Dealing with pirates

Ok, I was a tiny bit too swift there, just a tiny bit, though....

When a ship is in International waters, there is only one government that has any juridiction towards what's going on, on that ship. The "flag" (state), noone else.

When another government, by force enters that ship, its a criminal act against mankind, (or something like that )

When the "attackers" here show pictures and videos of them being "attacked" by sticks and slings, one might also consider that the "attackers" first managed by force land heavily armed elite soldiers on the deck, which makes, in my opinion this the first crime in this line of events. That the persons onboard that ship defended themselves should not be any big surprice. One might argue that they perhaps were using unnessesary violence in this action, but sticks, iron rods and slings against regular combat weapons...? They're still below in the possibility to inflict serious harm. (well, we could also look at the numbers of casualities for an indication there...).

I'm not too impressed by the Israeli attempt to handle a situation like this. They have the equipment to stop a ship better, easier (and closer to their own border, preferably IN Israeli territorial waters for this kind of action) , and with no casualities, but chose to be ignorant to that kind of solution. Should make a "statement", no matter what the cost. The cost now seem to be a united protest from the rest of the world.

The Israelis could have requested UN/ US to inspect the unloading of the ships, in Gaza... ? Was that not an option, at all? Considered that the Israeli blokade of Gaza is not ratified by UN, in any way?

I have some sympathy with the Israelis attempt to get some control of bombs/ weapons/ missiles in that area, but this was shooting sparrows with cannons...

And by the way, most muslims, are still, being killed, by other muslims... In a period in Europe, we had the "same", most christians were killed by othe christians...

Edit; AND IF the cargo is of type to be considered legal by international laws, and does not end up in the destinated ports within reasonable time (fresh food is worthless within a few days / a week..?), that makes this an undisputedly act of piracy... IMNSHO.....

 

Final suggestion: Magnetic rail gun. No gunpowder, just electromagnets and ball bearings or the like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OqlTXwLG40

 

On the contrary, naval blockades are recognized by international law as a legitimate tactic of war. And the Israelis and Palestinians are certainly at war, whether people call it that or not. It's also quite common for countries to interdict smugglers on the high seas. I would hardly call either scenario a criminal act against mankind.

The Israelis were hardly "heavily armed." They were carrying paint ball guns and pistols, because they didn't really expect any serious resistance, and didn't want bad publicity for being heavy-handed. It backfired on them, because it emboldened the people on board to attack them. Had the Israelis been fully armed and armored and landing in overwhelming force, they would probably have encountered no serious resistance.

In case you've never noticed, the Israelis generally get no help from the UN whatsoever. If they're attacked and fight back, the attackers don't get condemned; the Israelis do. Somehow, outrage always seems to be reserved for the Israelis--no matter what the other side has done.

Again, no. Shooting sparrows with cannons would have been simply sinking the ships and being done with it. Trying to land commandos basically equipped for crowd control to take control instead was a disasterous under-application of power and force.

That certainly doesn't excuse the Muslims who are busy trying to kill Christians, Jews, Hindus, other Muslim sects, etc.

It wasn't necessary for anything on those ships to be brought in by sea through the Israeli blockade. The flotilla was a deliberate provocation on the part of its organizers. They sent it in the hopes an Israeli overreaction would attract sympathy for their cause, and it succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

 

That goes for all directions, in my opinion.

 

Hook, line, and sinker...
Are these professionals??

 

The Palestinians? Yes, definitely. They're very good at working the media and world opinion; they've had years of practice.

The Israelis who were in charge of this operation? Not so much. Must've been a bunch of reservists having a bad day. If they weren't going to leave the flotilla alone, they should have shown up in an overwhelming show of force. The people on board probably wouldn't have started anything, and they could have stopped them before it got out of hand if they did.

If the Israelis had done that, they'd still be getting vilified for being bullies. But at least there wouldn't be dead bodies for their critics to point at, and they wouldn't have some of their own in the hospital.

 

Troy, you are forgetting your old tagline...Did you happen to notice that you are having a thotful discussion with Brent Swain, Knut and Kickass?

 

Like most people, I'm better at giving good advice than I am at following it myself.

 

Lol!!

 

Well, as long as they have a “little” help from Uncle Sam they don’t worry much about UN, don’t they?

I guess people naturally tend to simpatise with a underdog. Kind of difficult to feel sorry for the high teach army shooting at the stones throwing teenagers.

Israel – Lebanon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=249JaIaubVw

… it all started when Lord Balfour on behalf of one people, promised a second people, land that belonged to the third people … (near the end, 5.01)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIpvrOJQ0J0&feature=related

Iraq:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0GQUtYkxfY&feature=related

 

The Egyptians have opened the border. Israel was made out of land that Palestinians have owned for nearly 2,000 years. How would you react if land that your family has passed own for generations was taken away from you and you were left destitute, and you were treated as sub human from then on? You'd fight back with whatever option you were left with.
We should bear in mind that almost half of Israelis are as disgusted with this as the rest of the world is.

 

Read some history before you start making sweeping statements like that.

When Jews started moving into what is modern-day Israel during the start of the Zionist movement, the lands they settled on were generally wasteland that they bought and paid for--thereby obtaining clear title from private owners if there were any, otherwise from whatever government authority there was.

Many (if not most) of the forefathers of the modern Palestinian people moved moved there in the 1800's to work for the Zionists, or to take advantage of the improved economy resulting from the reclaimed land and Jewish presence. Israel isn't any more their ancestral land than it is anyone else's.

Gotta go to work; I'll do part deux when I have time.

 

I haven't looked at your links yet, but I assume it's the usual one-sided, oversimplified garbage. You can't summarize the history of the Arab/Israeli conflict on youtube, no matter which side you favor.

Don't shrug off rock throwing so lightly; a good shot with a rock can seriously injure or even kill someone. And I personally wouldn't send my teenage sons out to provoke armed soldiers by throwing rocks at them, regardless. That's attempted suicide.

I wouldn't send them out to throw rocks at moving cars, either. That's attempted murder. If you're talking about the incident a week or two ago where a driver stopped his vehicle and got out with a gun, I'd call his actions self defense. And he may have saved someone else's family from dying in a wreck caused by a rock through their windshield.

 

Always impressive, the restraint displayed by the Isrealis.

 

It pisses me off if they use 'innicent' bystanders as a cover up so the military cannot take action. I say the Israelies should shoot the crap out of them, sink the bloody thing, it will be good structure for fish to breed in. What was on this boat ? Weapons ?

In that one video the palistinian is accusing Israel to invade them ? But what's the whole story. The Israelies won't just invade another country without a reason or because they are bored, the palistinians have a track record of attacking and bombings on Israel.