Israel (IDF) versus Gaza aid ships- updates

[GAP]

Reuters Admits Cropping Photos of Ship Clash, Denies Political Motive
By Ed Barnes Published June 08, 2010
Article Link

The British-based Reuters news agency has been stung for the second time by charges that it edited politically sensitive photos in a way that casts Israel in a bad light. But this time Reuters claims it wasn’t at fault.

The news agency reacted to questions raised by an American blogger who showed that Reuters' photo service edited out knives and blood traces from pictures taken aboard the activist ship Mavi Marmara during a clash with Israeli commandos last week. Nine people were killed and scores were injured in the clash.

The pictures of the fight were released by IHH, the Turkish-based group that sponsored the six-ship fleet that tried to break Israel's blockade of Gaza.

In one photo, an Israeli commando is shown lying on the deck of the ship, surrounded by activists. The uncut photo released by IHH shows the hand of an unidentified activist holding a knife. But in the Reuters photo, the hand is visible but the knife has been edited out.

The blog “Little Green Footballs” challenged Reuters' editing of the photo.

“That’s a very interesting way to crop the photo. Most people would consider that knife an important part of the context. There was a huge controversy over whether the activists were armed. Cropping out a knife, in a picture showing a soldier who’s apparently been stabbed, seems like a very odd editorial decision. Unless someone was trying to hide it,” the blog stated.

In a second photo the unedited print issued by IHH showed blood along the ship's railing and a hand holding a knife as an Israeli soldier lies on the deck. Both the blood and the knife were missing in the photo that Reuters released.
More on link

 

[57Chevy]

Syrian envoy's attack on Israel threatens to foil U.S. diplomatic drive

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Syrian+envoy+attack+Israel+threatens+diplomacy/3128173/story.html#ixzz0qJb3Kfr2

UNITED NATIONS — Syria on Tuesday accused Israel of indoctrinating its children with hatred towards Arabs, telling the United Nations Human Rights Council that Israeli youngsters sing about sucking Arab blood, and learn how to sign missiles destined for military activity against Arabs.


The tirade, delivered by Syrian diplomat Rania Al Rifaiy, was part of a Syrian appeal at the world body for countries to unite behind a campaign to "put an end to Israeli brutality."


It came as Turkey sought a fresh condemnation of Israel over its deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ships last week and hosted Syria and other regional leaders in Istanbul to discuss security in the region.


Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, as well as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas attended the gathering, which ended with a call on Israel to end its "inhuman" blockade of the Palestinian territory.


The emerging ties among the regional powers in opposition to Israel pose a new problem for the United States — even as Washington and other UN Security Council powers said Tuesday they were set to vote on a resolution that would impose a fourth round of UN sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear program.


As recently as February, U.S. President Barack Obama moved to strengthen U.S. ties with Syria as part of an effort to drive a wedge between the Arab country and Iran, which Washington, Ottawa and others say is trying to build a nuclear bomb.


As U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the expected passage Wednesday of the resolution would provide a springboard for individual countries to take their own tougher measures against Tehran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment,


Iran, in response, warned its close trading partner Russia against joining western nations in backing the new punitive measures.


The UN launched the Human Rights Council in 2006 to replace another UN rights body in Geneva that countries with poor human rights records had come to dominate.


Israel is predicted to face a new barrage of criticism at the council next week as Richard Falk, UN special rapporteur on Palestinian issues, presents a controversial report on alleged Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories.


Ironically, the Palestinian Authority, which represents Palestinians in the West Bank, has reportedly called for Falk to step down. According to Falk, the PA says he is a "partisan of Hamas."


"Richard Falk is a fruitcake who promotes the conspiracy theory that the U.S. government was behind the September 11, 2001 attacks," said Hillel Neuer, UN Watch executive director, said of the U.S. professor of international law at Princeton University.


While Syria's statement went unchallenged Tuesday, the council president interjected when Canada used the word "regime" in a statement condemning of human rights abuses in Canada's version of an "axis of evil:" Iran, Myanmar and North Korea.


The official told council members "not to use such language" when referring to UN member states, reported a note-taker with the Geneva-based monitoring group UN Watch.


"Canada condemns the Burmese regime's lack of respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of its people, and we urge the regime to improve its co-operation with UN agencies and representatives to help address the well being of its citizens," Jeffrey Heaton, speaking for Canada, had said, referring to Myanmar by the name of the country before the military government changed it in 1989.


On behalf of her country, Al Rifaiy accused Israel of systematically using torture against Palestinians and other Arabs, saying the Israeli Knesset has "legitimized" such practices.


"They claim they are allowed to use what is called mild forms of physical pressure; (these) include tying up prisoners in twisted positions for up to five days continuously, sleep deprivation, (and) covering their heads with sacks dipped in — excuse the term — urine," she said.


She went on to charge Israelis suffer from a "paranoid feeling of superiority," while the country was built on "hatred, discrimination (and) oppression."


"Hatred is widespread, taught to even small children, who are taught to use weapons, and who are taught to sign missiles that will be fired at Arabs," Al Rifaiy said


"Let me quote a song that a group of children on a school bus in Israel sing merrily as they go to school: 'With my teeth I will rip your flesh, with my mouth I will suck your blood.'"


Assad said Monday in Turkey that his country will support "every decision and every action" by the Turkish government to make Israel lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip.


The Palestinian territory is ruled by Hamas, which Syria and Iran back, but which most western countries consider to be a terrorist entity.

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

 

[Kat Stevens]

Syrian envoy's attack on Israel threatens to foil U.S. diplomatic drive

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Syrian+envoy+attack+Israel+threatens+diplomacy/3128173/story.html#ixzz0qJb3Kfr2

UNITED NATIONS — Syria on Tuesday accused Israel of indoctrinating its children with hatred towards Arabs, telling the United Nations Human Rights Council that Israeli youngsters sing about sucking Arab blood, and learn how to sign missiles destined for military activity against Arabs.

Bwahahaha!!  "Hello, Kettle?  Yes, Pot here.  Look old boy, it seems that you appear to be somewhat, err, "black", as it were".

 

[GAP]

Bwahahaha!!  "Hello, Kettle?  Yes, Pot here.  Look old boy, it seems that you appear to be somewhat, err, "black", as it were".

All they have to do is take everything they do, and say the Israeli's do it, and everybody believes it.... :

 

[ModlrMike]

Reuters Admits Cropping Photos of Ship Clash, Denies Political Motive

Seems more like photo-manipulation rather than simple editing.

 

[57Chevy]

Reuters Admits Cropping Photos of Ship Clash, Denies Political Motive
By Ed Barnes Published June 08, 2010
Article Link
“That’s a very interesting way to crop the photo. Most people would consider that knife an important part of the context. There was a huge controversy over whether the activists were armed. Cropping out a knife, in a picture showing a soldier who’s apparently been stabbed, seems like a very odd editorial decision. Unless someone was trying to hide it,” the blog stated.

In a second photo the unedited print issued by IHH showed blood along the ship's railing and a hand holding a knife as an Israeli soldier lies on the deck. Both the blood and the knife were missing in the photo that Reuters released.

This is what is normally called treachery. And undeniable proof that you cannot believe everything you see, let alone that which you read.
Seems to me that certain mid-east nations seek to isolate Isreal. Iran is definitely one of them.

 

[winnipegoo7]

"Israel poised to accept British plan to ease Gaza blockade"


"Israel is set to accept a plan under which it would ease its Gaza blockade in return for the international community agreeing a limited probe into a deadly flotilla raid..."


The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Israel+poised+accept+British+plan+ease+Gaza+blockade/3128825/story.html

 

[Bo]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19611

Israel Navy Reserves Officers Call for External Gaza Flotilla Investigation
Officers denounce operation as 'military and diplomatic failure', slam government for placing blame on the activists.


Global Research, June 8, 2010
Haaretz - 2010-06-06

by Anshel Pfeffer

A group of top Israel Navy reserves officers on Sunday publicly called on Israel to allow an external probe into its commando raid of a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla last week, which left nine people dead and several more wounded.

In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, the Navy officers denounced the commando raid as having "ended in tragedy both at the military and diplomatic levels."

"We disagree with the widespread claims that this was the result of an intelligence rift," said the officers. "In addition, we do not accept claims that this was a 'public relations failure' and we think that the plan was doomed to failure from the beginning."

"First and foremost, we protest the fact that responsibility for the tragic results was immediately thrust onto the organizers of the flotilla," wrote the officers. "This demonstrates contempt for the responsibility that belongs principally to the hierarchy of commanders and those who approved the mission. This shows contempt for the values of professionalism, the purity of weapons and for human lives."

The Navy officers' letter came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convening his top ministers to deliberate a United Nations proposal to create a joint international committee alongside Turkey and the United States to investigate the circumstances of the deadly raid.

The cabinet was also to discuss the creation of an internal committee to look into the incident. Netanyahu earlier Sunday rejected the idea of an international panel, and reiterated that Israel had the right to conduct its own investigation.

Netanyahu discussed the proposal for a multinational panel with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a telephone call on Saturday but told cabinet ministers fon Sunday that Israel was exploring other options, political sources said.

"I told [Ban] that the investigation of the facts must be carried out responsibly and objectively," Netanyahu told ministers. "We need to consider the issue carefully and level-headedly, while maintaining Israel's national interests as well as those of the Israel Defense Forces."

Amazing how the majority of people on this site are saying the activists were at fault when even IDF officers are protesting Israel's actions.
You can analyze all the youtube videos you want. In the end, when the IDF's own members risk their careers to stand up to their governments actions, it becomes quite clear who was in the wrong.

 

[Remius]

"Israel poised to accept British plan to ease Gaza blockade"


"Israel is set to accept a plan under which it would ease its Gaza blockade in return for the international community agreeing a limited probe into a deadly flotilla raid..."


The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Israel+poised+accept+British+plan+ease+Gaza+blockade/3128825/story.html

You see, I'm in favour of getting more info before condemning Israel over this.  At first I was "What were they (Israel) thinking" then after seeing video footage and more details it was "Well, looks like they (activists) asked for it."

This last bit though has me wondering if Israel has something to hide.  "look if you don't look too closely at this we'll ease off on the blockade."

You never know what to believe.  :-\

I think the PMs measured response was appropriate despite naysayers claiming it was tacit support.  I wonder how many world governments will be as quick to retract their initial responses if Israel was found to be in the "right".

 

[Loachman]

http://www.slate.com/id/2256341/

HOME / explainer : Answers to your questions about the news.

The Art of War

Why do commandos use paintball guns?

By Brian Palmer

Posted Tuesday, June 8, 2010, at 6:32 PM ET

When Israeli commandos boarded the Turkish-flagged vessel Mavi Marmara headed for Gaza last week, they used paintball guns against the pro-Palestinian activists before resorting to more lethal defensive tactics. Why would commandos use paintball guns?

To mark, scatter, or hurt aggressors. Military-grade, paintball-style launchers can carry three kinds of payload: ordinary paintballs, "pepperballs," or impact balls. Paintballs are a great way to brand the most disobedient members of a rioting horde so backup officers can sweep in and cuff them or track them when they try to flee. (Both washable and permanent paints are available.) Pepperballs contain a small amount of pepper spray to irritate the eyes and noses of the targets and help disperse menacing crowds. Impact balls consist of metal powder in a plastic case and are much harder than a typical paintball. Commandos use them to drive back approaching mobs. Israel hasn't said which of the munitions its commandos were carrying.

Law-enforcement officers don't carry commercial paintball guns, but their weapons use the same compressed-air technology. There are two general categories of paintball-style systems. High-capacity pepperball guns carry 150 rounds of pellets in a top-mounted hopper, giving the appearance of a recreational paintball gun. U.S. forces prefer the more versatile FN 303, which can also fire impact and paint munitions. While the FN 303 offers only a 15-round, tommy gun-style magazine, it delivers three times the force of the typical pepperball system. (You can tell which system hit you by the shape of the welt: The pepperballs leave a rounder mark than the FN 303 ammo.) Of course, if you're looking for stopping power, neither of the compressed-air weapons can compare to more traditional bean bags or plastic bullets, which deliver 10 and 13 times as much force, respectively, as the pepperball. None of these munitions will stop the most motivated protesters, but they help police separate the merely unruly from those bent on violence.

Law-enforcement types used to refer to all of these tools as nonlethal weapons, but a series of tragedies has given rise to the less-lethal moniker. In 2004, Boston police, attempting to disperse a crowd of jubilant Red Sox fans, accidentally killed a college student by shooting her in the eye with a pepperball from the FN 303. According to Amnesty International, 351 people in the United States have died after being Tasered since June 2001. (Experts disagree on how many of them were actually killed by the Taser.) Bean bags and plastic bullets have killed more than a dozen people in the U.S. since 1971.

While a complete picture of what happened on the Mavi Marmara has not yet emerged, video from the incident indicates that the Israeli forces failed to clear the deck and form a proper skirmish line to prevent the protesters from outflanking or surrounding the soldiers. The helicopters could have fired tear-gas canisters, small water cannons, or plastic bullets to clear a landing area for the commandos. Despite a possible failure in tactics, the Israelis had the right tools for the job. None of the more exotic less-lethal weapons would have worked well on the Mavi Marmara. Tasers are effective against individual suspects but not against crowds. High-tech noise-makers and skunk spray keep space between rioters and police, but are ineffective in very close quarters. Both the U.S. and Israeli militaries are developing a so-called pain beam, which uses a focused energy beam to give suspects an intolerable burning sensation, but it hasn't yet been deployed in the field.

Got a question about today's news? Ask the Explainer.

Explainer thanks Maj. Steve Ijames of Watch House International, LCDR Lance Lantier of the U.S. Navy's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, and Col. Andrew F. Mazzara of the Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies at Penn State University.

 

[57Chevy]

Must balance Israeli security, Gaza needs: Obama


By Sheldon Alberts, Canwest News Washington Correspondent June 9, 2010 1:34 PM


Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Must+balance+Israeli+security+Gaza+needs+Obama/3131726/story.html#ixzz0qNn28O2C

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Wednesday suggested Israel may need to relax its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and called the security situation in the Palestinian-held area "inherently unsustainable."


Following a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Obama said he plans to open talks around a new "conceptual framework" about how to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza.


"With respect to the broader issue of lifting the blockade, as I said before, I think the key here is making sure that Israel's security needs are met but that the needs of people in Gaza are also met," Obama said.


"And it seems to us that there should be ways of focusing narrowly on arms shipments, rather than focusing in a blanket way on stopping everything and then, in a piecemeal way, allowing things into Gaza."


Obama's remarks were the most extensive he has made on the blockade of Gaza since Israeli commandos last month stormed a Turkish-flagged ship carrying aid shipments, leading to nine deaths.


The incident has provoked an international crisis and widespread criticism of Israel in the Arab world and by many European nations.


Great Britain and France have both urged international inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the violence aboard the ship.


The White House has said it is "open" to international participation in an Israel-led inquiry.


Israel maintains its soldiers used force in self-defense after being attacked with clubs by flotilla passengers. The passengers say the Israelis were not provoked.


Asked about the pending Israeli investigation, Obama referred to a U.S.-backed UN Security Council statement that called for a "credible, transparent investigation" inquiry.


"I think everybody — people in Israel, people in Turkey, people within the Palestinian territories, certainly people here in the United States — want to know the facts of this tragedy, what led to it, how can we prevent it in the future," Obama said.


"I've said to the Israelis directly, and certainly my team has communicated the fact, that it is in Israel's interest to make sure that everybody knows exactly how this happened so that we don't see these kinds of events occurring again. And we expect that the standard that was called for in the UN Security Council to be met."


France has suggested the European Union could intervene to defuse tensions by checking cargo aboard Gaza-bound aid ships for illicit weapons.


Obama did not endorse the idea of a European Union-led cargo check.


"There should be a means by which we are able to stop the flow of arms that could endanger Israel's security, at the same time we're doing so in a way that allows the people in Gaza to live out their aspirations and their dreams, both for themselves and their children," he said.

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

 

[57Chevy]

Junk Food for Gaza: Israel Easing Blockade
Israel Says it Will Ease Its Economic Blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip
JERUSALEM, June 10, 2010

Israel signaled a partial easing of its three-year long economic blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip Wednesday, announcing that potato chips, fruit juices, Coca Cola, cookies and other snack foods would be allowed in starting next week
But there is still no relaxation on the transfer of the raw materials Gazans and aid agencies claim are desperately needed to rebuild the coastal territory's shattered infrastructure.

Things like cement, spare parts for cars, electrical appliances and other construction materials are still to be severely restricted.

The United Nations said Israel's move was not enough.

"A modest expansion of the restrictive list of goods allowed into Gaza falls well short of what is needed," said Maxwell Gaylard, a senior UN humanitarian official. "We need a fundamental change and an opening of the crossing for commercial goods," he added.

Israel first imposed its tough economic blockade in response to Hamas's armed takeover of Gaza in 2007. It says the policy is designed to prevent Hamas from building its military strength.

More on link:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/israel-signals-partial-easing-gaza-blockade/story?id=10873488

 

[57Chevy]

Israel forced to apologise for YouTube spoof of Gaza flotilla
Israeli government press office distributed video link featuring Arabs and activists singing

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

The Israeli government has been forced to apologise for circulating a spoof video mocking activists aboard the Gaza flotilla, nine of who were shot dead by Israeli forces last week.

The YouTube clip, set to the tune of the 1985 charity single We Are the World, features Israelis dressed as Arabs and activists, waving weapons while singing: "We con the world, we con the people. We'll make them all believe the IDF (Israel Defence Force) is Jack the Ripper."

It continues: "There's no people dying, so the best that we can do is create the biggest bluff of all."

The Israeli government press office distributed the video link to foreign journalists at the weekend, but within hours emailed them an apology, saying it had been an error. Press office director Danny Seaman said the video did not reflect official state opinion, but in his personal capacity he thought it was "fantastic".

Government spokesman Mark Regev said the video reflected how Israelis felt about the incident. "I called my kids in to watch it because I thought it was funny," he said. "It is what Israelis feel. But the government has nothing to do with it."

The clip features a group led by the Jerusalem Post's deputy managing editor Caroline Glick, wearing keffiyehs and calling themselves the Flotilla Choir. The footage is interspersed with clips from the recent Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound aid ship, the Mavi Marmara.

The clip has been praised in Israel, where the mass-circulation daily Yediot Aharonot said the singers "defended Israel better than any of the experts".

But Didi Remez, an Israeli who runs the liberal-left news analysis blog Coteret, said the clip was "repulsive" and reflected how out of touch Israeli opinion was with the rest of the world. "It shows a complete lack of understanding of how the incident is being perceived abroad," he said. Award-winning Israeli journalist Meron Rapoport said the clip demonstrated prejudice against Muslims. "It's roughly done, not very sophisticated, anti-Muslim – and childish for the government to be behind such a clip," he said.

A similar press office email was sent to foreign journalists two weeks ago, recommending a gourmet restaurant and Olympic-sized swimming pool in Gaza to highlight Israel's claim there is no humanitarian crisis there. Journalists who complained the email was in poor taste were told they had "no sense of humour".

Last week, the Israel Defence Force had to issue a retraction over an audio clip it had claimed was a conversation between Israeli naval officials and people on the Mavi Marmara, in which an activist told soldiers to "go back to Auschwitz". The clip was carried by Israeli and international press, but today the army released a "clarification/correction", explaining that it had edited the footage and that it was not clear who had made the comment.

The Israeli army also backed down last week from an earlier claim that soldiers were attacked by al-Qaida "mercenaries" aboard the Gaza flotilla. An article appearing on the IDF spokesperson's website with the headline: "Attackers of the IDF soldiers found to be al-Qaida mercenaries", was later changed to "Attackers of the IDF Soldiers found without identification papers," with the information about al-Qaida removed from the main article. An army spokesperson told the Guardian there was no evidence proving such a link to the terror organisation.

While the debate over accounts of the flotilla raid continues, Israel is facing more boycotting. In the past week, three international acts, including the US rock band the Pixies, have cancelled concerts in Tel Aviv.

Best-settling authors Alice Walker and Iain Banks have backed the boycott campaign, with Banks announcing his books won't be translated into Hebrew. Dockworker unions in Sweden and South Africa have refused to handle Israeli ships, while the UK's Unite union just passed a motion to boycott Israeli companies

 

[57Chevy]

Israel PM Netanyahu in talks to enable Gaza aid

JERUSALEM, June 13, 2010 (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he was engaged in discussions on ways to meet Gaza’s humanitarian needs while preventing the entry of arms into the Hamas-run coastal strip.

Netanyahu told reporters at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting that talks on the issue began even before Israeli commandos stormed the lead ship of a convoy seeking to break its naval blockade, killing nine Turkish activists

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/world/Israel+Netanyahu+talks+enable+Gaza/3148968/story.html#ixzz0qjREsOUB

 

[Edward Campbell]

I am loath to join this discussion, but this:

Graeme MacKay
The Hamilton Spectator

represents the israeli POV quite well, I think.

 

[57Chevy]

Canadian appointed to Israeli inquiry into deadly flotilla raid

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


OTTAWA — Israel appointed the Canadian military’s recently retired top legal officer as an observer to an internal inquiry into its deadly raid on an aid flotilla Sunday as the three Canadians aboard the Gaza-bound vessel said Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s muted reaction to the events last month has been “a disgrace.”

At the same time, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon’s department issued a news release with a headline saying he was “concerned but welcoming” toward the Israeli inquiry, then later issued a modified headline removing the word “concerned.”

Cannon backed Israel’s decision to reject a chorus of calls by the United Nations and many individual countries for an independent international inquiry into the raid in which Israeli soldiers killed at least nine people, injured dozens more and later detained hundreds of activists. The inquiry will be held by an Israeli commission with two foreign observers, one of them Ken Watkin, a retired Canadian brigadier-general.

Watkin wound up his four-year term two months ago as judge advocate general of the Canadian armed forces after a legal career in the military that included serving as an adviser in 1993 to the inquiry into the Somalia affair and investigations into the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Israel said the decorated officer would participate in all aspects of the inquiry but would have no vote. He is one of two foreign observers on the commission, the other being David Trimble, who won a 1998 Nobel Prize for helping bring peace to Northern Ireland.

(article continues)

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Canadian+appointed+Israeli+inquiry+into+deadly+flotilla+raid/3149999/story.html#ixzz0qp0cv400

 

[57Chevy]

ICRC says Israel's Gaza blockade breaks law:

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

Israel's blockade of Gaza is a clear violation of international humanitarian law, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said.

In a statement, the ICRC describes the situation in Gaza as dire, saying the only sustainable solution is a lifting of the blockade.

It says Israel is punishing the whole civilian population of Gaza.

It also urges Hamas movement to allow ICRC delegates to visit a detained Israel soldier Gilad Shalit.

Key message:

The ICRC, a traditionally neutral organisation, paints a bleak picture of conditions in Gaza: hospitals short of equipment, power cuts lasting hours each day, drinking water unfit for consumption.

"The whole of Gaza's civilian population is being punished for acts for which they bear no responsibility. The closure therefore constitutes a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law," the agency said in the statement.

And the ICRC blames differences between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority for some of Gaza's shortages.

But the key message from the body which rarely publicly criticises governments is that Israel's blockade of Gaza must be lifted.

That message is yet another indication of growing international concern over conditions in Gaza - just last week US President Barack Obama called the situation there unsustainable.

 

[SeanNewman]

Iran now sending aid ships too.  I am calling it: Here comes WW3.  Source:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37681507/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

Iranian aid ships head for Gaza
By Robin Pomeroy, Reuters
updated 8:35 a.m. ET June 14, 2010

TEHRAN - Iran is sending aid ships to blockaded Gaza, state radio said on Monday -- a move likely to be considered provocative by Israel which accuses Tehran of arming the Palestinian enclave's Islamist rulers, Hamas.

(More on link)

 

[vonGarvin]

No, *I* am calling it:

(You weren't touching your nose)

 

[57Chevy]

a move likely to be considered provocative by Israel

From reply #126
quote:" Any intervention by the Iranian military would be considered highly provocative by Israel"

I see Iran reads the paper too.