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Israel Threatens to Pull Out of UN Gaza Probe
JERUSALEM - Israel threatened on Tuesday to pull out of a UN probe into its deadly flotilla raid to keep the panel from grilling its troops, as the defence minister told another inquiry the fleet was a "planned provocation."
View of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara which took part in the "Freedom Flotilla" as it was heading towards the Gaza Strip in May 2010. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not cooperate with any commission that would ask to question soldiers as part of a UN probe into the country's deadly raid on the Marmara. (AFP/HO/File) The May 31 raid, in which Israeli commandos killed nine
pro-Palestinian Turkish activists, sparked international outrage and led
to the easing of a four-year blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted there was agreement to exclude military personnel from the UN probe, despite an earlier denial from UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
"The prime minister said Israel would not cooperate with any commission that would ask to question soldiers," spokesman Nir Hefetz told army radio.
"Before Israel gave the green light to its participation in the panel we had discreet negotiations in order to ensure that this commission would not harm the vital interests of Israel," he added.
The row broke out as the UN commission was due to start work, and on the second day of a series of top-level hearings by an Israeli panel, which also does not have the authority to question the soldiers who stormed the ships.
Testifying in Jerusalem, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the flotilla was a "planned provocation" and that top officials had suspected more than a month beforehand that organisers were "preparing for an armed conflict to embarrass Israel."
He said various alternatives were discussed ahead of the raid and that he and other senior officials had considered the possibility that the activists would attack the troops when they landed.
"We regret any loss of life," the minister told the Tirkel Commission, a panel of five Israelis and two international observers charged with examining the international legality of the raid and the Gaza blockade.
"But we would have lost more lives if we had behaved differently."
Israel says its commandos resorted to force only after they were attacked when they rappelled onto the deck of one of the ships, but pro-Palestinian activists on board say the soldiers opened fire as soon as they landed.
Armed forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi was to take the stand on Wednesday and was likely to be quizzed over the operational aspects of boarding the ships.
Netanyahu told the panel on Monday that Israel had acted in line with international law, and accused Turkey of seeking a high-profile confrontation that saw activists attack its commandos with iron bars and knives.
On Tuesday, Turkey rejected the claim.
"We have a very clear situation," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Ankara. "Israel has killed nine civilians in international waters. Before anything else, they should take responsibility for this.
"Turkey has absolutely no responsibility in the incident."
The raid caused a diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey.
"Turkey remains a very important state in the Middle East. We have to find a way ... to rectify the deterioration of relations," Barak told the panel.
An internal military investigation found that mistakes were made at a "relatively senior" level but that the use of live fire was justified.
Barak also stressed that the naval blockade is "absolutely essential to stop Gaza from transforming into a massive arsenal. It is designed to stop the transfer of rockets and other means of warfare."
Israel imposed border restrictions in June 2006 after Gaza militants captured an Israeli soldier and tightened them one year later.
In 2009, Israel formally declared a naval blockade, which Barak claimed allows Israel under international law to interdict Gaza-bound vessels.
Last week Ban named his own panel, chaired by former New Zealand prime minister Geoffrey Palmer, to look into the deadly raid. It was due to begin work on Tuesday and includes representatives from Israel and Turkey.
Israel has completely rejected a separate investigation launched by the UN Human Rights Council, which it views as hopelessly biased against the Jewish state.
128 Comments so far
Show AllSo Netanyahu thought he had a secret deal, only it turns out he hadn't.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - Netanyahu, despite his blustering bullying arrogance, and his reputation for manipulativeness, is in fact a weak, ineffective and downright incompetent political leader.
"Netanyahu," BECAUSE OF "his blustering bullying arrogance, and his reputation for manipulativeness, is in fact a weak, ineffective and downright incompetent political leader."
Israel is afraid to allow their soldiers to be questioned. Some of them might just tell the truth.
If Israel's terrorist-state actions weren't as serious as a million heart attacks, they'd be a non-stop source of comedy gold for "The Onion".
Here's my improv version of the "Onionized" headline to this story:
"Israel Threatens to Pull Out of Any Inquiry that Makes Inquiries"
Good one. I wish Monty Python was still going. They literally wouldn't need to write sketches, just regurgitate what comes from the Israeli government.
you are a obediant servant to whom the muslim broderhood
Release the confiscated video, held by the Israelis.
Of course it was a planned provocation, that was the point! That doesn't mean the killings are justified!
"Release the confiscated video, held by the Israelis."
Excellent point. As many of us have noted, this one action - the confiscation of all recording equipment - refutes every argument Israel makes in defense of its murderous behavior.
q
Wow - this was already a coverup, but it wasn't a GOOD ENOUGH coverup for the Israelis.
Remember the USS Liberty!
De-Countrify Israel Now.
"Israel has completely rejected a separate investigation launched by the UN Human Rights Council, which it views as hopelessly biased against the Jewish state."
Translation: "hopelessly biased" means being aware of facts that the Jewish state successfully manages to keep from the US public due to the sycophantic US media.
UN human rights council my butt the all belong or are a part of the muslim broterhood
Good! Let them pull out. Let the sham panel collapse, and confront Ban with the necessity of backing up the UNHRC findings (which he should have done in the first place) or form a competent
commission (Uribe?! And Palmer looks to be the international Lee Daniels) and tell Israel if they don't want to participate, don't participate. It's time to force Ban to either wrap himself in the flag (Stars and Stripes) or crawl out from under the US thumb. How long can the Secretary-General go on denying or ignoring the efficacy of the agencies working under him? And, while he's acknowledging UNHRC, let him stuff the Goldstone report up Netanhu's assiduous objections as well.
I'm shocked, just shocked. Next thing you'll hear is that the israelis are hoping that the usa launches a strike against Iran. Or that bears do indeed crap in the woods.
Why don't we have Wall street. Big Pharma, the Insurance companys, Big Oil, Bill Gates and AIPAC chip in and just buy the UN and be done with it. You know how annoying these investigations can be.
We already know which way our whores in congress vote after receiving their little package of appreciation. Is that not right, Bibi? Don't be cheap now. People might actually start beleiving there is another side to this story.
Lets hope the same fate befalls Israel as befell it's apartheid brother/partner, South Africa.
We regret any loss of life," the minister told the Tirkel commission "But we would have lost more lives if we had behaved differently."
Not if you didnt try to stop the HUMANITARIAN AID from entering Gaza, you shit.
BTW, a naval blockaid is a recognized act of war. It is illegal unless expressly authorized by the UN
"BTW, a naval blockaid is a recognized act of war. It is illegal unless expressly authorized by the UN"
That actually is not true. A country that is in conflict can declare a blockade unilaterally under the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea. (1994) Since Hamas is in control of an area, Israel can declare a blockade against them... Under the law that is.
Is it right or ethical? No. Legal? Probably.
I will note that the UN doesn't get to expressly authorize actions of individual states.
"Before Israel gave the green light to its participation in the panel we had discreet negotiations in order to ensure that this commission would not harm the vital interests of Israel," he added.
Israel considers the international norms on human rights and indeed international law itself as "...harm [to] the vital interests of Israel". Soon, the planet Earth itself will be seen as an existential threat to Israel. Socio-pathology on this scale hasn't been seen for two thousand years.
When Israel returns ALL the confiscated (stolen) videos, film, digital cards etc then an inquiry might properly start. Access to eye witnesses, civil and military must be allowed otherwise yet another fairy story emerges. Remember the USS Liberty, recent atrocities in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of those in the way of " Greater Israel " How a supposed 5,000 year old privelege of the Chosen People is beyond me, and most other rational human beings.
*Comment deleted by site administrators for using all capital letters*
see: http://www.commondreams.org/comment-policy
goof
Sophie Scholl-The Final Days
Really? Whenever I confront zionists, they always spout the same kind of nonsense that you trolls use on this board, call me some names, and then stomp off.
q
Hey, tiredtroll, didn't you call me a zionist last week when I disagreed with you?
Lookie here, a batshit crazy zionist calls me and you a Nazi. Even if his/her spelling is poor, and their caps lock key is stuck.
survivor, eh? What do you claim to have survived? A hangover perhaps?
Gosh - addressing me where I haven't posted, and you call ME a troll? This guy is batshit crazy and deserves to be treated with neglect. I wouldn't take anything he said seriously, and I take it you do.
De-Countrify Israel Now.
Your name is tired troll... I thought it funny that you called me and a whole bunch of other people zionists last week, and here's an example of someone calling me a nazi. So sorry you have no sense of humour.
Oh, and these replies will be gone soon. The nut who posts in all caps gets their posts deleted for tos violations. (which is why I flagged his/her post)
No, that's not my name. I didn't realize that you were being funny - guess the joke went over my. Must be humorless that way.
De-Countrify Israel Now.
First of all, I wouldn't want to belong to the Israel Bashing Organization that would have me as a member.
Second of all, I do not have a secretary.
There's an Israel-bashing ORGANIZATION?
Who knew? Thanks for the tip, good buddy!
PS: Having made it alive through your all-caps rant, I'm a survivor too!
Hi survivor,
Well, Rachel Corrie did confront the Israelis. She didn't have on a Hesbolla uniform though....just regular college student clothes, oh yeah, and a bright orange vest.
Face to face seems to be pretty deadly with Israel. The flotilla and Nabka kind of say that too.
Gaza And The Warsaw Ghetto
same place
different time
while the world stood by
genocide
live
The gangster-pirate Israeli government does not care to participate in a UN investigation of Israeli gangsterism and Israeli piracy on the high seas in its barbaric murderous raid on a freedom flotilla headed for Gaza with humanitarian aid...
The revealing of the truth is considered much too risky for this gangster government. End all US military aid to Israel.
What difference would the head ghoul's absence make? The criminal pos never brought the cameras and video recordings that his gang of thieves made off with. Yes the scum is afraid of the truth getting out.
Deir Yassin, USS Liberty Gaza Freedom Flotilla
The worst thing to ever happen to the Jews was the mass murders in Europe, the second worst thing to happen was "Israel". Where ever zionism goes antisemitism follows.
Sophie Scholl-The Final Days
*Comment deleted by site administrators for using all capital letters*
see: http://www.commondreams.org/comment-policy
White Rose. How true.
One other thing, look at pictures of the Mavi Marmara and compare them with the absurd film footage supplied by the zionazi. The real pictures have the name of the ship Mavi Marmara just under the funnel, the ersatz footage does not have the ship's name in it. Who do you think recently leased the sister ship to the Mavi Marmara?
Sophie Scholl-The Final Days
sophie scholl funny that is what the real nazis did tell the jewish inmates in the camps these are your final days and gave them ersatz food to starve them quickly looks to me you had good teachers to brainwash you
sophie scholl funny that is what the real nazis did tell the jewish inmates in the camps these are your final days and gave them ersatz food to starve them quickly looks to me you had good teachers to brainwash you
Something seems obviously amiss when someone doesn't want eyewitnesses questioned, even eyewitnesses whose salaries one pays and who would seem to have the most to gain if their actions are in fact defensible. Something seems equally obviously amiss when someone refuses to make available direct video and audio evidence of what really happened. Two direct sources of evidence suppressed. Please tell me, survivor1, why I should think that these people are interested in the truth?
*Comment deleted by site administrators for using all capital letters*
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That excuse that the blockade is necessary to prevent Gaza from importing arms is very old and ought to be retired - except, of course, that a better one hasn't been invented yet.
Just to make it very clear: the blockade also prevents exports from leaving Gaza, and the obvious intent is to make life miserable for every one of the prisoners in that ghetto.
johnalene nice try do you have a idea what a ghetto was ask your sieg heil friends
survivor,
Your past , if it was in Warsaw sounds awful, and to lose your family is worse, but you really do need to look at all of history.
Please read, THE SEVENTH MILLION by Tom Segev; you might want to rail at Ben-Gurion for the rest of your life after reading it.
In a creepy kind of way, Warsaw started out just the way that Israel is treating the people in Gaza. now ...starving them of life, liberty and property, not to mention food and medical.
Of course, we do have the U.S. bombinbg Hiroshima and Nagasaki.... and Kahmer Rouge having the highest body count, although I don't think that Spanish kept really good count in South America and Mexico...if that's what you're going for...
The thing that makes lots of people angry is that since the Jewish people went through all of this, and it was not that long ago...the public ( a lot of them ) and me too, are flumoxed ...what Israel is doing to Gaza really looks like what Germany did to Israel.
Israel keeps saying "Never forget.." but it really seems as if you don't remember at all. Besides, stop freaking out with the guns stuff. David only needed 5 stones and a slingshot to change the world.
stardust lies lies lies no one is starving they have a new mall with new restaurants and swimming pools. the only items that are kept from the hamas terrorists are the materials to build bunkers and guns and ammo and rockets that even jordan was hit with lately
bravo, zamboni fahrer; your intelligent rejoinders, argute observations, and reasoned discourse were a privilege and monumental pleasure to read. thank you. you are not only apprised of recondite historical events, buried by the zionist-controlled, obfuscating, smear-campaign tactics of the MSM, but you are also a compassionate, fearless humanitarian, unafraid to speak the truth about the zionist-israeli occupation and terrorization of the millions of palestinian inmates in their gazan and west bank prison-camps. the xenophobic israelis have been manumitted to function outside accepted international protocols because we, the US taxpayers, have been subsidizing their genocidal depredations against the palestinians in jordan, syria, lebanon, and 'palestine' since the 1970's. when our family was living in the hashemite kingdom of jordan from 1988~'91, during the first intifadah, the US govt under the first bush oligarchy, was dumping 10 billion $US annually into israeli coffers, 7 billion$ of which was siphoned off to the IDF murderers and their political taskmasters in order to build an overwhelming juggernaut of military superiority in the middle east. nothing has changed in 22 years... except the numbers of dead palestinians, the ever-expanding numbers of disenfranchised, dispossessed, and mordaciously embittered palestinian victims of israeli hegemony, and the increscently relentless repudiation of human rights by the sciophilous, hate-mongering zionists.
bravo, zamboni fahrer; your intelligent rejoinders, argute observations, and reasoned discourse were a privilege and monumental pleasure to read. thank you. you are not only apprised of recondite historical events, buried by the zionist-controlled, obfuscating, smear-campaign tactics of the MSM, but you are also a compassionate, fearless humanitarian, unafraid to speak the truth about the zionist-israeli occupation and terrorization of the millions of palestinian inmates in their gazan and west bank prison-camps. the xenophobic israelis have been manumitted to function outside accepted international protocols because we, the US taxpayers, have been subsidizing their genocidal depredations against the palestinians in jordan, syria, lebanon, and 'palestine' since the 1970's. when our family was living in the hashemite kingdom of jordan from 1988~'91, during the first intifadah, the US govt under the first bush oligarchy, was dumping 10 billion $US annually into israeli coffers, 7 billion$ of which was siphoned off to the IDF murderers and their political taskmasters in order to build an overwhelming juggernaut of military superiority in the middle east. nothing has changed in 22 years... except the numbers of dead palestinians, the ever-expanding numbers of disenfranchised, dispossessed, and mordaciously embittered palestinian victims of israeli hegemony, and the increscently relentless repudiation of human rights by the sciophilous, hate-mongering zionists.
Thank you, I couldn't have said it any better; they're all arguments that I've used against pro-Zionist rants.
you sound like a real american patriot with your americanism and patriotism you belong with your cousins hamas and hesbolah 1 only 1
A wise decision but aesthetics should have little or nothing to do with it.
The article refers to "pro-Palestinian Turkish activists" rather then "Aid workers from various countries."
This should be a clue as to the pro-Israeli bias of the author/publisher. They were no longer there for aid - just to make a scene. And it was the Turkishness of the ship that defined its mission - and not its internationalism.
Discreet anti-Muslim articles like this one are actually the most effective because they use a tone that sounds unbiased, and a vocabulary that stops short of "Terrorist scum."
qatzelok: Excellent point.
I second this opinion.
Not only an important but an insightful point borne of a close reading.