Then Gazans have succeeded, praise be to Allah, they wanted to die so that Hammas may live in Paradise. Has everyone forgotten that the vast majority of Gazans voted Hamas into power and intentionally decided to split the Palestinian nation into two opposing states between peaceful efforts and nutcase muslims? There are no innocent Gazans. Their democratic votes convict each and every male, female and child in the district of voluntarily choosing to be a terrorist. Ain't democracy wonderful. With a vote, you can no longer claim ignorance, hardship or oppression because you voted it onto your own family. They have one choice, kill the rest of the world or die! Ok, maybe they have one other choice, repent, start your own civil war, and kill the nutcase terrorists yourselves!

OF course - who cares if Israel murders Americans? Anything the god-driven state of Israel does must be fine! After all - they are "the chosen people'! Just like the Third Reich were the chosen people and anything they did in the name of their god was just fine too!!! All hail the sacred state of Israel! All bow before her and sacrifice your sons and daughters on her alter! The Israelites are "the chosen" and we all better bow to their authority! Sig heil!

If there is no difference between Gaza ghetto and Warsaw Ghetto then you are a Holocaust denier.

1. Hundreds of thousands of people died in Warsaw Ghetto. Most people who die in Gaza is because Hamas and Fatah (both Arabs groups) kill one another or Hamas kills their own people.

2. Gaza is not occupied by a foreign force

3 In Gaza there is a well equiped army of various Arab militias.

4 There is no starvation in Gaza, I see photo of Gaza residents and they do not look like they lost a lot of weight

5 Residents of Gaza are free to leave Gaza, unfortunately Jews of Warsaw Ghetto did not have this choice

But if you want to compare someone with the Nazi, I would compaere Hamas to them. Both openly want to kill Jews. Both are for the final solution. Hamas just does not have the means, but they have the same ideology. Both Hamas and Nazis are evil dictatorial regimes they hurt their own people and their neighbors.

I hope Hamas will have the fate of the Nazi for the benefit of their own people and Israel.

And finally, I do stand with Israel - a great Middle Eastern democracy, a country that gives to the world Nobel prize laureates, contributes to arts and science. What does Hamas gives to the world? Answer: suicide bombers.

Hey... I live in the US, where everyone knows that even shaking a spoon at a police officer will get you your head blown off...so I have real trouble figuring out what the big deal is here.

When you pick a fight with people armed with guns, you're asking to be killed.

Hampster

The land Israel holds it took in war, how is that illegal. Do you think for one minute that if the Egyptians, Jordanians, Syrians or Palestinians won the war they would care what happened to the Jews? You say disproportionate response? Launching rockets is the "slightest incident". Are you stupid? If you come at me with a rusty knife where is the rule that I can only use a rusty knife to defend myself? Just because the rockets the Palastinians send over dont hit anything doesnt mean that they do not deserve a response.

The standards they live under in Gaza is no better or worse than what they had 60 years ago when the Jews took control of Israel. They were living in tents in the middle of the desert. The Jews built up Jeruselam and Israel into what it is today not the Palastinians.

Secondly, the Gazans voted for their Hamas rulers, let them live with the consequences of their misguided stupidity. They have food and water and medicine, what else "basic" do they need?

Just so you know, I am an American that thinks that we should stop giving Israel money and break our ties with them. As an American I see nothing coming out of our relationship with Israel. They are a leech on our economy to the tune of 3 billion a year. All the same, they are in the right and they will win.

The Warsaw Ghetto was one manifestation of Nazi genocide. An odious example of human behavior to be eternally condemed.

Gaza, on the other hand, is a manifestation of a kinder, gentler form of Zionist "ethnic cleansing". An out-dated religious nationalism perpetrated at the expense of the existing inhabitants.

I stand with Alex613!

The difference? Jews in Europe did not strap plastic explosives onto their children and have them blow themselves up in crowded shopping malls. Jews in Europe were systematically killed and cremated by the millions just for being Jews. I am sorry that you are too stupid to see the differences, but perhaps you will recall that it was not Jews who ran two jets into the World Trade Center intending to kill 50,000 innocent civilians along with the people on those jets. It is not Jews that are killing our American soldiers currently. Oh, and JT drop dead.

Hey Robeson, does your judgment of every citizen of Gaza being a terrorist include the Christian population that lives there?

Israel has ironically generated its own Warsaw Ghetto.

They won't admit it, but they have.

AP INTERVIEW: Turkish aid group had terror ties
Boston Globe Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:52 PM PDT
The Turkish Islamic charity behind a flotilla of aid ships that was raided by Israeli forces on its way to Gaza had ties to terrorism networks, including a 1999 al-Qaida plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport, France's former top anti-terrorism judge said Wednesday. Gaza - Israel Defense Force - Los Angeles - Terrorism - France

You said it yourself buddy, "the slightest incident initiated by the palestininians." Had the boat agreed to port at Ashdod, we wouldn't be talking about this. If they had peaceful intentions, why did they invite anything but by not listening?

Hmmm. Send missiles, get bombed back. Easy to figure out here. Stop sending missiles, and there won't be any response. If you want two states side by side living in peace, try living in peace. It would help. Think about it. Be bold, abandon terror, abandon charters that call for destruction. If you want peace, be peaceful.

While I have no great feelings one way or another for Israel, there is a fairly significant difference between the Gaza Ghetto, and the Ghettos of WWII. While both are separating people because of their nationality and religion, Israel is forced to do this as these people of Gaza and others wish to do physical harm to Israel just for being on the land they were given after WWII. Personally, I think we should have given them an island like Cyprus or Crete, then they could have the land all by themselves as nobody seems to like them very much on any other land or next to them.

Unfortunately, they were given holy land that is claimed by all the Christians, jews and muslims. I have a feeling it was done so that Christians would have an ally in the holy land. Other than significant historical artifacts, I don't see anything special about the land, but the jews have been fighting for it for thousands of years, and they will continue to fight for it for many more.

If it weren't for the US and the UN, I believe that Israel would have kicked the Palestinians off of Gaza a long time ago. I don't know why the Palestinians continue to occupy that land other than to piss off the Jews.

Please check out this video, I just found on YouTube. It's from the security camera on the Marmara. Seems the 'innocent' people on the boat did anything they could to initiate a confrontation and harm as many people as they could - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZlSSaPT_OU .

Palestinians victims will never be forgotten, fighting imparialism is not terrorism, What turkey did needed to be done to show the world that we care about palestinians people and they deserve a life and help and support just like Israelis, Gaza is becoming a Nazi camps because of the brutality and the massacre and agression of Israel, Previous Prime minister of Israel Sharone is still suffering from his illeness for what he caused to the Palestinian people, Benjamin netanyaho your turn will come too, it's how u treat human is how God will treat you. you may think your strong and powerful but hell door is open for you and will not close until your time comes

Don't recall the people in Warsaw trying to harm anybody - Polish or German... Gaza is a terrorist nest with it's population hostage of the Hamas. Does anybodt doubt that?

Oh, rubbish. There is one reason for the flotilla, and that is to get arms and fighters from outside into the Palestinian territories.

Mohammed was not a prophet. Mohammed was a demon who founded a war cult of hate. That is why islam has fallen, and that is why everyone else in the world does better than muslim nations.

There haven't been attacks on Israel for quite a while now. Muslims decided this has to end because peace might result.

This drivel about the Warsaw ghetto is ridiculous. The Jews in the Warsaw ghetto were being exterminated, surrounded for that purpose. The Palestinians are losers in a war in which they tried to exterminate the Israeli Jews and didn't succeed. They won't stop killing Jews, so they have been cut off. Israel poured hundreds of millions of dollars into development of the Palestinian territories. Israel gave Gaza back. What was the result? Rockets and bombs.

The Palestinians deserve to be airdropped over the Nafud without parachutes - or forced to renounce islam. It's evil and that is why muslims are in such a terrible place.

Gaza and it elected leadership of Hamas has a stated intent to eliminate Israel... which puts Hamas - and by it's choice, Gaza AT WAR with Israel. Israel did not initiate the violence and has gone along with the palistinean self government requests... up to the point when the palistineans once again initiate violence toward Israel. Hamas and by association, Gaza has declared war on Israel and time and again breaks peace accords.

While Israel would accept a peaceful palistinean state as a neighbor, this is hardly the case. A region that has declared war against Israel warrants the results of that declaration. Sad as it may be, this is the reality the palistineans have created for themselves. They really should try peace, it would serve them well. Until that time, they and their government have declared war and must accept the situation they have created.

As for Blockade Breakers... While Blockades are Quite Legal by International Law, so apparently are attempts to break a blockade... but those attempting to do so are essentially representative of the State being blocked... and quite reasonably would be considered enemy combatants regardless of their claims (valiod or not) of humanitarian purpose.

you're kidding, right?

these are the same people who danced in the streets when 911 happened! the same people who's bible preaches convert or die! a little intolerant in my view! remember Israel is the little Satan and we north amerians are the great Satan, anybody who want's to hop in bed with them, do so at your own peril!

Video: "Suicide Activists on the Gaza Flotilla"

How did the media skew the Gaza Flotilla event to portray Israel as the aggressor?

As a matter of fact, Alex613, you are almost completely wrong -- but, in the end, it doesn't even matter. Let me explain.

1. Hundreds of thousands of people died in Warsaw Ghetto. Most people who die in Gaza is because Hamas and Fatah (both Arabs groups) kill one another or Hamas kills their own people.

Most of the people who die in Gaza do NOT die at the hands of Hamas and Fatah. This is not even remotely true. Most die from natural causes, as in most places on earth, but a disproportionate number die from Israeli military activity (this includes civilians and militants since, like it or not, militants are technically "people") and curable diseases. The situation in Gaza has been declared a humanitarian crisis by the UN (http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31779&Cr=&Cr1) and the Israeli blockade is primarily to blame.

2. Gaza is not occupied by a foreign force

Though technically true, this statement reveals a lack of nuanced understanding of the situation. Gaza was occupied by Israel between 1967 and, I believe, 2005. Since then it has been blockaded by Israel -- that means Israel controls what goes in and out (hence the subject of this article). Israel controls Gaza's airspace, waters, and border crossings. Tell me, Alex, would you, if your homeland was similarly situated, rejoice at your freedom from occupation?

3 In Gaza there is a well equiped army of various Arab militias.

"Well equipped" is an overstatement. So is "army." But ok, you're basically right. But, remember, your point was to distinguish Palestinians in Gaza from Jews in Warsaw a la 1940. There were Jewish resistance fighters in the Warsaw ghetto, probably as out matched by the Nazis as the Palestinians are by the Jews (and even if not exactly as outmatched, close enough). Have you ever heard of the Warsaw uprising? Of course, the Israelis are nowhere nearly as brutal in their response to Palestinian attacks as the Nazis were to the Jews. But this is besides the point, as I will discuss at the end.

4 There is no starvation in Gaza, I see photo of Gaza residents and they do not look like they lost a lot of weight

Well, if you see photos of Gaza residents and they do not look like they lost a lot of weight, I guess that settles that now, doesn't it? I don't think this comment really deserves a response, but let's just say Gazans are among the poorest people on Earth. I'd love to see you live there for a year and see a photo of how much weight you lose.

5 Residents of Gaza are free to leave Gaza, unfortunately Jews of Warsaw Ghetto did not have this choice

Are they? Not sure about that. Where will they go, even if they are? Egypt won't take them. They don't have much money to just up and move to a new country anyway. If they want to go to the West Bank they will face extremely strict Israeli border crossing guards who can reject their request to travel to the West Bank on a whim. Jews in Warsaw were not allowed to leave, that is true. But read this from Wikipedia (I know, not the best source in the world, but I'm tired from a long day doing research at work, so take it and shut up!):

The ghetto was split into two areas, the "small ghetto", generally inhabited by richer Jews and the "large ghetto", where conditions were more difficult; the two ghettos were linked by a single footbridge. The Nazis then closed the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world on November 16, 1940, by building a wall, topped with barbed wire, and deploying armed guards.

Sounds like a mini-Gaza, doesn't it?

The point is, Alex and his admirers, of course Gaza is not the Warsaw ghetto. Of course the Nazis are more brutal, savage, and inhumane than the Israelis. I'm not defending those who say they are the same. But their differences are more a matter of degree than of kind. And even where they are a matter of kind, the result is similar.

Put it like this. In the Holocaust, around 6 million Jews were killed. In the Armenian genocide, between 6 hundred thousand and 1.5 million Armenians were killed. Which would you rather have: 6 million of your people killed or 6 hundred thousand? I guess 6 hundred thousand but...............

Get the picture? What Israel is doing is a very skilled yet subtle and slow form of ethnic cleansing. It is different from the holocaust in MANY respects. But ethnic cleansing is ethnic cleansing. And NEVER AGAIN means NEVER AGAIN!!!!

p.s. I'm the son of a Jewish father whose mother was born in the British Mandate of Palestine. Her father (my great grandfather) fought against the Ottomans, Palestinians, and British to secure that land for the Jews. Go figure.

The Palestine know that they could never win a war against Israel.... So they are using the Media to do the job for them!!! I will never understand how the People of the world would rather be on the Muslim side than Israel.... IT ISN'T ISRAEL THAT IS CAUSING ALL THE PROBLEMS IN THE WORLD!!!

Failing to see that both sides deserve blame for this unfortunate incident is why little progress is ever made in resolving the issues that have made the Middle East a powder keg throughout recent history. Israel deserves some blame for sending in soldiers (or sailors) ill-equipped to deal with a riot (what the incident amounted to) and who used lethal force when non-lethal munitions (which might well have proven fatal at the close distances involved but still would have shown intent to avoid casualties), but the "activists" also deserve plenty of credit for their own demise. Attacking soldiers from any country will likely end poorly for you, the Surgeon General doesn't recommend it!!!

--google it, the difference is the jews used snipper fire to kill the germans occupying poland, and moltave gas, oil, soap etc, in a bottle to burn troops up alive in their vehicles. the jews made a movie called the brave resistance, and said the jews were heros. the jews along with the polish surviviors of world war two also rounded up many german civilians and put them in concentration camps. 40 to 60 thousand of them died, some of them raped, tortured, starved to death. the jewish people in charge escaped to israel where it just so happens to be illegal to be extradited for war crimes, those are some of the differences.... google it

I am against any and all terrorist organizations even if the people have voted for them. Are you saying that voting to choose killers makes those killers innocent? Does believing in god give you the right to kill? Does god say kill everything and let me sort the good ones from the bad ones in heaven?

The videos look pretty clear to me. I have been on ships many working ships in fact. I have never seen large quantities of pipes 'just the right length for hitting' lying around nor chains 'just the right length for swinging. On a well run ship you do not have hardware lying around (since they can be dangerous). Yes there are pipes and chains but none you would care to use as a weapon. Unless you are Mc Guyver and can cut a chain or a pipe in the middle of an attack.

Those chains and pipes were prepared before hand. Yes they were lying around because they were put there where they could easily be reached. These were no innocent bystanders. They were there to attack whatever came aboard. Yes a few of them were innocent used like sheep, clueless about what was going on. Probably did not notice the piles of pipes and chains within easy reach. Yes simple folk that believe that the blockade was wrong and that they would not be attacked in international waters by big men carrying guns.

Also I tend to have a problem with groups that congratulate themselves when their members are killed. It seems to me that the Israelis are saddened more by the deaths than the people from the ships. I guess it is hard to feel sad when you get hero worshiped. Have you seen what they say that Israel made their day. What kind of people exult over the death of others.

If those people really care about people suffering, I dare them to do the same stunt with North Korea lets see some real action guys. Plus on the whole, the North korean people are suffering more.

As for the blockade, no more rocket launches = no more blockades = simple

If it had been me, i would have declared war. Gaza chose its rulers. The rulers are shooting rockets. In any other dictionary that would mean war. A blockade is actually quite tame.

I would think that the Jewish people would be more in tune with illegal confication of land and property, the lack of freedom for a group or race of people and all other atrocities one people can do to another, with the horror so many went through during the death camps of Nazi Germany. Apparently not. They have gone from the oppressed to the oppressor. Another thing that really gets me steamed is how every time an Arab country does something against Israel. The government of Israel is screaming for the UN to do something about it and asking for the US to support Israel. Now, with the shoe on the other foot, Israel wants the UN to do an investigation with Israel leading the fact finding and all the circumstances why this came about. Talk about the fox guarding the hen house. And then on top of it all, they want Obama to support this arrogance. If Obama does, he and the US will be the laughing stock of the world. Time for Israel to become a member of the world community. I think everybody is tired of their arrogance and pity pot mentality.

The "state" of Israel is methodically removing the Palestinians from their ancestral land by use of guns and bulldozers. If the native Palestinian population had the right to vote in their ancestral homeland, controlled by the state of Israel, the makeup of the Knesset would be much different. Israel is a Jewish state, and non-jews just don't have any chance at representation. There is no realistic military threat to Israel; they have had overwhelming might since the beginning of their "statehood". They have no interest in a Palestinian state - they claim it all for themselves. The longer the Israelis can stall a two state solution, the more territory they can confiscate. The hellhole of Gaza is becoming just what they want: an uninhabitable wasteland that the "sand@!$%#s" should just leave and go elsewhere - anywhere but to "Israel". Why shouldn't the people vote Hamas into office; no one else has been able to bring the Israeli government to accepting the rights of these people.

As for the American government, they just keep looking the other way. As we all know, money talks, and that's the language our politicians speak.

For one thing Israel never forced anyone to leave their land... They left on their own!!! Those that stayed have been treated as good as the Israel Jews were...

Poor State of Israel so peaceful! If I was Israeli or Jewish I would be shameful to be from a country that to Exist depend the of the protection from the USA. That's the only case in the World. Th US congress is bribed by the state of Israel with the money of our taxpayers, since we give 2 billion dollars a year to Israel it means we pay the Bill no matter what as it comes back in form of extortion to the US congress to support Israel blindly. No criticism or condemnation is accepted from any member of congress. Iis there anything mores disgusting than this? Regarding Gaza the flotilla was in international waters and who is Israel to declare a blockade do Gaza? Is illegal. Since Gaza is not part of Israel only occupy it illegaly. The Blockade is not legitimate.So as the west bank. Since I was a teenager I always heard that Israel attacked Gaza by air land and sea. I think the leaders of Israels are criminals of war and should be triede and convicted in international courts. There was no terrorists in those boats. There was an American Ambassador and many other personalities including a Brazilian filmaker. Israel is becoming isolated from the world civilization and soon their leaders won't be able to travel abroad since they can be arrested. Some of them cannot travel to countries in Europe. I hope they all get cought those assassins. The international comunity will soon boycot Israel until they start behaving like a normal decent country not like a colony of the USA.

FACT ONE: Most of the relief supplies on the boats were tons of cement, so Israel would have confiscated the vast majority of materials if they were to process the supplies - thus those on the flotilla refused to have those supplies given up. After the siege, in fact, Israel confiscated the cement supplies and did not bring them into Gaza. Did you know that?

FACT TWO: Why on earth would Israel deploy commandos IN A NIGHT RAID ON INTERNATIONAL WATERS if they were doing an inspection of the ships? If you can answer that response directly, I would like to hear your answer - if you can answer that question directly and not digress from what I have presented

I would not gloss over important facts like this. Leaving out certain facts while stressing others is why people in the International community like myself can see how people in the US and Israel are confused into seeing one part of the picture from your governments and media outlets.

Members of the Knesset erupted in anger – yelling, cursing and even charging the podium in an attempt to stop her from continuing her speech.

From the podium she said that she agreed to participate in the flotilla because it was a “political, human and moral imperative to oppose the imprisonment of 1.5 million people.”

She described the blockade of Gaza as an “illegal, inhuman, illegitimate siege opposed by every politician who has a moral position.... Only the immoral support the blockade.”

Her remarks caused violent jeers from other members of the Knesset, with shouts accusing her of being a terrorist and saying she should be checked for weapons.

These are the politicians that represent the mentality of the Israeli government... The ones that everyone keeps saying want peace...

At the podium, Zoabi said she was “astonished by the incitement” and “despised the words” she had heard during the Knesset debate on the Monday morning incident.

She blasted the MKs attacking her, saying, “Who is the criminal? Did I murder anyone?”

At that point, one MK shouted, “Check if she has a knife!” resulting in an uproar.

When Zoabi again took the podium, MK Yoel Hasson (Kadima) yelled to Rivlin to “be careful, because there is a terrorist standing next to you.”

Shama, shortly before the hearing, also announced that he had submitted a request to the Central Elections Committee to block Zoabi from being able to run in any future Knesset election.

This is what Israeli supporters keep calling "the only democracy" in the region.... They sound more fascist to me.

And they keep calling Israel our "greatest ally"... I always thought your all was the countries that fought alongside you in your wars? I guess someone changed the definition of ally when I wasn't looking.

Oh.. those mean Israelis would not let Hammas bring in concrete to build bunkers! Maybe Israel should also let them open up bomb making facilities right? There was no food on that boat. Just terror/War tools.

And I hate this "disproportionate response" argument. If palestinian terrorists dont want a missle sent up their butt... maybe they should stop blowing themselves up in crowded markets and schools.

If I blew your wife and little baby girl to bits and peaces.. I bet your response would be very proportional right? Morons...

So what if Israel confiscated the cement supplies? Ask yourself why did they do that?

Israel knows that cement would be used to build bunkers and tunnels underground to attack Israel and smuggle rockets.

This flotilla is just a PR war game, that's all.

Maybe they'd stop firing missiles if Israel would stop taking land that doesn't belong to them. These people are fighting for their homes.

Zionists are interlopers. They are illegal immigrants. Zionists are bigoted terrorists and what they are trying to do is nothing short of genocide.

No sympathy for Israel.

Astounding how much tax payer money they have made off with and stolen from the US and people still support these maniacs.

It is mind boggling.

The reason that they did the search at night was because the flotilla had stopped and waited till midnight to try and break through the israeli blockade

also dont give the BS of international waters because if France, England, China, U.S, whatever had potential terrorists coming by boat they wouldnt wait for it to be within their waters they would go straight out and attack those boats, and even more likely would have sunken them, Israel was in fact very generous in sending kommandos to re route it

Jeff-1857773

Oh.. those mean Israelis would not let Hammas bring in concrete to build bunkers! Maybe Israel should also let them open up bomb making facilities right?

15,000 homes were destroyed by Israeli bombs in Operation cast lead... They are not allowed to have the materials to rebuild their homes. DO you honestly believe all 15,000 private homes were owned by Hamas members?

There was no food on that boat. Just terror/War tools.

Please provide a link to that information... If ANY weapons were found on board, Israel would be putting that info on every front page and news site... so stop spinning your BS propaganda.

And I hate this "disproportionate response" argument. If palestinian terrorists dont want a missle sent up their butt... maybe they should stop blowing themselves up in crowded markets and schools.

When was the last time that happened? And even when it did... that was HAMAS and not all Palestinians are members of Hamas... although when you engage in "disproportionate response", you create 2 new recruits for every one you kill... counter productive.

If I blew your wife and little baby girl to bits and peaces.. I bet your response would be very proportional right? Morons...

1300 Palestinian deaths to 3 Israeli deaths... whose wife and kids are we talking about? Seems like a lot more Palestinians lost family members than Israelis did... so, by your own logic, what resoponse do YOU expect from them?

Allen M...as previously stated, a country has all the right to stop a ship, even if in international waters, if it has stated that it intends to break that country's blockade. I don't no if I can call any blockade legal, but being that Israel and Hamas are in a state of war, then it makes sense that Israel would blockade all Hamas controlled territories. As to why they raided the ships at night, besides the fact that the ships had paused for the night (so I've heard) it is tactically the better move. You can see helicopters a lot sooner than you can hear them, so if they went in at night, they would have more of an element of surprise on their hands. In these types of operations, you want to get it done quick. That is why they came in by helicopter and not by boat as a traditional boarding would. They used commandos because night operations can be confusing and commandos have the best training and thus are more likely to get the job done. As to those people who claim Israelis fired the first shots, when were they fired. There could be a chance they were fired by Israelis before they even were dropped onto the ship. Traditionally, warning shots are given to ships about to be boarded. Finally, to V... while this action in the Israeli parliament is unethical and bad for PR, it is not nearly as bad as the actions that took place in the Ukrainian parliament earlier this year.

It was not night time when they went on the ship!!! I put two video on here... Why don't you check them out and see the truth???

That's weird, there are two separate videos out there pretty much showing the exact same thing happening, but one seems to be in daylight and the other in the late evening. Maybe the one in the daylight, the one reeased by Israel, was shot with night vision or something, because it doesn't have much color. I don't know. The difference in time of day is confusing me.

No. Your just confused. The fact that atrocities have and do occur, does not excuse what israel did.

Patrick from SLC, help me with my confusion. Spell it out for me, since you're not confused. What did Israel do? Respond to an attack from a "peaceful" vessel is how it appears. Please don't blather on, just provide insigtful facts to the matter. Logic and evidence trumps groundless points of inuendo. Ball is in your court.

Israel attacked an unarmed ship in international waters with crack troops, the civilians on the boats were unarmed, and yet nine of them ended up dead. Meny of you who agree with what israel did, seem to ignore the distinction between activist and terrorist. They are not the same.

Activist: one who protests without the use of ANY violence.

Terrorist: One who uses violence and intimidation to get what they want.

Now tell me, where does attacking soldiers who were lawfully inspecting a vessel with pipes, knives, and guns put you? These so-called activists seem to be so very fond of violence.

Patrick,

Israel was enforcing a blockade to make sure weapons were not being sent to Gaza. Egypt also has a blockade of Gaza and has stopped shipments but noone seems to care about that. All the videos obtained clearly show the so-called activists were very much well-armed. How can you say with a straight face that they were unarmed? When you attack men landing on a ship that have guns and they have to defend themselves from being killed, deaths will inevitably happen. It's very clear now that the purpose of the ships was to break the blockade and make Israel look bad. If Gaza hadn't fired 10,000 rockets at Israel AFTER the Israelis stopped occupying them, there would have been no need to have a naval blockade to prevent more weapons from coming in.

In what way was Israel "lawfully inspecting a vessel"? By raiding a ship 60 miles from its territorial waters? I guess the Somalian pirates should be forgiven when they are "inspecting" vessels.

People like Patrick lie to themselves because they had their mind made up beforehand. It's idiotic to think that men boarding a ship where there are no guns can't be killed. The commandos did what they had to do. If they hadn't been attacked, there would have been no deaths.

I have no sympathy at all for the wailing jackal palestinians making a show over their dead. It is all just a war game for the PR. The end game is extermination of Israel.

L-K

tell me, if you were the leader of a country and there were potential terrorist coming by boat would you wait until they were in your waters, and within range of your country or would you simply tell them to go to a port and have your men inspect their cargo before it is sent over?

Julian. You are being disingenuous, You like several other posters insist on blurring the line between activist and terrorist. Honest people will not.

Since when are pipes, and knives not a weapon??? What were they doing to the Israel Miltary if they weren't attacking them???

Since when are pipes, and knives not a weapon??? What were they doing to the Israel Miltary if they weren't attacking them???

How disingenuous can you get? knife vs automatic assault rifle

The worst thing is that you've posed the question with an air of seriousness.

How moronic and/or decietful can you people be. If some jerk comes into my house with a knife and attacks me. I'm not going to grab my trusty Swiss Army knife just to be fair. He's come to my house and I assume he intends to do harm. I'll blow a 6 inch hole thru his belly with my shotgun, and won't think twice about it. Those of you lying sacks of compost would do the same thing. Why is it wrong for Isreal to defend themselves.

To google heads. If you spend a little more time reading history and not just playing video games or watching porn, you will note that the King of Jordon killed more palestinians than any Jewish bombs or bulldozers have. They all decided to leave when Isreal became a nation because their religion teaches them to murder Jews. They were not forced out, they ran away rather than seek peace. They ran to Jordan and began to riot there and King Hussein shut them up real quick. No body wants them Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Jordan or Saudi Arabia because they are lunatic murdering psycho's who don't really want peace. They just want to commit genocide on the Isrealis. Far as I'm concerned they (the psycho palestinians) are no different than the Nazi basterds of WWII. Let them reap what they themselves have sown. If they don't like it, vote out Hamas. Otherwise shut up and learn to eat crickets and dirt. They are poor because of their own choices. Just like the guy breaking into my house with only a butcher knife would be dead of a shotgun blast because of his choice. Not because of how I chose to defend myself. Morons!

Let us stop fooling ourselves, the Israelis want the Gazans to leave so that Israel can raise the Star of David over this area and expand the borders of Israel ... but barring that, they intend to destroy the will of the Gazans to continue to exist as a people by keeping them in abject poverty. In time the area of Gaza will be cleansed of these people if the Israelis have their way.

All of these various alarms about how dangerous Hamas is, is just propaganda designed to mute the senses of those who find that Israel has committed state murder in international waters with some of the crew members being executed by the Israeli commandos. No one expected these ships to be carrying arms or explosives, or posing any danger for Israeli citizens, yet the IDF deliberately attacked these ships with the intention of causing terror and death so that any other aid ships would get the clear message that they risked mortal danger if they continued the flotilla operation.

Also the attack occured well beyond the Israeli self-imposed blockade zone in international waters ... a clear and unprovoked violation of UN Laws of the Sea. This act by Israel cannot be justified under any situation and those who persist in this effort show beyond a shadow of doubt that they believe Israel cannot ever be criticised for any action it takes, even if that is the act of murder and piracy.

I keep hearing that Hamas has vowed to destroy Israel, over and over again. It's often repeated by right wing Israelis and Americans to justify everything. I think it's time to separate rhetoric from reality. There is absolutely NO WAY Hamas can destroy Israel, they can't even come close. 2700 rockets in 4 years, and they manage to kill 4 people. Israel has killed hundreds of times the number of Palestinians in response. Hamas are obviously a nasty group, but Israel has lost all perspective on the issue. It doesn't justify war crimes against civilians, or collective punishment.

Uh, Erkut, what planet do you live on? The one where you have your head stuck where there is no sound but your own voice? Are you that much of an ignorant foo? The Palestinians sided with the rest of the Arab world almost 50 years ago and tried to commit genocide. They lost. They won't stop. The reason they won't stop is because mohammed died cursing the Jews and mohammed committed massacres of Jews, and because in islam's bigoted ideology, only muslims are supposed to rule.

You calmly state the fact of 2700 rocket attacks and then say, "they manage to klll 4 people." What do you think the USA would do if one rocket came over the border from Mexico? Hmm?

There is no alternative to the wall and the blockade. It would all end if there was no war on Israel from the palestinians. It's all about religion.

Oh, by the way, they want to kill you unless you are muslim.

John Toradze, I am not sure where you are getting your information on about islam. I myslef am a christian and somewhat of a history buff. I haven't studied islam extensively, but from what I know it is just as peaceful as christianity and judaism. Mohammed didn't use violence that I know of except in the destruction of idols. After he died it was some of the Caliphs that perverted islam's message and made its expansion militaristic. However, the Ottomans, an Islamic empire, allowed Christians and Jews to live freely in their territory, all they had to do is pay a slightly higher tax and (in newly conquored regions) give up a son to become a guard in the royal court. Islam is a peaceful religion, very similar to Christianity and Judaism. the only reason it is perceived as violent today is because of the actions of radical imams who pervert the religion's message.

John Doe

Read the Qur-an, buddy. Read what Mohammad said. His Caliphs weren't the ones that called for the extermination of all infidels and the need for Muslims to control the entire world.

bones read the Old Testiment or Torah and see how the Israelites killed every living thing when they conquered a city ... these old Semitic religions are all violent in their teachings ... don't just single out the Muslims.

Erkut, read the Hamas charter. It is dedicated to destroying israel...the fact that they don't have all of the means necessary doesn't keep them from trying...

John, the only people I've ever heard say that islam is a peaceful religion are Bush and Obama...the only peace that exists in islam is when everyone in the world is subjugated by it...since you haven't studied islam, then you really have no idea about it being peaceful, do you? Read the quran and hadith, the sira for good measure, and you will see for yourself how peaceful mo was...here's a clue: he wasn't...

Ralph, using religious equivalency to justify violence in islam does nothing to change the fact that islam is violent...the difference is, whatever violence is in the torah or the bible, we now realize is not the way to deal with things...and there isn't religious authorities that constantly urge their jewish and christian bretheren to slay those that do not believe the same. islam on the other hand has never changed, and places sharia above any man-made law. plus i don't see too many people around the world that are afraid of jewish, methodist, or episcopalian suicide bombers...

adherents of islam time and time again point to their religious texts to justify their violent actions. those in the west constantly point to islam being a religion of peace, yet this peaceful religion constantly has it's followers "killing and being killed for the sake of allah" (quran 9:111). westeners try to explain their violent actions according to their own belief systems, i.e. people become violent because they are oppresessed, disillusioned, disenfranchised, impoverished, or just crazy...yet they people that commit violent acts around the world (not just in the U.S., not just in israel) in the name of islam do so for only one reason: islam...

you should pay attention...

Ralph was I defending Christianity or the Bible or the Israelites? No. I was responding to a particular point in another's post....

The vessels were in international waters, not in Isreali waters. Isreals had no right to be there.

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2010/Israel_Navy_warns_flotilla_31-May-2010.htm

There was a cache of weapons discovered on board one of the ships.

And the ships were not boarded until they got to the exclusion zone. The "international waters" cry is a lie.

Karen Eltom, if Israel wants more peace, then it should return to the Palestinians their land that they stole or at the very least give them a Palestinian state. The Biggest blatant lie that Israel propgates, is on being "the only democracy" in the middle east. What Democracy in the world Censors photos and news stories of International journalists? E.G. the Chatilla massacre for one? Sadly, it is not economically in their best interest for Israel to want peace, since war is their only "industry" and its billions of of dollars from the U.S and from wealthy jews and jewish organizations that support Israel as long as they are at war. After all these Eastern European Jews that formed Israel all came from then communist Europe where the Communist Government took care of their financial needs. Israel allows them to live there and never have to work. Wake up Karen Eltom, Injustice + Inhumanity = Hatred & Terrorism.

I would love to see where you got that information from kammy on the immigration of jews from eastern europe and how israel allows them to never work. As i recall, it was extremely difficult to leave eastern europe during the cold war, and those who left that area probably wouldn't want torecreate the lifestyle that they once had, or why would they have left at all? Also, I believe that Israel imports a large portion of its military goods from the US and it is proven that war is not an economic boost, that after the first few years it begins to hurt a nation's economy. Peace is always better for an economy than war. And please don't cite WW2 to prove my wrong, kammy. those were extraordinary circumstances and our economy couldn't get much worse

Karen nobody needs to make Israel look bad. Israel has been acting long time ago as a criminal and terrorist state with no shame. They kill 1500 palestinians agains 4 Israelis. Those rockets don't kill anybody. Also those rockets land where used to be the Palestinians homes which they were kiked out by Israel. So they have all the right to throw rockets stones whatever. Since the Israelis are so hungry for killing we can say those damn rockets kills to little they should kill thousand of Jewish to become proportional.

Karen is more worried about Israel's reputation than she is about the men who were murdered, some of them being executed with a shot to the head.

Take a pill and don't worry Karen ... Israel has bought enough politicians and judges, who will once again allow her to escape justice.

Sorry, but being in "International Waters" does not preclude military action. Probably every major sea battle in world history was fought in international waters, and civilian vessels have been sunk by submarines in international waters many many times.

This "international waters" argument just doesn't hold water ... ;-)

And so you support Israel for attacking the USS Liberty on 8 June 1967 and killing and wounding a lot of US sailors because it was in international waters? This was a criminal attack against a US navy ship. It was in international waters and this attack was NOT an accident. It was a criminal act of war and has been covered up by our politicians for decades.

The United States stops ships all of the time if they feel that they are transporting drugs, confiscate the drugs and imprison the people. They stop ships that are carrying Haitians and Cubans all of the time and make the people return.

Israel had the same right to board vessels in international waters that the US has to intercept and board vessels suspected to contain illegal drugs bound for the US - and the US has not declared a blockade anywhere. They have in the past - an example is Kennedy's actions during the Cuban missile crisis, when again they threatened to board Soviet ships transporting missiles to the sovereign nation of Cuba.

I do see Israeli actions against Gaza as being over the top at times. However, the fact is that they did announce the blockade and the exclusion zone in advance, and the flotilla set sail specifically to violate and challenge that blockade. Lowering a boarding party of commandos onto the protest vessels was probably a far less provocative decision than intercepting them with surface vessels and taking the chance that one or more of the flotilla's vessels would have been sunk in the confrontation. The protesters rolled the dice and lost.

The USS Liberty incident was extremely serious and I doubt we will ever learn the complete truth about the incident. However it has little or nothing to do with the matter at hand.

Just as we (USA) had no right to blockade the Germans and Japanese in international waters in WWII? Please.

Jerry,

Drug runners and pirates at sea don't publically announce their despartures and destination well in advance like these aid ships did when they left Turkish ports.

Stop camparing this attack with a war-time blockade ... it was a well planned murder in plain sight. Israel had no legal reason to stop this ship as it was not carrying any contraband or weapons of war. the ship was still well beyond the self-imposed embargo zone ... it was out in international waters.

like you even care ... iIi

i care, but what can i do to help, with out being marked a terroist and hounded, investigated, imprisoned, tortured, questioned, money seized, and possibly killed, like the man in dubi

They want the palestininas to SUFFER plain and simple!!!

Aid goes into Gaza on a daily basis. a better question might be if this aid was so needed why has it sat at the Gaza border since late Tuesday night and Hamas refuses to accept it.

there was no food or water found on the ship, and spices and other foods that arent allowed is because hamas has used those to creat bio weapons before, and believe me they are nowhere close to being in a concentration camp, if they were there would be no aid sent in, they wouldnt be allowed to leave and they would be put in the harshest of conditions

However you look at them and those people are not even hungry

Believe me i know this much especially after having well known 5 holocaust survivors one is also in my family

Hamas won't accept it for the same reason they wouldn't let many people cross the border once Egypt opened it up. they are in power because they are a socialist organization. They are in power due to their charity to the community. If the people of Gaza see that the rest of the world will take care of them, the will find less and less of a reason to put up with Hamas.

Holy Crap!! One of the few rational responses!!

Sir, you are correct. This is is more complicated than a single indicent whose goal was to create the media chaos. Other items that are neglected in most people's opinions is that Egypt is a partner in the blockade, while Isreal might enforce it from the sea, Egypt enforces it by land. Egypt does this because they dont want the hostile groups to move into Egypt (being Hamas, Fatah etc) and rather they stay in Gaza for their own security issues. This was done to invoke the outrage and to keep putting on pressure on Isreal while the other nations in the area (thanks mainly to Iran's influence in destabilizing the area (i.e. they've funded Hamas and Hezbolla for years, stuck their nose into Iraq and now even assisting against hte US in afghanastan). These are all very good reasons why Isreal has a justified means to the blockade (could you image if they can smuggle int he number of rockets they've used so far with the blokade and other restrictions in place how many more such weapons they could get with an open route into the country?

Also as you pointed out there are many back and forth items. The best analogy I can put to this is a delinquent, spoiled child (Palastine) that is stammering their feet, shouting, screaming and running amok and on the other side you have the increasingly frustrated parent at their wits end not sure what to do (Isreal). Then to top it off, the parent is surrounded by a bunch of hostile quasi bullies who want to intervene but know that some bigger bullies right around the corner will beat them down so they have to resort to threats or like in this case having another party do the work on their behalf. Then as the child misbehaves more and more the parent wants to clamp down and punish the child ad infinitium...the situtation only continues to get worse, never better.

It really takes both sides to take a step back. In this case, it will have to be the Palastinians that have to make the first step since they are the one misbehaving the most and Isreal is largely responding to their behavior. The more irrational the behavior the more irrational the response (just as the parent struggles with what to do, If "I" give the freedoms back, the child will (and has) turned on me so why should I relax my grip if that will onyl make it worse.

There also needs to be some realizations on both sides. Palastine (whether they like it or not) are not going to get land for their own state they want. They can stammer and whine all they want but it wont happen and if it does not for a very long time, so they need to "move on" and see what else can be done to help compensate.

I dunno, I've followed this for many years and I think the middle east area will turn to beaded glass before there is a resolution which is sad. The regions attitude of "I AM RIGHT YOU DIE!!" is just wrong and feeds the problem. No one wants to make consessions... I guess I look at the overall picture and see the country lines do not matter (look at Europe), if the people can stop hating each other over some really stupid religious BS and just learn to live together and accept their neighbors differences why couldn't the border's be open all the time and people can come and go? When there is civil unreast, people strapping bombs to themselves and trying to kill others, firing rockets and other stupid stuff this will never happen. While Idont feel Ghandi was perfect by any means, he proved (like the velvet revolution) that passive resistance is actually more effective. If everyone stops working and stop doing and just protest that would achieve the most.

bottom line: I have no hope that they will reconcile and it will only get worse and Isreal will not come to the table until the other side stops acting out and I dont see that as a likely scenario any time soon.

Sir drop dead, what you are saying is just like what the nazis wanted, kill all the jews so we can get on with our lives, seriously you have a problem

wishing the death of any ethnic group is a terrible thing to say

better these two groups destroy each other, then the entire world, or a large part of it ends in a nuclear war. over 8 million died in world war two, and no i am not adding in the holocaust numbers, and then about 40 million to 60 million died from russian brutality, which the usa helped and allowed russia to swallow up most of europe just to stomp out the germans. there are arabs and jews all over the world so the people and dna would survive.

Well, if you "defend yourself" with lethal force, then you become the aggressor....that's the law. Unless the people aboard felt their lives were in danger, which they clearly knew was not the case based on the other boats, using lethal force in fact became an act of aggression that would be responded to by lethal force.

I'd like to try that "defending myself" argument with the police. Raise a weapon to a police officer, under any conditions, and you will most likely be shot to death, as any moron knows. Sure, use the excuse they "broke in" to your home, and see how far you get.

If you start a fight, you better be ready to finish it. That's the law of the jungle. You can't be violent and a peace activist at the same time...this is nonsense.

Did the seven Israeli military commandos just beat up on each other? No.......oh, wait! It was the group of radicals with crowbars, slingshots, and broken glass bottles that did that! Methinks you are the stupid moron, Kyzzyxx.

Wow, you two are idiots! They were in international waters! Israel has no rights in international waters. As soon as they went on the boat they became the aggressors, violence or not. You two are about as dumb as they come!

If Iran should be stupid enough to deploy a nuclear weapon affecting Israel, Iran and everything else in the Middle East will be reduced to a Nuclear Wasteland in response.

I don't know how we would respond to that, but I have a feeling that we won't have any nuclear retaliation. It would be tactical and surgical. The world would surely descend upon Iran with all their military might, but not with nuclear weapons. Too many treaties have been signed against thier use, and no major nuclear power hasn't signed one of those treaties. If Israel had any of its supposed nuclear stockpile left it would use it, but Iran would be REALLY stupid not to destroy Israel's counterstrike capabilities first

Wrong, the U.S. allows illegals Mexicans to cross our border every day.

Sorry GTR5. Your the one who's wrong. The U.S. does not allow them to enter. They just can't catch them all so some get through.

Actually you're both correct... most of illegal entrys into the US do sneak past the border security and the gov't makes a "token" effort at controlling the border while the legal residents and citizens suffer the effects of a lawless group entering the US. (Lawless from the moment the enter without proper visa or other permission granted by the US... and lawless in that they remain in the US in violation of FEDERAL LAWS.

Yikes! If bad grammar could kill...You'd be an IDF Yiddish teacher.

yiddish is screwed up german

I 100% believe that if the US sent in a ship the Israelis thought was trying to attack them or break our treaty, they wouldn't hesitate to attack it.

jews brag about making bullets out of smuggled lipstick tubes under a clothes washing facility in a golf country club, and then popping up to kill the egyptians etc, they worked for and served when the time came, google it these are their hero's

dear sick of zionists, My education has taught me to see both sides of an issue. as for you, it is obvious that you are an ignorant *ss. And, you are not 'my friend' nor am I yours. If you want to examine atrocities, consider Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Yet, we accept them because they were intended to save American soldiers that would have perished had the war continued. We had already endured Pearl Harbor. A very tough and heart wrenching call for President Truman. But, look at it from Japan's side of the issue. Yes, the world has seen the result of releasing the beast and it isn't pretty. Anyone that compares Israel with the Nazi terror is just plain too stupid to debate with. Yeah, just plain stupid. or put another way, just plain stupid.

Point well said.

All any one, who really cares has, to do is read about Michael Collins, The GRUEN, Manachim Begin, and Golda Meir. One will know with all certainty, who's at fault and why the Israelis are wrong in their treatment of the Palestinians.

All of their relationship to the establishment of Israel and their horrible treatment of the Palestinians.

It is very easy to allow propaganda to cloud ones judgement and knowledge of issues. That is why it is imperative to do fact checking to make cogent responses. In this case America IS on the wrong side supporting Israel's bullying of the Palatines.

RapphH-what in the world makes you think that we support Israel? I agree, we should stop all foreign aid, stop buying anything that is not made in America and bring all of our troops home and eject everyone that was not born here. We used to be a country that could stand on its own, a superpower. But now we are a bowing, scraping apologizing race that would not even be recognized by the founders.

As for Israel, they should just not let any flotillas thru. Let Egypt deal with them.

--i bought roofing in home depot and it was made in israel, and for my tractor tires over the internet , how is that possible, they can not possibly make it better and cheaper then most of the world, unless there is some serious bias going on, i will scratch your back if you scratch mine

Wow, last time I checked, America and Israel have the same enemies....weird huh?

Did Israel bomb the WTC? UH......nope!

Did Israel infiltrate and massacre people at Fort Hood? Hmmmm......no again.

Did Israel attempt a plane bombing into Detroit? No.

But can you guess who did? Israel's enemies!!!!!

I suppose that means we should be allies with them and help them fight against those who intend to kill all the Americans they can.

Your right we should just support Islamic Fundamentalism instead. Look at what great freedoms they offer the people of Iran, Egypt, Syria, & Saudi Arabia. Last I checked Israelis did not fly plains into our buildings and if you want to give in to terrorism because it is "hurting America" then you sir should just go ahead and move to one of those mentioned countries. I just hope the women in your family don't get raped or you decide to bring a bible with you because you will be killed for your beliefs. I don't care if your a Jew, Muslim,Christian or whatever. As long as you believe in Freedom and those four nations i mentioned do not. Israel does not condemn freedom of religion so why are you so quick to bash them. As far as I am concerned after 9/11 we should have set the Middle East straight. As far as I'm concerned These colors don't run in fact if we wanted to we could turn the whole place into a parking lot within an hour. The world is full of Marxists & Extremists. I am not one of them.

i have no hatred for any people, but i do not like bs, brainwashing, politics. i believe what is right and just etc, and would not support stalin just like i do not like what israel is doing. and you calling people stupid and name calling because they see what is happening and can think for themselves

Yup, I see only a beaded glass desert in the future

You are making assumptions without checking the facts. There was violence on the other boats as well. The Isrealis did in fact commit violent acts on the other passive activists but fortunately they did not kill them. Unfortunately for them, the sixth boat had some turkish passengers on them. The turks have never been known as a docile people. The isreali should have realised this before making the misguided decision to board the ship in international waters. The passengers have every right to defend their ship in international waters.

informed, where are you getting this information. None of the stories I've read, watched or listened to have mentioned significant violence on any of the other boats

Actually, informed, I think you should check your information. The turks had nothing to "defend" in international waters as they were still in violation since they intended to reach Gaza and even made public statements saying they would proceed "until they either disable our boats or board us."

I remember a time not so long ago when the United States stopped Russian ships headed for Cuba. Hammas is, unless Barrack Hussein Obama has taken them off the State Department's list of Terrorist Organiationsis still just that, a Terrorist Organization funded by Iran that is hell bent on the destruction of Israel. Allowing boats to dock unchecked would be a grave mistake for Israel, just as it would be if Americans allowed ships to dock in our ports un-inspected. If you all can take your religious beliefs out of the equation for just one second and look at the situation historically you will understand that this blockade must be enforced. As for the shooting of crew members. WTF is wrong with you people. I have seen the video. The international media is intentionally misrepresenting the facts. The solders who were ordered to commandeer the ship were attacked with bats and crowbars one even thrown off deck. Yea this sounds like a group of "Humanitarian Peace Workers" to me. NOT. Maybe the solders should have been martyrs themselves and let the "Humanitarians" kill them. How would that have played out? I wonder. Muslim indoctrination is taking over the world right before my very eyes and we as Americans are so brainwashed by this progressive agenda, we can't even stand up for the solders that were beaten and forced to defend themselves. Hog Wash. America used to be a nation that stood for something. You are all a bunch of wimps that are going to eventually bring down our great democracy. Marxist Dummies. If we are not going to stand for principles then do me a favor Mr. President, bring our troops home now and just go ahead and let the Terrorist Organizations of the world rule. Marxism is alive and well in America, watch out people.