Will this increase or decrease the likelihood of terrorist actions in America, Europe and the rest of the world?

If you were a member of a family murdered in this conflict, would you be seeking revenge?

Should Tzipi Livni and Ehud Olmert, be tried for war crimes if or when this conflict comes to an end?

What will the price of oil be in 4 weeks time?

Wrong place to start a barbecue
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Six Palestinians have died in an explosion in a smuggling tunnel under the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, medical officials say.

At least 14 were injured in the blast, which is believed to have been caused by a cooking gas cannister exploding.

Palestinians regularly smuggle arms from Egypt

Muslim killing Muslim

I must have missed that chapter in the Quran


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan The coordinated attack on two mosques that killed more than 80 members of a minority Muslim sect in Lahore was carried out by six men affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban, the police said Saturday.

not exactly on subject, but i have just read about zakir naik, the inflammatory muslim demagogue, being granted a visa by the foreign office to visit uk.
even many (uk) muslims denounce this appalling man, as indeed one would expect of this respected sector of our society.
however, it makes one question whether the civil service acts in its properly impartial role .... of course not, is the obvious answer, so now theresa may, under whose department this falls, will have to (one hopes) overrule this decision, though she should not have been put in that position in the first place.
the pathetic response from the foreign office was that his visa could be withdrawn if zn "misbehaved" himself ..... but why grant him access in the first place?

The FCO has a long and dishonourable tradition, dating back to TE Lawrence, of pampering to Arab and Muslim sensibilities often to the detriment of UK interests.

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i'm sorry to say that ITLB is absolutely right in stating that FCO has a long history of duplicity while sailing just barely inside the guidelines etc.

no doubt FCO would argue that ZN has not actually done anything illegal which, while true, does not mean that he should be welcomed into this country, where his presence will assuredly and intentionally be inflammatory and worse ..... as highlighted even on this board!

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i am not asking the gov't to nanny me or anyone else, but i have strong objections to the likes of ZN being given a platform in uk .... never forget that freedom of speech also carries limitations and responsibilities ..... if that is too obtuse for you, then try, freedom of speech does not give the right to spread hatred

i challenge you to convince this board that ZN has a right to be given entree to this country to propound exactly those principles, if that is what you wish to call them

if he wants to expound them from india, whence he hails, then indeed there is nothing we in the uk can or should do to stifle them - that is a call for the powers that be in india

and just a minor aside, whatever the Sunday Times is or is not, it is not a tabloid!

Freedom of speech and freedom of expression come with a responsibility not to spread racial, religious, ethnic, or similar hatreds.
That is recognised in our laws and is nothing more than the common sense and toleration required for people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs and orientations to live together with a modicum of civility and civilisation.
The propagation of extremism and intolerance has never led to anything other than injustice and suffering.

they may want to use him as a judas goat
to draw out other extremist loonies

still waters run deep

camelot - that had crossed my mind, but i rejected it as clumsy and ineffective .... the loony adherents could easily be gleaned from zn's web site, which there assuredly is

internet cafe links allow anonymity

some are connected to moneyam

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/10196585.stm

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Another proud moment for the Israeli administration.

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I see Hamas are getting smarter. First there was the call for Gaza residents to stop buying Israeli goods and to stop Gaza residents to work on illegal Israeli settlements in occupied territories.

The attempted running of the Israeli blickade of Gaza was another clever move. Israeli has severly messed up the operation to stop the flotilla of boats. They are now receiving condemnation from every quarter.

Israeli government press officers have been briefing journalists that the aid flotilla is not necessary. Israel says it allows 15,000 tons of aid into Gaza every week.

But the United Nations, which calls the blockade a "medieval siege", says this is only a fraction of what is needed and less than a quarter of what was coming into Gaza before the blockade was enforced.

To make matters worse Israel performed the action in international waters. The boats would be entitled to use force to repel the Israeli commandos. The Israeli action is one of piracy on the high seas.

The blockade has been going for more than 3 years. I started when Israel decided it didn't like Hamas being the democratically elected government of Gaza.

Information now leaking out that the flotilla was organised by IHH, a Turkish radical islamic group linked with Al-Qaeda and islamic jihad, with form for weapons trafficking and arming and sponsoring suicide bombings and terror attacks in Europe and the middle east.

Independant Danish report on IHH

An extract from the Danish study:

Turkish authorities began their own domestic criminal investigation of IHH as early as December 1997, when sources revealed that leaders of IHH were purchasing automatic weapons from other regional Islamic militant groups. IHHs bureau in Istanbul was thoroughly searched, and its local officers were arrested. Security forces uncovered an array of disturbing items, including firearms, explosives, bomb-making instructions, and a jihad flag. After analyzing seized IHH documents, Turkish authorities concluded that detained members of IHH were going to fight in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya.

According to a French intelligence report, the terrorist infiltration of IHH extended to its most senior ranks. The report, written by famed counterterrorism magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere, revealed that IHH President Bulent Yildrim had directly conspired in the mid-1990s to recruit veteran soldiers in anticipation of the coming holy war [jihad]. In particular, some men were sent into war zones in Muslim countries in order to acquire combat experience. Furthermore, in the hopes of obtaining political support from these countries, financial aid was transferred [on behalf of IHH], as well as caches of firearms, knives, and pre-fabricated explosives. An examination of IHHs phone records in Istanbul showed repeated telephone calls in 1996 to an Al-Qaida guesthouse in Milan and various Algerian terrorist operatives active elsewhere in Europe including the notorious Abu el-Ma`ali, who has been subsequently termed by U.S. officials as a junior Osama Bin Laden.

During the later Seattle trial of would-be Al-Qaida Millenium bomber Ahmed Ressam, federal prosecutors called French magistrate Bruguiere to the stand as an expert witness. Bruguiere testified that IHH had played [a]n important role in the Al-Qaida Millenium bomb plot targeting LAX. Under repeated questioning, Bruguiere insisted that [t]heres a rather close relation:


If this is as true as it appears to be, the I'll join the public indignation at Israel having flouted international law by boarding the flotilla in international waters, but privately will sleep better at night knowing that yet another bunch of crazies has been stopped in its tracks before it gets a chance to bomb Israel, London, or wherever the fancy takes them. Sometimes the law trips itself up when circumstances are different to those envisaged when the law was penned. In the case of crazed islamic jihadists, sod international law - give me increased security in my own home any day of the week.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he "deplored" the loss of life on the flotilla and was seeking more information and urgent access to any UK nationals.

In a statement, he said: "There can be no better response from the international community to this tragedy than to achieve urgently a durable resolution to the Gaza crisis.

"I call on the government of Israel to open the crossings to allow unfettered access for aid to Gaza, and address the serious concerns about the deterioration in the humanitarian and economic situation and about the effect on a generation of young Palestinians."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy accuses Israel of a "disproportionate use of force".

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to cut short an official trip to Latin America to deal with the political fallout of the Israeli action.

Turkey says it is recalling its ambassador from Tel Aviv.

Turkish foreign ministry warns Israel of irreparable damage to bilateral ties.

"This deplorable incident, which took place in open seas and constitutes a fragrant breach of international law, may lead to irreparable consequences in our bilateral relations," a statement read.

Greece has withdrawn from joint military exercises with Israel in protest at the attack on the Gaza flotilla.

Athens has also barred the head of the Israeli airforce from flying to Greece.

The Greeks have long had warm relations with the Palestinians and are furious with the Israelis for carrying out this raid in international waters.

Mr Yahya was told in no uncertain terms that Greece held Israel responsible for their safety. One of the vessels currently being escorted by the Israelis towards the port of Ashdod is sailing under a Greek flag.

The Arab League calls an emergency meeting on 1 June to discuss Israel's "terrorist act" against the flotilla.

Sweden summons the Israeli ambassador to Stockholm over the "unacceptable" action.

High Representative Catherine Ashton expresses her deep regret at the news of loss of life and violence and extends her sympathies to families of the dead and wounded. On behalf of the European Union, she demands a full enquiry about the circumstances in which this happened.

She reiterates the European Union's position regarding Gaza - the continued policy of closure is unacceptable and politically counterproductive... She calls for an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of the crossing for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza.

SENIOR UN OFFICIALS ROBERT SERRY AND FILIPPO GRANDI

We are shocked by reports of killings and injuries of people on board boats carrying supplies for Gaza, apparently in international waters. We condemn the violence and call for it to stop. The situation is still ongoing and we are awaiting confirmation of what has happened.

We wish to make clear that such tragedies are entirely avoidable if Israel heeds the repeated calls of the international community to end its counterproductive and unacceptable blockade of Gaza.

Gausie [Send an email to Gausie] [View Gausie's profile] - 24 May 2010 20:01 - 2184 of 2285
Will you hell.

Of course the israeli military are not terrorist. Israel, like any other western democracy, has it's loose canons and abu graib's. But these are the exceptions - and the bad apples are prosecuted and punished with the full weight of the law. I, like Israel, wholeheartedly condemn the actions of the individuals involved in the rubber bullet incident.

heh....no comments

This blockade action doesn't look like loose canons at all. This is what we have come to expect from Israel. Their responses are usually disproportionate. Even the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he is fully behind the military action over the flotilla. No difference between this action and the Somali pirates.