Cyprus-Forum.com

[bsharpish]

No doubt the Israeli's ( and before them the colonial powers)have treated the Palestinians badly and always over react in a similar manner to any perceived or genuine threat to there nation.

BUT

A certain amount of hypocrisy going on here....

Lets examine the Israel question and actions from a comparison with the GC situation.

The area or present Israel was historically occupied by the Jewish people
They were invaded, occupied and scattered around the world a number of times by assorted empires,great powers and peoples.
They eventually regained there independance by removing British control.
They are surrounded by non democratic or hostile nations with a different belief system.
They have enclaves of the country's former owners\rulers\inhabitants prior to them reclaining there homeland who are somewhat pissed off.

Any of this sound familiar

So now you ( hypothetically)replace the relatively benign TC govt with a hardline, self admitted islamic jihad\terrorist one who shoots rockets into Nicosia etc on a regular basis and encourages suicide bombings throughout Cyprus.

Are you seriously telling me that the Greek cypriots would not impose a similar embargo and enforce it in the same manner without giving a shit about the "international community" ????

[Nikitas]

Ninety miles off the coast Ghaza, in what is unquestionably internatial waters. What the hell were they thinking!

After boarding the ships and seeing that the activists on board were unarmed, why did they shoot them?

It is now 2.30 pm Greek time, the news reports that the number of dead is still unknown. Among them might be a German member of parliament. This was a major Israeli diplomatic fuck up. Perhaps we are finally seeing the face of Israel without cosmetic makeovers.

[DT.]

Ninety miles off the coast Ghaza, in what is unquestionably internatial waters. What the hell were they thinking!

After boarding the ships and seeing that the activists on board were unarmed, why did they shoot them?

It is now 2.30 pm Greek time, the news reports that the number of dead is still unknown. Among them might be a German member of parliament. This was a major Israeli diplomatic fuck up. Perhaps we are finally seeing the face of Israel without cosmetic makeovers.

It basically looks like they walked right into this one. Netanyahu is in DC right now, this could become another Obama fuckup quite rapidly.

[Khadijah]

12.32pm:


The Foreign Secretary William Hague has called on the Government of Israel to open all crossings for aid to enter Gaza and deplored the loss of life during the interception of the Gaza Flotilla.

" I deplore the loss of life during the interception of the Gaza Flotilla. Our Embassy is in urgent contact with the Israeli Government. We are asking for more information and urgent access to any UK nationals involved.

We have consistently advised against attempting to access Gaza in this way, because of the risks involved. But at the same time, there is a clear need for Israel to act with restraint and in line with international obligations. It will be important to establish the facts about this incident, and especially whether enough was done to prevent deaths and injuries.

This news underlines the need to lift the restrictions on access to Gaza, in line with UNSCR 1860. The closure is unacceptable and counter-productive. There can be no better response from the international community to this tragedy than to achieve urgently a durable resolution to the Gaza crisis.

I call on the Government of Israel to open the crossings to allow unfettered access for aid to Gaza, and address the serious concerns about the deterioration in the humanitarian and economic situation and about the effect on a generation of young Palestinians ."

[Nikitas]

"Netanyahu is in DC right now"

Now that is a sense of timing to beat all!

[Khadijah]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middl ... 82630.html

[Paphitis]

How did these "innocent activists" expect the IDF to respond, when they greeted soldiers with knives and clubs? Ships of fools. Cyprus has agreed to no longer permit their launch from the island.

Israel is not the only one.

The Royal Australian Navy, and Australian Customs also board vessels in International Waters. In fact there is a policy to intercept vessels before the enter territorial waters.

All that is needed is mere suspicion of illegalities such as people, drug or arms smuggling or even mere suspicion of illegal fishing within the EEZ.

If international law is being violated, then there is the ICJ.



Why where the IDF boarding these ships in international waters?

nothing to boast about here for the ozzie navy Paphiti. Israel boarded Turkish and Greek flag vessels and murdered 10 of its crew in international waters.

The captain of the Greek vessel was on the radio asking Greek Navy whether he should surrender this vessel under Greek flag to the Israelis and the Greek naval commander told him to stay put. A Greek cruiser sped to the area but by the time it arrived the Israelis had taken the ship and its crew to Israeli shores.

Greece just withdrew from millitary exercises with Israel, Turkey is preparing a bigger reflex jerk.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not defending the Israelis. The loss of life is tragic.

It all boils down to this. The vessels were intercepted and boarded by armed IDF who probably were going to instruct that they should turn back. Did any of the crew pull out a weapon or behave in a manner which was threatenning?

Over here DT, boats are intercepted and boraded daily in the Aussie EEZ. The boarding parties are fully armed with live rounds. Most vessels are boarded in International Waters. All that is required is suspicion of intent on breaking Australian Federal Laws, and if evidence is found on board to prove that there is intent, the vessels are aprehended and the crew are charged. If the boarding party is attacked, then there is potential for loss of life, because the RAN boarding party is prepared to defend itself. The Steyrs are not there for decoration. And yes, there have been instances where live rounds have been fired.

Now, if International Law has been violated, then there are grounds for action within the ICJ. But I doubt whether this will change Australian Federal Law.

[Omer Seyhan]

I had to laugh when I read that the Turkish Foreign Minister accuses Israel of breaking International law.

How many times has Turkey broken International law...I've lost count.

Omer you have to be realistic in these matters. Israel has broken most, but hers are legalised by the USA. Turkey does not have such protection. It's not her fault.

I agree the US unblinded support to Israel is the only indifference. But Turkey bombs Kurds everyday. They arrest and probably torture Kurdish children for throwing stones and imprison them for years. When I watch Turkish tv footage of the way people surround police tanks in Diyarbakir which they pelt with stones I sometimes mistake it for the occupied territories of the West bank.

[vaughanwilliams]

How did these "innocent activists" expect the IDF to respond, when they greeted soldiers with knives and clubs? Ships of fools. Cyprus has agreed to no longer permit their launch from the island.

Israel is not the only one.

The Royal Australian Navy, and Australian Customs also board vessels in International Waters. In fact there is a policy to intercept vessels before the enter territorial waters.

All that is needed is mere suspicion of illegalities such as people, drug or arms smuggling or even mere suspicion of illegal fishing within the EEZ.

If international law is being violated, then there is the ICJ.



Why where the IDF boarding these ships in international waters?

nothing to boast about here for the ozzie navy Paphiti. Israel boarded Turkish and Greek flag vessels and murdered 10 of its crew in international waters.

The captain of the Greek vessel was on the radio asking Greek Navy whether he should surrender this vessel under Greek flag to the Israelis and the Greek naval commander told him to stay put. A Greek cruiser sped to the area but by the time it arrived the Israelis had taken the ship and its crew to Israeli shores.

Greece just withdrew from millitary exercises with Israel, Turkey is preparing a bigger reflex jerk.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not defending the Israelis. The loss of life is tragic.

It all boils down to this. The vessels were intercepted and boarded by armed IDF who probably were going to instruct that they should turn back. Did any of the crew pull out a weapon or behave in a manner which was threatenning?

Over here DT, boats are intercepted and boraded daily in the Aussie EEZ. The boarding parties are fully armed with live rounds. Most vessels are boarded in International Waters. All that is required is suspicion of intent on breaking Australian Federal Laws, and if evidence is found on board to prove that there is intent, the vessels are aprehended and the crew are charged. If the boarding party is attacked, then there is potential for loss of life, because the RAN boarding party is prepared to defend itself. The Steyrs are not there for decoration. And yes, there have been instances where live rounds have been fired.

Now, if International Law has been violated, then there are grounds for action within the ICJ. But I doubt whether this will change Australian Federal Law.

"Most vessels are boarded in International Waters. All that is required is suspicion of intent on breaking Australian Federal Laws,...."

So are you saying that Australian Federal Law applies in International Waters?
If so, how far? All the way to South African Territorial Waters, for example?

[Lit]

Take a look at this link to see videos of Israeli soldiers being attacked by peace activists:

http://www.mako.co.il/news-military/sec ... =978777604

Don't get me wrong...death should not have occurred but why attack the soldiers? In the past, boats left from Cyprus and were boarded by Israel without any incident.

If you were going to attack a Turkish soldier in the occupied north in the same manner what do you think would have HAPPENED TO YOU?