Stuffing my backpack before setting out to board The Audacity of Hope, the U.S. boat to Gaza, I got a familiar-sounding call from yet another puzzled friend, who said as gently as the words allow, “You know you can get killed, don’t you?”

I recognize this caution as an expression of genuine concern from friends. From some others—who don’t much care about Gaza’s plight and/or who do not wish us well—the words are phrased somewhat differently: “Aren’t you just asking for it?”

That was the obligatory question/accusation at the end of a recent interview of me that was taped for a BBC-TV special scheduled to air this coming week as we try to break—or at least draw attention to—Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza and the suffering it inflicts on the people there.

I also have been cautioned by a source with access to very senior staffers at the National Security Council that not only does the White House plan to do absolutely nothing to protect our boat from Israeli attack or illegal boarding, but that White House officials “would be happy if something happened to us.” They are, I am reliably told, “perfectly willing to have the cold corpses of activists shown on American TV.”

I mention this informal warning for the benefit of anyone who may have harbored hope that the U.S. government would do something to protect us American citizens from the kind of violence used by the Israelis against last year’s flotilla. It seems best to be up-front and realistic about what to expect.

http://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2011/06/19/will-israel-kill-americans-again/

Reject propaganda, expose tyranny, find the truth before the truth bites you in the butt.

Freedom is paramount.

Israel is not our friend.

We will know them by their evil deeds.

It's a stupid and pointless publicity stunt. Israel cannot allow
open access to Gaza ports because they justifiably fear weapons
smuggling and increased terrorist attacks.

Humanitarian aid is already available through known channels which
preclude arms deliveries.

If people want to deliver aid then all they have to do it to use
the inspected channels. But aid is not the point. Conflict is.

The Audacity of Hoping for conflict boat is just a political ploy
having nothing to do with anything humanitarian.

The ships will be redirected to a neutral port, the cargoes
inspected and redirected through approved channels all a gigantic
waste of time and energy which could be instead put to a more
productive use.

Oh well. This is from the press release:

"The U.S. says those participating may face arrest, prosecution and deportation. Israeli authorities say they will seek to ban anyone attempting to break the blockade from traveling to Israel for 10 years."

And this is from "Animal House"



Bluto's right. Psychotic...but absolutely right.
We got to take these bastards.

We could fight them with conventional weapons.
That could take years...cost millions of lives.

In this case...I think we have to go all out.

I think this situation absolutely requires...a really futile and stupid gesture...be done on somebody's part.

We're just the guys to do it.

The U.S. should not support Israel.

Why did Israel attack the USS Liberty?

1. The planned invasion of the Golan Heights which was set to start a few hours after Liberty's arrival in the area. When Liberty arrived, the invasion was postponed for 24 hours, Liberty was attacked, and the invasion took place the next day. Did they postpone the invasion until Liberty out of the way and unable to report on the war?

Read more truth:

http://www.ussliberty.org/why.htm


READ THIS:

http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0596/9605028.htm

May/June 1996 pgs. 28, 53

29th Anniversary of Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty

Did Israel’s Armed Forces Commit One War Crime to Hide Another?

by James M. Ennes, Jr.

Washington Report readers know the story well. In 1967 on the fourth day of the Six-Day War, the armed forces of Israel attacked the American intelligence ship USS Liberty for 90 minutes in international waters in broad daylight following several hours of close, low-level reconnaissance. Thirty-four men died, 171 were hurt, and the ship was so badly damaged that it had to be scrapped.

The government of Israel has lied about the circumstances ever since, telling a story markedly different from that told by American survivors. Congress has refused to question Israel’s demonstrably false account, even though the State Department’s own analysis finds the Israeli story to be untrue.

Yet the most pressing question remaining from that infamy is not whether the attack was deliberate. That was settled long ago for most reasonable people. The question is why Israel risked its cozy relationship with America by killing American seaman on the high seas.

Indeed, spokesmen for Israel use that question in Israel’s defense. Why, they ask, would Israel risk alienating its American friends?

So why did Israel attack? Intelligence analysts and others have long supposed that Israel attacked to prevent the ship from reporting the impending invasion of the Golan Heights, then imminent despite cease-fire pleas by the United States. Israel’s defenders reject that explanation.

Recent reports in the Israeli and Egyptian press suggest another powerful possibility.

According to eyewitness accounts by Israeli officers and journalists, the Israeli army—the army that claims to hold itself to a higher moral standard than other armies—executed as many as 1,000 Arab prisoners during the 1967 war.

Historian Gabby Bron wrote in the Yediot Ahronot in Israel that he witnessed Israeli troops executing Egyptian prisoners on the morning of June 8, 1967, in the Sinai town of El Arish.

Bron reported that he saw about 150 Egyptian POWs being held at the El Arish airport where they were sitting on the ground, densely crowded together with their hands held on the back of their necks. Every few minutes, Bron writes, Israeli soldiers would escort an Egyptian POW from the group to a hearing conducted by two men in Israeli army uniforms. Then the man would be taken away, given a spade, and forced to dig his own grave.

The USS Liberty was less than 13 miles from El Arish.

“I watched as [one] man dug a hole for about 15 minutes,” Bron wrote. “Afterwards, the [Israeli military] policeman told him to throw the shovel away, and then one of them leveled an Uzi at him and shot two short bursts, each of three or four bullets.”

Bron says he witnessed about ten such executions, until the grave was filled. Then an Israeli colonel threatened him with a revolver, forcing him to leave the area.

America’s most sophisticated intelligence platform, the USS Liberty, was less than 13 miles from El Arish. We were close enough to see the town mosque with the naked eye. With binoculars we could make out individual buildings and might have seen the executions if we had looked in the right place.

Could our operators have heard voice radio messages revealing these killings? Did senior Israeli officers sanction the murders, or did they learn of them? How would they have reacted to the knowledge that USS Liberty was nearby and might have heard incriminating radio traffic? Would they have been desperate enough to attack an American ship?

The Liberty Attack Was a War Crime

The attack on the USS Liberty was itself a war crime. U.S. Navy Commander Walter Jacobsen, a navy legal officer then doing graduate work at George Washington University, conducted an extensive legal analysis of the attack.

His conclusion, reported in the Winter 1986 Naval Law Review, was that several aspects of the attack violated provisions of the Geneva Conventionswar crimes. Specifically, Commander Jacobsen found that the attack was not legally justified, that it constituted an act of aggression under the United Nations Charter, that the use of unmarked aircraft, the wanton destruction of life rafts in the water, the jamming of international radio distress frequencies, and the failure of the torpedo boat commanders to render immediate assistance to a disabled and helpless enemy were all violations of international law.

U.S. Refusal to Investigate Violates Geneva Conventions

For years, USS Liberty survivors have asked members of Congress to investigate the circumstances of the attack, particularly since the Israeli government repeatedly has put out a spurious version of those circumstances. For example, we did fly a flag. We did identify ourselves. We were in international waters. They did not stop firing after seeing our flag as they claim, but continued to fire for another 40 minutes. The attack was not brief or accidental as Israel claims. We did not “attempt to hide” or escape when detected, as Israel has charged. These things are easy to prove.

More important are the war crimes discussed by Commander Jacobsen. These things should have been investigated in 1967. Yet U.S. officials have ignored the offenses for 29 years, refusing to investigate or even to acknowledge them.

That refusal is itself a crime. The United States, as a signatory to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, is “under the obligation to search for persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed” violations of the conventions, and to see that violators are brought to trial.

There are no exceptions. War crimes reported to government officials must be investigated and perpetrators tried. Yet even this is ignored by U.S. officials. USS Liberty survivors for many years have reported the crimes committed against us and have requested an appropriate investigation. Despite the law, our complaints are ignored. No investigation of these charges has ever been held.

Recently, USS Liberty’s Joe Meadors, a former president and chairman of the Liberty Veterans Association, has filed formal complaints with the House and Senate Ethics Committees against members who have ignored our complaints.

To no surprise, these complaints, too, are being ignored.

Navy Refusal to Investigate Violates Navy Regulations

When the Liberty was attacked, Captain Joseph Tully in the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga received the ship’s call for help and immediately sent jet aircraft to her assistance. Tully’s jets were recalled almost immediately by orders from Washington. As a result, American jet fighter support was withheld for more than 90 minutes. By then the damage was done and 34 men were dead or dying.

Had those aircraft been sent, they would probably have arrived before the torpedo boats started their part of the attack. At least 25 lives could have been saved.

We survivors have tried for 29 years to learn why we were denied the immediate air support that we were promised in case of trouble. There are no answers.

The Navy still will not even admit that help was not sent, even though one of the aircraft carrier commanders has offered to testify that he was forbidden to help us.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice, the body of law that governs every military person, provides that “Any person subject to this chapter who before or in the presence of the enemy…does not afford all practicable relief and assistance to…troops, vessels, or aircraft of the armed forces…when engaged in battle…shall be punished by death or such punishment as a court martial may direct.”

That provision was clearly violated when Liberty’s air support was withheld. Yet the Navy will not even admit that we were not defended George Orwell suggested in 1945 that some animals are more equal than other animals. Some countries, too, it would seem.

Mass grave may strain Israeli-Egyptian relations


CNN:

http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9509/mass_graves/



Time Magazine:
http://www.time.com/time/international/1995/951002/middleeast.html

JB, you have already stated in your other thread that you are
anti-Zionist because you believe in the false and utterly
discredited Nazi propaganda: "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
which you ardently defend even after it was pointed out that it
was revealed as a hoax 90 years ago as plagiarized from fictional
literature.

http://mingle2.com/topic/show/304030?page=12



There is no global Jewish effort for world domination.
This is merely known false Antisemitic rubbish.
I don't think even the OP Bestinshow believes the Protocols!

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



Zionism is Israeli Nationalism and it is no more sinister than
Americanism or Canadianism.

Israelis deserve to live in peace without terrorist attacks or
attempts from Antisemitic extremists like Ahmadinejad in Iran
or Hamas in Gaza or Hezbollah in Iran to "erase them from the
face of the earth"

Israel is a vibrant democracy with a free and open press and freedom
of religion and many admirable qualities. They are not the boogeyman
you make them out to be.

Here you can read the truth about Zionism and the Arab/Israeli conflict:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mftoc.html

It is very important to read the Israeli's side of the story before
criticizing their responses to all the terrorist attacks they have
endured over the years.

In light of the history I think it is quite reasonable for them to
allow in humanitarian aid but prevent un-inspected cargo which can
harbor arms shipments.

First, Slowhand your post is off topic.


Israel will kill more People.

America is wrong to support Israel.

I present proof and evidence of the lies and crimes of Israel.

Israel bombed the USS Liberty and Killed Americans on purpose. They deny this.

I post links to legitimate news sources so people can decide for themselves.

The attack on the USS Liberty was itself a war crime. U.S. Navy Commander Walter Jacobsen, a navy legal officer then doing graduate work at George Washington University, conducted an extensive legal analysis of the attack.


Historian Gabby Bron wrote in the Yediot Ahronot in Israel that he witnessed Israeli troops executing Egyptian prisoners on the morning of June 8, 1967, in the Sinai town of El Arish.

There are no exceptions. War crimes reported to government officials must be investigated and perpetrators tried. Yet even this is ignored by U.S. officials. USS Liberty survivors for many years have reported the crimes committed against us and have requested an appropriate investigation. Despite the law, our complaints are ignored. No investigation of these charges has ever been held.

recently wrote about the brave men and women putting their lives on the line to bring desperately needed medical supplies and other essentials to Gaza.

Israel has illegally blockaded the region and already slaughtered 9 activists and injured 50 other innocent people attempting to provide aid to the people of Palestine.

This second flotilla, or “Freedom Flotilla II” has been backed by four Nobel Laureates in a letter to the UN requesting protection and support during this humanitarian mission.

To make the fact that this is a purely humanitarian mission even more clear, the activists have requested their cargo be inspected and sealed by an Israeli representative, insuring that no weapons or other items are being transported.

The Israeli explanation for their horrific actions is that these are not actually peace loving, charitable people putting themselves at risk in order to help destitute human beings but instead they are jihadists seeking to provide material aid to Hamas.

http://theintelhub.com/2011/06/19/human-rights-hypocrisy-israel-vows-to-attack-second-flotilla-attempting-to-bring-aid-to-gaza/

If only some National Socialists could get together an come up with a final solution for all those Jews, amirite?

Hamas terrorists who bomb and target innocent civilians are justified?
And Israelis who defend themselves and try to prevent arms smuggling
are awful and somehow more guilty?



Welcome to the world where up is down and left is right
and terrorists are good and peaceloving Israelis are evil.
Where Nazi propaganda lives on!

If you really wanted to help the Palestinians then you would tell
them to put down their bomb vests and live in peace.

Every time the terrorist bombings stop there are extended
periods of peace and relative prosperity in the Middle East.

Stop wasting time on fruitless acts of nonsense and instead
teach peace.

They are gettig what is coming to then for aiding terrorists,

Who has Nuclear Weapons:

India: Up to 100 nuclear warheads.
Israel: Between 75 to 200 nuclear warheads.
Pakistan: Between 70 to 90 nuclear warheads.

China: About 240 total warheads.
France: Fewer than 300 operational warheads.
Russia: Approximately 2,400 operational strategic warheads , approximately 2,000 operational tactical warheads, and approximately 7,000 stockpiled strategic and tactical warheads.

United Kingdom: Fewer than 160 deployed strategic warheads, total stockpile of up to 225.

United States: 5,113 active and inactive [1] nuclear warheads and approximately 3,500 warheads retired and awaiting dismantlement. The 5,113 active and inactive nuclear warhead stockpile includes 1,968 strategic warheads, approximately 500 operational tactical weapons, and approximately 2,645 inactive warheads.

Iran: No known weapons or sufficient fissile material stockpiles to build weapons. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the institution charged with verifying that states are not illicitly building nuclear weapons, concluded in 2003 that Iran had undertaken covert nuclear activities to establish the capacity to indigenously produce fissile material. The IAEA is continuing its investigation and monitoring of Tehran’s nuclear program.

North Korea: Has separated enough plutonium for up to 12 nuclear warheads.

Syria: In September 2007, Israel conducted an airstrike on what U.S. officials have alleged was the construction site of a nuclear research reactor similar to North Korea’s Yongbyon reactor. Intelligence officials briefed members of congress on the airstrike eight months later in April 2008, discussing the evidence leading to their judgment that the site was an undeclared nuclear reactor. While the extent of Syrian-North Korean nuclear cooperation is unclear, it is believed to have begun in 1997. Subsequent IAEA investigations into the U.S. claims uncovered traces of undeclared man-made uranium particles at both the site of the destroyed facility and Syria’s declared research reactor. Syria has failed to provide adequate cooperation to the IAEA in order to clarify the nature of the destroyed facility and procurement efforts that could be related to a nuclear program.

According to:
http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat

Calling people "terrorists" with out knowing anything about them or what you think they have done is just rumor and name calling.

Present your evidence, names, dates, etc. or stop spreading rumors.

"There will be peace in the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate Israel."
"We can forgive you for killing our sons. But we will never forgive you for making us kill yours."
--Golda Meir

The thing is, when people resist tyranny they are called "activists" or "the resistance." They want freedom, and peace, so they resist tyranny.

The tyrants call them "terrorists."

Be sure you can tell the difference between a tyrant and a person who stands for true democracy and freedom, and freedom of speech or you will find yourself supporting tyranny.

tyr·an·ny   
[tir-uh-nee] Show IPA
–noun, plural -nies.
1.
arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority.
2.
the government or rule of a tyrant or absolute ruler.
3.
a state ruled by a tyrant or absolute ruler.