Israel attacks Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters; 70+ kill/injured

[dbucfan]

Using 'stikes' and 'maybe' saved ya.

[Doug09]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37423584/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

Video:

JERUSALEM - Israel's storming of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla set off a diplomatic furor, drawing criticism from friends and foes alike and straining ties with regional ally Turkey, which called off planned joint military exercises.

The United Nations Security Council called an emergency session for later on Monday following the killing of 10 of the mostly international activists aboard a six-ship convoy that tried to break Israel's blockade of Gaza.

Washington said it deeply regretted the loss of life and was examining the circumstances that led to the bloodshed while Turkey, Israel's strongest Muslim friend in the region, summoned the Jewish state's ambassador and said it would recall its own.

"This attack is another sign of the reckless levels that the Israeli government's violent policies have reached," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said in a televised speech.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled plans to meet U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on Tuesday, an Israeli statement said, in the wake of the raid.

"Netanyahu decided to cut short his visit to Canada and return to Israel early," the statement said. Netanyahu has been in Canada since Friday for talks with government leaders.

Israeli commandos intercepted the flotilla carrying 700 people and 10,000 tons of supplies for Gaza before dawn on Monday. Officials said they were met with knives when they boarded the ships, including a ferry flying the Turkish flag.

Israelis advised to avoid travel to Turkey
NBC News reported that 11 Americans were among the civilians aboard the ships. They include a former ambassador and a former State Department official.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described the killings as a massacre, and the United Nations and European Union both demanded an inquiry. Rights group Amnesty International said Israeli forces appeared to have used excessive force.

Turkey, which had urged Israel to allow the ships safe passage, canceled three planned joint military exercises with Israel, and Ankara said Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan would cut short an official visit to Latin America to return home.

He described a fatal Israeli commando raid on an aid ship as "state terrorism."

Erdogan said in Chile on Monday that Israel has shown that it does not want peace in the region and has violated international law.

Television images from Ankara, whose ties with Israel had already soured somewhat since last year following Turkish criticism of Israel, showed dozens of people gathered outside Israeli Ambassador Gabby Levy's residence in Turkey's capital.

[alldaway]

I don't want to believe it, but may have to be open to the possibility this is real.

[John Galt?]

History just keeps repeating itself over there.

http://www.gtr5.com/

[John Galt?]

I don't want to believe it, but may have to be open to the possibility this is real.

Why? This is not the first, or second, or fiftieth time Israel has attacked unarmed groups or vessels.

[alldaway]

Well this is bad....I think I am going to be sick

[mjs020294]

Admiral Thomas Moorer, former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has spoken with blunt exasperation about the Jewish-Israeli hold on the United States: [note 15]

"I've never seen a President -- I don't care who he is -- stand up to them [the Israelis]. It just boggles the mind. They always get what they want. The Israelis know what is going on all the time. I got to the point where I wasn't writing anything down. If the American people understood what a grip those people have got on our government, they would rise up in arms. Our citizens certainly don't have any idea what goes on."

Today, the danger is greater than ever. Israel and Jewish organizations, in collaboration with this country's pro-Zionist Christian fundamentalist "amen corner," are prodding the United States -- the world's foremost military and economic power -- into new wars against Israel's enemies.

 

[Doug09]

Israel's response was basically, if it lets one flotilla through, it means it'll have to let more through.. and one could be carrying firearms.

Being very young,  I'm just starting to get into things of this nature. Can someone enlighten me as to why we've never stood up to Israel? Do they have us by the balls? So to speak.

[alldaway]

Because our philosophy is the strong to defend the weak, and fight oppression,while the Chinese, Russians, and Israelis believe might makes right.

We supported Israel on the idea that they are a democracy in the region, provide intelligence data, and were a nation born from the ashes of a horrific Holocaust.

Now those ideas are fading to be honest, as Israel is a theocratic democracy while Turkey is closer to a true democracy given it has a greater emphasis of separation of church and state unlike Israel.  Israel also has lost objectivity in terms of security matters, and were known for proportional force against the state in the past.  Now they have adopted the might makes right doctrine which means using overwhelming force regardless of the situation or how blunt it it is.

[Vatican_Assassin]

I don't want to believe it, but may have to be open to the possibility this is real.

Why? This is not the first, or second, or fiftieth time Israel has attacked unarmed groups or vessels.

Many forget about the U.S.S. Liberty too.

[cyberdude557]

Israel is deploying 3 subs armed with nuclear missiles to the Persian Gulf right off the coast of Iran.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7140282.ece

I was reading something a few weeks ago where there is talk in Saudi Arabia that they are considering development of nuclear weapons because they no longer believe the United States can keep Iran in a box.

One of these days, that entire region is just going to sh**!

[Incognito]

Wow, they need to suffer some sort of consequences for this. Mass Murder PLAIN AND SIMPLE.

[doobiedoright]

Wow who knew this board was full of bigots!
These people were told not to try and enter a blockade!
They were told to go to a port and if the goods were not banned they would be allowed in!
They decide they wanted to fight,so they got what they wanted!
This was planned as videos were on you tube before this even happened!

[Incognito]

Wow who knew this board was full of bigots!
These people were told not to try and enter a blockade!
They were told to go to a port and if the goods were not banned they would be allowed in!
They decide they wanted to fight,so they got what they wanted!
This was planned as videos were on you tube before this even happened!

Is that true? Sorry... I didn't watch the vid and I didn't even FULLY read the article. I just skimmed through it (mainly the parts in bold)... and then I skimmed through the rest of the posts in this topic. I guess I should beware of people who like to spin events such as these... and I should absorb all of the available info first. My bad. I retract my previous remarks.

[dalbuc]

If people watch the video rather than dipping into their anti-semitic rants they'd see that the Israelis were attacked as soon as they set foot on the boats. Oh well I've lost so much respect for people that I can't lose much more.