‘US Boat to Gaza’: chipping away at the blockade

Discussion in 'Politics' started by S.A.M., Apr 3, 2011.

  1. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    As most people know, or should know [due to my continued rants] Gaza has been under blockade by the Israeli army since June 2006, after Hamas won the elections and the US-Israel comedy team failed, inspite of kidnapping 40 elected representatives and arming a coup against the elected government, to replace them with the more amenable puppets in the PA [democrazy, ftw]

    So, in a long line of peaceful protests against the incarceration of 1.5 million civilians and their elected officials by the ONLY democrazy in the ME, we now present the US boat to Gaza optimistically entitled "The Audacity of Hope" [no offence to "change you can believe in"] scheduled to attempt to break [for another day or two] the Gaza blockade imposed by the Israeli government

    The event is currently [optimistically] scheduled for May 2011

    This is peaceful protest #"we don't do flotilla counts" in 5 years of blockades interspersed with daily bombings, destruction of infrastructure, a regulated "diet" which arbitrarily provides/witholds food, water, fuel, cash, supplies [including weapons of mass destruction like school books and diapers etc]

    We live [supposedly] in enlightened times and yet we have open oppression of this kind going on for FIVE YEARS and all we do is chip away at it with handfuls of human rights workers [some of whom get shot in their heads for their Audacity]

    What makes it possible for such oppression to be looked at with indifference? If even one of those Gazans decided life was not worth it, strapped himself or herself to explosives and took down a few other people with him/her the same apathetic people who can't be bothered at the conditions under which millions of Gazans live would whine/bitch/moan about terrorist attacks and what can be done about these "savages" or "monsters"

    Yet, they watch in silence and complicity when the same people cry out for help.

    Why is that?
     
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  3. scifes In withdrawal. Valued Senior Member

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    good question.
    though i guess it boils down to the "us vs them" mentality.
    isrealies have more in common with the west than arabs.
    i guess?:scratchin:
    good thread btw, a spontaneous summary, well put.
    looks like sam misses her workout..

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  5. chimpkin C'mon, get happy! Registered Senior Member

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    To co-opt the scibets idea...

    I hereby predict they will be stopped with prejudice, the same way the last aid flotilla was.

    Not sure if I have any reputation to lose though...I think it's already bad...

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    S.A.M. I'm outraged by what the Palestinians are going through, and if I think about it too much it would not be good for me ATM.

    I can't seem to do anything effective to stop it.

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  7. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    This is more of a philosophical thread - I'm wondering what is the practical achievement of such symbolic support. In actual fact, most of the stuff which the flotillas carry never reach the people they are intended for. People spend months [a whole year since the Audacity of Hope was envisaged] organising these events, they create awareness, collect contributions from individuals who want to help [like you, maybe] and ultimately, the Israelis hijack everything as "contraband" and take possession of it [did any of the stuff from the last flotilla reach any of the people they were intended for? I don't think any of it did. So where did all that stuff go? Was it all stolen by the Israelis? They stole and sold all the personal effects of the passengers - just common thieves, really]. So inspite of all the people working hard to collect contributions what does it all mean if everything is just stolen by the Israelis?


    Also, inspite of the media hype and kids being shot in the head for their activism in these flotillas not much changes for the people of Palestine in real, practical terms. They are still short of food, Israel still arbitrarily kills their kids and they still suffer indignities for simply existing and not belonging to the Jewish group of people

    And we don't see even a smidgeon of outrage against all this oppression. Why is that?
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2011
  8. Gustav Banned Banned

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    Children on their way to the gas chamber at Birkenau
     
  9. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    The Israelis have a solution for unwanted peoples who belong to the "wrong" race/religion:



    I guess one of the advantages of an island is that they can't break through the walls - The British used to call their deportee island Kala Pani [Black Water]- it still has chilling connotations for those Indians who remember


    edit: ah I misread the article. The island is a port not a prison. Although I'm not certain what difference it makes since Gaza ID cards [orange colour Teudat Zehut] are issued by Israel. Even if they don't consider them as citizens - not being Jewish enough for Israeli tastes - they are still human beings and cannot simply be imprisoned and kept as pets in an enclave for 100 years just so that Israelis feel safely Jewish in their ethnically cleansed Jewish land. Especially since Gaza is the endpoint for Palestinians made homeless in non-Gaza Palestine and dumped in Gaza by Israel.


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    Last edited: Apr 3, 2011
  10. Bells Staff Member

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    Come come.. Israel is only trying to bring them civilisation, hospitals, schools, new roads and stability and jobs... American style.


    They be Muslims.

    And you also have to remember where many Israeli's are coming from and where they are being led to by their leadership:

    Twelfth-grade students from Herzliya's Hayovel High School took part in a simulated shooting attack in which the targets were figures decked out with the Arab keffiyeh headdress, Haaretz has learned.

    The incident took place at a military base last week during the annual 12th grade trip. The students were being escorted to a commanders' base in the Negev as part of an "IDF preparation" project, which is sanctioned by the Education Ministry.

    ---------------------------------------------

    The trip concluded on Thursday. In a notice that was sent to parents, the school said that "the course of the trip is an inseparable part of the educational curriculum in general, and the 'IDF preparation' in particular."

    ---------------------------------------------

    During the visit to the base, some of the students took part in an "electronic shooting range," a computer-generated simulation that recreates a setting in which a soldier uses a laser-guided weapon to shoot targets. According to sources, the images in the electronic shooting range were outfitted with keffiyehs.

    "From what I understood, the boys were more excited about this visit than the girls, some of whom preferred not to take part," said the parent of one student on the trip. "I don't think that it's the education system's job to train students to shoot."



    (Source)



    Seems they are being taught that the kind of behaviour exhibited towards Palestinians is acceptable and even normal.

    So why expect outrage?

    You're not going to get any. Not now, not for a while, if ever.
     
  11. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    So are these symbolic flotillas of any use? Since the stuff never reaches the Palestinians and people on the flotillas get robbed/shot at/imprisoned/tortured/killed and all the contributions [as well as personal possessions of the flotilla passengers] get sold or stolen by the Israelis, is there any point to making these gestures?
     
  12. Michael 歌舞伎 Valued Senior Member

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    For the same reason you side with the Muslims and not the Jews - Religion.
     
  13. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    I don't side with the "muslims" I side with the people who are being oppressed. That in many cases here, they happen to be Muslims [not all Palestinians are Muslims, and some Israelis are too], is something that has to do with the people in a position of power and probably a continuation of colonial policies in the Middle East.

    Meanwhile, the US boat for Gaza is made up largely of...Jews [which of course, makes Nutty Yahoo even more ludicrous in his claims] but my question is:

    Are these symbolic but practically fruitless flotillas of any use?
     
  14. Michael 歌舞伎 Valued Senior Member

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    Until people are taught to think correctly, these flotillas are indeed symbolic and potentially useless (unless they lead to education).
     
  15. scifes In withdrawal. Valued Senior Member

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    ok, so now that it has been established that flotillas are useless, what is the proposed alternative form of action?
    one applicable by us, the normal people?
     
  16. pjdude1219 The biscuit has risen Valued Senior Member

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    Israel will torpedo it before it lets a boat like this reach gaza
     
  17. Bells Staff Member

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    Truth?

    No.



    No.

    It brings some media attention and then accusations of anti-semitism starts to fly and it instantly dies down.. And that would be about it.
     
  18. YoYoPapaya Trump/Norris - 2012 Registered Senior Member

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    Well as long as the US keeps saying that it wants peace in the middle east but spends billion of dollars on "foreign aid" to Israels military I don't think that things are going to be any better for the Palestinians.

    It's quite ironic the way the Isaelis treat them. Like they are some sort of animal or something. I wonder where they learned those manners.
     
  19. WillNever Valued Senior Member

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    Stop sticking to their stupid religion, become atheist, and come into the fold? Just a thought.

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  20. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Good question and no, I don't have the answer. I'm following the progress of the Freedom Flotilla 2 which will be made up of 15 ships at http://www.freegaza.org/. I'm really worried about the passengers because we all know how much self restraint the Israelis demonstrate when confronted by humanitarian aid

    From the flotilla organisers:



    From Israel:

    So will the demonstrators be protected by their governments? Will the US government protect Americans on the flotilla?

    What do you think?
     
  21. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Pretty sure both Livni and Netanyahu are atheists - I follow their BS pretty closely, they have never ever invoked God in their speeches. In fact most of the founders of Israel were atheists.
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2011
  22. CptBork Valued Senior Member

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    I believe the flotilla should take the easy route and offer arrangements with Israel and/or the UN to inspect the cargo in advance. If Israel refused a reasonable offer that would clearly deny weapons to Hamas, it will come back to bite them in the long term. Or the flotilla can plow ahead and bash the IDF with pipes when they board the ships, in order to get the expected response... they should have a few practice runs smuggling uninspected cargo to Turkish Kurds or something like this just to get a taste for what will happen in such circumstances.
     
  23. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    And what will Israel do after the recognition of a Palestinian state?

    According to Ethan "my son serves in the IDF" Bronner in the NYT:
    Why ask aid workers to make concessions? Why not expect concessions from Israel?
     

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