Naturally, even the ship loaded with Turkish terrorists remains an "aid transport".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10196522.stm

Said while showing the video of the soldiers being assaulted with metal rods, guns, knives, and chairs.

There is no "question" here at all... the response was far criminal! It was criminal not because some murderous thugs got shot and killed, it was criminal to put the poor israeli soldiers though such a situation without proper weapons and rules of engagement that are totally unreasonable and threatening to them. It is criminal to the soldiers and their families to know that they might be asked to fight armed terrorists with nothing but a paintgun. If it was up to me they would have machine-guns with live ammo and an order to spray bullets at any group of assailants.

Also, the monsters in sheep clothing mobbing the israeli embassy also need to be mowed down with machine guns.

An armed militant out of a uniform is not a civilian, but a war criminal who is violating international law and the Geneva convention. By hiding amongst civilians in such a manner they force soldiers to make difficult choices that DO result in the death of innocent civilians, and as such those kinds of people are granted ZERO human rights by international law.

A Danish reporter about the "desperate situation" in Gaza:

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/danish-report-from-gaza-wheres.html

Turns out #flotilla is no longer a top subject on Twitter.

No it is not.  As a nation at war, you do not have control over the military of the enemy, so you do not know where the supplies go.  They could be going just like in Iraq - to the military complex.  Your supposed knowledge of law and crimes is woefully poor.

It probably is a crime now that Israel is doing it but wasn't a crime when the US and everybody else were doing it.

International law is a fast-changing field. It's sometimes difficult to keep up.

His knowledge of international law is excellent. He understood the simple formula: everything Israel does is a war crime or at least illegal per "international law".

The absence of pointers to the actual written law is a mere formality.

Here is Reuters' take on the legality of the blockade and raid:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65133D20100602

Hint: the bloackade is legal unter (real) international law and so was the raid.

"These fundamental principles of international law must always be upheld by all of the world's nations," the ICS said.

Even by nations who want to condemn Israel, I would argue.

San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea. Below is the text from section five (67 a) Section V : Neutral merchant vessels and civil aircraft Neutral merchant vessels 67. Merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral States may not be attacked unless they: ... (a) are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture.

Can our local export on international law please explain the above?

It also might not hurt if the UN and their organisations read their own fecking laws for once.

Leauki here is part of it on the web LINK

It was after the show, but it's still good.

Found what went out on air tuesday (different from above link, which was online only).

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4223912/inside-the-freedom-flotilla

TO ALL LEPTONs that SAY BLOCKADES ARE ILLEGAL and YOU CAN"T BOARD SHIPS.  US policy on blockades

THE COMMANDER'S HANDBOOK ON THE LAW OF NAVAL OPERATIONS NWP 1-14M

7.7.4 Attempted breach of blockade occurs from the time a vessel or aircraft leaves a port or airfield with the intention of evading the blockade, and for vessels exiting the blockaded area, continues until the voyage is completed..

7.10 Neutral vessels or aircraft attempting to resist proper capture lay themselves open to forcible measures by belligerent warships and military aircraft and assume all risk of resulting damage.

Maybe I should make this a post so THERE IS NO CONFUSION!

Hi Daiwa,

So here's the thing. One group of people (namely Israel, the U.S and Egypt) are saying that plenty of aid is making it through already.

However, the UN stated in 2009 that "insufficient food and medicine is reaching Gazans, producing a further deterioration of the mental and physical health of the entire civilian population since Israel launched Operation Cast Lead against the territory."

Even Israeli human rights groups are saying this, meanwhile Israel does not have a list of all the exact items they will or won't let pass, as it is a "state secret"

So, what exactly was being carried on the "flotilla of terror"???

-Wheelchairs, cement, water purification systems, childrens toys and notebook paper.

Now, there should be no reason why the IDF couldn't have simply searched the ships and let them go on their way. In fact, they would have won big points on the world stage... instead the strategic relationship between Israel and Turkey is now dead, way to go on losing one of your biggest allies in the muslim world!!!

Furthermore, while much ballyhoo has been made of the fact that the brave Israeli commandos were assaulted by the cretinous humanitarian terrorists, the undisputed fact is that of the six ships, fighting only broke out on ONE. And on that one single ship that fighting did occur on, the passengers had no weapons against which they fought the valiant IDF troops who came with automatic weapons.

So of the nine who were killed, who were these terrorist scum, really?

We know of at least three so far-

-an Indonesian doctor was shot in the stomach

-a photographer was shot in the forehead

-Furkan Dogan, a Turkish-American high school student who was studying social sciences, was shot 5 times at close range, with four bullets in his head and one in his chest

And yet, Israel is saying it's troops were the victims, despite the fact that they were the aggressors, storming a ship full of un-armed civillians, carrying paper and water-purification gear, with heavily armed shock troops.

Way to go! Further proof that Israel has become it's own worst enemy.

The world doesn't accept equal laws for Jews.

Appears your optimism was premature, Leauki: Link.  Presumably, Joe Who Should Be Biden His Tongue spoke out of turn again.

Arty, on the evidence you have provided, I must conclude that you are physically blind.  And a dupe.

That's exactly what they were trying to do. That's why they boarded the ships.

Then they were attacked.

People holding Arty's point of view on this are doing a lot of wishful thinking.

Arty,

Has it ever happened that Israel was right and her enemies were wrong?

The video shows that the soldiers were surrounded by the thugs. Do you expect them to run away and then shoot?

No, they expect them to just die.

Some people have never met a good Jew who was attacked and is still alive.

The most excellent description of Turkish fuhrer Erdogan, by gay Palestinian blogger Nizo:

In Arabic it's pronounced Erdoghan, gh being like the way israelis pronounce the resh.
As for the origin of his name, that's simple. Erdogan is a Jew and Mossad agent who's on a mission to get the Arabs angry and excited enough to ask for another ultimately ruinous war with Israel. The ultimate aim is for Israel to take over Syria and Egypt and secure water resources.

Erdogan's real name is Morty Fishbein, he moved from Brooklyn to Judea-Samaria in order to start a citrus business. Thanks to his facility with languages, he was approached by the Mossad, who proceeded to train him and send him to Turkey. Missing his sojourn in the Promised Land, he wanted a name that reminded him of his agricultural successes in Eretz-Yisroel. So he picked Gan-Etrog, which he reversed into Etrog-gan, and which he eventually Turkified into Erdogan.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=231760819264532243&postID=2367770333527206977&pli=1

On a more serious note...

https://forums.joeuser.com/383403

I wake up every morning and look at myself in the mirror and I'm still alive

But you are not a liberal, so you are not "good".

The concern was over the use of dispropotionate force against a humnitarian mission. Even the Israelis admit that the ships were not armed so why attack them causing the unfortunate death of 10 people. May be the hard line policy of the Israeli Governmant is proving a success, however the world would like to see a softer and gentler approach to the crisis in GAZA.

Yes. Thousands of demonstrations were about "use of disproportionate force" in the sense that 10 people died, in the middle-east!

That must be it.

Have you seen the video of the thugs attacking the soldiers?

I am not sure yet it's unfortunate. Turns out they were Islamists and members of a group that is considered a terrorist group by Israel and the US.

Maybe Israel should cuddle potential weapon smugglers.

Seriously, you bring up good points. But the problem is that the world will always condemn Israel, no matter what Israel does.

So Israel can just as well be violent and protect Jewish lives.

Maybe if there were some positive feedback if Israel does something the world wants, like withdrawing from Lebanon or Gaza, that would change things. But at the moment Israel is well aware that being nice means more rockets and being tough means more condemnation.

Condemnation is better than rockets.

If the world were willing to change the equation, there would be more options.