News: Israel Attacks Gazan Aid Flotilla - Page 2

On May 31 2010 15:24 Empyrean wrote:


http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=85024

Don't read the general forum if you're not going to contribute anything meaningful.

On May 31 2010 15:58 illu wrote:

I agree with that. That ship looks perfectly harmless and it's certainly not a battleship.

However, all of the suicide bombers look 'harmless' too. They either go by themselves, or drive a car (which is not a conventional weapon).

On May 31 2010 16:02 EmeraldSparks wrote:

These ships are carrying members of parliaments across Europe, former American congressmen, Nobel Laureates and the like. It would be absurdly unlikely that they would be bearing firearms or explosives.

On May 31 2010 16:02 EmeraldSparks wrote:

These ships are carrying members of parliaments across Europe, former American congressmen, Nobel Laureates and the like. It would be absurdly unlikely that they would be bearing firearms or explosives.

On May 31 2010 15:19 IntoTheWow wrote:


lol

On May 31 2010 16:06 Empyrean wrote:

This puts Israel in a really tough spot diplomatically. What IF weapons were found on some of those ships carrying those notable people? Lusitania style :/

On May 31 2010 16:10 EmeraldSparks wrote:

This would, full stop, be the best possible thing that could happen for Israel diplomatically.

Total public relations coup. Tremendous victory. Terrible terrible discrediting of anti-Israel factions.

On May 31 2010 16:12 Empyrean wrote:

I suppose you're right, actually. In any case, I highly doubt there were weapons or any other things that could be used to aid militants. It could be argued that food or whatever could be used to feed radical Islamist groups, but that's just reeeeally stretching it at that point.

On May 31 2010 16:10 EmeraldSparks wrote:

This would, full stop, be the best possible thing that could happen for Israel diplomatically.

Total public relations coup. Tremendous victory. Terrible terrible discrediting of anti-Israel factions.

On May 31 2010 16:20 Vivi57 wrote:

So what happens if Israel decides to plant weapons on the ship and say they found them there?

On May 31 2010 16:08 ilbh wrote:


I wonder why you lol'ed...

On May 31 2010 16:27 General Nuke Em wrote:
They attacked Israeli commandos with axes and knives. What did they think was going to happen?

Gaza flotilla drives Israel into a sea of stupidity
Of course the peace flotilla will not bring peace, and it won't even manage to reach the Gaza shore. The action plan has included dragging the ships to Ashdod port, but it has again dragged us to the shores of stupidity and wrongdoing

By Gideon Levy
The Israeli propaganda machine has reached new highs its hopeless frenzy. It has distributed menus from Gaza restaurants, along with false information. It embarrassed itself by entering a futile public relations battle, which it might have been better off never starting. They want to maintain the ineffective, illegal and unethical siege on Gaza and not let the "peace flotilla" dock off the Gaza coast? There is nothing to explain, certainly not to a world that will never buy the web of explanations, lies and tactics.

Only in Israel do people still accept these tainted goods. Reminiscent of a pre-battle ritual from ancient times, the chorus cheered without asking questions. White uniformed soldiers got ready in our name. Spokesmen delivered their deceptive explanations in our name. The grotesque scene is at our expense. And virtually none of us have disturbed the performance.

The chorus has been singing songs of falsehood and lies. We are all in the chorus saying there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We are all part of the chorus claiming the occupation of Gaza has ended, and that the flotilla is a violent attack on Israeli sovereignty - the cement is for building bunkers and the convoy is being funded by the Turkish Muslim Brotherhood. The Israeli siege of Gaza will topple Hamas and free Gilad Shalit. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy, one of the most ridiculous of the propagandists, outdid himself when he unblinkingly proclaimed that the aid convoy headed toward Gaza was a violation of international law. Right. Exactly.

It's not the siege that is illegal, but rather the flotilla. It wasn't enough to distribute menus from Gaza restaurants through the Prime Minister's Office, (including the highly recommended beef Stroganoff and cream of spinach soup ) and flaunt the quantities of fuel that the Israeli army spokesman says Israel is shipping in. The propaganda operation has tried to sell us and the world the idea that the occupation of Gaza is over, but in any case, Israel has legal authority to bar humanitarian aid. All one pack of lies.

Only one voice spoiled the illusory celebration a little: an Amnesty International report on the situation in Gaza. Four out of five Gaza residents need humanitarian assistance. Hundreds are waiting to the point of embarrassment to be allowed out for medical treatment, and 28 already have died. This is despite all the Israeli army spokesman's briefings on the absence of a siege and the presence of assistance, but who cares?

And the preparations for the operation are also reminiscent of a particularly amusing farce: the feverish debate among the septet of ministers; the deployment of the Masada unit, the prison service's commando unit that specializes in penetrating prison cells; naval commando fighters with backup from the special police anti-terror unit and the army's Oketz canine unit; a special detention facility set up at the Ashdod port; and the electronic shield that was supposed to block broadcast of the ship's capture and the detention of those on board.

And all of this in the face of what? A few hundred international activists, mostly people of conscience whose reputation Israeli propaganda has sought to besmirch. They are really mostly people who care, which is their right and obligation, even if the siege doesn't concern us at all. Yes, this flotilla is indeed a political provocation, and what is protest action if not political provocation?

And facing them on the seas has been the Israeli ship of fools, floating but not knowing where or why. Why detain people? That's how it is. Why a siege? That's how it is. It's like the Noam Chomsky affair all over again, but big time this time. Of course the peace flotilla will not bring peace, and it won't even manage to reach the Gaza shore. The action plan has included dragging the ships to Ashdod port, but it has again dragged us to the shores of stupidity and wrongdoing. Again we will be portrayed not only as the ones that have blocked assistance, but also as fools who do everything to even further undermine our own standing. If that was one of the goals of the peace flotilla's organizers, they won big yesterday.

Five years ago, the noted Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who is a Jerusalem Prize laureate, after concluding his visit to Israel, said the Israeli occupation was approaching its grotesque phase. Over the weekend Vargas Llosa, who considers himself a friend of Israel, was present to see that that phase has since reached new heights of absurdity.

On May 31 2010 16:28 EmeraldSparks wrote:

Source?

The activists were not carrying guns, but television footage shown by al-Jazeera and Turkish television channels show hand-to-hand fighting, with activists wearing life-jackets striking commandoes with sticks...The Israeli army said its troops were assaulted with axes and knives.