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Israeli Attack on Gaza Aid Ship Violates International Law
Last night, Israeli commandos boarded a Turkish aid ship on its way to Gaza. It is reported that they killed ten to fifteen activists and injured thirty more.
The flotilla was attacked in international waters, 65km off the Gaza coast. Organizers said the flotilla was carrying 10,000 tones of humanitarian aid headed to Gaza challenging the Israeli blockade.
The Israeli Army Radio said soldiers opened fire "after confronting those on board carrying sharp objects". Israel says they offered to deliver the aid if the ships turned back.
The Free Gaza Movement, the organizers of the flotilla, however, said the troops opened fire as soon as they stormed the ships. They also said they were fully within international law delivering the aid directly to Gaza.
Turkey in a written statement condemned Israel over the deadly attacks: "This deplorable incident, which took place in open seas and constitutes a fragrant breach of international law, may lead to irreparable consequences in our bilateral relations," it said.
Turkey is a member of NATO and one of the few majority Muslim countries that has diplomatic relations with Israel. Although Israel has been a major supplier of arms to Turkey, diplomatic relations have been tense following the 2008-2009 Israel attack on Gaza.
Prior to the attack on the aid ship, Israel 's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said, "The aid convoy is violent propaganda against Israel, and Israel will not allow its sovereignty to be threatened in any way, in any place - land, air, or sea. There is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza strip." The UN and numerous NGO's have described the conditions in Gaza as a humanitarian disaster.
Lieberman has openly talked about ethnically cleansing Israeli citizens of Palestinian origin. In late May 2004, Lieberman proposed a plan in which the populations and territories of Israeli Jews and Arabs, including some Israeli Arabs, would be "separated." According to the plan, also known as the "Populated-Area Exchange Plan," Israeli Arab towns adjacent to Palestinian Authority areas would be transferred to Palestinian Authority, and only those Arab Israelis who migrated from the area to within Israel's new borders and pledged loyalty to the Jewish State of Israel would be allowed to remain Israeli citizens.
I was in Israel in April of this year, my first visit since 1998. I interviewed Michel Warschawski, founder of the Alternative Information Centre, who spoke about the significance of Lieberman: "it's not anymore a small lunatic right wing, like [Meir] Kahane gang 20 years ago. He's minister of foreign affairs. He's government. He's part of the coalition, an important part of the coalition. So what we have is the blatantly racist language and measures that were on the margin of Israeli politics are now in the middle."
After Israel's attack on Gaza in 2008, the UN appointed a Fact Finding Mission to investigate alleged war crimes. The mission, led by renowned South African jurist Richard Goldstone, produced a report that accused both Israel and Palestinian militias of war crimes.
The UN human rights council referred Goldstone's report to the UN General Assembly in Washington for follow-up, but under US pressure, the report never reached the Security Council for possible referral to the International Criminal Court. The Canadian government joined the US in denouncing the report.
On Thursday Amnesty International accused the US and European states of obstructing justice by using their position on the UN Security Council to shield Israel from accountability for war crimes committed in Gaza.
As long as the American, Canadian and European governments continue to allow Israel to flout international law without consequence, defend and expand illegal settlements, maintain a "secret" stockpile of nuclear weapons, sustain the siege of Gaza . . . Israel will continue on this road with impunity.
The American and Canadian elites support such actions of Israel not because they love Jews or care about a Jewish state. A long history of North American and European anti-Semitism says otherwise. They do so for their own geo-political objectives. Like most issues in the Middle East, it's mostly about oil and maintaining a system of regimes, Israeli and Arab, which make sure that fabulous oil revenues remain in very few hands.
I think most ordinary Americans and Canadians, including those of Jewish origin, do not agree with a policy of unconditional support for the increasingly fanatical direction of Israeli policy.
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Show AllOur taxes paid for this massacre as well as the countless massacres that have preceded it. When will we have enough of Israel's total contempt for non-Jewish life? At the moment, this crazed rogue state is reported to have three nuclear-armed submarines stationed off the coast of Iran. Also paid for by us.
Tony Vodvarka
Actually, the German government gave the Israeli's those Dolphin-class submarines. All we did was provide Harpoon nuclear-capable missiles for them.
Export weapons of war and decry the use of weapons of war.
The provision of those missiles was a violation of the NPT far grosser than anything Iran has done.
All under USA cover and support.
Boy, those Canuks, have joined the USA and Israel in the same cesspool.
http://www.awaztoday.com/
hmmm
So lets look at this from another perspective. Suppose a group of US citizens was providing aid to a small country who's citizens were being imprisoned, totured, slaughtered in the streets. They were being forced from their homes and their land stolen by an oppressive and racist terrorist regime. How would the world react to the racist regime sending heavily armed commandos backed by gunships and warships into international waters and openly murder men and women on an aid mission? I do believe we would already by at war. So the question is why are we NOT at war with Israel? Clearly Israel is a terrorist state. Clearly Israel is murdering inncent men, women and children. Men and women in International waters who bye the way were doing NOTHING illegal what so ever. Unless suddenly Israel has the right to dictate on the high seas in international waters. So an act of piracy an act of war, and an act murder. So why is Israel being allowed to do this? Why is the President and Congress allowing this to continue?
Remember Brothers to the Rescue? In 1996, members of this group actually violated Cuban airspace and released half a million leaflets over Havana before being shot down by Cuban forces. This was the statement issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:
"The fact that weapons of war and combat-trained pilots were used against unarmed civilians shows not only how disproportionate the use of force was, but also the intent to end the lives of those individuals. Moreover, the extracts from the radio communications between the MiG-29 pilots and the military control tower indicate that they acted from a superior position and showed malice and scorn toward the human dignity of the victims."
This statement, of course, was embraced by the U.S. Further, the U.S. introduced Security Council Resolution 1067 condemning Cuba. It was passed, with Russian and China abstaining.
Of course, in the case of the Gaza flotilla, it was in international waters carrying humanitarian aid, not within Israeli airspace dropping propaganda from the air.
When do you suppose the U.S. will be introducing a UN resolution concerning this present incident?
Israelis attacking peaceful aid ships in international waters - what makes them any different from renegade pirates? They need to be brought before the International Court for crimes on high seas.
Any nation that continues to do business with and support this renegade Israeli administration is complicit in the continued slow genocide and displacement of the Palestinians. I say it's high time to cut all ties and call for a world wide boycott of Israel.
Pirates don't kill the people they hold for ransom, it would be bad for business. The IDF is in the business of killing innocent civilians, thats the difference.
Paul Jay: “The American and Canadian elites support such actions of Israel not because they love Jews or care about a Jewish state. A long history of North American and European anti-Semitism says otherwise. They do so for their own geo-political objectives. Like most issues in the Middle East, it's mostly about oil and maintaining a system of regimes, Israeli and Arab, which make sure that fabulous oil revenues remain in very few hands.”
I couldn’t disagree more with this assessment. If the U.S. attacks Iran, it will be to benefit Zionism, not the U.S. The U.S. cannot afford a regional war in the Middle East, and any possible benefits would be outweighed by the costs, both diplomatic and economic. Zionists care only about Israel, and any cost-benefit analysis of a U.S. war with Iran works shows them to be the only winners.
Overall, U.S. support for Zionism has done incalculable damage to U.S. interests. Of course, U.S. oligarchs are often foolish and fail to discern the most effective way to pursue their own ends, but surely they are starting to realize that their past unconditional support for Israel has been consistently counterproductive for them.
Define "U.S. interests."
I think neoconservative policies in the Mid-East have absolutely benefited a segment of the U.S. ruling class. Yet in true parasitic fashion, they aren't interested in the well-being of the host (i.e., the general U.S. population, or any general population, for that matter). They are transnational capitalists and are interested only in vacuuming up as much capital into their accounts as possible.
That said, I agree that the right-wing Israeli lobby without a doubt exerts tremendous sway within the U.S. media and political system.
Yes, our oligarchy isn’t monolithic, and probably a segment believes that political instability created in the Middle East by Zionist ethnic cleansing serves their economic interests.
Still, an increasing number of them must be aware that if the U.S. terminated support for the Zionist regime in Israel, and eventually imposed regional peace and stability, authoritarian Arab regimes might actually be easier to manipulate.
What should be clear to our economic elites is that if the U.S. attacks Iran at the instigation of Zionist fanatics, events could escape control. However, since economic and intellectual elitism are often unequally paired, oligarchs don’t always pursue their own self-interest rationally and efficiently.
Heh heh. Love that bit about the unequal pairing of economic and intellectual elitism. :^)
Thanks, RV, glad somebody noticed and appreciated the sarcasm.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
Re: Israel's commando raid in international waters this morning:
If this had happened on Bush II's watch the corporate and far-right media would just bluff their way through it with macho hot-air and hyped-up small-scale terror threats that have nothing to do with Israel's specific action at hand. But because this happened on Obama's watch--the bogus agent of "change"--he's going to be between a hornet's nest and a fire ant mound coping with the international fallout. It will be interesting to see how he reacts. I sense Obama doesn't like Israel much but bows to it as most U.S. presidents do because of the domestic power of the Jewish lobby here in America where they hold prominent positions in banking, the Federal Reserve, Big Media, war-profiteering, right-wing think-tanks and Ivy League academia.
Re: The growing economic crisis in the EU and how it could impact on the U.S. (helping to pressure the U.S. to cut down on aid to Israel among other things):
The EU bank-to-bank lending/credit/repurchase system that is still flooded with bad derivatives may very well combine with ongoing similar corruption in the U.S. banking system to drive the EU & U.S. into a true Great Depression II as early as this year. The U.S. Congress has refused to seriously regulate derivatives in the U.S. and will not restore the Glass-Steagall Act to firewall consumer retail banks from the commercial banks' speculation in the global derivatives black market. Hedge funds speculating for billionaires are controlling too much of the global economy now. They participate in the lending/credit/repurchase system as "shadow banks" who routinely step in when some big banks become too wary to extend credit--and they're only interested in the biggest players in global credit, stock and derivatives markets, not small investors on Main Street USA, let alone America's non-investor working-class.
This all means (1) the big banks and hedge fund shadow banks that provide advance short-term payroll (and other) loans to smaller banks who serve businesses of all sizes around the U.S. & EU cannot trust the collateral that the smaller borrowing banks (still being shut down by the FDIC & riddled with bad bundled mortgage paper) post. That dubious collateral is what the larger banks & shadow banks base their decisions upon as to how much to lend smaller banks for weekly operations, and (2) the smaller borrowing banks can't trust the solvency of the big hedge fund shadow banks that are up to their necks in speculatory, black market derivatives investments including bundled mortgages.
This is a very volatile and dangerous situation. At this point global currency values, the U.S. stock market and U.S. & EU credit systems are ALL corrupt and vulnerable. In the "financialized" U.S. economy there is no underlying, manufacturing based REAL economy creating enough real goods of intrinsic value sufficient to buffer a hard crash landing. The stop-watch is ticking out on President Obomber who only has a few months left at best to intelligently and comprehensively plan for a 180-degree Keynesian turn to move America into a national economic emergency Green New Deal--including temporarily nationalizing most of the big banks, dumping all their bad paper into one toxic write-down bank, restoring Glass-Steagall and truly regulating U.S. derivatives trades. I don't see any signs of it. America is still sleep-walking into the fan blades.
Our current generations of political "leaders" in America are lazy-minded, ignorant, well-connected hacks who coast from corporate campaign fund raiser to fund raiser--often using corporate jets to get to and from these events. Most of their "legislation" is written for them by corporate lobbyists and they understand little about high finance, military history, science or the remnant natural environment but what industry lobbyists spoon feed them. America's entire political class is now glaringly, obviously incompetent to regulate industry of any kind, preserve a healthy ecosystem, decisively win a war, oversee a functional economy or govern in any other way.
Given Turkey a member of NATO and Israel is not, will fellow NATO members come to Turkeys defence against this aggression?
Article 5
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security .
Article 6 (1)
For the purpose of Article 5, an armed attack on one or more of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack:
on the territory of any of the Parties in Europe or North America, on the Algerian Departments of France (2), on the territory of or on the Islands under the jurisdiction of any of the Parties in the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer;
on the forces, vessels, or aircraft of any of the Parties, when in or over these territories or any other area in Europe in which occupation forces of any of the Parties were stationed on the date when the Treaty entered into force or the Mediterranean Sea or the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer.
>>1.The definition of the territories to which Article 5 applies was revised by Article 2 of the Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty on the accession of Greece and Turkey signed on 22 October 1951.
Precisely. A ship with hundreds of civilian passengers on board flying the flag of Turkey, a member of the NATO alliance, has been attacked in international waters by the armed forces of a non-NATO state.
As a NATO member, Turkey would have every right to call upon the alliance to act together "in mutual defence" just as the United States did following its own 9/11 incident. In fact, because this was a deliberate act of war by the armed forces of a foreign power against a NATO ally, Turkey's right to alliance support is even clearer than the U.S. call for action against a country that was allegedly sheltering a terrorist band of foreign nationals.
If Isreal is not, at the very least, condemned and subjected to the same kind of sanctions imposed upon other "rogue nations", the future of the NATO alliance itself, as well as its United Nations sponsorship in Afghanistan and elsewhere, must be regarded as very shaky indeed. And I certainly wouldn't give two hoots for any UNSC "solidarity" on the U.S. proposal for sanctions against Iran in those circumstances.
A lot of global relationships are going to be put under very severe strain by this Israeli fiasco. Global peace and security (what little of it is left) may be the ultimate victim.
"A lot of global relationships are going to be put under very severe strain by this Israeli fiasco."
I hope so - the Palestinian situation got ridiculous a long time ago. It needs a resolution.
I admire the heroes of this Free Gaza Movement - they pursued their actions despite knowing of the dangers. They will be harder to consign to oblivion than Rachel Corrie.
RV,
I must apologize to you. Your comments are the most succinct and most thoughtful of the full implications of this monstrous act of lunacy by the terrorist rogue state of Israel.
I used most of your arguments in a comment I sent to my local paper. The 4 previous comments there consisted of 1 comment decrying the attack - followed almost immediately by 3 comments from 3 Israeli lurkers supporting Israel's attack.
Thank you for the main gist of my reply.
You are most welcome. And you certainly owe me no apology. Any of us may disagree from time to time and that's just as it should be. Hell, I sometimes have really vicious arguments with myself about stupid things I thought and said only the day before. :^)
I am appalled at the outright murder of these activists. Although this pales beside other violent actions perpetrated by Israel, the world community must address this flagrant violation of international law swiftly and significantly. If it does not, the rule of law is further undermined and the foundations of order will crumble quickly. No longer can we turn a blind eye to Israel’s brutality. Our governments must speak up, especially the United States and Canada.
"An act of war." Yes, indeed. Every member of U. S. Congress should vomit blood over this.
International law has been deemed quaint.
we should go to our Congresspeople and demand cut off of all funds to Israel. U.S. gives more aid to Israel than to any other state.
Cough... since when does Israel follow the rule of law?
Let us see how many of our Jewish-American politicians will condemn Israel for this blatantly criminal attack against this Turkish aid ship. Let us see how many of them can be open-minded by acknowledging that Israel was absolutely wrong to have done what it did. Let us see how many members of Congress decide, in light of Israel's latest transgression, to finally cut off aid to Israel. Let us see how long it will be before Barack Obama will condemn this attack or will he have to huddle with his advisers in order to find the best way to somehow get Israel off the hook in regards to their latest atrocity. Let us see how the mainstream media will spin this in order to claim that the Israelis were somehow provoked into attacking and murdering innocent civilians. That last sentence could have come straight from the playbook of how the U.S. military claims that they are attacking terrorists when they in fact end up slaughtering innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Finally, let us see if the corporate media will actually allow a Palestinian point of view to be heard on their television and cable news programs.
Bastards-the whole lot of them.
"Let us see how many of our Jewish-American politicians will condemn Israel for this blatantly criminal attack against this Turkish aid ship."
Has Joe Lieberman called a press conference yet?
I await the Honorable Independent Senator Joe Lieberman's response. Also that of Zionist Joe Biden. Perhaps Mossad-presidential-minder Rahm Emmanuel will offer an opinion. No worries re: Obama's Response. AIPAC has had a staff of writers on it since a hour before the attack.
I suppose by attacking in international waters Israel sidesteps any requests for explanation of how it is that Israel claims authority over the waters off the coast of Gaza.
If this is not an act of terrorism by a sovereign national government against unarmed people carrying humanitarian supplies I don't know what is. The Nationalist Zionists learned well at the knee of the National Socialists. Perhaps this Zionist version of genocide is more humane because it is so excrutiatingly slow. We are watching another holocaust. If the Palestinians are killed off slowly there will be no other than verbal international response. If the Israelis simply killed them off en masse there would POSSIBLY be some international outcry although probably little or no military response.
Kent Shaw
Would that Rahm Emanuel possibly be the same Rahm Emanuel whose middle name just happens to be Israel?
This explanation by Kent Shaw is very astute and shows what a narrow tight-rope Israel is on. "I suppose by attacking in international waters Israel sidesteps any requests for explanation of how it is that Israel claims authority over the waters off the coast of Gaza." Israel chooses to violate a loosely-defied international law on international waters instead of violating the more defined law protecting Gaza's coastal waters - and therefore bringing before the UN and the world the direct issue of Gaza's sovereignty. Neither choice should have been made. In their arrogance, based in part on the almost daily statements by Hillary Clinton that the US supports Israel right or wrong, once again the Israeli government declares itself beyond international law and norms.
The White House regrets the loss of life.
If the Iranian government did such a criminal act, the US would rush to the UN Security Council and NATO for even more harsh sanctions. Israel might bomb and Obama would have to declare war to protect Israel.
Don't forget the Iraqi Holocaust perpetrated by the US and UK.
CNN is already whitewashing the incident, acting as if Israel "had a right to defend itself, even in international waters." It makes me sick to my stomach, they are so blatantly corrupt.
According to Israel, it has a "right to defend itself" on YOUR OWN turf. Everywhere is threatening, everything a danger, everyone is out to harm ittybitty Israel.
MSN described Israel's gentle entreaties, which were responded to with knives, clubs, and slingshots ( ! ). Those poor, heavily armed soldiers had no choice but to blow them away with their weapons. Poor Israelis, so misunderstood. Surely everyone can see the need they had to waste all those "pro-Palestinian" activists.
The flotilla participants story only came at the end of the story, which were of course quite different than what the Israelis claim. Interesting that the aggressor gets to define the terms of the news coverage.
As horrendous and appalling as this situation is, a tiny correction is in order - seems trivial, considering, I realize, but:
"constitutes a fragrant breach" should read "constitutes a flagrant breach" - unless they were using stink bombs.
I'm very sorry about the casualties and injuries - I hope their families find peace, that the world finds peace. I hope that the sacrifice of those brave souls will finally make the world act in a humanitarian and just way.
But we're dealing with Israel here, and its heart has long since shrunk like goat poop under the desert sun.
(my apologies to goats everywhere, fine creatures that they are)
Israel had declared war on the US by attacking and almost sinking the USS Liberty in 1967.( http://www.gtr5.com/index.html ) At that time the US government was ordered by their handlers to not engage.
On June 8, 1967, US Navy intelligence ship USS Liberty was suddenly and brutally attacked on the high seas in international waters by the air and naval forces of Israel. The Israeli forces attacked with full knowledge that this was an American ship and lied about it. Survivors have been forbidden for 40 years to tell their story under oath to the American public. The USS Liberty Memorial web site tells their story and is dedicated to the memory of the 34 brave men who died.
The Attack
After surveilling USS Liberty for more than nine hours with almost hourly aircraft overflights and radar tracking, the air and naval forces of Israel attacked our ship in international waters without warning. USS Liberty was identified as a US naval ship by Israeli reconnaissance aircraft nine hours before the attack and continuously tracked by Israeli radar and aircraft thereafter. Sailing in international waters at less than five knots, with no offensive armament, our ship was not a military threat to anyone.
The Israeli forces attacked without warning and without attempting to contact us. Thirty four Americans were killed in the attack and another 174 were wounded. The ship, a $40-million dollar state-of-the-art signals intelligence platform, was later declared unsalvageable and sold for scrap.
The Cover Up
Despite a near-universal consensus that the Israeli attack was made with full knowledge that USS Liberty was a US Navy ship, the Johnson administration began an immediate cover-up of this fact. Though administration officers continued individually to characterize the attack as deliberate, the Johnson administration never sought the prosecution of the guilty parties or otherwise attempted to seek justice for the victims. They concealed and altered evidence in their effort to downplay the attack. Though they never formally accepted the Israeli explanation that it was an accident, they never pressed for a full investigation either. They simply allowed those responsible literally to get away with murder.
In an ongoing effort to reveal the truth about the attack, the USS Liberty Veterans Association has filed with the Secretary of the Army in the manner prescribed by law a detailed, fully documented Report of War Crimes describing the circumstances of the attack on our ship and evidence that it was a crime under international law. In accordance with international law and treaties, the United States is obligated to investigate the allegations. So far, the United States has declined even to acknowledge that the report has been filed. The full text of the report can be found at http://www.gtr5.com/evidence/warcrimes.pdf
I had also read that Johnson ordered no U.S. ships or planes to come to the aid of the USS Liberty while the attack was taking place.
Growing up, I blindly supported the right of Israel to exist, having been born a Jew and brainwashed by the religion and the ruling classes that the Arabs were the problem. Upon leaving home at age 17, I was exposed to alternative ideas, and became neutral on the issues pertaining to the Palestinian crisis. This neutrality disappeared quickly as I discovered the interconnection between the Republican/Democrat imperial corporate war machine, and the need to insure Israel's survival to further western control of oil and land. Almost all the posts on this website go against what those in power want us to believe: that the Arabs are the problem and always have been (bullshit). Thanks to our corporate ruling elite, Israel feels like it can do whatever it wants, including illegal actions against those that just want the opportunity to pursue life and liberty, goals which, under capitalism, must be reserved for those that bow down to the corporate "gods": The present government of Israel must be held accountable by NATO and the United Nations for this heinous act of terror. Apply sanctions immediately, and keep them in place until the right wing bastards who rule the world are forced to accept Palestinians as co-inhabitants of the country stolen from them, Palestine. Jerusalem must be the capital of a Palestinian state. The Gaza blockade must be ended, by force, if necessary, by NATO.
My next move is to donate to Palestinian relief. We can make a difference if we use economic power against the imperialist scum, and stand in unity with the oppressed peoples of the Earth, before it is too late and they are wiped out.
Thank you to all who have furthered my understanding of the links between Israel and our horribly racist capitalist system of death and destruction.
Sparklemahn
Thank you for being able to look at how Israel has treated the Arabs in a truly objective manner. All too often, anyone who dares to criticize Israel is then smeared as being anti-semitic and that charge is usually ridiculous as well as outrageous.
The Israeli government is extremely anti-semitic in oppressing the semitic people in Gaza.
PRECISELY right, with roots firmly in the real history, histology and etymology of the region its peoples and the term "semite". Thanks for pointing this out.
This Jew is indeed very jewel! Your sincere and earnest words deeply move me.
May human conscience continue to shine out over the darkness of brutality.
Thank you Sparklemahn, for restoring my faith in jewish values and preventing me from becoming an antisemite.
I believe Herzl was right when he wrote :
“Anti-Semites will become our surest friends, anti-Semitic countries our allies.”
Speaking of faith in Jewish values, is it my imagination or does Naomi Klein, who spoke at a protest the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom (name of boat), look pregnant? The great-grandchild of David Lewis could not help but be great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8-NY6T5WTo
At rabble they have pictures of some of the protesters - one teen wearing a t-shirt that says "Ethical Jews Boycott Israels anti-Semitim" and a little boy carrying a sign saying "Israel is a very bad bully".
Kevin Neish was on the boat that was attacked. Since rabble interviewed him just as he was departing, they will likely interview him when he comes back.
Turkey has announced that future aid convoys to the Gaza strip will be escorted by the Turkish Navy.
Has the IDF committed an atrocity too far?
Uh oh! If a NATO member state's naval vessel gets attacked by Israel on the high seas, the situation could get VERY "interesting", to say the least. One wonders what Bibi's Canadian host might have to say about it.
Could we have have an authoritative source for that Turkish announcement? I ask because it would be a very difficult one for Turkey's government to back out of, I think.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/turkey-threatens-action-israel-on-alert/116743-2.html?from=tn
"Two Turkish activists were reported to be among those killed in the flotilla. Ankara warned that further supply vessels will be sent to Gaza, escorted by the Turkish Navy, a development with unpredictable consequences."
Thanks muchly. It hadn't been widely reported at the time I asked, or maybe I just wasn't looking in the right places.
It committed the atrocity-too-far with Operation Cast Lead 2008-2009. Turkish navy or not, I want to be part of the next Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. My anger far outweighs any worries I have about personal safety.