At least 10 activists dead, dozens hurt in flotilla clashes

[mawilson 2,133]

When your one ally left in the world thinks you may have just overreacted, then perhaps you just might be wrong.

Obama is no ally.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I think the Israel raid on the relief ships to Gaza are bullshit and I hope the US finally finds the courage to step in and say International Law applies to us all.

[Boiler 45,559]

If you read the thread you will see that they were acting under International Law.

Personally I would rather be an enemy of Obama rather than an ally. You get much better treatment.

[sjr09 155]

the incoming ship is named for some gal run over by a bulldozer.

How in the world do you get run over by a bulldozer, not like its a fast moving bus or car?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

How in the world do you get run over by a bulldozer, not like its a fast moving bus or car?

They can move pretty quick, and spin on a dime. In this case, the lady was trying to prevent the Israelis from bulldozing Palestinian homes, businesses, etc.

[mawilson 2,133]

How in the world do you get run over by a bulldozer, not like its a fast moving bus or car?

You stand in front of it like a fuckin idiot and stubbornly refuse to move, trying to prove a point.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

You stand in front of it like a fuckin idiot and stubbornly refuse to move, trying to prove a point.

Metal 1

Flesh 0

[Pooky 3,792]

Israel seizes Gaza aid ship

Peaceful takeover occurs days after bloody raid

msnbc.com news services

updated 11 minutes ago

JERUSALEM - Israeli forces seized a Gaza-bound aid vessel without meeting resistance Saturday, preventing it from breaking an Israeli maritime blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory days after a similar effort turned bloody. The IDF said they informed the crew of the MV Rachel Corrie that the Gaza Strip was under blockade and that the ship should put to port in the southern coastal city of Ashdod. However, officials said the Irish ship continued steaming toward Gaza despite the presence of three Israeli warships sent to shadow the vessel.

The ship — named for an American college student who was crushed to death by a bulldozer in 2003 while protesting Israeli house demolitions in Gaza — was carrying hundreds of tons of aid, including wheelchairs, medical supplies and cement. The Rachel Corrie had got to roughly 40 miles off the coast of Gaza at about 8 a.m. local time (1 a.m. ET) Saturday when officials asked the crew by radio to identify themselves, Israeli officials told NBC news.

"You are approaching an area of hostilities which is under a naval blockade," the military said in a transcript of excerpts of its communication with the ship.

It urged the boat to divert to Ashdod, where its cargo would be unloaded and transferred to Gaza if it passed a security inspection, but the ship rejected the invitation, the military said. The military said its forces boarded the ship from the sea, without using helicopters. The operation went peacefully and the boat was en route to Ashdod, the IDF told NBC News.

"The ship has been boarded and there was full compliance from the crew and passengers on board," an Israeli military spokesperson told Reuters.

The IDF posted a video taken from the air on the internet which it said showed its forces boarding the Rachel Corrie. A spokesperson for Free Gaza Ireland confirmed to msnbc.com that the boat in the footage was the Rachel Corrie.

The takeover stood in contrast to a violent confrontation at sea Monday when Israeli commandos blocked a Turkish aid convoy of six ships trying to break the blockade. At the time, the commandos rappelled from helicopters and a clash with passengers left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead.

Taken 'Hostage'

Greta Berlin, of the Free Gaza movement, which was sponsoring the Rachel Corrie, said in a statement the Israeli military "forcibly seized the Irish-owned humanitarian relief ship."

"For the second time in less then a week, Israeli naval commandos stormed an unarmed aid ship, brutally taking its passengers hostage and towing the ship toward Ashdod port in Southern Israel," she said. "It is not yet known whether any of the Rachel Corrie's passengers were killed or injured during the attack, but they are believed to be unharmed."

Those aboard had said in advance they would not resist any boarding. The Rachel Corrie left Malta on Monday, the same day as the clash between Israeli forces and pro-Palestinian activists on the Turkish convoy.

Autopsy results on the dead activists — eight Turks and a U.S. citizen of Turkish heritage — showed they had been shot a total of 30 times, many at close range, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday. Five were killed by gunshots to the head, it said. Turkish-American activist Fulkan Dogan, who was born in New York, was shot five times from less than 18 inches away, in the face, the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back, the paper said. In addition to those killed, 48 others received gunshot wounds and six activists were still missing.

Diplomatic fallout and protests across Europe and the Muslim world have increased pressure to end the embargo Israel imposed after the Islamic militant Hamas group seized power in Gaza three years ago. The blockade has plunged the territory's 1.5 million residents deeper into poverty and sharply raised Mideast tensions as the U.S. makes a new push for regional peace.

The Rachel Corrie differed significantly from the flotilla intercepted Monday. Nearly 700 activists had joined that operation, most of them aboard the lead boat from Turkey that was the scene of the violence. That boat, the Mavi Marmara, was sponsored by an Islamic aid group from Turkey, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief. Israel outlawed the group, known by its Turkish acronym IHH, in 2008 because of alleged ties to Hamas. The group is not on the U.S. State Department list of terror organizations, however. By contrast, the Rachel Corrie was carrying just 11 passengers and the Free Gaza movement is avowedly non-violent.

Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan, who was on board, had told The Associated Press Friday that the group would offer no resistance if Israeli forces came aboard. "We will sit down," she said in a telephone interview. "They will probably arrest us ... But there will be no resistance."

And the former U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, Denis Halliday, said from the ship before it was seized that trade unions and government officials had inspected its cargo. "So we are 100 percent confident that there is nothing that is offensive or dangerous," he told Israel's Channel 2 TV.

Still, he acknowledged that Israel might object to the 500 tons of cement on board, which the army maintains the militants can use to fight it. Netanyahu had instructed the Israeli military to avoid harming the passengers on board the boat, a participant at Thursday night's Cabinet meeting said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

White House calls blockade unsustainable

In Washington, the White House said Friday Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip was unsustainable but also urged the Rachel Corrie to divert to an Israeli port to reduce the risk of violence.

"We are working urgently with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and other international partners to develop new procedures for delivering more goods and assistance to Gaza," said Mike Hammer, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. "The current arrangements are unsustainable and must be changed. For now, we call on all parties to join us in encouraging responsible decisions by all sides to avoid any unnecessary confrontations," Hammer said in a statement.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused the Jewish state on Friday of violating its own biblical commandments. "I am speaking to them in their own language. The sixth commandment says 'thou shalt not kill.' Did you not understand?" Erdogan said in a televised speech to party supporters. "I'll say again. I say in English 'you shall not kill.' Did you still not understand?. So I'll say to you in your own language. I say in Hebrew 'Lo Tirtzakh.'"

MSNBC Article

A far better outcome is achieved if you don't let "activists" on board a humanitarian effort.

Just a couple of questions ...

How can you brutally take its passengers hostage while not hurting anybody?

... and ...

Isn't the statement "It is not yet known whether any of the Rachel Corrie's passengers were killed or injured during the attack, but they are believed to be unharmed" just a lame attempt to sensationalise what was a better-executed, peaceful seizure of a blockade-runner?

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

How in the world do you get run over by a bulldozer, not like its a fast moving bus or car?

cat d-9

forward top speed: 7.3 MPH

reverse top speed: 9.1 MPH

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterpillar_D9

the bulldozer was moving forward at the time of her death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie

humans walk at 2.8 to 2.95 mph for older individuals, 3.3 mph ~ 3.38 mph for younger individuals. humans run at 17+ mph.

i wonder if she got a darwin.

[Boiler 45,559]

It is not going to be able to do max speed when knocking down buildings.

[Ggreen 12]

How in the world do you get run over by a bulldozer, not like its a fast moving bus or car?

This is how gods chosen people kill Americans, using weapons paid with our tax money : http://rtsf.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/american-shot-by-israeli-troops/

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

cat d-9

forward top speed: 7.3 MPH

reverse top speed: 9.1 MPH

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterpillar_D9

the bulldozer was moving forward at the time of her death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie

humans walk at 2.8 to 2.95 mph for older individuals, 3.3 mph ~ 3.38 mph for younger individuals. humans run at 17+ mph.

i wonder if she got a darwin.

Is that for the G model as well?

Edited June 5, 2010 by ##########

[mawilson 2,133]

They didn't resist and - surprise surprise - no-one got hurt.

Just a couple of questions ...

How can you brutally take its passengers hostage while not hurting anybody?

... and ...

Isn't the statement "It is not yet known whether any of the Rachel Corrie's passengers were killed or injured during the attack, but they are believed to be unharmed" just a lame attempt to sensationalise what was a better-executed, peaceful seizure of a blockade-runner?

I know... makes me sick.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

If you read the thread you will see that they were acting under International Law.

Personally I would rather be an enemy of Obama rather than an ally. You get much better treatment.

Exactly