"(Cyprus, June 1, 2010, 6:30 am) Under 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. According to the live video from the ship, two have been killed, and 31 injured. Al Jazeera has just confirmed the numbers.
Streaming video shows the Israeli soldiers shooting at civilians, and our last SPOT beacon said, “HELP, we are being contacted by the Israelis.”
We know nothing about the other five boats. Israel says they are taking over the boats.
The coalition of Free Gaza Movement (FG), European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG), Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), the Perdana Global Peace Organisation , Ship to Gaza Greece, Ship to Gaza Sweden, and the International Committee to Lift the Siege on Gaza appeal to the international community to demand that Israel stop their brutal attack on civilians delivering vitally needed aid to the imprisoned Palestinians of Gaza and permit the 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."
Source.
Can we dispense with the fiction of "international law" now, please? It serves a very specific purpose: to keep poor peoples, oppressed peoples, occupied peoples, tribal peoples and minor states trapped within a network of obligations; a network which favors the rich comptrollers, the corporate fiefdoms and the elected butchers of Europe, the US and its clients, Coastal China, Japan, the new Russian Rodina and the aristocracy of South America in their plundering, murderous mercantile adventures.
International law means jack damned shit if one of the above violates these obligations.
And thanks to ASP, we have direct confirmation of how this works:
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2010/Israel_Navy_warns_flotilla_31-May-2010.htm
Crow's Eye: Maintaining a commitment to Pointless Acrimony™ and Hate Filled Invective™! Also available in corvid mischief and traditional sly dog's mistrust.
International law is a standard, not a remedy.
ReplyDeleteAs a standard, it favors those who can enforce it to their own ends, methinks.
ReplyDeleteWe use what we got. The human rights regime wasn't a gift, it was an achievement--one we might choose to honor for no other reason. No sense throwing away ammo just because the bad guys have bigger guns.
ReplyDeleteI really see no reason to equate international law with human rights.
ReplyDeleteInternational law hasn't stopped the blockades of Cuba, Iran or Gaza.
It hasn't ended the systematic pillaging of Haiti, hasn't halted Plan Colombia, and never ended the occupation of the West Bank, the Golan Heights or Lebanon.
It hasn't prevented US war crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq, the terrorist campaign in Iran, Yemen or Pakistan.
It's not a tool of the hoi polloi. It's a tool of the bad guys with the big guns.
It's used, only, to punish those little guys who don't have the big guns, especially if they get it through their heads to acquire a few of them.
Respect,
Jack