Cyprus-Forum.com

[Paphitis]

Here I have to agree with Paphitis .
The "activists" clearly were annoyed at the IDF boarding their ship and clearly carried out attacks using whatever projectiles in their possession and they were not tomatoes or rotten eggs.
The problem here is that both the Israelis and the Palestinians , as religious and God fearing people that they pretend to be , are in fact full of hatred for each other. It is time that the Israelis abandoned the blockade and it is also time that Palestinians realize that for as long as Hamas remains committed to the destruction of the state of Israel atrocities and suffering will continue.

The actvists had everyright to defend themselves against the IDF. We should expect anyone to defend temselves against aggression. Period.

Defend against what?

AGGRESSION!!

Boarding parties do not board with the purpose of hurting anyone on board.

To be sure; they just died of lead poisoning.

If the "activists" weren't stupid, then no one would've been killed.

We saw the beatings Deniz, and I am amazed that no Israeli was killed!

[Paphitis]

And the IDF's purpose was to board the MAVI Mamara to prevent it from violating the embargo on the Strip. The boarding parties purpose then became one of self defence by using lethal force in order to save the lives of IDF boarding personnel.

I can't blame them one bit!

[CopperLine]

I think you will find that Maritime Piracy laws do not apply to nations but apply to the detention of vessels in International Waters for PRIVATE ENDS. The boarding of the MAVI Mamara does not fit this criteria.

PAPHITIS, please stop. This is nonsense. (Instead of confusing the matter with your speculations it would be helpful if you could help me find reference to chapter and verse of this mysterious "Maritime Piracy" law you mention).

I am defending the use of proportional force, and am also objecting to Turkey's political point scoring antics which have created this debacle. I also object to Turkey's Geopolitical posturing by hijacking this otherwise worthy cause. I am also defending Israel's right of defence.

How can you even begin to address the issue of proportionality when you only have the story of one of the parties and whihc you have pre-judged what is proportional before examining the actual circumstances ?
Furthermore, as said before, what the response of the crew/passengers was has no bearing on the piracy committed by the IDF.

You see, many of view object to Israel's actions and have even described its actions as a deliberate act of aggression as if to say they diberately set out to kill people, when in actual fact nothing could be further from the truth. As stated many times, the MAVI was the only ship where lethal force was deemed necessary. This did not happen on any other vessel.

No. Whether the IDF planned to be violent or not is not the issue. They committed piracy. Whether the commandos started shooting first or whether the passengers picked up bean bags in an aggressive manner first does not alter the fact that the IDF attacked ships on the high seas with men who were armed and prepared to use violence (no one is doubting that they "came equipped", whereas there is much doubt and much open objection to the allegation that the passengers "came equipped")[/quote]

[Paphitis]

Copperline,

don't insult our intelligence. Where the hell do you propose you are going to get a balanced account? From the "objective" activists! I don't bloody well think so.

But video footage does not lie. Some footage was also released from the MAVI and we saw the activists preparing themselves for their little fight against the IDF.

We saw the beatings. They might as well have tattooed "Please Shoot Me" on their foreheads!

[Get Real!]

Paphitis, there is NO excuse for Israel, whether the condemnation comes from international maritime law, the massive Hague convention, the UN Charter, Human Rights laws, or any other area of international law, I’m sure you’ll find gross violations by Israel, so quit wasting everyone’s time with your attention seeking tantrums because you're bloody boring!

[Get Real!]

Copperline,

don't insult our intelligence.

Will you cut it out?

[Paphitis]

Paphitis, there is NO excuse for Israel, whether the condemnation comes from international maritime law, the massive Hague convention, the UN Charter, Human Rights laws, or any other area of international law, I’m sure you’ll find gross violations by Israel, so quit wasting everyone’s time with your attention seeking tantrums because you're bloody boring!

Israel enforced the embargo against the attention seeking Turks who were making certain Geopolitical postures and fell flat on their face when the IDF was forced to use lethal force to defend its soldiers.

You keep saying that Israel's military actions were illegal but you have failed to show me which law was violated, other than the interception of vessels in International Waters. You even posted some mumbo jumbo about irrelevant Piracy Laws.

You have by no means proven that the IDF's use of lethal force was unjustified, so get with the program because you don't even know what you're talking about.

[denizaksulu]

" We should expect anyone to defend temselves against aggression. Period."

And that includes the IDF soldiers who faced aggression.

That was very funny that was

[denizaksulu]

Copperline,

don't insult our intelligence. Where the hell do you propose you are going to get a balanced account? From the "objective" activists! I don't bloody well think so.

But video footage does not lie. Some footage was also released from the MAVI and we saw the activists preparing themselves for their little fight against the IDF.

We saw the beatings. They might as well have tattooed "Please Shoot Me" on their foreheads!

I hate to say this but I hope Solomou hears what you say. (RIP).

[Paphitis]

" We should expect anyone to defend temselves against aggression. Period."

And that includes the IDF soldiers who faced aggression.

That was very funny that was

No Deniz!

He/she makes a very valid point.