Late last night, Israel attacked a flotilla of ships in international waters carrying food, medicine and other aid to Gaza, killing at least 10 civilians on board and injuring at least 30 more"...
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If Israel's goal were to provoke as much disgust and contempt for it as possible, it's hard to imagine how it could be doing a better job.
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it is only American protection of Israel that permits the Israelis to engage in conduct like this. ... it is only the massive amounts of U.S. financial and military aid, and endless diplomatic protection, that enables Israel to act with impunity as a rogue and inhumane state.
There's more, of course. Worth reading the whole thing.
[UPDATE] I wrote in a comment that boarding a ship without permission in international waters is piracy. Turns out it's only piracy when it's done by a non-government entity. If a government does it (as in this case) it's an illegal act of war. Israel can't have it both ways. Either it is occupying Gaza or it is not. If it is, then it has a responsibility to look after the welfare of its inhabitants, and if it isn't then it has no right to blockade Gaza's ports. One way or another, Israel is clearly on the wrong side of the law.
There are two sides to this story of course. And that article was astonishingly one-sided.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.michaeltotten.com/2010/05/middle-eastern-nukes-and-the-flotilla-fiasco.php
http://www.michaeltotten.com/2010/05/a-blood-libel-unfolds-in-real-time.php
Looks like things have gone perfectly for the people who organised this flotilla though, Israel is going to be in a world of trouble for this.
Also, they were warned not to proceed, and if they wanted to deliver humanitarian aid they could do so at a specified port.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.michaeltotten.com/2010/05/the-gaza-flotilla-was-not-about-aid.php
The only thing that matters is 1) the attack took place in international waters, not in Israeli territorial waters and 2) the Israelis attacked first. That puts the Israelis on the wrong side of international law. Also, if you track down the citations you end up at sources like the Jerusalem Post, which is not exactly the most unbiased observer. Finally, even the Jerusalem Post admits that the flotilla was unarmed. The only guns the flotilla had (according to the JPost) were two handguns that the activists managed to steal from the boarding IDF soldiers. So AT BEST Israel is guilty of a disproportionate use of force even according to the most pro-Israeli sources.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen enough from both sides to know all the facts, but it is clear from one of the videos I saw earlier that the protesters on at least one of the boats attacked first.
ReplyDeleteBoarding a ship != attacking.
And no, the links I posted aren't particularly unbiased, but they do show another side to the story and in a somewhat less hysterical fashion.
I'm not arguing whether the Israelis behaved appropriately, but pushing all blame for the escalation of this on them is imo misguided and incorrect.
> Boarding a ship != attacking.
ReplyDeleteActually, it is. Boarding a ship without permission in international waters is piracy. The activists had every right to defend themselves.
> Boarding a ship without permission in international waters is piracy.
ReplyDeleteOops, sorry, I was mistaken.
http://www.redstate.com/jeffdunetz/2010/05/31/was-israels-boarding-of-the-gaza-flotilla-a-violation-of-international-law/