Lieberman: "There is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip"

Israel just hates Rachel Corrie.

 

I guess I don't see exactly how Israel ensures that anything at all occurs in Gaza once the ship lands. I guess they could re-invade the Gaza strip if you really want them to. I don't think Hamas is going to invite them in to supervise.

And as you see now that the activists think they smell blood in the water, they are all going to try and send their ships to Gaza. Your plan is the end of management over goods entering Gaza and complete surrender.

 

Didn't Egypt already open their border to Gaza to let goods go in? So if the goal was to keep Gaza blockaded, it seems that Israel already failed. They also lost support from their few allies in the region - Turkey and Egypt. I'm not sure what their endgame is, but it doesn't appear this particular strategy is working very well as of now.

I understand the logic that Palestinians should realize their strategy isn't leading to peace and needs to change. But at the same time, Israel's strategy for the past 10+ years hasn't gotten them any closer to any kind of improvement either.

 

Egypt has opened the border as they have done in the past. Israel has the border "open" every day to send in the aid trucks. When the blockade is in full effect, there are things that cross the border.

Similarly, when Egypt lets people through at their very controlled crossing point, they examine identification and examine cargo. The goods that they don't want going in are still blockaded. It isn't a free-for-all open border where anybody can carry anything they want into or out of Gaza.

Also, on the Gaza side, Hamas has blockaded people from leaving that aren't on Hamas business, so many of the people that would potentially cross to get goods aren't leaving.

 

Israel doesn't which is why I stated the media. I doubt Hamas is going to try to block or attack the world press from showing a ship full of aid unloading at Gaza. If they do then that becomes a PR victory for Israel.

Yet we see how well Israel forcibly stopping a ship has worked out. As Major noted Israel's blockade is already falling apart.

 

And what happens if the flotilla did have weapons on board, supporting the terrorists? Hamas would have newly acquired weapons. That would probably force the IDF to invade causing a skirmish that'll be greatly documented by the press there, in addition to endangering the press' lives.

The only possible win situation I could see is if the flotilla would be allowed to be escorted to an Israeli port in safe territory where they could safely inspect the cargo. I have a strong feeling the Mavi Marmara had NO intentions of changing course and being escorted to a safe port.

It did seem like a lose-lose situation for Israel either way. Unfortunately, it ended in bloodshed which could have been easily avoided had there been cooperation on the activists' side.

 

Would you trust your life to a media that you believe is hostile to you? Say, if you are a black man and a Democrat in America, would you trust your life to Fox News doing an in depth investigative report to uncover wrongdoing by the leader of the Tea Party?

If you were the USA, would you bet American lives on the goodwill of al Qaeda (who you can't even speak with reliably) and al Jazera or one of the other not-pro USA news organizations? It really is difficult for me to understand why you legitimately think this would happen. It would be criminal negligence by the government officials.

The problem was procedural, as everybody has made abundantly clear in this thread. The blockade isn't over any more than USS Vincennes shooting down Iran Air Flight 655 forced an end to US hostility and embargo of Iran. Honestly, if anybody wants to make bets about whether within the next year we will see container ships regularly docking in Gaza without being inspected by Israel, I will be happy to cover any reasonable bet.

BTW, I'm surprised that nobody has parsed the Bibi article about changing the blockade for the classic Netanyahu equivocation that it is. I kept checking back to see who would be the one to break it down.

The article starts with the big bold headline that he is "open" to changes, which he said so nobody can write a nasty story about what an arrogant @ss he is, and then goes on to list all the rationale he is preparing to use when he rejects every proposed change or attempt to make things more efficient. One sentence about being willing to think about it. A dozen about all the reasons that he is going to reject every proposal. It is classic Netanyahu-speak.

 

I read something interesting. Some of the conservative Jews in Israel now talking about a one state solution. They want to just incorporate the West Bank, Palestinians and all, if that is what it takes to take permanent control of the West Bank. They are tired of the continuing attempts to keep grabbing parts of the West Bank before doing a deal for a two state solution. Such a solution would leave Israel with about a 30% Arab population. Either they aren't that concerned with the Jewish privileged state or they are confident in their ability to sustain Apartheid.

 

Mathloom, what do you think about the Muslim driver who murdered that Catholic bishop in Turkey? I find it interesting how the pope finds very moderate words...stark contrast to Erdogan, who is fueling the fire for political gain.

Cyprus (Reuters) - Pope Benedict said on Friday the killing of a leading Catholic bishop in Turkey should not be allowed to hurt dialogue with Islam or stain the image of Turkey and its people.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65323D20100604

 

Why have several Christian clerics then been killed in Turkey in the recent past. Where's the outrage? Where are the fanatic demonstrators on the street against this?

 

You don't care because you prefer to be angry at Israel, right.

 

Here we go again...

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Bring on the Irish.

 

Staff Sergeant S saved the lives of his men. Unfortunate for those who lost their lives, but those who attacked the commandos are far from innocent.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article7144099.ece

He said he saw one of the passengers holding a seized pistol to another Israeli commando’s head.


Give this man a Medal!!

Good article, thanks Mathloom.

 

Is anyone else wondering where the Rachel Corrie is at this point?