Deaths as Israeli forces storm Gaza aid ship

[Ridgerunner]

And is the billions and billions in aid money that has been sent to the “Israelis” not also used to buy weapons?

Much has. Still, one has to remember that the Israelis have to potentially defend themselves against vastly more numerous Arab Muslims. It is worth noting that, just as with U.S. efforts in Af/Pak, fighting an enemy without slaughtering civilians wholesale is far more expensive than slaughtering civilians on purpose, as Hamas does.

In any event, as Iran’s proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah are the recipients of Iran’s largesse; a whole different category, since much of it is for weapons as well.

If Iran didn’t stage this “protester fight” for propaganda purposes, it should have, since it has proved so pleasing to all of the Israel-haters. But no matter what, this flotilla did not have to have a confrontation with Israel, but chose to have it. So, the real question in all of this is why they did it and who was behind their doing it. Who decided this action? I don’t suppose we’ll ever really know, but I would say more probably than not the whole thing was hatched in Teheran.

 

[Poco]

And is the billions and billions in aid money that has been sent to the “Israelis” not also used to buy weapons?

Yes. So? Heaven forbid Israel tries to defend itself!

But you have obviously missed the point. The “Palestinians” do not seem to be using any of their “aid money” to care for the people, only to buy weapons to attack Israel.

At least Israel has hospitals where its treats the wounded of its enemies as well as its own.

 

[estesbob]

And is the billions and billions in aid money that has been sent to the “Israelis” not also used to buy weapons?

If there is a humantitarian problem in the Gaza strip why do we not see people condemning Egypt who, up until yesterday had closed it borders to gaza also?

The people of Gaza were far better off under Israeli control than they are now. Israel made the mistake of thinking they could secure their southern border by giving the Palestinians Gaza. YThey were “rewarded” for this by increased terror attacks and the takeover of the Gaza Govt by butchers-a govt so bad even Egypt blockades them.

 

[O_Duirnin]

Wow! They’re just “peace” activists. Like I said before, if they came in peace, none of this would’ve happened. And ain’t nobody would’ve to die. I saw dudes clubbing poor soldiers into pulp. Why do you expect the Israelis to do?

Why wasn’t there a single Israeli soldier hospitalised if they were so badly beaten? A few civilians armed with sticks were responded to with machine gun fire. As an editorial in my local newspaper (which usually leans to the right, and has been pro-Israel in the past) noted - “If hostile armed troops suddenly abseil down to a vessel legally at sea, how can the crew and passengers be blamed for resisting?”, going on to state that “If the boot was on the other foot, and an Israeli vessel resited being taken over, the crew would be heroes in Tel Aviv.”

As I have mentioned before, this incident is especially poignant for me as I know one of the captives personally. He isn’t a terrorist - he’s an estate agent. His father and brother are both well-known academics at our local University. Our Lord Provost (Scottish equivalent of a Mayor), who is no radical, was present at the demonstration last night.

I believe a firm boycott of Israeli goods would be very effective. After last year’s Gaza conflict, some British supermarkets actually reduced their stocking of Israeli products as they were not moving off the shelves. I hope the British Government takes the lead in advocating for serious sanctions against the Israeli regime.

Finally, I pray for the safety of all onboard the Irish ship, the Rachel Corrie, which will shortly be leaving for Gaza. The ship’s passengers include Nobel Peace Prize and Pacem in Terris award winner Mairead Corrigan, and 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Hedy Esptein.

 

[O_Duirnin]

If there is a humantitarian problem in the Gaza strip why do we not see people condemning Egypt who, up until yesterday had closed it borders to gaza also?

The people of Gaza were far better off under Israeli control than they are now. Israel made the mistake of thinking they could secure their southern border by giving the Palestinians Gaza. YThey were “rewarded” for this by increased terror attacks and the takeover of the Gaza Govt by butchers-a govt so bad even Egypt blockades them.

Egypt has been condemned. I heard Hosni Mubarak denounced at a local demonstration yesterday, and one of last year’s demonstrations against the Gaza outrage last year specifically targeted the Egyptian Embassy in London. I certainly wouldn’t be taking a holiday in Egypt in the current climate. Indeed, I fear that today’s border opening may prove to be little more than a token gesture which will soon be reversed.

If Hosni Mubarak wasn’t propped up by the West, he would be out of office in a second - he is hated by the Egyptian people. He has strangled Egyptian civil society, squandered the nation’s natural resources, and carried out severe repression against Egypt’s Christian community.

Hamas aren’t butchers. Earlier this year I actually had the privelige to meet face-to-face with a senior pro-Hamas official in the West Bank. He wasn’t a mad Islamist cleric - but a British-educated engineering expert. The election of Hamas by the Palestinian people is an inevitable consequence of the actions taken by Abbas which are almost Vichy-ist with regards to Israel. A lot of their voters aren’t Islamists at all, they just want an effective leadership which will fight the Palestinians’ ground. Should the Palestinian people be punished for their choice in an election which was the freest ever held in an Arab country? Would we question the right of the brave resistance forces in Occupied Europe to resist, from the streets of Paris and Amsterdam to the Warsaw Ghetto?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Why wasn’t there a single Israeli soldier hospitalised if they were so badly beaten? A few civilians armed with sticks were responded to with machine gun fire. As an editorial in my local newspaper (which usually leans to the right, and has been pro-Israel in the past) noted - “If hostile armed troops suddenly abseil down to a vessel legally at sea, how can the crew and passengers be blamed for resisting?”, going on to state that “If the boot was on the other foot, and an Israeli vessel resited being taken over, the crew would be heroes in Tel Aviv.”

As I have mentioned before, this incident is especially poignant for me as I know one of the captives personally. He isn’t a terrorist - he’s an estate agent. His father and brother are both well-known academics at our local University. Our Lord Provost (Scottish equivalent of a Mayor), who is no radical, was present at the demonstration last night.

I believe a firm boycott of Israeli goods would be very effective. After last year’s Gaza conflict, some British supermarkets actually reduced their stocking of Israeli products as they were not moving off the shelves. I hope the British Government takes the lead in advocating for serious sanctions against the Israeli regime.

Finally, I pray for the safety of all onboard the Irish ship, the Rachel Corrie, which will shortly be leaving for Gaza. The ship’s passengers include Nobel Peace Prize and Pacem in Terris award winner Mairead Corrigan, and 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Hedy Esptein.

What in the world was a Scottish estate agent (whatever that is) doing on a Turkish boat headed to Gaza? This smells more like “planned confrontation” all the time.

If Israel was the brutal outfit you all seem to think it is, it would have told the first boat to head to Israel for inspection or be sunk and, upon refusal, the boat would have been sunk. The very fact that Israelis landed on a hostile deck to meet God-knows-what, is a lot more favorable to the Israelis than it is to foreigners who decided to participate in aiding a genocidal gang’s cause in any manner.

The foreigners (especially Westerners) who choose to side with the thugs ought to try an experiment. Try collecting money for Israel in a protest in Gaza City, then, when confronted, resist. Then, and only then, if any of them lived, could they have any authority to compare Israelis to Iran’s proxies in Gaza.

 

[CathFaith1]

I believe a firm boycott of Israeli goods would be very effective.

I don’t.

I believe a better planned Israeli response would be more effective. Something in the nature of the IDF destroying the propellers of the next ship on it’s way. Then tow them. Something to demonstrate a merciful superior force. One who is in the right to begin with.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Egypt has been condemned. I heard Hosni Mubarak denounced at a local demonstration yesterday, and one of last year’s demonstrations against the Gaza outrage last year specifically targeted the Egyptian Embassy in London. I certainly wouldn’t be taking a holiday in Egypt in the current climate. Indeed, I fear that today’s border opening may prove to be little more than a token gesture which will soon be reversed.

If Hosni Mubarak wasn’t propped up by the West, he would be out of office in a second - he is hated by the Egyptian people. He has strangled Egyptian civil society, squandered the nation’s natural resources, and carried out severe repression against Egypt’s Christian community.

Hamas aren’t butchers. Earlier this year I actually had the privelige to meet face-to-face with a senior pro-Hamas official in the West Bank. He wasn’t a mad Islamist cleric - but a British-educated engineering expert. The election of Hamas by the Palestinian people is an inevitable consequence of the actions taken by Abbas which are almost Vichy-ist with regards to Israel. A lot of their voters aren’t Islamists at all, they just want an effective leadership which will fight the Palestinians’ ground. Should the Palestinian people be punished for their choice in an election which was the freest ever held in an Arab country? Would we question the right of the brave resistance forces in Occupied Europe to resist, from the streets of Paris and Amsterdam to the Warsaw Ghetto?

I take it, then, that you maintain the Hamas Charter does NOT call for the killing of all Jews in Israel or, if it says that, Hamas just said that to say it, and doesn’t mean it. Did the Hamas engineer explain that away?

The election of Hamas was due to Arafat’s stealing money given to his charge by foreigners, and the severe discrediting of the Palestinian Authority which resulted.

So a pro-Hamas official in the West Bank (one who, presumably, had no hand in the torture and murder of Palestinian Authority people or the launching of rockets at Israeli civilians) was educated in Britain and possibly even wears a suit, and you are now persuaded by that of everything he told you? What on earth did you expect him to do? Foam at the mouth while gibbering at you how his first goal in life is to kill Jews? But he didn’t do that, so now you buy his whole line.

Now, I have a deal on a bridge in Brooklyn…

And, of course, since Mubarak suppresses the Muslim Brotherhood, the pregenitor of Al Quaeda, some Westerners would like to see a Hamas-like gang of murderers take over Egypt as well. I am inclined to agree that travel to Egypt might not be a good idea right now. But who, besides Western sympathizers, would EVER think it a good idea to visit Gaza, Southern Lebanon or any other place controlled by Iran.

Lots of people in the West believed Stalin’s sales job, too. Probably some still do.

 

[O_Duirnin]

What in the world was a Scottish estate agent (whatever that is) doing on a Turkish boat headed to Gaza? This smells more like “planned confrontation” all the time.

If Israel was the brutal outfit you all seem to think it is, it would have told the first boat to head to Israel for inspection or be sunk and, upon refusal, the boat would have been sunk. The very fact that Israelis landed on a hostile deck to meet God-knows-what, is a lot more favorable to the Israelis than it is to foreigners who decided to participate in aiding a genocidal gang’s cause in any manner.

The foreigners (especially Westerners) who choose to side with the thugs ought to try an experiment. Try collecting money for Israel in a protest in Gaza City, then, when confronted, resist. Then, and only then, if any of them lived, could they have any authority to compare Israelis to Iran’s proxies in Gaza.

An ‘estate agent’ is what you Americans would call a ‘realtor’. And, I should mention that only two of the boats was Turkish. One of the boats was American, another Greek. Another American vessel is in Cyprus, and an Irish vessel which has sailed from Dundalk is expected to leave Cyprus shortly. He was representing our city, and ensuring that the £30,000 of aid (more than any other city in Scotland) which was collected here made it safely to Gaza. I’m proud to state that members of my parish were directly involved in aid collection.

Israeli landed Special Forces, armed up to the teeth, from helicopters onto a civilian vessel. I’m not a violent person - and I know I would have attempted to resist. Israel knew there were no firearms on board - all the ship’s cargo and its passengers had been checked by port officials prior to departure. The ships did not wish for any confrontation, they had pleaded with the Israeli Navy to allow them free passage, as had their respective Governments. Is Mairead Corrigan, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, decorated by John Paul II with the Pacem in Terris award, a mad extemist?

I would hope that a collection for Israel in Gaza City would be tolerated the same way a collection for Nazi Germany would have been tolerated in the streets of Scotland. And your allegation of Hamas as ‘Iranian proxies’ seems to ignore the fact that the Iranians are of an entirely different Islamic denomination to Gazans (there are a few Christians in Gaza too!). Iran and Hamas have had numerous public differences in the past, and Israel has produced no proof of Iranian origin of any of Hamas’s weapons.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t.

I believe a better planned Israeli response would be more effective. Something in the nature of the IDF destroying the propellers of the next ship on it’s way. Then tow them. Something to demonstrate a merciful superior force. One who is in the right to begin with.

Nor do I believe a boycott of Israeli goods is the right thing to do. I will, instead, look up Israeli products and favor any of them I might need.

Probably the confrontationists thought about the propeller thing too, as the Israelis likely did. I imagine the confrontationists had a strategy for that possibility as well; perhaps blowing a hole in the boat so they could claim the Israelis torpedoed it. One way or another, it certainly seems their entire strategy was to create a confrontation with Israel; doubtless aimed at exciting the righteous outcries of the left-wing, anti-Jewish press in the West. I’m sure it won’t be the last thing their handlers in Teheran will dream up.

 

[gnjsdad]

What in the world was a Scottish estate agent (whatever that is) doing on a Turkish boat headed to Gaza?

I can’t say for sure because I don’t know the man, but my hunch is that he is someone who is genuinely moved by the plight of the people of Gaza. I am moved too, but I admit I don’t have the guts to do what that man did.

Ridgerunner:

This smells more like “planned confrontation” all the time.

You know, you’re right on that one. Injustice such as the people in Gaza are subjected to needs to be confronted.

Ridgerunner:

If Israel was the brutal outfit you all seem to think it is, it would have told the first boat to head to Israel for inspection or be sunk and, upon refusal, the boat would have been sunk. The very fact that Israelis landed on a hostile deck to meet God-knows-what, is a lot more favorable to the Israelis than it is to foreigners who decided to participate in aiding a genocidal gang’s cause in any manner.

Ah, yes, the IDF is showing its merciful qualities here. I don’t know why we all can’t see that. They only killed 19 unarmed people instead of sinking the ship outright.

And as for the “genocidal gang”, I have no idea what you’re talking about. If it’s Hamas, the entity Israel played a hand in birthing, then their record in the genocide dept is rather insubstantial.

Ridgerunner:

The foreigners (especially Westerners) who choose to side with the thugs ought to try an experiment. Try collecting money for Israel in a protest in Gaza City, then, when confronted, resist. Then, and only then, if any of them lived, could they have any authority to compare Israelis to Iran’s proxies in Gaza.

Well, I imagine collecting money for any cause in Gaza is rather difficult, since nearly half the population is children and almost all get what little in the way of basic necessities Israel allows them to receive through UN relief. Many homes destroyed by Israel in Operation Cast Lead have yet to be rebuilt because Israel feels that cement in the hands of the Palestinians can be used as a weapon. That was part of what the ship was bringing in.

 

[O_Duirnin]

I take it, then, that you maintain the Hamas Charter does NOT call for the killing of all Jews in Israel or, if it says that, Hamas just said that to say it, and doesn’t mean it. Did the Hamas engineer explain that away?

The election of Hamas was due to Arafat’s stealing money given to his charge by foreigners, and the severe discrediting of the Palestinian Authority which resulted.

So a pro-Hamas official in the West Bank (one who, presumably, had no hand in the torture and murder of Palestinian Authority people or the launching of rockets at Israeli civilians) was educated in Britain and possibly even wears a suit, and you are now persuaded by that of everything he told you? What on earth did you expect him to do? Foam at the mouth while gibbering at you how his first goal in life is to kill Jews? But he didn’t do that, so now you buy his whole line.

Now, I have a deal on a bridge in Brooklyn…

And, of course, since Mubarak suppresses the Muslim Brotherhood, the pregenitor of Al Quaeda, some Westerners would like to see a Hamas-like gang of murderers take over Egypt as well. I am inclined to agree that travel to Egypt might not be a good idea right now. But who, besides Western sympathizers, would EVER think it a good idea to visit Gaza, Southern Lebanon or any other place controlled by Iran.

Lots of people in the West believed Stalin’s sales job, too. Probably some still do.

Sir Jeremy Greenstock, former British Ambassador to the United Nations, former Joint-Chair of the Coaltion Provisional Authority in Iraq, noted that the document referred to as Hamas’s charter was “drawn up by a Hamas-linked imam some twenty years ago and has never been adopted since Hamas was elected as the Palestinian government in 2006”.

The man who I met in the West Bank was an elected official, and yes he did wear a suit. He spoke strongly of his desire for Palestinian reconcilation, and even worked with his opposite number from the PLO/Fatah when he could. When we met with the representative from Fatah, he was far more uncharitable about Hamas than Hamas had been about him. Another Hamas representative (a female lawyer, who wasn’t exactly repressed), spoke of the need to emphasise to the Palestinian youth that the Jewish people were distinct from the Israeli government, and that many Jews both in Israel and internationally had been sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians.

We visited a commemoration of Palestinian prisoners in Israel which had been organised by a vast array of organisations - it even included a Swedish rock band! For all Israel talks about Gilad Schalit, we should recall the 9,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Another member of our delegation spoke to a woman who had been placed in ‘administrative detention’, and detained without trial for two years, upon her return from studying in Europe. She was accused of membership of the PLO and Hamas - despite not being a member of either organisation.

For those who claim that it isn’t safe to walk the streets of Palestine - the British Government disagree with you, and no longer recommend against travel to the West Bank. I walked the streets of Nablus alone, and although I was the only European face in the crowd (apart from a rather sunburnt German academic), I never felt at risk. Nablus recently played host to a delegation from Israel, many of whom were Lieberman supporters, and actually believed the ‘foaming at the mouth myths’. They were shocked to discover that Nablus was full of people who only desired peace and the right to return to what is rightfully theirs. When they sought to return, the Israeli Government refused them permission.

The Muslim Brotherhood has morphed into an organisation which is vastly different from its routes. It is committed to democracy, and it even has Coptic Christian supporters! The Egyptian people see it as the most effective vehicle to bring down the Mubarak regime, and Mr Mubarak agrees with them.

Israel wants you to believe that up is down, that black is white. It wants you to believe that Crimean War technology is equivalent to an F-16. Their state is far more similar to a Stalinist propaganda job than Palestine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

An ‘estate agent’ is what you Americans would call a ‘realtor’. And, I should mention that only two of the boats was Turkish. One of the boats was American, another Greek. Another American vessel is in Cyprus, and an Irish vessel which has sailed from Dundalk is expected to leave Cyprus shortly. He was representing our city, and ensuring that the £30,000 of aid (more than any other city in Scotland) which was collected here made it safely to Gaza. I’m proud to state that members of my parish were directly involved in aid collection.

Israeli landed Special Forces, armed up to the teeth, from helicopters onto a civilian vessel. I’m not a violent person - and I know I would have attempted to resist. Israel knew there were no firearms on board - all the ship’s cargo and its passengers had been checked by port officials prior to departure. The ships did not wish for any confrontation, they had pleaded with the Israeli Navy to allow them free passage, as had their respective Governments. Is Mairead Corrigan, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, decorated by John Paul II with the Pacem in Terris award, a mad extemist?

I would hope that a collection for Israel in Gaza City would be tolerated the same way a collection for Nazi Germany would have been tolerated in the streets of Scotland. And your allegation of Hamas as ‘Iranian proxies’ seems to ignore the fact that the Iranians are of an entirely different Islamic denomination to Gazans (there are a few Christians in Gaza too!). Iran and Hamas have had numerous public differences in the past, and Israel has produced no proof of Iranian origin of any of Hamas’s weapons.

So, you admit that you would not likely survive trying to take up a collection for Israel in Gaza. Well, that’s a start, at least.

I am well aware of the fact that Iranian Persians are mostly Shiite and most Gazans are Sunni. Yes. And Muslim Turkey was allied with the Christian west against the Orthodox Russians. None of that means anything. This is about geopolitics, not religion.

AK-47s are made all over the world. Do you think no Iranian money pays for Hamas’ weapons when Iran sent a whole shipload of weapons to Hezbollah?

So, if armed Israelis landed on a ship you were on, you “would resist” but you are not a “violent person”. You will please excuse my skepticism as to the latter assertion.

These people knew full well that Israel has an arms embargo against Hamas and searches shipments to Hamas. They knew that. So, they “asked” Israel to simply let them ship whatever they wanted to Hamas? Then, they told Israel they would not allow inspection, and it was “game on”. This is so contrived nobody could possibly doubt their intention to create a confrontation with Israel.

And you still haven’t explained the Hamas Charter, which calls for killing all Jews. Want to give that one a try?

I don’t know this Corrigan. But I will point out that Yasser Arafat was also a Nobel Prize winner. I cannot say whether Corrigan is a mad extremist. Perhaps only a gullible person.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hmmm. Looks like the whole flotilla, regardless of the origin of the particular participants, was organized by IHH. This is of interest:

"Turkish-based Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), an Islamic charity that organized the convoy, “has publicly professed connections to Egypt’s Islamic Brotherhood and the Hamas, and has been a central actor of fund raising and financing terror for Hamas around the world”.

A 2006 report by the Danish Institute for International Studies written by counter-terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann described the IHH as a front for funding terrorist organizations and sending fighters to countries such as Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya."

And Al Quaeda is an offshoot of the Islamic Brotherhood. Many Americans learned that after 911.

Yes, yes, the source of my quote is Jewish. But I guess they have as much right to say things as does Hamas and its sympathizers. Right?

 

[Poco]

Maybe it’s just me, but…

I just don’t understand the reasoning behind these “peace loving” folks who continually support terrorist groups and nations which ardently proclaim an extermination of Israel and their wish to push the Jews into the sea and condem Israel for defending itself.

Again I ask the question, if Israel’s neighbors are truly interested in peace, why have they not used aid money, in the billions of dollars, for hospitals, schools, care for the poor, etc.?

It all seems to go for weapons. Well, except for a large chunk which ended up in Arafat’s widow’s bank accounts.

 

[grampben]

Corrigan played a somewhat important role in the troubles. But she openly supports Hamas and her comments on the Iraqi insurgency and the Taliban have me convinced that she, like most ‘pacifists’, isn’t really anti violence, just anti-West.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Jewish source again, so silly me. But it sort of looks like I’m not the only one who believes Iran exports arms to Hamas. Cyprus does too. So, it appears, does the U.S. Now, this is dated 2/14/09.

"Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou said Tuesday that the ship has breached a United Nations ban on Iranian arms exports,.

Cyprus inspected the Monchegorsk twice after it arrived Jan. 29. The U.S. military stopped the ship last month in the Red Sea and said it found artillery shells and other arms on board. But it could not legally detain the ship. "

 

[O_Duirnin]

So, you admit that you would not likely survive trying to take up a collection for Israel in Gaza. Well, that’s a start, at least.

I am well aware of the fact that Iranian Persians are mostly Shiite and most Gazans are Sunni. Yes. And Muslim Turkey was allied with the Christian west against the Orthodox Russians. None of that means anything. This is about geopolitics, not religion.

AK-47s are made all over the world. Do you think no Iranian money pays for Hamas’ weapons when Iran sent a whole shipload of weapons to Hezbollah?

So, if armed Israelis landed on a ship you were on, you “would resist” but you are not a “violent person”. You will please excuse my skepticism as to the latter assertion.

These people knew full well that Israel has an arms embargo against Hamas and searches shipments to Hamas. They knew that. So, they “asked” Israel to simply let them ship whatever they wanted to Hamas? Then, they told Israel they would not allow inspection, and it was “game on”. This is so contrived nobody could possibly doubt their intention to create a confrontation with Israel.

And you still haven’t explained the Hamas Charter, which calls for killing all Jews. Want to give that one a try?

I don’t know this Corrigan. But I will point out that Yasser Arafat was also a Nobel Prize winner. I cannot say whether Corrigan is a mad extremist. Perhaps only a gullible person.

I did not infer that you wouldn’t survive - what I said is that you would be accused of collaboration with the enemy, much like a German sympathiser would’ve been in Britain in the 1940s. You would have the appropriate action taken against you, either imprisonment or deportation. I doubt Palestinian Security Forces would be silly enough to go in Israeli-style with all guns blazing.

The flotilla refused to consent to an Israel search of the cargo as such a search had already been carried out the relevant port authorities in the nations from whence the ships departed. Furthermore, they knew that Israel would remove the building supplies and medical equipment which formed the bulk of the shipment, as these commodities are on Israel’s ‘black-list’ of goods prohibited from the Gaza Strip, in spite of international condemnation.

I’m not saying there isn’t any Iranian money in Gaza - but it’s interesting to note that Qassam rockets are assembled in a ramshackle manner on site with readily available components - and have killed a grand total of one person since January 2009 - compare this to the thousand killed in Israel’s offensives against the Gaza Strip. If Iran was such a big fund-raiser, wouldn’t we see glamorous Iranian rockets lining up on the Gaza frontier, against the glamorous American and British ones on the Israeli side?

I believe the right to resist is sometimes necessary. I’m sure we all would have supported the French Resistance, or the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, or the Russian partisans. The action carried out on the boat did not seriously injure any Israeli soldier, the passengers only aimed to prevent the boat and its cargo from being illegally seized with sticks and stones. Israel responded to this by the slaying of civilians with machine guns.

Mairead Corrigan is an Irish Catholic activist who campaigned for the peaceful resolution of the troubles in Northern Ireland. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 along side Betty Williams, and was awarded with the Pacem in Terris award by HH John Paul II in 1990. She’s active in campaigning for the rights of oppressed people throughout the world, and involved with the Irish pro-life group ‘Consistent Life Ethic’.

 

[Monte_RCMS]

Perhaps if those peaceful, fun-loving neighbors of Israel would stop bombing cafes, nightclubs and busses, firing rockets into civilian areas…

I’m reminded of a quote attributed to Golda Meir,

Just maybe, if some of the billions and billions of dollars in aid that has been sent to the “Palastinians” already had been used to build schools, hospitals, improve infrastructure and care for the poor instead of buying weapons, there would have been no need for such an “aid flotilla”.

Israel has a talent that seems to elude the “Palestineans”: growing food.

When Israel pulled out of Gaza, they left behind a whole hydroponic farm industry. The FIRST thing the Gaza-ites did was to break all the glass in the greenhouses.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Oh, I just read where Israel has released all of the detained confrontationists. No beheadings. Nothing. They’ll all complain of being treated badly by Israel, of course.

Sounds to me like a bunch of, yes, anti-Western leftists who somehow think they’re promoting their own cause by causing confrontations with Israel. There were a lot of people who believed in, and supported the Bolsheviks too. As Solzhenitsyn said of them, they would believe it until they, themselves were ordered “Hands behind your back!” These Irish (and other) activists don’t realize, I guess, that given the chance, these Hamas killers wouldn’t even wipe the blood of the last Jew off their knives before their own Irish heads would be forfeit.

Hopefully few in the West will buy this Kabuki Theatre nonsense. But some will.