From Sarah's Twitter page:
Assume u WON'T get straight scoop on Israeli flotilla incident via mainstream media;PLEASE read Krauthammer,Horowitz,et al 2learn other side
I have tried NOT to leap to any conclusions over this incident, but I have to admit that I am fighting instinct to not take the opposite side from the one that Sarah has taken.
Here is the Charles Krauthammer article about the incident. He makes some interesting points, but once again I am taking it with a grain of salt because he is fixture on Fox News and I have very little trust left for that particular cable"news" channel.
The UN Security Council is demanding an end to the blockade.
Here is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's response.
At this link you can see a number of videos released by BOTH sides showing what happened during the boarding.
I would like to point out that Sarah Palin's support of Israel is almost certainly driven by the fact that she is a Christian Zionist and believes that Israel is extremely important in helping to usher in the Rapture during whch she undoubtedly believes she will be sucked out of Wasilla and deposited at the feet of Jesus Christ. In other words, as with pretty much everything and everybody else, Sarah cares little for the Israeli people but instead sees them as a means to getting what she wants, access to heaven.
Okay a few ground rules.
After yesterday's emotionally charged back and forth in the comments section after my first post on this incident I feel compelled to be a little more strict this time around. I have no problem with civil disagreements, or even arguments, but there will be NO insults allowed. Even if I agree with your point I am going to reject any comment that uses foul or insulting language. I hate to do this as I am no fan of censorship, but it sabotages the discussion and poisons people's opinions against each other.
So I am asking you to NOT give me a reason to reject your comment. I know you guys work very hard on them sometimes so help me to help you get your point of view posted. Okay?
G-man, I'll just watch! for now... :-)
ReplyDeletenice articles..thanks for sharing..i will keep in touch with this blog
ReplyDeleteOk, Gryphen. I'll behave! I don't know enough to get into the politics of the whole thing, but what I do object to is the legality of what happened yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThis quote from an Irish news site about the Irish activists also mirrors my feelings.
"This morning, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin reiterated his call for the immediate and unconditional release of the Irish citizens.
In a statement, Mr Martin said: 'I met the Israeli Ambassador last evening and made clear that the Irish Government expects the immediate and unconditional release of all the Irish citizens detained.
The seven individuals concerned did not enter Israel illegally; rather they were essentially seized from international waters, taken into Israel and asked to sign documents confirming that they entered illegally. This is simply not acceptable.'"
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0601/mideast.html
Btw, the Irish owned vessel is still on its way to Gaza with a Nobel prize winner on board.
Regarding Palin's tweet, well we all know she needs Israel for the rapture, or is it the 'ravish' as per her newly deleted tweet?
Thanks, Gryphen. I appreciate your insistence in having people keeping things civil and respectful.
ReplyDelete1. The San Remo Manual governing int'l humanitarian law indicates in rule 67(a) that it is permissible to attack neutral vessels on the high seas when the vessels "are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture."
ReplyDeleteWhile I have not yet had a chance to read up on this issue....I feel pretty sure that it is a complex one.
ReplyDeleteI am equally certain that Palin has no idea what she is talking about....and she has no interest in reading up on the complexity of it herself. She just opens her mouth and spits out the word salad. No thought, no analysis, just babble.
"I hate to do this as I am no fan of censorship..."
ReplyDeleteBullshit, G; you censor constantly if not consistently. And, contrary to your protests, it's not to protect others, but to maintain your fragile internet fiefdom.
Does Sarah know that she can save a dozen characters is she just tweets MSM for mainstream media? We all know that one by now, along with LSM, for lamestream media.
ReplyDeleteSarah's tweets are an exercise in humor. Yesterday she described the Gulf Coast as "ravished" (raped) instead of "ravaged" (devastated, having suffered heavy destruction). But, that is so yesterday, it was ions ago.
I would like to point out that Sarah Palin's support of Israel is almost certainly driven by the fact that she is a Christian Zionist and believes that Israel is extremely important in helping to usher in the Rapture
ReplyDelete................your remarks are disgusting and demeaning to all Christians. You have no idea of palins motives and are engaging in the worst kind of innuendo and name-calling, trying to score cheap points.
sjk, we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one. I have always enjoyed your posts, I respect your point of view, and I don't want to fall out with you over this issue.
ReplyDeleteWhat worries me now is the potential for this to escalate. Turkey has announced they will send another flotilla to Gaza—escorted by the Turkish Navy!
http://www.ianwelsh.net/holy-sweet-lord-turkey-has-announced-they-will-send-another-flotilla-to-gaza%E2%80%94escorted-by-the-turkish-navy/
I'm not so sure Sarah is on the side of Israel because she wants to usher in the rapture. I think she is simply brain-washed by the American arm of Likud: Bill Kristol and his neocon group (Cheney, et al). She is their puppet and, if she runs for POTUS, she'll have their support on her march to power.
ReplyDeleteHer tweets are getting funnier and funnier! She doesn't know who Krauthammer is any more than she knows who "et al" is! Scarah, you're a hoot!
ReplyDeletePossibly anonymous at 7:40 a.m. would back up those words with his name? Doesn't that count as censoring as well?
ReplyDeleteHeard from a friend in the Israeli army, that this started out as a publicity stunt. Israel has guidelines for bringing in stuff for Gaza. The protesters refused to comply. They were looking for attention. Also the wounded protesters were airlifted by the Israelis and received medical treatment, something that the opposition has never done.
ReplyDeleteWhy is the world hangin on her every sound bit- empty headed word? She has successfully taken every issue that I personally hold dear and has marginalized and minimize it's importance, just because she's associated with it! Who cares what Sarah halfbaked Palin writes on Facebook or Tweets?
ReplyDeleteGryph - I expect Sarah's rapture vision more likely ends with Jesus at her feet.
ReplyDeleteIrishgirl, Likewise and appreciate that, also too.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there will be some feathers ruffled, statements made, threats and promises made, and we all need to keep an eye on North Korea, too also.
Doesn't Sarah know what happens when you ASS-U-ME something? She really needs to stop making an ass out of herself.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the call for civility Gryphen, I have actually stopped reading comments on several blogs because the comments were getting out of hand. As Leah Burton stated in her post the other day: "We must stop eating our own."
"The other side?" In Israeli the media and the people have differing opinions, it is only in America that we are not allowed to say anything negative about Israel. Our media is pretty much lock step for Israel. The only way to learn another side is foreign media. She is so stupid.
ReplyDeleteAnd the ships were in International Waters so there really is no question that what they did was piracy.
Because not all of us know about or have read the San Remo Manual referred to by one of the earlier comments, I looked it up on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC.
ReplyDeleteHere is the introductory explanatory paragraph from that site:
"Naval warfare has not been widespread during the last fifty years. However, some recent armed conflicts involving naval warfare have shown the inadequacies of certain aspects of the existing law, which has not seen any codification since 1949. The present state of the law of naval warfare was evaluated in the early 1990s by a group of international experts, scholars, naval officers and ICRC lawyers. The working group drafted the "San Remo Manual", which, although not legally binding, provides a clear statement of existing law and practice."
Please note it says it is not legally binding.
You can read the background, development, intent and full text of the manual at:
http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/section_ihl_naval_warfare?opendocument
Betcha Sarah hasn't.
To 7:49, Gryphen was not insulting "all Christians." Please note he was very careful to term her sect as Zionist Christians, which is appropriate.
ReplyDeleteOthers have rightly connected Sarah's church (which she does not seem to attend now that she has achieved a certain prominence)to the Dominionist movement. If you are unfamiliar with that, think of the bestselling expose, The Family,the infamous C Street or go over to Leah Burton's blog, God's Own Party. These believers do want international war to break out and chaos to follow so they can install the leaders they have been grooming to take over to help usher in a world government led by Christ, who they believe they are serving and being guided by. There are many variations of Christianity, not just the mainstream version we all grew up with.
No one is trying to insult Christians, but we do have to begin distinguishing between the various branches because it is those that are most politically active right now that are the most extreme and seemingly have very little to do with the peaceful philosophy preached by Jesus Christ. Just saying, Gryphen has always tried to be even-handed and careful in how he talks about religion. The subtitle of his blog says it all.
Oh, she is not happy with the interview. Here is her latest tweet.
ReplyDeleteSarahPalinUSA Any wonder why public can't trust mainstream media?I'll facebook our latest incident w/NBC unbalanced/sensational "reporting";Don't trust'em 31 minutes ago
FB post coming up. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1......
Syrin, at this stage she is pure comedy.
Newsflash---
ReplyDeleteThe Gore's are separating! Find the scoop Gryphen. What is the mistress' name? I know you and Shannyn think the Palin's are divorcing, so I'm sure this is of importance. This horrible man could have been in the White House! (although he probably would have made it green!)
No, Gryph, Sarah is not thinking about getting into heaven. Her thoughts are tuned to keeping her ugly face and eveil thoughts in the news.
ReplyDeleteHave been following the complex Palestinian/Israeli for years now. My personal opinion is that Israel has an enemy who will do anything, even sabotage their own innocent people to make Israel look bad. That being said, Israel has it's faults, too. But the bottom line for christians out there is this:
ReplyDeleteJesus never told the gentiles (church members) to take sides on anything, except the side of what is true, pure, lovely, just, and to love all people as themselves. So christians are to love palestinians as much as they do israelis. In matters of war, they are never to take sides.
Jesus died for all.
It's true that contemporary christian writers (some) are very pro-Israeli because they see the parallel what prophecy says about Israel and what is happening today. Prophetically, things are shaping up pretty accurately the way the prophets spoke. Just my opinion and that's a whole other can of worms.
But Old Testament promises between the covenanted Jews and God are their business and many believe spiritually and physically that Israel has a promise to be protected from their enemies for the duration of the world's history because Abraham asked for protection and got a promise that they would be protected from their enemies.
I remember seeing on tv and being horrified by some palestinians dancing in the streets,
burning the US flag, after 9/11. Again this was just a specific nasty group. And there are nasties on both sides. We've got to keep perspective on the whole thing. And I remember some Gazan extremists who for the last several years launch random Katyusha? rockets into Israeli fields provoking a a military response, and launching these rockets from rooftops where young families and children lived, knowing that they might be a target. Not concerned parents in my view.
I hate psychological warfare, it is surely created by narcissistic pathological liars who'll do anything to garner world sympathy. Hey, where have I heard that before?
This doesn't look good for Israel, although I have had issues with the Palestinians as well.
ReplyDeleteThey both need to recognize each other's right to exist, but unfortunately, there are people on both sides that do not want peace. Since Palin is no expert on anything, least of all international affairs, anything she says on the subject should be taken with a large grain of salt.
I just saw the article on former Vice President Gore and his wife, Tipper.
ReplyDeleteNot all of us thought of him as a "horrible man," and many of us felt he should have been President instead of the appointed Bush.
I feel sorry that any couple divorces, but after 40 years together, it seems even sadder.
No one really wanted Sarah and Todd to be divorcing either. At least Tipper didn't get copies of all all of Al's emails and try to run a shadow government the way Todd did.
Wait, wait, wait.
ReplyDeleteBefore anyone, including Mrs. Palin, cements an opinion, please get familiar with a few things:
- the British Empire in the Middle East during World War I and the diplomatic agreements of the time
- the Bristish Mandate of Palestine
- WWI-era British Prime Minister and evangelical preacher David Lloyd George
- The 'White Paper'
- the Peel and Woodhead Commissions
- David Ben Gurion
- The Arab Revolt (1936-1939) and Arab–Israeli War (1948)
Simply being aware of current events is not enough. Educating ourselves with at least a basic understanding of the history of this dilemma is absolutely necessary, as well as our responsibility.
Gloria Chythlook
What interests me about Sarah's tweet is her call to self-censorship. I recall her doing this before...saying her audience should only listen to Fox.
ReplyDeleteGryphen, I appreciate your insistence on civility. Personally, I wish you'd censor more, including comments such as anonymous 7:40 and 7:49am which are attacks speaking in absolutes without logic and without adding anything to the discussion. Every now and then, if you wanted, you could have a post featuring the 'best' of the censored comments.
Who gets to live on what land cannot be decided on the basis of what it says in a book that was written by men centuries ago.
ReplyDeleteReally, why is this even as issue?
The gist of Dr. Krauthammer's article, which is cited as "interesting" above, is that the boats were attempting to break the Gaza blockade. Of course, they were. That does not equate to the right to fastline down from helicopters with automatic weapons and kill people. Back in the midwest, my dad said I had to take a gun safety class before I could carry the single-shot .22 out to the woods to go squirrel hunting. I still remember the teacher forty years ago repeating over and over that the right to carry a gun includes the responsibility to use it safely. The same goes in spades for international leaders who have at their fingertips armed commando units. Simply because some obscure text on international law says you have the right to enforce a blockade, does that make killing unarmed civilians right? This is not a bar fight, and officials who have nuclear arsenals at their call should be above Krauthammer's "they deserved it" illogic.
ReplyDeletePerhaps, Curiouser, you might ask G. how many comments he censored that were critical of his decision to ignore that fact that Palingates broke the CSU Stanislaus speaker's fee story. I know that mine, which was polite but firm, wasn't permitted.
ReplyDeleteMy comment (7:40) wasn't an attempt to add to the discussion, but was instead a means of calling him out of the dishonesty he claims to deplore in others. It hasn't been lost on many how closely his behavior frequently resembles that of the Grifter Granny.
We all grasp the desire to censor the Jesse Cornishes of the world; it's quite another to suppress any and all dissent.
Dozens of passengers who were aboard the Mavi Marmara Turkish passenger ship are suspected of having connections with Global Jihad-affiliated terrorist organizations, defense officials said Tuesday, amid growing concerns that Turkey will dispatch Navy warships to accompany a future flotilla to the Gaza Strip.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the defense officials, the IDF identified a group of about 100 passengers on the ship that could have terrorist connections with Global Jihad affiliated groups.
During its searches of the Mavi Marmara on Tuesday, the military also discovered a cache of bulletproof vests, night-vision goggles as well as gas masks.
Humanitarians?
** the CSU Stanislaus speaker's fee story. **
ReplyDeleteInteresting sidelight there - the two kids who supposedly "found a copy of the contract in a dumpster" have now lawyered up and are refusing to cooperate with authorities.
"In other words, as with pretty much everything and everybody else, Sarah cares little for the Israeli people but instead sees them as a means to getting what she wants, access to heaven."
ReplyDeleteBRILLIANT!
So, according to the Israeli Defense Force, some of the passengers "could have terrorist connections". Yep, that sounds like a great justification to kill 9 unarmed civilians. Let's face it. There are certainly two (at least) sides to the issue of the Gaza blockade, but even the Israeli military admits they screwed this up big time. First, take a ship whose crew has publicly announced that it wants to publicize their view that the blockade is criminal. Second, make lots of threats to the ship and crew and make sure that international attention is focused, waiting for the confrontation. Third, surround the ship at night, illuminate it with searchlights, bombard it with gas bombs, then zipline visibly armed commandos one at a time into the middle of a large crowd of people on the deck of the boat. Fourth, act surprised when those people resist you by throwing the commandos overboard. Whoever planned and approved this op should be demoted to dogcatcher.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 2:05 - Sorry. I don't comprehend the need to publicly call out any blogger. How can you be sure your assumptions underlying the criticism are correct? Who knows how much time it would take for G to respond to everyone?
ReplyDeleteI choose to give Gryphen the benefit of the doubt as to what and why he censors. It's his blog. It's his call whether he wants to justify or explain his decisions. Personally, I'd rather he invest his time in putting out new posts.
Re the Israel-Gaza controversy, there's an interesting article at HuffPost written by an Israeli journalist who is critical of his government's recent actions.
"Here in Israel, we have still yet to learn the lesson: We are no longer defending Israel. We are now defending the siege of Gaza. The siege itself is becoming Israel's Vietnam."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bradley-burston/the-second-gaza-war-israe_b_595155.html
(I have no energy to protest the Gryphen Ground Rules......but I want to.)
ReplyDelete"Since 2006 Israel has limited the import of various goods to the Hamas-controlled territory to a “humanitarian minimum”, though there is no official list for traders to observe."
"The main impact of the blockade is on people, who have been barred from leaving, and on exports."
http://www.economist.com/daily/chartgallery/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16264970&fsrc=rss
Partial List of Items Prohibited/Permitted into the Gaza Strip
May 2010
The following list is approximate and partial, and it changes from time to time. It is based on
information from Palestinian traders and businesspersons, international organizations, and the
Palestinian Coordination Committee, all of whom "deduce" what is permitted and what is
banned based on their experience requesting permission to bring goods into Gaza and the
answers they receive from the Israeli authorities (approved or denied). It is not possible to
verify this list with the Israeli authorities because they refuse to disclose information regarding
the restrictions on transferring goods into Gaza. It should be noted that Israel permits some of
the "prohibited" items into Gaza (for example: paper, biscuits, and chocolate), on the condition
that they are for the use of international organizations, while requests from private merchants
to purchase them are denied. For more information, see: Gisha, Restrictions on the Transfer
of Goods into Gaza: Obstruction and Obfuscation, January 2010 (available at:
www.gisha.org).
We're in agreement then, Curiouser: it's Gryphen's blog and he is free to do as he chooses with it. Again, I was simply pointing out that his claims re: censorship were disingenuous.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I appreciate his publishing my comments and hope this is a harbinger of things to come.