IDF preparing for forceful interception of Libya-sponsored aid ship bound for Gaza
An internal IDF probe into May 31 Gaza flotilla incident found only professional mistakes in planning and carrying out the operation.
By Anshel Pfeffer and Amos HarelThe IDF is preparing for the forceful interdiction of a Libyan sponsored ship allegedly headed for the Gaza Strip, despite lingering criticism over the handling of the interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla on May 31 in which nine people were killed, military sources told Haaretz yesterday.
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The aid ship commissioned by a Libyan state charity prepares to set sail to Gaza on July 9, 2010. |
| Photo by: AP |
An internal military probe into the incident released yesterday found only professional mistakes in planning and carrying out the operation against the Mavi Marmara.
The Libyan ship could come within range of the Gaza-shore tonight, but at this stage it is still unclear whether its captain will opt to head for the Sinai port of El Arish, where it will instead aim for Gaza. In its official log the ship has El Arish as its destination.
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Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, June 12, 2010.a |
| Photo by: Daniel Bar-On |
The same military sources said yesterday that the report by Maj. Gen. (res. ) Giora Eiland's internal military probe was acceptable to the Israel Defense Forces' General Staff.
The sources added that in future attempts by ships to break the blockade over the Gaza Strip, it will not be possible to have "100 percent intelligence," but this could not act as an excuse not to take action to block the flotillas.
The IDF committee headed by Eiland, appointed a month ago to investigate the incident involving the Mavi Marmara, presented its conclusions yesterday. According to information made public, the committee found serious flaws in intelligence gathering on the flotilla, the cooperation between various intelligence organizations, the preparation of the operational plan and the takeover itself.
Despite its conclusions, the committee did not recommend any punitive steps against individuals involved in the planning and the execution of the operation.
The committee's 100-plus page report was presented yesterday to Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. In a statement to the press, Eiland said, "I was glad the investigation found that there were no flaws or negligence in anything significant, however there were mistakes at relatively high ranks, whose results were not what had been planned."
Eiland also noted that there were "some commendable things," mostly in the way the naval commandos conducted themselves on the ship and in the evacuation of the injured.
During the takeover of the Mavi Marmara, the troops faced violent opposition by a mob of activists who used metal bars, axes, firebombs and apparently also firearms. During the fighting, nine Turkish activists were killed and 51 injured, while nine naval commandos were injured, three seriously.
The committee described the failures in the planning and preparatory states as "mistakes" and not "negligence."
The committee did not focus on the decision-making of the political leadership, and did not examine the possibility of immobilizing the ships clandestinely in the ports of departure.
The committee focused on the operational considerations of the IDF ahead of the takeover, in the planning, the intelligence gathering and the execution of the mission.
After consulting with experts in the field of naval sabotage, the committee concluded that it had been impossible to stop the Mavi Marmara in open seas by striking at its engine or propeller without endangering the integrity of the ship.
Eiland said that in the past the navy had looked into developing a method for this but other matters had higher priority and the time frame for its development would have been two years.
The committee concluded that the sole way to prevent the flotilla from reaching the Gaza shores was through the takeover of the ship by naval commandos.
The committee said that the takeover plan was made on the assumption that resistance would be sporadic and there had been no prediction of mass violence by the activists.
The committee also found that the operational orders of the mission were lacking.
Moreover, the plan did not leave options for alternative means of takeover during the operation, if conditions changed, or in case resistance by the activists intensified.
For example, there was a ship available that could have directed powerful streams of water at the activists, but this was not used.
The committee found that in at least four cases the passengers on the Mavi Marmara used firearms against the troops. One of the first commandos on the ship was hit with a bullet in the abdomen. The committee believe that this was the first shot fired during the operation.
Some of the other shots were fired from pistols taken from the commandos.
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Has everyone forgotten that the British navy after World War II boarded and commandered ships headed for Palestine full of desperate Jewish survivors. Ships were intercepted in international waters. What was Britain's authority for doing this - the Mandate conferred of them by the League of Nations or, more truthfully, British government policy that had little or nothing to do with the Mandate. It was British oil interests in the Middle East that were being protected. Oil happened to be located in Muslims lands. Israel has the right to protect itself by all means from ships that are more interested in causing trouble than sending aid. If aid was the main thing on their agenda they would simply follow Israeli instructions to make certain the supplies were delivered. Who are they trying to fool?
Let us hear evidence from Turkey. This was clearly a case in which Israel wanted to send a strong signal. They prepared a military action against a civilian aid ship that had two goals: 1. break the embargo, which was a plitical motive and 2. deliver much needed aid to a population living under seige. Their ship was attacked in international waters and the invading military force was met with resistance. Israel knew this and had prepared for an attack to send a clear meassage that any further attempts to break the embargo would be dealt with by military violence. They used Turkey, a Muslim nation, as an example so they could justify their attack as a defensive action against terrorists. This was to be used for propaganda purposes. The example had been set. Any violaters of our seige will be attacked and Turkey will serve as the example. Why? Because they are Muslims, so they can be made out to be terrorists. When the crew resisted with what they had on any ship, they were termed not resisters but terrorists and Israel thought it had achieved its goal. But it has failed and more ships will be coming throwing the focus on conditions in Gaza and the inhumanity of the seige and Israel, not defesive behaviour but their brutality.
Last time Bibi pathetically went running to Obama first for the go ahead to board the ships and Obamas condition was ok its got to be done peacefully. So instead of boarding the ship and firing rubber bullets and using tear gas which although would not exactly be a peaceful way of doing things it would probably have meant the situation could be controlled without the need for the commandos to draw their pistols and the ship could have been taken using non lethal force. Instead they took paintball guns which are not going to stop anybody and their pistols for if their lives were in danger and the result was people got killed and injured. Next time if the ship must be boarded then use more force and take control of the situation before there is a need to draw the pistols.
Boring and predictable.let al the world's flotillas come why not? They will return with their tails between their legs and KAPUT wham,bang thank you MAM..Will the blockade end ? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Whar a wist of time effort and AGGRAVATION meantime.Still the IDF will not be confronted this time with:IRON BARS,GRANADES,KNIVES,Etc etc...At least one hopes.Meantime I am going to have A ZEEEES Yaaaawing like mad!
We'll beat him into submission. If that doesn't work, we'll just let him do his thing, he won't make a difference. Keep going Israel. Your day of reckoning is coming.
Do the Israeli citizens know how many Gilad Shalit is suffering in Gaza, are they aware of the sittuation. What will happen if many countries activists will send 100 flotilas each month, why do they send ? why do the people in general does not like zionism and zionists ? Yeah Israel is very powerful country but it can not deal with Hizbollah, with Hamas and also with unarmed civilians at flotilas ? Why Israeli government does send submarines to Persian Gulf? I hope there will never happen war but if happens , I am sorry to say that but Israeli Government and its Zionist politics will cause and start it.
What are you smoking. You are seeing illusions. Iran,Liban declared but declined very quickly. Where was Hizb? Hizbuallah doesn't say anything. The next coming ship is from Libya, almost 1 month passed by the flotilla incident. I think that ship would go to Egypt. I don't think they would do a mistake to breach the siege. Your wishes does not come true.
The world would be better off, if everybody would first and foremost tend to homemade problems. In that sense I wish Turkey would solve her problems with the Kurds, human rignt violations, illiteracy (to name just a few). Or is Erdogan dreaming of a new Ottoman empire? World history has many examples where leaders go external just to avoid tackling the internal mess.! And Oezquer: mentioning Gilad Shalit in this context is just bad taste!
to the guys on the Lybian and all the other aid-ships. Make sure the champagne is chilled and the canapes are ready. Israeli commandos do expect to be welcomed and not resisted...
What a comedy of errors is all tis about? Funny the Gazans must be laughing their heads off. Seriously though,this time there will be any iron clubs,chains,granades.All will be hunky dorry once the y dock at El Arish.Best of luck to the valient IDF commanders.
Lebanon 2 was a fiasco that did huge damage to Israel's international standing. Cast Lead was a fisaco that did huge damage to Israel's international standing. The Freedom Flotillia was a fiasco that did huge damage to Israel's international standing. In all cases, the Israeli investigations concentrated on comparatively minor tactical blunders. In all cases, the investigations ignored the basic message - do not use overwhelming firepower to kill Muslim civilians while refusing to free the Palestinian people and instead proceeding with the settler land grab. If Israel doesn't learn that lesson, it will repeat that same fundamental mistake and eventually it will lose because even America will turn against it.
with Iron rods that beats, mobs and takes hostage the soldiers. They were not a muslim civilians but militians that had come to fight and to die for their cause. They get what they wanted. It seems you don't get the lesson.Probably you are one of them and you'll repeat the same fundamental mistake by attacking to Israel.
If you don't want to listen to my advice, feel absolutely free. Israel's killing of civilians and its clear bad faith on the peace process are steadily putting it on a confrontation couse with the world. It's a bit like Sebia in the 1990s. Eventually the US will abandon Israel, just as Russia abandoned Serbia. And at that point Israel, like Serbia, will find itself a small, lonely country, surrounded by enemies and crippled with sanctions. Serbis survived the experience, just, after losing big chunks of its territory. Israel may not survive.
Perhaps I should say ' appropriate'. Such are the fortunes of war, a war that is forced upon Israel. I have got to ask them, do you feel lucky terrorist punks? To the victor belong the spoils and Israel SHALL be victorious. If they wish to keep their ships from being impounded then they WILL respect the naval blockade. Cross the line and pay the price. AND THEY WILL PAY THE PRICE ! It is their choice. Actually I would send them to the bottom without a warning shot.
Israelis(like me) live in the middle-east, a tough neighbourhood- many people around the world don't understand why Israel is doing what she's doing but there are many fanatic people in the area- the iranian regime for example which killed its own civilians last year in the opposition protests. one look at Iraq will show you how blood this area is- if they are capable to kill each other in Iraq- then they will kill israelis and call them pigs/monkeys. Hamas is Iran. Hamas is a section of the muslim brothers movement which is very fanatic- even Egypt fights hamas smugglers trying to get arms into the gaza strip.
If their intentions are really pure as most Israelis believe- then they should be scorted peacefully to the Ashdod port or the El-arish port in Egypt, whichever they prefer
Why deviate from not going to El Arish? That sounds as though they still are deliberately asking for trouble.As for Ashdod,I'd much prefer El Arish. But if they insist on straight to Gaza,then they are asking for trouble.And that will never be acceptable.
Israel is at war with Hamas, due to the Hamas charter, their ongoing rocket attacks into Israel and their inhumane treatment of Gilad Shalit. Stopping ships is standard procedure in war. What part of that doesn't the world understand?
you have evidence of this inhumane treatment ?
1. Piracy on international waters 2. Disproportionate weapons usage. 3. Inhumane treatment of injured people 4. Confiscation of all recordings from journalists. 5. Avoiding international probe.
Can anyone other then HAMAS can reach him. You can even justfy if he is dead or a live. Only HAMAS claims that he is alive. Is this a humane treatment?
He's completely isolated, no one has seen him except hamas. on the other hand- hamas prisoners in Israel get full rights and even finish university titles. By the way- did you see the hamas mickey mouse videos on youtube and what he says there?? calls for martyrdom, spreads hate and ignorance.
That's the trouble brett we don't.Since Hamas will not even allow the RED CROSS in to see him? Judge for yourself and make not wrong assumptions by thinking he may be fine. Funny statement no?
would you ask an evidence. I doubt you have any humanity in you. Inhumane evidence is he has no means to access any daylight.
"Israel is at war with Hamas". Open your eyes and see the truth, Moshe. You are oppressors, occupiers, you have pounded Palestine and the Palestinians with your 'unbeatable' army, and weaponry. This is not war.
Attacking the Mavi Marmara was a screwup and only gave bad publicity. It gave the Egyptians the opportunity to loosen their border controls, thus making the siege ineffective. An attack on this new flotilla, more will come, will only weaken a position which already is worse than hopeless.
It was the reverse.The IDF went in to calm the sitution and what did they receive in return? One IDF soldier as thrown overboard,the rest attacked with irin bars,knives,granades etc And before the IDF boys were going to be LINCHED they had to fire to protect themselves.Hey Cohen are you with us,or AGAINST?
It is clear that most Israeli Jews do not understand that these aid ships are also carrying the preservation of Israel. If Israel does not reform itself very soon--it will die by self emolation. Sad--but inevitable.
what a bunch of nonsense ! the regimes that will die, are the totalitarian ones, like in Iran, north Korea.. etc.. as you can see, communism also broke apart, as these kind of regimes dont work
YOU are a totalitarian regime. You have continued to piss off your Arab inhabitants, many of whom want nothing to do with Hamas and other such ilk. You continue to treat the Pals as worse than dogs. You continue to uphold a brutal and illegal occupation of internationally recognized Palestinian land. Terrorist settlers are allowed to kick out Pal families, and get protection from the IOF (Israeli Occupational Forces.) And you wonder why you are so detested around the world.
I hope nobody gets hurt. But if it comes to a fight, God Bless The IDF! PS. I hope the boat docks in Egypt and doesn't force Israel to do something rash. You see. If the Libyans really wanted to help they could talk directly to Israel instead of forcing themselves into the situation. But they don't want to recognize Israel and talk to them, so that's why there's a problem. Hey you guys! Let's all stop fighting. I'll bet the majority of us all have the same Grandmother, if you travel back 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. It might even have been, much closer than that. I'm positive!
like sail in a civilian vessel in international waters... what a rash and provocative act...
It means they would not show any resistance like Rachel Corrie when they try to breach the siege. If they would resist then they would get what they want like Mavi Marmara.
of our own claustrophobic clan. We should take into account also the law and lore beyond that as perceived by own own choice octonegarians...
but force from the most moral army in the world
"IDF preparing for forceful interception of Libya-sponsored aid ship bound for Gaza" Proof-positive that if you aren't willing to accept the blame for your cock-ups then you will just keep on repeatin' 'em.....
The only proof-positive is the response to the same provocations, Johnny. The ship had announced its original intention of Israelis delivering the goods, if they wish so. Now as they actually approach, they are fully blant on goping to Gaza. Which should tell you right away the original verbage was nothing more than PR stunt to heighten anti-Israeli emotions and percetion, if the takeover does take affect. They have sewed the peaceful intent into people`s minds, when in actuality they will force the forceful takeover and the negative PR on Israel from the get go. Thus negating any positive moves on the part of Israel or Israeli basic `must` in this whole concept, drawning it in overall negativism & criticism I do not have to tell you why is this a simple PR / testing the `waters` / attempt at humiliating for Israel breakage of the blockade ploy. However, for an oridnary simpleton it should be noted at least such fact that humanitarian aid on this ship equals to 1 gazillions of humanitarian aid flowin into Gaza from Israel. In many instances sabotaged by Hamas for the same PR ploy.
That ship will enter the blockade zone. Israel has two choices: (a) let it go through to Gaza, or (b) storm it with soldiers. Since it is undeniably true that the LAST time the IDF sent its stormtroopers onto a ship that A Whole Lotta' People Got Killed then you'd think that the sensible decision would be to try option (a) for a change. But that doesn't look likely, does it? And the reason *why* it doesn't look likely is because the clowns that run Israel are insensitive to criticism and incapable of introspection.
Meaning the ones who shoud be accused of cockups are the silly flotilla's so-called aid bunch. Gazan must be enjoying the pantomime.They admited no need for any goods,which is true.But they are most certainly getting their propaganda through. Think about it will ya?
Correct assumptions to the likes of Johnboy who has made up his mind from get go.Without ant cogent proof.Yes Tony it was a proper PR exercise which does not augur well to Israel.Still let us wait to see if they go to El Arish as it was planned or become belligerent which would indictate their modus operandi as did with the Marmara.However, I feel almost certain these lot will not descend to the behaviour of the THUGS who came prepared with a multitude of weapons to cause mayham. As usual you are a voice of reason much appreciated.
Nice ship ! Israel should just take it and add it to their fleet.
After some sixty odd years of land theft, I guess adding a ship or two would seem quite normal.
"thou shalt not steal" ?
Go and kill a fly with a sledgehammer and an anvil.....:)
i'd like to see evidence of such accusations. please show me proof, preferably photographic or video, that all who died were "trying to kill our soldiers".
The activists had captured and disarmed three Israeli commandos on board the ship. There are numerous smuggled photographs showing the activists in possession of commandos with one of them receiving first aid from the Turkish doctor. If the intention was to kill, many commandos would be dead.
If one does not want to get killed by a soldier exercising his right to self defence, then one should not try to kill said soldier, and/or become a member of a terrorist organisation. Have you ever heard of that one?
Far too hungry because you omited seeing the VIDEOS. Why not give it another try and WATCH the whole video?Then it remove the scales from your eyes...
Of course we all saw all the photographs and the videos.The ones who are disputing it are WALKING WITH EYES EARS TIGHT SHUT!
What a surprise! only 'professional mistakes' that led to the death of 9 human beings. Of course no punishment needed, on the contrary plenty of reasons to praise the commandos. God help this people because no human reasoning can. Hopefully the Israelis are not 'that" professional with the Libyan aid ship.
The 9 persons killed were not exactly Ghandians on a peace mission...they got what they deserved. Also if the aim was to kill then that boat would/could have been blasted out of the water in the 1st place. Wake up..
stop lying to yourself. "got what they deserved"? for what? their deaths were crimes. i can't believe you people are still arguing this. to recap: international waters. civilian boat. illegal blockade. illegal raid. neutral flag.
There was live broadcast from the ship until the end of the raid. If they had used lethal force in front of the eyes of the world, there wouldn't be an Israel today as we know it.
Confronted by people with all those weapons,throwing one IDF soldier overboard,knives irin bars hitting and injuring you severlyu you'd mumble your inanities in ABLINK OF AN EYE.Fools like you are so predictable...
In related news, a new study put forward by BP scientists has deduced that the oil spill was entirely justified. The only errors were in communication and preparation. BP highly commends itself for its actions during and after the spill, and would like a cookie now.
Absolutely perfect.
eh, israel is also capitalistic, has caused just as many disasters, and--let's be honest here--is a "european civilization". or at least they want to be. i will however admit that sea turtles are probably more apt to trust israel than they are bp.
"[You] must humbly confess that [you] trust more Israel [in] the hypocrite[sic] brutal [force] of [its] truly [arrogant] [purported] civilization.
You don't want an international investigation to uncover the warcrimes Israel has committed, especially during the illegal blockade of Gaza, and the subsequent actions, including the siege of the Mavi Marmara. So you'll readily accept a complete and total Israeli whitewash of warcrimes. After all, you don't want to be inconvenienced by the truth.
would be for future flotillas to be escorted by UN-sanctioned naval vessels while in international waters. Such a sonic-boom aggressor should quickly find his engine exhaust intercepted by a Sidewinder or three. End of problem.
Have more good brain cells to put terrific propositions where others in the upper echelons may not. A good suggestions that could have been applicable.And then PROBLEM SOLVED BEFORE IT BEGINS.
Hopefully the volunteer Libyan and foreign shahids are manning and not "womanning" the boat by hiding amongst civilian cover. Good luck to the IDF commandos if they have to board the ship. I'm sure they've upped the ante for clearing the deck with more effective crowd control measures if needed. Things have sure quieted down back in Iran after Ahmadinejad jumped at the opportunity to stick his foot in his mouth and promise dramatic reinforced relief after being shown up by Turkey, only to place his paper tiger boat filled with paper IRGC troops in the water off Bandar Abbas and watch both them and his ego sink with the first wavelet that came ashore.
The reality is that these "blockade busting" flotillas as you call them were successful in 1. Further exposing israel's totally foolish and ineffective blockade 2. Helped "bust" this blockade to some degree and 3. Be a trail blazer for many more flotillas to come. BTW, any news on the results of the flotilla investigation?
You would love to see Israel lift all blockades around Gaza and turn a blind eye to its rearmament by Iran and to see more deadlier rockets fly deeper into Israeli cities and more terror squad strikes on Israeli families neighboring the border and deep into Tel Aviv, and to see the final realizing of the Hamas Charter for the dissolution of the Jewish State so you don't have to waste your time criticizing it anymore. You see, this Israeli blockade that's been setup to counter the Hamas you don't know is neither "totally foolish" nor as "ineffective" as you naively claim.
But with their derrier..We have said all this rigamarol is not because Gaza needs the goodies,but to stop the BLOCKADE.That it will not IS A GIVEN..Trying as hard as they can,but will end up with the STATUS QUO anyhow.
is interfering right now with the efforts to get Shalit back home and acheive a Settlement for Israel and the Palestinians. Israel and the Palestinians could have negotiations right now but crackpots like Gadhafi are going to pull out all the stops to make a mess of it all before it all occurs. Gadhafi doesn't care about the Palestinians. When Arafat was being kicked out of Beirut, Gadhafi advised Arafat to "commit suicide." All Gadhafi is concerned about is appearances. That's why he has all those outfits and goes around with all those Women Bodyguards. He is the complete Hollywood Stereotype. He isn't like Mel Gibson however. He's more like Hugh Hefner. Hugh Hefner knows how to treat a woman the right way!
All respect for you has dissipated like a mirage in the desert heat waves, Yosemite. Hugh Hefner, disrober of women, creator of bunny costumes for women, withered master of three little girls who were supposedly his lovers, cultivator of brainless sex robots--Hugh Hefner, I spit on you.
If there really existed that sort of thing, Jews and Muslim Guys wouldn't be fighting. They'd all be looking for Robots! Oil Can anyone?
Aren't you confusing the 2 Ghadafi's ....The son is the one heading the relief ship ....
Actually Gaddafi is the only one making sense right now with the one nation for Jews and Arabs. And by the way you don't understand anything about his female bodyguards. It's his way of saying that women are equal to men.
The Palestinians were given a huge propaganda victory by Israel in the Flotilla Fiasco. Now Israel is determined to deliver another huge victory by thinking with it's muscles instead of it's brains. Nothing new in this. A nation once known by it's guile and craft is now a nation which thinks that the jackboot is the answer to every problem. Palestinian Jews, in the mid-1940s, fully well understood that every time the Brits jackbooted a shipload of refugees seeking a new home in Israel it was an immense moral victory for those seeking a Jewish Homeland. They kept it up, the Brits never bothered to think beyond the Royal Navy and the joy of sending refugees to concentration camps, or back to Germany. There were lots of ships and plenty of refugees. The Brits, rushing to destroy the empire they sought to preserve, never did get it.
How else the situation could have be handled without IDF using force or firing their weapons.
The shootout really was the only option, wasn't it? Israel certainly couldn't have asked the flotilla to have the cargo inspected by a respected NGO in a third party harbour. Sabotaging the engine/propeller of the ship was totally out of the question. Oh and don't even think about suggesting that Israel shouldn't have been blockading all kinds of goods from reaching Gaza in the first place, you'd just be acting silly. After all Israel had an elaborate plan that would keep the Gazans above the limit for starvation. When you think about it sending a dozen or two of twenty-something kids to control a crowd of 300 people who think the kids represent the opression of millions of their relatives or countrymen makes perfect sense. What's even more reasonable is to equip them with paintballguns (which is known to be the best non-lethal weapon in the world, forget about pepperspray and stunguns and other toys). And if things turn bad they've always got their handguns! The fact that the brave lads had the option of shooting either paintballs or 9mms at the angry crowd, which was about 20 times as big as their force, meant that all bases were covered. Whoever led the raiding party also deserves some recognition. Some weak-willed people might have aborted the operation when it was apparent that the crowd did not want to sing kumbaya around a little campfire with the Israeli soldiers. But our brave commander did not only rescue all of the Israeli soldiers (which was to be expected) but also proceeded to take control of the whole ship and killed 9 terrorist, stellar work! Some terrorist supporters could claim that it might not have been completely necessary to kill and wound all those people, but we know that is false. In fact we're so sure that we don't need to release the videos of the shooting or allow people who investigate it to talk to the soldiers. All in all a job well done (and if anyone says something differently he's an anti-Semite).
Even the police can handle a few civilians with bars, sticks and knives. As far as I know, Shayetet 13 are supposed be the most elite naval commandos in the whole middle east. They could have very well handled the situation with non-lethal means if that was their intention.
The shootout really was the only option, wasn't it? Israel certainly couldn't have asked the flotilla to have the cargo inspected by a respected NGO in a third party harbour. Sabotaging the engine/propeller of the ship was totally out of the question. Oh and don't even think about suggesting that Israel shouldn't have been blockading all kinds of goods from reaching Gaza in the first place, you'd just be acting silly. After all Israel had an elaborate plan that would keep the Gazans above the limit for starvation. When you think about it sending a dozen or two of twenty-something kids to control a crowd of 300 people who think the kids represent the oppression of millions of their relatives or countrymen makes perfect sense. What's even more reasonable is to equip them with paintballguns (which is known to be the best non-lethal weapon in the world, forget about pepperspray and stunguns and other toys… we’ve got paint!). And if things turn bad they've always got their handguns. The fact that the brave lads had the option of shooting either paintballs or live ammunition at the angry crowd, which was about 20 times as big as their force, meant that all bases were covered. Whoever led the raiding party also deserves some recognition. Some weak-willed people might have aborted the operation when it was apparent that the crowd did not want to sing kumbaya around a little campfire with the Israeli soldiers. But our brave commander did not only rescue all of the Israeli soldiers (which was to be expected) but also proceeded to take control of the whole ship and killed 9 terrorist, stellar work! Some terrorist supporters could claim that it might not have been completely necessary to kill and wound all those people, but we know that is false. In fact we're so sure that we don't need to release the videos of the shooting or allow people who investigate it to talk to the soldiers. All in all a job well done (and if anyone says something differently he's an anti-Semite).
The other day, Shalev, wrote to Ban: "Israel reserves the right under international law to prevent this ship from violating the existing naval blockade on the Gaza Strip." Supposing the blockade is permissible under international law, she makes a valid point. However, international law does not permit encroachment on a foreign vessel in international waters. It is really as simple as that, for those who know no different or are confused. Arguments against that basic fact are simply moot. And one should not believe those who say that the perimeters of a blockade can be legally altered immediately at the discretion of the blockade enforcing country. An important question has arisen subsequent to the flotilla raid: Should there be an international investigation, as opposed to an internal investigation? The Turkish Foreign Minister answered this question perfectly, during his recent meeting with William Hague: There must be an international investigation because "the accused cannot be prosecutor and judge at the same time". If indeed the prosecution in a case can also be its judge, the fact still remains that the whole world has no confidence in the credibility of the state that perpetrated this serious yet deliberate mistake, which continues to bring into question not the greatness of its military, but the soundness of its rationale.
...An important question has arisen subsequent to the flotilla raid: Should there be an international investigation, as opposed to an internal investigation? The Turkish Foreign Minister answered this question perfectly, during his recent meeting with William Hague: There must be an international investigation because "the accused cannot be prosecutor and judge at the same time"... Very true. However, such cases pertained to Israel are those rare oximorons when the very logic becomes ilogical. And that is selective would be international prosecutors and judges goldstoning Israel with almost predetermined outcome for multiple, various entities, parties & groups with huge political, moral you name it anti-Israeli agenda. There is not a shred of a doubt they would have. And than as if to add the insult to injury, it would have been regarded as an epidomy of credibility & fairness by (of all people) reasonable & intelligent masses supporting such agenda.
At least that investigation would have been FAR more credible than the sham Israel held. Israel just LOVES to whitewash their warcrimes, and crimes against Humanity. It seems to be something they excel at.
TonyL, I think I understand what you mean. The problem is, there aren't so many oxymorons with all conflicts relating to Israel, because international law is a guideline by which the international community should act - in times of conflict and peace. Pushing or crossing the boundaries just cannot be accepted. Israel is in a difficult region, that's true, but is it not also true that it isn't making its life easier than it could if it were to revise its foreign and domestic agenda? I don't even think Goldstone should be brought into this, because the arguments against Justice Goldstone's credibility just won't work.
TonyL, I think I understand what you mean. The problem is, there aren't so many oxymorons with all conflicts relating to Israel, because international law is a guideline by which the international community should act - in times of conflict and peace. Pushing or crossing the boundaries just cannot be accepted. Israel is in a difficult region, that's true, but is it not also true that it isn't making its life easier than it could if it were to revise its foreign and domestic agenda? I don't even think Goldstone should be brought into this, because the arguments against Justice Goldstone's credibility just won't work.