Happy Face

It reminds me of Thirteen Days when Kevin Costner is imploring the jet pilots to not get shot at due to the precariousness of the Cuban Missile situation.....the difference being Israel's soldiers seem to be told to shoot the shit out of the boats.

I can't wait to watch the majority of the world cup over there...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news...connection.html

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/06/02-8

Ferdinand fucked http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/w...010/8722236.stm

By removing incentives to the private sector to employ up here?

I wouldn't, but Rose.....

Exactly....and they're engaged in the collective punishment of 1.5m people without a recognised state that can defend them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment_a...ts/10231449.stm RIP Rose is the only one left.

I'm not siding with the liberals or conservatives. I'm siding with the victim against the aggressor. there are victims and agressors on both sides of this conflict. In one of his many speeches, to U.S. troops in Vietnam, [Lyndon] Johnson said plaintively, "There are three billion people in the world and we have only two hundred million of them. We are outnumbered fifteen to one. If might did make right they would sweep over the United States and take what we have. We have what they want." That is a constant refrain of imperialism. You have your jackboot on someone's neck and they're about to destroy you. The same is true with any form of oppression. And it's psychologically understandable. If you're crushing and destroying someone, you have to have a reason for it, and it can't be, "I'm a murderous monster." It has to be self-defense. "I'm protecting myself against them. Look what they're doing to me." Oppression gets psychologically inverted; the oppressor is the victim who is defending himself.

I'm not siding with the liberals or conservatives. I'm siding with the victim against the aggressor. there are victims and agressors on both sides of this conflict. I'm speaking collectively. The vast majority of Germans in WW2 were victims. Collectively, they were the aggressor.

I'm not siding with the liberals or conservatives. I'm siding with the victim against the aggressor.

"Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson"

I know it's not what you intended but this could be construed as suggesting few of the Arab countries have any democratic system at all. There are only four governments in the world that don't claim to be democratic. Vatican City, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and Brunei. Some other countries have single candidate sham elections, like Israel's buddy Egypt. But lots of Middle Eastern countries have multiple candidate elections. I'd agree that Israel probably has the most transparent elections in the region, but even so, according to the 2008 Democracy Index, it's a "flawed democracy". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index yeah, but look at place like iran and syria. none of us used to living in a western democracy could ever live in those countries. on the other hand, if you take away the threat of bombings in israel, i'd wager many of us could live a happy life there. tel aviv is similar to any european city in the med I think that's a different question, whether or not we as western democrats could integrate into a society has little to do with their election process.. I know people that do live and work under an authritarian regime in Saudi Arabia. Qatar explicitly uses Sharia law as the basis of its government, but the quality of life is deemed to be about the same as Israel. not sure i'd fancy living in qatar if i was a woman I'd prefer it to living in occupied Gaza as a man or a woman.

You laugh, but thats his long term goal and I would certainly not bet against him. He plays the buffoon very well but is also a very clever bloke and is well liked by a wide range of people. And you think the British public would accept a buffoon as PM? I hope not. Last time he was on QT he was embarassing, struggled to make any sense at all, like he was drunk or something. You seem to forget the good people of London voted him in. Whether or not his own party would make him leader is a different question all together. If they did I would say he would get voted in. You should watch that programme I referred too. As well as being an eye opener it was quite entertaining. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/20...iebrooker.boris

I know it's not what you intended but this could be construed as suggesting few of the Arab countries have any democratic system at all. There are only four governments in the world that don't claim to be democratic. Vatican City, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and Brunei. Some other countries have single candidate sham elections, like Israel's buddy Egypt. But lots of Middle Eastern countries have multiple candidate elections. I'd agree that Israel probably has the most transparent elections in the region, but even so, according to the 2008 Democracy Index, it's a "flawed democracy". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index yeah, but look at place like iran and syria. none of us used to living in a western democracy could ever live in those countries. on the other hand, if you take away the threat of bombings in israel, i'd wager many of us could live a happy life there. tel aviv is similar to any european city in the med I think that's a different question, whether or not we as western democrats could integrate into a society has little to do with their election process.. I know people that do live and work under an authritarian regime in Saudi Arabia. Qatar explicitly uses Sharia law as the basis of its government, but the quality of life is deemed to be about the same as Israel.

I know it's not what you intended but this could be construed as suggesting few of the Arab countries have any democratic system at all. There are only four governments in the world that don't claim to be democratic. Vatican City, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and Brunei. Some other countries have single candidate sham elections, like Israel's buddy Egypt. But lots of Middle Eastern countries have multiple candidate elections. I'd agree that Israel probably has the most transparent elections in the region, but even so, according to the 2008 Democracy Index, it's a "flawed democracy". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index

They were £32 in JJB too.

They were £25 in Asda last week

Don't forget the translation on that clip was done by MEMRI. Co-founded in 1998 by Yigal Carmon, a former colonel in Israeli military intelligence, and another Israeli Meyrav Wurmser. There is some controversy surrounding it... http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/20...arabicunderfire

BBC News 24 should really have a reporter broadcasting live from the Rachel Corrie 24/7 at the moment so we can all see where the provocation begins and the reaction becomes excessive.

Israel had no jurisdiction over these boats to order them to do anything, so whether or not one of them refused to comply is moot. I don't deny they were attacked when they invaded the boat, but I wonder what you'd do if you were being shot at without provocation and the people doing the shooting were coming at you? Would you lie down and wait to be massacred? Haneen Zoabi, who is a Palestinian Arab citizen of Israel and an MP for the National Democratic Assembly or Balad party, was on board the Mavi Marmara when it was stormed by Israeli commandos in international waters. She told Asharq Al-Awsat that … “”the operation began at around 11.30 pm on Sunday…we saw the lights of vessels far away. At around 1.30 am, these ships approached our ship, and at around 4 am there were around 13 ships and dinghies surrounding our ship…and as they approached they began to fire machine guns [at the ship], and then suddenly there were helicopters with commandos disembarking [onto our ship] whilst firing weapons, and firing a water cannon onto the deck of our ship.”… “We were expecting an intercept and inspection mission, with the ship then being escorted to the Port of Ashdod, but we did not expect this to take place with such military intensity, and utilizing such weapons. This was a terrible attack on 600 activists, who are civilians, parliamentarians, and peace activist, and Israel has described them in a negative manner since the flotilla left port as being ‘terrorists’ and this is in order to justify aggression against them.” … MP Zoabi also indicated that another aim of this Israeli aggression was to intimidate and deter anybody from participating in future attempts to break the Gaza blockade. … … “there were no plans for resistance, this came as a natural response in self-defense, and this is something that could have happened at any time or place…for when somebody finds themselves under attack they find themselves in a natural manner trying to defend their lives by all available means.” http://www.juancole.com/2010/06/eyewitness...chine-guns.html

Interesting to contrast these two views. Rocket attacks rarely kill more than single figures. More often than not nobody is killed. It's difficult to remember when the Israeli response to them has been measured, diplomatic condemnation though, it's guaranteed to be heavy-handed, military and fatal. Which you seem to be suggesting is appropriate, given the fear they create. Terrible as they are, I think mitigation comes from them being fired from occupied territory engaged in resistance. However, here we have Israel killing 9 people in international waters in what amounts (according to the lawyers) to an act of war against Turkey, and you think the measured, diplomatic condemnation and calls for an investigation (that have already been rejected by Israel and the US...and therefore the UN) is "massively overblown".