Blockade, schmockade. Israel isn’t going to do shit to an American boat. The humanitarian effort is more important than Israel’s douchey little blockade.
It wasn’t an American boat, it was Gibraltarian. A Gibraltarian boat that now has a new sunroof.
I have to ask two question here…first, did you read the article? Second, do you have any idea at all what’s going on in Gaza atm?
Because seemingly the answer to both questions is ‘no’.
-XT
Ok, but it still had Americans on it, and it was still unarmed. Israel isn’t going to do anything to it.
Even if there was a danger, that just makes the effort all the more heroic. Why does anybody object to people risking life and limb to help other people?
Why is the US even tolerating Israel’s behavior in the first place? That’s what I’d like to know.
So anyone who takes any kind of risk in order to support something they believe is right is an idiot? Well, I guess I know where that puts Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. I mean, it’s a fucking war zone.
How about those morons who worked on the Underground Railroad. That was against the law, man.
They did do something to it, they rammed it. For all the Israelis knew and cared, they could have cut the boat in half and killed half the people inside with the impact.
Nobody in their right mind would object to it if risking your life was necessary to help other people. But as it has already been pointed out, there were land entrances into Palestine that could have been used safely. If those weren’t available then yes, running the blockade was a good idea to get the supplies in.
Good question and one that is beside the point. The boat would have still tried to reach Gaza even if the US opposed Israel’s actions.
Had they wanted to kill everyone on board they could have waited until the vessel entered the blockade zone then blown it away…and been justified in doing so (though still condemned by folks like DtC) since the boat failed to respond to communications, was basically trying it’s best to maneuver around the Israeli boats and pretty much acting in a highly suspicious way. Reading the article, after they were rammed they refused any assistance…which, if the emergency was so dire seems kind of odd as well.
All in all, not a shining moment on either side, but I’d have to cut the Israeli’s some slack on this reading between the lines of the CNN article. It almost sounds like the folks on the Dignity (snort) were trying to provoke the Israeli’s to some kind of response.
So what? Are you saying because they (the folks in the Underground Railroad) were right that means anyone who tries to do something against the law is right? If I trot out equally meaningless counter examples what exactly will it prove?
Perhaps we should stick to THIS example…and you should say why it was the right thing to do and the right way to do it?
-XT
No, I’m trying to counter the fallacy that because something is dangerous or illegal, it’s necessarily stupid or wrong.
My objection is similar to alessan’s. It seems that McKinney et al could have aided the Gazans much more safely, effectively, and cheaply by simply going through channels.
It seems pretty clear to me that the purpose behind this stunt was one of propoganda: They want to make it seem like big bad Israel is denying humanitarian aid to the Gazans. Which is a lie.
Not only that, but one wonders why McKinney is so interested in the plight of the Gazans. There are plenty of people in the world who could use some humanitarian aid. And there are plenty of people who would have done a lot worse than just damage somebody’s yacht.
As long as you acknowledge the converse then we are in agreement. So, we should stick to specifics and look at this case on it’s merits…which you still haven’t provided why you think THIS case is justified.
-XT
The plight of the Gazans is as immediate and urgent as anyone else’s.
Which does absolutely nothing to help you if you are deliberately hiding these facts from the Israelis by evading any attempt to board your ship. Isn’t that kind of implied by the act of running a blockade?
Because it’s stupid to risk life and limb in stupid stunts if you can help people without risking life and limb?
I’m just countering the contentions by others that it’s “stupid” to run the blockade. I’m glad we can agree that’s an invalid argument against doing it.
Sure I have. It’s justified because there is need. It’s very simple.
To be sure…it was stupid on it’s own merits, not simply because it was against the law.
And need (even if it wasn’t there) justifies all? Well, I guess there really isn’t anything more to discuss at this point.
-XT
Because Americans can be identified from a distance? While engaged in a high speed effort to subvert military interception? 
If McKinney and whomever she was with really wanted to get aid to Gazans, as opposed to creating a press opportunity for themselves, there were other routes in that they could’ve taken if they represent a legitimate NGO. It doesn’t seem like delivering aid was their real goal.
I don’t know what news you are watching but all the news I am watching say very clearly humanitarian aid has been shut off for a long time. The Gaza strip has been very short on fuel, medicines, etc for quite some time now and before this flareup started. That’s what I am seeing. It seems even Egypt has the border mostly closed and only opens very sporadically.
It just seems to me the Israelis are the ones lying when they say they are not blocking humanitarian aid or killing civilians, etc.
For reasons expressed elsewhere, I don’t engage with this poster.
Yeah, it a convenient way of dodging the facts.
Israel has been blocking Humanitarian aid for a long time now
They did an awful lot of shit to the USS Liberty.