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Author Topic: Activist boats near Gaza in challenge to Israeli embargo
Frustrated Mess
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posted 23 August 2008 04:56 AM      Profile for Frustrated Mess   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
The activists expect to be stopped by Israel, which maintains a tight naval blockade around Gaza and has warned the boats not to enter its waters, saying the demonstration would support "the regime of a terror organisation."

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said Saturday that Israel was "following developments" regarding the two boats.

"If they want to make provocations, then we will know how to deal with them," he said, without elaborating.



AFP

From: doom without the gloom | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Stanley10
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posted 23 August 2008 05:31 PM      Profile for Stanley10     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Yea!!!!!!, they made it safely to port. These activists are getting really smart these days:

1. Name your boat Liberty so if it's shelled or sunk every reporter will make reference to the infamous US Liberty incident. Further, it sounds like freedom.

2. Invite an 81 year old Catholic nun to go with you.... and a Holocaust survivor... and the sister in law of the Middle East Peace Envo(Tony Blair)... and a greek politician... some writers...

3. Do it just before an US election.

4. Carry a cargo of hearing aides for children who are deafened by low flying Israeli jets (day and night) and ...oh yes, thousands of balloon toys for the children.

Kind of puts Arab leaders to shame. I'm looking forward to Liberty II "They're baaaaack"

[ 23 August 2008: Message edited by: Stanley10 ]

[ 23 August 2008: Message edited by: Stanley10 ]


From: the desk of.... | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
Ken Burch
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posted 23 August 2008 05:37 PM      Profile for Ken Burch     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
So you're saying that defying the Israeli blockade wasn't a particularly courageous act? Er...why?

And why are you seemingly contemptuous of people who are just trying to bring a little hope to a place that's known nothing but misery?

If I misunderstood your post(and I really hope I have) I'd be deeply relieved. But you appear to be saying that what these people are doing is no big deal.

[ 23 August 2008: Message edited by: Ken Burch ]


From: A seedy truckstop on the Information Superhighway | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Cueball
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posted 23 August 2008 05:40 PM      Profile for Cueball   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
It's certainly a lot more courageous than jet set activists spending thousands of dollars for the privilege of getting their photo taken in Beijing before they are deported. I wonder how many round trip bus trips to Caledonia one airline ticket to Beijing is worth?

[ 23 August 2008: Message edited by: Cueball ]


From: Out from under the bridge and out for a stroll | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
Stanley10
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posted 23 August 2008 05:45 PM      Profile for Stanley10     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I think what they did was both courageous and very smart. The point I was making is that they did it very well.
From: the desk of.... | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
Ken Burch
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posted 23 August 2008 05:47 PM      Profile for Ken Burch     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Oh, well that didn't really come across in your phrasing.

You might want to reword your post to clarify your intent. Just a suggestion which you could take or ignore.

Also, what did you mean by "Kind of puts Arab leaders to shame"? The Arab states are hardly to blame for the situation in Gaza.

[ 23 August 2008: Message edited by: Ken Burch ]


From: A seedy truckstop on the Information Superhighway | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Stanley10
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posted 23 August 2008 06:06 PM      Profile for Stanley10     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Why are these the first boats to break the blocade? There are alot more good intentioned people much closer to Gaza than from where these boats and crew originated, but, perhaps the first try did need to come from countries somewhat alligned with Israel or from places Israel fears bad press.
From: the desk of.... | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
Le Téléspectateur
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posted 23 August 2008 06:21 PM      Profile for Le Téléspectateur     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Israel has tightened its blockade of Gaza since Hamas seized power in June 2007, sealing the territory off from all but vital humanitarian aid in a bid to put pressure on Palestinian militants who have fired hundreds of rockets at southern Israel in the past year.

Hamas "seized" power? That's an odd verb to use.


From: More here than there | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
Cueball
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posted 23 August 2008 06:24 PM      Profile for Cueball   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Yes, as I remember it Abbas overstepped his authority as president and disbanded the government. All of which was unconstitutional. Hamas just rejected the Abbas coup.
From: Out from under the bridge and out for a stroll | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
Le Téléspectateur
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posted 23 August 2008 06:43 PM      Profile for Le Téléspectateur     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
When was the last time that you saw a journalist write "when Bush seized power in 2000" in an article?
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Ken Burch
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posted 23 August 2008 07:45 PM      Profile for Ken Burch     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Stanley10:
Why are these the first boats to break the blocade? There are alot more good intentioned people much closer to Gaza than from where these boats and crew originated, but, perhaps the first try did need to come from countries somewhat alligned with Israel or from places Israel fears bad press.

If any Arab country had sent a humanitarian aid ship to try to break the blockade, the Israelis would have insisted that the ship carried weapons and almost certainly sunk it. And the North American media would've robotically accepted the Israeli version of events.


From: A seedy truckstop on the Information Superhighway | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Stanley10
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posted 23 August 2008 11:24 PM      Profile for Stanley10     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
"Israel, with U.S. backing and Egyptian assistance, virtually sealed Gaza last summer after the militant Islamic group Hamas seized control of the strip." LA Times

Egypt seems complicit in the blockade.

and

"Abubakr Nofal, a senior Hamas member, said the voyage was a "strong message to the Arab people and to Arab leaders," and called on them to pressure the United States and Israel to lift the blockade." AFP

It sounds like this fellow is shaming Arab leaders in this statement. Perhaps it is directed at Egypt.


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al-Qa'bong
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posted 24 August 2008 01:00 AM      Profile for al-Qa'bong   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Since Egypt has the most shameful Arab government (well, the Saudis are close...but then Jordan is pretty bad. Oh well...), you're probably right.
From: Saskatchistan | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
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posted 24 August 2008 04:55 PM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 

quote:
“The boats were crewed by a determined group of international human rights workers from the Free Gaza Movement. They had spent two years organizing the effort, raising money by giving small presentations at churches, mosques, synagogues, and in the homes of family, friends, and supporters. They left Cyprus on Thursday morning, sailing over 350 kilometers through choppy seas. They made the journey despite threats that the Israeli government would use force to stop them. They continued sailing although they lost almost all communications and navigation systems due to outside jamming by some unknown party. They arrived in Gaza to the cheers and joyful tears of hundreds of Palestinians who came out to the beaches to welcome them. Two small boats, 42 determined human rights workers, one simple message: ‘The world has not forgotten the people of this land. Today, we are all from Gaza’. Tonight, the cheering will be heard as far away as Tel Aviv and Washington D.C.”

From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
martin dufresne
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posted 24 August 2008 05:51 PM      Profile for martin dufresne   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
It sounds like this fellow is shaming Arab leaders in this statement.
Turning a challenge to Israel into a challenge to allied Arab states is spin-doctoring of the saddest variety. I agree that a ship with lesser Western-credentialed folks aboard would have been sunk. (Indeed, many probably were.)

From: "Words Matter" (Mackinnon) | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
Stanley10
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posted 24 August 2008 08:45 PM      Profile for Stanley10     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Turning a challenge to Israel into a challenge to allied Arab states is spin-doctoring

What a load of bollocks. They've been abandoned by all the craven governments.

"Haniya(deposed prime minister of Hamas) also called on Arab leaders to send boats and sea vessels to Gaza to break the Israeli blockade"
By Saud Abu Ramadan Aug 23


From: the desk of.... | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged

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