Israeli troops attack ship carrying aid to Gaza killing 16

[Wot]

Turkey is moving away from the west and embracing Arab states Iran etc. A lot of this has to do with it being unlikely they will be joining the EU because of their illegal occupation of northern Cyprus-Kibris as they call it.

The Greek Cypriots will never allow them to join the EU whilst still in occupation so they will be looking elsewhere for their alliances. It also appears there is a bigger leaning now more towards Islam so perhaps also a factor.

[Donald Aquilano]

You need to get your facts up to date! Turkey is an ally and a big player![COLOR=red]

Sure they are. Just because someone say there your ally doesn't mean they are. Turkey is a lot like Russia in this way.

---------- Post added at 09:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 PM ----------

Last time I checked they were a member of NATO (and has been since 1955)

So what if there in NATO. They have stabbed the US in the back many times in the past. They are an ally only when it suits them which means they never were one to begin with.

[MAllie]

The Arab population was the majority (60%+) at the time of the UN partition vote. But they got 43% of the land while the newly declared Israeli state got 56%. The state of Israel also happened to get most of the lower fertile lands per the partition. The Palestinians got the highlands where barely anything grows. Now assuming you were part of the Arab majority at the time, how would you have felt about the partition vote?

That is the reason why the UK wanted nothing to do with both a UN vote and the enforcement of a partition. Even the US, having voted for the partition, wanted nothing to do with the implementation process. The UK and US knew the partition was unfair.

The Arabs call that vote illegal as they saw it as a violation of their rights as a majority. It's also not a good sign when your land is going to be partitioned and you can't vote. They should have allowed the Jews and Arabs living in the region at the time to vote. It might have led to a different outcome.

Also, it is not a democratic process when the parties that will be affected aren't even allowed to vote on their behalf. The UN partition vote wasn't exemplary of a democratic process without Arab and Jewish representation. Do you agree with this notion? If you do, then the Arabs have every right to call the vote illegal. And there is nothing anti-democratic about it.

Many democratic votes appear to be unfair - in fact, they can never be truly fair to the minority in the sense that this group can never get what it wants in the face of a majority vote. I don't think anyone imagines democracy can be ideal for everyone. It's a case of the 'greatest happiness for the greatest number.' But whether or not there can ever be a better alternative is doubtful. The answer for the moment is probably to try to make democracy as fair as it possibly can be.

Yes, of course the Arabs have the right to call the UN vote illegal, and to work to change it at some future time through another vote. What they don't have the right to do (any more than the rest of us) is to try to impose the will of their minority on the majority through force and terror.

[Infoproliferati]

Yes, of course the Arabs have the right to call the UN vote illegal, and to work to change it at some future time through another vote. What they don't have the right to do (any more than the rest of us) is to try to impose the will of their minority on the majority through force and terror.

Agree 100%.

[Ehsan]

Its about this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOGG_osOoVg

.....................The Israeli government press office distributed the video link to foreign journalists at the weekend, but within hours emailed them an apology, saying it had been an error. Press office director Danny Seaman said the video did not reflect official state opinion, but in his personal capacity he thought it was "fantastic".

Government spokesman Mark Regev said the video reflected how Israelis felt about the incident. "I called my kids in to watch it because I thought it was funny," he said. "It is what Israelis feel. But the government has nothing to do with it."

The clip features a group led by the Jerusalem Post's deputy managing editor Caroline Glick, wearing keffiyehs and calling themselves the Flotilla Choir. The footage is interspersed with clips from the recent Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound aid ship, the Mavi Marmara.

The clip has been praised in Israel, where the mass-circulation daily Yediot Aharonot said the singers "defended Israel better than any of the experts".

But Didi Remez, an Israeli who runs the liberal-left news analysis blog Coteret, said the clip was "repulsive" and reflected how out of touch Israeli opinion was with the rest of the world. "It shows a complete lack of understanding of how the incident is being perceived abroad," he said. Award-winning Israeli journalist Meron Rapoport said the clip demonstrated prejudice against Muslims. "It's roughly done, not very sophisticated, anti-Muslim – and childish for the government to be behind such a clip," he said.

A similar press office email was sent to foreign journalists two weeks ago, recommending a gourmet restaurant and Olympic-sized swimming pool in Gaza to highlight Israel's claim there is no humanitarian crisis there. Journalists who complained the email was in poor taste were told they had "no sense of humour".

Last week, the Israel Defence Force had to issue a retraction over an audio clip it had claimed was a conversation between Israeli naval officials and people on the Mavi Marmara, in which an activist told soldiers to "go back to Auschwitz". The clip was carried by Israeli and international press, but today the army released a "clarification/correction", explaining that it had edited the footage and that it was not clear who had made the comment.

The Israeli army also backed down last week from an earlier claim that soldiers were attacked by al-Qaida "mercenaries" aboard the Gaza flotilla. An article appearing on the IDF spokesperson's website with the headline: "Attackers of the IDF soldiers found to be al-Qaida mercenaries", was later changed to "Attackers of the IDF Soldiers found without identification papers," with the information about al-Qaida removed from the main article. An army spokesperson told the Guardian there was no evidence proving such a link to the terror organisation....................................

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...-gaza-flotilla

[south]

Reuters Admits Cropping Photos of Ship Clash, Denies Political Motive

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06...ade-commandos/