JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

06/01/10 04:48 PM

The whole deal was to break the blockade and after that on next round start delivering weapons to Hamas. I suspect the plot was concocted by Turkey and Iran. Now Turkey crying wolf expecting outcome from the start I am sorry for anyone used as pawns and killed implementing the plot.

06/01/10 04:49 PM

The incident regarding “peaceful” flotilla remind me the old soviet joke known during the conflict with China over mutual border. The official Soviet paper Pravda reported that 4 Chinese tanks crossed the border and attacked a peaceful Soviet tractor working in the field. Then Pravda went on. Responding to the attack the tractor fired on and destroyed Chinese tanks”

06/01/10 05:13 PM

The problem with the IDF in this case, as is plainly visible in the videos, is that they used their equivalent of Navy Seals improperly (they were outnumbered) and they underestimated the activists’ willingness to use violence. 

It is important that Israel now use its PR machine to reiterate that the flotilla and particularly the Turkish contingent are backed by Islamists who are willing to play games to force Israelis into a position where they end up using lethal force. 

If the IDF had invaded the ship with an overwhelming force, the activists would have stood down and would not have been able to initiate violence against the soldiers leading to a lethal response by the IDF.

06/01/10 05:21 PM

God bless Israel. They should do what it takes to keep their country secure.

06/01/10 07:04 PM

You should all be ashamed of yurselves, justifying Israli storm troopers attacking attacking an unarmed ship, killing nine. Disgusting!

06/01/10 08:16 PM

I am confused. I thought that those commandos were supposed to be showered with rose paddles from the flotilla crew.  Why they wanted to defend their ship is shocking. It is a dirty ambush.

06/01/10 10:28 PM

Farbarik, give up with the Nazi references already. Clowns like you and yours have absolutely no knowledge what storm troopers were and what they did. I don’t recall Nazi military units carrying paint ball guns into service.

Turkey’s idiotic leader, Tayyip Erdogan, has been pushing Turkey towards an Islamist government, ending more than 90 years of a secular society. He is an open supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and has been banging heads with the military, where the big Turkey/Israel relationship comes from.

That Erdogan’s government “unofficially” supported the flotilla is very telling. There is not such thing as a government’s unofficial support. It either supports or it doesn’t.

Erdogan still rails against Israel for its “massive, inhumane war crimes” put upon the Gazans and was basically the strongest critic.

Turkey will continue this tripe because Erdogan has made no secret of his desire to make Turkey the leader of the Islamic world, including full imposition of Sharia Law.

The Turkish people are loathe to have this happen - especially the women who will literally lose everything - and Erdogan has been trying to eliminate the power of the military to effect Turkey’s politics.

In short, if this were the horrid crime claimed, then how come only 10,000 people showed up nationwide in Turkey - 400 reported in Istanbul by ABC News - for a riot in a country of 70 million whose citizens were “massacred in an unprecedented and inhuman breach of international law.”

In other capitols the numbers were much less.

Crowds like that are often government sponsored. A ticked off and horrified populace would come out in the 100’s of 1,000’s or even millions. In Anti-Semitic France over a million people marched in protest to Jacque Chirac’s ignoring attacks on Jews in France. In Iran the numbers were staggering against a violent government.

My position on all of this? I am befuddled because whenever Israel opens a crossing the Palestinians attack with suicide bombers and car and truck bombs. The Palestinians completely destroyed the Erez Industrial Park, leaving 1,000’s of brethren without jobs. Israelis left because of the attacks on them, but they left their companies intact.

Hamas destroyed all of the green houses and hot houses left to them in operating order after the settlers left. Destroyed everything and they use the houses left behind to practice city war tactics.

Israel is fighting an implacable enemy, an enemy that has a charter calling for the destruction of Israel and attacks that began in the very early 1900’s as Jews bought land and started to move into the Palestine Mandate.

So when a group of self-righteous, low-lifes try to breach a sea blockade, Israel has full right under International Law to intercept such war-like actions.

What’s the point? The UN admitted that Hamas raided UN warehouses, stole the goods meant for the populace and took it for themselves and sold what was left over at black market prices --- imagine: the UN noting Israel’s good behavior - the IDF pulled back several kilometers each day to allow UN goods to pass - and actually found fault with an enemy of Israel.

One very important thing: In the Arab - and in fact the Muslim world in general - the battle is against JEWS - all Jews worldwide. Israel is attacked at the UN, but the Muslim countries are fed blood libels, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Jewish killing of Muslim children everywhere.

Saudi Arabia press (government controlled) published Passover recipes wherein the blood of Muslim children is used (how come Matzo is white when blood is used?), Egypt made a 40-part TV series on the factuality of The Protocols (and they are a friend(?)).

The attacks on Jews are daily and universal across the Muslim world. Spend some time in a Muslim country as I did where you get the Muslim side of things and you’ll throw up four times a day.

So the flotilla had one purpose: embarass and delegitimize Israel. Had the flotilla arrived Hamas would be the greeters and handlers.

If they truly wanted to help they would have docked in Israel or Egypt and had their goods served to the Palestinians.

Also, what the heck are 600 people doing on an aid ship? It only required maybe 30 to 40 to get the ship to where it should have gone, leaving a fabulous amount of room for more goods!

Tom

06/02/10 08:14 PM

You have glossed over more than one important point.

1.  These were international waters; not Israeli waters..
2.  Even you admitted the commandos “stormed the decks”.
3.  Each and every ship’s contents were checked, by countries who are allied with Israel, in each and every port they entered into and departed from-- and VIDEOS WERE TAKEN OF THESE PROCESSES.
4.  You attacked UNARMED civiians.  These were not Palestinians, and while that may fly in other countries when you are “only attacking” Gaza, and killing Palestinians, it is not forgiven by other nations.
5.  The ONLY nation that has not called for a full investigation and explanation, to say the least, is the USA.., and Obama will go down with Israel, if he does not stand up against this attack BY Israel.
6.  THE WORLD HAS HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR ROGUE STATE; this includes good JEWS, in the USA and everywhere!

For fifty years, I was on your side, but actions such as Cast-Lead Ops, as well as the continued seige, your lack of democracy for anyone who’s not Jewish, and now this commando-attack on PEACEFUL and UNARMED CIVILIANs, has completely changed my mind.  Many other Americans and others feel the same as I.  THIS, ISrael, was the very last straw, and we are no longer with YOU!

06/02/10 10:03 PM

Anne, to whom are you aiming your comments?

Rogue State? Stop the Muslim State line. I was in Malaysia for most of the 2006 Lebanon War. It was noted internationally that CNN - the biggest, most watched outlet overseas (Fox to them is a small, red furry animal) - refused to show any damage in Israel from the over 4,000 rockets fired by Hezbollah during the war - and none was shown. Interviews with Israelis were far and few between. Hezbollah? They dominated the news lines. Local country news outlets were no better. Hezbollah said what to say and the “news” outlets obliged without comment. Nice coverage.

Try rogue news. Israel is soooo rogue that is absorbed 7,000 rockets from Hezbollah before responding. Now that is radical - and extremely rogue.

If you in any way recoil from Israel due to Cast Lead, your true colors are waving for all to see. OK, only 4,000 rockets had to be absorbed before Israel reacted. Oh, yes. Very few casualties. That makes Hamas OK.

Have you tried to imagine living for several years under constant threat of being bombed and having to rush to shelters several times a day? You may love it - a vacation for an Israel hater, I suppose - but the psychological toll on Sderot to Ashdod was incredible - in fact astounding. Post traumatic stress syndrome is the norm in those places. Try it. Maybe you’ll like it. It’ll make you more empathetic with the Palestinians who, by the way, have literally brought all of this onto themselves.

Though the Israeli government refused to deal with Goldstone, dozens of residents of Sderot and Ashdod, etc., did speak up and - in a phenomenal surprise - none of their testimony was ever included. You can check out the vast references to this and other nonsense from Goldstone.

When interviewed on the Charlie Rose show, Goldstone claimed that the IDF knew who all the fighters were and mistakingly shooting an innocent citizen is simply far-fetched and unable to be believed. To this idiot, in the middle of a pitched battle with everyone dressed the same way and human shields were everywhere, somehow the IDF is so magical it could tell everyone apart. So what DID the IDF do in those situations? They held fire. Yes! They held fire. Volleying into the crowds would have caused tens of 1,000’s of casualties.

The casualty count in Cast Lead was incredibly low. Hamas leaders claimed only 30 of its combatants were killed - everyone else was a civilian intentionally targeted by the IDF. Well, info can’t be hidden anymore and lesser Hamas leaders and the fighters admitted to 400 to 600 combatants dead - about half of all of the casualties. The leadership stayed hidden and the citizens be damned.

And the Gaza Hospital where all of the brave Hamas leaders hid? Built by Israel, staffed by Israelis for years - since Hamas, I don’t know the staffing, but hospitals were all untouched.

Israel pulled the IDF back several Kilometers each day to allow UN supplies through to the population - amazingly, the UN freely admits to this. Furthermore, the UN blamed Hamas for stealing the food and medicines for themselves and selling what was left at black market prices to the citizens - also amazing that the UN relief agencies pointed this out.

I suppose you’ll justify everything Hamas does because, after all, they are such poor poor nice guys to the Israel bashers.

Gee ... even with the Rafah check point opened, Hamas “police” have prevented the citizens from fleeing Gaza. Only a few made it out of the thousands who tried. WOW! Gaza is an Israeli prison and the warden and guards are Israel’s natural friends: Hamas.

By the by, Hamas and Israel are in a state of war and ships intended to supply an enemy can be intercepted in International waters - legally.

As for the “THE WORLD HAS HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR ROGUE STATE,” the reality is Israel has had enough of you and yours supporting a violent enemy whose formal charter calls for its destruction and who has done nothing but wage war since 1964 - the PLO was formed THREE years before Israel even controlled them - and not caring one bit about the scores of other spots in the world where people ARE being massacred and brutalized by the 100’ of 1,000’s and millions.

Tom