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?

cynic
No the war crimes refer to the Israeli soldiers behaviour during incursions into Gaza. You seem to be jumping to unwarranted conclusions.

yeah yeah .... are you a paid-up member of the lunatics?

They will be best of friends in the fullness of time
Just like the europeans

lol

Haystack - 04 Jun 2010 20:17 - 2578 of 2584
Hamas is never going to stop hating Israel.

Yaaaaaaaaaawn

cynic

These war crimes!

From the Independent last September

UN says Israel should face war-crimes trial over Gaza

Israel targeted "the people of Gaza as a whole" in the three-week military operation which is estimated to have killed more than 1,300 Palestinians at the beginning of this year, according to a UN-commissioned report published yesterday.

A UN fact-finding mission led by the Jewish South African former Supreme Court Judge Richard Goldstone said Israel should face prosecution by the International Criminal Court, unless it opened fully independent investigations of what the report said were repeated violations of international law, "possible war crimes and crimes against humanity" during the operation.

Using by far the strongest language of any of the numerous reports criticising Operation Cast Lead, the UN mission, which interviewed victims, witnesses and others in Gaza and Geneva this summer, says that while Israel had portrayed the war as self-defence in response to Hamas rocket attacks, it "considers the plan to have been directed, at least in part, at a different target: the people of Gaza as a whole".

"In this respect the operations were in furtherance of an overall policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population for its resilience and for its apparent support for Hamas, and possibly with the intent of forcing a change in such support," the report said. It added that some Israelis should carry "individual criminal responsibility."

The UN report found that the statements of military and political leaders in Israel before and during the operation indicated the use of "disproportionate force", aimed not only at the enemy but also at the "supporting infrastructure". The mission adds: "In practice this appears to have meant the civilian population."

The report also says that vandalism of houses by some soldiers and "the graffiti on the walls, the obscenities and often racist slogans constituted an overall image of humiliation and dehumanisation of the Palestinian population". Hospitals and ambulances were "targeted by Israeli attacks."

* The first bombing attack on Day One of the operation when children were going home from school "appears to have been calculated to cause the greatest disruption and widespread panic".

* The deaths of 22 members of the Samouni family sheltering in a warehouse were among ones "owing to Israeli fire intentionally directed at them", in clear breach of the Geneva Convention.

* The firing of white phosphorus shells at the UN Relief and Works Agency compound was "compounded by reckless regard of the consequences", and the use of high explosive artillery at the al-Quds hospitals were violations of Articles 18 and 19 of the Geneva Convention. It says that warnings issued by Israel to the civilian population "cannot be considered as sufficiently effective" under the Convention.

* On the attack in the vicinity of the al-Fakhoura school, where at least 35 Palestinians were killed, Israeli forces launched an attack where a "reasonable commander" would have considered military advantage was outweighed by the risk to civilian life. The civilians had their right to life violated as under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). And while some of the 99 policemen killed in incidents surveyed by the team may have been members of armed groups, others who were not also had their right to life violated.

* The inquiry team also says that a number of Palestinians were used as human shields - itself a violation of the ICCPR - including Majdi Abed Rabbo, whose complaints about being so used were first aired in The Independent. The report asserts that the use of human shields constitutes a "war crime under the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court."

the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ratcheted up the pressure on Friday, saying he did not view Hamas, which runs Gaza, as a terrorist organisation.

In a televised speech Mr Erdogan described Hamas as "resistance fighters who are struggling to defend their land".

Turkey has warned it might reduce economic and defence ties with Israel following Monday's raid, which took place in international waters.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said Ankara was "assessing deals with Israel", until now a close ally.

Any idea how difficult it is to search a ship at sea haystack?

Stupid question really, of course not

So Turkey doesn't view Hamas as a terrorist organisation. Where does Turkey's treatment of the Kurds fit in all this? Another reason why Turkey, sadly, doesn't yet belong in the EU.

ptholden

In a statement, the White House reiterated its belief that the blockade of Gaza was "unsustainable".

Some of the ships involved were quite small and easy to search. Other countries have managed to stop and search.

In May 1948, during a military intervention, launched and maintained in defiance of Security Council resolutions for a cease-fire, Egypt established a general blockade against Israel and began to visit and search ships of all nations passing through the Suez Canal. The Egyptian Government established a long list of items including ships, important categories of goods, and particularly petroleum, as subject to seizure as "contraband" if found destined for Israel. Vessels transporting or suspected of transporting such goods were detained for visit and search.

The basic legislation under which the Egyptian authorities obstruct free navigation in the Suez Canal is to be found in the decree of 6 February 1950, the Arabic text of which was published in the Egyptian Official Journal (No. 36) dated 8 April 1950. Article I reads:

"The searching of ships for purposes of seizing war contraband shall take place in accordance with provisions hereunder."

Article III provides:

"Force may at all times be used against any ship attempting to avoid the search. Where necessary by firing so as to force it to stop and submit to the search. Where the search subsequently reveals that the ship is not carrying any contraband, it shall be permitted to continue its voyage. "

OR

The US Secretary of Defence, Mr Robert McNamara, said in Washington last night that armed boarding parties would be ready to search about 25 Russian cargo ships moving towards Cuba when the US partial blockade of Cuba comes into effect at 3pm (BST) today. The proclamation giving effect to the blockade was signed by President Kennedy last night.

The testimony from Israeli soldiers admitting to acts that can be described as war crimes indicates that they were forced to commit these acts. Many of the soldiers knew that what they were doing was wrong and they were not happy to be forced to behave that way. Many of them said that they would resist being involved in future incursions into Gaza because of the brutality that they had displayed.

It is is instructive to remember that the defence of 'only following orders' did not cut much ice in a previous conflict,

Take a look at Saturday's Guardian.

Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range

Exclusive: Nine Turkish men on board Mavi Marmara were shot a total of 30 times, autopsy results reveal.

Israel was tonight under pressure to allow an independent inquiry into its assault on the Gaza aid flotilla after autopsy results on the bodies of those killed, obtained by the Guardian, revealed they were peppered with 9mm bullets, many fired at close range.

Nine Turkish men on board the Mavi Marmara were shot a total of 30 times and five were killed by gunshot wounds to the head, according to the vice-chairman of the Turkish council of forensic medicine, which carried out the autopsies for the Turkish ministry of justice today.

The results revealed that a 60-year-old man, Ibrahim Bilgen, was shot four times in the temple, chest, hip and back. A 19-year-old, named as Fulkan Dogan, who also has US citizenship, was shot five times from less that 45cm, in the face, in the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back. Two other men were shot four times, and five of the victims were shot either in the back of the head or in the back, said Yalcin Buyuk, vice-chairman of the council of forensic medicine.

He calculated that during the bloodiest part of the assault, Israeli commandos shot one person every minute. One man was fatally shot in the back of the head just two feet in front him and another was shot once between the eyes. He added that as well as the fatally wounded, 48 others were suffering from gunshot wounds and six activists remained missing, suggesting the death toll may increase.

The new information about the manner and intensity of the killings undermines Israel's insistence that its soldiers opened fire only in self defence and in response to attacks by the activists.

"Given the very disturbing evidence which contradicts the line from the Israeli media and suggests that Israelis have been very selective in the way they have addressed this, there is now an overwhelming need for an international inquiry," said Andrew Slaughter MP, a member of the all party group on Britain and Palestine.

The blockade may have been brocken from the Egyptian side.

05/06/2010 - 10:08 AM

Egyptian MP Dr. Hazem Farouk has announced that a land convoy would head to Gaza on Monday loaded with construction material in implementation of the Arab League resolution and in harmony with Egyptian authorities' indefinite opening of the Rafah crossing.

Meanwhile, thousands of Egyptians hit the streets of various cities on Friday. They called for trying the Israeli war criminals, breaking the siege on Gaza, and retaining the Rafah crossing open on permanent basis.

haystackPLEASE dont tell me you believe this back of the head propaganda?


The Gaza flotilla stunt is just the latest effort in an ongoing campaign to delegitimize the Jewish state with the aid of distorted, negative media coverage. As you know, violent anti-Israel activists attempted to break Israel's legal blockade of Gaza, defying orders to turn back. Prepared with weapons and gas masks, they attacked Israeli soldiers seeking to redirect their vessel to the port of Ashdod.

Those waging a PR war against the Jewish state frequently use outright lies to make their case. The misinformation then spreads globally when anti-Israel detractors post distorted, false comments on Web site forums, blogs and news sites using any news article as a pretext to malign Israel and its policies. Unfortunately, such comments do influence readers and public discourse and contribute to the decline of Israel's reputation internationally.

If it was not so sad it would be laughable.

YUff,

I quite agree with you.

The Israeli commandos and soldiers were fleeing from from the Armada. up the ropes into the rescuing Israeli helicopters.


All the bullets were being fired from invisible guns and arms of the Palestinians and the action took place thirty miles inside Israel.

The action was seen in the centre of Jerusalem by crowds of onlookers and independent witnesses.


Nobody was kill and I can't see what the fuss is all about.

Bloody Arabs are rising up again, We must put them back in their place and kick them out off our land.

They have a very nice ghetto of their own. We made it for them.

They have nothing to grumble about, we remember we feed them Bs at least twice a week.







Have a nice day.

It is interesting that the autopsy reports in the Guardian tally with accounts from people on board the ship. The close range bullets to the head match accounts that one of the commandos dropped a hit list of activists to be disposed of. The six missing activists match accounts that the commandos shot and threw overboard wounded activists. Put it another way, I certainly don't believe Israel's account.

The Turkish PM claims that Hamas (the democartically elected government of Gaza) are freedom fighters and not terrorists. This sound very similar to the fact that the Israel government is dominated by very right politicians who have had among their number many terrorists who Israel used to claim were freedom fighters and who committed many terrorist outrages such as the bombing of the King David Hotel. There doesn't seem much to distinguish one from the other except a different time frame. I seem to remember the Israeli 'freedom fighters' trying to delegitimize the British rule in Palestine at the time and killing many British people. It all looks exactly the same.

personally, i don't believe any of the stories emanating from this bunch of mad dogs ...... none of them will be telling the whole truth, but that should come as no surprise ..... a few tankloads of phosgene gas should sort them all out once and for all

Marmara

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=MB-Mk4bFz-U

Blockade is illegal. International waters. But when would that worry the jews of Israel.

Lets see how brave they are when Turkey go to the blockade fully armed, and tooled up with Turkish war ships in convoy, bet the jews are not as quick to try to board navy ships, unlike civilian boats with peaceful punters on.

.