MESS Report / Easing of Gaza blockade marks victory for flotilla activists

Until Israel publishes the list of banned goods, all the talking means nothing. Israel needs to publish the list for the blockade to be legal under international law.

Israel could have demanded: 1) Release Shalit in exchange for easing blockade (one Israeli hostage in exchange for Gaza's "hostaged" population) 2) End the blockade when Hamas honors previous Palestinian agreements with Israel.

Ease the siege - Withdraw from occupied territories - Make peace and let us move together to build a new middle eastern region

Anything besides weapons should have been allowed in from the start anyway and the international community has defeated this misdirected effort to make Gazans suffer because of Hamas. Time to resolve the issue by speaking tp Hamas about Hudna and getting Shalit released. Blockade is a failure and its time is over.

I think that when you write "The Turkish passengers who beat Israeli naval commandos with clubs on the deck of the Mavi Marmara..." you are referring to "The Turkish passengers who refrained from killing Israeli soldiers when they could have done so, and paid with their lives for their resistance to the Israeli attack". But yes, you're right: they scored a victory. A victory for themselves, a victory for humanity, and - I'm sorry to say - a victory for Hamas.

Israel has no intention of modifying the siege to any meaningful degree. Just enough goods let through to please the blind Americans. Not enough though to take those already thin Palestinian kids off the diet that Israel has had them on for years.

Israel is not doing the world or the Palestinian people a favour by allowing essential items, like food and writing implements to get into Gaza. It is doing what it should - undoing a wrong. The Palestinian people have been punished for too long.

This 'easing' is still not clear on some key issues and that's the way Israel likes it. IF Israel really wanted to be open and honest then this 'easing' would be transparent and contain no caveats orconditions. Heck, IF Israel wanted world praise then it would lift the blockade completely! and then if HAmas got cocky enough to resume rocket attacks then the ROTW would be rooting for Israel again. I just don't understand why Israel hasn't taken this route unless Israel already knows that Hamas doesn't actually want war again which will negate the whole 'wipe of the map' argument! thus Israels poilicies against this small nation to date.

This is not a victory that now honey and coriander may be allowed in , until israel closes the border again. This movement is not going to stop, until palestine has full control over all their borders, and we will be sending convoys in their hundreds and thousands until there is NO blockade. From an activist in London

A peace boat with jews and muslims urging a free gaza and a free galit will be a great idea.

"The recent cabinet discussions appear to be cementing Israel's image in the Arab - and perhaps also the Western - world as a state that mainly understands the language of force." What's this nonsense about putting in the word "mainly"?

Always ready to recomend and support steps that lead to disasters -and then recomending steps leading to greater disasters.

It isn't justifiable. Has Israel ever thought of trying negotiations and peace instead?

petty the siege was and what WASN'T allowed, despite the Hasbara twaddle. As for Shilat's return, he's a POW, could be there for the duration.. Of course he oughtta get visitation rights, but how many POWs get visitation rights in the hostile entity....Especially when Israeli Law in place since 1948 forbids Shilat's folks from visiting a hostile entity.

Now we are talking. Now we are expecting an apology and a guilty verdict on the attack on flotilla

You guys opening up bottles of Champagne on King George?

"The recent cabinet discussions appear to be cementing Israel's image in the Arab - and perhaps also the Western - world as a state that mainly understands the language of force." and "Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will now be portrayed as the leader who broke Israel's resistance." From the entire flotilla saga the two most significant developments. Both will impact the ME for years to come.

Why are the newspapers including Jerusalem Post and Haaretz fighting shy of publishing the huge catche of arms, amunition, rockets etc seized from the Turkish vessel. Why is the Press so frightened to tell the world the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Our Public Relations should work methodically, systematically and should be the first to report facts which are detrimental to Israels security.

It may be painful to give in to a cheap publicity stunt and paid mercenaries, but the blockade did go too far. No doubt, it's important for Israel to make sure weapons don't get shipped to Hamas, and it's even legitimate to enforce a blockade intended to harm the Gaza economy (it's been part of war for millenia). But the scope of the blockade was too broad. Hopefully, Israel can now protect its security without causing undue pain to Gazan civilians.

How is it every time we have a UN president, he turns out to be a "sheep in wolf's clothing," anti-Israel/ from the Austrian Nazi, Kurt Waldheimer, to Ban ki-Moon, the new Kurt? What drives these lunatics to vote for the Islamic Fascists & against Israel.. One day the whole worl will be very sorry that they hoorrayed all these idiots, from Kurt, to Moon, to Erdogan, to Ahmadinejad & so on --- all EVIL incarnates, pretending to to be morally just, while doing the exact opposite

The article says Israelis 'only understand the language of force' -- well, that' s in keeping with the Zionist "Iron Wall" principle -- surely the end game here of the Zionists is to utterly wear down the Gazans, so that they give up natural resistance, or emigrate to foreign lands and then time will erase their remembrance of their home, and their identity will become little more than an abstraction, and disappear too. That's clearly Israel's long term plan, just as American Indians were exhausted and crushed, and gave up their memories and rights. However -- I just don't think it's going to happen with the Palestinians. World sympathy is slowly but surely, moving to their side. It's Israel who is out of step here -- they just can't see or understand that change that is surely going to move things forward to a new stage, esp as Turkey, Iran and Lebanese people gain confidence and a sense of vindication, and Egypt's leadership is further exposed as a self seeking stooge. Wake up Israel -- what have you done to hold back, and then destroy the two state settllement plan? And you don't want a one state solution -- so -- what do you actually want now?

1)when america insists ,,israel moves. america only insists when it in turn is forced to, and damages itself in the process. 2)israel responds only when forced to do so. we all know that. 3)erdogan is the one who pushed israel to step back even though it has solid american support

Open the Gaza port with a normal customers zone for imports and exports with EU or UN personnel to inspect the goods. Let the people of Gaza build their part of Palestine. It will probably lead to peace more than the illegal siege. . .

This will not restore Israels "International reputation". At least not in a good way. This will merely mute the criticism for the moment. The way it works is this: When Israel commits outrages and infamies and the international community rises in protest, making amends does not restore anything. Most of the time there are wasted lives which cannot be restored. Israels "International reputation cannot be so easily repaired. To make it worse, Israel is only interested in making amends for their inequities when they are forced to.

...in that I wasn't sure if it expressed "exultation," "indignation," a desire to "provoke"--or was simply used because the authors saw it as the most straightforward characterization of what they felt had occurred. (Which means it will make one heck of a good Rorschach Test for talk-backers.)

because the Turkish PM was under pressure from Islamist groups within turkey. The seige is not broken but now the world will see Hamas make bolder steps and the world will turn on Hamas and understand what Israel must do

an Islamist extremist taking Turkey in the wrong direction and the Flotilla is a farce organized by terrorism IHH and Turkey. Turkey will have the same standing as Iran. They did not break the seige. Hamas is still in control Hamas is killing and brutalizing Gaza. Gaza has all the help look at their markets. Anyone who goes is shocked by the excess. What are the writers talking about? Hamas and Iran are going to destroy the Gaza people but not Israel. Turkey was shown to be a priah government.

The people of Gaza want and deserve, like people the world over, freedom of movement, including freedom to visit family members outside of Gaza, freedom to study outside of Gaza, freedom to meet new people. Someone on the Freedom flotilla pointed out that before they were attacked, they were looking forward to playing with the children of Gaza.