his "deep emotion in the face of the tragic consequences of Israel's military operation." In a statement, Mr. Sarkozy said he "condemns a disproportionate use of force."

Well I guess we know whose side Sarkozy is on now. Time for the youtubes showing his head on Ahmadinijad's body! Disproportionate force? They didn't use nukes did they? Only ten dead. Carpet bombing Turkey in a preemptive strike - that would be disproportionate. Sarkozy is an anti-semite.

[Mil]

And Mufti was no Nazi.

[Sanket]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU12KW-XyZE

After watching the above video if anyone calls these people Peace Activists should check their Brains.

[Aliyah1995]

What I don't understand is why Netanyahu is calling off his trip to America. By doing so, he is blowing this incident into a much bigger crisis than it really is and feeding into the hype the world media is making out of it.

There is a reason we have a defense minister. He is the one who should be dealing with any questions (both domestically and from abroad) that have to do with this operation. Why does Netanyahu have to rush back here?

[Mediocrates]

http://www.jstreetjive.com/2010/05/humanitarians-gone-wild.html

http://www.robinshepherdonline.com/freedom-flotilla-debacle-condemned-around-the-world-but-what-really-happened/#more-2756

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVd-pAQ5X7M

[second_coming]

It doesn't matter. Facts don't matter. Justice doesn't matter. Being right doesn't matter. What does matter is that this is a huge propaganda defeat for Israel! Israel has NEVER won on the world propaganda stage. Why? Too stupid? Too inept? Too blind!?

For instance, from the Wall Street Journal: "The incident triggered strong condemnation from Israel's friends and foes alike, and plunged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into his worst diplomatic crisis since taking power early last year."

You are mis-readin this. Those who are israel's true friends will cheer this event on, the fakers and jew hating trash with their terrorist friends will try to manipulate this non-event into something it isn't.

Once Israel notified the flotilla that their goods could still be transferred to gaza after a routine security inspection - and they refused - then they were legitimate targets.

They did not want to be searched because they knew the weapons and illegal materials would be confiscated, which might still happen if they do not throw them overboard now that they realize the IDF will not allow them passage.

[bararallu]

What I don't understand is why Netanyahu is calling off his trip to America. By doing so, he is blowing this incident into a much bigger crisis than it really is and feeding into the hype the world media is making out of it.

Thats due to Obama stabbing Israel in the back the other day in the UN.

[CanDo]

You are mis-readin this. Those who are israel's true friends will cheer this event on, the fakers and jew hating trash with their terrorist friends will try to manipulate this non-event into something it isn't.

OK. If you are right then the world should hear a chorus of support from Israel's friends cheering, right?

You know what? I can't hear them. I can't hear the chorus of Israel's true friends, cheering Israel's legitimate defense against uncivilized, brutal, Islamic thugs and their mindless puppets.

All I hear is a growing chorus of condemnation from around the world, and a total lack of support for Israel.

How am I mis-reading this?


Once Israel notified the flotilla that their goods could still be transferred to gaza after a routine security inspection - and they refused - then they were legitimate targets.

It doesn't matter one bit. Israel has been justified protecting the Jews of Israel from extermination for over 60 years. Israel's enemies still continue in their quest to complete the Holocaust on the remaining Jews of this world.

Today the AntiSemites of the world won another battle against the Jews of Israel. The Jews of Israel and worldwide lost again to Islamic/Arab propaganda, and Israel's Jews will pay the price for losing this battle. It is a plain and simple as that.

[Madeline]

Israel's government should have known that the IDF was walking into a propaganda trap, yet NOTHING was done in advance to counter the significant harm that is going to befall Israel from this very successful Islamic, AntiSemitic propaganda stunt.

This could even lead to an excuse for Israel's enemies to start rocket attacks against Israel. If rockets came pouring down into Israel, most of the world would just sit back and watch and blame Israel for it's war crimes against the Islamists. Israel would be blamed for starting the conflict by it's ruthless, war crimes against innocent civilians on the flotilla! The worst part is that this should not have come as a surprise to Israel's government, BUT IT DID!!!

When will Israel's government ever learn that there is a war-wide Islamic propaganda war against Israel, and take effective steps to counter it!!!

Sadly, most of the good guys fall victim to these stunts.
Those with gentle souls will always be backed into a corner by evil.
Sadly, too many ignorant don't see through this farce, mostly those who call themselves compassionate humanitarians.

[Madeline]

OK. If you are right then the world should hear a chorus of support from Israel's friends cheering, right?

You know what? I can't hear them. I can't hear the chorus of Israel's true friends, cheering Israel's legitimate defense against uncivilized, brutal, Islamic thugs and their mindless puppets.



America is a friend of Israel, don't let DC confuse you.
The problem is that the idiots and the radicals have the loudest voices, and often drown out those who should be heard.

[Madeline]

Do any of you remember this brain dead excuse for ***************
Sorry, I usually don't get this wordy about someone, but she takes the cake. Read and weep.

http://gazafreedommarch.org/cms/en/News/View/10-05-31/Cynthia_McKinney_Mourns_the_Dead_of_the_Freedom_Fl otilla_to_Gaza.aspx

[Aliyah1995]

Do any of you remember this brain dead excuse for ***************
Sorry, I usually don't get this wordy about someone, but she takes the cake. Read and weep.

http://gazafreedommarch.org/cms/en/News/View/10-05-31/Cynthia_McKinney_Mourns_the_Dead_of_the_Freedom_Fl otilla_to_Gaza.aspx

Even when taking her views on Israel out of the equation, she is a nutcase:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_McKinney


McKinney gained national attention for remarks she made following the 2001 US attacks, charging that the United States had advance knowledge of the attacks and that US President George W. Bush may have been aware of the incipient attack and allowed them to happen,[18] allegedly due to his father's business interests: "It is known that President Bush's father, through the Carlyle Group, had–at the time of the attacks–joint business interests with the bin Laden construction company and many defense industry holdings, the stocks of which have soared since September 11."[18] In the month that followed the attacks, when New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani refused to cash a $10 million check written by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in light of the Prince's suggestion that the attacks were an indication that the United States "should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause,"[19] McKinney published an open letter to the Saudi Prince, in which she wrote of her disappointment at Giuliani's action and stated, "Let me say that there are a growing number of people in the United States who recognize, like you, that U.S. policy in the Middle East needs serious examination...Your Royal Highness, many of us here in the United States have long been concerned about reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that reveal a pattern of excessive, and often indiscriminate, use of lethal force by Israeli security forces in situations where Palestinian demonstrators were unarmed and posed no threat of death or serious injury to the security forces or to others."[20]

[Mediocrates]

At least they brought camcorders this time. Best weapon in the arsenal.

[andak01]

And Mufti was no Nazi.

I never said that. Please read.

[CanDo]

Sadly, most of the good guys fall victim to these stunts. ...

I don't fault Israel for falling victim to these stunts. I fault Israel for falling victim to the same stunts over and over and over again.

Every time that the Islamists set up a trap, Israel's government and the IDF fall victim to it.

Israel could have used every resource at it's disposal to minimize any violent confrontation. Israel's government should have known that these violent, low-life Islamic thugs would start a violent incident and blame it on the IDF and Israel.

Israel's government had full knowledge that there were terrorist on these boats. This type of Islamic propaganda stunt happens over and over and over again; and Israel always loses the propaganda war.

How come Israel does not have a budget and plan for countering negative world-wide antiSemitic propaganda? Currently the Islamists are free to infiltrate the world's news-waves, internet, television, Youtube, etc., with anti-Israel and antiSemitic, hate-filled propaganda, yet Israel does nothing to counter it!

This time, the penalty for failure against the Islamic hate-filled, antiSemitic propaganda war could be very costly.

[andak01]

I just have one question. How does defending the violent seizure of a civilian ship in international waters help Israel? They should do what they always do and promise an investigation and claim that nobody had orders to board the ship. Then when some external entity attempts to investigate, they should call those people anti-semites and Nazis. Then Obama should come out and say he doesn't support Israel's actions and send some more weapons to Israel as a penance. Then we could get back to normal.

[Womble]

The truth is oftentimes unhelpful, andak.

[NewsGuy]

Maybe at some point the Muslim world will stop the cycle of violence by dropping its support for terrorism?

After all, what was this flotilla really about if not to deliver supplies to a terrorist organization which is -- literally -- at this moment firing missiles into Israeli population centers?

I only regret that Israel didn't simply sink those boats.

I would be curious how the US would respond to a flotilla delivering fresh supplies to the Taliban or to al Qaeda?

[Reffo]

Let me guess: Abbas will now start flailing his arms, complain about "Israel's criminal actions" and call off the so called peace talks ...

[Mediocrates]

George Friedman's analysis:

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20100531_flotillas_and_wars_public_opinion?utm_sou rce=GWeekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=100531&utm_content=readmore&elq=61cf56278c5440d5bae8552d74cbff1b

[Reffo]

I just have one question. How does defending the violent seizure of a civilian ship in international waters help Israel? They should do what they always do and promise an investigation and claim that nobody had orders to board the ship. Then when some external entity attempts to investigate, they should call those people anti-semites and Nazis. Then Obama should come out and say he doesn't support Israel's actions and send some more weapons to Israel as a penance. Then we could get back to normalThat's one way to look at it (sarcasm about Israel's actions).

Another way to look at it could be: Once again, Israel's enemies set out to discredit Israel by pretending that they are humanitarians and with the help of terrorists succeeded to create another spark, more hatred in the Middle East and they managed to dampen even the very faint prospects for peace that may have existed before this fiasco.

Some peace activists, huh andak?

[NewsGuy]

CanDo, it's true that Israel falls for the same gimmicks.

But so long as any action to counter the Muslim terrorists is sure to be condemned by the world, I don't see how Israel can avoid losing the PR battle.

[Reffo]

It's time to withdraw the Israeli embassy from Turkey ...

[Reffo]

CanDo

It doesn't matter what Israel says or does. In the eyes of some people, whatever Israel does or does not do is wrong ...

[CanDo]

CanDo, it's true that Israel falls for the same gimmicks.

But so long as any action to counter the Muslim terrorists is sure to be condemned by the world, I don't see how Israel can avoid losing the PR battle.

Jews have a lot of enemies in this world. AntiSemitism goes back thousands of years, and it is persuasive throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

That said, I don't really have the skills nor the knowledge to know how to wage a creditable and positive pro-Israel, pro-Jewish campaign that could change world opinion. But I know that there are talented, artistic Jews who would be able to create shows and/or music and/or cartoons and/or movies and/or cable TV shows and/or press releases and/or interviews; that could be very beneficial to the image of Jews and Israel. The government of Israel has to start searching for and finding those rare and talented individuals and put them to work creating a positive image for Israel.

Currently, immoral, criminal, hateful, racist Islamists and other antiSemitic slugs are basically controlling most of the world media's portrayals of Israel. This MUST change for Israel to survive. MUST!!!

[Mediocrates]

That depends on what you want the final goals to be. For instance if you want to figure out a way to make the world like Israel, forget it it's impossible. But if you want to find a way to squeak out enough maneuvering room until some final state of for the Palestinians is reached then that's entirely different. After all, whenever that happens, all the protests and shrieks can for most part be ignored.

If Hamas continues to fire rockets, well that's really a war between two nations. Not to say that a classic military response would be acceptable to the 'west'. Because it would not. But it could be ignored from a PR perspective.

I genuinely believe it was a mistake for Israel to worry that much about this flotilla in the first place. Even if every single person was a Hamas terrorist they were only bringing a thousand tons of items with them, less than Israel allows in in a week. The Israeli govt should have ignored it and let them dance around burning flags like they usually do. In fact it would have eliminated the reason for them being there. Open the sea to Gaza and they can erect a wall a thousand feet high on the border with Israel. There would no longer any 'blockade'. Either way, Hamas wasn't helped in any material way, just in a PR-ish way.

[danholo]

The Israeli government is dumb, sending elite commandos to commandeer a vessel in international waters (poised for Gaza), needlessly endangering their lives in the process. While I can't say that the passengers on board were peaceful, they considered the boarding of the vessel provocation enough and went haywire on the soldiers who ended up defending themselves.

This will go down in history as one of the worst tactical blunders in Israeli history. Shame on the government, they should take full responsibility for this and some of them step down. Handling this sort of situation with military force shows what sort of lack of political expertise our security establishment is made of on the top, ever since the 2006 War in Lebanon to this.

That analysis by George Friedman was to the point. This might mean a huge political fallout. This is worrisome if our government does not rectify the situation immediately.

[second_coming]

CanDo

It doesn't matter what Israel says or does. In the eyes of some people, whatever Israel does or does not do is wrong ...

This sums it up. I've been supporting Israel for over 50 years, so this shyte is not new by any means, just a little bit more intense due to the technology of today.

The world likes to slam how everyone ELSE handles their muslim problems - but when they themselves are criticized, its always the same response: "back off."

When Russia condemns israel for events like today AFTER it has the blood of 100,000 chechnyan muslims on their hands, I cannot help but laugh.

When France condemns israel for events like today AFTER it has passed laws banning the burqa, thrown its muslims into pigpens outside major cities, murdered thousands of algerian muslims, etc., I cannot help but laugh.

When Turkey condemns israel for events like today AFTER it has the blood of thousands of kurds and ONE MILLION armenians on their hands, I cannot help but laugh. Turkey, who has one of the world's WORST human rights records, should be about the LAST nation to open their traps. Erdogan is a dog like ahmadinejad, both of whom will hopefully be hanged for Crimes Against Humanity.

How many times has Turkey shelled Northern Iraqi villages indiscriminately this month?

See a pattern here?

There are 2 groups complaining the loudest; arab muslims who noone could give a cr*p what they say anyway, and the nations above who have the done the most grievous crimes, and will do everything they can to push the spotlight onto someone else.

Notice how today, amidst all of this nonsense about israel - iran was censured yet again by the UN...think the UN didn't release this report on a US holiday while this staged propaganda effort by iran's poodle hamas wasn't intentional?

[second_coming]

George Friedman's analysis:

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20100531_flotillas_and_wars_public_opinion?utm_sou rce=GWeekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=100531&utm_content=readmore&elq=61cf56278c5440d5bae8552d74cbff1b

A subtle attack on Israel masquerading as a scholarly analysis.

The support for israel by me and its friends around the world is unshakeable, period. All of the Arafat BS spin about the pal arab victimhood doesn't even weigh an ounce; and has no impact on those who are already on one side or the other. Those on the fence will continue to sit there...

[Mil]

They used cameras this time which clearly showed what happened - so I am not warried. However, this entire incident really puts a question mark on the entire peace movement who, probably, themselves are very embarrassed on this particular issue. Violent confrontation with Israeli army was probably wanted but not this type of outcome.

Anyways, it's time to take the gloves off with Turkey. This third-world country is sliding down a very slippery slope of the Middle East very clearly choosing sides. I saw the protests on CNN today and this is definitely pure hatred. They want our blood - MY BLOOD.

[wat0n]

The Israeli government is dumb, sending elite commandos to commandeer a vessel in international waters (poised for Gaza), needlessly endangering their lives in the process. While I can't say that the passengers on board were peaceful, they considered the boarding of the vessel provocation enough and went haywire on the soldiers who ended up defending themselves.

This will go down in history as one of the worst tactical blunders in Israeli history. Shame on the government, they should take full responsibility for this and some of them step down. Handling this sort of situation with military force shows what sort of lack of political expertise our security establishment is made of on the top, ever since the 2006 War in Lebanon to this.

That analysis by George Friedman was to the point. This might mean a huge political fallout. This is worrisome if our government does not rectify the situation immediately.

I agree, even though if Israel had done nothing then I guess they would send more ships the next time, and break the blockade in practice. Also, doing this same thing on Gazan territorial waters wouldn't have changed things much either (as it isn't Israeli territory anyway).

Also, I think Israel should have sent cameramen from Israeli news channels in the helicopters along with the soldiers (and riot police too, I think) and should have broadcasted the boarding live on TV.

At last, we ought to wonder if the blockade is the right strategy for dealing with Hamas or not... I don't know how could Israel be sure Hamas won't be getting more weapons without imposing a blockade, but I also believe that Israel should make sure Gaza gets the same flow of non-military goods as it did before the blockade was imposed (or ask the UN whatever the Gazan population may need). I don't think Israel should open its borders and letting Gazans into its territory unless it's done for humanitarian or other special reasons, just as it doesn't allow Lebanese and Syrian nationals to go freely into its territory...

[Mil]

If this was only up to Israel to open that border and lift the blockade that would not be that hard. The issue is that neither PA or Egypt want that to happen. Abbas can yell "massacre" as many times as he wants to but dealing with Israel is not the same as dealing with Hamas.

[Yala]

The US has ordered both Israel and Egypt to blockade the strip. Does anyone think Egypt is taking orders from Israel :p? So like I said this is a US order that both Israel and Egypt obey like slaves. Iran and the US are fighting a proxy war in Israel, Lebanon and Gaza, which is going to blow up very, very soon. This was just a small skirmish instigated to further delegitimize and isolate Israel.

The new Iranian-Turkish axis sent in this flotilla deliberately for a reaction. Over the last few years Israel allowed 5 of 9 flotillas into the strip and they should also have allowed this one to go to Gaza, knowing that Turkey and Iran were aching for a violent confrontation. Also, I am reading that the IDF top brass were sure that the "activists" were not going to use real violence, so they also miscalculated just how crazy and violent these "activists" really are.

But what's done is done and Israel should stay on message and make that close up video WIDELY available. You can clearly see how violent those activists were, but the Europeans and anti-Israel types will excuse that as self defense. There is also an Al Jazeerah video were some Islamists aboard that Turkish ship were talking about murdering Jews and ready to martyr themselves. Danny Gillerman should be on TV RIGHT NOW talking about that video and telling the website where it can be found.

[frizzer1]

The Israeli government is dumb, sending elite commandos to commandeer a vessel in international waters (poised for Gaza), needlessly endangering their lives in the process. While I can't say that the passengers on board were peaceful, they considered the boarding of the vessel provocation enough and went haywire on the soldiers who ended up defending themselves.

This will go down in history as one of the worst tactical blunders in Israeli history. Shame on the government, they should take full responsibility for this and some of them step down. Handling this sort of situation with military force shows what sort of lack of political expertise our security establishment is made of on the top, ever since the 2006 War in Lebanon to this.

That analysis by George Friedman was to the point. This might mean a huge political fallout. This is worrisome if our government does not rectify the situation immediately.



I agree.
Sometimes I wonder why Israel has such stupid leaders.
These activists obviously planned to attack the israelis and force them to retaliate.
The trap was set and the israelis fell into it.
Now Israel could end up isolated. ..
And jews worldwide may face attacks from islamofascists.
They should have called their bluff and let them in.....and there would have been no controversy.
Look the whole idea was to get the world to condemn israel..they didn't care about sending food etc to gaza,,it was a ruse.

This is a very serious situation for israel.It will not likely go away anytime soon.
the left and the arabs are trying to get israel isolated and deserted by their few friends...and with Obama as president they may just get their way.
Israel and their leaders have to smarten up.
Israel's very existence could be at stake.
oy..I am really worried about the future.

[curlyg]

I agree with wat0n. This incident should cause to to think about whether the blockade is actually the right strategy here.

Its initial purpose was to cause the Gaza population to turn against Hamas, following a rationale similar to the one Israel employed in 2006 of trying to get Lebanese to blame Hezbollah for the destruction Israel was inflicting upon them. The strategy failed then, and it has failed now. In both cases, we're just causing the populations in question to rally around the leaders we are trying to bring down. The blockade is not serving any real strategic purpose at this point.

[bararallu]

Personally I think it is untenable to have your sovereignty denigrated. Israel was within rights to fire ship to ship much less board. If this was Chinese or Russians the "peace activists" would be singing and doing their Jihad on the bottom of the sea. Even the French and the Brits would have fired on the ships.

[Mil]

This is an embarrasment for the peace movement, who, while loudly condemning this are probably wandering why this happened and how this went out of control. Anyways, this time there will be two ways for these flotillas - either very peaceful or very violent.

[curlyg]

Personally I think it is untenable to have your sovereignty denigrated. Israel was within rights to fire ship to ship much less board. If this was Chinese or Russians the "peace activists" would be singing and doing their Jihad on the bottom of the sea. Even the French and the Brits would have fired on the ships.

I think the "sovereignty" argument is pretty thoroughly undermined by the fact that the boarding took place in international waters, well outside Israeli territorial waters.

And as usual Israeli damage control has failed to kick in. When I went to sleep 12 hours ago most countries were cautiously calling for more information, not yet taking any hard positions. 12 hours later Israel still hasn't released any new information, and as expected foreign governments are being forced to take positions based on the images and information currently available to them - those statements made by Fatah, Hamas, Turkey, the IHH, etc.

[Reffo]

I agree with wat0n. This incident should cause to to think about whether the blockade is actually the right strategy here.

Its initial purpose was to cause the Gaza population to turn against Hamas, following a rationale similar to the one Israel employed in 2006 of trying to get Lebanese to blame Hezbollah for the destruction Israel was inflicting upon them. The strategy failed then, and it has failed now. In both cases, we're just causing the populations in question to rally around the leaders we are trying to bring down. The blockade is not serving any real strategic purpose at this pointAnd I most definitely disagree with watOn. These people (the Islamists) are relentless and so are their (so called) "liberal" Western allies. Their aim is to chip away at Israel. Initially they are happy with small victories and when they put those under their belts, they go for bigger victories. And when they get those, they go for even bigger ones. They are not even pretending, like Hitler did in the late 1930s that "it's their last territorial demand". They openly declare that their ultimate aim is Israel's destruction and that they are willing to fight to achieve that for generations if necessary.

So, giving in to them is NOT the answer, we have seen it at Lebanon. Remember what happened after Israel withdrew from there unilaterally in 2000? Did Hezbollah stop their attacks? And what did the Palestinians learn from that withdrawal? I'll tell you what they BOTH learnt: They LEARNT that putting pressure on Israel pays them dividends. We need to make sure that they will NOW unlearn that lesson and that the only way they could get part of what they want (a good decent life) is to compromise with Israel. They need to re-learn the fact that ANY pressure on Israel will be counterproductive for them. Unfortunately, that will require patience from Israel and the supporters of Israel because the Islamists and many Arabs seem to be slow learners and our past mistakes (attempts to appease) did not help because we gave them mixed messages. That has NOW GOT TO STOP, PERIOD .... !!!

[Reffo]

I think the "sovereignty" argument is pretty thoroughly undermined by the fact that the boarding took place in international waters, well outside Israeli territorial watersWe have got to stop APOLOGISING all the time, they never do .... Why is that? I'll tell you why curlyg: Because there is a war going on and they are fighting it while we are trying to pretend that it's a cricket match and therefore some well meaning people on our side want us to fight with one hand tied behind our backs ...

The reality is that I don't know why Israel didn't wait a bit longer before boarding the ship. There may or may not be good reasons for it but does it matter? The bottom line is that at least some of these so called peace activists had a distinctly sinister agenda. They sailed there with the aim of provoking an incident and inflict damage on Israel. And no matter what Israel would or would not have done, the outcome, sooner or later would have been the same.

If Israel would have allowed them to have their way this time (sail directly into Gaza) then the next time they would have sailed with 12 ships and the next time with 24 and they would have supplied Hamas with advanced weapons.

I don't know why you guys (guys like you) can't see the obvious: This was a test run ....

[curlyg]

Reffo,

Calm down and consider the matter dispassionately now, as all states should when formulating their policies. This is not about making concessions. This is about the best means to achieve Israel's national interests. That is the only a reason a state should ever act.

When Israel instituted the blockade after the Hamas takeover, its explicit rationale was to turn the population against Hamas. It is exactly the rationale the IDF used in Lebanon. This is a proven failed strategy. The question to ask is this: what does the blockade achieve for us, and do those benefits outweigh associated costs? Well, the blockade marginally helps us to control the flow of weapons (marginally, because they can and do simply smuggle them by other routes) and allows us to use collective pressure against the population as a bargaining chip in the negotiations for the release of Shalit. The costs are well known: we are causing the population to rally around the government, and at the same time the humanitarian situation, whether real or manufactured, is chipping away at Israel's international image.

So what are we left with? A blockade whose initial rationale has been discredited, which provides fairly questionable benefits to Israel's security, and which hurts international opinion.

Your appeals to populism aren't going to work here. I am not going to be swayed that way. The withdrawal from South Lebanon was a mistake because it had very real security benefits, with relatively low costs (that is, very few casualties). The withdrawal from Gaza is somewhat comparable. And you rightly say that these withdrawals not only hurt us, but emboldened the enemy. That, however, is not an argument for persisting in implementing bad policy without good reason.

You would like us to think of this as a war. That's fine -- because it is a war. But the war isn't measured purely in terms of numbers of rockets and numbers of tanks. If there is one thing we should have learned over the past 5 years, but you apparently have not, it is that public opinion overseas matters. And in determining public opinion, what matters is not what is right, but what appears to be right. So let's stop playing games and say what we all know: the blockade of Gaza, whether it is or it isn't, appears to the world to be causing a great deal of unjust human suffering to ordinary Palestinians. The boarding of the flotilla and use of lethal force, whether it is or it isn't, appears to be a disproportionate use of force.

In part, these are our failures to market our side of the story. In larger part, however, it comes down to the success of our enemies in marketing theirs. As far as sound bites and moving/emotional images go, they have a massive advantage. And we are the ones supplying it to them. If this were serving some significant tangible strategic purpose, I would at least understand it. But since it serves no such purpose, it seems to me to be doubly stupid.

There is a public relations war, and we need to learn to fight it. Just look at this situation, and think of how uninterested people without any background in the conflict (i.e. 90% of the world's population) see it. When you have spontaneous protests in a dozen countries within hours of the news breaking, that should give you an idea of how Israel's public image is doing. If you want to abandon this battlefield and stick to your argument "but these protesters were violent and affiliated with terror groups; but Gaza is under the control of Hamas!" then we've already lost the war. If that's the case, then you shouldn't complain when European governments become knee-jerk anti-Israeli propagandists: they're just responding to public opinion in their countries, which in turn is caused by our failure to wage a competent PR war.

Your method of "we don't give an inch - no matter how little sense it makes to stick to our current position" - is a perfect recipe not only for bad policy but for one PR disaster after another.

[curlyg]

Reffo,

Let me just give a quick example. Assuming Israel increased supplies to Gaza through the land-crossings to pre-blockade levels, but maintained its control of the Gaza coastline and refused access to ships, it would:

(1) Enable Israel to control the supply of weapons to Gaza by controlling the border crossings and searching/approval all goods transferred, and
(2) Take the rug out from under the feet of those claiming there is a humanitarian situation in Gaza, thereby eliminating the justification for these kinds of aid ships in the first place.

Explain to me (rationally, preferably) why this policy would be inferior to the one Israel currently maintains?

[Reffo]

curlyg

First of all, let me assure you, curlyg, I AM calm with you personally because I know you mean well, we only have a difference of opinion and that happens in life :) In fact, I apologise if you feel that I am coming on too strong ...

I am however less calm with the situation and that's why you probably picked up on that. You noticed my palpable frustration with the way things get twisted ...

You are right. There are two wars going on. One is the physical or hot war if you like (and if you are like any normal person, you probably don't like ..). And the other is the propaganda war or the battle for the hearts and minds as you aptly put it. Now as far as the former goes, it is fair to say (at least at this point of time) that Israel is the Goliath fighting the David (if we only include the Palestinians). But in the latter, the public relations war, Israel is most definitely the David and in fact an infant David at that. And that's not necessarily because Israel is using the wrong strategy (although that could, I stress the "could bit", be true too). It's because Israel is up against 1.3 billion Muslims, their allies, the oil addicts and that's most of the world, at least for now. So let me answer some of your specific points that you raised ...


When Israel instituted the blockade after the Hamas takeover, its explicit rationale was to turn the population against HamasThat's true but that's not where the story begins and ends. Let's tell the whole story:

Firstly, the blockade was imposed in 2007

The Gaza Strip has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since June 2007, when Hamas took control of the Palestinian territory in the course of a conflict with rival Palestinian group Fatah. It immediately followed the 2006-2007 economic sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority following the election of Hamas to the Palestinian government

2007–2010 blockade of the Gaza Strip (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007–2010_blockade_of_the_Gaza_Strip)

But what was the cause for it? Or should I say causes. Let me give you a hint. It was more than just Hamas's election victory and it's subsequent war with and defeat of Fatah in Gaza (although it WAS the trigger point). There were several other causes. Such as the escalating rocket fire despite Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and it was also Hamas's sneak cross-border raid in which they killed several Israeli soldiers and kidnapped Shalit and it was/is their stubborn refusal to release Shalit ... These were just some additional reasons for the blockade and some of these have still NOT been resolved ...


So what are we left with? A blockade whose initial rationale has been discreditedNo it has not, read above.


which provides fairly questionable benefits to Israel's security, and which hurts international opinionYes, this bit is true. But it would be true without the blockade too because Israel is the David in the PR fight. And if the blockade wouldn't be there, the Goliaths (the Arabs) would manufacture another excuse to vilify Israel. You don't believe me? Then you should brush up on your history. I'll just give you a couple of examples as food for thought:

First: Ehud Barak's 2000/2001 peace offer, which included MAJOR concessions, resulted in the Intifada and the infamous Durban lynch mob convened under the auspices of the UN ...

Second: Ehud Barak's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon which culminated in the 2006 war in which Israel was clobbered not so much in the war itself (although there were setbacks there too) but in it's image and the PR war ...

Third: The unilateral Gaza withdrawal which reaped Israel an increase in the rockets, the kidnapping of shalit and culminated in the 2008 war in which Israel was the one that was singled out for vilification. I don't recall a flotilla of peace activists sailing in support of the citizens of Sderot who were clobbered on a daily basis with rocket fire. Nobody seemed to care that Hamas played Russian Roulette with the lives of the children of Sderot's, go figure ...


Your appeals to populism aren't going to work here. I am not going to be swayed that way. The withdrawal from South Lebanon was a mistake because it had very real security benefits, with relatively low costs (that is, very few casualties). The withdrawal from Gaza is somewhat comparable. And you rightly say that these withdrawals not only hurt us, but emboldened the enemy. That, however, is not an argument for persisting in implementing bad policy without good reasonI don't really understand your point here. Why is what I said populism? I thought it was historical fact.

As far as perpetuating bad policy .... let me ask you this: Do you really think that if Israel would lift the blockade as a result of the types of pressure tactics that Hamas applies, the world would applaud Israel for long?

Let me give you my own projection: At first they would applaud (the world). Hamas would crow and would be emboldened. Then they would manufacture another crisis/confrontation and before long, the Arab Goliaths would win the PR battle again. That has been the pattern till now. So tell me curlyg, where would it stop? At what point would Israel need to draw the line and say no more ...? Or should they just give in due to the PR campaign and lose everything, I mean everything, including Israel itself, at the end?

Wouldn't it be better to end the blockade, NOT by giving in unilaterally but to insist on some counter gestures? For example the release of Gilad Shalit and a written undertaking to end the rocket fire? Do you think that Hamas would agree to that, NOW? Do you think that they agreed to it before the idea of the flotilla? I don't know about you, but I don't ...


You would like us to think of this as a war. That's fine -- because it is a war. But the war isn't measured purely in terms of numbers of rockets and numbers of tanks. If there is one thing we should have learned over the past 5 years, but you apparently have not, it is that public opinion overseas matters. And in determining public opinion, what matters is not what is right, but what appears to be right. So let's stop playing games and say what we all know: the blockade of Gaza, whether it is or it isn't, appears to the world to be causing a great deal of unjust human suffering to ordinary Palestinians. The boarding of the flotilla and use of lethal force, whether it is or it isn't, appears to be a disproportionate use of forceI partially agree with you (only a very small part). Read what I said about the PR war above. Israel is up against a Goliath in fact a steam rolling Goliath. That's why Israel is losing the PR war. I don't know what the real answer is to try and reverse the situation but all my instincts tell me that we won't win it by becoming weak kneed and by going to water and retreating on every front. That way lies rewarding Hamas's intransigence and losing everything that Israel's soldiers paid for with their blood in the last 65 years.

...To be continued ....

[Cellis]

When Russia condemns israel for events like today AFTER it has the blood of 100,000 chechnyan muslims on their hands, I cannot help but laugh.

When France condemns israel for events like today AFTER it has passed laws banning the burqa, thrown its muslims into pigpens outside major cities, murdered thousands of algerian muslims, etc., I cannot help but laugh.

When Turkey condemns israel for events like today AFTER it has the blood of thousands of kurds and ONE MILLION armenians on their hands, I cannot help but laugh. Turkey, who has one of the world's WORST human rights records, should be about the LAST nation to open their traps. Erdogan is a dog like ahmadinejad, both of whom will hopefully be hanged for Crimes Against Humanity.

How many times has Turkey shelled Northern Iraqi villages indiscriminately this month?



What about when US condemns the world events like today AFTER it has the blood of millions of native indians on their hands, I cannot help but laugh my hairy ass off.
There is no innocent, great, clean, pure, -whatever you wanna call it- nation exist in this world.

We can go into details if you want; Finns to massacre Samis, Japanese empire massacre of Nanjing, Chinese to kill Uighurs, Jamaican Drug wars massacre, South African Apartheid, deporting whites from Zimbabwe, FECKIN HIROSHIMA Massacre etc etc....
You know; just stop doing this -Turks killed these and that- because it makes you look very stupid.

[Reffo]

In part, these are our failures to market our side of the story. In larger part, however, it comes down to the success of our enemies in marketing theirs. As far as sound bites and moving/emotional images go, they have a massive advantage. And we are the ones supplying it to them. If this were serving some significant tangible strategic purpose, I would at least understand it. But since it serves no such purpose, it seems to me to be doubly stupidMostly because that's the way the world is today. 1.3 billion of them are Muslims so they naturally side with their co-religionists, the Arabs. Many of the rest are just thirsty for oil and petro dollars ...

Personally I don't like it but I don't want to commit suicide because of it either. Israel and we - Israel's supporters - just have to accept the world the way it is for now and work for a better world tomorrow. When I say work, I mean, for example, come up with solutions that would quench the world's thirst for oil by finding a replacement for it. I know it's easier said than done but I prefer that to your approach ...


Your method of "we don't give an inch - no matter how little sense it makes to stick to our current position" - is a perfect recipe not only for bad policy but for one PR disaster after anotherOK, I don't pretend that my method is an all purpose panacea but it seems to me that your method was even worse. It led to the ascendancy of Hamas because Israel rewarded their stridency with too many "good will" gestures and too many back-downs ...


Reffo,

Let me just give a quick example. Assuming Israel increased supplies to Gaza through the land-crossings to pre-blockade levels, but maintained its control of the Gaza coastline and refused access to ships, it would:

(1) Enable Israel to control the supply of weapons to Gaza by controlling the border crossings and searching/approval all goods transferred, and
(2) Take the rug out from under the feet of those claiming there is a humanitarian situation in Gaza, thereby eliminating the justification for these kinds of aid ships in the first place.

Explain to me (rationally, preferably) why this policy would be inferior to the one Israel currently maintains?My short answer is that three things would happen:

Hamas would crow and take credit for forcing Israel to back down ...
Consequently, Hamas's standing and support would increase with the Palestinian people
Hamas would manufacture another crisis and confrontation with Israel and we would be back to square one ...

[ece]

There could be terrorists in the ship, yes.

This could a provocation rather than a humnitarian action , yes.

Israel has a right to stop this, yes.

But....

Nobody has a clear answer for these questions:

1) Why in international waters, why not wait for a couple of miles more? Would it endanger Israel's safety if they did it in Israel's waters.
What is done , is done directly against Turkey, because it is done in international waters. It was deliberate on Israel's site. It was against Turkey and against Turkish citizens.

2) Israel has expertise and skills to stop this ship without bloodshed. There are many other ways. So, it was deliberate.

Why, why did Israel provoke Turkey directly?


There is now no one left in Turkey to speak a word for Israel now and in the future. Not even among the secular people. Not among judeophiles.

So you all think this was very wise, so be it.

[Reffo]

1) Why in international waters, why not wait for a couple of miles more? Would it endanger Israel's safety if they did it in Israel's watersI must admit, I for one can't answer that question for now but that does NOT mean that there is no logical answer to that question. Let's wait and see ...


What is done , is done directly against Turkey, because it is done in international waters. It was deliberate on Israel's site. It was against Turkey and against Turkish citizensTurkish citizens who, it seems, set out to provoke Israel.

Tell me ece, how would Turks react if an Israeli flotilla would set out to equip Kurdish guerillas who fight against Turkey?


2) Israel has expertise and skills to stop this ship without bloodshed. There are many other ways. So, it was deliberateWhat other ways, if terrorists attack soldiers with pistols, iron bars and axes? Did you see the videos? Would the Turkish army do better ...?


Why, why did Israel provoke Turkey directly?I would say that the current Turkish government set out to provke long ago. Remember what Erdogan did to Peres? And now these so called peace lovers on the flotilla provoked Israel even more. And the Turkish government allowed them to sail towards Gaza, knowing full well what they are likely to do. You don't think that is provocation?


There is now no one left in Turkey to speak a word for Israel now and in the future. Not even among the secular people. Not among judeophilesYes, I understand. I think Israel should recall it's embassy from Turkey and any Jews in Turkey should seriously think of emigrating out of Turkey before their lives will be at risk.

Sad ...


So you all think this was very wise, so be itIt's not a question whether it was wise. It's more a question of whether there were better choices. I don't really know but I do know that it's very easy to judge the OTHER (in this case Israel) and blame and hate the OTHER ...

One thing I do know though is that the flotilla HAD to be stopped. Because had they got to Gaza on their terms, a bigger flotilla would return a few weeks down the track and that flotilla, or a subsequent flotilla would set up a permanent supply line of advanced weaponry to the Hamas terrorists ... Would Turkey allow such a thing to be set up for Kurdish guerillas?

[curlyg]

My short answer is that three things would happen:

Hamas would crow and take credit for forcing Israel to back down ...
Consequently, Hamas's standing and support would increase with the Palestinian people
Hamas would manufacture another crisis and confrontation with Israel and we would be back to square one ...


There are some ways to avoid this. Declare tomorrow morning that talks with Hamas have failed for years and that it's time to talk to the actual Palestinian government, the PA (which is bs, I know). Talk to Abbas and after a few days of intense negotiations and rubbish of that kind sign a deal with him to ease the blockade on Gaza, so he gets credit instead of Hamas.

I mean really, these aren't insurmountable obstacles. I'm sure if the Israeli government were willing to think creatively and critically about these issues they could find solutions that don't empower the enemy.

I mostly agree with the stuff you said abut Israel being the David fighting the Arab goliath when it comes to the media war. But that's all the more reason to be smart about it and not give them extra ammo. Hamas is an organisation that thrives on conflict, so no amount of Israeli gestures are going to appease it, that much is obvious. But that's no different to the current situation. We'll have conflict no matter what. The question is whether we want to allow Gaza to turn into some international humanitarian project and rallying cry for human rights (which is bizarre, really, but is exactly what is happening) or if we want it to appear to the world as a political problem between us and them. At the moment we are distracting from the political dispute and attracting to the humanitarian situation. Why is that desirable? We have much more to say when it comes to the politics - we've got sound bites from their charter, we've got evidence of their past statements and activities. Instead we're stuck talking about how much aid Israel lets into Gaza each month. We're fighting the PR battle on a field that is inherently more conducive to their side than ours.

[curlyg]

There is now no one left in Turkey to speak a word for Israel now and in the future. Not even among the secular people. Not among judeophiles.

So you all think this was very wise, so be it.

Unfortunately, I can completely understand that. I would imagine public opinion is almost completely against Israel at this point. That's hardly surprising. I would imagine a similar backlash against Turkey if the Turkish army had killed 10 pro-Kurdish Israeli protesters, even if they were being extremely provocative.

It's very unfortunate. Hopefully this crisis will pass like many before it, though.

[ece]

Turkish citizens who, it seems, set out to provoke Israel.

These are islamists not Tukish citizens as a whole.

But attack on international waters was against Turkish state and turkish citizens as a whole.

Tell me ece, how would Turks react if an Israeli flotilla would set out to equip Kurdish rebels who fight against Turkey?

I'm not discussing this, I said before Israel has a right to stop this ship.

What other ways, if terrorists attack soldiers with pistols, iron bars and axes? Did you see the videos? Would the Turkish army do better ...?

They could incapacitate the ship's mechanics, destroy the propeller for example, or surround the ship with war ships so it couldn't move, many other ways, that experts think of. but not put a few commandos from a helicopter on a ship full of islamist civilians, even I could think of the consequences.

And that on international waters, as I said that means Israel is against Turkish republic, not only against islamists and potential terrorists.

I would say that the current Turkish government set out to provke long ago.


Yes. but you know, I'm not very fond of Erdogan and this move of Israel forces millions like me to support turkish goverment, because this is seen as something not against erdogan and islamists but against our state and sovereignty.


Yes, I understand. I think Israel should recall it's embassy from Turkey and any Jews in Turkey should seriously think of emigrating out of Turkey before their lives will be at risk.

I don't think so.

every islamist even the most radicals keep telling, on tv, on newspapers, our jewish citizens has nothing to do with this. Nobody would dare to harm them. Nobody.

I have jewish neigbours too, in case if necessary I'm ready to protect them.
But I'm sure it won't come to that.

[Reffo]

There are some ways to avoid this. Declare tomorrow morning that talks with Hamas have failed for years and that it's time to talk to the actual Palestinian government, the PA (which is bs, I know). Talk to Abbas and after a few days of intense negotiations and rubbish of that kind sign a deal with him to ease the blockade on Gaza, so he gets credit instead of HamasCommon curlyg, do you really think such a ploy wouldn't be transparent? You think the Palestinian people would really be so naive and wouldn't see through it?

Unless of course, Abbas would be willing and able to offer a SIGNIFICANT and I stress SIGNIFICANT counter gesture for Israel in return. If he could/would then I for one would support your idea but I doubt that he could or would ...


I mean really, these aren't insurmountable obstacles. I'm sure if the Israeli government were willing to think creatively and critically about these issues they could find solutions that don't empower the enemyEasier said than done and you know it curlyg


I mostly agree with the stuff you said abut Israel being the David fighting the Arab goliath when it comes to the media war. But that's all the more reason to be smart about it and not give them extra ammo.Again, Ill say: Easier said than done ...


Hamas is an organisation that thrives on conflict, so no amount of Israeli gestures are going to appease it, that much is obvious. But that's no different to the current situation. We'll have conflict no matter what. The question is whether we want to allow Gaza to turn into some international humanitarian project and rallying cry for human rights (which is bizarre, really, but is exactly what is happening) or if we want it to appear to the world as a political problem between us and them. At the moment we are distracting from the political dispute and attracting to the humanitarian situationLike I told you curlyg and you seem to agree with me here, Hamas will always manufacture a conflict that will make Israel look bad. And at the moment, the way the world is, it seems to me that there is very little we can do about it. So the answer is not to appear to be continually on the back foot. I would however agree with you that if Abbas could be persuaded to cooperate and give counter gestures (significant ones) in return for Israel's gestures that could be a sort of an answer. But IMHO, that's just a pipe dream ...


Why is that desirable? We have much more to say when it comes to the politics - we've got sound bites from their charter, we've got evidence of their past statements and activities. Instead we're stuck talking about how much aid Israel lets into Gaza each month. We're fighting the PR battle on a field that is inherently more conducive to their side than oursI didn't say it's desirable. I said Israel has few options and it has to pick the least bad options that are available to it.

[Sanket]

1) Why in international waters, why not wait for a couple of miles more?

I agree with your point...If the ship had entered Israeli waters even after the blockade then they would have the right to SINK the ship.

The way this works they were under Israeli law, but not in Israeli waters yet.



2) Israel has expertise and skills to stop this ship without bloodshed. There are many other ways. So, it was deliberate.


Have u seen the IDFDesk videos ? Look again closely they were using Paint Guns in the beginning to control the VIOLENT Activists.

[Reffo]

ece

I'll answer these two points of yours first:

Why did Israel stop the ships in international waters rather than nearer to Gaza ...
Why did Israel board the ships rather than disable the ships ..


Like I said ece, I don't really know but that does NOT mean that there were NO good reasons for it that had nothing to do with wanting to provoke the Turkish people. Here are a couple of possible theories:

Possible answer to 1:
What difference would that have made if the outcome would have been the same? There would still be an otcry and an outrage towards Israel from those who want to be outraged.

There is probably more to it than that but I must admit I personally cant't say anything other than that ...

Possible answer to 2:
And then what? Weeks of confrontation, hunger stike and face off? That wasn't palatable for Israel.

I must admit though that had Israel known what the outcome turned out to be, it might have done that. But these so called peace activists swore black and blue that they are peaceful. And many of them probably were/are but it doesn't take many terrorists to trigger an outcome such as the one we have seen...


Yes. but you know, I'm not very fond of Erdogan and this move of Israel forces millions like me to support turkish goverment, because this is seen as something not against erdogan and islamists but against our state and sovereigntyGood answer but then it should follow that you should see Israel's position too. It's not a one way traffic and Israel too reacts to provocations and you shouldn't just blame Israel ...

Yes I admit that Israel should try to be wise but it's not always possible and it's always easier to see what would have been wiser in hindsight.


I don't think so.

every islamist even the most radicals keep telling, on tv, on newspapers, our jewish citizens has nothing to do with this. Nobody would dare to harm them. Nobody.

I have jewish neigbours too, in case if necessary I'm ready to protect them.
But I'm sure it won't come to thatI don't know whether I would trust what Islamists say and promise but I respect you for saying what you are saying. Are you sure though that YOU represent the majority point of view in Turkey?

[ece]

Are you sure though that YOU represent the majority point of view in Turkey? Reffo

Well, not that the majority think the same sincere feelings about jews as I do, but you can be sure in the worst case the ones who would harm jews are really a very tiny minority even among the islamists.

The Turks, as long as they are not the the most radical islamists and friends of hamas wouldn't think of harming the jews, no matter how much they despise Israel. That I know for sure.

And don't forget the support of AKP was falling lately , the secularist party was profiting and besides, only a minority of AKP voters are islamists indeed, may be 10% at most.
And this incident will help to gain support for islamist party.

[Reffo]

ece

Glad to hear it ....

A thought just occurred to me why Israel chose to confront the boats on international waters rather than within sight of Gaza:

Had they done that, there is almost no doubt that Hamas and other Gazans would sail out to meet the "peace lovers" boats. That would have led to an even bigger confrontation with a greater chance for violence (at least that's what the Israelis thought, I presume but as it turned out, violence still ensued but that wasn't 100% predictable given that the "peace lovers" promised to use peaceful resistance only - but obviously some of them lied). That's why they may have decided to stop the boats earlier on ...

[curlyg]

Reffo,

I'm pretty sure the answer is much more simple. Israel wanted to board the ships while it was still dark. During the day = bigger PR disaster.

[Reffo]

I don't know curlyg, you could be right but I could be right too. Then again, we could both be wrong.

[Mediocrates]

The ships started in Turkey. The Turkish government made a public commitment to search all the people and the ships for weapons before they left. They clearly failed at that or they intentionally promoted it. Israel should break all relations with Turkey before Turkey breaks relations with Israel and has any opportunity to explain it away. And Israel must condemn Turkey publicly for their accidental or intentional mistake.

Moreover Israel has to make clear that since this attack was premeditated that their assumptions from now on must be that all subsequent ships are armed. They will be dissuaded by force if necessary from docking in Gaza. And if need be all passengers will be treated as enemy combatants in a war zone.

[Mediocrates]

The TIP Sheet




(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=eoJHILNsFhJPJ6K&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Netanyahu Cancels U.S. Trip in Wake of Pre-Meditated Attack on Israeli Soldiers (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kuITK3PQLoKTKfL&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
UN Security Council Meeting to Discuss Incident
TIP Press Release, May 31, 2010
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday (May 31) he has canceled his planned visit to the United States to meet with President Obama at the White House Tuesday following a planned attack on Israeli soldiers by weapons-wielding protesters illegally entering Israeli waters. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=mwKXJ9MYIqJ1JpL&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)]


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=llLVL6MVLtK1LlI&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Close-Up Footage of Mavi Marmara Passengers Attacking IDF Soldiers (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=llKVK6PRJhISLkK&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Video footage from idfnadesk, the Israeli Defense Forces' YouTube Channel, May 31, 2010

Video taken by IDF naval boat shows the passengers of the Mavi Marmara, one of the ships in the 'Free Gaza' Flotilla, violently attacking IDF soldiers who were trying to board the ship after having sent repeated requests for the boat to change course. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=eoLHLLNpHaLFJ0J&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)]


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kkITJ3PRKsL2IlI&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Videos of today's tragic incident off the coast of Israel (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=mwKXJ9MVIoJ4JrL&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
http://www.theisraelproject.org/videos
TIP will continue to monitor the situation and upload new royalty-free footage to our video player as new content is available.


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kkKTJ4PJJaINLfK&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
MEMRI TV Clips on the Gaza Flotilla: Activists On Board Chant Songs of Martyrdom at Departure (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ddJFLIMmFiJIIUK&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=dnIFKJMhH3LAIVI&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Gaza flotilla participants created war atmosphere before confronting Israel (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ddJFKINoEjKQK3L&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Participants chanted Islamic battle cry invoking killing of Jews and called for Martyrdom
Article by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik, May 31, 2010
On the day before the Gaza flotilla confronted the Israeli navy, Al-Jazeera TV documented the pre-battle atmosphere created by men on board the flotilla, who chanted a well-known Islamic battle cry invoking the killing and defeat of Jews in battle: "[Remember] Khaibar, Khaibar, oh Jews! The army of Muhammad will return!" [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=mwKXJ9MYItJ1JmL&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)]


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=gqKLLSNtF6KHK5L&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Statement from Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Gabriella Shalev (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kuITK3POLiKVKlL&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)

The Security Council is convened this afternoon following the serious event that took place today early morning local time, when a convoy of six ships attempted to break the maritime blockage off the cost of Gaza. [ Read More (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ddJFKINpEjKPK3L&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K) ]


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=eeLHLMNlH6LJJ3J&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
The Gaza flotilla and the maritime blockade of Gaza - Legal background (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hrJNLUOBJhKML6I&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 31, 2010

A maritime blockade is in effect off the coast of Gaza. It has been imposed, as Israel is currently in a state of armed conflict with the Hamas regime that controls Gaza. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=isJPKXOFIjLYJiJ&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)]



(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=mwKXJ9MVImJ4JtL&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K) IDF coordinates the transfer of truckloads of humanitarian aid on a daily basis.
Archive Photo: IDF Spokesperson Behind the Headlines: The Israeli humanitarian lifeline to Gaza (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=fpIJKONtGfIRL9K&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 25, 2010

Well over a million tons of humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Israel over the last 18 months equaling nearly a ton of aid for every man, woman and child in Gaza. Millions of dollars worth of international food aid continually flows through the Israeli humanitarian apparatus, ensuring that there is no food shortage in Gaza. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=eeIHJLMpGgIILXJ&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)]

[Mediocrates]

(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ddJFLIMpFfJFIXK&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)

Protesters Attack with Guns and Knives, Israel Regrets 10 Dead (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hhKNJUOBIcLPIeI&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Injured Evacuated to Israeli Hospitals
TIP Press Release, May 31, 2010


Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said in a press conference on Monday (May 31) regarding the Turkish-led flotilla that:


"The armada of hate and violence in support of Hamas terror organization was a premeditated and outrageous provocation." [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=fpIJKONuGkIQL4K&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)]




(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ggLLIRNBLiIMK7J&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Group with Terrorist Ties Attempts to Deliver Supplies to Gaza, Refuses to Deliver Letter to Captive Israeli Soldier (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kkITJ3POKpL5IoI&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
TIP Press Release, May 28, 2010

A flotilla of pro-Palestinian demonstrators with links to terrorist groups is en route to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israeli government requests to deliver their shipment through legal channels. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=isIPJXOHKfJJK9L&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)]



(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=isJPKXOIIjLVJiJ&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K) IDF forces met with pre-planned violence when attempting to board flotilla
(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jtIRI0PMJlKUIhI&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)Previously, Israel Navy warned the flotilla that the Gaza region is closed to maritime traffic.
May 31, 2010
Early this morning (31 May), IDF naval forces intercepted six ships attempting to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. This happened after numerous warnings from Israel and the Israel Navy that were issued prior to the action. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hrKNJUOEIkLMI6I&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)]









(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=mwKXJ9MVInJ4JsL&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)





Behind the Headlines: The seizure of the Gaza flotilla (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jtIRI0PJJhKXIlI&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 31, 2010
Despite attacks by Hamas, Israel maintains an ongoing humanitarian corridor for the transfer of food and humanitarian supplies to Gaza, used by internationally recognized organizations including the United Nations and the Red Cross. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=fpIJKONtGgIRL8K&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)]




(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=isIPJXOGKfJKK9L&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K) IHH head Bülent Yildirim aboard the Mavi Marmara, holding a young child. He said children
were brought along to prevent Israel from attacking the ships (IHH website, May 30 2010).
The Flotilla to the Gaza Strip – Update
(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hrJNLUOCJeKLL9I&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) Press Release
May 30, 2010

As of the afternoon of May 30, five ships were located near Cyprus and had not yet set sail for the Gaza Strip. The sixth boat, Challenger II, which belongs to the Free Gaza flotilla and carries 14 members of European parliaments, was expected to join the five ships between Cyprus and Gaza. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kuLTI3POIhJSJjL&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)]

[Mediocrates]

(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jtIRI0PLJkKVIiI&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Flotilla YouTube Videos from Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs:


IDF - Navy Warns Flotilla (31 May 2010) (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ggLLIRNzHhIOK8J&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
MFA Spokesman on Gaza Flotilla - 24 May 2010 (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=dnJFLIMoFcJGI0K&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)







(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=llKVK6PUJjIPLiK&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
More Flotilla YouTube Videos:


True Human Rights Activists don't hug Vicious HR Violators (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=eoJHILNrFkJQJ3K&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Posted by user MHLE2010, May 27, 2010
Beating the Hell Out of Israeli Naval Commandos (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=eoIHJLMsGcIFL1J&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
BBC Footage posted by user LetsFreeGaza, May 31, 2010





(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=llLVL6MULrK2LnI&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
A brutal ambush at sea (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=dnJFLIMlFcJJI0K&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)
Article by Ron Ben-Yishai, May 31, 2010
Ron Ben Yishai recounts bloody clash aboard Gaza-bound vessel: The lacking crowd-dispersal means, the brutal violence of ‘peace activists,’ and the attempt to bring down an IDF helicopter. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hhKNIUOELnIWKdJ&s=etKVLbMQKlL1LgOSIsH&m=6pKFLUNDJfIIL4K)]

[Mediocrates]

VIDEO OF ATTACK ON IDF SOLDIERS BOARDING TURKISH SHIP
<http://www.israpundit.com/archives/23501>

It is our job to share the key messages regarding the Gaza Flotilla
violence with everyone we know. Send on this info, pick a few facts
and write letters to newspapers (there will be many negative articles
in the days to come - correct what is incorrect, provide what is
correct!)(go to the Z ST website, click on Important Contacts in left
column, and click on media to get email addresses), tell friends and
not-friends, keep it going. Be relentless - it's our only hope.

Included below are the facts regarding the violence that occurred; the
background leading up to it, including the expressed hope of the
flotilla organizers that violence would be beneficial to their public
relations and the use of children as part of their PR campaign; ithe
reasons for the blockade and the provision of humanitarian goods by
Israel to the Gazans despite their leaders' continued terrorism
against Israel; and the legal support for Israel's actions. We have
the essential supporting evidence, including videos, below.

Comments? Questions? Please go to WWW.ZSTREET.ORG (http://www.zstreet.org/)
<http://www.zstreet.org/>
and leave your comments so that we all can benefit from everyone’s
suggestions and remarks.

* Sunday night the IDF forces boarded an Islamist-controlled flotilla
which was bound for Gaza in contravention of the blockade imposed
because of the years-long practice of smuggling support for the Gazan
terrorist activities directed at Israel.

* Israel left Gaza in hopes of peace in 2005 and in return received
more than 10,000 rockets and terrorist attacks.

* The State of Israel approached the organizers of the flotilla –
prior to their departure and late, while at sea – and invited them
to dock at the Port of Ashdod for the sake of transferring their cargo
to Gaza, subject to security inspection. The organizers refused.

* "We fully intend to go to Gaza regardless of any intimidation or
threats of violence against us, they are going to have to forcefully
stop us," said one of the flotilla’s organizers.

* Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said this week: "If the ships reach
Gaza it is a victory; if they are intercepted, it will be a victory
too."

* The extremists brought small children on board knowing that they
intended to violate international maritime law.

* Passengers on one of the six boats initiated violent clashes.

* While boarding on of the vessels, IDF soldiers were physically
attacked with live ammunition and other weapons, including knives and
clubs, which had been prepared in advance. A weapon belonging to one
of soldiers was snatched and, apparently, a barbarian fired on IDF
forces.

* During the course of the incident, when their lives were put in
danger, IDF soldiers were compelled to employ means to disperse
demonstrations, including live weapons.

* The IDF action was authorized by the Security Cabinet, the Prime
Minister and the Minister of Defense.

* There were nine casualties amongst the flotilla barbarians, and
others injured. Seven Israeli naval officers were also wounded.
/*All*/ of the injured were evacuated to hospitals.

* Responsibility for the violence lies with the organizers and
participants of the flotilla who initiated the violence.

* The entire flotilla was designed as a media stunt and political
provocation by elements that are hostile to Israel, primarily the IHH
– a violent, extremist group which supports terrorist organizations
under the guise of humanitarian activity.

* There is no famine or humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mererhetoricblog/GazaTravelGuideShopping?fgl=true&pli=1#
The area is under the control of Hamas, a terrorist organization that
continues to arm itself with weapons and rockets for the purpose of
attacking Israelis – as it has done in the past. Hamas continues to
hold captive Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, in contravention of
international law. Accordingly, Israel has the right to inspect all
cargo entering Gaza.

* Israel has and continues to express its desire for peace and
continues to extend its hand to all those who are willing to
participate in moving forwards to true peace.

VIDEOS

1. IDF Spokesperson video:(The Israel Navy warns flotilla that the
Gaza region is closed to maritime traffic, and invites the ships to
enter Ashdod port to transfer humanitarian aid.

http://www.zstreet.org/emm/lt.php?c=17&m=17&nl=2&lid=52&l=-http--www.youtube.com/watch--Q-v--E-P6jDIQr59Sk( (http://www.zstreet.org/emm/lt.php?c=17&m=17&nl=2&lid=52&l=-http--www.youtube.com/watch--Q-v--E-P6jDIQr59Sk%28)
<http://www.zstreet.org/emm/lt.php?c=17&m=17&nl=2&lid=52&l=-http--www.youtube.com/watch--Q-v--E-P6jDIQr59Sk%E2%80%A8%20>


2. IDF Spokesperson 2nd video taken from helicopter

(http://www.zstreet.org/emm/lt.php?c=17&m=17&nl=2&lid=53&l=-http--www.youtube.com/watch--Q-v--E-bU12KW-XyZE( (http://www.zstreet.org/emm/lt.php?c=17&m=17&nl=2&lid=53&l=-http--www.youtube.com/watch--Q-v--E-bU12KW-XyZE%28)

and one by the IDF Navy

http://www.zstreet.org/emm/lt.php?c=17&m=17&nl=2&lid=54&l=-http--www.youtube.com/watch--Q-v--E-yphfyN0dqi8--A-NR--E-1

And one of the barbarians attacking the IDF soldiers with metal pipes
and fists and throwing one of the soldiers off the ship.

http://www.youtube.com/idfnadesk
& http://tinyurl.com/39vxnj3


4. Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
clips(http://www.zstreet.org/emm/lt.php?c=17&m=17&nl=2&lid=56&l=-http--www.youtube.com/watch--Q-v--E-5wlWcNXzstI

CLOSE-UP FOOTAGE OF MAVI MARMARA PASSENGERS ATTACKING IDF SOLDIERS
http://www.youtube.com/idfnadesk
& http://tinyurl.com/39vxnj3


5. Media coverage:

http://www.justjournalism.com/media-analysis/view/peace-activists-or-violent-attackers-how-the-media-narrative-on-flotilla-incident-is-shaping-up( (http://www.justjournalism.com/media-analysis/view/peace-activists-or-violent-attackers-how-the-media-narrative-on-flotilla-incident-is-shaping-up%28)
<http://www.justjournalism.com/media-analysis/view/peace-activists-or-violent-attackers-how-the-media-narrative-on-flotilla-incident-is-shaping-up%E2%80%A8%20>

Regarding claims of Israel violating Laws of the sea

http://blog.camera.org/archives/2010/05/ny_times_flotilla_coverage_mis.html%20( (http://blog.camera.org/archives/2010/05/ny_times_flotilla_coverage_mis.html%20%28)
<http://blog.camera.org/archives/2010/05/ny_times_flotilla_coverage_mis.html%20%E2%80%A8>

[Mediocrates]

The Gaza Flotilla and the Maritime Blockade of Gaza

Legal Background

31 May 2010

1. A maritime blockade is in effect off the coast of Gaza. Such
blockade has been imposed, as Israel is currently in a state of armed
conflict with the Hamas regime that controls Gaza, which has
repeatedly bombed civilian targets in Israel with weapons that have
been smuggled into Gaza via the sea.

2. Maritime blockades are a legitimate and recognized measure under
international law that may be implemented as part of an armed conflict
at sea.

3. A blockade may be imposed at sea, including in international
waters, so long as it does not bar access to the ports and coasts of
neutral States.

4. The naval manuals of several western countries, including the US
and England recognize the maritime blockade as an effective naval
measure and set forth the various criteria that make a blockade valid,
including the requirement of give due notice of the existence of the
blockade.

5. In this vein, it should be noted that Israel publicized
the existence of the blockade and the precise coordinates of such by
means of the accepted international professional maritime channels.
Israel also provided appropriate notification to the affected
governments and to the organizers of the Gaza protest flotilla.
Moreover, in real time, the ships participating in the protest
flotilla were warned repeatedly that a maritime blockade is in effect.

Here, it should be noted that under customary law, knowledge of the
blockade may be presumed once a blockade has been declared and
appropriate notification has been granted, as above.

Under international maritime law, when a maritime blockade is in
effect, no boats can enter the blockaded area. That includes both
civilian and enemy vessels.

8. A State may take action to enforce a blockade. Any vessel that
violates or attempts to violate a maritime blockade may be captured or
even attacked under international law. The US Commander's Handbook on
the Law of Naval Operations sets forth that a vessel is considered to
be in attempt to breach a blockade from the time the vessel leaves its
port with the intention of evading the blockade.

9. Here we should note that the protesters indicated their clear
intention to violate the blockade by means of written and oral
statements. Moreover, the route of these vessels indicated their clear
intention to violate the blockade in violation of international law.

10. Given the protesters explicit intention to violate the naval
blockade,

Israel exercised its right under international law to enforce the
blockade. It should be noted that prior to undertaking enforcement
measures, explicit warnings were relayed directly to the captains of
the vessels, expressing Israel's intent to exercise its right to
enforce the blockade.

11. Israel had attempted to take control of the vessels participating
in the flotilla by peaceful means and in an orderly fashion in order
to enforce the blockade. Given the large number of vessels
participating in the flotilla, an operational decision was made to
undertake measures to enforce the blockade a certain distance from the
area of the blockade.

12. Israeli personnel attempting to enforce the blockade were met with
violence by the protesters and acted in self defense to fend off such
attacks.

[Mediocrates]

See also:

Important:
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/hazony/303751

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-video-of-soldiers-being-beaten-with.html

Important:
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48227

http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/05/video-gaza-flotilla-thugs-stab-israeli-s/index.shtml

Important:
http://www.yourish.com/2010/05/31/10996

http://www.yourish.com/2010/05/31/10980

Important:
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48222

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/video-of-weapons-found-aboard-terror.html

Important:
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48228

http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/05/gaza-flotilla-new-video/index.shtml

[Mediocrates]

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/pollak/303786

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/free-gaza-lies-caused-deaths.html

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/tikkun-magazine-wants-to-say-kaddish.html

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/gazan-drowns-himself-to-help-flotilla.html

http://backspin.typepad.com/backspin/2010/05/video-armed-peace-activists-.html

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTBiYzk2OTQzNWIwZDI5ZWZjMmNlOTY2NDAwZmFkNWY=

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/pollak/303701

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/tobin/303796

http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/news/?p=5496

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/j-e-dyer/303971

[Kenneth]

Holy sea-cows! Archeologists have just discovered a second border in Gaza, appartently it's attached to a country called "Egypt".

[Mediocrates]

http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/

[Yala]

These are islamists not Tukish citizens as a whole.


One minute they are Islamists, the next Turkish citizens. They are Islamist Turkish citizens and in the future they will be more of a problem to you Turks than to Israelis.


But attack on international waters was against Turkish state and turkish citizens as a whole.

Turkish Islamist PM was provoking and attacking Israel since Davos and it was very popular back at home.



They could incapacitate the ship's mechanics, destroy the propeller for example, or surround the ship with war ships so it couldn't move, many other ways, that experts think of. but not put a few commandos from a helicopter on a ship full of islamist civilians, even I could think of the consequences.

They couldn't destroy the engine or propeller, as they have done in the past, because the ship was too large to be pulled to Ashdod. But I agree, the commando raid was dumb.



And that on international waters, as I said that means Israel is against Turkish republic, not only against islamists and potential terrorists.

I think it is clear who is against who. It's like the world is upside down. The Turkish gov't gave their support to Hamas a sworn enemy of Israel, and that is the least of what they have been doing. You know Turkey has already entered the Islamist orbit, I don't know why you're pretending otherwise.



Yes. but you know, I'm not very fond of Erdogan and this move of Israel forces millions like me to support turkish goverment, because this is seen as something not against erdogan and islamists but against our state and sovereignty.

And black is white and white is black. I'm sorry you feel that way but I really don't understand your POV. It is clear who sent who to provoke who. The Turkish gov't fully knows who IHH is (weren't they banned by the Turkish gov't from Earthquake relief in the 90's due to their terrorist ties?) yet they have full Erdogan/AKP support, and they happily sent them on to Israel to martyr themselves for the jihad.



I have jewish neigbours too, in case if necessary I'm ready to protect them.
But I'm sure it won't come to that.

I don't think anything will happen to them either and I appreciate that you would do that.

[Mediocrates]

The Turkish government BANNED IHH from helping in earthquake relief:

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/turkey-banned-ihh-from-doing-earthquake.html

http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Publications/WP2006/DIIS%20WP%202006-7.web.pdf


rom the Danish Institute for International Studies (http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Publications/WP2006/DIIS%20WP%202006-7.web.pdf) report I quoted (http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/peace-activists-with-guns-ihh.html)yesterday:


Organizations such as IHH are quick to respond to natural disasters and other human catastrophes. Unfortunately, these groups often seek to use these situations to gain leverage with destitute Muslim refugees. In August 1999, when a devastating earthquake struck Turkey, IHH reached the affected zones, in some cases, even before the Turkish government. Friction quickly grew between authorities tasked with relief and independent Islamist “humanitarian” groups. Ultimately, Turkey was forced to ban the IHH from participating in earthquake aid efforts because it was counted among several “fundamentalist organizations” operating “secret bank accounts” that were refusing to allow local authorities to oversee the distribution of their aid resources.60
This is besides IHH's known involvement in gun smuggling and recruiting mujahadeen that the paper describes.

[wat0n]

I agree with wat0n. This incident should cause to to think about whether the blockade is actually the right strategy here.

Its initial purpose was to cause the Gaza population to turn against Hamas, following a rationale similar to the one Israel employed in 2006 of trying to get Lebanese to blame Hezbollah for the destruction Israel was inflicting upon them. The strategy failed then, and it has failed now. In both cases, we're just causing the populations in question to rally around the leaders we are trying to bring down. The blockade is not serving any real strategic purpose at this point.


And I most definitely disagree with watOn. These people (the Islamists) are relentless and so are their (so called) "liberal" Western allies. Their aim is to chip away at Israel. Initially they are happy with small victories and when they put those under their belts, they go for bigger victories. And when they get those, they go for even bigger ones. They are not even pretending, like Hitler did in the late 1930s that "it's their last territorial demand". They openly declare that their ultimate aim is Israel's destruction and that they are willing to fight to achieve that for generations if necessary.

So, giving in to them is NOT the answer, we have seen it at Lebanon. Remember what happened after Israel withdrew from there unilaterally in 2000? Did Hezbollah stop their attacks? And what did the Palestinians learn from that withdrawal? I'll tell you what they BOTH learnt: They LEARNT that putting pressure on Israel pays them dividends. We need to make sure that they will NOW unlearn that lesson and that the only way they could get part of what they want (a good decent life) is to compromise with Israel. They need to re-learn the fact that ANY pressure on Israel will be counterproductive for them. Unfortunately, that will require patience from Israel and the supporters of Israel because the Islamists and many Arabs seem to be slow learners and our past mistakes (attempts to appease) did not help because we gave them mixed messages. That has NOW GOT TO STOP, PERIOD .... !!!

It's good to see that this brought up some discussion.

I think that both of you are right, the blockade on one hand helps the int'l community to turn against Israel and helps the extremists, but on the other hand if Israel lifts the blockade, how will it impede that weapons are transported to Hamas?

Also, if Israel lifted the blockade because of this, would it 1) Hamper efforts to get Shalit back to Israel? 2) Show the Palestinians that propaganda and non-violence are more effective to get what they want than suicide bombings and launching rockets? 3) Be seen as a victory for Hamas instead of a victory for Fatah?

[Mediocrates]

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/evelyn-gordon/304141

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/304011

Very Good One Here:
http://www.bicom.org.uk/context/research-and-analysis/latest-bicom-analysis/bicom-briefing--gaza-flotilla-incident

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/boot/304271

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/304196

Very Good One Here:
http://www.yourish.com/2010/06/01/11029

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/israelis_tell_5iQNm6tbFTRXldNABRU8aK#ixzz0paysEohi

Live Blogging:
http://backspin.typepad.com/backspin/2010/06/liveblogging-the-free-gaza-media-war.html

Important Facts:
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/soldiers-didnt-shoot-for-40-minutes.html

[Mediocrates]

http://www.tabletmag.com/news-and-politics/34921/israel-bites-the-bait/

http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48238

http://www.yourish.com/2010/06/01/11023

http://www.yourish.com/2010/06/01/11019

http://www.yourish.com/2010/06/01/11015

[wat0n]

There is a public relations war, and we need to learn to fight it. Just look at this situation, and think of how uninterested people without any background in the conflict (i.e. 90% of the world's population) see it. When you have spontaneous protests in a dozen countries within hours of the news breaking, that should give you an idea of how Israel's public image is doing. If you want to abandon this battlefield and stick to your argument "but these protesters were violent and affiliated with terror groups; but Gaza is under the control of Hamas!" then we've already lost the war. If that's the case, then you shouldn't complain when European governments become knee-jerk anti-Israeli propagandists: they're just responding to public opinion in their countries, which in turn is caused by our failure to wage a competent PR war.

Your method of "we don't give an inch - no matter how little sense it makes to stick to our current position" - is a perfect recipe not only for bad policy but for one PR disaster after another.

I strongly agree with you on this. Also, Israel should publish a video of protestors shooting soldiers if the IDF was able to tape that (and taking the soldiers' testimony as true). And I'm surprised that Israeli diplomats aren't showing them in every interview saying that it's a lie that the IDF just got into the ships and went on a rampage.

Now, I do believe though that this operation was badly planned and badly executed, in fact I'd say that it was an humilliation for Israeli commandos (I mean, these guys actually were a problem for them, and it could have been avoided if they had thrown tear gas canisters when they saw the soldiers were being attacked on arrival). And if the soldiers didn't get attacked with live fire while taking over the ship then things are even worse...

[Yala]

This is besides IHH's known involvement in gun smuggling and recruiting mujahadeen that the paper describes.

The IHH are known Turkish jihadists and the Islamist Turkish gov't financed and sent them to Israel to martyr themselves for the Islamic cause. People aren't saying this out loud but in Washington everyone is saying that Turkey has turned Islamist and is not a reliable ally any longer. I believe the Iran-Brazil-Turkey pact even opened Obama's eyes.

[Madeline]

http://slaughteringthesheep.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/stand-by-israel.jpg

[Mediocrates]

The IHH are known Turkish jihadists and the Islamist Turkish gov't financed and sent them to Israel to martyr themselves for the Islamic cause. People aren't saying this out loud but in Washington everyone is saying that Turkey has turned Islamist and is not a reliable ally any longer. I believe the Iran-Brazil-Turkey pact even opened Obama's eyes.


See also

http://www.israelforum.com/board/showpost.php?p=320040&postcount=125

[Yala]

As I said, I am against the blockade because I have always believed that Israel should fully "disengage" from Gaza, but I don't believe they have a choice. I think the US forces Israel to enforce the blockade because they want to deal only with the "moderate" PA.

[Mediocrates]

Now that the Egyptians have opened the Rafah crossing, Israel should end any objection to the flotilla. There's a better than even chance half the weapons will find their way into Egypt used againt the government. The more the better. Let hundreds of Egyptians die in sectarian violence. Let them close the Suez. Let it all implode.

[wat0n]

1) Why in international waters, why not wait for a couple of miles more? Would it endanger Israel's safety if they did it in Israel's waters.
What is done , is done directly against Turkey, because it is done in international waters. It was deliberate on Israel's site. It was against Turkey and against Turkish citizens.

In which Israeli waters? You mean Gazan territorial waters? Sorry, but those are not Israeli waters and I doubt Turks disagree with me on this. So I don't think it should make any difference at all, should it?


2) Israel has expertise and skills to stop this ship without bloodshed. There are many other ways. So, it was deliberate

I thought the same before this disaster, but If you watch the IDF videos up here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYjkLUcbJWo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU12KW-XyZE

You will see, quite clearly, that it seems that Israel didn't really have the expertise to stop this kind of stuff without using lethal force. Sad but true.

And no, I'm not trying to cynically whitewash anything, I see this incident as an humilliation for Israeli navy commandos, and I'm guessing that Barak will lose his post because of this. Why? Because, in theory, they should have dealt with it rather easily, if you read an article by Ron Ben Yishai on Ynet he recalls 2 mistakes made by IDF:


2 errors

During the commotion, another commando was stabbed with a knife. In a later search aboard the Marmara, soldiers found caches of bats, clubs, knives, and slingshots used by the rioters ahead of the IDF takeover. It appeared the activists were well prepared for a fight.

Some passengers on the ship stood at the back and pounded the soldiers’ hands as they attempted to climb on board. Only after a 30-minute shootout and brutal assaults using clubs and knifes did commandoes manage to reach the bridge and take over the Marmara.

It appears that the error in planning the operation was the estimate that passengers were indeed political activists and members of humanitarian groups who seek a political provocation, but would not resort to brutal violence. The soldiers thought they will encounter Bilin-style violence; instead, they got Bangkok. The forces that disembarked from the helicopters were few; just dozens of troops – not enough to contend with the large group awaiting them.

The second error was that commanders did not address seriously enough the fact that a group of men were expecting the soldiers on the top deck. Had they addressed this more seriously, they may have hurled tear-gas grenades and smoke grenades from the helicopter to create a screen that would have enabled them to carry out their mission, without the fighters falling right into the hands of the rioters, who severely assaulted them.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3896796,00.html

The second mistake is particularly damning IMO.


Why, why did Israel provoke Turkey directly?

There is now no one left in Turkey to speak a word for Israel now and in the future. Not even among the secular people. Not among judeophiles.

So you all think this was very wise, so be it.

Indeed, I don't think we will see many pro-Israel people in Turkey (it's not like I expect Turkey to support Israel after this)...

...Which brings me to an important question: When are the next Turkish elections?

On wether this was a good idea, I don't really know. I do believe though that if there is no UN resolution on this (so far I've seen statements, not resolutions) and if Turkey doesn't break diplomatic relations with Israel (or worse, like saying this was an act of war and invoking NATO treaty) then I'd say Israel really lucked out this time.

[Mediocrates]

We should not be so outraged over feigned outrage in Turkey. They were bound to be outraged no matter what. This is the upside of dealing with lunatics; it does not matter what you do because they're never listening.

[ranchcer]

Someone forgot to translate Blockade into turkish.:D
What friends and foes must understand is that Israeli security is paramount and Israel is at war with a terrorist Orgt/Gvt called Hamas. If it was otherwise
there would be no need for fences, naval blockade or a generation of peace activists carrying knives and iron bars. (they used to sit around and sing the hammer song). Bottom line. yet another distraction from a moribund peace process that makes more than a few jubilant.

[Womble]

It's hilarious how brazenly the Free Gaza gang is lying about this whole thing. Their website said that the evil Israeli commandos have swooped upon the poor innocent peace activists in the dead of night and- wait for it- "opened fire at the crowd of sleeping civilians". Yup, you can totally see them in those videos sleep-crowding, sleep-walking and sleep-swinging melee weapons.

The female Arab MK who was on the boat is claiming that "no one raised a club or anything". The wounded soldiers must have been stabbed and clubbed with rock-dry, extra sharp loafs of bread intended for starving Gazans or something.

[Madeline]

We should not be so outraged over feigned outrage in Turkey. They were bound to be outraged no matter what. This is the upside of dealing with lunatics; it does not matter what you do because they're never listening.

Its not just Turkey, but all the terrorist enablers who had their minds made up beforehand.

[Mil]

Posted by Yala:

They couldn't destroy the engine or propeller, as they have done in the past, because the ship was too large to be pulled to Ashdod. But I agree, the commando raid was dumb.

No they could not destroy engine or propeller especially on a ship this large or surround it with larger navy ships. This would be very dangerous to the ship as it could structurally damage the ship and cause it to over-turn or do something similar. Surrounding the boat by ships might mean collision in the worst case, opening fire on the ship might mean hitting the ship and tons of un-needed publicity.

Sending in the commandos with paint-ball guns was the most optimal and the best way of doing this - based on the assumption of who was on the boat. On the tactical level nothing went wrong - the problem was that those on the boat were set on a violent confrontation. Next time Israel will do the same thing or use commandos. However, next time these commandos will be armed with Tavors.

As to our Turkish friend - I saw pictures of protests in Turkey. They are burning Stars of David. If you are so set to defend Jews then go ahead say something because this is a threat against myself and all the Jews on this forum.

[Mediocrates]

Its not just Turkey, but all the terrorist enablers who had their minds made up beforehand.


Turkey is calling this 'their 911'. Israel needs to break all relations with Turkey, cancel all projects in the pipeline ASAP. The faction supporting Israel in Turkey is the military, let them deal with the Islamists. Let them find spare parts for their UAVs. Kick the Turkish ambassador out of Israel NOW then give all Turkish tourists in Israel 3 days to get out of the country. Boycott all Turkish goods in Israel.

Turkey will turn around and tell all the TURKISH citizens who are Jews, to leave the country. And they should, they should emigrate.

[Mediocrates]

Noah Pollack agrees with me:
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/what-is-israel-went-on-offensive-noah.html

[Mediocrates]

More on the Turkish Terrorist Group: IHH

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2010/06/shooting_the_messenger_a_look.php

[Cellis]

Turkey is calling this 'their 911'. Israel needs to break all relations with Turkey, cancel all projects in the pipeline ASAP. The faction supporting Israel in Turkey is the military, let them deal with the Islamists. Let them find spare parts for their UAVs. Kick the Turkish ambassador out of Israel NOW then give all Turkish tourists in Israel 3 days to get out of the country. Boycott all Turkish goods in Israel.

Turkey will turn around and tell all the TURKISH citizens who are Jews, to leave the country. And they should, they should emigrate.

-Turkish Ambassador is leaving before getting kicked (you lose)
-Turkish "Aselsan" and "Tubitak" will be developing own softwares and parts for UAVS; plus making their own UAVs (you lose)
-Cancel projects pipelines etc; Turkey will be cutting water (you lose)
-You may not make it in NATO or benefit from (you lose)
-Be alone in the region while obama is a big problem (you lose)
-Turkish Jews condemned Israel (you lose)
-Kick out Turkish tourists - it's a crime (you lose)
-Cancel military connections (Turkish Military will be shifting to Russian tech - you lose)
-Boycott all Turkish goods in Israel? Then Turks will boycott Israeli goods (you lose bad just compare the population and consumptions)

I'd say go ahead... That won't effect Turkey anyway. But IHH and Tayyip will be very proud to cut historic Judeo-Turkic relations. I wish Junior Bush was still president and rocking the middle east.

[Mediocrates]

US Neutrality Law violated by flotilla organizers

http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48255

[Mediocrates]

NY rally supporting Israel moved to Turkish consulate.

http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48254

[Mediocrates]

http://backspin.typepad.com/backspin/2010/06/liveblogging-the-free-gaza-media-war.html

10:49 p.m: Interrogations of detained activists (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3897667,00.html) reveal that some passengers were recruited specifically to attack Israeli soldiers:

Israel's investigation has revealed some 100 people infiltrated the peace and humanitarian aid activists making their way to Gaza, with the explicit design to attack Israeli soldiers using cold arms.


Some among that group are believed to have ties with World Jihad groups, mainly al-Qaeda . . .


Some of the suspects were found to be carrying large sums of money. Others had Kevlar vests and gas masks; and all were found to be carrying weapons such as knives, metal clubs and slingshots.
10:34 p.m: Egypt opens its border with Rafah. Where are the aid convoys? (http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/egypt-opens-rafah-borderso-where-are.html)
10:14 p.m: You know things are getting surreal when pro-Palestinian protestors storm BBC offices (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/10199808.stm) in Manchester. Why?

Protesters said they were also angry about the BBC's coverage of Israel.
I'm fed up with the Beeb's byzantine complaints system too. Check out this Idiot's Guide to Navigating BBC Complaints (http://backspin.typepad.com/backspin/2008/06/idiots-guide-to.html).
9:49 p.m: More on IHH, the dubious Turkish charity which spearheaded the flotilla. Andrew Bolt (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/boatloads-of-bloody-minded-pacifists/story-e6frezz0-1225874166305) nails their modus operandi:

In 2001, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the prominent French counter-terrorism magistrate, testified in the trial of the "Millennium bomber" that IHH had played "an important role" in the plot to blow up Los Angeles airport.
He said the charity was "a type of cover-up" to infiltrate mujahidin into combat, get forged documents and smuggle weapons.
In 2006, the Danish Institute for International Studies reported that Turkish security forces had raided the IHH's Istanbul bureau and found firearms, explosives and bomb-making instructions.
The Turkish investigators concluded this "charity" was sending jihadists to Bosnia, Chechnya and Afghanistan.
(Hat tip: email from Barry Rubin (http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/))
8:58 p.m: Australian journalist Paul McGeough, who was aboard one of the boats, plans to fight deportation. The Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au/world/herald-journalist-vows-to-fight-deportation-20100601-wvge.html) elaborates:

Israel has begun legal proceedings to deport the journalists and they have 72 hours to lodge a legal challenge.
Israeli officials have offered them the alternative of signing an agreement to waive their legal right to appeal and be deported immediately. If they are deported, both McGeough and Geraghty would face a 10-year ban on re-entering Israel.
Israeli authorities are seeking to deport the pair on the grounds that they tried to enter the blockaded maritime area surrounding Gaza without permission.
It is believed that McGeough advised consular officials of his intention to fight moves to deport him. If McGeough mounts a legal challenge, he could face several weeks in detention.
I don't have any reason to believe McGeough had an agenda in joining the convoy. (Australian Jewish media watchdogs, correct me if I'm wrong.) If he stays in prison fighting the deportation, I could see this getting messy. McGeough's an Irish national -- and the Irish Foreign Ministry's especially shrill (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0601/1224271593791.html) about the naval intercept.
8:48 p.m: 124 Arab "activists" to return to their countries of origin via Jordan (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3897638,00.html).
8:40 p.m: Wounded "peace activists" are enjoying Red Cross visits (http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177156).
Wouldn't it be nice if the Red Cross could get the same access to Gilad Shalit (http://www.amnesty.ie/content/allow-icrc-access-captured-israeli-soldier-gilad-shalit)?
8:23 p.m: One of the soldiers describes how "peace activists" aboard the Mavi Marmara tried to lynch him and his comrades:


8:09 p.m: Mona Charen's worth reading: Flotillas and Falsehoods (http://article.nationalreview.com/435253/flotillas-and-falsehoods/mona-charen?page=1): Don’t members of the press ever resent being so used? (via Daled Amos (http://daledamos.blogspot.com/2010/06/gaza-flotilla-facts.html))

[Mediocrates]

More on the IHH Turkish terrorist organization:

http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48248

[Mediocrates]

http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/06/gaza-flotilla-day-2/index.shtml

[Mediocrates]

No aid groups have organized to send anything through the Rafah crossing. Zero

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/egypt-opens-rafah-borderso-where-are.html

From the Telegraph (UK) (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/7793599/Egypt-opens-border-with-Gaza-for-humanitarian-aid.html):


Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has ordered the opening of the Rafah border crossing to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

"Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has given orders to open the Rafah border crossing to allow humanitarian and medical aid into the Gaza Strip, as well as to receive medical cases which require access to Egyptian territory," said Egyptian news agency MENA.

"This comes as part of Egypt's moves to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip."

The move, urged by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against whom the embargo has been directed, prompted dozens of people to race to the crossing point in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, though the gates appeared still to be closed.

According to Egyptian security sources in Rafah, the border opened on Tuesday at 1.30pm (1030 GMT). No date has been set for it to close again. This happened a few hours ago.

Yet I cannot find a single Gaza aid group that is quickly organizing to send supplies to Gazans.

Here is an unprecedented opportunity to help Gazans get the medical supplies, paper, toys and chocolate that we are told Israel is cruelly withholding from them. (Not electric scooters (http://www.daylife.com/photo/02fZ3TH8ic2tQ?q=gaza), though.)

No one knows for how long Egypt will keep the border open. So now would be the time to organize an emergency airlift of supplies to Cairo, right?

Where is Free Gaza? Where is IHH? Where is Viva Palestina? Where is the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza? Where is Tikkun? Where are all the European NGOs dedicated to helping poor Gazans? Where are the Facebook groups and Twitter topics that should be popping up to organize the golden opportunity to show the world how much they care about actual, real Gazan residents?

Hmmm. I guess that if vilifying Israel isn't part of the "aid," it is not worth giving.

[Mediocrates]

http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48245

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=2339

A day before the confrontation with Israel a university lecturer revealed on Hamas TV that the Gaza flotilla's commander had announced that the participants were planning to use "resistance," the Palestinian euphemism for violence, against "the Zionists." He added that the participants sought to die as Martyrs, even more than they wanted to reach Gaza.

The following are the words of Dr. Abd Al-Fatah Shayyeq Naaman, lecturer in Shari'ah law at a university in Yemen, now visiting Gaza:

"The [Gaza] flotilla commander said yesterday: 'We will not allow the Zionists to get near us and we will use resistance against them.'
How will they wage resistance? They will resist with their fingernails. They are people who seek Martyrdom for Allah, as much as they want to reach Gaza, but the first [Martyrdom] is more desirable."

[Reffo]

Madeline

Thanks for your words of support. I know that there are many other decent hard working down to earth people like you out there who support Israel and exactly because they are the way they are, their support is quieter and not as noisy as those hot headed haters who are against Israel.

If it wouldn't be for the knowledge that there are millions of people like you out there who support us, people like me would be much more bitter and twisted because of the hypocrisy of the noisier chattering class whose life mission seems to be to denigrate us.

Thanks for speaking out and reminding us that you are out there too.

[Aliyah1995]

Turkey is calling this 'their 911'. Israel needs to break all relations with Turkey, cancel all projects in the pipeline ASAP. The faction supporting Israel in Turkey is the military, let them deal with the Islamists. Let them find spare parts for their UAVs. Kick the Turkish ambassador out of Israel NOW then give all Turkish tourists in Israel 3 days to get out of the country. Boycott all Turkish goods in Israel.

Turkey will turn around and tell all the TURKISH citizens who are Jews, to leave the country. And they should, they should emigrate.

Wonderful, the blood of ten abettors of terrorists (at best, outright lynchers at worst) is redder than the blood of thousands of common, decent, people who were doing nothing more than going to work.

At this point, Turkey is as nuts as Iran:mad:

[Aliyah1995]

Madeline

Thanks for your words of support. I know that there are many other decent hard working down to earth people like you out there who support Israel and exactly because they are the way they are, their support is quieter and not as noisy as those hot headed haters who are against Israel.

If it wouldn't be for the knowledge that there are millions of people like you out there who support us, people like me would be much more bitter and twisted because of the hypocrisy of the noisier chattering class whose life mission seems to be to denigrate us.

Thanks for speaking out and reminding us that you are out there too.

Madeline, seconded:)

[Mediocrates]

A very interesting and good British anti naval piracy video:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid69900095001?bctid=89353134001

[Mediocrates]

Pre planned violence:
http://blog.z-word.com/2010/06/gaza-flotilla-this-was-pre-planned-violence/

A possible Turkish plot:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5443454/was_the_gaza_flotilla_incident_a_turkish.html?cat= 8

Israel to deport all:
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48258

Yourish mini link dump:
http://www.yourish.com/2010/06/01/11045

Israeli official video responses:
http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.6069645/k.4C84/TIP_Multimedia_on_the_Gaza_Flotilla.htm?tr=y&auid=6423199#CNN

TIP conference call with Mark Regev:
http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=4183369&ct=8419871&tr=y&auid=6424508

http://www.tipmedia.org/Audio/MarkRegev_06012010.mp3

TIP mini link dump:
http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.672581/k.DB67/The_Israel_Project__For_Freedom_Security_and_Peace .htm

The Spectator calls it an ambush:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/6044639/peace-convoy-this-was-an-islamist-terror-ambush.thtml?tr=y&auid=6424487

HR Live Blogging update:
http://backspin.typepad.com/backspin/2010/06/liveblogging-the-free-gaza-media-war.html

[Mediocrates]

MFA statement on humanitarian aid to Gaza:
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Behind+the+Headlines/Israeli_humanitarian_lifeline_Gaza_25-May-2010.htm?tr=y&auid=6422732

Leslie Gelb:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-05-31/israel-was-right-to-board-the-gaza-flotilla/p/?tr=y&auid=6424668

UN condemnations:
http://www.yourish.com/2010/06/01/11021

"Arab Media Reports on Flotilla Participants: Writing Wills, Preparing for Martyrdom, Determined to Reach Gaza or Die", MEMRI
http://www.eyeontheun.org/articles-item.asp?a=6548&id=8325

Turkey flexing its muscles:
http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/127436.html

Deterioration of Turkish relations:
http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/127375.html

[Mediocrates]

Obama throws Israel to the wolves again:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/06/01/anne-bayefsky-obama-abandons-israel/

In the past twenty-four hours United Nations bodies have engaged in a frenzied attack on Israel over the Turkish-facilitated effort to end the naval blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza. In the process, the Obama administration’s Israel policy has been outed.

With virtually unprecedented speed and only hours to go before the Lebanese presidency of the UN Security Council expired at midnight on May 31st the Council unanimously agreed on a Presidential Statement – with American approval. And in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) unanimously decided to invent new procedural rules and hold its first-ever “urgent debate”, with no objection from the United States.

The Obama administration had options. In the past, the United States has avoided efforts to railroad presidential statements or resolutions through the Security Council by allowing only so-called “press statements” made on behalf of just some of its members.

[Mediocrates]

http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.4916567/k.937E/Video_player.htm?tr=y&auid=6422719

[Madeline]

Madeline

Thanks for your words of support. I know that there are many other decent hard working down to earth people like you out there who support Israel and exactly because they are the way they are, their support is quieter and not as noisy as those hot headed haters who are against Israel.

If it wouldn't be for the knowledge that there are millions of people like you out there who support us, people like me would be much more bitter and twisted because of the hypocrisy of the noisier chattering class whose life mission seems to be to denigrate us.

Thanks for speaking out and reminding us that you are out there too.

No thanks needed, and rest assured, there are many more out there.
As with everything, we hear the ones screeching the loudest, but that doesn't mean they have anything worthwhile to say.
Its when the mob meets the brains, so to speak.:)

[ToYgUn]

Come on guys its not only turkish ship, passengers of "Eleftheri Mesogeios" say that the other ship, "Sfendoni" received fire from Israelis,it was also mentioned in the news of Greek NET TV:

http://news.in.gr/greece/article/?aid=1231046878

and if im not wrong greek government also cancelled the common greek-israeli military exercises due to what happened. so accept your mistake FOR ONCE. IHH is a bunch of bastards and it's accepted by most of the people in turkey. however opening fire and killing turkish civilians be it islamist or extreme leftist was WRONG and a stupid act.especially in international waters. people are angry of course what were you expecting?

[ToYgUn]

Greek activist details Israeli raid, detention

First Published 2010-06-01

Activist: Israelis used bullets, gas, electroshock followed by 'wretched detention conditions'.

ATHENS- A Greek activist told Tuesday of the moment Israeli troops stormed the ill-fated Gaza-bound aid flotilla, using rubber bullets, tear gas and electroshock weapons to subdue those aboard.

"Israeli troops jumped onto the boat around 0530 on Monday," Michalis Grigoropoulos said of the pre-dawn raid by Israeli forces in international waters that killed nine activists and sparked global outrage.

Grigoropoulos was aboard the Eleftheri Mesogeio, smaller than the lead boat, the Mavi Marmara, which Israeli troops had attacked earlier.

"They fired rubber coated bullets, tear gas and then used electroshock weapons on some activists," he told Skai television shortly after Israel deported him and five compatriots to Athens.

"An hour beforehand, at 0430 local time, we heard gunfire on the Turkish boat Mavi Marmara, the Israelis jumped from helicopters onto the boat," he said.

Israel is still holding hundreds of the 686 passengers they seized and took back to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where Grigoropoulos said he was kept incommunicado, denied access to a lawyer and made to sign papers he did not understand.

Grigoropoulos criticised "the wretched detention conditions at Ashdod (where) 500 people were packed in together" saying that "two Greek activists were beaten up" there by Israeli police.

"They made me sign papers on my expulsion, without me knowing what was on the papers because I did not have the right to a translator, a lawyer or to communicate with my family," he said.

The Eleftheri Mesogeio's captain, Zaharias Stilianakis, who was among those returned to Athens, said that "after their assault on the boat, the commandos cut all means of communication."

Another crew member, Aris Papadokostopoulos said that two of the detained Greeks "were beaten because they refused to give their digital fingerprints."

After storming the boat, the troops then "cut all forms of communication," Papadokostopoulos added.

Around 30 pro-Palestinian Greek activists from the flotilla are still being held in Israel.

Activists who have refused to identify themselves have been taken to an Israeli prison.

Link (http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=39320)

[Madeline]

Greek activist details Israeli raid, detention

First Published 2010-06-01

Activist: Israelis used bullets, gas, electroshock followed by 'wretched detention conditions'.

ATHENS- A Greek activist told Tuesday of the moment Israeli troops stormed the ill-fated Gaza-bound aid flotilla, using rubber bullets, tear gas and electroshock weapons to subdue those aboard.

"Israeli troops jumped onto the boat around 0530 on Monday," Michalis Grigoropoulos said of the pre-dawn raid by Israeli forces in international waters that killed nine activists and sparked global outrage.

Grigoropoulos was aboard the Eleftheri Mesogeio, smaller than the lead boat, the Mavi Marmara, which Israeli troops had attacked earlier.

"They fired rubber coated bullets, tear gas and then used electroshock weapons on some activists," he told Skai television shortly after Israel deported him and five compatriots to Athens.

"An hour beforehand, at 0430 local time, we heard gunfire on the Turkish boat Mavi Marmara, the Israelis jumped from helicopters onto the boat," he said.

Israel is still holding hundreds of the 686 passengers they seized and took back to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where Grigoropoulos said he was kept incommunicado, denied access to a lawyer and made to sign papers he did not understand.

Grigoropoulos criticised "the wretched detention conditions at Ashdod (where) 500 people were packed in together" saying that "two Greek activists were beaten up" there by Israeli police.

"They made me sign papers on my expulsion, without me knowing what was on the papers because I did not have the right to a translator, a lawyer or to communicate with my family," he said.

The Eleftheri Mesogeio's captain, Zaharias Stilianakis, who was among those returned to Athens, said that "after their assault on the boat, the commandos cut all means of communication."

Another crew member, Aris Papadokostopoulos said that two of the detained Greeks "were beaten because they refused to give their digital fingerprints."

After storming the boat, the troops then "cut all forms of communication," Papadokostopoulos added.

Around 30 pro-Palestinian Greek activists from the flotilla are still being held in Israel.

Activists who have refused to identify themselves have been taken to an Israeli prison.

Link (http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=39320)

"A Greek Activist", really? An unbiased source, really?

[ToYgUn]

"A Greek Activist", really? An unbiased source, really?


yeah middle-east online may be not an unbiased source but for gods sake you can see this news in all greek media,here is the one i posted above:

http://news.in.gr/greece/article/?aid=1231046878

(you can use google translator)

[Mediocrates]

But too bad for them it's all on video tape. So let the Greek terrorists scream the heavens.

[Cellis]

lol Greeks burned flags in Athens XD

other than that Orthodox Jews double burned the Israeli flags in New York, do you call them terrorists?

[ToYgUn]

But too bad for them it's all on video tape. So let the Greek terrorists scream the heavens.

what i meant is if it was only turkish ship and ihh you could blame turkey and ihh,i dont say turkey was not wrong and i know what the hell ihh is,but there were greek ships too and they say they were also attacked by israeli troops,do they all say lie?

in my opnion israel has every right to stop these ships but couldn't they find a better way,without killing people,in international waters?

[Reffo]

What were you expecting?We expected outsiders to mind their own business and not push their big noses into other people's conflicts.

But if they must push their noses in it, then at least show sympathy towards all innocents not just the innocents of one side of the conflict.

[ToYgUn]

We expected outsiders to mind their own business and not push their big noses into other people's conflicts.

But if they must push their noses in it, then at least show sympathy towards all innocents not just the innocents of one side of the conflict.

sorry,im sorry for wounded israeli soldiers also,honestly. and i agree the thing you said,we should not push our noses into other people's conflicts,im not interested in israel-palestine conflict. just to let you know that i am against this "free gaza" movement since the begining,but killing civilians (as i stated be it islamist or extreme leftists,whoever they are) in international waters,thats something we can not accept. there must be another way to stop them,this was an attack to whole turkey and turkish people and not just the ones in that ship. they were provocateurs and israel knew this,they should act another way. israel just shoot itself in the foot.

[Reffo]

ToYgUn

I am sick of this nonsense. Israel get's provoked, Israel responds to provocations and at the end you people always chastise Israel.

Tell me ToYgUn, where were the international peace lovers when Hamas was playing Russian Roulette with the lives of Israeli children in Sderot by lobbing rockets on a daily basis, on their, homes, schools and kindergartens? Why didn't the peace lovers send a flotilla to help them?

I'll tell you why ToYgUn, because they didn't care. They only care when Israel responds to Hamas provocations. Now also please tell me ToYgUn, don't the Greek activists have more important things to worry about in Greece? Why do they have to sail to the Middle East and protest on behalf of the side of the war mongers (Hamas)? Aren't there enough poor and unfortunate people in Greece who need their sympathy? Is the economic situation of Greece so good ...?

[ToYgUn]

ToYgUn

I am sick of this nonsense. Israel get's provoked, Israel responds to provocations and at the end you people always chastise Israel.


reffo,

i already accepted that many activists on the vessel were hostile to israel, and were even hoped for a confrontation for PR purposes. this was all quite obvious. but such a technologically very advanced army can't do any better than this? should they use live ammunition? can't they find just another way to stop those civillian ships without killing the people? what you don't see is these people in the ship didn't have bombs or guns, "they've attacked us with sticks" is not an excuse to kill some civillians in international waters. that's why we take it as an attack to whole turkey and the turkish people. i understand your position and i agree with you most part,but please you try to understand our position too.


Tell me ToYgUn, where were the international peace lovers when the Hamas was playing Russian Roulette with the lives of Israeli children in Sderot by lobbing rockets on a daily basis, on their, homes, schools and kindergartens? Why didn't the peace lovers send a flotilla to help them?

i accept this hypocricy.


I'll tell you why ToYgUn, because they didn't care. They only care when Israel responds to Hamas provocations. Now also please tell me ToYgUn, don't the Greek activists have more important things to worry about in Greece? Why do they have to sail to the Middle East and protest on behalf of the side of the war mongers (Hamas)? Aren't there enough poor and unfortunate people in Greece who need their sympathy? Is the economic situation of Greece so good ...?

people say the same in turkey,we have enough poors in our country we should help them first,why our government care about palestinians more than our people? and our soldiers were killed by pkk in the same day,i personally care about them and not the ones in that ihh ship,but at the end of the day they were turkish citizens even if i dont like them i can not accept that turkish citizens were killed by foreign country's army in international waters. that was wrong reffo.

[ToYgUn]

The Turkish government BANNED IHH from helping in earthquake relief:

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/turkey-banned-ihh-from-doing-earthquake.html

http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Publications/WP2006/DIIS%20WP%202006-7.web.pdf


rom the Danish Institute for International Studies (http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Publications/WP2006/DIIS%20WP%202006-7.web.pdf) report I quoted (http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/peace-activists-with-guns-ihh.html)yesterday:


Organizations such as IHH are quick to respond to natural disasters and other human catastrophes. Unfortunately, these groups often seek to use these situations to gain leverage with destitute Muslim refugees. In August 1999, when a devastating earthquake struck Turkey, IHH reached the affected zones, in some cases, even before the Turkish government. Friction quickly grew between authorities tasked with relief and independent Islamist “humanitarian” groups. Ultimately, Turkey was forced to ban the IHH from participating in earthquake aid efforts because it was counted among several “fundamentalist organizations” operating “secret bank accounts” that were refusing to allow local authorities to oversee the distribution of their aid resources.60
This is besides IHH's known involvement in gun smuggling and recruiting mujahadeen that the paper describes.

at that time,in 1999, there was a dsp-anap-mhp (kemalist,center-right and nationalist) triple coalition government in turkey, they banned ihh. akp was not even established at that time. in 1999 turkey was quite different than today.

[Sanket]

but killing civilians (as i stated be it islamist or extreme leftists,whoever they are) in international waters,thats something we can not accept.

It might have been smarter for Israel to let them enter the 12nm zone, but once the ship entered within 200nm of Israeli shores they are within the Israeli Exclusive Economic Zone and are therefore subject to Israeli law.

;)

Part V, Article 55 of the Convention states:

Specific legal regime of the exclusive economic zone

The exclusive economic zone is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, subject to the specific legal regime established in this Part, under which the rights and jurisdiction of the coastal State and the rights and freedoms of other States are governed by the relevant provisions of this Convention.

[Cellis]

the "international sea" claim isn't smart either because people with brains would understand that ships were going to enter the israeli territories

[bararallu]

the "international sea" claim isn't smart either because people with brains would understand that ships were going to enter the israeli territories

Correct. Close enough and you can swim or drop "goods."

When at war you shoot the tanks coming to your border on their side of the border, if possible, as a general rule of war. Strategic depth is an easy concept to understand.

[Mediocrates]

what i meant is if it was only turkish ship and ihh you could blame turkey and ihh,i dont say turkey was not wrong and i know what the hell ihh is,but there were greek ships too and they say they were also attacked by israeli troops,do they all say lie?

in my opnion israel has every right to stop these ships but couldn't they find a better way,without killing people,in international waters?

No not really not if you seen the videos, no. Turkey organized this disaster intentionally. They should bear the brunt of it.

Moreover of the SIX ships intercepted only the Turk ship experienced violence. The other ship passengers can claim what they like but it's simply not the case and the videos show it. Do you honestly intuit that if a bunch of Greeks were killed or injured that in the midst of all this, Greece, a country not historically friendly to Israel or Jews would suddenly fall silent?

[Mediocrates]

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/flotilla-fraudsters-lied-about-their.html

don't have all the details yet, but the IDF has described (http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177165) the goods that were on the ships:

Twenty-four hours after the last ship of the Gaza aid flotilla entered the Ashdod Port under the watchful eye of the Israeli Navy, all of the equipment on board was examined Tuesday and the majority of it was loaded onto trucks headed to the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

In a statement to reporters at the port on Tuesday, Colonel Moshe Levi, commander of the IDF’s Gaza Strip Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), said that none of the equipment found on board the three cargo ships was in shortage in Gaza.

“We have been working non-stop for the last twenty-four hours examining the cargo holds of the three large cargo ships and I can say with great assurance, that none of the equipment on board is needed in Gaza. The equipment that we found is all equipment that we have regularly allowed into the strip over the past year,” said Levi. “This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the whole premise of the voyage was for propaganda and provocation and not for humanitarian purposes.”

Among the equipment that the IDF agreed to show reporters were medical supplies, including electric vehicles for handicapped people, wheelchairs, stretchers, hospital beds and boxes of medicine. They also showed crates full of dry food products and children’s toys.And how much cargo was on board?

Levi said that eight trucks full of equipment had already crossed into Gaza and that 20 additional trucks would be transferred throughout the night and the following day.This didn't include the concrete, though:

According to Levi, the soldiers also found construction equipment, including sacks of concrete and metal rods. He said that Israel did not allow those products to enter into the Gaza strip for fear that they would be used to construct fortifications for terrorists and for weapons manufacture.Assuming that the article is accurate and the majority of the cargo is being transported on 28 trucks, we can calculate roughly how much cargo was on board.

On the average week, Israel has been sending some 600 truckloads of goods to Gaza, with about 14,000 tons. That means that each truck holds roughly 25 tons or so.

Multiply that by 28and we get a grand total of 700 tons of goods. This 700 tons is the majority of the cargo. meaning that we know that there is less than 1500 tons of cargo, probably closer to 1000.

(The "Rachel Corrie" ship from Free Gaza is still en route to break the blockade, and it is said to have some 500 tons of cement.)

So, as I confidently predicted (http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/todays-free-gaza-lies.html), the "human rights" frauds have lied about the amount of goods that they were bringing, by an order of magnitude.

[Mediocrates]

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/dutch-peace-activist-was-hamas-leader.html

The Dutch newspaper "De Telegraaf" notes that one of the Dutch members on board the anti-Israel flotilla, Amin Abou Rashed was associated with Hamas (http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/6841211/__Hollandse_Hamasleider_was_erbij__.html&sl=nl&tl=en):


"Rashed is the leader of Hamas in the Netherlands," said one intelligence source. "He went under an alias, Amin Abou Ibrahim, in several intelligence reports. He worked for the notorious Dutch al-Aqsa Foundation, which was suspected of fundraising for the terrorist organization Hamas....[He was also connected to the] Holy Land Foundation, a charitable organization notorious in America for funding Hamas.For how long will the world press refer to these people as "humanitarians?"

[Mediocrates]

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/danish-report-from-gaza-wheres.html

Includes photos.

[Mediocrates]

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/hamas-raids-closes-charities-in-gaza.html

Four of them, actually.


The PCHR condemned Hamas for closing four separate charity organizations, and two political organizations, in Gaza over the past two days.

Although it is not yet on their website, PalPress published their statement (http://www.palpress.ps/arabic/index.php?maa=ReadStory&ChannelID=74416).

On May 31, Hamas raided four organizations: The Association of Builders for the Future; the South Society for Women's Health; the Society for Women and Children; and the Sharek Youth Forum.

They seized computers and cameras and confiscated the keys to the charities.

Yesterday they closed down the "Small Palestinian Parliament" and the Committee of National Reform.

No word from the Free Gaza movement yet condemning Hamas. (There never is.)

[Mediocrates]

http://www.yourish.com/2010/06/02/11056

I’m not even going to try to parse the AP news bias anymore. Except to say that they now use the words “Israel says” and “Israel claimed” when describing facts (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/02/israel-deports-activists-from-gaza-bound-flotilla/) like the attackers having knives and metal rods stashed on the Marmalade Motel. Having proof in videos (http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/video-of-peace-activists-stabbing-idf.html) of soldiers being stabbed is apparently not enough for the AP.
Say goodbye to Ashdod: The activists (actually, the real ones) are being deported (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3897927,00.html) from Israel—all but the 50 or so who took part in the attack on the Moshi Moshi. Good move, Bibi. Throw the bums out.
I know, I’m shocked, too: The New York Times says Israel should end the Gaza blockade. You have to love this part:

What happened once Israeli forces got on board? The Israeli Defense Forces have distributed a video showing that the commandos were attacked. Why weren’t they better prepared to defend themselves without using lethal force?
If they were, the last sentence would have been, “Why did Israel send heavily-armed commandos onto a civilian ship?” Really, Israel can’t win, no matter what.
The IHH is gloating. The Times profiles (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/world/middleeast/02activists.html) the terrorist charity group, and the group is thanking Israel for the publicity. Oh, and the author excuses Greta Berlin’s wish to see Israel disappear because she’s against all> national borders. And yet, she’s only trying to destroy one nation—Israel.
Because the last flotilla went so perfectly. Free Gaza is sending another ship (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3898002,00.html). Really, beating your head against a wall just to see if the wall breaks is not a smart thing to do. And they’ve named the ship after Rachel Corrie. Lovely. No way this ends well.
Turkey doubles down: The latest offer from Turkey to make it the premier champion of the Palestinians? If Israel ends the blockade of Gaza, Turkey will normalize relations (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3898032,00.html). Um. That’s really not much of a carrot, dude. And I’m thinking, well, with Israelis cancelling their vacation plans in Turkey due to mobs of thousands of people chanting about Israeli blood running in the streets, perhaps Israel may not believe that Turkey has Israel’s best interests at heart. Just sayin’. And the constant threats? They really aren’t helping Israel see you as a mediator.
It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye: And that adage came true (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06/01/woman-loses-eye-hit-tear-gas-canister-anti-israeli-protest/) for an American protesting at a West Bank checkpoint. I’m sorry she lost her eye. The story says she was standing far back from the protestors. But when you’re at a protest that turns violent, frankly, your best bet is to run like hell.

[second_coming]

That depends on what you want the final goals to be. For instance if you want to figure out a way to make the world like Israel, forget it it's impossible. But if you want to find a way to squeak out enough maneuvering room until some final state of for the Palestinians is reached then that's entirely different. After all, whenever that happens, all the protests and shrieks can for most part be ignored.

If Hamas continues to fire rockets, well that's really a war between two nations. Not to say that a classic military response would be acceptable to the 'west'. Because it would not. But it could be ignored from a PR perspective.

I genuinely believe it was a mistake for Israel to worry that much about this flotilla in the first place. Even if every single person was a Hamas terrorist they were only bringing a thousand tons of items with them, less than Israel allows in in a week. The Israeli govt should have ignored it and let them dance around burning flags like they usually do. In fact it would have eliminated the reason for them being there. Open the sea to Gaza and they can erect a wall a thousand feet high on the border with Israel. There would no longer any 'blockade'. Either way, Hamas wasn't helped in any material way, just in a PR-ish way.

If they didn't stop it, they would have sent a signal of weakness, and hundreds more ships - a virtual armada - would have begun flowing in. They needed to retain a strong sense of deterrence.

That being said, a more polished, intelligent approach would have been to disable the ships, probably just knock out the propellers, for example, once they crossed into Israeli waters, and towed them into Ashdod.

Possible issues could have cropped up where some of the more violent filth may have refused to exit the ships/be taken into israeli custody while the ships were searched - but it could have been dealt with.

My only concern moving forward is that some terrorists load up a huge vessel like the Mavi with more peace activists, blow it up with explosives placed on board that the leftist activists aren't aware of, once the IDF puts people on board again - and then claims that israel blew up the ship.

Imagine the media/political firestorm from that event...:unsure:

Israel needs to be VERY careful about how it handles these ships moving forward, as they would make excellent bombs, like the 9/11 planes...

[Mediocrates]

Well then if that has a possibility it would behoove the Israelis to stay as far from that as possible. When I listened to Mark Regev he stated that the blockade was a necessary condition to protect Israeli lives. I think that's spin, a political answer. It may be a possibility but it's more I think for domestic consumption. It's always been possible that someone would ship deadly weapons in from the sea. It will always be the case. Israel can't blockade Gaza forever and become the defacto viceroys of Gaza. It would be more efficient for them to open the sea channels and close the land crossings. If Egypt is afraid of what the Muslim Brotherhood will do in Egypt as a result of actions in Gaza, well that's their problem. After all, Egypt unilaterally surrendered Gaza in the 6 Day War without there ever being any Israeli troops there or any military activities IN Gaza during the war. (See Michael Oren's book for more). Egypt is the ones who tried to outsource their Muslim Brotherhood problem by 'creating' Gaza in the first place.

[Djinn]

Quick question for those who know what is (and isn't) permitted into Gaza. I'm being told that no construction materials whatsoever are being shipped into Gaza. Not even lumber. Any truth to this?

[Cellis]

now; the real problem is; more ships are coming XD

[dayag]

now; the real problem is; more ships are coming XD

We need to reoccupy Gaza and greet these pro-Hamas activists at the beach.

[Mediocrates]

Quick question for those who know what is (and isn't) permitted into Gaza. I'm being told that no construction materials whatsoever are being shipped into Gaza. Not even lumber. Any truth to this?


http://www.gazagateway.org/tag/cogat/

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Behind+the+Headlines/Israeli_humanitarian_lifeline_Gaza_25-May-2010.htm

Some construction materials are banned because of Hamas' propensity to appropriate it and use it to build weapons bunkers.

[Reffo]

... but at the end of the day they were turkish citizens even if i dont like them i can not accept that turkish citizens were killed by foreign country's army in international waters. that was wrong reffoAt the end of the day, if citizens of a foreign country, including Turks, choose to push their noses into other people's wars, take sides, sail into a war zone and take on the soldiers who try to stop them then what comes out of it is on their own heads. I would feel that way if some Idiots from Israel would set sail and in the course of trying to supply Turkey's enemies and taking on Turkish soldiers, they would be hurt and or killed ...

To me, that is a more normal thinking ...

[Mediocrates]

It's the old "Well I sent two boats and a helicopter" joke about the drowned man who waited on the roof of his house during the flood, telling everyone 'god will provide'.

Similarly some fresh young white girl from Maryland, full of revolutionary rage, yesterday was accidentally hit in the face with a tear gas canister during a Palestinian rock throwing riot against the police at a Yesha checkpoint. She lost an eye. Of course the 'progressive' press ignores:

What the hell are you doing in the middle of a riot
Non lethal weapons sometimes hit people
What about the rocks your friends were throwing
She was treated in an Israeli hospital
What about the 50+ US citizens murdered by terrorists in Israel since 2000?

[Mediocrates]

Hamas is now refusing ALL the aid supplies from the flotilla. They are trying to dictate terms.

[Reffo]

It's like a soap opera really.... They manufacture a crisis ... They milk it for all it's worth .... Then they move on to manufacture the next crisis .... The Jihadis I mean and their so called liberal peace loving bleeding heart western allies of course ....

[Mil]

And Hamas, as we all know, is a very liberal organization.

[second_coming]

At the end of the day, if citizens of a foreign country, including Turks, choose to push their noses into other people's wars, take sides, sail into a war zone and take on the soldiers who try to stop them then what comes out of it is on their own heads. I would feel that way if some Idiots from Israel would set sail and in the course of trying to supply Turkey's enemies and taking on Turkish soldiers, they would be hurt and or killed ...

To me, that is a more normal thinking ...

Or even more to the point, american citizens fighting US troops inside a foreign country, say like Afghanistan...?

Should these pieces of trash have any special rights over other foreign nationals from say, Libya or Somalia who have gone to Iraq or Afghanistan to fight the US troops there?

Not clear why foreigners entering a war zone should have unique protection over any other illegal combatants... :rolleyes:

[Cellis]

At the end of the day, if citizens of a foreign country, including Turks, choose to push their noses into other people's wars, take sides, sail into a war zone and take on the soldiers who try to stop them then what comes out of it is on their own heads. I would feel that way if some Idiots from Israel would set sail and in the course of trying to supply Turkey's enemies and taking on Turkish soldiers, they would be hurt and or killed ...

To me, that is a more normal thinking ...

what? that's not my quote :)

[Reffo]

Sorry it was ToYgUn. I corrected it now ...

[Cellis]

note: Rachel Corrie is approaching to gaza. will you call them "terrorists" for their cause? will you protest them too?

[Madeline]

note: Rachel Corrie is approaching to gaza. will you call them "terrorists" for their cause? will you protest them too?

Anyone, terrorists, those who hide behind terrorists, and those who enable terrorist, must be called such.

[Mediocrates]

Well clearly the INF will have to use different tactics. I recommend a water plane used for wildfires and filling the tanks with pepper spray or CS instead. I know quite a few of the terrorists have gasmasks but it would help to cut down the crowds a bit. And you know that the terrorists will scream 'chemical warfare' and such, they always do, so the INF should take a bunch of cameras and journalists with them to document the entire end to end process from the tanks being filled to their being dispersed. Another thing they can do is use a fire tug to hose down the ships with gobs of antiflame foam. Messy as all get up but safe to use. And then round up a few tons of dead animal carcasses, real ripe ones and air drop them on the ship's decks, or if you really want to go for broke, tanks of n-butyl mercaptan. I don't know the toxicity data but I'm sure there's a safe way to use it in liquid form. But you NEVER EVER forget the odor of that.

[Toadstool46]

It really surprizes me that so many people swallow this propaganda that insults Israels efforts for peace and humanitarian actions.
Obama is the worst as he has power.
How did that go again? "The wise will be called fools and the fools as wise"?

[Mediocrates]

[/URL]Who are Israel's True Friends?
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/304856 (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/304856)

Re: Useful Idiot
[url]http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/305131

Constructive Criticism
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/boot/304981

Constructive Criticism
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/jpodhoretz/305036

Honest Reporting
http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/new/Special_Alert_Boats,_Bias_and_Big_Lies.asp

A World Gone Mad
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/304891

Wake Up Call
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/j-e-dyer/305086

Partner for Peace
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/pollak/305126

Hamas defeats Peace
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/tobin/305181

Hypocrisy
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/pollak/305161

[Mediocrates]

http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/06/unreal-hamas-refusing-to-accept-tranfer/index.shtml

http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/06/unreal-hamas-refusing-to-accept-tranfer/index.shtml

http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/32408/hamas-refuse-let-aid-gaza

[Mediocrates]

http://www.jstreetjive.com/2010/06/flotilla-follies-feeding-frenzy-day-3.html

Same post:

http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/06/flotilla-follies-feeding-frenzy-day-3-hi/index.shtml

Who is Edward Peck and why is he important in the War Against the Jews? Ed Peck has had a long career beginning in the Nixon administration in the early 1970's. He went on to work for Jimmy Carter as Chief of Mission in Baghdad from 1977 to 1980 then as Ambassador to Mauretania (one of the last countries to permit chattel slavery to this day). Peck is all over the media because he was aboard a small Greek boat that made up part of the "flotilla" turned back by Israeli forces.

Peck has a long history of anti-Israel activity. A longtime supporter of The Israel Lobby canard by Walt and Mearsheimer ("Of Course There is an Israel Lobby" (http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1700)) and frequent guest of CAIR (http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=2789), the Muslim American group many of whose officials have been indicted and convicted of terrorist activity, Peck is now being sought as an expert "witness" to Israeli atrocities on the high seas. Rounding out his "diplomatic" activities is a long association with Eugene Bird's Council for the National Interest (http://www.cnionline.org/), the far right wing group that advocates divestment and disengagement from Israel. I forgot to mention that Mr. Peck is also an apologist for Hezbollah maintaining that it is no more a "terrorist" entity than Israel or the United States.

Today Ed Peck was interviewed by National Public Radio and introduced simply as "a retired American diplomat with long experience in the Middle East." Part of that experience, not referenced by the careful fact-checkers at NPR, consisted of being a spokesman for the Palestine Authority. Listen to the complete puff piece.

[Mediocrates]

http://backspin.typepad.com/backspin/2010/06/free-gaza-media-war-coming-attractions.html

Looks like Ambassador Michael Oren tips Israel's hand. The IDF apparently has some damning evidence against the Free Gaza movement. He writes in this NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/opinion/03oren.html)op-ed:

What the videos don’t show, however, are several curious aspects Israeli authorities are now investigating. First, about 100 of those detained from the boats were carrying immense sums in their pockets — nearly a million euros in total. Second, Israel discovered spent bullet cartridges on the Mavi Marmara that are of a caliber not used by the Israeli commandos, some of whom suffered gunshot wounds. Also found on the boat were propaganda clips showing passengers “injured” by Israeli forces; these videos, however, were filmed during daylight, hours before the nighttime operation occurred.
Large amounts of cash, bullet cartridges, and phony videos? Sounds like Pallywood on the high seas. I can't wait for the army to release these findings.
The Jerusalem Post (http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177342) also notes other items found on the boat -- in addition to the wheelchairs, toys, and clothes, etc. which Gazans already receive:

Other items that won’t be transferred to Gaza are the weapons and military equipment found aboard the Mavi Marmara. These include knives, clubs, slingshots, bulletproof vests, gas masks and night vision goggles.
What are Palestinian families supposed to do with those?
Posted at 01:08 PM

[Mediocrates]

http://backspin.typepad.com/backspin/2010/06/liveblogging-the-media-war-june-2.html

[Mediocrates]

http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/02/anchor-accuses-own-network-of-embarrassing-bias-in-israel-coverage/

What you’ re about to read is perfectly true. I came within a butterfly fart of firing this memo off to my boss this morning in a fit of real rage. But my wife, yet again, intervened.
“You’ve been whining like this for ten years. Just go get a new job,” she said.
“Don’t send that memo!”
She’s right.
I agreed not to push the send button, but only if she let me send the memo to The Daily Caller, minus the names. I hate writing anonymously. Readers who’ve criticized me for it are totally justified. One of these days I’ll reveal myself to readers of The Daily Caller, but until that new job comes, or I’m fired, which is increasingly likely, I don’t want to have to pull my kids out of college because of their father’s selfishness. Here’s the memo that I want to send but – under great duress – can’t.
Dear XXXX,
I’m writing for some clarification about how we are supposed to cover the Gaza flotilla story. If we, as a news organization, are supposed to be acting as a public relations arm of Hamas, or Hezbollah, both internationally recognized terrorist organizations, or if we are supposed to be jumping on the bandwagon of 1930’s style anti-Semitism that’s presently sweeping much of the world, then we are doing a fine job. If we are supposed to be acting as a news organization that covers the story objectively, then our coverage is a travesty and an embarrassment.
I just finished watching XXXX’s piece on yesterday’s 5pm newscast, so I could better understand the grotesquely distorted and biased voice-over that ran on this morning’s show. XXXX interviewed former diplomat Edward Peck, who was onboard the “Gaza Flotilla,” without describing his views on the Middle East. Some perspective would have helped. Among other things, Peck spoke these words, later famously used by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright:”We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye…and now we are indignant, because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought back into our own front yards.”
Peck is deeply controversial in other ways. But no mention was made in XXXX’s story of anything that might cast the slightest doubt on Pecks political motivations.
In addition, remarkably, her piece made no mention – absolutely none — of the Israeli perspective in this story. For example:
The widely aired (though not here) video that clearly shows an IDF soldier being tossed over a railing, and others being beaten with sticks, was omitted.
The fact that bullet proof vests and night vision goggles were found among the “humanitarian aid” on the ship was omitted.
IDF video of confiscated knives and metal bars that were apparently used as weapons was omitted.
Information that Israeli soldiers were also wounded and injured was omitted.
Moreover, her piece included no background whatsoever on why Israel’s interception (“attack” as we called it ) of the flotilla would likely have passed muster in any court outside the thug-ridden United Nations.
Nor did viewers get any background about the three-year-old blockade of Gaza, facts such as:
It’s purpose, which is to prevent the shipment of longer-range, more powerful missiles that only ships can carry. Thousands of Hamas rockets are presently pointed at various Israeli cities, towns and schoolyards; the Israeli government estimates that Hamas continues to smuggle tons of explosives per month into Gaza, mostly through tunnels. In the last few years, more than 2,700 rockets have rained down from Gaza on the civilian population of southern Israel.
In 2005, Israel ordered about 8,500 Jewish settlers to evacuate 21 settlements in Gaza, land occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967. Reluctant and emotionally-torn IDF soldiers had to literally pry people from their family homes. That same land in the year 2010, is now occupied by Hamas training camps.
Gaza is a strategically located port, control of which would complete the encirclement of Israel by it’s sworn enemies, including Hamas and Hezbollah – the latter, of course, being a client of Iran, which is close to acquiring nuclear capability and has threatened repeatedly to wipe Israel off the map.
These are among the perspectives that were left out of our story.
With all due respect XXXX, I find our coverage of this an abomination. I feel like I want to wash the slime off me when I get off work. I’m embarrassed by our coverage. I take this job and my reputation seriously. But that’s nearly impossible with coverage like this. I hope you’ll respond.

[Mediocrates]

http://www.jstreetjive.com/2010/06/greta-berlin-hwic-head-whacko-in-charge.html

Thrust into the MSM spotlight, veracity-challenged Jew hater, Greta Berlin and official spokesperson for the Gaza Flotilla, had this to say to the New York Times yesterday, describing Israel's commando operation:

“ (they)opened fire on sleeping civilians at four in the morning.”

Later, Frau Berlin declared:

"As Israel's hysteria mounts, "they now claim “self defense” in attacking ships in international waters today, killing 9. Israel informed the US and Britain that the convoy was ferrying stolen nuclear weapons that would be used for a terrorist attack on Israel"

Yes, Taqqiyah is a fungible asset. Classical antisemites are learning quickly from their Muslim teachers. Hat tip to Elder of Ziyon (http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/)

"On numerous occasions I heard Greta launch the insults "the god damned Israelis, and those F****** Jews" at the dinner table in front of my father (a Jew) and the few Israeli friends and relatives who ventured to visit. Additionally, any rational debate attempted by anyone with an opposing view to Greta's, was immediately terminated with the responses: "Shut up" or "You don't know what the hell you're talking about." The rebuttal usually presented in screaming form.

These comments in juxtaposition to her role as "Peace Activist" I find hard to rectify. It prompts me to ask what should be an obvious question; "At what point did terms of hate and bigotry become synonymous with Peace?"

I was always under the strange impression that the road to peace laid in the arms of those who were tolerant, compassionate, and vehement in their will to understand and to promote understanding. God help us all if this is the role model that we hold up as an embodiment of those ideals!"

Sincerely,
Ava E. Berlin

This is what Ava, Greta's step-daughter had to say about her "peace activist' mother.


See also:
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2007/04/my-disrupted-talk-at-ucla

[Mediocrates]

Shahid wants to kill and be killed. I know, big frickin surprise.

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/peace-activist-brags-he-wants-to-be.html

Video.

[Mediocrates]

http://blog.z-word.com/2010/06/gaza-flotilla-brought-one-days-worth-of-aid/

Crossposted from The Muqata (http://muqata.blogspot.com/2010/06/exclusive-interview-with-senior-israeli.html).
This evening, the IDF Spokesman’s New Media Unit arranged for an exclusive blogger-press-conference with a senior official from COGAT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinator_of_Government_Activities_in_the_Territ ories), Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, which among its responsibilities, includes coordinating the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip.

The senior official briefed us on the humanitarian aid transfer to Gaza in general, as well as the specifics of the aid from the flotilla ships.
“On a daily basis 80-100 trucks with humanitarian aid enters Gaza via Israel. The aid is not only medical supplies, but also contains supplies that support a wide range of important infrastructure projects, including water, sewage, and electrical power. We [COGAT] coordinate our efforts with UNRWA, UNESCO, WHO, UNICEF and we even help facilitate the transfer of toys and the enabling of mobile swimming pools for Gazan summer camps.
So far, we have loaded 21 trucks worth of aid from the flotilla and it appears there will between 70-80 trucks worth of aid. Its difficult to ascertain the amount of supplies because the aid was not loaded in an orderly manner onto the ships in crates, cartons or containers — but was haphazardly dumped in.
As of now, there are 8 trucks at the Israeli - Gaza border crossing of Kerem Shalom; 7 of which contain medical equipment for the disabled and elderly, including 100 electric mobility scooters and hundreds of wheelchairs.
Unfortunately, the disabled, sick and elderly in Gaza are denied this aid, because Hamas has forbidden anyone in Gaza to coordinate the distribution of this equipment.
Hamas has stated that until every last one of the flotilla activists have returned to their home countries, they will refuse to allow the aid to enter Gaza.”
Questions from bloggers:
Q: How does this equipment normally get distributed?
A: The PA in Ramallah represents the private sector in Gaza and coordinates the distribution via the humanitarian organizations.
Q: How much aid does the flotilla represent, compared to the usual aid flowing into Gaza via Israel?
A: About 1 day’s worth.
Q: What sort of aid is on the ships?
A: Clothes and shoes, though its not clear if they are new or used. Medicine, medical equipment. Its difficult to know because it was all randomly thrown into the belly of the ships.
Q: If its urgent for all this humanitarian aid to get into Gaza, why is Hamas not allowing it in?
A: We (COGAT) have even asked the Red Cross to help with distributing the medical equipment, yet they have refused to get involved. We have 13 trucks waiting in Israel, not including the 9 at the Keren Shalom crossing, and we’re just waiting to send it in.
Q: Has the date of the aid medication that arrived via the flotilla, expired?
A: So far, we (COGAT) have located two types of medication. An unlabeled cough syrup of some sort, which expired this past April, and children’s paracetamol (liquid acetaminophen) which expires this coming July (a month away).
Q: Slate magazine wrote a highly critical article (http://www.slate.com/id/2255625/) against Israel’s handling of this flotilla and the Gaza embargo in general. They wrote specifically that:
However, the execution of the policy [of the embargo] has been unreasonably draconian. Israeli officials take so long to inspect the cargo that medicines often expire by the time they reach Palestinian patients.
How long does it take COGAT to inspect and transfer medicines; what is the average turnaround time?
A: The average turn around time is 2 weeks. We need to ensure the medicine meets international health standards. Often, the medicines arrive, having already expired, or they arrive in packaging in a foreign language that no one here in the region knows, let alone the people in Gaza.
Slate Magazine should speak with the UN health organizations that were responsible for distributing the medical aid from the “Free Gaza” organization after the Cast Lead operation.
The vast majority of the medicine received was useless.

[Mediocrates]

Video.
http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/06/video-gaza-flotilla-thugs-use-stun-grena/index.shtml

[Mediocrates]

AJC condemns NYC councilman's comments:
http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=2818289&ct=8422611&notoc=1&msource=IMPACT29&tr=y&auid=6433934

June 2, 2010 – New York – AJC expressed outrage over a New York City Councilman’s incendiary remarks regarding the situation in Gaza.

In an interview with the New York Daily News, Councilman Charles Barron called Gaza “a concentration death camp.” When asked by the reporter if he really meant to compare Gaza to Holocaust concentration camps, Barron replied affirmatively.
"We urge Councilman Barron to retract his offensive and baseless accusation,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris.

“It is common knowledge that Israel transports almost daily into Gaza tons and tons of the most basic humanitarian necessities, including food, clothing and medicine,” said Harris. “Councilman Barron’s comments show an appalling lack of understanding of what a Nazi death camp actually was – and a totally exaggerated and self-serving description of conditions in Gaza.”

“The international community, not Israel alone, imposed an economic blockade on Gaza after Hamas, declared a terrorist group by the U.S. and EU, violently seized control of the territory from the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas,” said Harris.

Councilman Barron visited Gaza last July with British MP George Galloway, a longtime, outspoken fundraiser and mouthpiece for Hamas.

“If Councilman Barron truly desires to see a day when Israelis and Palestinians live side by side in peace, then he would do well to encourage the Gazans to abandon the dead-end politics of Hamas and embrace the vision of a two-state solution with Israel,” Harris said.

[Elin]

Why didn't the IDF use taser guns instead? This incident could have been avoided. And why commandos? Couldn't the Israeli coast guard take care of this instead of the soldiers?

[Mediocrates]

Have you ever used a taser against a mob? Seriously. Have you?

[Elin]

Police use taser,tasers don't kill. You don't just rope into the middle of a mob one by one, exposing soldiers to decisions that they should not be having to make. Anarchists attacked to police even with rockets during the May day in Istanbul but noone was killed.

[Womble]

Police use taser,tasers don't kill. You don't just rope into the middle of a mob one by one, exposing soldiers to decisions that they should not be having to make.
Tasers are single-shot weapons. No good when you're outnumbered. Especially not good when it's 10-15 commandos standing against a raging mob of hundreds.

The soldiers actually used paintball guns as main weapons. You can see them in some of the videos.

As for your other question- the IDF has no Coast Guard. We are a small country with a very small Navy. We have no Marines, either, and no large warships. The Shayetet, which was involved in this operation, is the only Israeli unit qualified for taking over boats at sea.

In other news, Al-Jazeera English has eyewitness accounts (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/20106193546785656.html) from the flotilla people. One of them, Al-Jazeera's own employee, claims that three or four soldiers were taken hostage and later exchanged for medical attention:


First they [the Israelis] tried to come by helicopter and tried to come down on the main deck. But the Turkish people were gathering on the rooftop and they managed to grab three of the soldiers, which led to a second helicopter to come and start shooting live bullets on the people.

...The organisers [of the flotilla] swapped the four Israelis kidnapped, or caught, by the people on the ship, and because they were beaten up, because it's kind of resistance from our side, we swapped the Israeli soldiers to [get] to treat our injured.
Much of what they're saying is cheap lies, but I'm wondering if it wasn't the intended goal- kidnapping one or more soldiers and using them as hostages to blackmail Israel into allowing the ships through?

[Mediocrates]

Yes I believe this was an attempt to get another Gilad Shalit. I believe Turkey is now actively involved in attempted kidnapping and/or murder of Israeli soldiers.

I would hope that all the drones the IAI sold to Turkey could be remotely crippled. But I doubt it.

[Madeline]

Why didn't the IDF use taser guns instead? This incident could have been avoided. And why commandos? Couldn't the Israeli coast guard take care of this instead of the soldiers?

The incident could have been avoided if the enablers would have stayed away.
What was the IDF to think? Take the risk and potentially pay with their lives?

[bararallu]

IHH is a terrorist organization, odd that so called seculars would shed tears for them.

[Womble]

Yes I believe this was an attempt to get another Gilad Shalit.

It's now been confirmed by the Israeli Navy.


Israel Navy: 3 commandos nearly taken hostage in Gaza flotilla raid (http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-navy-3-commandos-nearly-taken-hostage-in-gaza-flotilla-raid-1.294114)

During Israel's takeover of a Turkish ship in the Gaza-bound aid flotilla this week, some passengers tried to take captive three commandos who lost consciousness as a result of the activists' blows, according to early findings of a navy investigation. The three were dragged into one of the passenger halls below deck and were held there for several minutes.

After dozens of other commandos began searching the ship, the Mavi Marmara, the three soldiers regained consciousness and managed to join their comrades.

Conversations with senior navy officers in the chain of command during the operation present a different view of the events on Monday. In Israel, the raid has been perceived as a failure, while abroad it has been derided as piracy or worse.

The navy rejects the claims that it was poorly prepared. Officials have been commending the commandos' performance in a situation in which they were confronted by dozens of activists who attacked them as they rappelled from helicopters. "They were terrorists - hired killers who came to murder soldiers, not to assist the residents of the Gaza Strip," said a navy officer.

The operation on the Mavi Marmara began at about 4:30 A.M. on Monday. Because of the presence of hard-core activists including members of the IHH, the Turkish group organizing the aid convoy, most attention went to that ship. Navy chief Eliezer Merom and the head of the naval commandos, Lt. Col. A., were on vessels next to the ship. Lt. Col. A. climbed on the Mavi Marmara during the takeover.

As seen on a video documenting the takeover, the first four commandos to rappel onto the deck were attacked by activists with bars, axes and knives. The fourth commando, K., saw his team leader on the deck, with a Turkish activist holding the pistol he had grabbed from him and pointing it to his head. K. jumped from the rope and managed to shoot the activist holding the gun. This happened 20 seconds after the first soldier landed on the deck.

The commanders of the first unit were hit by the mob as they landed. One of the soldiers managed to fix another rope, after there were problems with the original one, for 10 more soldiers to land. The commandos cared for the wounded and took over part of the upper deck of the ship.

At this stage, six minutes into the operation, another force landed from a second helicopter, led by a major. At that point they realized that three commandos were missing and they began looking for them. A short while later the naval commando chief landed along with dozens more soldiers, some of whom climbed from boats. Others landed from a third helicopter.

The search involved limited shooting, in the bridge and on the lower deck, until the three men were recovered. The head of the naval commandos gave orders by radio to use live fire, two minutes after the incident had begun.

Shots had been fired earlier, but Lt. Col. A. later explained that in his orders he wanted to make sure that the troops realized that "the mood of the incident had changed."

The soldiers reported that the activists had fired on them during the confrontation and that at least two commandos suffered gunshot wounds. After the incident, 9mm bullet casings were found - a kind not used by the naval commandos.

The Israel Defense Forces says that during the operation a number of pistols and an M-4 rifle were taken from soldiers, but they believe that the Turkish activists had other weapons. The captain of the ship told the naval commando chief that the guns were thrown overboard before the ship was completely taken over.

The wounded activists were airlifted to Israel for treatment, some seriously hurt whose lives were saved by the evacuation.

The IDF did not question the activists extensively because of the decision to release them. In conversations after the takeover, activists said they were surprised by the use of helicopters, even though the navy had used this method before. However, nothing else appears to have surprised them because international law requires sufficient warnings before ships are boarded.

Post-operation assessments have the number of hard-core activists involved in the fighting at between 60 and 100. It appears that they were well trained and experienced, especially in view of the arsenal found and code books used to pass on orders from group leaders. Among the rioters, in addition to Turks, were Yemenis, Afghans and one person from Eritrea. All were apparently experienced in hand-to-hand fighting. Some of them did not retreat when shots were fired.

The operation involved a month of training, with dummy takeovers of a ship at sea with 50 soldiers performing the role of activists. The navy admits that it trained mostly for "a Bil'in type of opposition, but there was no feeling that this was going to be a walk in the park." He was referring to a village at the separation fence where demonstrations take place.

The navy says it needs to look into whether the psychological preparations of the force were sufficient, and whether it had emphasized an easier scenario that did not take place.

The navy says it went over "incidents and responses" in preparation; these included opening fire at charging activists with melee weapons. In case of a threat to their lives, the commandos were ordered to shoot to kill even as they were on their way onto the deck.

"The main gap between preparations and intelligence was that we did not know we would face dozens of rioters," a senior officer involved in the operation said. "This was not a disturbance that went awry. It was a planned ambush."

Another officer added that "I still wake up at 3 A.M. and wonder how the hell we did not know more."

Another officer said said that "we became a little spoiled, as a society, expecting perfect performances."

According to a senior officer, "Under the circumstances, and I do not like the result, I think we did the best we could. We took care of five ships without injuries. On the sixth ship, we faced a harsh attack and killed nine saboteurs.

"No real peace activist was injured. No soldier was killed, even though it came pretty close. In the end the ships are docked at Ashdod. It was very complicated and the result is near perfect."

[Cellis]

LOL for the paranoia...

[The Israeli Guy]

Captain Stabbing & his friends singing "We Con The World":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOGG_osOoVg

[Madeline]

From a friend

The attached PDF was sent to me by a dear friend. It contains photos of the unimaginable horrors that you just might want to know about...a tragedy and horror of unimaginable proportions the world should rise up and protest.

I have authenticated it. You can too, using the citation at the end.

Since I have limited French speaking ability, I endeavored (with the help of Google) to translate, at least the headings. Also a Dutch newspaper has verified the accuracy of these comments and has reported the same facts.

When it was done, I thought the result was important enough to get to as many people, as soon as possible, so please distribute it widely.

When you read it, I think you’ll know why I feel this way. Especially in light of the flood of hate-filled 'reports' now circulating about "The Flotilla" and the gentle and peaceful humanitarians on board who were so unjustly assaulted by those vile Nazis bearing paint ball guns.

I take responsibility for the French to English translations, as I ‘massaged’ the Google response so that it sounded to me more like colloquial (American) English.

The comments I’ve added are shown in parentheses. I don’t apologize for any of them.

If you believe a translation, or a comment is in error, or perhaps, ‘over the top’ please let me know. I know, I know, I've been accused of going over-the-top and for being overly sarcastic for merely reporting facts rather than fantasy. I apologize for my lack of judgment and acumen.

These PDF photos came from a Palestinian WebSite...NOT from the IDF, or any other pro-Israeli agency.

Please compare these to what the Media have been ‘reporting’, accusing and indicting Israel of for the past decade and more.

Please circulate it (with this explanation) as far as you can. The World needs to know about this outrage and suffering.



B’Shalom



Nuchem






PS: To make it easier for you to cut and paste the URL (not possible from a PDF), I include it here in copyable format.

http://www.paltoday.ps/arabic/News-64161.html



And, I'd suggest that you do that confirmation yourself, SOON, before the 'Pals' figure out that some of us can actually read Arabic Pictures.

[Mediocrates]

A Botched Raid, a Vital Embargo
By DANIEL GORDIS
IN the last few days, Jerusalem has been blanketed by an unusual combination of humiliation and steely determination. How is it, people here wondered aloud, that the same country that tripled its size in three lightning days in June 1967 and then pulled off the rescue at Entebbe nine years later now seems to botch everything?

We lost the 2006 war in Lebanon, believing — incorrectly — that our venerated air force could win the war from the skies. The strikes on Gaza in December 2008 were a military success, but we have utterly failed to convince the world that it was a defensive effort precipitated by eight years of Hamas’s firing Qassam rockets at us, killing and maiming and destroying any semblance of a normal life for Israelis living near the border. And then came Monday’s attack on the flotilla trying to break through the naval blockade of Gaza.

Yet, despite widespread criticism at the way the raid was conducted, few here doubted that stopping the flotilla was the right thing to do. Life in Gaza is unquestionably oppressive; no one in his right mind would choose to live there. But there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza; if anyone goes without food, shelter or medicine, that is by the choice of the Hamas government, which puts garnering international sympathy above taking care of its citizens. Israel has readily agreed to send into Gaza all the food and humanitarian supplies on the boats after they had been inspected for
weapons.

Thus this flotilla was no “peace operation.” It was intended to break the blockade or to increase international pressure to end it. Its leaders, with the connivance of the Turkish government, set a trap, and Israel blundered smack into it.
But that does not make the blockade wrong. Hamas is a terrorist organization that completed its takeover of Gaza through brute force. It executes its political enemies at will. It is one of the world’s most misogynist regimes, allowing the murder of women for the slightest infraction of family honor.

Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, from Israeli territory and has held him for four years without giving the Red Cross any access to him, in violation of the most basic international standards of conduct. And, of course, Hamas openly insists that it will countenance no long-term peace with Israel; the resistance will not end, it says, until Israel is destroyed.

Like every other country, Israel has as its foremost obligation the protection of its citizens. Given that, why should it have allowed the flotilla to enter without inspecting its goods? If the United States were to impose a blockade on Iran (which seems unlikely), and another country dispatched a string of ships in a similar operation, is there any chance the United States Navy would let them through without inspection?

Israel will, of course, endure tremendous international condemnation for this week’s events. Sadly, though, we Israelis are becoming somewhat inured to such criticism. And we know that we dare not capitulate now.

It is no accident that Turkey sent the flotilla at this time. It is clearly cozying up to Iran these days, even teaming with Brazil to offer Tehran a deal on atomic fuel that would allow the mullahs to maintain their effort to build a nuclear arsenal. Ankara’s warmongering talk this week was not intended for global consumption; it was meant to show Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that Turkey is playing a new role in the Middle East.

Iran finances Hezbollah and Hamas and does everything it can to weaken and marginalize Israel, inching toward its vision of a world without a Jewish state. The West has known of Iran’s nuclear intentions for well over a decade, but has effectively done nothing. Israelis understand that we — and we alone — will have to ensure our security and our survival.

The recent avalanche of international condemnation is very painful for Israelis, who remember the years in which we were seen as a beacon of democracy and sophistication in a repressive part of the world. Those days are gone, of course, because of the world’s impatience with the “occupation” of the West Bank and Gaza.

Our problem is that though most Israelis want peace with two states — one Jewish and one Palestinian, living side by side — we cannot find anyone to make a deal with us. A decade ago, President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Ehud Barak, tried, but Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, walked away. Now the supposedly moderate Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, refuses to negotiate, as of course does Hamas.

Israelis are resigned to the fact that reason will not shake the world’s blatant double standard. Our blockade of Gaza is “criminal”; yet nobody mentions that Egypt has had a blockade of Gaza in place since 2007, and has never hesitated to use lethal force against those trying to break it. Israel’s attempt to enforce a blockade becomes an international crisis, while most of the world shrugs when North Korea sinks a South Korean ship. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared his willingness to sit with Fatah leaders any time, anywhere, but they insist on mere “proximity talks,” which they will probably now scuttle, using the flotilla as an excuse.

Israel’s geographic vulnerability means that we do not have the luxury of caving in to the world’s condemnation. We will have to gird ourselves for the long, dangerous and lonely road ahead, buoyed by hope that what ultimately prevails will be not what is momentarily popular, but rather what is just.

Daniel Gordis is a vice president of the Shalem Center, a research and education institute, and the author of “Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End.”

[Mediocrates]

SWC: Defending Israel Under Siege
BREAKING NEWS:

Madrid, Spain: Gaza flotilla sparks global anti-Israel demonstrations.


NYC Councilman's comparing Gaza to concentration camps slammed ...
(http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=8423153)
SWC's Open Letter to UN Human Rights Commissioner over Anti-Israel Resolution submitted by 22-member Arab Group... (http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=8423165)

Rabbi Hier:
"...have you ever seen an international flotilla on its way to Gaza to demand the freedom of Gilad Shalit?"
(http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/pp.asp?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=6071397)
Odious Act of Hate that Empowers Terror: India's Daily Mail cartoon - Israel’s actions in Gaza dwarf the gassing of over one million Jews at Auschwitz ... (http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=8423989)

SWC: “Chavez Imports Mid East Conflict to Latin America as Cover Up for Local Rights Violations” (http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=8424051)

ATTENTION LOS ANGELES AREA RESIDENTS:
RABBI HIER TO SPEAK AT SUNDAY RALLY
2:00 pm - ISRAELI CONSULATE
DETAILS TO FOLLOW


The Top Ten Anti-Israel Lies Campaign:
Over 900,000 brochures mailed following overwhelming demand.
Please download this brochure and read the answers to these Top Ten Anti-Israel lies ... (http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/pp.asp?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=5958687)

UC Davis Chancellor and delegation participate in intensive all-day training seminar at Museum of Tolerance following a rash of anti-Semitic events on campus.
Read more... (http://www.museumoftolerance.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=tmL6KfNVLtH&b=5052337&ct=8354825&notoc=1)

[/URL]Museum Of Tolerance receives $10K grant for racial healing from W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

[URL="http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=8421977"]Read more... (http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=8421977)
Elie Wiesel, Sir Salman Rushdie and former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney join the more than 2,600 people gather at SWC "Spirit of Hope" Benefit in Toronto, Canada
Read more... (http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=8419909)

______________________________________________
Jewish Group Condemns WCC 'Anti-Israel Peace Week
Read more... (http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=8422277)

[Mediocrates]

The TIP Sheet
Update on the Gaza Flotilla
June 3rd, 2010


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=eeLJLNNnH7LFJ1J&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
'We Will Never Apologize for Defending Ourselves' (Video) (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kkIUJdPXKnLVIgI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on FoxNews, June 2, 2010

Israeli PM Netanyahu says raid of Gaza flotilla was justified; accuses international community of hypocrisy

Watch the Video (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=dnJGKSNvEgKIKWL&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ) :: Read the Transcript (http://www.theisraelproject.org/atf/cf/%7B84dc5887-741e-4056-8d91-a389164bc94e%7D/NETANYAHUFLOTILLASTATEMENT.PDF)

(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hhKOI4OLLjIOK7J&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Upcoming Pro-Israel Rallies / Events (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kkIUJdPXKmLVIhI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
TIP List of rally times and dates for today through Sunday, June 6th, 2010, taking place throughout the United States and Canada

If you know of events occuring that are not listed, please let us know and we will include them in our next e-mail. We will continue to update this list as updated information becomes available. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=dnJGKSNvEfKIKXL&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]



(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=gqLMK1OHKiJPI7K&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)

Before Facts Known, European Officials Rushed to Judgment and Condemned Israel’s Attempts to Stop Illegal Flotilla (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jjJSLaPTIlIWKhJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
U.S. Leaders More Cautious, Backed Israel as Fuller Story Emerged;
At Least 3 Among Dead Set out to Become “Martyrs”
TIP Press Release, June 3, 2010
Several European leaders were quick to condemn Israel’s campaign Monday (May 31) to prevent an illegal flotilla from reaching Gaza - well before information and video footage showed that the self-described human rights activists aboard one of the ships were armed and violently attacked Israeli military personnel. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ddKGISMvHfLLL0I&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]



(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ggIMI1OHJiJSJaL&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ) Anti-Israel activist Rachel Corrie, who died in 2003, burning an American flag New Ship Headed for Gaza despite Israeli Prohibitions (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jjKSJaPTLlIZLkK&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Vessel Exploiting Woman Killed While Working for Extremist Movement; Hamas Refusing to Allow Flotilla Aid into Gaza
TIP Press Release, June 2, 2010
In the aftermath of a pre-meditated attack on Israeli soldiers attempting to intercept an illegal flotilla bound for Gaza from Turkey, another aid ship, the Irish-owned MV Rachel Corrie is headed for Gaza. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=mwLYKjM5KoL6JuJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=lvLWLgM1LmKULiI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
PMW Bulletins - Three of the four Turks killed on ship
sought Martyr's death (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=gqLMK1OHKjJPI6K&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Article By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik, June 3, 2010
"Three of the four Turks killed in the Israeli attack on the "Freedom Flotilla" bound for the Gaza Strip wanted to die as Martyrs, said their relatives and friends. The wife of one of them, Ali Haydar Bengi, told the Vatan daily... [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jjJSLaPTImIWKgJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=dnKGISMvHgLLLZI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Facts Beyond the Spin: Israel Delivers Massive Aid to Gaza
(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=gqIMI1OHJjJSJ9L&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)June 2, 2010 Despite the fact that Israel publicly offered to inspect and then transfer the flotilla’s aid to Gaza several days prior to the incident, many opponents of Israel are now making wild accusations that humanitarian supplies are being blocked from entering Gaza. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jjKSJaPTLmIZLjK&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=mwLYKjM5KpL6JtJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
New U.S. Bipartisan Poll on Prospects for Peace (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ffJKKYODIiKTL9L&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
June 1, 2010: Key findings from The Israel Project's poll on peace process conducted just days before flotilla incident near Gaza coast:


Majority says U.S. should side with Israel over the Palestinians in ongoing conflict
Majority agree that Prime Minister Netanyahu's government is committed to peace

Poll Questions (PDF) (http://www.theisraelproject.org/atf/cf/%7B84dc5887-741e-4056-8d91-a389164bc94e%7D/MAY_2010_POLL_QUESTIONS.PDF?tr=y&auid=6427668) :: PowerPoint Presentation (http://www.theisraelproject.org/atf/cf/%7B84dc5887-741e-4056-8d91-a389164bc94e%7D/MAY_2010_POWERPOINT.PDF?tr=y&auid=6427451)


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kkIUJdPXKoLVIfI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Vice President Joe Biden on Charlie Rose (Video) (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=dnJGKSNvEhKIKVL&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
June 2, 2010


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=gqLMK1OHKkJPI5K&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Israeli Ambassador to U.S. Michael Oren interviewed by Bret Baier (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jjJSLaPTInIWKfJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
FoxNewsChannel, June 1, 2010
Extended interview: Official defends deadly Israeli raid of Gaza flotilla
[watch video (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=dnKGISMvHhLLLYI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=gqIMI1OHJkJSJ8L&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)

[Mediocrates]

Lt. Col. Avital Leibowitz Interviewed on CNN (Video) (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jjKSJaPTLnIZLiK&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Israel Defense Forces respond to criticism following raid
June 2, 2010
Attacks on Israeli forces boarding the Marmara (Photo: IDF Spokesperson)
A Botched Raid, a Vital Embargo
(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ffJKKYODIjKTL8L&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)Article by Daniel Gordis, New York Times, June 2, 2010
In the last few days, Jerusalem has been blanketed by an unusual combination of humiliation and steely determination. How is it, people here wondered aloud, that the same country that tripled its size in three lightning days in June 1967 and then pulled off the rescue at Entebbe nine years later now seems to botch everything? [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=iiKQL7PPKmJ0IiK&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=gqLMK1OHKlJPI4K&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
MOWBRAY: Freedom Flotilla flotsam (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jjJSLaPTIoIWKeJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Gaza blockade doesn't stop anti-Israeli propaganda
Article by Joel Mowbray, WashingtonTimes, June 1, 2010

Though the diplomatic fallout from the botched raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla this week will not be known for some time, the mainstream media already have suffered a serious blow to their credibility. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=dnKGISMvHiLLLXI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]

(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=gqIMI1OHJlJSJ7L&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Flotilla aid refused by Hamas
(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jjKSJaPTLoIZLhK&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)"This proves that the whole thing was a provocation," official says.
Article by Khaled Abu Toameh, Ron Friedman and Abe Selig,
Jerusalem Post, June 3, 2010

Hamas officials on Wednesday refused to allow into the Gaza Strip 21 truckloads of humanitarian aid that had been offloaded from the Gaza-bound flotilla ships currently docked at Ashdod Port, until “all” of those detained in Monday’s naval raid were released. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=mwLYKjM5KrL6JrJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]



(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jjJSLaPTIkIWKiJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Flotilla raid: Turkish jihadis bent on violence attacked troops, Israel claims (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ffJKKYODIkKTL7L&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Turkish newspapers report that three of the four Turks killed were 'ready for martyrdom'
Article by Harriet Sherwood for Guardian.co.uk (http://guardian.co.uk/), June 2, 2010
A hardcore of 40 Turkish jihadis on board the Mavi Marmara was responsible for the violence that led to nine deaths and dozens of injuries on the flotilla taking aid to Gaza, the Israeli government claimed today. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=iiKQL7PPKnJ0IhK&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=llIWIgM1JqI7KrJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Gaza Flotilla Had Ties To Terrorist Organizations, Claims British Officer (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jjISIaPUJgKLIcI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Article by Sarah Mamula for Talk Radio News Service, June 2, 2010

Colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said the individuals aboard the Gaza-bound flotilla raided by the Israeli military earlier this week were “hard core activists intent on violence.” [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=mmKYJjM6IjJSJmL&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]
TIP Conference Call with Col. Kemp, June 2, 2010 (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=fpIKKYNEKcIFL2K&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Listen to the Audio (Mp3) (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=iiJQK7OQIfLMJcJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=lvLWLgM2LiKTLmI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Ten deaths for an inverted truth (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=eoJIIVNAJbJGJ2K&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Article by Fiamma Nirenstein, June 1, 2010

With its deaths and wounded, last night’s episode on the Turkish ship, has diabolical elements. What is diabolical is the reversal, the lie that is being designed by International public opinion, as in the battle in Jenin and like the death of Mohamad Al Dura: the truth, apart from being tragic and regretful, has been inverted, flipping responsibility. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hrKOI4OMLeINKcJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kkIUJdPYKhLUImI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Rep. Barton supports Israel’s blockade & its battle against terrorists in Gaza (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ddJGKSNwEaKHK2L&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Official Statement from Congressman Joe Barton, June 1, 2010

Rep Joe Barton (R-Ennis/Arlington) issued the following statement in response to this weekend’s events aboard a ship trying to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip: “Israel is a unique outpost for democracy in the Middle East and a longtime, valuable friend to the United States." [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ggLMK1OIKdJOIcK&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]



(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=mmKYJjM6IkJSJlL&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
A pro-Palestinian activist is evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Q&A-Is Israel's naval blockade of Gaza legal? (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=fpIKKYNEKdIFL1K&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Article by Jonathan Saul for Reuters, June 2, 2010
Israel has said it will continue a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip despite growing global pressure to lift the siege after a navy raid on a Turkish ferry carrying aid killed nine activists this week. [more (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=iiJQK7OQIgLMJbJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)]



(http://www.theisraelproject.org/atf/cf/%7B84dc5887-741e-4056-8d91-a389164bc94e%7D/OPERATION_SEA_BREEZE_-_LEGAL_ASPECTS.PDF)

[Mediocrates]

Operation 'Sea Breeze' Legal Aspects (http://www.theisraelproject.org/atf/cf/%7B84dc5887-741e-4056-8d91-a389164bc94e%7D/OPERATION_SEA_BREEZE_-_LEGAL_ASPECTS.PDF) (PDF)
From The Military Strategic Information Section, International Military Cooperation Department, Strategic Division, Israel Defense Forces
For several years, the State of Israel has been engaged in an ongoing armed conflict with terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip. [more (http://www.theisraelproject.org/atf/cf/%7B84dc5887-741e-4056-8d91-a389164bc94e%7D/OPERATION_SEA_BREEZE_-_LEGAL_ASPECTS.PDF)]


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=lvLWLgM2LjKTLlI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Flotilla-Fallout Video Series (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=eoJIIVNAJcJGJ1K&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)


(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hrKOI4OMLfINKbJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Videos of Monday's tragic incident off the coast of Israel (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kkIUJdPYKiLUIlI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
http://www.theisraelproject.org/videos
TIP will continue to monitor the situation and upload new royalty-free footage to our video player as new content is available.




(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ddJGKSNwEbKHK1L&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)


Flotilla YouTube Videos from Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs:


IDF - Navy Warns Flotilla (31 May 2010) (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ggLMK1OIKeJOIbK&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
MFA Spokesman on Gaza Flotilla - 24 May 2010 (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jjJSLaPUIhIVKlJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)



(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=fpIKKYNEKeIFL0K&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Flotilla YouTube Videos from the IDF Spokesperson's Unit:


Flotilla Rioters Prepare Rods, Slingshots, Broken Bottles and Metal Objects to Attack IDF Soldiers (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=iiJQK7OQIhLMJaJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Weapons Found on the Flotilla Ship Mavi Marmara Used by Activists Against IDF Soldiers (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=lvLWLgM2LkKTLkI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Demonstrators Use Violence Against Israeli Navy Soldiers Attempting to Board Ship (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=eoJIIVNAJdJGJ0K&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
IDF Transfers Humanitarian Aid From Gaza Flotilla to Gaza Strip (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hrKOI4OMLgINKaJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
More (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kkIUJdPYKjLUIkI&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)



(http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ddJGKSNwEcKHK0L&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
More Flotilla Videos:


Daniel in the lions' den draws fangs; Muslims deny flotilla lynch-mob- then become one (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jjJSLaPUIiIVKkJ&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Posted by Democast, June 1, 2010
True Human Rights Activists don't hug Vicious HR Violators (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ddKGISMwHcLKL3I&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
Posted by user MHLE2010, May 27, 2010
Beating the Hell Out of Israeli Naval Commandos (http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=isJQK7OQIiLMJ9J&s=glJZJhPYLnI5LmN0IuG&m=cvLSK7MPLhIVIlJ)
BBC Footage posted by user LetsFreeGaza, May 31, 2010

[Madeline]

Yep, looks like Israel is being dared by yet another flotilla.
If that isn't being seen as more that aid, I don't know how blind people can be.

[Mediocrates]

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Speeches+by+Israeli+leaders/2010/Statement_PM_Netanyahu_2-Jun-2010.htm

Once again, Israel faces hypocrisy and a biased rush to judgment. I'm afraid this isn't the first time.
Last year, Israel acted to stop Hamas from firing thousands of rockets into Israel's towns and cities (http://www.mfa.gov.il/gazafacts). Hamas was firing on our civilians while hiding behind civilians. And Israel went to unprecedented lengths to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties. Yet it was Israel, and not Hamas, that was accused by the UN of war crimes.

Now regrettably, the same thing appears to be happening now.

But here are the facts. Hamas is smuggling thousands of Iranian rockets, missiles and other weaponry - smuggling it into Gaza in order to fire on Israel's cities. These missiles can reach Ashdod and Beer Sheva - these are major Israeli cities. And I regret to say that some of them can reach now Tel Aviv, and very soon, the outskirts of Jerusalem. From the information we have, the planned shipments include weapons that can reach farther, even farther and deeper into Israel.

Under international law, and under common sense and common decency, Israel has every right to interdict this weaponry and to inspect the ships that might be transporting them.

This is not a theoretical challenge or a theoretical threat. We have already interdicted vessels bound for Hizbullah, and for Hamas from Iran, containing hundreds of tons of weapons. In one ship, the Francop (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/The+Iranian+Threat/Support+of+terror/Proof_Iranian_arms_smuggling_to_terrorists_Nov+200 9.htm), we found hundreds of tons of war materiel and weapons destined for Hizbullah. In another celebrated case, the Karine A (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/1/Seizing+of+the+Palestinian+weapons+ship+Karine+A-.htm), dozens of tons of weapons were destined for Hamas by Iran via a shipment to Gaza. Israel simply cannot permit the free flow of weapons and war materials to Hamas from the sea.

I will go further than that. Israel cannot permit Iran to establish a Mediterranean port a few dozen kilometers from Tel Aviv and from Jerusalem. And I would go beyond that too. I say to the responsible leaders of all the nations: The international community cannot afford an Iranian port in the Mediterranean. Fifteen years ago I cautioned about an Iranian development that has come to pass - people now recognize that danger. Today I warn of this impending willingness to enable Iran to establish a naval port right next to Israel, right next to Europe. The same countries that are criticizing us today should know that they will be targeted tomorrow.

For this and for many other reasons, we have a right to inspect cargo heading into Gaza.
And here's our policy. It's very simple: Humanitarian and other goods can go in and weapons and war materiel cannot. And we do let civilian goods into Gaza. There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Each week, an average of ten thousand tons of goods enter Gaza. (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Behind+the+Headlines/Israeli_humanitarian_lifeline_Gaza_25-May-2010.htm) There's no shortage of food. There's no shortage of medicine. There's no shortage of other goods.

On this occasion too, we made several offers - offers to deliver the goods on board the flotilla to Gaza after a security inspection. Egypt made similar offers. And these offers were rejected time and again.

So our naval personnel had no choice but to board these vessels. Now, on five of the vessels, our seamen were not met by any serious violence and as a result, there were no serious injuries aboard those ships. But on the largest ship, something very different happened.

Our naval personnel, just as they landed on the ship - you can see this in the videos (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2010/Israel_Navy_warns_flotilla_31-May-2010.htm#newfootage) - the first soldier - they were met with a vicious mob (http://idfspokesperson.com/2010/06/01/israeli-navy-soldier-describes-the-violent-mob-aboard-mavi-marmara-31-may-2010/). They were stabbed, they were clubbed, they were fired upon. I talked to some of these soldiers. One was shot in the stomach, one was shot in the knee. They were going to be killed and they had to act in self-defense.

It is very clear to us that the attackers had prepared their violent action in advance. They were members of an extremist group that has supported international terrorist organizations and today support the terrorist organization called Hamas. They brought with them in advance knives, steel rods, other weapons. They chanted battle cries against the Jews. You can hear this on the tapes that have been released.

This was not a love boat. This was a hate boat. These weren't pacifists. These weren't peace activists. These were violent supporters of terrorism.

I think that the evidence that the lives of the Israeli seamen were in danger is crystal clear. If you're a fair-minded observer and you look at those videos, you know this simple truth. But I regret to say that for many in the international community, no evidence is needed. Israel is guilty until proven guilty.

Once again, Israel is told that it has a right to defend itself but is condemned every time it exercises that right. Now you know that a right that you cannot exercise is meaningless. And you know that the way we exercise it - under these conditions of duress, under the rocketing of our cities, under the impending killing of our soldiers - you know that we exercise it in a way that is commensurate with any international standard. I have spoken to leading leaders of the world, and I say the same thing today to the international community: What would you do? How would you stop thousands of rockets that are destined to attack your cities, your civilians, your children? How would your soldiers behave under similar circumstances? I think in your hearts, you all know the truth.

Israel regrets the loss of life. But we will never apologize for defending ourselves. Israel has every right to prevent deadly weapons from entering into hostile territory. And Israeli soldiers have every right to defend their lives and their country.

This may sound like an impossible plea, or an impossible request, or an impossible demand, but I make it anyway: Israel should not be held to a double standard. The Jewish state has a right to defend itself just like any other state.
Thank you.

[Mediocrates]

http://www.yourish.com/2010/06/03/11109

[Mediocrates]

http://www.yourish.com/2010/06/04/11124

The Jerusalem Post has the account of one of the IDF soldiers (http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177445) from the attack on the Mavi Marmara, whose story contradicts the “peace activists” that are now speaking up. This was the situation he encountered:

The 15th and last naval commando from Flotilla 13 (the Shayetet) to rappel down onto the ship from the helicopter, S. said on Thursday that he was immediately attacked by what the IDF has called “the mob of mercenaries” aboard the vessel, just like the soldiers who had boarded just before him.
Looking to his side, he saw three of his commanders lying wounded – one with a gunshot wound to the stomach and another with a gunshot wound to the knee. A third was lying unconscious; his skull was fractured by a devastating blow with a metal bar.
So he acted like a soldier in a battle—which is what he was.

He pushed the wounded soldiers up against the wall of the upper deck and created a perimeter of soldiers around them to begin treating their wounds, he said. He then arranged his men to form a second perimeter, and pulled out his 9 mm. Glock pistol to stave off the charging attackers and to protect his wounded comrades.
The attackers had already seized two pistols from the commandos, and fired repeatedly at them. Facing more than a dozen of the mercenaries, and convinced their lives were in danger, he and his colleagues opened fire, he said. S. singlehandedly killed six men. His colleagues killed another three.
Now compare the statements (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3898960,00.html) of the “peace” activists:

In his telling, activists initially wounded and captured four Israelis from a first wave that boarded the ship. A second wave of troops tried to storm the ship after the four were taken below decks.
“Twenty Turkish men formed a human shield to prevent the Israeli soldiers from scaling the ship. They had slingshots, water pipes and sticks,” he said. “They were banging the pipes on the side of the ship to warn the Israelis not to get closer.”
After a 10-minute standoff the Israelis opened fire.
“One man got a direct hit to the head and another one was shot in the neck,” he said. In all he saw some 40 people wounded, some to the legs, eye, stomach and chest.
That would be a combat situation as well. The world opinion seems to be, well, yes, the “activists” mobbed the soldiers, but why did the soldiers have to fire back with their guns? They were only being beaten with metal rods, attacked with knives, sticks, and slingshots!

One of the organizers on board who returned on Thursday from an Israeli jail, Bulent Yildirim, chairman of the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), said activists had indeed seized weapons, but never fired them.
There are Israelis in hospitals recovering from bullet wounds that say otherwise. And then there is this:

The group was well trained and was split into a number of squads of about 20 mercenaries each distributed throughout the upper deck, the IDF said. All of the mercenaries wore gas masks and ceramic bulletproof vests and were armed with either bats, slingshots, metal bars, knives or stun grenades.
And this:

Nevertheless, the IDF suspects that the group did have some guns of its own. Israeli forensic experts who examined the ship found casings belonging to a weapon that was not used by the commandos, and the Turkish captain of the ship later told the IDF that the “mercenaries” threw their weapons overboard after the commandos took control of the vessel.
One thing that the IDF account does do is verify some accounts that the “activists” heard firing before the soldiers landed. A warning shot, however, does not a wounded “activist” make. This story fits perfectly the narrative that Hamas—and its Iranian masters (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3899027,00.html)—wanted. They won’t get the same thing on the Rachel Corrie, which is sailing into Israeli territorial waters (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3899031,00.html).
The latest AP article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100604/ap_on_re_eu/eu_turkey_israel) on the Free Gaza ship includes the latest abomination by the Neturei Karta nutjobs—they’re in Ankara protesting Israel’s actions. Where there is an enemy of Israel, there is the Neturei Karta. That tells you enough about them. The fact that there are three of them and the AP felt it was newsworthy tells you enough about the AP.

[Mediocrates]

Andre Abu Khalil, a Lebanese cameraman for Al Jazeera TV, said activists initially wounded and captured four Israelis from a first wave that boarded the ship. A second wave of troops tried to storm the ship after the four were taken below decks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100603/ts_nm/us_israel_flotilla

[Mediocrates]

Turkey Blames Israel (ho hum)
http://www.yourish.com/2010/06/03/11087

Sublink to fact sheets:
http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/06/gaza-flotilla-resource-pages/index.shtml

Mass indoctrination in Turkey and other topics:

Here are a bunch of interesting links I've come across, offered as a service should anyone need any of them in the future. My apologies for not remembering who deserves hat tips for what.

Robert L. Pollock describes mass indoctrination in Turkey (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704875604575281392195250402.html). Long live pure hatred.

The Economist reports on AlJazeera, and note the description of a big conference hosted by the station where everyone rejected Israel's right to exist (http://www.economist.com/node/16222710). Across the board.

Do you ever get the feeling the international-law-brigade is pulling wool over your eyes, and that the only constant is that what Israel does is illegal? It turns out that the laws of engagement at sea are actually clear and agreed upon. Ed Morgan, a Canadian law professor, tells about them, and how Israel's actions seem pretty clearly to have been legal (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/israels-naval-blockade-pitches-and-rolls-with-the-law-of-the-sea/article1589981/). (Don't tell this at the Guardian).

Apropos international law and wool over the eyes: the canard about how Israel still occupies Gaza even though it doesn't gets discussed by David Bernstein (http://volokh.com/2010/06/03/telling-interview-with-the-director-amnesty-israel/) (another law professor) at the Volokh Conspiracy. The subject is bleak, but his treatment of it is light, and the comments below the line are actually fun.No, of course Israel doesn't occupy Gaza, and yes, of course the other side will continue to claim it is for ever.

Walter Russel Mead, who is growing on me the more I read him, takes a sober look at the Israel-Palestine conflict (http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2010/06/03/israels-strategic-failure/). No, there's no happy ending, sadly.
http://yaacovlozowick.blogspot.com/2010/06/roundup.html

Obama: trade terrorists for Iran sanctions and then break that promise:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38041.html

also: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48305
also: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/305536

The Independent cites 'evidence' of a convicted PLO gun runner (I know, big shock)
http://hurryupharry.org/2010/06/03/independent-cites-testimony-of-convicted-plo-gun-runner/

Video footage of terrorists getting ready to kill
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48290

Collected Weapons:
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48293

Pre lynchmob prayer meeting:
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/they-prayed-before-they-lynched.html

Debunking:
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/evelyn-gordon/305651

More video:
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48290

Half truths and lies:
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/what-happened-on-ship-extracting-truth.html
(soldiers were shot)

AI claims Gaza is still occupied:
http://www.shalomlife.com/eng/12815/Amnesty:_Gaza_is_Still_Under_Israeli_Occupation/Page1/

Gershom Gorenberg, a brief history:
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=a_brief_history_of_the_gaza_folly

[ToYgUn]

Reclusive Turkish Imam Criticizes Gaza Flotilla

SAYLORSBURG, Pa.—Imam Fethullah Gülen, a controversial and reclusive U.S. resident who is considered Turkey's most influential religious leader, criticized a Turkish-led flotilla for trying to deliver aid without Israel's consent.

Speaking in his first interview with a U.S. news organization, Mr. Gülen spoke of watching news coverage of Monday's deadly confrontation between Israeli commandos and Turkish aid group members as its flotilla approached Israel's sea blockade of Gaza. "What I saw was not pretty," he said. "It was ugly."


Imam Fethullah Gülen at his estate in Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
Mr. Gülen said organizers' failure to seek accord with Israel before attempting to deliver aid "is a sign of defying authority, and will not lead to fruitful matters."

Mr. Gülen's views and influence within Turkey are under growing scrutiny now, as factions within the country battle to remold a democracy that is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. The struggle, as many observers characterize it, pits the country's old-guard secularist and military establishment against Islamist-leaning government workers and ruling politicians who say they seek a more democratic and religiously tolerant Turkey. Mr. Gülen inspires a swath of the latter camp, though the extent of his reach remains hotly disputed.

His words of restraint come as many in Turkey gave flotilla members a hero's welcome after two days of detention in Israel. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the ruling Justice and Development Party condemned Israel's moves as "bullying" and a "historic mistake."

Mr. Gülen said he had only recently heard of IHH, the Istanbul-based Islamic charity active in more than 100 countries that was a lead flotilla organizer. "It is not easy to say if they are politicized or not," he said. He said that when a charity organization linked with his movement wanted to help Gazans, he insisted they get Israel's permission. He added that assigning blame in the matter is best left to the United Nations.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704025304575284721280274694.html

[ToYgUn]

now fetullah gülen is defending israel's position,it seems now there's a conflict between him and erdoğan..

[bararallu]

finally

[The Israeli Guy]

Flotilla Ship to Israeli Navy: "We're Helping Arabs Go Against the US, Don't Forget 9/11 Guys":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxY7Q7CvQPQ&feature=player_embedded

[Mediocrates]

http://blog.z-word.com/2010/06/flotillista-tells-idf-go-back-to-auschwitz/

Followed by claims this was fake. Followed by proof it was not fake:

http://blog.z-word.com/2010/06/accusations-that-flotilla-auschwitz-exchange-was-faked-exposed-as-errr-fake/

[Mediocrates]

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/bunch-of-flotilla-related-links-and.html

You tube removes video of terrorists beating IDF commanders:
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/youtube-takes-down-my-video-of-ihh.html

Rubin:
http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2010/06/islamist-extremists-hit-israeli.html

Shahids Ahoy
http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/06/video-suicide-activists-on-the-gaza-flot/index.shtml

Back to Auschwitz video:
http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/06/longer-unedited-audio-from-gaza-flotilla/index.shtml

Jihadis call it Jihad, in their own words:
http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/06/gaza-flotillas-leader-explains-it-was-a/index.shtml

IDF clarification:
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/idfs-clarifies-earlier-radio.html

French and Danish intelligence services call IHH a terror group:
http://www.onejerusalem.org/2010/05/french-danes-intelligence-say.php

Reporters fail their job, ask no questions:
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/reporters-need-to-ask-follow-up.html

Some 'activists' (non Turks) actually tried to help the soldiers (not reported of course)
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48324

[Mediocrates]

http://hurryupharry.org/2010/06/05/on-blockades-and-turkey/


When Turkey’s president visited Yerevan to attend a World Cup qualifier between the two national football teams on 6 September 2008, I was hopeful that Turkey was seriously shifting its foreign policy in the direction of its proclaimed “zero problems” with its neighbours. In particular, I thought that Turkey would as part of a rapprochement with Armenia put an end to its sixteen-year long blockade of Armenia (imposed at the time of the post-Soviet conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh).
This expectation was overturned when I read the protocols on establishing diplomatic relations and opening borders, which were made public on 31 August 2009. My impression was that Armenia was being forced to pay a high price, both morally and politically; that the documents set a bad precedent, in allowing strong states with a dark past to revise history at the negotiation-tables, with the blessing of world powers; and that the existing international political framework seems unable as a result to accommodate the grievances carried by the descendants of genocide victims.
To understand the limits of the Armenia-Turkey accord, a brief survey of the history they fail to address is unavoidable.
The heart of the issue that divides Armenia and Turkey is the uprooting, exile and massacre of almost the entire Armenian population of the Ottoman empire during the first world war

[Mediocrates]

http://hurryupharry.org/2010/06/04/conflicting-impressions-of-eye-witness-accounts/

[Mediocrates]

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/arab-league-meets-over-flotilla-cant.html

[Mediocrates]

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/who-cares-about-gazans-not-flotilla.html

Today, Jordan sent 52 trucks of aid to Gaza (http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=windows-1256&langpair=auto%7Cen&u=http://www.fpnp.net/ar/news/49278_%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25A7%25D8%25B1%25D 8%25AF%25D9%2586_%25D9%258A%25D8%25B1%25D8%25B3%25 D9%2584_%25D9%2582%25D8%25A7%25D9%2581%25D9%2584%2 5D8%25A9_%25D9%2585%25D8%25B3%25D8%25A7%25D8%25B9% 25D8%25AF%25D8%25A7%25D8%25AA_%25D8%25AC%25D8%25AF %25D9%258A%25D8%25AF%25D8%25A9_%25D8%25A7%25D9%258 4%25D9%2589_%25D9%2582%25D8%25B7%25D8%25A7%25D8%25 B9_%25D8%25BA%25D8%25B2%25D8%25A9.html&tbb=1&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhjW8_rQoRS75PUIyxHb8Li6rdBBZg).

More will arrive tomorrow, including medical supplies.

The goods are being sent by the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization.

Two weeks ago, another aid convoy from Jordan arrived in Gaza - including aid from Saudi Arabia. (http://www.petra.gov.jo/Artical.aspx?Lng=1&Section=8&Artical=195563)

Also this week, Egypt's Red Crescent sent aid to Gaza, including blankets and tents, via the Rafah crossing.

Quietly, Arab countries and Israel cooperate in ensuring that Gaza's needs are fully met. Even Syria (http://www.news24.com/World/News/Syria-sends-aid-to-Gaza-20090103) has sent trucks filled with aid to Gaza.

What do the "humanitarians" from the West think Arab nations, quietly cooperating with the Zionist enemy, helping Gazans? According to them, isn't this a model for peace and goodwill?

Not at all.

An internal Free Gaza email (http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2009/11/free-gaza-we-are-against-humanitarian.html)from last November complained about how too many of their potential donors preferred to send aid to Gaza rather than support their blockade-busting boats. And they said explicitly that "We firmly believe that activists and people who care about Palestine should not be raising money for humanitarian aid."

In other words, the flotilla supporters don't care at all about getting aid to Gazans. They don't want Jordan or Egypt or Saudi Arabia or the UAE or any of the other Arab states to send supplies. They refuse to deal with Israel - as opposed to Israel's implacable enemies.

They hate Israel more than the Arabs do!

This is the fundamental truth about Free Gaza, Viva Palestina, IHH and the other groups that mount very public shows of sending aid to Gaza. The supposed victims are just pawns - they are targeting the supposed oppressors.

The ones who cooperate with their enemies to get aid to Gazans.

The hate is palpable. Almost all of the interviews with these supposed humanitarians show them suffused with intense anger towards Israel, and very little love towards Gazans. The only Gazans they show real solidarity with are their Hamas dictators, as the "humanitarians" love to remind the world that Hamas was democratically elected - as if that somehow makes the terrorists less reprehensible.

No, there is only one thing that binds these "activists" together, and that is a desire to see Israel disappear. Free Gaza's Greta Berlin said as much to the New York Times: (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/world/middleeast/02activists.html?pagewanted=2)


[S]he says that her detractors in Israel are right, that she does not accept Israel as a Jewish state, though she contends that is part of a larger philosophy which opposes all national borders. It just so happens that the only national borders she spends time opposing are Israel's.

In the final analysis, based on how they behave and their words, the so-called "humanitarians" are the exact opposite of human rights workers. They explicitly excuse every Hamas or Islamic Jihad atrocity and they oppose everything Israel does for the defense of its citizens.They don't even take advantage of Egypt's opening of the Rafah border to send aid to Gazans. They are hypocrites of the highest order.

Most of all, the flotilla supporters care less about the quality of life of Gazans than Israel does.

[Mediocrates]

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/anti-israel-propaganda-disguised-as.html

[Mediocrates]

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/when-humanitarian-aid-becomes-political.html

[Mediocrates]

http://www.yourish.com/2010/06/04/11123

The campaign to undermine Israel’s legitimacy has been going on for some time. The late Jeane Kirkpatrick noted in 1989 in How the PLO was legitimized (http://www.aei.org/docLib/20030829_KirkpatrickPLO.pdf):

NOT long after Khrushchev articulated these distinctions, the United Nations General Assembly formally adopted them. Where the Charter permitted force by member states only to defend themselves against attack, GA Resolution 2708 XX (1970) created a new category of “legitimate” force which could be used against member states. This new right was confirmed in subsequent resolutions approving the struggle of “liberation” groups against “colonialism” by “all necessary means at their disposal.” Step by step the new doctrine was codified in the General Assembly. In 1970, with U.S. and Western support, the General Assembly adopted the “Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Nations” which further expanded the rights of “peoples” and restricted those of states by providing, inter alia, that “all peoples have the right freely to determine without external influences their political status and pursue their economic, social, and cultural development, and every state has the duty to respect this right in accordance with the provisions of the Charter.”
Moreover: “Every state has the duty to refrain from any forcible action which deprives peopIe … of their right to self-determination and freedom and independence. In their actions against resistance to such forcible action in pursuit of the exercise of self-determination, such peoples are entitled to seek and receive support, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter” (emphasis added).
With this declaration, the General Assembly, more clearly and unambiguously than ever, took the position not only that “peoples” had rights superior to those of member states, but that states resisting the rights of “peoples” could themselves become a “threat to peace.” The General Assembly thus subordinated the principle of the “sovereign inviolability” of states to the struggle of “peoples” against “colonialism” and put important new restrictions on the right of states to selfdefense.

[Mediocrates]

More on the initial shooting incident:

http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/127575.html

[Mediocrates]

Terrorists boast of attempted kidnapping:

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/peace-activist-brags-we-had-captured.html

[Mediocrates]

http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/06/mark-steyn-give-peace-a-chance/index.shtml

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjJlOGY3OGY3YWQ4MjYyMjVhNjYwODIzM2YwNWU5N2E=

Give Peace a Chance [Mark Steyn (%6da%69lbo%78%40st%65y%6eo%6e%6c%69n%65.%63%6f%6d )]

In contrast to the general directions of Helen ("Go back to Germany and Poland (http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDRiMzU4ZTVlN2UwYzliNDE4YWJlM2Y3YzUyYTQxMjQ=)") Thomas, the peace-lovers aboard the Mavi Marmara were more specific (http://www.ghostofaflea.com/archives/014338.html):
In response to a radio transmission by the Israeli Navy warning the Gaza flotilla that they are approaching a naval blockade, passengers of the Mavi Marmara respond, "Shut up, go back to Auschwitz" and "We're helping Arabs go against the US, don't forget 9/11".
Such amusing conversationalists.
These are not "humanitarian" "peace" "activists". These are, in any objective sense, a party to the conflict. They're not trying to bring "peace", they're trying to help their side win. That's their choice, and may the best man win, but the media collusion in presenting them as "humanitarian" "aid" workers is Orwellian - and all the more so in a world in which the Turkish Prime Minister accuses Israel of killing children on the beach and in which the doyenne of the White House press corps no longer recognizes Israel's "right to exist".
Now the Israeli navy is beseeching the MV Rachel Corrie (an Irish ship funded by the Malaysian government) to land in the port of Ashdod, where the authorities will deliver the (entirely unneeded) "humanitarian aid" to Gaza. The Rachel Corrie is flipping 'em the bird and saying "Gaza, here we come."
This ship is merely the latest memorial to Miss Corrie, a foolish young American killed while enjoying the frisson of vacationing in someone else's despair. There's never been a better time to read Tom Gross' piece on "The Forgotten Rachels (http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/TheForgottenRachels.html)":
Rachel Thaler, aged 16, was blown up at a pizzeria in an Israeli shopping mall. She died after an 11-day struggle for life following a suicide bomb attack on a crowd of teenagers on 16 February 2002.
Rachel Corrie's diaries have been published in book form, turned into a hit London play at the Royal Court, and her name has been cited in The Guardian alone hundreds of times ("Remembering Rachel", "Rachel's War", "Rachel Corrie: A True Martyr", "The Lonesome Death Of Rachel Corrie", "Rachel's Words Are A Spur To Action", etc).
By contrast, Rachel Thaler was a British subject. Yet not a single British journalist has ever mentioned her, profiled her, interviewed her parents or other British relatives, or published her diary in a Fleet Street newspaper - except for a single solitary mention by the great (Jewish) comedienne Maureen Lipman noting that nobody ever mentioned her, or the other victims of Palestinian terrorism.
Ah, but Israel is an "apartheid state", and the Palestinians are the Europeans' unending adopt-a-Third-World-pet project. I write in the new National Review (on sale now-ish) that, if old-school judenhass was a by-product of more or less traditional racism and conventional nationalism, the new judenhass advances under the cover of "anti-racism" and "multiculturalism". The oldest hatred didn't get that way without the ability to adapt.

[Mediocrates]

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137890

[Mediocrates]

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/06/The-Gaza-Flotilla-Incident-UN-Inquiry-Will-Be-an-Anti-Israel-Farce

In the aftermath of the recent gun battle aboard a Turkish aid ship heading for Gaza, international leaders have been queuing up to attack Israel. From Ankara to Brussels, the condemnation of the only longstanding democracy in the Middle East has been swift and unequivocal. The United Nations, the European Union, and the Arab League have all engaged in a frenzy of denunciation—even before all the facts have been established. Israel continues to be the U.N.’s favorite whipping boy: In the past four years, 33 of the 40 resolutions passed by the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) have condemned Israel.
On June 2, the 47-nation Geneva-based HRC voted 32–3 to condemn “in the strongest terms the outrageous attack by the Israeli forces against the humanitarian flotilla of ships”[1] and called for an official investigation. The United States voted against the resolution alongside the Netherlands and Italy, with nine countries abstaining, including the U.K., France, Japan, and South Korea. The HRC, which replaced the hugely discredited U.N. Commission on Human Rights in 2006, has been even more egregious than its predecessor in some respects, and the newly elected membership includes some of the world’s worst human rights abusers, including China, Cuba, Libya, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. According to Freedom House, less than half the newly elected members (42.6 percent) can be classified as “free.”
The Obama Administration should boycott the U.N. inquiry into the flotilla incident, which is highly likely to be a mirror image of the anti-Israeli 2009 Goldstone Commission report (“Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict”).
A Closer Look at the Gaza Flotilla Incident
The Gaza flotilla incident was provoked by a motley crew of Turkish Islamists, European leftists, and Israeli Arab leaders determined to spark a conflict with the Israeli forces enforcing an arms embargo against Hamas terrorists. The foundation for the incident was laid when six ships with more than 600 “peace activists” left Cyprus bound for Gaza. Before these ships reached Gaza, they were intercepted by the Israeli navy and special forces commandos. The first five ships complied with Israeli forces, but the passengers aboard the sixth vessel, the Mavi Marmara, attacked Israeli commandos with steel poles, knives, and pepper spray, provoking a battle that claimed at least nine lives.
Caught off guard by the violent attacks of the “peace activists,” the Israeli commandos were compelled to use firearms in self-defense. Many of the passengers on board the Mavi Marmara were believed to be members of the Humanitarian Relief Fund, a Turkish charity organization that has a history of supporting radical Islamist causes and deploying jihadists to Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya. It is part of the Union for Good, an umbrella group that was created by Hamas leaders in 2000 to raise money for Hamas’s radical Islamist agenda. The U.S. government has designated the Union for Good as a terrorist organization.
The Biased Goldstone Commission
In September last year, the United Nations published a spectacularly biased, 575-page report accusing Israel of “war crimes” in Gaza and “possibly crimes against humanity.” It was a prime example of the U.N. publishing a supposedly neutral report written by a panel of “experts” that included key members who had already reached their own conclusions well before the investigation had even begun.
The document far less forcefully criticized Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks against Israel, choosing instead to place the overwhelming emphasis on Israel’s actions. In effect, the U.N. established a dubious moral equivalence between the legitimate defensive measures of the Israeli security forces and the terrorist activities of groups such as Hamas that are deliberately targeting civilians.
The U.N.’s Gaza mission included Hina Jilani, Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, a country that does not even have formal relations with Israel. Jilani previously served as the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions and was a member of a 2004 U.N. panel of experts that controversially condemned Israel for its treatment of demonstrators in the Rafah refugee camp. The panel also included Professor Christine Chinkin, a London School of Economics lecturer with very strong opinions on Israeli actions in Gaza. Chinkin signed on to a letter by 27 academics to The Sunday Times of London in January 2009[2] accusing Israel of a “war crime” in its offensive on Gaza.
The United States Must Defend Israel’s Right to Self-Defense
Israel is on the front line of the war against Islamist terrorism and fights every day for its existence amidst a sea of hostility. The Israelis are engaged in a long-term war against vicious enemies and are a vital component of a global war the free world is waging against Islamists. The defeat of these terrorist organisations and the dictatorships that back them is in the fundamental national interest of the United States.
Washington must send a clear message that it will have no part in the U.N. investigation and will oppose any attempt by the U.N. to undermine Israel’s sovereignty and its right to defend itself. The Obama Administration should also reconsider its wrongheaded decision to join the highly flawed HRC and look to establish a credible alternative human rights body outside of the U.N. system.
Nile Gardiner, Ph.D. , is Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom and James Phillips is Senior Research Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, both divisions of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, at The Heritage Foundation. Erica Munkwitz assisted with research for this paper.

Show references in this report (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/06/The-Gaza-Flotilla-Incident-UN-Inquiry-Will-Be-an-Anti-Israel-Farce#)

[1] (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/06/The-Gaza-Flotilla-Incident-UN-Inquiry-Will-Be-an-Anti-Israel-Farce#_ftnref1)United Nations Human Rights Council, “Action on Resolution on Attack by Israeli Forces Against the Humanitarian Boat Convoy,” June 2, 2010, at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10095&LangID=E (June 4, 2010).

[2] (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/06/The-Gaza-Flotilla-Incident-UN-Inquiry-Will-Be-an-Anti-Israel-Farce#_ftnref2)Ian Brownlie et al., “Israel’s Bombardment of Gaza Is Not Self-Defence—It’s a War Crime,” The Sunday Times, January 11, 2009, at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article5488380.ece (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article5488380.ece) (June 4, 2010).