Israel's flotilla raid ruling

Myanmar would like to bring the following to the MUN's attention:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11393836

Israel's military broke international laws during its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a UN Human Rights Council investigation says.

The three-member panel said Israeli commandoes' response to the flotilla was "disproportionate" and "betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality".

Myanmar believes that Israel must now explain it's actions.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 1

Rhadamanthus

17

Israel rejects the bias of the Council, and would like to stress that we broke no internationally recognised laws, nor did we act "disproportionately" when our soldiers responded to being attacked by metal poles and stun grenades by extremist "aid workers."

Our Foreign Ministry Spokesman released this statement earlier - "In view of the biased, politicized and extremist approach of the same Human Rights Council that initiated the skewed Goldstone Report, Israel sees no reason to cooperate with this commission. Israel is a democratic and law abiding country that carefully observes international law and, when need be, knows how to investigate itself. That is how Israel has always acted, and that is the way in which investigations were conducted following Operation Cast Lead, launched to protect the inhabitants of southern Israel from rockets and terror attacks carried out by Hamas from Gaza. The Israeli investigation system, which conforms to all international standards, is being examined by the Turkel Committee, an independent panel with international observers. This committee is still carrying out its work. In view of all this, as well as of the biased, politicized and extremist approach of the same Human Rights Council that had initiated the skewed Goldstone Report, Israel sees no reason to cooperate with this commission. Israel will nonetheless read and study the report."

Israel reserves the right, protected by law, to retaliate against any violation of the blockade of Gaza as Palestinian militants regularly fire rockets and mortar rounds into southern Israel. Our security is of the utmost importance and we will strive to protect our citizens. Our soldiers also reserve the right that every human being has - the right to resist violent attack, in this case by supposed "peace" activists threatening the lives of said soldiers. In the context of the kind of people on the ship and their actions towards our commandos, it is absurd to suggest that we had any more brutality than anyone else, or that we "wilfully killed" or carried out "summary executions" in a situation where our soldiers' lives were threatened by violent extremists and had no other choice. The dead activists were not lined up against a wall and shot - they were retaliated against with due force.

The text reads: "By the time the soldiers started boarding the ship, the passengers had already completed their preparations. They had put on lifebelts and gas masks and began resisting the Israeli soldiers using the iron bars and wooden clubs they held in their hands."

The text reads: "After the three well-armed soldiers landed on the ship, they were beaten and taken to the ship’s interior."

The pictures are from the book, "The Bloodstained Mavi Marmara" which backs-up the IDF account of the Flotilla raid, written by Şefik Dinç, a Turkish reporter who was on board the Mavi Marmara and managed to smuggle pictures out. What follows in the spoiler is his account of the raid...

Spoiler

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 2

Theconomist

Mexico supports Israel in it's statement but does believe that a resolution between Israel and Palestine has to be agreed as soon as possible.

Reply 3

the_educated1

Austria will await dialogue with the European Union before pledging an official position on the matter.

"The UN body, which is dominated by African, Asian and Latin American countries, has in the past repeatedly singled out Israel for criticism. Its resolutions carry little weight in law but are considered an important indicator of global opinion on human rights issues".

This is not an issue of global opinion; this is an issue of global law, factual accounts, and the role of the United Nations in conflict-resolution.

Austria continues to stress the importance of peace-building, diplomatic action, and efforts from both sides.

Reply 4

bigmo7

17

Syria condemns Israel for it's action but expected nothing less.

Reply 5

jakemittle

17

bigmo7

Syria condemns Israel for it's action but expected nothing less.

Nigeria is in agreement with our Syrian brothers.

Reply 6

Rhadamanthus

17

Given the evidence provided, Israel believes that nothing more than bias and rejectionism of our territorial integrity has motivated the statements of Syria and Nigeria, not fair judgement. This is a sad state of affairs and goes a long way in explaining the problems we face in Israel.

(edited 13 years ago)

Israel's flotilla raid ruling

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