Israel have always been known for their heavy handiness when dealing with such matters.
Of course they have a right to protect their citizens and their country. Whether or not they were justified in their aggresion this time, as always depends on what side of the fence you are on.
I remember seeing a programme not long ago with Ross Kemp, giving an unbiased view to both sides of this war.
Israel have the power but the Palestinians have the will power to never succumb to Israel. This is something that will never be resolved, but from what I saw on the ship the Israelies were at least justified in defending themselves, but whether the loss of 19 lives is justifiable is open to debate.
You know that if you upset Israel they will retaliate with extreme force, they always have and always will.
Hamas is a terrorist organisation hell bent on the destruction of Israel, and of course Israel have a fundamental right to protect itself.
Two sides to this tragic case but America certainly cannot condemn anything considering their human right attrocoties in recent years, come to that we have no right to say anything either.
Israel will do as they always do....come down hard on anyone or anything that threatens it. Hamas know this only too well as most of Palestine is nothing more than rubble. IF they were bringing in stuff on that ship then Israel had the right to act, but we know that Israel will not be told by anyone, and Hamas are playing war games with a force so much more powerful than them.
The deaths were of course tragic but this is in all tense and purposes a war, and that does give Israel certain rights, whether they went overboard in killing 19 remains to be seen when all the evidence is available.
The problems in this area between different races and different religions goes back almost to infinety! There will probably never be a complete answer.
I don't know if there are arm/munitions on these ships or not, the NEWS may tell us, or it may not. I would suggest that the poster of this thread doesn't know either. On balance, I'm more on the side of the Palestinians in Gaza like most people appear to be.
Let's hope that after this incident, the UN or someone else international can bring more pressure to bear on Israel to encourage better behaviour overall
Plim :sad:
I have sympathy's with both sides of this conflict
What really happened on this occasion? Like many other situations, we may never know the real truth
I'm no apologist for Islam (in fact I'm extremely anti islamic extremism and feel that islam is a medieval religion which seeks to oppress and control)
However, this incident took place in international waters and as such is an act of state sponsored piracy. They sent armed commandos to board civilian ships, at night and then murdered those who attempted to repel the illegal boarders. Self defence, pah, Israel initiated the attack.
There are/were a whole range of other options available to them to prevent the ships entering territorial waters and to prevent any unsupervised unloading of cargo.
The Israelis have an appalling record of human rights abuses and have been ignoring UN resolutions about their illegal territorial advances since the 1960's. The US's refusal to criticise Israel for these abuses has led to many of the tensions and acts of violence we now have to endure. similarly, the UK as an ally (and lap dog) of the US, has made us a target.
My view is that Israel should comply with the UN resolutions on territory and be severely sanctioned for these murders.
Also, why has nothing (or very little) happened about the Israelis using forged British passports during the recent assassination of whoever it was?
Yes of course it was in International waters and we should remember that point.
But.....the soldiers were clearly attacked but Israel as usual do not do things by half measures.
IF anyone wants to issue sanctions against Israel then surely with the USA and the UK currently in an illegal war, will those same sanctions apply to us?
Murder is murder...............surely?
Very pleasantly surprprised at replies from members of this website on this subject. reaction seems well thought out and gives both sides equal opportunity. No one has considered the role of Turkey in forcing this confrontation. The Turkish President is determined that his country moves away from secular democracy to Islamist Democracy. Israel is to be his fist test case followed in the future by withdrawal from Nato and entering into alliance with Iran
That is why Gulson I mentioned Ross Kemp.
His two sided view of the Palestinian/Israel conflict, was an eye opener.
IF Palestinians stopped firing rockets into Israel would Israel still attack Palestinians?
There is another ship on it's way from Malta and Israel have said they will intercept it.
More confrontation likely it seems.
Worth spending a bit of time watching this fascinating insight.
sod it.
just nuke the whole damn place.
im fed up with both sides.
The mistake Israel made was in not waiting until the aid vessel entered Israeli waters.
The boarding party should have arrived by is normal procedure that most countrys including the UK use when foreign vessels are to be inspected.
If the vessel refuses to comply then their are other options that can then be taken which spells 'bad news'for those on board the foreign vessel.
Isn't the point that the blockade is simply wrong (I don't know if it has been banned by teh UN and therefore illegal) and breaking it is a good thing, and stopping people breaking it is a bad thing?
Is it not a war then Blue?
