Israeli opposition leader Livni says Gaza flotilla was Turkish provocation

[chuckd]

board a ship trying to bring basic necessities...

The Turkish mercenaries were offered the chance to dock at an Israeli port and have the UN bring any necessities on the ship to the Palestinians and they refused. Their purpose was to provoke a violent confrontation and they got it.

Do you think murder is funny?

Wow! I see our new found friend has made 528 posts in 21 days.

Is this a record?

[geriatrickid]

You seem to be very selective about what evidence you present or pay attention to. You acted as if the BBC radio piece by one guy was THE official BBC report, when it was nothing of the kind.

As far as injured soldiers being taken care of by some passengers. That should not be so surprising. It seems that there were actually a few real peace activists on board.

Should it matter that the chairman of BBC, Michael Grade happens to be Jewish?

Oh come one, are you serious? Do you really think that the Chairman of the BBC has control over the journalists at Panorama?

You are betraying your underlying sentiments with a ridiculous statement like that. Do you understand how you have basically now destroyed any argument you may offer? Do you know what Mr. Grade's political views are? You have assumed that because Mr. Grade might be a practicing jew that this automatically makes him willing to influence a news documentary, to basically break the conflict of interest rules at the BBC and to somehow convince a very independent journalists union, a union which is usually hostile to Israel, to magically come up with a report that shows that the Turkish radicals manipulated events. You are morally bankrupt. Just as morally bankrupt as the alleged peace actvists onboard the vessel that have not spoken up about the political manipulation by the radicals.

Pathetic.

[geriatrickid]

Bunch of dudes in uniforms, who routinely kill women and children in what is basically a huge concentration camp deprived of basic necessities, board a ship trying to bring basic necessities to the oppressed in international waters and kill people.

Just imagine if it were Iranians doing the boarding and killing and you can see a double standard not that the western press is going to highlight it. Bit like nobody in the west said a thing when Israel, a country that has attacked several neighbours, developed nukes but when Iran, a country that has not invaded any of its neighbours, faced everything up to and including being bombed for having the temerity to develop a nuclear reactor. You are either a darling of the west when you can oppress, kill, torture, destroy and invade with no sanction or you arent when you suffer.

This may not be a popular opinion but it is basically the one seen by hundreds of millions of Muslims (and a bunch of other non Muslims). Harsh realities of the world.

You should be kinder to Hamas. It is Hamas that oppresses the people of Gaza, not Isreal, not Egypt and not Fatah or the PLA. You have assumed that all arabs think the same and share the same views, They do not. The administration in the West Bank will not release any funds to Gaza. That is not Israel's doing. Egypt has sealed its border with Gaza. That is not Israel's doing. The Egyptians do not take instructions from Israel. The Bedouins that patrol the border regions close to the Egyptian border have good reason to do so as the occupiers of Gaza have stolen their land. Gaza was originally Egyptian territory and a large chunk of it belongs to the Bedouins. It was historically their land. The current arab occupants are the ones that took land that was not theirs to begin with. Give it back to Egypt and the Bedouins. Let the Bedouins decide who will live on their land. Why are the Bedouins pushed aside. Is it because they are small and vulnerable society? Is it perhaps because the urban dwelling Hamas despots look down on the camel riding Bedouins as "primitive"?

[Ulysses G.]

The current arab occupants are the ones that took land that was not theirs to begin with. Give it back to Egypt and the Bedouins. Let the Bedouins decide who will live on their land. Why are the Bedouins pushed aside. Is it because they are small and vulnerable society? Is it perhaps because the urban dwelling Hamas despots look down on the camel riding Bedouins as "primitive"?

Give Gaza back to the Bedouins!

[Jingthing]

No offense meant, but there are so many Israeli type issue threads being started in the last few weeks, and the arguments pro and con, really are sounding like BROKEN RECORDS. Perhaps there could be only one MASTER THREAD for people to play these infinite games of non-agreement? Then any "news" items could just be tacked onto the existing master thread?

It would be more efficient for readers and posters.

[Ulysses G.]

This issue is pretty much a waste of time to debate as most of the posts are just hateful rhetoric that takes no thought or knowledge about the history of the conflict.

However, I must say that geriatrickid really knows his stuff and makes for interesting reading.