Hypothesis: No Hamas = No More Problems. For anyone. - by SubJeff
demagogue on 1/6/2010 at 18:40
The case against a blockade might even be stronger than that since the rules you quoted are part of the law of armed conflict, which assume you're already in a state of armed conflict before they even apply, and then that opens up other issues in the law of occupation generally. (It's a reason the US wanted to call their blockade of Cuba in the missile crisis a "quarantine", although it was effectively the same thing.)
Then what makes it difficult is that law and politics get wrapped up so tightly it's very hard to separate them and deal with one without dealing with the other. That is, there are political problems with Gaza being supplied with weapons, Gaza having democratically elected a militant organization, and the background situation of the occupation itself that are inextricably part of the legal problem with the blockade. Or put another way, it's all fine and well to say "The blockade is illegal under international law", but you should also back it up with a viable legal route that deals with the political issues at its heart, at least a process, if you want to give it some actual compliance pull (if you want to know how actual international lawyers think about these issues.).
Quote Posted by *Zaccheus*
I'm pretty sure that Hamas are not the only group firing rockets into Israel.
Iran is the one supplying the rockets through Hamas. The whole system is a very well organized machine, and not the haphazard reaction of crazies that it gets the reputation for. On that note, Hamas actually isn't the band of uneducated thugs it sometimes gets the reputation for either. They're quite strategic and organized in their operations. These groups are also territorial. It would actually be a big problem for Hamas if there *were* other groups out of their control firing rockets into Israel, because then they lose their strategic value and Hamas would do something about it (like put it down or work out a shared understanding). I mean, this is what the articles I've read suggest. At least on the rockets, there's a pretty unified strategy and command-structure in their use.
Muzman on 1/6/2010 at 19:08
As much as I don't think it was a case of outright Israeli brutality (and more likely a colossal fuck up), if Andrew Bolt told me the sun was coming up tommorrow I'd still get a second opinion.
Epos Nix on 1/6/2010 at 19:10
Quote:
Iran is the one supplying the rockets through Hamas.
Well then the solution is quite simple really: disband Iran.
No Iran = No More Rockets = No More Problems. For anyone.
Why am I the first to think up these things? :confused:
Wille on 1/6/2010 at 19:15
Quote Posted by Muzman
if Andrew Bolt told me the sun was coming up tommorrow I'd still get a second opinion.
I'm not familiar with this writer but it's still an interesting point of view that is easy to miss if you just hop on the "down with Israel" bandwagon which seems to be the grand goal here. I'll try to find more similar articles from different sources.
Also here's the video about chants and slogans which Bolt mentions in his article:
(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3L7OV414Kk)
demagogue on 1/6/2010 at 19:33
Quote Posted by Epos Nix
Well then the solution is quite simple really: disband Iran.
No Iran = No More Rockets = No More Problems. For anyone.
Why am I the first to think up these things? :confused:
Uh ... except that it's not much of a secret that Iran is right at the center of everything going on.
You can't read this story without connecting it to yesterday's story of the IAEA report that Iran now has weapon-grade fuel for 2 nuclear weapons. Now the blockade fiasco is not just an isolated blunder, it's a needlessly stupid complication for dealing with the serious problem of Iran.
*Zaccheus* on 1/6/2010 at 21:42
Quote Posted by demagogue
Quote:
I'm pretty sure that Hamas are not the only group firing rockets into Israel.
Iran is the one supplying the rockets through Hamas. The whole system is a very well organized machine, and not the haphazard reaction of crazies that it gets the reputation for.
I meant that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (i.e. Fatah) have also been firing rockets:
Quote:
A previously unknown group, Ansar al-Sunna, believed to share the hardline ideology of al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire at Israel,
as well as the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a wing of the mainstream Fatah movement.
(
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62H1I520100319)
Zygoptera on 1/6/2010 at 22:27
Quote Posted by Matthew
And for those quoting the maritime lawyer from Radio 4, he said that
if the blockade was legal, then the boarding action was legal under international maritime law.
If the blockade was not legal, then neither was the boarding action.
Don't suppose he mentioned that Turkish merchant ships are guaranteed
under threat of war from NATO to be free from interference in the international waters of the Med?
Not that that will actually happen, of course.
SubJeff on 2/6/2010 at 00:34
Quote Posted by *Zaccheus*
I'm pretty sure that Hamas are not the only group firing rockets into Israel.
From Gaza they are, and if anyone else does it's either with their permission or some small splinter group. The vast majority are from Hamas.
This has been an amazing PR stunt against Israel and I really hope there is a thorough and independent investigation into who started the violence. It's hard to believe that those activists would have been able to get that close to troops that come in firing from the start.
Gryzemuis on 2/6/2010 at 01:06
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
This has been an amazing PR stunt against Israel
Yep, it's the filthy Arabs and European hippies that must have come up with this brilliant plan. I'm sure they used the 6 ships and their cargo as a clever distraction for their real goal. A conspiracy to get 10 of their own killed.
Usually it's the Israelis that do the conspiracies. And they are good at keeping them silent. And it is not unusual for Israeli soldiers to kill civilians if there is something they don't like. And usually they get away with it. Except this time they didn't kill another bunch of anonymous Arabs. This time they killed 10 NATO civilians in International waters. Way to go.
