Israel (IDF) versus Gaza aid ships- updates

[a_majoor]

This is just one more brick in the "Deligitimatize Israel" wall. For decades now propagandists from the Arab world have been running a huge campaign to cause Israel to be looked on as an illigitimate construct rather than a respected member of the civilized world.

Despite the fact that Israel is the only liberal democracy, free market economy and human rights enclave in the region, we see constant condemnation for their actions, and anti semetic hate fests like ""Anti Israel Apartheid Week" celebrated in Canadian Universities (the very same places which go silent when a Canadian woman becomes the victim of an "honour killing"). This contant corrosive addition to political discourse will eventually cause Israel to loose support from other Liberal Democratic, Free Market Democracies. Without economic support (in the form of market access as a minimum) and political recognition, Israel will eventually be overwhelmed, which will be a very black mark on our own history and culture.

However, since Isreal is a liberal democratic, free market society, I think the time line for its destruction will be far longer than her enemies will like. Athens lost the flower of her Army and Fleet in the Sicilian Expedition, and had lost most of her allies in the Delian league (while Sparta and her allies were receiving a great deal of financial backing from the Persian Empire), but because of her liberal democratic and free market society (for the time),  she was able to continue to fight Sparta to a standstill for almost a decade thereafter. Look for a prolonged rearguard action.

 

[57Chevy]

Barak tells U.N. to shelve flotilla raid probe plan:

(Reuters) - Israel's defense minister on Monday urged the U.N. chief to shelve plans for a U.N.-backed independent investigation of a deadly Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last month.

Speaking to reporters after he met with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he told Ban the United Nations should suspend plans to set up an inquiry into Israel's May 31 interception of a six-ship convoy heading to the Gaza Strip, in which nine Turks died.

"We expressed our view that for the time being, as long as ... new flotillas are in the preparation, it's probably better to leave it (a U.N. investigation) on the shelf for a certain time," Barak said.

He said the five-person panel Israel has established, which includes two foreign observers, would be sufficient for now.

"We are moving ahead with our independent investigation, which we believe is clearly independent, reliable, credible and should be allowed to work," Barak said.

It was not clear if Barak meant Israel might accept Ban's proposal at a later date. He declined to take questions

(article continues)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65K6VG20100621?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FworldNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+International%29

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[Loachman]

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/06/16/lorne-gunter-clutching-desperately-at-the-flotilla-myth/

Lorne Gunter: Clutching desperately at the flotilla myth

(Comment on Photo - available at link) See those guys in the gas masks holding down the bloodied Israeli soldier? They're peace activists who only want to deliver aid to Gaza. Seriously. The Israeli must have hurt himself while shaving.

Lorne Gunter <http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/author/lornegunter/>  June 16, 2010 – 8:50 am

It is possible for intelligent people to disagree over the way Israel stopped the flotilla that set out for Gaza from Turkey last month. Even after what we have learned about the “humanitarians” on board in the past two weeks - that many were in reality thugs lying in wait to ambush Israeli commandos - it is still possible to contend that Israeli military planners and commanders were unprepared for what their troops found when they tried to board the Turkish ships. Their unpreparedness, in turn, led to an overreaction by the commandos who, caught off guard, ended up killing nine thugs.

I, personally, don’t dispute the Israelis’ tactics, I’m merely saying that among smart people it’s possible to disagree over whether Israel used just enough force, or too much.

But what can no longer be disputed is the character of those onboard the flotilla.

Sure, there were many useful idiots on the decks - pro-Palestinian activists from Western nations who had been included merely because they made good PR decoys. And, yes, most of them probably swallowed whole the bumph flotilla organizers were selling - that the exercise was merely an attempt to run Israel’s blockade of Gaza ports and bring food, medicine, clothing, toys, etc. to the poor, starving residents.

But the real passengers were 40 operatives from the Turkish Islamist organization, the IHH, which has close ties to the ruling AKP party and directly to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, according to the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. It has also been reported that the ship on which the deadly commando raid took place, the Mavi Maramara, was purchased by the IHH from a company owned by the AKP with money furnished by the Turkish government.

There was never any nobler purpose than to break the blockade so ships that would follow could bring in guns, explosives and rockets for use against Israel. That’s what Gaza is running short of - weapons. Every day Israel gives Gazans tons of food and supplies, or permits other countries’ aid organizations to ship tons more across Israeli territory.

I’m not saying Gazans are living large on Israeli rations and potable water, but Gaza’s Hamas rulers need the blockade lifted because there are running short of guns, ammunition and portable missiles, not wheelchairs, toys and hypodermics.

Nor is it hard to believe that organizers hoped the Israelis would attempt to board the IHH ship so fanatics could attack them with rods, knives and light weapons - either to kill the Israelis or to provoke the kind of retaliation that would bring international condemnation and scathing headlines.

We know all nine of those killed by Israeli commandos were affiliated with the IHH - including American Furkan Dogan - so to continue to insist they were merely idealists on a compassionate mission who were brutally murdered by Israel is at best self-delusion and at worst dishonest.

Yet in Tuesday’s Toronto Star, author and columnist Linda McQuaig insisted the nine were nothing more than “peace activists” and that their “killings” were a “shocking” contravention by Israel of a convention among “civilized countries” that “seizing ships on the high seas is a very bad thing.”

The insistence that the nine dead extremists were nothing but peaceniks and that Israel was in contravention of maritime law(it wasn’t) is bad enough - Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, calls this sort of thinking typical of “knee-jerk left-wingers and the usual legion of poseurs around the world” - but McQuaig insists on going further still.

McQuaig likens Israel’s raid to the Palestinian Liberation Front’s 1985 attack on the cruise ship the Achille Lauro, in which terrorists seized the ship and tossed a disabled American Jew, Leon Klinghoffer, overboard to drown.

This is a sneering attempt to draw moral equivalence between Israeli counterterrorism and blind acts of hatred against Jews for the crime of being Jews. This is an only slightly more sophisticated version of the old tactic of comparing Israel to the Nazis and Gaza to a concentration camp. But it is a mark of how desperate the anti-Israel left is to keep their flotilla myth alive.

National Post
lgunter@shaw.ca

 

[Retired AF Guy]

The good folks over at the Black Rod have a blow-by-blow account of events leading up to the attack and the attack itself. It includes  eyewitness' accounts from those aboard the ship and the commando's who stormed the ship. Part 1 is here: 
http://blackrod.blogspot.com/

Part 2 to be posted today (Tuesday).

 

[57Chevy]

I think this provocative "aid" shipment should be added here......
                  ______________________________________________
Iran to Send Aid Ship to Gaza:

On the heels of the deadly Gaza flotilla incident, plus the latest round of sanctions passed at the United Nations Security Council against Iran's nuclear program, Iran is jumping on the opportunity to provoke a confrontation with its nemesis Israel while giving another sign of support to the Hamas rulers in the Gaza Strip. From the semi-official Fars news agency:

"Iran's Red Crescent Society plans to send a ship carrying Iran's aids to the Gaza Strip, spokesman of the ship said on Tuesday, adding that the convoy is scheduled to leave the country's southern port city of Bandar Abbas next week.

'The Iranian Red Crescent Society's aid ship, dubbed as 'Gaza Children Ship' and carrying 1,100 tons of medicine and foodstuff, will leave the port of Bandar Abbas and the pier of Bahonar next week,' Abdulrauf Adibzadeh said.

'Five RC personnel and five reporters will also leave for Gaza on the ship,' the spokesman stated, adding that Iran will officially issue the names and photos of the crews and passengers."

(article continues)
http://worldnews.about.com/b/2010/06/22/iran-to-send-aid-ship-to-gaza.htm

          (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

 

[SeanNewman]

I think this provocative "aid" shipment should be added here...

Yes it got brought up last week when Iran was supposedly sending it.

Should be getting there by now or pretty darned soon.

 

[57Chevy]

Yes it got brought up last week when Iran was supposedly sending it.

Should be getting there by now or pretty darned soon.

I see.....It must be the updated version with added info.
(I noted you called WWIII on it)

 

[vonGarvin]

I see.....It must be the updated version with added info.
(I noted you called WWIII on it)

But he wasn't touching his nose, so it didn't count.  I was touching my nose, So I called it ;D

 

[57Chevy]

But he wasn't touching his nose, so it didn't count.  I was touching my nose, So I called it ;D

I noted that too.....but I......forget it.....I'll let you guys have at her ;D

 

[57Chevy]

Israel: Flotillas Aim to Get Weapons to Gaza:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Wednesday that the real motivation behind plans to send blockade-busting ships toward Gaza is to allow free flow of weapons into the Palestinian territory.
Netanyahu spoke as preparations were under way to send several ships carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists toward Gaza, setting up potential confrontations at sea

On Wednesday, Lebanon warned that it would hold Israel responsible for any further attacks on blockade-busting ships.
Netanyahu said his government is drawing up a list of weapons and items with military uses that will not be allowed into Gaza "so that we can permit all the rest."
He said the new list will be made public "in the coming days."

Under Israel's new policy, approved Sunday, "Anyone who wants to bring products can do so — food, toys, medicines, anything," Netanyahu said Wednesday at his Jerusalem office, where he was meeting Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann.

(some repetitive parts of article are not posted)
read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=10989346

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[57Chevy]

Iran will not send aid ship to Gaza:

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iran will not send a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza as it had planned to do on Thursday, according to a report from the official news agency of Iran.

The Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Hossein Sheikholeslam, secretary-general of the International Conference for the Support of the Palestinian Intifada, as saying: "The Iranian ship carrying humanitarian aid will not go to Gaza."

IRNA said that Sheikholeslam told reporters in the northern city of Rasht that the ship had originally been scheduled to depart for Gaza on Thursday, but that its departure was postponed until Sunday because of restrictions imposed by Israel.

He added that officials then decided instead to cancel the trip altogether, shipping to Gaza the goods by other means, IRNA said.

(article continues) Read more:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/06/24/iran.gaza.aid.boat/index.html?eref=edition&fbid=X-q7GDAv616

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[57Chevy]

Turkish Rally for Flotilla Raises Flag with Nazi Symbol:

Turkish supporters for flotillas aimed at breaking Israel’s maritime embargo on Hamas-controlled Gaza recently raised the Nazi flag with an expression of gratitude. The Turkish language slogan on the flag is a common expression of gratitude, according to the [Islam] Religion for Peace.com website.

Turkey was not allied with the Nazi regime but retained important trade agreements that allowed Nazi Germany to import key materials until the pact was broken one year before the end of World War II.

The web site states that Muslim jihadists have committed 15,533 attacks around the world since the September 11, 2001 aerial suicide bombings on the United States.

Turkey and the terrorist-linked IHH organization organized the last flotilla May 31, when IHH members, many of them with training by terrorist groups, attacked Israeli Navy commandos who prevented the Mavi Mamara ship from continuing on course to Gaza.

The clash sparked another crisis in Turkish Israeli relations, which have rapidly deteriorated since last year’s three-week Operation Cast Lead war against the Hamas terrorist infrastructure.

“For a sovereign state, giving up on a matter like this requires giving up on its statehood,” a senior government official told journalists, as reported by Turkey’s Today’s Zayman. “Turkish-Israeli ties appeared headed for a collapse if Israel refuses, as it does now, to offer a formal apology,” for the clash.

The official also alleged that the Mavi Mamara was headed for Egypt’s El-Arish port and not to Gaza.

link: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138274

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[57Chevy]

Gaza aid ship sails from Greece, may head to Egypt Aid Ship
LAVRIO, Greece - A ship carrying aid for Palestinians blockaded in Gaza by Israel left Greece on Saturday, just over a month after 9 activists died in an Israeli raid on an aid flotilla on a similar mission.

It was unclear if the Moldovan-flagged boat, with twelve crew and up to ten activists on board, would try to reach Gaza in defiance of the Israeli blockade or would go to the Egyptian port of El Arish.

A spokesman at the Greek Foreign Ministry said the ship would head for El Arish.

An official from ACA Shipping, which owns the ship, told Reuters ahead of the ship's departure: "The ship will leave in a few minutes for Gaza. If they don't let us reach there (Gaza) we will head to El Arish harbour in Egypt."

A charity chaired by the Libyan Leader's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is organizing the trip and said the Amalthea, re-named Hope for the trip, carried some 2,000 tons of food and medicine and complied with international rules. The trip was expected to take between 70 and 80 hours.

Nine pro-Palestinian activists died in May when Israeli marines stormed a Turkish aid ship leading a Gaza-bound convoy, prompting an international outcry and a condemnation from the United Nations Security Council.

Israel said its commandoes were attacked with knives and sticks when they boarded the ship and acted in self-defence.

Israel said on Saturday it contacted Greek, Egyptian and Moldovan authorities to make sure the ship chartered by the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation would not attempt to reach Gaza.

Its ambassador to the United Nations sent letters to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the president of the UN General Assembly, Ali Treki of Libya.

"In spite of the stated intention of this mission, we are deeply concerned that the true nature of its actions remains dubious," Gabriela Shalev wrote. "This mission is completely unwarranted," she wrote, urging the international community to ensure that the ship "does not sail".

The organizers said the Moldova-flagged ship contained only food and medicine and complied with international rules. Supporters of the charity making the trips were mostly Libyans, they said, with also one Nigerian and a Moroccan. The crew include Cubans, Haitians, Syrians and Indians.

Israel says its blockade of Gaza is necessary to stop arms and materials it fears could be used for military purposes from reaching Gaza's Hamas Islamist rulers. The United Nations says the blockade has led to a humanitarian crisis for the territory's 1.5 million people, of whom about 1 million depend to some extent on regular supplies of UN and other foreign aid brought in overland after Israeli inspection.

Following the international outrage caused by its raid on the aid flotilla, Israel has announced steps to ease the blockade of the enclave and set up an inquiry into the incident.

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[The Bread Guy]

IDF's summary:

.... In terms of the intelligence effort, the team concluded that not all possible intelligence gathering methods were fully implemented and that the coordination between Navy Intelligence and the Israel Defense Intelligence was insufficient. At the same time, the team emphasized that it is not certain that an optimal intelligence effort would create a complete intelligence picture. The team also pointed out that the anticipated level of violence used against the forces was underestimated.

In terms of situation assessments towards the flotilla, the team clarified that the operation relied excessively on a single course of action, albeit a probable one, while no alternative courses of action were prepared for the event of more dangerous scenarios.

Regarding technological alternatives, the team determined that on the day of the incident, decision makers were not presented with alternative operational courses of action other than a full boarding of the flotilla.  The team emphasized the fact that as far as is currently known, no country in the world holds the ability to stop a vessel at sea in a non hostile manner. Therefore statements made on this matter following the incident are unfounded and irresponsible. At the same time, the team determined that alternative courses of action could have existed had the process of preparation begun enough time in advance, and recommended to accelerate the process of examining alternative methods.

The expert team determined that regarding media relations, the preparations made in advance were good. However, the release of press statements and visual materials was delayed due to the need to maintain reliability, the obligation to notify the families of the critically injured soldiers and the long authorization process at the levels above the IDF Spokesperson Unit. The team noted with favor the work of the IDF spokesperson following the incident and emphasized the need for better coordination between the IDF, the foreign ministry and other foreign affairs institutions.

In terms of commanding over the operation, the team determines that the location of the commanders during the incident and the presence of the Commander of the Israel Navy at sea during the operation, was proper and fit with the Chief of the General Staff's view regarding the role of commanders at the front lines of IDF activity. His presence proved effective in terms of the decision making process, saving lives and more. The team praised the Israel Navy combat protocols, the preparations of the Naval Commando Unit, the Navy Command, the Electronic Warfare Formation and the medical evacuation.

The team determined that the Navy Commando soldiers operated properly, with professionalism, bravery and resourcefulness and that the commanders exhibited correct decision making. The report further determines that the use of live fire was justified and that the entire operation is estimable ....

How MSM headline writers are playing it:

"No wrongdoing in Israeli raid on Gaza ship: report" (Reuters)

"Israel admits Gaza flotilla raid 'mistakes' " (BBC)

"Israeli report: Flotilla raid planning was flawed" (Associated Press)

"Israeli army review: Force against flotilla activists justified" (CNN)

"Israeli probe finds operational mistakes in Gaza flotilla seizure" (DPA German wire service)

 

[57Chevy]

More blockade busters
____________________________________________________________________________
Israel urges Lebanon to prevent 2 blocade-busting ships from sailing to Gaza:

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Israel is urging Lebanon and the international community to prevent two ships from sailing to Gaza from a Lebanese port to break Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory. It warned that the vessels will be stopped.

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gabriela Shalev accused organizers of the aid ships Junia and Julia of seeking "to incite a confrontation and raise tensions in our region."

A deadly Israeli commando raid on a Turkish ship trying to bring aid to Gaza on May 31 killed nine activists and focused international attention on Israel's blockade of Gaza, imposed after the Islamist militant and anti-Israel Hamas violently overran the Palestinian territory in June 2007.

In letters to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, Shalev said, "Israel reserves its right under international law to use all necessary means to prevent these ships from violating the ... naval blockade."

She called on Lebanon's government "to demonstrate responsibility" and prevent the two ships, Junia and Julia, from departing

article continues
LINK
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[Jungle]

Why more "aid" ships to Gaza ? Do they need to replenish the Gaza Mall after the big opening sale ??

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-shrybman/gaza-strip-mall-did-the-e_b_650362.html

Let's get a little perspective. The UN gave nearly $200 million in aid to Gaza in just the six months following Operation Cast Lead. It only gave $10 million in aid to Haiti following the devastating earthquake.

1.5 million people in Gaza, 10 million in Haiti... the Palestinians understand well the old saying: "The squeaky wheel gets the oil", and they are masters at squeaking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxaDmAyt84g&feature=player_embedded

Don't expect to see any of this in the western media anytime soon...

 

[57Chevy]

It just kinda makes you wonder what is really going on.
This from Jerusalem Post;

'Israel is world’s most isolated country'
Outgoing UN envoy fears int'l delegitimization.
NEW YORK – Outgoing Ambassador to the UN Gabriella Shalev told American journalists on Monday that Israel is “the most isolated, lonely country in the world,” and that the biggest threat to its existence is not Iranian nuclear proliferation, but international attempts to delegitimize it.

Shalev told an Israel Project luncheon in Washington that threats to Israel’s right to defend itself constitute the “first challenge” of the Jewish state, according to The Washington Times

Shalev cited Iran and tensions with the Palestinians as other significant problems, but particularly highlighted the international community’s actions toward Israel as being potentially detrimental to the country’s future.

She specifically cited European court prosecutions of Israeli officials for alleged human rights offenses and UN efforts to single out Israeli conduct for reprimand.

Shalev said that as sanctions resolutions at the UN put international pressure on Iran, Israel’s biggest threat is now those who question the Jewish state’s right to exist and defend itself, the Washington Times reported

Israel Project president Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi told The Jerusalem Post she felt Shalev’s remarks had been on point.

“Iran has been the No. 1 issue in the pro-Israel community for many years, but right now there is something of a sigh of relief that the world has come to a deeper understanding that Iran is not just Israel’s threat, it is the world’s threat,” Mizrahi said, citing sanction developments in the US, UN and Europe.

“What [Shalev] was saying was that everyone at the UN in theory supports Israel’s right to defend itself, but when it’s actualized, they stop supporting it in many cases,” Mizrahi said, citing the May 31 Gaza flotilla incident as an example.

“I think [Shalev] is right.

I think that this is a major problem, and we’re deeply, deeply concerned about it.”

article continues
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[The Bread Guy]

United Nations Human Rights Council Panel to investigate Israeli raid on Gaza flotilla established

The President of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Ambassador Sihasak Phuangketkeow, has appointed three preeminent experts to an independent international fact-finding mission to “investigate violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, resulting from the Israeli attacks on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian assistance” which took place on 31 May. The experts are: Judge Karl T. Hudson-Phillips, Sir Desmond de Silva, and Mary Shanthi Dairiam*.

In announcing their appointment, Ambassador Sihasak Phuangketkeow said: "The expertise, independence and impartiality of the members of the mission will be devoted to clarifying the events which took place that day and their legality. We call upon all parties to fully cooperate with the mission and hope that this mission will contribute to peace in the region and justice for the victims”.

The establishment of this independent international fact-finding mission was decided on 2 June 2010 by the Council with its resolution 14/1. The Council had previously held an urgent debate on the raid on the Flotilla by Israeli Defense Forces. This United Nations body deplored "the loss of life of innocent civilians" during that debate.

The experts will now define their plan of action and make contact with all relevant parties prior to travelling to the region. They are expected to report on their findings to the United Nations Human Rights Council at its fifteenth session in September 2010.

(*) Judge Karl T. Hudson-Phillips, QC (Trinidad and Tobago), served as a Judge of the International Criminal Court from 2003 to 2007. He was Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago between 1969 and 1973. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel (QC) in 1971. He has now returned to private practice with Chambers in Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada, West Indies.

Sir Desmond de Silva, QC (United Kingdom), is a lawyer with extensive experience in human rights, war crimes, terrorism, business crime, espionage trials and sports law. He served as Chief Prosecutor of the UN backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2005 at the level of an Under-Secretary General of the United Nations. He has been Queen’s Counsel (QC) since 1984.

Mary Shanthi Dairiam (Malaysia) was a member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women from 2005 to 2008. Since 2007, she has been serving on the Gender Equality Task Force of the United Nations Development Programme. She is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific.

Learn more about the Human Rights Council: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/

For the text of resolution 14/1: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/14session/RES.14.1_AEV.pdf

OHCHR Country Page – Israel: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/MENARegion/Pages/ILIndex.aspx

OHCHR Country Page – Occupied Palestinian Territories: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/MENARegion/Pages/PSIndex.aspx

A bit more here.

 

[The Bread Guy]

This from CNN:

A man identified as al Qaeda's No. 2 official issued a eulogy for a slain comrade and made reference to a few hot-button events in recent months: the botched Times Square car bombing, the Israeli commando flotilla strike and the proposed burqa ban in France.

The remarks came in an audio message said to be from Ayman al-Zawahiri that was posted on Islamist websites. It appeared Tuesday, but it is not clear when it was produced.

(....)

As for Turkey, he said the Turks "need to restore the dignity of the Ottoman Empire" and end all "deals and treaties" with Israel. He said change won't come via flotillas for Gaza.

The speaker was making reference to the May 31 Israeli raid on an aid flotilla headed to blockaded Gaza. Violence during the raid left nine people dead on a Turkish ship and further frayed Israel's once-close relationship to Turkey.

(....)

 

[57Chevy]

Sir Desmond de Silva, QC (United Kingdom), is a lawyer with extensive experience in human rights, war crimes, terrorism, business crime, espionage trials and sports law. He served as Chief Prosecutor of the UN backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2005 at the level of an Under-Secretary General of the United Nations. He has been Queen’s Counsel (QC) since 1984.
            _______________________________________________________
Of interest to note Sir Desmond
Sir Desmond was knighted in the New Year Honours of 2007, and is also a Knight of the Most Venerable Order of Saint John, and a Knight Commander of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George in its Royal Order of Francis I.