Preparation is already well underway for an even larger “Freedom Flotilla Two” to be launched in the coming weeks. The new flotilla will travel to Gaza again in matter of weeks. Statements by the EU, the UN and others have made it imperative that Israel obey international law and lift the blockade. For example, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has stated that the siege is “unsustainable and unacceptable.” While
One look at the Ha’aretz front page really says it all: (click on picture to read smaller headlines)
Things are clearly heating up in the Middle-East again: a US-Israeli attack on Iran appears to be in the final stages of planning. Israel, which has finally clearly given up any pretense of being a civilized, never mind democratic, state, is now preventing dissident American Jews like Finkelstein or Chomsky from entering Israel. Former DIA and CIA analyst Philip Giraldi is suggesting that Israel may have to strike at Iran
by Craig Murray (…) A word on the legal position, which is very plain. To attack a foreign flagged vessel in international waters is illegal. It is not piracy, as the Israeli vessels carried a military commission. It is rather an act of illegal warfare. Because the incident took place on the high seas does not mean however that international law is the only applicable law. The Law of the
Look at these images of an Israeli crowd celebrating their “naval victory” in front of the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv:
“Introducing the MV Rachel Corrie” Written by Free Gaza Team (Dundalk, Ireland, April 20, 2010) The 1200-ton cargo ship had been abandoned in July 2009, off the coast of Ireland. She was then impounded after an inspection by the International Transport Federation (ITF) discovered her owners had exploited their Lithuanian crewmembers – not paying their wages and subjecting them to humiliating treatment, and they had been left with just one
The Lone Ship of the Freedom Flotilla: The Rachel Corrie MV Continues to Sail Towards Gaza in Defiance of Israeli Threats By Michel Chossudovsky URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19481 Global Research, June 1, 2010 Following Israel’s criminal raid in international waters on May 31st, the Rachel Corrie MV continues to sail towards the Gaza coastline in defiance of Israeli threats. In an act of tremendous courage, the Rachel Corrie MV
Let’s make one thing absolutely damn clear: when a ship is attacked in open international waters they have the right to defend themselves with whatever means they have. So even if we fully accept the Israeli version that their commandos were attacked with metal bars, chairs and even handguns taken from the commandos, this was absolutely legal. In fact, the people aboard these ships had the right to use assault
Al-Jazeera: http://www.tvtuga.com/al-jazeera-english-qat/Al-Jazeera: http://www.livestation.com/channels/3%20-al_jazeera_english?page=2Press TV (using Mplayer): mplayer mms://wms.edgecastcdn.net/200216/ipresstvRussia Today: http://rt.com/On_Air.html Question to all: can somebody help me to define the actual video stream on http://www.tvtuga.com/al-jazeera-english-qat/? I would like to pipe it directly into mplayer like I do with the Press TV stream. Thanks!
According to Le Monde Mubarak has just ordered the opening of the Rafah crossing into Gaza. Ynet and al-Jazeera confirm. Ynet adds: It remains unclear whether the move has to do with the failed aid flotilla to Gaza, because the crossing opens once a month for a few days. Palestinian and Arab officials are pressuring Cairo to keep the crossing open indefinitely.
The IDF if clearly the dumbest military on the planet.You don’t believe me?Check out that latest statement of these boneheads:_____ ‘Next time we’ll use more force’ Israel will use more aggressive force in the future to prevent ships from breaking the sea blockade on the Gaza Strip, a top Navy commander told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. “We boarded the ship and were attacked as if it was a war,”
The UN Security Council has agreed a statement following Israel’s raid on Monday on a convoy of aid ships bound for Gaza. Here is the full text as published by the BBC: The Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza. The Council, in this context, condemns those
Check them out: Haaretz Editorial: The price of flawed policy Gideon Levy: Operation Mini Cast Lead Ari Shavit: Fiasco on the high seas Yossi Sarid: Seven idiots in the cabinet Reuven Pedatzur: A failure any way you slice it
by Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 31 May 2010 http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19447 War Criminal Prime Minister Netanyahu, who directly ordered the strike on the international flotilla to Gaza was on an official visit to Canada at the time of the Israeli attack. The strike constitutes an act of piracy in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Netanyahu’s actions, which have resulted, in more than 10 deaths and
Stratfor: The Israelis appear to have reasoned that backing down would demonstrate weakness and encourage further flotillas to Gaza Palestinian Information Center: Majed Al-Zeer, the director general of the Palestinian return center, has revealed that the international campaign to end the siege on Gaza has started preparing a new aid flotilla to Gaza Strip that would sail within six weeks
Kawther Salam’s detailed report shows that the entire massacre, planned in advance, was nothing but the Zionist reaction to the recent improvement in Turkish-Iranian relations.http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/05/31/flotilla-massacre-is-a-reply-to-the-turkish-iranian-relations/ Kourosh Ziabari asks what would have happened if the same actions were done by Iranhttp://palestinethinktank.com/2010/05/31/kourosh-ziabari-what-if-iran-had-carried-out-the-gaza-carnage/ Belén Fernandez dissects the Israeli Hasbara that it was actually the pacifists bringing humanitarian aid who were responsible for their own deathshttp://palestinethinktank.com/2010/05/31/belen-fernandez-international-activists-cause-their-own-deaths-by-attacking-nonconfrontational-israeli-commandos/ Mary Rizzo deconstructs Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister’s Lies
I am working on a full-length analysis of the situation in occupied Palestine and the Middle-East, and I hope to have it ready for publication here in a couple of days. But in the meantime, I want to share some initial thoughts I have had after following the events in the eastern Mediterranean this night. * The Israeli government has, yet again, proven itself totally incompetent. The likes of Ayalon,
