Deaths as Israeli forces storm Gaza aid ship

Stolly

Stolly

Stolly

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More than 10 people have been killed after Israeli commandos stormed a convoy of ships carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army says.
Armed forces boarded the vessels overnight, clashing with some of the 600 protesters on board.
It happened about 40 miles (64 km) out to sea, in international waters.
Israel says its soldiers were shot at and attacked with bars and knives; the activists say Israeli troops came on board shooting.
The European Union has called for an inquiry to establish what happened.
'Guns and knives' The six-ship flotilla, carrying 10,000 tonnes of aid, left the coast of Cyprus on Sunday and had been due to arrive in Gaza on Monday.
Israel says its soldiers boarded the ships in the early hours but were attacked with knives, bars and live fire.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/10195838.stm

Watching the footage on the BBC website it seems that the protesters grappled with the fellows coming down by rope from presumably a helicopter. Which is a monumentally stupid thing to do.


Also, it seems that the Israelis were not armed with "non lethal" weapons which is unfortunate to say the least.


Either way, plenty of blame to go around.
 
The Israeli forces act more and more like the wehrmacht every incident. Use lethal force first, and ( maybe ) ask questions later.

You would have thought they had learned from history... seems not.

When your armed forces know that just about anything they do will be tolerated by the command, you end up with bad situations.

And if it was international waters, and the Israeli forces boarded the ship while armed, isnt that state sanctioned piracy? considering they had no UN resolution to so do.
 
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International waters ffs, they seem to on a downward spiral of stupidity at the moment and I can't see it being long before one of the western big players tells them so.
 
AtreuS said:
The Israeli forces act more and more like the wehrmacht every incident. Use lethal force first, and ( maybe ) ask questions later.

You would have thought they had learned from history... seems not.

When your armed forces know that just about anything they do will be tolerated by the command, you end up with bad situations.
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Neither of us were there, but if i was facing armed troops with a known history of "Use lethal force first, and ( maybe ) ask questions later." i'd be very careful of doing things like the protesters seemed to be doing in the BBC footage.
 
LOAM said:
International waters ffs, they seem to on a downward spiral of stupidity at the moment and I can't see it being long before one of the western big players tells them so.
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From my understanding of maritime law they do have a legal right to board those vessels. Shooting protesters is something different.
 
Stolly said:
Neither of us were there, but if i was facing armed troops with a known history of "Use lethal force first, and ( maybe ) ask questions later." i'd be very careful of doing things like the protesters seemed to be doing in the BBC footage.
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Maybe they had a false sense of safety as they knew they were in international waters, and that the military would have to be raving mad to attack ships there.... oh wait this is the Israeli army we are talking about, normal rules dont seem to apply!

I dont know about anyone else but the actions of the israelis as a state seem now to be, do as you wish and if anyone says that its wrong to scream "anti semitic!!!" and go on about how you must also be a holocaust denier as well or other such crap.
 
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Stolly said:
From my understanding of maritime law they do have a legal right to board those vessels. Shooting protesters is something different.
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Oh indeed they can board them for inspection but it's usually done in a polite manner with the permission of the captain and not with guns out and hot.
 
Surely to god if they suspected smuggling they should have let the ships enter palistinian or israeli waters and do it then. It would still be wrong but at least it would respect the international agreements.

In one fell swoop the nation of israel as effectivley stuck its fingers up at everyone on the planet and said "screw you we can do as we like... what-cha gonna do about it eh? nuke us?" :o
 
They've parked three boats or ships by Iran as well. The country's getting ratty.

Edit - from the newsarticle :

"A leader of Israel's Islamic Movement, Raed Salah, who was on board, was among those hurt."

Maybe that's who they were after.
 
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That aid flotilla - besides carrying 700 activists and humanitarian workers - was carrying such dangerous contraband "that Israel bars from reaching Gaza, like cement and other building materials. The activists said they also were carrying hundreds of electric-powered wheelchairs, prefabricated homes and water purifiers."
Sounds vicious, Israel, really dangerous
 
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Greenlizard0 said:
They've parked three boats or ships by Iran as well. The country's getting ratty.

Edit - from the newsarticle :

"A leader of Israel's Islamic Movement, Raed Salah, who was on board, was among those hurt."

Maybe that's who they were after.
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Also included

"Among the 600 or so passengers on the ships were Mairead Corrigan Maguire, an Irish Nobel peace laureate, several Euro MPs , and an elderly Jewish survivor of the Holocaust."

I wonder what they thought of this?
 
Is any one surprised at this you only have to think of Tom Hurndall and Rachel Corrie.

As for the claim of gun smuggling, typical isrealie smoke screening. I highly doubt the people on these boats would do that - the tunnels are a more likley route in.
 
There's one simple question that I don't get.... Just what was this ship? :confused:

Was it a ship full of aid supplies or not? As a ship with 600 protestors (allegedly with weapons) ≠aid ship.
 
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