Report: Israel Navy harassing and humiliating Gaza fishermen

A disgusting way to act from a state supposedly operating on a moral high. Its not only humiliating but also causing people to starve, this article outlines the extreme decades long bullying went into this http://www.myfavouriteplaces.org/wl/pivot/entry.php?id=52 The IDF should obey the Oslo agreement the Israeli government signed in 1994 and allow the Palestines to operate and use their fishing rights.

Fishermen? Arms smugglers? It's better for Israel to be on the safe side than sorry. Palestinian's have used fishing boats to smuggle arms. Our brave soldiers of the Jewish State help prevent dead citizens of Israel.

Only one question. Are they or do they think they human? These "brave" soldiers of J.state.

This, to my knowledge, is the first time you've ever expressed any concerns regarding your native Australia. You don't give a rap about the Muslim Rapists that are running amok, care less about the Aborigines and even less than that, if that's at all possible about the 200,000 Christian's East Timor that were killed by the Indonesian Muslims. Yes, the IDF shelled Palestinian fishing boats, that were actually arms smuggling boats attempting to evade inspection. Of course the Karine A & Santorini were caught. Upon unloading, vast amounts of smuggled arms were recovered. Since Lebanon, which STARTED the war last year, was smuggling arms via the sea, Israel had every right to to deter any potential arms smuggling vessel. If you want to affix blame properly, speak to Hezbollah, they started the mess. Now, if you'll (I know you won't) furnish details of the pollustion (not the pollution you put out) or some links verifying the alleged pollution, I'd be interested to look at it.

Lo D'Var. It's so easy to refute these liars, it's like shooting ducks in a barrel. They bat out so-called information and phony facts, can't substantiate any of them with proof. Catching them with a minimum of effort is laughably easy. I'm still waiting for them to post a few more lies on the subject, as Clint Eastwood had said, "Make my Day".

Good info on the Karin A and Santorini. How can anyone question the Israeli Navy's actions? You have given me something to learn about. Tov!

Thus far, terrorists have concealed bombs in shoes, bomb belts, having them undress doesn't reveal if they concealed them internally. Dope smugglers routinely conceal narcotics by swallowing them. My recommendation is that prior to allowing the "fisherman" to board the Israeli boat, he should be given a chocolate flavored laxative. Ex-Lax comes to mind. A wait of 20 minutes or thereabouts will determine if he really came clean.

Civilised?? Do you read the news daly,How your "civilised" tribe behaving all over the world?? Just look at Iraq, Dalfur, Thailand,Afganistan....Unnimaginable savigry!! This you call Civilised?? Those barbarians would love to turn Israel into a playground for their bloodleting orgy.Israel is only deffending itself from those monsters. Do you live in TORO BORA???

Israel isn't "LORDING", it is "PROTECTING" itself. Palestinian's have repeatedly attempted to smuggle in arms via the sea, and have been caught. Look to my #26 in this string. Self-defense is a paramount Israeli concern. Not wishing to have public places, shopping malls, pizza parlors & buses NOT blown up and it citizens safeguarded from terror attacks necessitates strong precautions. Palestinian's raining rockets down on jewish towns & villages isn't conduce to friendly relations or open borders. Just remember how the U.S. got bent out of shape on 9/11, the British reactions to their subways being bombed, the Spanish train explosions. Britian is no anticipating a string of terror attacks, from it's own home grown Muslims. Think about your Kalifornia earthquakes (natural disasters) and you get bent out of shape when they occur. Better yet, keep in mind that Kalifornia is the #1 Rape State in the US of A. Yup that's a fact, Google it to confirm.

Check out the following photographic link. Those fishermen were caught attempting to deceive, pretending to fish while transporting arms. Highly detailed link with photographs follows......................... http://www.waronline.org/en/analysis/pal_weapons.htm

Check out my letter #26 in this string. Pali fishermen have repeatedly been caught smuggling arms on the boats. Just look up Karine A & Santorini as a few of the examples. What the fishermen are doing is fishy, not fishing.

Haven't you heard? The fishermen have been caught smuggling arms on the vessels. Karine A & Santorini come to mine as an example. Refer to my letter #26 in this string, it's highly detailed. There's no so blind as those that wish to deceive, such as yurselves.

1) Suicide bombings began 2) Israel responded with tightened security As with Marilyn and the other ignorant anti-semites, hmmm blames #1 on #2, proving they think time runs backwards. Yes, the intifada started because Arafat had it planned when he fled Camp David because peace was offered. It began when Jews went to visit the Temple Mount, without setting foot in the mosque. It began, as Pal officials have documented, because that was just an opportunity to start what was going to happen anyway. Yup, common sense isn't.

..The defenders of the IDF Terror machine are themselves complicit in such acts of brazen humiliation. What a shame it is that most civilized people who support such cretins, choose blindness when it comes down to Israeli occupation, and aparthied. So please do keep blaming the Palestinians for wanting a life, and freedom of movement. If any of you had any depth what so ever, you would try walking in their shoes, but you do not, so please keep propagating what pleases your ears!

one of Australia's allies, which gives me cause to protest against Israel's inhumane treatment of others? The IDF have previously shelled and shot Palestinian fishermen. And didn't Israeli forces bomb the smithereans out of Lebanese oil tankers etc. causing environmental damage to the Lebanese marine environment that may take ten years to recover...could this be one of the reasons the Lebanese fishermen had to stray into Syrian waters to fish?

well, if I were treated like this, I'd want to blow up whoever was doing this to me, too. maybe if israel was a little less barbaric there would be fewer attacks against it and hatred for it. let's not forget how the al-aqsa intifadah started in the fist place...

I imagine in 1939 alot of Germans spoke in very simalar words of support of their brave and humane military

This is off the subject I must say I am sorry. Frenchi if you really are concerned how to you feel about the highrate of Muslims registering to vote. Theywill not have to burn cars break into stores they will own you, Sorry we came to your aid 2 times in recent history. You are on your own

" None of this has to do with sucide bombings" You must have sat down to hard . Of cause this has to do with everything the Pal have allowed to happin. dDnt forget who wrote the rules for this war. Just in case you forgot his name was Arafat. You know the small unshaven runt that stole money tht was supose to be used to improve the life of those he represented.

"May I tellyou, Ralph, that most Palestinian people are among the most educated learned people in the world ?" I wonder what on earth you actually base this statement on? If you're comparing them to ONLY other Arabs, you might have a argument there. But I think those countries in Western Europe that poor a large portion of their wealth into education - Sweden, Holland, Switzerland, etc. - and those countries who have continuously broken intelligence records and have high literacy rates - South Korea, Japan, etc. - might disagree with you somewhat. It's hard to imagine how all those Pals are so learned when they are constantly in the streets protesting and throwing rocks - instead of being in school. Must be the same "learning" that allows France's economy to grind to a halt for months over a silly pay raise for a garbage man in East Paris.

How about Syria, which just last week didn't just fire on Lebanese fisherman just inside Syrian waters...but actually killed most of them...without asking questions. And the survivor wasn't even picked up and given clothes to wear or food to eat. Are the Lebanese fishermen in the water for fun, or do they also deserve to make a living? When you have waken from your own brutish humiliation, I have another 20 countries in this context that shoot first, and ask questions...never. Suddenly, being searched and returned to their boat isn't such a bad prospect, eh?

This is the essential and basic question. And it has no good answer. It is inherently wrong, since these people do not have recourse to remedies, protections and rights given to citizens of a country. It is wrong on the face of it. Israel should have dominion over it's citizens in it's own country and no one else. This ugly scenario has gone on far too long. No good will come from continuing this oppression and harassment. Resentment and hostility grow every day against Israel all over the world because of this. It's a laugh that Israel says it withdrew from Gaza...since it still controls it's borders and invades it whenever it wishes to. But, dense and fairly off their rocker in their inability to see the destructive nature of their stay the course status quo, various Israeli governments move closer and closer to total insanity..unable to discern reality any more. Pity.

do you call indescriminatly firing rockets into civilian population collective punishment?? the resident of sderot did nothing to the PALs. the PALs dont like israel govt policy. how about all the innocicent civilians in cafes, riding buses and walk around in markets? you call that collective punishmetn? its not selective. look at things outside of israel. terrorists killing people in mass is collective punishment, but you of course wont call it that.

Quote: "...Have you ever heard of Israeli racist schoolbooks? I have !..." I don't know what "frenchie-france" heard, but I am sure that "frenchie-france" hadn't seen the Palestinian books on geography: Israel is not shown there at all. The whole region is called PALESTINE, as ONE STATE. If "frenchie-france" has any doubts he can verify this fact. Shame, "frenchie-france"

When GAZANS launch their QASSAMS to any area in Israel that they are able to reach, - isn't it the "collective punishment" Israelis just for being JEWS? You, frenchie from France, do not protest! You didn't protest when HEZBALLAH-NASRALLAH arranged provocation with launching Katyushas in areas inhabited by civilians. It also was a "collective punishment" of israelis for being JEWS. Strange, one-sided attitude has "frenchie" from France.

Of course this is deliberate. Next thing you know, we'll see claims Palestinians drink the blood of Jewish children during Ramadan. This is just asking for more suicide bombers. So don't complain when you get what you ask for.

IF the Palestinian fishermen restricted themselves to the fishing trade there would be no problem. However, their boats are being used for arms smuggling. If you haven't heard of the Karien A & Santorini, Google to find out how they were caught and with what they had on board. A bit of information follows:-------------'Santorini' 'Karine A' Armaments, Type and Quantity Rockets RPGs Small Arms Mortars Mines Explosives Notre: The article was originally written shortly after the capture of the ship Karin-A, however it is still very relevant, since it provides considerable information about the weapons the Palestinian terrorists could have accumulated in the Gaza strip. On 6 May 2001 an IAF aircraft on routine patrol over the Mediterranean, spotted a suspicious vessel, named 'Santorini'. Two 'Dabur' patrol craft were sent to intercept the small (length 25 m, displacement 40 tonnes) ship, followed by two missile boats. The missile boats intercepted the vessel in international waters, some tens of miles from the Israeli coast. Their crews noticed on the 'Santorini's deck a large number of plastic barrels of different sizes. A marine commando contingent of the IDF Navy's Flotilla-13 ('Shayetet-13', Israel's naval special forces unit) proceeded to board the vessel. The four crewmen aboard the 'Santorini' did not attempt to resist the takeover. Upon inspection, the boarding party found the barrels filled with weaponry. The vessel was escorted to port at Haifa. The investigation that followed revealed that the shipment had been purchased by Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC). Its value, including the price of the contraband delivery, was estimated at $10 million. The smugglers, who departed with the cargo from Tripoli, Lybia, were tasked with unloading the barrels-carefully sealed and waterproofed along with their contents-at a prearranged location off the Gaza coast, where they would be picked up by Palestinian Authority (PA) representatives. The next day, 7 May 01, at 8:00 pm local time, a press conference was held on the matter in Haifa, with the participation of the Minister of Defense, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and commander-in-chief of the IDF Navy, Maj-Gen.Yedidia Yaari. The latter denied any knowledge of recent attempts at smuggling contraband by sea. By the next day, however, the interrogation of the suspects revealed that they had made three such attempts in the past, two of which were successful. Eight months later, on the morning of 2 Jan 02 a squadron of 'Dvora' patrol craft (and possibly 'Dabur' boats) and fast attack boats of Flotilla-13 departed Eilat. This time the operation-code-named 'Noah's Ark'-was planned well in advance. The task was the takeover of the weapons-laden 'Karine A'. The actual interception was preceded by months of intelligence activity, code-named Operation Milk and Honey ('khalav u-dvash'). The patrol vessels are too small to carry the commando boats on board, so the latter traveled the entire distance covered in the operation on their own power, refueling several times from the patrol craft. The takeover of the 'Karine-A', which Flotilla-13 personnel executed in 8 minutes without firing a shot, occurred on the night of 3-4 Jan in international waters on the Red Sea, between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, about 500 km from Eilat. Part of the contingent was fast-roped onto the vessel from helicopters, while the rest boarded from the speedboats. The takeover and escort of the 'Karine-A' back to Eilat was supported by IAF attack helicopters. The operation was 0commanded from an aerial platform by Brig-Gen ('tat-aluf') Eli Merom, chief of naval operations ('mispen yam'), with IDF chief-of-staff Lt-Gen ('rav-aluf') Shaul Mofaz also on board. 'Karine-A' arrived in Eilat the evening of 4 Jan 02, the entire operation completed in less than 60 hours.

---Did Israelis forget the attempt to smuggle weapons by sea at time of ARAFAT. There was a scandal! That time noone accused IDF in humiliation of ARABS. Forget charges, recall TERROR.

Explains your way of thinking. You must stop reading THAT racist book.

TOMY you condescending cretin. Maureen Ann's "tribe" is the same as mine and I can assure you not one member of our "tribe" would dare to stop another human being from catching fish in their own territory. Our tribe is of course much more civilised than your "tribe" in the barbarous US.

The bleat of the pathetic children is "but we left Gaza so they should be pleased" or "they should build up Gaza", then we see this again. The Gaza is not Israel. Under the law the waters are not Israels. Under the law Israel must stay 12 nm from the shore and let the people go about their business. Efox, how can the Palestinians build anything at all if they cannot even catch fish to feed themselves? How many laws would Israel think they should be allowed to break before they understand what criminals they are? They are like disgusting and depraved bullies without a trace of regard for human life and should be bloody ashamed of themselves. None of this has anything to do with suicide bombers, it is just bastardry.

For which the Btzelem morons should be all executed .

How to live a piecful,PRODUCTIVE, CONSTRUCTIVE LIFE,Israel will have no reason to check them out. But since they only know how to terrorise, destroy,become martirs, with not a drop of positive impulses,they have to be kept on a short leash.We do not live in 7 century!!!

no matter what Israel does, you will criticize. Sorry but Israel cannot allow MORE arms to enter Gaza. The terrorists are using fisherman and anything else they can find to smuggle weapons into Gaza, A PLACE THAT WAS MADE JUDENREIN AS A BENEFIT TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU, WHOM ARIEL SHARON WANTED TO PLEASE. So once again, when it comes to the safety of hard working people just looking to make a living, who really cares about a few inconvenienced fishermen? On the contrary, this might be a good thing: think of all of the marine life that is being spared.

this is what we can call "collective punishment". Palestinian fishermen are right to complain about the Israeli Navy's behaviour.

B'Tselem and others like that group are heroes of Jewish society. I respect, love and admire them and it is sad that so many Israeli and other Jews do not. These Jews and so many others who put their lives and their safety at risk to help protect both Israel and Palestinians from Israeli extreme elements are people of whom you should be proud.

May I tellyou, Ralph, that most Palestinian people are among the most educated learned people in the world ? They are intelligent, eager to get the best education. Have you ever heard of Israeli racist schoolbooks? I have ! The Palestinians are human beings like you and me.

ISRAEL/APARTHEID IS THE CAUSE OF UNREST. The reason you will not see a day of peace is because ISRAEL IS THE CAUSE OF UNREST. Get off your high and tired horse and make peace with the people you keep trying to oppress. Israel is NO LONGER the only power in the middle east. And Hizbollah proved that. Make peace now under fair terms, or make peace under Iran's Nukes

"According to a report published by B'Tselem, a group that examines Israeli human rights violations in the West Bank in Gaza..." According to Btselem web site it examines human rights violations in disregard who commits them - Israel or Palestinians. So, who is a liar - Btselem or AP?

Fishing is bad! It hurts the little creatures. Where is PETA and other liberal groups?

they are importers of weaponry....under the guise of fishing.

nothing to offer. useless little minds

nothing to offer. useless little minds

that behaves like USrael!? Israel has its eye on something off the coast of Gaza. The find of Palestinian natural gas in 2000! Attacking Palestinian fishermen is just another reminder of the cruel, Israeli brutish takeover, and another way of starving those who rely on the fish for food! Is there no end to Israeli barbarity?

Tilapia is one of the first fish ever farmed and one of the easiest fish to farm. It can live in mud and eat just about anything. Because of this it feeds a lot of Africans and a lot of Indonesians and Chinese Farms can ship it frozen to America and sell it for next to nothing and still turn a profit. It also originated in the waters between Jordan and Israel. Can you teach a Palestinian to Farm Fish?

Obviously no one, any third party, has as of yet checked the alleged Navy's harassment and humaliation of the Gazan fisherman. Hamas is using any do-gooder Israeli "human rights" group to extend their warfare by other means. Morality requires from any human rights organisation to criticise within contextual situation. Evidently, B'Tselem has been behaving in ways that are beyond the realm of reasonableness. Any perpetration of any moral consequences avvived at by a caring group has to withtstand the norm of a third party, which unfortunately in most cases B'Tselem fails at all levels. Thus there is no moral credit to their conclusions based on a ideologcal group, hamas or fatakh, whose aim is to attach to Israel a non existing hurts.

In normal circumstances this would be quite unacceptable behaviour but unfortunately Israel is at war with terrorists smuggling weapons any way they can. And also since some Palestinians turn themselves into human bombs it is understandable that Fisherman under suspicion are asked to strip and swim. Everything has to be understood in context. So perhaps entirely innocent Fisherman who would simply like to earn an honest living are given a hard time. Their complaints however should be addressed to Hamas etc. not the Israeli navy.

that the fisherman can't make a living, but this is only a small part of the self-inflicted tragedy of the Palestinians. It seems like an ongoing tragedy, one that shouldn't have begun in the first place, one that could have been prevented or ended several times in the past, but, through the Palestinians own actions, is continuing without end. I don't think I'll live to see the end of it; will my children or grandchildren?

There is plenty fish in the ocean, let them fish somewere else if they want to eat. But if they want to cause trouble ,let them do what they are doing.We all now that they always like to cry.Thats what are arabs good at.

oh my god how humiliating!!! why is it that arabs are made to show that they arent wearing anything under their clothes??? ohh yeah thats becuase they routinley wear bombs and blow themselves up!!! what do you expect israel and the US to do when operating in arab areas? these people blow themselves up with bombs that they wear under their clothes. yes, i know i just repeated myself, but thats for the slow israeli haters on this board. show me another group of people anywhere in the world that attach bombs to themselves. another thing this story says the fishermen were fired at. umm next question were they hit? i assume no or else it would have said so. these are navy ships going up against fisherman. if israeli ships wanted to sink the fishing boats or kill the men they would have no problem doing so, but obiouvsly they didnt do that. the shots being fired are simply wake up calls since these people werent obeying orders. they were not shot at.

-ssel.