UN independent panel rules Israel blockade of Gaza illegal

[bud]

Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip violates international law, a panel of human rights experts reporting to a UN body said on Tuesday, disputing a conclusion reached by a separate UN probe into Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship.

An earlier fact-finding mission named by the same UN forum to investigate the flotilla incident also found in a report last September that the blockade violated international law. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says the blockade violates the Geneva Conventions.

link

"The Palmer report was aimed at political reconciliation between Israel and Turkey. It is unfortunate that in the report politics should trump the law," he said in the statement.

About one-third of Gaza's arable land and 85 percent of its fishing waters are totally or partially inaccessible due to Israeli military measures, said Olivier De Schutter, UN special rapporteur on the right to food, another of the five.

At least two-thirds of Gazan households lack secure access to food, he said. "People are forced to make unacceptable trade-offs, often having to choose between food or medicine or water for their families."

The other three experts were the UN special rapporteurs on physical and mental health, extreme poverty and human rights, and access to water and sanitation.

the palmer report, failed to save the turkey/israel relationship. it tried to use both the turkey report and israel report and find a 'balance' without looking deeper into the situation and without doing any real investigation.

all the other reports, which have come from different organizations, have concluded that the blockade is illegal.

Edited September 13, 2011 by bud

[scouterjim]

Israel and the US will ignore this.

Edited September 13, 2011 by Charles Anthony
deleted re-copied Opening Post

[GostHacked]

Israel and the US will ignore this.

As will some posters, claiming it is anti-semetic or some bull like that.

[Guest Peeves]

You know the UN report said the blockade is and was legal. So why are you posting misinformation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/world/middleeast/02flotilla.html?pagewanted=all

Report Finds Naval Blockade by Israel Legal but Faults Raid

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR and ETHAN BRONNER

Published: September 1, 2011

UNITED NATIONS — A long-awaited United Nations review of Israel’s 2010 raid on a Turkish-based flotilla in which nine passengers were killed has found that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is both legal and appropriate. But it said that the way Israeli forces boarded the vessels trying to break that blockade 15 months ago was excessive and unreasonable.

The report, expected to be released Friday, also found that when Israeli commandos boarded the main ship, they faced “organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers” and were therefore required to use force for their own protection. But the report called the force “excessive and unreasonable,” saying that the loss of life was unacceptable and that the Israeli military’s later treatment of passengers was abusive.

[Guest Peeves]

Israel and the US will ignore this.

As will anyone else that reads the real findings by the UN rather than an ad hoc assembly of anti Zionists.

[Guest Peeves]

As will some posters, claiming it is anti-semetic or some bull like that.

How blind those that only see what they want.

The UN report agreed the blockade is legal. Regardless umpteen anti Israelis spew unsupportable conclusions.

Report Finds Naval Blockade by Israel Legal but Faults Raid

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR and ETHAN BRONNER

Published: September 1, 2011

UNITED NATIONS — A long-awaited United Nations review of Israel’s 2010 raid on a Turkish-based flotilla in which nine passengers were killed has found that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is both legal and appropriate. But it said that the way Israeli forces boarded the vessels trying to break that blockade 15 months ago was excessive and unreasonable.

The report, expected to be released Friday, also found that when Israeli commandos boarded the main ship, they faced “organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers” and were therefore required to use force for their own protection. But the report called the force “excessive and unreasonable,” saying that the loss of life was unacceptable and that the Israeli military’s later treatment of passengers was abusive.

[scribblet]

You know the UN report said the blockade is and was legal. So why are you posting misinformation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/world/middleeast/02flotilla.html?pagewanted=all

It's a distraction from the real report.

[Wild Bill]

Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip violates international law, a panel of human rights experts reporting to a UN body said on Tuesday, disputing a conclusion reached by a separate UN probe into Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship.

Are those 'human rights experts' from the UN commission that until recently was headed by Libya, made up of mostly Arab countries?

What a joke!

[Moonlight Graham]

You know the UN report said the blockade is and was legal. So why are you posting misinformation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/world/middleeast/02flotilla.html?pagewanted=all

The two reports come from 2 different UN panels. They conflict each other, that`s the whole point here.

Edited September 13, 2011 by Moonlight Graham

[bush_cheney2004]

Israel and the US will ignore this.

...so will Canada. Big deal....

[Guest American Woman]

The two reports come from 2 different UN panels. They conflict each other, that`s the whole point here.

So the point being - there is no point. UN says blockade legal - in other news, UN says blockade illegal.

Sort of emphasizes the ineffectiveness of the UN.

[Bob]

As has already been said, the UN "fact finding mission" already determined that blockade on Gaza is "legal". Of course, whatever the UN or any of its subsidiaries determines is 100% irrelevant. Israel can and should do whatever it must in order to protect herself.

As far as the Geneva Conventions, they are irrelevant as well, as no "Palestinian" political group or government has agreed to adhere to the principles and be subject to enforcement. You cannot force the Geneva Conventions onto only one party of a multiparty conflict. The same thing applies to the terrorist vermin caught in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places - they (Al Qaeda, the Taliban, etc) never agreed to adhere to "international law", so they certainly have no "rights" to be protected by the provisions of, say, the Geneva Conventions when they are captured.

[Bob]

So the point being - there is no point. UN says blockade legal - in other news, UN says blockade illegal.

Sort of emphasizes the ineffectiveness of the UN.

The UN has no authority to dictate how Israel conducts its affairs. End of story.

[Guest American Woman]

The UN has no authority to dictate how Israel conducts its affairs. End of story.

Of course it doesn't.

[bud]

You know the UN report said the blockade is and was legal. So why are you posting misinformation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/world/middleeast/02flotilla.html?pagewanted=all

both you and wild bill need to improve your reading comprehension and do a little more research before pressing reply.

there have been 3 reports with the UN on its title:

- one from UNHRC that found the blockade illegal

- one so-called the palmer report that found the blockade legal

- this latest one from an UN independent panel that found the blockade illegal

there are other organizations like the international red cross who have also found the blockade to be illegal.

Edited September 13, 2011 by bud

[bud]

As far as the Geneva Conventions, they are irrelevant

except that you're wrong and how you feel is irrelevant.

israel ratified the geneva convention in 1951. the ICJ re-affirmed that the fourth geneva convention applies in this conflict. also, it was the UN that created israel which israel is a member of.

Edited September 13, 2011 by bud

[bush_cheney2004]

The UN did not create Israel....it lacks the authority to do so. What the UN did was recommend and ultimately recognize the State of Israel in 1948. It could have done the same for Palestine, but alas, they hosed things up very badly with some help from their Arab "friends".

[bud]

The UN did not create Israel .... and ultimately recognize the State of Israel in 1948.

so without UN's recognition, there would be no israel. thanks for recognizing that.

so how about israel's recognition and ratification of the geneva convention?

[bush_cheney2004]

so without UN's recognition, there would be no israel. thanks for recognizing that.

The UN cannot create nations. Sovereign nations existed long before the UN.

so how about israel's recognition and ratification of the geneva convention?

What about it...Israel is a nation regardless of the UN or Geneva Convention(s).

[Argus]

both you and wild bill need to improve your reading comprehension and do a little more research before pressing reply.

there have been 3 reports with the UN on its title:

- one from UNHRC that found the blockade illegal

- one so-called the palmer report that found the blockade legal

- this latest one from an UN independent panel that found the blockade illegal

there are other organizations like the international red cross who have also found the blockade to be illegal.

So two reports called for by the Grand Imperial Council of Wizards of the Ku Klux Klan -- otherwise known as the UN "human rights!!!??" council, found that those dirty Jews broke international law. This is supposed to be convincing of something? I bet the American Nazi Party finds the dirty Jews were at fault, too.

Nobody important cares what these people or their lefty toadies and hangers on have to say about ANYTHING.

[dre]

You guys are too stupid and jaded for this subject. Youre as bad as the Jews and Palestinians over in that god forsaken dirt farm.

Edited September 14, 2011 by dre

[Bonam]

You guys are too stupid and jaded for this subject. Youre as bad as the Jews and Palestinians over in that god forsaken dirt farm.

All except your lofty and enlightened self?

Fact is the UN already found the blockade legal. This panel of "independent experts" has no legitimacy (even less than the UN itself, which has been completely discredited on the subject).

[bloodyminded]

You know the UN report said the blockade is and was legal. So why are you posting misinformation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/world/middleeast/02flotilla.html?pagewanted=all

The real question is why you didn't understand the OP.

[Bob]

so without UN's recognition, there would be no israel. thanks for recognizing that.

so how about israel's recognition and ratification of the geneva convention?

Did the UN's "recognition" build Israel into what it is today? Israel's existence transcends the UN. UN "recognition" certainly didn't drain the swamps, build the farms, lay down the roads, establish the schools, universities, and hospitals, support the "illegal immigration" of Jews into the pre-Israel British Mandate for Palestine, and defend Jews from Arab/Muslim violence for decades before the U was even established.

"Recognition" from the UN, although no completely meaningless, certainly didn't build Israel. Most important, Israel's existence doesn't hinge on the UN's "recognition". Yes, it's better to have the "recognition" than not, but it is certainly not the top priority.

People like you seem to think document or a speech at your sacred cow known as the UN somehow create things. Words and documents don't build countries - people do.

[Bob]

except that you're wrong and how you feel is irrelevant.

israel ratified the geneva convention in 1951. the ICJ re-affirmed that the fourth geneva convention applies in this conflict. also, it was the UN that created israel which israel is a member of.

As I've already explained, the UN didn't create Israel - the Jewish people did.

As far as the ICJ? Who cares? It's not a real "court", it's just a bunch of politicians and academics who play dress-up and pretend to be lawyers and judges. I've already explained how the very concept of "rights" granted by the Geneva Conventions makes no sense in this conflict, as one party hasn't agreed to play by these "rules". You cannot force compliance among a multi-party conflict on one party. Nobody has the right to force obligations (because all "rights" come with obligations to be upheld by certain people and institutions) to protect certain groups of people who have chosen not to uphold the agreement on their side of the water.

People like you think you can stand on your soapbox and declare "rights" for certain people, while third-parties are the ones who are burdened by the obligations of enforcing those rights. This is obviously a much broader issue than simply examining the irrelevance of the Geneva Conventions in the context of Israel's conflict with the Arabs/Muslims, it applies to many so-called "rights". A long list of fake "rights" can be found in the UNDHR.