Tikkun Olam

An Israeli probe into the raid of a Turkish "peace" flotilla last May concluded that Israel was within its bounds in the manner in which it boarded the Mavi Marmara, although it resulted in nine Turks on the ship being killed.  A good part of the European community had censured Israel for what it called its use of excessive force in the boarding of the ship. What Israel had actually encountered when boarding were members of the Turkish IHH on board who attacked the Israeli soldiers with guns, knives and metal bars. The commission said Israeli troops "encountered extreme violence" when they boarded the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, a ferry carrying around 600 people that led the six-ship flotilla. A group of activists from the Turkish Islamist IHH organisation on board the ship "used firearms against the soldiers during the hostilities," the report said, repeating an allegation denied by the activists. As if Israel can do anything right in the ey...

What we have known all along about Israel's actions being self-defense in the incident of the Gaza "Peace" Flotilla has now been confirmed, by a surprisingly very balanced report by the BBC's  documentary show, Panorama, as written on Honest Reporting UK .  This BBC report indicates, from videos, radio transmissions and interviews of members of the Turkish IHH (-who openly stated that they wished to be martyrs and that the Israelis should "go back to Auschwitz"), of other passengers on board, and of soldiers in the elite Israeli Naval Commando 13 who boarded the ship--what really happened on the Mavi Marmara on 31 May, 2010.

(nablopomo day 1) (from a comment I wrote on a Slates story on the Israel flotilla raid, here .  Better to read this Slates story by Shmuel Rosner, here .) (photo from Wall Street Journal Online ) Good Lord.  This is the most ridiculous piece (as are the stories it references) I ever read on the Turkish sponsored "activist" flotilla incident with Israel .  Israel is 'trying to isolate itself?'  Because of Middle East so-called 'peace talks' with the so-called 'Palestinians' the 'timing' was off (again!)?  This is now a 'bloody massacre'? If this is a "bloody massacre", where the heck was the UN when North Korea torpedoed the 46 South Korean sailors aboard the Cheonan? What was THAT? A Sunday picnic? So let's get some facts straight, shall we? (1) Israel is a sovereign state--voted in by the UN I might remind you--which has a right to defend itself, period. (2) Hamas, who controls Gaza , is a terrorist o...