Jubbergun wrote:
Israel put the naval blockade in place only after learning that Hamas, who controls Gaza at this point and is a known terrorist organization with the stated goal of destroying Israel, was receiving weapons and supplies from outside Gaza through various channels, one of those channels being sea-going vessels. They were receiving those weapons and supplies from such wonderful people as Iran.
A terrorist organization is whatever is so called. Do we hold it against the Israelis they get arms from Americans? It's two sides of the same coin.
Jubbergun wrote:
Let's not overlook the fact that this was so obvious and dangerous that even Egypt closed its borders with Gaza.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/f ... 453349.stmNot really. And you're assuming they did this because of the danger to Israel, which isn't logical given by your own account they don't like these people.
Jubbergun wrote:
The blockade, like so many of the other incitements against Israel, was meant to provoke a response. Like so many of the other incitements, the people/government of Israel did not just march in stomping on people with jackboots. They showed restraint, and did not just summarily sink ships or pop caps in people's asses. They attempted to board the vessels and steer the supplies into the port originally offered so that the offloaded humanitarian supplies could be inspected before being shipped to Gaza.
That's your own inference. There's no reason to believe that's not exactly what they did. They themselves have stated that cement and sugar are contraband and therefore they would NOT deliver these things.
Jubbergun wrote:
Like so many of the other incitements against the Israelis, the instigators with the "peaceful intentions" escalated the event until there was no choice on the part of the Israelis except to respond with force. This is nothing new, and I think its terrible that anyone falls for this. The individuals in question (though I doubt this extends to every member of the flotilla) wanted an armed response and as much of a massacre as possible, and were willing to die to get it, so that Israel could be painted as the bad actor.
What escalation? It's a ship full of consumer goods that the Israelis boarded knowing exactly what was on it because they could see it being loaded.
Jubbergun wrote:
How many times did Gandhi respond to British crack-downs by having a pipe ready to beat on his assailants? My history is a bit shaky, but I don't recall that ever happening. You cannot claim you are a non-violent "peace" group, intentionally incite an incident, and escalate that incident by purposely injuring the people you're antagonizing, yet still expect any reasonable person to view you as a "peace activist."
Gandhi spent a lot of his time restraining his more militant countrymen, just like Martin Luther King, but without that more militant side, the peaceful opposition doesn't seem so worth engaging. It's like good cop, bad cop.
Jubbergun wrote:
Israel is involved in an armed conflict with Hamas, which uses Gaza as a staging area to launch attacks, including rockets and mortars, against Israel. Israel is not "occupying" Gaza, it is only blocking naval traffic and its own borders with Gaza in an effort to minimize Israeli casualties by keeping weapons and supplies out of the hands of homicidal maniacs. Under international law, so long as Israel is involved in an armed conflict, and informs neutral parties, the blockade is accepted under the standards of armed conflict under international law.
Hamas is "staged" in Gaza because it is their home and it is occupied. They are not homicidal maniacs, they want their home back.
Jubbergun wrote:
Turkey was one of the neutral parties. They had been informed. The government of the island of Cyprus had also been informed, but unlike Turkey, which should have known better, Cyprus would not allow the ships involved to dock because they were aware of the blockade and did not wish to be involved.
You obviously don't know anything about Cyprus. Do you?
Jubbergun wrote:
Let's also not wash over the fact that the only reason there is an Israel in the first place and that all the back-and-forth that has gone with it since its inception is the fault of Europeans, who just plain wanted Jews off their stupid phallus-looking continent.
No argument here.
Jubbergun wrote:
We should also not overlook that the UN has more anti-Semites than the Southeastern Regional Klan BBQ, or what kind of nations the UN allows to sit on its various committees (like Sudan having a seat on the Human Rights Commission...WTF kind of joke is that). UN condemnation carries all the moral weight of a feather in a wind storm.
The UN Chairman is a South Korean. It was the UN that founded Israel in the first place. Upon what basis do you say the UN is anti-Semitic?
Jubbergun wrote:
People I know who have been to Israel (one who was there for an extended period) have told me that the Israelis would love nothing more than to get together with everyone and sing Kumbaya. However, they get no reciprocity, because there are crazy people who want to "KILL THE ZIONISTS." I don't know why the onus is place on Israel, which is only responding to violence, and not on crazy-ass weird-beards, who initiate violence, and I'm puzzled as to why everyone else isn't asking the same question.
You are ignorant. Palestinians do not wear beards. The settlers who are taking their land, however, do, because they practice a very extremist form of Judaism despised by most Jewish people.