Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Israel's Dangerous Turn

By Robert Parry
June 2, 2010

After Israel’s lethal attack in international waters on a civilian flotilla carrying relief supplies to Gaza, a troubling question arises: Have Israeli authorities, who possess a major nuclear arsenal, become dangerously erratic?

Read on.
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4 comments:

Tomás Rosa Bueno said...

The worst-case scenario came to be, and the unthinkable happened: a six-ship flotilla carrying unarmed civilians and humanitarian supplies was attacked with deadly force in international waters by Israeli commandos, resulting in the death of at least ten people – tough there are reports of as many as twenty dead, and thrice as many wounded.

The usual suspects are already all over the press saying that this was to be expected, blaming the deaths on the dead, and accusing the victims of attacking heavily-armed Israeli commandos with sticks and knives, forcing the poor boys to use their automatic weapons at close range to defend themselves. Israel, they say, could not allow those ships to reach Gaza in defiance of a legitimate blockade of a territory inhabited by 1.8 million thugs and terrorists.

Leaving aside the issue of the legitimacy and legality of Israel’s blockade of Gaza and admitting for ease of argument that they had a right under international law to stop the flotilla by any means, why did they have to send commandos to storm the ships in the dead of night, in international waters, in a brazen defiance of that very same international law? There were many other means to stop the ships that did not involve the risk of killing civilians. They could, to give just one obvious example, wait until the flotilla reached their territorial waters, cripple their steering systems and tow them all to one of their ports, charging everyone on board with illegal entry and locking them up for a few weeks to teach them a lesson. Nobody could have faulted them, and they could even have a good laugh at the flotilla fiasco.

Instead, they chose to shoot their way onto six ships carrying 700 civilians “armed” with sticks and kitchen knives. We all know, especially since they sent their troops to practice target-shooting against civilians in Gaza in 2008, that the Israeli brand of public relations is a little peculiar, but this seems a little too much even for them.

What happened? Are they losing control? Is their ruling clique finally proving right those who say they are insane?

No. There is method in their madness: they are sending us all a message. With the tide of world opinion turning firmly against their high-handed practices, facing certain defeat in their joint drive with the U.S. to slap yet another round of illegal sanctions against Iran, having their nuclear arsenal condemned by a unanimous declaration of 189 countries that even their closest allies had to sign, and risking to have their actions in Gaza judged by an international court, they are telling us that they will do whatever it takes to protect their interests – and that they couldn’t care less about what the rest of the world thinks of them.

They will shoot anybody who crosses their way, they will invade their neighbors whenever it pleases them, they will send nuke-carrying subs to the coast of Iran and they will use them if need be. Nothing will stop them.

It’s clear that at least the Israeli people, subject to a propaganda barrage that has them convinced that they are the victims and that the world is out to get them, will not to anything to stop them, but on the contrary will keep voting them into power. So it's time the international community takes a firm and united stand against their follies and against whoever supports them. If the U.S. won’t do its duty to rein in their frenzied ally, somebody else will have to do this for them.

Urgently. Before they drag us all into the Armageddon they seem to wish so fervently.

Wed Jun 02, 03:05:00 AM 2010
Ethan Allen said...

I too am ashamed of the jingoistic and callous reaction to this act of murder and piracy on the high seas by both our elected officials and corporate controlled media.

It is instructive to revisit Professor Maguire's analogy as recalled in the article:
"In an e-mail to me, Marquette Professor of Moral Theology Daniel C. Maguire cited one important distinction between “Somali piracy and Israeli piracy – Israel kills during its piracy and then claims it does so in self-defense. That is [a] first in the history of piracy. Traditionally, pirates have been outlaws and admit it. It is very much like a rapist saying: ‘The victim I was raping resisted and so I killed her in self-defense.’ A defense like that would make even a mob lawyer blush.”

These are not the actions of reasonable and ethical human beings, they are the behavior of violent fanatics whose tepid imaginations have been captured by corrupt ideologues operating behind the veil of dogmatic fundamentalism and fatalistic cult belief systems in an unholy marriage with rabid nationalism.

Wed Jun 02, 08:32:00 AM 2010
Rachel/raesok@aol.com said...

Considering the leap by so many to accuse Israel of complete responsibility for what happened aboard the "Freedom Flotilla, it would seem that Israel's
"paranoia" is justified. But it also seems that facts are emerging re the actual nature of the Flotilla who refused Israel's negotiations to deliver "the goods" from the ships to Gaza. How about further investigations?

Wed Jun 02, 11:34:00 AM 2010
Daniel of Australia said...

Israel are the worlds terrorist... I'm sorry to say... closly followed by you guys in the U.S. As an Australian looking in, it's bloody obvious. Your media is controlled... your government is under control... This website is the best option you Americans have in getting the TRUTH out there... Please America WAKE UP and smell what has been cooking for a long time now. The rest of the world is slowly awakening... catch up!! The Fed bank is a con... Obama is a tool of the bankers and oil tycoons! Earth changes are coming... What have you been told? I feel sorry for most Americans for they just don't know what is happening, why? for they are waiting to be told by main stream media.... IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE... IT'S TIME FOR THE PEOPLE TO RISE UP AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE... PLEASE.. FOR ALL THE WORLD..!!

Wed Jun 02, 07:09:00 PM 2010

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