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?

An aid ship organized by Jewish activists left the northern Cypriot port of Famagosta on Sunday heading to the Gaza Strip in a bid to break the siege imposed on one and a half million Palestinians for the fifth year running.

The boat named Irene is flying the British flag and is theoretically supposed to arrive at Gaza port within 36 hours.

Reuven Moskovitch, an 82-year-old holocaust survivor, described his trip aboard the boat in a statement to the AFP as a "sacred duty" in his capacity as a holocaust survivor who should protest oppression and siege of this number of people including 800,000 children.

The boat is carrying 10 passengers and crew, including Jews from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Israel along with symbolic aid shipment of children toys, musical instruments, textbooks, fishing nets, and prosthetic limbs.

"The boat will attempt to reach the coast of Gaza and unload its aid cargo in a nonviolent, symbolic act of solidarity and protest -- and call for the siege to be lifted to enable free passage of goods and people to and from the Gaza Strip," organizers said in a statement.

The UN Human Rights Council voted to back a report issued by one of its fact-finding missions that offers clear evidence to prosecute Israel for the deadly attacks on the Freedom Flotilla set to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza late last May.

30 countries voted in favor of the resolution, against the United States who opposed it, while 15 abstained.

The UN-appointed probe of three experts said in a report six months back that the Israeli Navy violated international and humanitarian law by willfully killing and torturing passengers of the Mavi Marmara ship when it attacked it, and described the Gaza siege as unlawful. They added that six of the nine victims on the ship were killed in execution style.

The report was based on Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which relates to the protection of civilian persons at the time of war.

Looking at the list of countries voting in favour quite a few of them should get there own house in order on human rights before worrying about Israel.

In favour (30):Angola, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Ecuador, Gabon, Guatemala, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Thailand, Uganda, and Uruguay.

But it was a UN report in the frst place drawn up by Judge Karl T. Hudson-Phillips, Q.C., retired Judge of the International Criminal Court and former Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago as Chairman. The other appointed members were Sir Desmond de Silva, Q.C. of the United Kingdom, former Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone and Ms. Mary Shanthi Dairiam of Malaysia, founding member of the Board ofDirectors of the International Womens Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific and formermember of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

They are harly biased in the way that you are suggesting of the members voting for the report. What is more significant are the 15 countries abstaining with just the Us voting aginst it.

UN General assembly? or another piece of politically motivated UNHRC garbage?

From wikipedia:

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR, herein CHR), and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly. The council works closely with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and engages the United Nations' Special Procedures.
The General Assembly established the UNHRC by adopting a resolution (A/RES/60/251) on 15 March 2006, in order to replace the previous CHR, which had been heavily criticised for allowing countries with poor human rights records to be members.[1][2]
According to human rights groups, the council is controlled by a bloc of Islamic and African states, backed by China, Cuba and Russia, who protect each other from criticism.[3] UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and former High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson have criticized the council for acting according to political considerations as opposed to human rights. Specifically, Secretaries General Kofi Annan and Ban Ki Moon, the council's president Doru Costea, the European Union, Canada and the United States have accused the council of focusing disproportionately on the IsraeliPalestinian conflict.[4][5][6] The United States boycotted the Council during the George W. Bush administration, but reversed its position on it during the Obama administration.[7]

Haystack - I wasn't suggesting they are biased but lots of those countries have no moral authority to be judging Israel as they themselves commit far worse human rights abuses on a regular basis (China being the largest and most obvious example.)

It is not the countries judging Israel. Thery are just accepting the report, they didn't write it. The report is the most important part and it is that which should be uppermost in people's minds.

.......and no evidence was taken from Israel !
And that's unbiased ? !

Parrot won't get a response from me if he addresses me.......I mean you can't communicate with a parrot, can you?
It just err....parrots whatever it hears.....and furiously flaps its wings in vain.

Come back Monty Python........all is forgiven.

Haven't bothered to read this thread for a while but having skimmed through, a few comments stood out, the most hilarious being Haystack's claim to be capable of rationalised debate. Now that really is funny, on quite a few ocassions Greg you have been proven wrong, but rather than admit to such you deflect the subject on another tangent. Laughable quite frankly, which I guess is why you are treated with such contempt, not your entrenched position on the Israeli subject.

No evidence was taken from Israel, because they refused to cooperate with the report. The authors of the report asked for evidence from Israel. Israel never accepts any criticism for any one, especially when they are wrong.

Now Israel attacks other Jews as well in another illegal ship boarding.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11433836

Israeli forces 'Tasered' activist on Gaza aid boat

Jewish activists who sought to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza say they were treated harshly when Israeli forces seized their vessel.

Yonatan Shapira, an Israeli air force pilot turned peace activist, said he was shocked with a Taser gun while passively resisting arrest.

And a British journalist said he was "ambushed" and "almost strip-searched" by commandos on board the vessel.

"After they boarded, I was standing with my hands around Reuven Moskowitz, the 82-year-old holocaust survivor," he told BBC News. "We were trying to protect each other and singing: 'We shall overcome.'

"The Israeli navy captain came closer and pulled out his Taser gun and said: 'If you don't let go... it will hurt.'

"We continued to hug and he shot me twice on my right shoulder. It was painful, but not as bad as the third shot.

"He moved the life vest I had on, so he could reach closer to my heart and shot me, which made me lose control of my body. It felt like an epileptic attack or something.

The Irene, dubbed the Jewish Boat for Peace, was carrying what the activists called a symbolic amount of medicine, a water purifying kit and toys.

Wow - 'almost strip searched'. Do you suppose that was stripped and almost searched? Or searched and almost stripped?

Very naughty of the Israeli's to try and search arrestees. Or is it?

Ambushed? What part of his account describes the ambush? From what he describes he was just standing there having a cuddle when he was approached and arrested.

He was warned it would hurt if he didn't surrender peacefully. He didn't surrender. And it hurt. And he whinges about it hurting. Is he nuts?

What a complete load of tosh.

G

Oncd again it was an illegal stoppage of a ship on the high seas. I suppose we are to expect this sort of piracy on a regular basis now from Israel.

Once again another ship full of bleeding heart activists try to take on a military blockade, use passive resistance when caught and complain loudly to the world's eager press that they got manhandled and try to dress it up as a barbaric, savage and unjustified assault. Nutcases, liars, drama queens and losers.

All sailing in international waters and being illegally stopped by Israeli pirates. The illegality was highlighted in the recent report into the previous act of piracy by experts in international law.

Haystack

Try to get it right man.

There are conflicting legal opinions out there, and a balanced individual would see that it is a grey area.

For example, from Reuters: Under the law of a blockade, intercepting a vessel could apply globally so long as a ship is bound for a "belligerent" territory.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65133D20100602?pageNumber=1

The one thing they all agree on is that it is not an act of piracy. Piracy only deals with private conduct, not with state actions. Your use of the word piracy is another attempt to add your personal prejudiced spin.

Don't parrots sit on the shoulders of pirates?

You can see the way hay crapper's twisted mind works.........

The United Nations report is the only extensive study into the actions and circumstances raleting to the stopping of the flotila. reuters may have an opinion on the matter and its advice comes form advisors the the US government. The United Nations report is quite clear that the stoppage of the ships is illegal under internastional law.

The same can be said of an occupying force building settlements in occupied teritory. The list of illegal activities by Israel is a very long list.

zzzzzzzzzz.......................

Good heavens Haystack. Your spelling and grammar are sinking to the standard and clarity of your arguments. I'm afraid you're now failing to meet the minimum requirements for either.

Yip, Piracy, incorrect description of Israeli actions, like to retract that one Haystack, or are you sticking by it?