We would like to invite you to join us at 1pm on Thursday, June 10 in the SLC courtyard for a march around campus to bring awareness to the humanitarian crisis involving Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla. We feel is is extremely important to bring as much awareness of this issue at this time and express our deepest disapproval of the actions committed by the Israeli Defense Forces. We hope to see you there! Should you have any questions, comments,or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
So, what is going on?
Israeli commandos have attacked a flotilla of aid-carrying ships off the coast of the Gaza Strip, killing 9 people on board.
Dozens of others were injured when troops raided the convoy of six ships, dubbed the Freedom Flotilla, early on Monday.
Israel said activists on board attacked its commandos as they boarded the ships, while the flotilla’s organisers said the Israeli forces opened fire first, as soon as they stormed the convoy.
Organizers of the Freedom Flotilla say it was carrying 700 activists and 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid with the aim of breaking the Israeli siege of Gaza.
(a source of Al-Jazeerah website, 31/05/2010)
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/201053113252437484.html
Students For Palestinian Rights 
Just pointing out that it is mighty strange that these “peaceful humanitarians” had such weapons on their boat…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvS9PXZ3RWM&feature=player_embedded
Maybe it’s not as clear-cut an issue as it is being setup to be.
PERHAPS this was all planned. PERHAPS there was an expectation that Israel would board their ships and protect the Israel-Egypt Blockade of Gaza.
I wonder what would have been the outcome if these “humanitarians” who only wanted to bring food and aid to the people of Gaza, would have accepted Israel’s offer to bring the food to them…after a thorough inspection, of course…
I think what would have happened is the Palestinians in Gaza would have gotten a few thousand tones of aid, and there would have been no loss of life.
Oh – but I forgot – it wasn’t about bringing aid to the Palestinians…it was about breaking the blockade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJoKlLOHPcY&feature=player_embedded
It is clear that this flotilla that the Palestinians are merely being used as a pawn in a much larger game of chess…where the endgame has nothing to do with the Palestinian people, but rather the destruction of Israel as a country.
Food for thought:
http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-about-convoy-to-turkey.html
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/would-my-flotilla-to-khodorkovsky-be-shot/407327.html
The answers, my friends, are blowing in the wind…you just have to think for yourself.
Oh yeah – and the commandos boarded with paintball guns as a main weapon instead of rifles because they thought they were going to be doing crowd control….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbkg98R9ENs
It is clear that there is a paintball gun used in that video.
Now I ask you, do murderous killer go in with paintball guns?
No, they don’t.
As a counterpoint to the two previous comments, see the piece out today from Rabble, with BC peace activist Kevin Neish’s report of what happened on board the boat that was stormed, where the 9 flotilla activists were murdered:
http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/rabble-staff/2010/06/kevin-neish-safely-out-israel-witnessed-horrors-aboard-mavi-marm
AnObserver,
Do murderers use “systematically reckless” force in heavily populated areas, in order to “punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population”? (Goldstone Report).
In response to the question you posed, I agree that the vandals and thugs of the IDF did not intend to massacre the 9 (potentially more) civilians on the flotilla with paintball guns. Like most “systematically reckless” murderers, the IDF used equipment designed to kill.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060304287.html
please read.
Hamas wants to destroy Israel. Israel, therefor, has the right to defend themselves.
If there is open transport of all goods into Gaza then Hamas acquires and fires rockets into Israel. So Israel had to enforce a blockade.
If you were actually concerned about the Palestinian people, you would fight Hamas.
They are causing the humanitarian issue in Gaza.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64M0RT20100523
Free the Palestinian people by fighting the terrorist organization Hamas!
Nick,
Why did these so called “vandals and thugs” only act violently on 1 of the 5 ships?
The answer is that only 1 of the 5 ships were violent.
Please listen to this interview on CBC Radio.
http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/asithappens/aihstreaming_20100602_01.wma
somewhere around 12 min in (in the middle of the interview with a passenger on the inbound ship from Ireland) a real peace activist explains how peaceful activism should work.
One cannot use force and then call foul when force is used back.
Israel has the legal right to protect the EGYPTIAN/ISRAELI blockade.
(emphasis used to show that Egypt is enforcing the blockade as well – granted they temporarily opened their boarders after this…but still, Egypt knows how dangerous Hamas is as well)
Hit a soldier in the head with a metal bar and you should not be surprised if he gets rid of his paintball-gun and uses his sidearm instead.
Thank you for reading this.
Adam, the same way that this article states that the IDF video is being called into question, I call into question the validity of this account.
In school we are all taught to be critical of information we are given. History shows us that media is created with the goal of persuasion – this is true of both sides.
Please apply the same critical thinking to your endeavor to understand this complicated situation as you would for any news account.
As per usual, the truth will be found somewhere in the middle of both accounts.
Thank you for reading this.
israel is walking through the end.all cruels will be punished by God in the hell…
According to your source, “at most 10 people were killed”.
Where did you get your at least 19 people killed?
I agree with other posts, if people really wanted to help the Palestinian people, fight against Hamas. Even the PA has shown considerable worry over an empowered Hamas.
Also look at the organizers of the flotilla. They have been linked to Hamas and the Israeli government has even sent letters to the US Secretary of State (before this incident) urging them to look into these ‘Humanitarian’ organizations because of their Hamas ties.
Thank You,
Please write more accurate articles if you want to seem credible…
Why didn’t the activists agree to pass the aid through Egyptian or Israeli ports? 5 out of 6 ship were successful at doing so, and the activists *only* on the ship that refused, ironically carried clubs, knives etc.
Hmm…
By the way, your source says that “as many as 10 people” were killed. The writer of the above article wrote that “at least 19” were killed. Hehehe, but seriously, common…
Israel has ALREADY destroyed Palestine and is continuing to do so. If you use the same definition of terrorists then the IDF are far more sophisticated, well-equipped, brutal, and hypocritical terrorists. Having a beard and covering your face does not make you a terrorist. Having sophisticated spy systems you use to assassinate people you don’t like (and hence pushing them to conceal their identity) makes you a terrorist.
I will keep reminding the ignornat of basic facts: Hamas was democratically elected by the Palestinian people. However, Israel starting assassinating their politicians and the only way to get away from that was to have an actual autonomous region (Gaza) and that could only be achieved through force. After they took control of Gaza to practice their role as an elected government without being subject to political assassinations, Israel started its blockade right away. And it continues to maintain this blockade till this day. This is the root cause of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. All Hamas is doing is trying to resist it. Again, Hamas has been elected by the Palestinian people. So is the government in Turkey. Israel is against democracy. It is only in favor of democracy when the government elected does not conflict the interests and hegemonic ambitions of the Zionist terrorist state of Israel.
Please, the ‘Israel was acting in self-defense’ narrative is getting a little old now. Israel can only hide behind that shield for so long. As for the facts, see for yourself:
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/israels-self-defense-narrative-falls-apart.html
AnObserver, I find you to be uncritical of Israel in the tone of your comments…. to this end, to get a sense of where I’m coming from, see this article from my blog… apartheid in Israel-Palestine needs to end.. and violence isn’t doing anyone any good there – but Israel wields the disproportionate share of responsibility for, as well as means of, violence….
http://adamdavidsonharden.blogspot.com/2010/06/earth-to-ndp-get-moral-backbone.html
Hamas is not interested in Peace.
Read their charter:
“[Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement.”
(http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/www.thejerusalemfund.org/carryover/documents/charter.html)
How do you reason with a government who will quote a Hadith that reads: “The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!”
This is also in their charter. They are clearly trying to incite hate against Jews – not just Israelis.
Tell me how that this is not a racist concept?
Hamas is a racist organization.
Ok – Now let’s talk about Israel critically.
I think that Israel should provide more food and medical supplies, and help build up Gaza.
They are the proper government of this area and the people who live there deserve that…even if they elect a radical racist terrorist group as their officials.
That is what Israel is doing wrong.
They should, however, maintain the blockade as long as Hamas is actively seeking their destruction (which translates to as long as there are rockets being fired into Israel)
While they hold the blockade there should be groups setup to make sure that Palestinians are cared for.
My concern is for the people of both sides. The Palistinians who live in Gaza and the West Bank, and the Israeli citizens who’s lives are at risk by rockets.
Do you care at all for the Israelis?
Zanati: Hamas is not trying to “resist” anything. They are trying to claim all of Israel. Why? because apparently Palestine is an Islamic Waqf. they state in the charter that Caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab called a permanent “called it stamped it, no erasies” on the ownership of any country that Muslims have conquered and Hamas will uphold that with regard to Israel.
You think that is legitimate and valid? I don’t.
I call on everyone to be reasonable and look at more than what “their side” says about things.
We know that propaganda is coming from all sides.
Let’s focus on the people. Let’s find a way to peace.
Israeli’s and non-Israeli Arabs should be working together to fix real world problems, like water issues, food issues, and many other things.
Don’t forget, Peace is possible!!!!
It’s encouraging to see that some people do their research before accepting articles like this as fact.
I’m very happy to see that there are intelligent people who managed to understand the ludicrousness in a “humanitarian aid mission” that refused offers by both Israel and Egypt to deliver the aid by land, as well as in “peace activists” who come from a Turkish terrorist organization IHH (once even banned in Turkey) equipped with weapons who are shown on video systematically attempting to lynch the Israeli soldiers who dropped down onto the boat, beating them, throwing their overboard, stabbing them, and even shooting them with handguns.
Adbel Rahman is a typical jew hating muslim.
Why the ad hominem attack? You know nothing about me.
The landlord at my place in Toronto is a Jew, and we get along very well. In fact, just a couple of weeks he came to fix something in the place and I offered him food and drink, since Islam encourages us to be good to our neighbours, and that it is permissible to eat from “People of the Book” and allow them to eat from your food.
“Jew hating Muslim” is actually an irony and a tragic myth. Muslims have been the most tolerant to Jews in history. Let me remind you of Al-Andalus and how it was the refuge for Jews to escape the repression they were subject to in Europe. Put the prejudices aside, and realize that my posts are purely in criticism of the political ideology of zionism and the way it’s implemented in the State of Israel. There are many Jews who share my views too. In fact, in SFPR I got the opportunity to interact with them personally.
Please see Gwynne Dyer’s follow-up on this. It was clear that the IDF forces were the only ones with real weapons, responsible for the deaths of the 9 activists on board. One UN inquiry (there are actually two) seems to be slanting its inquiry in favour of Israel, saying it was acting ‘legally’, but all evidence points to the fact that the IDF was responsible.
http://www.straight.com/article-338585/vancouver/gwynne-dyer-mavi-marmara-inquiry-denies-obvious
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-turkey-threatens-to-leave-un-gaza-flotilla-inquiry-panel-over-israel-favored-draft-1.361606
http://www.hudson-ny.org/2238/mavi-marmara-inquiry-hasnt-reached-israel