I was pretty sure this type of action is not allowed in international waters. Is that not correct? Didn't the UN already condemn the action? The way to stop a ship trying to run a blockade involves specific steps to prevent loss of life. The Israelis did not follow the book and it caused problems. That's why there is a procedure. You don't just drop commandos down on ships in international waters willy-nilly. The Israelis are out of control and their treatment of the people in Gaza hardly inspires confidence that the humanitarian aid will get through if it is left to the Israeli authorities. Israel is going to bite off more than it can chew one of these days and I only hope they don't involve the US. Too many American lives have been lost in that part of the world already.
It is not correct. We blockaded japan and Germany during WWII and sunk many a blockade runner outside of international waters. a blockade must be declared and notified to all belligerents and neutral states, access to neutral ports cannot be blocked, and an area can only be blockaded which is under enemy control and gaza is certainly that. The laws permits innocent passage in international waters, but ships bound for "beligerant" ports can be intercepted. These ships declared their intentions to defy the blockade openly. No. The UN Human Rights Council condemned the action. The Security Council only called for a probe into the matter, The General Assembly has not acted. You are misinformed. The Israelis advised the activists not to attempt to break the blockade before they ever left port. They were offered an opportunity to dock in Israel and the humanitarian supplies would be transferred to Gaza. Both of these attempts were ignored. At seas they ships ignored repeated Israeli radio requests to turn around. This was ignored. They were then told that they would be boarded for inspections. six ships accepted this, on the 7th ship activists attacked the boarding party. The people of Gaza have launched over 4,000 rockets against Israeli civilians and are trying to obtain more of them. This activist fleet was not trying to get supplies to Gaza, they could have just taken them to Egypt who deliver such supplis to Gaza all the time. They were trying to break the blockade, become martyrs, and create an incident. Not one has died defending Israel. Israel defends itself very well and will continue to do so. Hamas is committed to further conflict and they were elected by the Palestinians of Gaza. They could get rid of Hamas and solve this problem. Why should Israel unilaterally stop fighting when Hamas has not?
Except Israel. See post #4. Didn't we go through this already. Let it go homie. When they stop effing with Israel, they will stop getting their asses handed to them in a paper sack.
Certainly possible...I haven't followed it much lately. I think you guys might be wrong on this one though. Humanitarian aid flotillas should not end up in shoot-out and 19 people dead. Someone is to blame....maybe it is the Turks or aid workers or whatever you want to call them. But at some level the burden of responsibility lies on those boarding the ship with machine guns to take control of the situation properly. For the record I also think that cop that tazered the guy running around the baseball stadium went over the line as well. Isn't there some legal argument about not using excessive force? Wouldn't that apply here? US troops are certainly more engaged in the Middle East than they would be if it weren't for the US support of Israel. Our support of Israel does us no favors in the region. Israels mistreatment of the Palestinians and the US support of Israel does the US no favors. I am well aware of the IDF's impressive track record. As well as the fact that Israel is the regions only nuclear power. Here, we can agree....Israel is capable...let them take care of their own mess. If they want to stir up a hornet's nest with Turkey, then by all means......
America backing Israel probably saves more lives than it cost. Without our hands in their policy, Israel would probably rid the region of Arabs in a couple weekends.
have you not even read enough to get the basic facts? THE SOLDIERS DID NOT HAVE MACHINE GUNS!!!! re-read some previous posts. because previous "aid" flotillas had given up peacefully, and because the israeli military told the blockade runners this would be done, and because the blockade runners told the israeli military they would not resist, the military did not arm themselves as they normally would have. their primary weapons were paint guns. freaking paint guns for control if the crowd got unruly. the only true weapons they had were pistols in case of an emergency! and they were met as they boarded the boat with 3-5 men with clubs per soldier. men who were waiting for them. despite the previous indications they would not resist.
True humanitarian aid can go through Egypt or through Israel and already does. These "Humanitarians" were islamic activists trying to create an incident. They also carried forbidden cargo like concrete and re-bar which Hamas uses to build bunkers and tunnels. Cinder blocks and lumber are what is needed to rebuild houses, not reinforced concrete. They boarded the ship armed with paintball guns! That was the problem. Like you, Israel mistook the activists for "peace protestors" and boarded the vessel unarmed and were attacked. So they then went back with assault rifles like they should have done in the first place and the attackers might have backed off. Under international law one can use force when boarding a ship. If force is disproportionate it would be a violation of the key tenets of the use of force. Israel said marines who boarded the Turkish vessel opened fire in self-defense after activists clubbed and stabbed them and snatched some of their weapons. Legal experts say proportional force does not mean that guns cannot be used by forces when being attacked with knives. All true. Israel acts in their own best interests and not the US best interests. And, of course, we do the same.
