Like any human being, I mourn the tragic loss of life and the injuries sustained by those on the ship - including the Israeli Navy Officers. I also believe that the Israeli authorities should ensure that the UK Foreign Office has full access to any British citizens caught up in the affair. An impartial independent inquiry will help to understand exactly what really occurred.
However, it is important to set out some important facts:
- The Israeli Navy offered the Flotilla the chance to unload in Ashdod, which was refused;
- When the Israeli navy boarded the ship, they were attacked by individuals with a range of weapons;
- The Flotilla was organised by the Islamist group IHH - a body that has close ties to extreme Islamists and is part of the global Jihad movement;
- A million tonnes of humanitarian supplies have entered Gaza from Israel from January 2009 to May 2010;
- Over the past two years Hamas have taken part in countless attacks on aid shipments into Gaza, including the hijacking of aid convoys for the use of Hamas fighters rather than Gaza citizens.
- Gaza's border includes Egypt as well as Israel. Egypt mounts a full blockade against Gaza not allowing any aid trucks through at all. Yet no one complains about this.
My final point is this: If a ship had entered British waters, insisted on docking anywhere, and had refused to stop, the British Navy would have boarded it in moments. This wasn't in Britain, but on the waters outside Gaza, which is governed by the Hamas Terrorist organisation. For years, Hamas have smuggled millions of dollars of weaponry (from Iran) into the Gaza strip to be used in attacks against Israel. Over 6,000 missiles have been fired from Gaza onto Israeli towns, since the unilateral Israeli withdrawal in 2004.
P.S. You can read more details HERE.
P.P.S. The pictures shows me with David Amess MP in the Israeli Town of Sderot (on the Gaza border) in 2009. We are holding the remains of missiles, fired from Gaza onto Israel by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com
If a ship heading for England and with the consent of the Brits, as these ships had the consent of the Gazans, were boarded in international waters by the Irish navy, and the navy murdered a dozen or so unarmed passengers, that would be the equivalent of this tragedy. Your lies and propaganda bs are wearing thin.
ReplyDeleteRobert, I hope, if it can be made available, you can post a video clip of your BBC News interview.
ReplyDeleteUnder darkness of night, Israeli commandoes dropped from a helicopter onto the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot the moment their feet hit the deck. They fired directly into the crowd of civilians asleep. live video from the ship was aired!
ReplyDeleteStreaming video showed the Israeli soldiers shooting at civilians.
The international community must demand that Israel stop their brutal attack on civilians delivering vitally needed aid to the imprisoned Palestinians of Gaza and permit such ships to continue on their way.
The attack has happened in international waters, 75 miles off the coast of Israel, in direct violation of international law.
Again Rob- with respect- there is always another side to the story!! A picture holding missiles fired by Hamas cannot deny the right to voice the atrocities being commited by the very same people claiming to be the victims...
ReplyDeleteI can direct you to the link:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12012
There is no way one can codone this attack! Another bad move by the Israeli government and so soon after the passport blunder committed by the Israeli secret police!!
Going back to our previous conversation- its going to take a hell of a lot more than good media spin to get Israel of of this international blunder.
Firing of bullets seems to be happening all too easily- but more so from the Israeli side!
INTERNATIONAL WATERS
ReplyDeleteHow can you live with yourself and your lies. 9 innocent people have died and you come out with this drivel.
The whole situation is summed up in your final point. The ships had NOT entered Israeli waters, so there no jurisdiction. The events can be summed up in one word: Piracy.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the BBC one "British citizen" was from Co. Donegal. Now unless the 1922 Government of Irlenad Act was been repealed, he is not a British Citizen and it is up to the Republic of Ireland to make the appropriate diplomatic requests for access
ReplyDeleteI know nothing about the Gaza convoy incident, but the Halfon article is so obviously biassed. Why?
ReplyDeleteI think the point you haven't addressed is that the intercept was in International Waters.
ReplyDeleteI saw your interview last night. The nicest take I can make on it is that you appear to be at odds with both the UK publics view and the UK government. You hold your seat in the UK parliament and so should concern yourself only with the plight of the British citizens that have been detained. Is being a member of CFI at odds with this ?
ReplyDeleteThe position under international law:
ReplyDelete"To attack a foreign flagged vessel in international waters is illegal. It is not piracy, as the Israeli vessels carried a military commission. It is rather an act of illegal warfare. Because the incident took place on the high seas does not mean however that international law is the only applicable law. The Law of the Sea is quite plain that, when an incident takes place on a ship on the high seas (outside anybody's territorial waters) the applicable law is that of the flag state of the ship on which the incident occurred. In legal terms, the Turkish ship was Turkish territory.
There are therefore two clear legal possibilities.
Possibility one is that the Israeli commandos were acting on behalf of the government of Israel in killing the activists on the ships. In that case Israel is in a position of war with Turkey, and the act falls under international jurisdiction as a war crime.
Possibility two is that, if the killings were not authorised Israeli military action, they were acts of murder under Turkish jurisdiction. If Israel does not consider itself in a position of war with Turkey, then it must hand over the commandos involved for trial in Turkey under Turkish law.
In brief, if Israel and Turkey are not at war, then it is Turkish law which is applicable to what happened on the ship. It is for Turkey, not Israel, to carry out any inquiry or investigation into events and to initiate any prosecutions. Israel is obliged to hand over indicted personnel for prosecution."
Take your pick.
It's the ROYAL Navy, not the BRITISH Navy.
ReplyDeleteI saw that interview and I am horrified by your performance as a Harlow resident.
ReplyDeleteNot because I am going to rant about Israel or about to defend the beating of soldiers on the flotilla.
It is the stupidity of your argument and by your use of Melanie Phillips to back up an argument you fail to make yourself. You are the MP and she is part of the opinion pages of the media. She should be allowed to say what she wants to but you have a representative responsibility to the public - to the people of Harlow.
Read Haaretz editorial and you will see how the blame should not be placed on the flotilla but the strategy of boarding the flotilla in this way - a ship that was inspected in Turkey. What you did was clumsy because you basically risked the relationship Israel's closest ally by accusations that the ship carried weapons... "machine guns" you said. That was not substantiated. Also you said that you saw "millions of tonnes of aid go into Gaza everyday" with your own eyes before saying "examples of" to correct yourself.
They did not have to climb onto the ship in this way. They inflamed the situation and caused death by being the catalyst. You simply did not know enough to make your judgements. Look at the UN's response.
That was irrational and as an MP representing my family, my town, I am sad at your lack of intellect in the form of debate as facts must come before rhetoric.
This "Coalition for Israel" has been an unmitigated disaster for the people of Israel because they destroyed the balance in the region. They have alienated the US, the EU and now Turkey. They are running out of support. Settlement building once again, the Gaza blockade (which Egypt has now lifted), the use of phosphorus weapons etc etc have all destroyed the hope of moderates in the region and around the world.
This is what the right does, splits people for an idealist agenda without taking into the considerations of the others. The extreme left do this so I am not going to be accused of being a Hamas apologist.
Unconditional knee jerk support of this Coalition government Israel is not the way forward if you want to be the friends of the people who live in Israel. The people of Israel are not being supported by the coalition in this way as their global status is eroded.
Israel needs real friends and not just a blind following damaging the hopes of a long term viable solution. I did not vote for you but listen to both Hague and Miliband... learn the lessons for your career as an MP as you represent us - the people and you need to represent us better.
Thanks for illuminating where some of the news media don't want the light to fall.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm Edward, Essex
Malcolm Edward.
ReplyDeleteRead the Israeli press and not the news media who apparently are trying to hide the truth.
Either Turkey are wrong, or Israel are wrong. Turkey had been the biggest friend of Israel before this event.
Lose you friends is not an easy thing to do but Israel succeeded. Is the UN also wrong? William Hague? Sweden? Nick Clegg?
This is the government of Israel doing harm to the good jewish people around the world by their own incompetence.
F W Man. Harlow, Essex.
"Your lies and propaganda bs are wearing thin": Anonymous, I can but sit back in awe at the way you choose to talk to someone you disagree with. /sarcasm
ReplyDeleteFrankly, if you're going to say something like that, you should put a name to it.
I have to say that I get pretty sick of criticism being directed at Israel in this way. The BBC have for many years been shockingly pro-Arab and anti-Israel. I lived in Israel many years ago and remember vividly how during the Lebanese civil war, Fatah would fire Katyushas across the border. This would go on for days without the BBC being the least bit concerned. As soon as Israel retaliated, the BBC would report the bombing of Lebanese territory as though the Israelis had simply taken it into their head to attack a peaceful country. Precisely the same thing is happening now; the children in the Moshavim of the Negev are still having to sleep in the shelters due to rocket attacks. I notice that certain football hooligans are being deprived of their passports in the run-up to the World Cup. Perhaps the Foreign Office could take the same step with some of the British troublemakers who are now being deported from Israel?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
ReplyDeleteThe UN is always wrong in relation to Israel.
William Hague and Nick Clegg certainly are.
Regarding Ha'aretz as the Israeli press shows how little you know about Israel
Very well said, Simon Webb!
ReplyDeleteVery Well said, thankyou for taking time to find out the facts first, i only wish other MPs would do the same before passing judgement. Thankyou again , keep up the good work.
ReplyDelete