53 thoughts on “Greek Commandos Hijack Audacity of Hope, Bankrupt Government Does Israel’s Bidding, Sabotages Hope – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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    1. More stuff n nonsense. The Greek govt in a purely political decision arrived at days ago and documented by the Hope passengers and the Haaretz article u apparently never read, decided to stop the ships fr sailing. It had nothing to do w papers.

      As for my wondering whether Greece was so broke Israel was gonna have to pay for the commandos overtime, you are one of the most tone deaf people I know. Have u ever heard of irony?? Or sarcasm? Apparently not.

      1. Mr. Silverstein, you as always miss the point.
        Today the AOH, was trying to left the port without approval, without going through customs, without presenting papers.
        This is a violation of international maritime law for which (if you’ll read USTOGAZA statement:” Once docked we learned that Greek authorities most likely going to bring some type of charges against the captain of our boat”)
        charges will be pressed and the captain will go to jail, that’s the easiest way for the Greek’s to prevent the AOH from sailing.
        You think it’s nonsense ? get familiar with maritime procedures and laws, do yourself a favor.

        1. Nonsense. The port officials told them the Greek gov’t made a POLITICAL decision not to allow them to sail. They attempted to sail anyway. There is absolutely no provision for refusing to allow a ship to sail which has passed inspection. None. All of yr nonsense about papers etc is once again bulls(&t. It has nothing to do with international maritime law. You simply can’t detain a ship for no reason whatsoever, other than that you’ve decided to refuse to allow it to sail. And the Greeks better be careful because if they tick off the wrong people then port authorities in foreign countries may do the same to them. There are dock workers who actually support Palestinian rights & oppose the siege & they may not take kindly to Greece’s poodling on Israel’s behalf. You see, that’s why there is reciprocity in such matters. You f(^k w. mine & I’ll f(^k w. yours. That’s another feature of international maritime law you may’ve overlooked. And since you’re irony-challenged, that was a joke.

          And you don’t know s(&t about maritime procedures or laws. You know what you read in the hasbara manual or whatever other partisan source fills yr brain.

          You’re DONE in this thread, so don’t post again here. Period. Yr comment above is a regurgitation of a comment your just posted. Do NOT repeat yrself. It’s BORING!

          1. Mr. Silverstein.
            There is no doubt that the decision is of a political nature.
            The Greeks used the first excuse they found (provided courtesy of the audacity of hope) and according to Al Jazeera
            “The captain was arrested on Saturday for reportedly attempting to take an unworthy sea vehicle into the waters and for jeopardising the safety of his passengers.”

            http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/07/201172143643709749.html

            and if you want to watch the correspondence between the Hellenic Coast Guard and the Captain in which the Coast Guard states that they did not pass inspection and are not seaworthy, it is available here:
            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSoJuwhshSI&feature=player_embedded

            I guess i wasn’t that wrong after-all.

          2. It’s all a sack of lies & you know it. The reasons for the detention were offered later. The actual witnesses who were there (as you weren’t) say no explanation was given at the time to explain the ship’s detention. News media also confirm this. I guess you were wrong after all.

          3. Hey Itai?

            And how do you explain the similar sabotage of two ships in Turkey and Greece???

            Forget it…don’t answer. Spare me your hasbara spin.

          4. Kalea,
            I don’t know how to answer your question, i do know that the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News reported yesterday that “Initial inspection says no sabotage to Irish ship to Gaza within Turkish territorial waters”

            http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=initial-inspection-says-no-sabotage-to-irish-ship-to-gaza-within-turkish-territorial-waters-2011-07-01

            which means that the statements made by the flotilla 2 people claiming there ships were sabotaged by Israel, while at port in Göcek (Turkey) were looked into by the Turkish police and found baseless.

            So now what ? the Turks are a source for “Hasbara spin” as well ?

          5. which means that the statements made by the flotilla 2 people claiming there ships were sabotaged by Israel, while at port in Göcek (Turkey) were looked into by the Turkish police and found baseless.

            Does it say that in the article? No. Is it even inferred there? No. It means the gov’t wants to spread the notion that the Mossad or IDF didn’t violate Turkish territorial sovereignty to sabotage civilian craft. In the gov’t’s interest to deny this esp. since it’s now in cahoots w. Israel to undermine the Flotilla.

          6. Mr. Silverstein,
            You didn’t even read the article, it says exactly that.
            “According to initial findings of the inspection, the breakdown of the ship might not be a result of sabotage, a Turkish diplomat told the Hürriyet Daily News on Friday.

            Turkish authorities investigated allegations that the Irish-owned ship, the MV “Saoirse” (Freedom), which was planning to participate in Freedom Flotilla 2, was sabotaged in Turkish territorial waters by Israel. “

        2. When the coastguard stopped the boat, their first objection was that it couldn’t sail because it had no airconditioning. The captain assured the coastguard that it had. After the coastguard had ascertained that there was AC in the big cabin downstairs, the coastguard stopped blocking the ship and dropped behind it, with the coastguard’s captain now pleading with the ship to return to port and promising that he would help it to leave tomorrow if only they would agree. The commandos appeared on the scene when the passengers asked why departing today wasn’t an option, if it would be so easy to go tomorrow.

          While all this was going on, the Greek authorities issued an order to intercept the Canadian boat while it was in port at Crete. They also issued a ban on any ships travelling to ‘the maritime area of Gaza’. That is political. It is nothing to do with seaworthiness or proper paperwork. Initially they tried to use seaworthiness and paperwork as an excuse to stall the boats, but when they found that wouldn’t work (the US boat had air conditioning, the coastguard had no further questions to ask) commandos were brought in.

          1. Can one take the Greek authorities to the court for interfering with the freedom of movement without due process?

  1. Itai L says: As for your ridiculous notion that Israel will pay Greece for the operation, Greece has received loans from IMF and EU. loans magnitude is in Billions. And you claim that Israel paid money ? You think Israel can pay a big enough amount to assist Greece with it’s financial trouble ?

    You state in the above, albeit somewhat altered, what Richard actually has a feeling about what Israel may pay the Greek Government for. He wrote “I can’t help the feeling that Greece is so insolvent that Israel has agreed to pay for all the expenses of mounting this military operation”, you then go on to change that completely to ” pay a big enough amount to assist Greece with it’s financial trouble”, a Straw Man fallacy.

  2. Richard, just to clarify I am a co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement and was involved with last year’s flotilla. I am not an organizer for Freedom Flotilla 2 – Stay Human, and my participation is merely as one of four dozen passengers on the Canadian boatTAHRIR.

  3. I don’t know what’s happening with the Greeks, and I have very little sympathy to the political class of that country, which seems to consist mostly of cleptocrats.
    However, in the Haaretz article there’s a mention of “the president of Cypress’s statement forbidding ships from sailing to Gaza” (damned be the Internet editors for the stupid misspelling of the country name). Does anyone knows about the legal validity & possible reasons of that statement?

  4. RE: “I can’t help the feeling that Greece is so insolvent that Israel has agreed to pay for all the expenses of mounting this military operation to sink the Hope.” – R.S.

    MY SNARK: I wonder if Israel “sweetened the deal” with a few shipments of tear gas for the Greek government. (see below)

    SEE: Greece asks Israel for teargas grenades, Ynetnews, 12/14/08

    (excerpts)Greek authorities contacted Israel this weekend with an urgent request for teargas grenades to be used against the wave of riots that broke out in the country last week, Athens police reported on Sunday…
    …Israeli sources said the request was understandable due to the geographical proximity of the two countries and the fact that the Greek government is aware of Israel’s large stock of crowd dispersal means including teargas grenades.

    SOURCE – http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3638222,00.html

    AND: Greece is out of tear gas; turns to allies for more, World Tribune, 12/16/08

    (excerpts) ATHENS — Greece, engulfed by civil unrest, is urgently seeking to procure tear gas from neighboring countries…
    …Israeli officials said the government in Athens has requested that Israeli companies send tear gas grenades to help police battle the massive riots in Athens. They said Greece has already exhausted its tear gas supply.
    Officials said Athens has turned to Israel, Germany and other European Union members for non-lethal, anti-riot equipment. They said Israel has a huge arsenal of tear gas for military and police operations in the West Bank….
    …Greece and Israel have increased their military and security cooperation over the last five years. The two countries have conducted military exercises as well as counter-insurgency training…

    SOURCE – http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2008/eu_greece0794_12_16.asp

  5. Just to remind everyone here that Turkey also prevented the Mavi Marmara from sailing, so it’s obviously not just about “pressure, blandishments, and extortion”. Next week the Palmer report is due, which will apparently confirm the Israeli position that the blockade is legal. There goes the flotilla’s raison d’etre.

    1. Sam you’ve been reading too much hasbara. You have no idea what the UN rpt is going to say other than a govt source leaking to Haaretz the claim that this is what it will say. We’ve seen over the past few wks how reliable anonymous Israeli govt sources are. Caveat emptor.

        1. Nonsense reported by Haaretz based on an anonymous gov’t source with absolutely no credibility to it. None. The sources for this news are explicitly NOT UN sources, hence useless.

          1. Mr. Silverstein,
            did you even bothered reading the link i provided ?
            “The Turkish website Hurriyet Daily News reports that the draft wording falls short of saying Israel violated international law in the raid last year.”

            So Radio New-Zealand (head of the committee is the former NZ PM Mr. Jeffery Palmer) is basing their article on Israel’s new BFF (Turkey) and you claim it’s from Haaretz ?

          2. @ Zam & Richard this is REALLY laughable,

            every 5 years knows you must pay attention to details.

            Radio NZ aired their piece on May 15, The link Zam of the Turkish paper is from June 26.

            The right article (which is dated may 12) is available on line, and this is what they reported:”The U.N. panel investigating Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla faces a major stalemate, with Turkey threatening to drop out over wording in a draft report that it sees as favoring the Israeli view.”

            “The panel seems to be operating from the premise that Israel’s maritime blockade on Gaza does not breach international law, the Daily News has learned from diplomatic sources.”

            seems like Haaretz were basing their article on the Turks and not the other way around.

            http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=un-probe-to-flotilla-attack-faces-deadlock-2011-05-12

          3. I don’t buy any of it. And if the findings of the rpt are as articulated here then the rpt. will be thrown into the rubbish heap where it belongs. But I doubt the rpt will express such findings & we shall see who is right & wrong in this matter.

      1. Besides the fact that this has been reported by news sources other than Haaretz, it would also help explain why the Turks are willing to make amends with Israel.

        1. Ugh, those other sources, including Hurriyet Daily News and Radio New-Zealand picked this up from the Israeli media.

          1. Better take another look at your “information” Zami boy, you are misleading the audience.

          2. The next time you use snark like this to address anyone you’ll be moderated. And if you violate another comment rule after that you’ll be gone. Do you understand.

    2. which will apparently confirm the Israeli position that the blockade is legal.

      Confirm my tush. A Haaretz stenographer reported what an anonymous gov’t source told him. With no reference to any UN source confirming this claim, which isn’t even worth the virtual newsprint it wasn’t printed on.

  6. Richard, unless something has changed (which I don’t believe it has, though I am checking it) the captain of the AUDACITY OF HOPE is an American. He was captain of the FREE GAZA on which I sailed and which broke through the Israel’s illegal blockade in August 2008.

    Re Sam Smith’s comment aboutTurkey and the Mavi Marmara, the Irish boat sailed from Turkey.

    1. I thought the Irish boat had been sabotaged in the same manner that the “Juliano” was in Greece, and was unable to depart as a result?

  7. Having trouble with the law ?
    I thought it was always Israel breaking the law, performing unlawful actions, violating international law.
    Funny thing is the law. It requires from the Palestinians and their supporters the same standard it requires Israelis.
    Who would have thought that ?
    The bustards changed the rules.

    1. Law? Is that what you call what Greece is using to sabotage the Flotilla? What they’re doing shames democracy and law, concepts first championed in ancient Greece. They’re prostituting those values. If these be laws, then those who enforce them be damned.

  8. I’m so livid about this that I’m having a hard time finding the words to express my level of rage and frustration; as this has gone beyond contempt.

    Let me tell you something, these Zionist evildoers will regret the “influence” they use to feed their self-interest and sustain injustice. This will all backfire eventually.

    I really don’t give a damn how it will come back to them; I really don’t give a damn about “saving them from themselves”. As far as I’m concerned: you do evil; and you deserve evil right back! I’ll have no pity in my heart for the oppressors when they get what’s coming to them.

    I’ve always believed that someone who gets everything they want by stepping on the backs of others eventually falls from the highest point.

    I would say that Israelis are at the point of getting everything they want by imprisoning people while they rob them blind of their homes, land, resources and dignity.

    Zionists are wishing for a supremacist utopia founded on the suffering and deprivation of other people and feverishly hustling and contriving everywhere in the halls of power to achieve that goal. The hubris and immorality of all this is staggering.

    Be careful what you wish for.

    1. @Kalea,
      “Zionists are wishing for a supremacist utopia founded on the suffering and deprivation of other people”
      Zionism is about the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland.
      Zionists do not wish to cause the suffering and deprivation of other people,however as a result of Arab aggression,Israel has found itself to be in control of an indigenous Palestinian population who understandably resent that Israeli control and seek their own unfettered self-determination.
      The matter is complicated by the Nationalist (Revisionist) Zionists who seek control over all of Eretz Israel and the power that they wield in Israeli politics.
      Israel’s internal politics are not the Palestinian’s responsibility and so, it should not be an excuse to hinder the Palestinian’s rights to self-determination.
      The use of terror in the past by Palestinians and the ongoing use, or threat of terror plays into the hands of those who would deny the Palestinians their rights to self-determination.
      Understandably, the Israeli government’s first and foremost duty is to protect the citizens of Israel.

      “I’ve always believed that someone who gets everything they want by stepping on the backs of others eventually falls from the highest point.”
      The circle of life or Saṃsāra turns endlessly and by universal principle of cause and effect any wrongdoings will have a future effect and so there is no need for you to be livid,concerned yes,involved yes, but livid no.We all get angry when provoked but it is self defeating.

      Disclaimer for Richard’s benefit.
      This for me is a serious matter and I will not use sarcasm cynically,I say what I mean.
      Any use of sarcasm on my part will be be very self evident.
      I reserve the right to remain human.

      1. Zionists do not wish to cause the suffering and deprivation of other people

        You’re either ignorant or a liar. Ben Gurion didn’t approve of the Nakba? Of course he did. You know it. The New Historians proved it.

        Israel has found itself to be in control of an indigenous Palestinian population

        Omigod, you mean Israel woke up one morning and found itself in control of a few million Palestinians it hadn’t controlled the day before?? How did that happen? What magic caused it? You mean there wasn’t a war in which Israel actually conquered the territory? And Israel hasn’t made deliberate decisions NOT to return the conquered lands in contravention of international law & despite repeated calls for it to do so by international bodies and leaders to this day??

        The use of terror in the past by Palestinians and the ongoing use, or threat of terror

        But the use of terror or the threat of terror from the IDF & Israeli gov’t plays no political role in repelling Palestinians fr. seeing Israel as a partner for peace???

        the Israeli government’s first and foremost duty is to protect the citizens of Israel.

        If that’s so (& I wouldn’t phrase it that way), then the ONLY way to do it is by withdrawing to 67 borders, recognizing a Palestinian state & sharing Jerusalem as capital for the 2 states. Anything else is nonsense & a poor palliative.

        I reserve the right to remain human.

        As Vittorio Arrigno would tell you, to ‘stay human’ you need to relieve yrself of the injustices your country is perpetrating on millions of Palestinians through the Occupation. Unless you do this you will not be fully human.

        1. Richard,
          It takes two to tango.
          Without presenting and truly understanding the claims and fears of both sides any analysis cannot be truly objective or effective.
          As for Vittorio Arrigno’s observation,I would prefer to relieve any injustice than to relieve myself of that injustice.

  9. How embarrassing for you. Turkey just confirmed it was NOT Israel that “sabotaged” any of the terrorist flotilla ships. Or is Turkey now part of your cabal?

    1. Sorry, but that’s not what a single Turkish diplomat claimed. He claimed that an inspection by an unspecifed party may indicate there was no sabotage. He offered no proof, didn’t say who performed the inspection & didn’t address the findings of the diver who actually discovered the sabotage & stated it was precisely that, sabotage. He most definitely did NOT say Israel was absolved of anything. Never mentioned Israel at all. But as I’ve written the gov’t’s credibility in this matter is severely questioned.

  10. Real cute.

    I still don’t take back a word of it. I believe that Zionism is a supremacist ideology. Sure, there are Zionists who think that Palestinians should have all their rights restored including ROR, and that borders should be along the 67 lines, and Richard may be one of these.

    They’re few and far between. But this, if it is indeed Zionism, which I believe it isn’t, is a joke to the majority of Zionists who clamor for a Jewish state with all the racist protections necessary to preserve it as such. So when I refer to Zionism, I’m referring to this Zionism which is the Zionism embraced by most Zionists who are paranoid about Palestinian demography and ROR and who are unable to recognize a Palestinian state along the 67 lines and who believe that Israel should not cede on East Jerusalem. They also have disdain for the law, because it interferes with their sense of entitlement.

    It doesn’t matter to me that there used to be another kind of Zionism, because I believe that the one we’re witnessing today is the evolution of a flawed ideology that already had supremacy inherent in it. The REAL Zionism is the one we’re presently witnessing in Israel; the other “branch” if you can call it that, was inevitably eclipsed by the dominate branch for good.

    The only way to defeat Zionism is through world condemnation, boycotts, divestment and if necessary sanctions.

  11. Let’s suppose, for the sake of argument, that the siege of Gaza is indeed “legal” as established by some Law X. Would that make the siege right or acceptable? Needless to say, it would not: on the contrary, it would mean that Law X is wrong and must be repealed.

    As a general concept, “the rule of law” gets much better press than it deserves. Just because a law is passed by a legislative body doesn’t mean that law is a good law; moreover, even seemingly good laws (a) often have unintended consequences and (b) can sometimes be put to evil ends by the wrong people. Legality does not equal legitimacy: the latter is infinitely more important than the former.

    The Gazans have a right to defend themselves, just like Jews do. More generally, the Gazans have the same rights to life, liberty, and property that Jews do. Any law that preempts these rights is illegitimate, and must be overturned.

  12. It’s disgusting to see how the Greek government basically ignores its people’s wishes and aspirations. The ruling elites have sold their population into slavery by agreeing to draconian austerity measures, making each of their citizens, including children, debtors for life. The elites themselves will find their way of avoiding paying taxes, etc., while the simple man will have to pay the debt and the interest on the debt. And now Israel is helping the Greek elites to negotiate the enslavement.

    My guess is that the people of Greece do support the Flotilla, and yet the government goes against that support and blocks and bans ships to Gaza, for all the world to see. They couldn’t care less about their own people, let alone the people and children of Gaza, for whom the Flotilla would be at least a symbolic recognition of their suffering. Shame, shame, shame.

  13. LOOK AT THE FLOTILLA AND UN PALESTINE VOTE EFFORTS AS CHALLENGING THE SOVEREIGNTY (DeFacto & DeJure) OF ISRAEL OVER GAZA AND THE WEST BANK. THIS ISRAEL WILL NOT ALLOW.

    Forget The Flotilla Now. Israel won this round. Concentrate on the coming (September) UN General Assembly Palestine Vote.

    BUT BE WARNED. AND RICHARD BETTER BELIEVE IT: AbuMazen The MossadMole Will Stop The UNGA Vote.

    The naive among the lovers of freedom will whine as they do now. But if they don’t wake up soon Israel will win the second round and the Palestinians will be over and out for good or for a good long time.

  14. As the tentacles of the conspiracy to vilify those human rights activists from around the world, stretch ever deeper into Greek and other ports worldwide to prevent peaceful protest, it has become all too obvious that the malign influence of the Likud government extends even further than the most pessimistic opinion.

    The free world now increasingly marches to the beat of the Likud drum. It is so extraordinarily surreal as to be virtually unbelievable. But it is happening before our eyes. Murder on the high seas. Ships damaged by night in Mediterranean ports. Governments backing down and acquiescing to Israeli demands to prevent free passage. The list increases day by day. Where it will end is a matter for conjecture because these events, apparently controlled and financed by the US lobby, are unprecedented. All we know is that they should strike fear into democratic societies around the globe. These events do not reflect the will of the people, only the will of Likud.

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