Like most western governments.
"Greeks turn back US protesters bound for blockaded Gaza" July 02, 2011|By Christopher Torchia, Associated Press
ATHENS - American protesters on a boat bound for the Gaza Strip were escorted back to shore yesterday, as Greece announced it was banning vessels heading to Gaza from leaving Greek ports.
Good thing the Greek people don't have any pressing problems right now.
So how much did that cost the debt-ridden government?
The secretive attempt by the activists to head out to sea ended in failure after authorities in inflatable speedboats raced after them.
"We shall overcome," the activists sang as security personnel watched from their boat about 10 yards away, according to updates protesters posted on the Internet during a brief standoff.
The real MSM these days. That is why you never see me call the AmeriKan media the MSM these days.
Greek officials appealed to them to turn around, arguing that it was not safe to continue, but activists responded that it was not safe in port because of fears of alleged sabotage of their vessels, organizers said.
Why would delivering humanitarian supplies not be safe?
As for the sabotage, the Internet is all over that and cui bono?
On Thursday, an Irish ship, the MV Saoirse, said it had to abandon plans to set sail from the Turkish town of Gocek because of what it called Israeli sabotage. Earlier this week, activists said the propeller of a Swedish ship in a Greek port was sabotaged. Israel has not commented on the reports. The activists were escorted by a coast guard vessel back to the coast.
The Greek government's action delivered a major blow to a flotilla of nine Greek and foreign-flagged vessels and several hundred activists who had said they want to break Israel's sea blockade and deliver aid to the Palestinian territory.
The setback followed a week of administrative delays that organizers attributed to Israeli pressure on Greece, which is mired in an economic crisis and has grown closer to Israel as it seeks more foreign investment.
And thus the Greek government grovels at the feet of Israel and does its bidding.
Israel says its blockade stops weapons from reaching Hamas militants who control Gaza and had warned it would stop any attempt to circumvent its restrictions. A year ago, nine activists on a Turkish boat died in an Israeli raid on a similar flotilla, with each side accusing the other of starting the violence....
Hey, international piracy only means something when it is jailing Somali coastal defenses as justification for patrolling vital shipping lanes.
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"Greece arrests flotilla captain for leaving port" by Demetris Nellas, Associated Press / July 3, 2011
ATHENS - Greek authorities have arrested the captain of a boat that is part of a Gaza-bound flotilla trying to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory, officials said yesterday.
The 60-year-old captain, John Klusmire, was being held at Piraeus police headquarters and will remain there until a court hearing Tuesday.
“The conditions of his detention are terrible,’’ vessel spokeswoman Jane Hirschmann said. “There is no bed. He is sitting on a bench.’’
Trying to impress Israel are we?
Greece’s Coast Guard said Klusmire, captain of “The Audacity of Hope,’’ faces charges of trying to leave port without permission and of endangering the lives of the boat’s passengers. The latter charge is a felony.
The same ones who sailed into port with him?
The boat was carrying 36 passengers, four crew, and about 10 members of the media.
Related: Pressing Forward With the Freedom Flotilla
They are: Gaza Flotilla 2 will sail despite setbacks
Its attempt to sail Friday night from the port of Perama, near Athens, was thwarted by coast guard speedboats. On the same day, Greece had announced it was banning vessels heading to Gaza from leaving Greek ports.
The “Audacity of Hope’’ has been moored at a Greek naval station. Its crew of four, two British and two American citizens, was forbidden to leave the boat. The British Embassy intervened and while they were then allowed to leave the boat, the crew and the passengers chose to stay on board, Hirschmann said.
“Where is the American embassy in all this?’’ she said, adding that US authorities had not responded to passengers’ calls for assistance. The US Embassy was not immediately available for comment.
Hard to do that with its head up Israel's ass.
In Jerusalem, Israel has denied that it sabotaged ships trying to breach its sea blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Then that confirms it.
Activists have accused Israel of damaging two ships docked in Turkey and Greece that were part of a flotilla attempting to reach the Palestinian territory.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Yigal Palmor, dismissed the sabotage charges as ridiculous.
Which means they are undoubtedly true.
Selcuk Unal, a spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said authorities had determined that there was no act of sabotage on an Irish vessel in the flotilla that docked in the Turkish port of Gocek on the Aegean Sea.
Translation: The Turks are still a tool of Israel.
Israel says it imposed the blockade in 2007 to stop weapons reaching the Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza. Activists describe the blockade as a form of incarceration for the Palestinians....
Yup, it is the largest open-air prison on the face of the planet.
In a statement, the Middle East Quartet of Mideast mediators - the United States, United Nations, European Union, and Russia - said it remained concerned about the difficult conditions facing Palestinians in Gaza, but noted “a marked increase in the range and scope of goods and materials’’ entering Gaza over the last year.
Related: Gaza is Growing
Also see: NEW YORK TIMES ATTEMPTING TO MAKE GAZA LOOK LIKE PARADISE
And now the quartet has picked up the gauntlet.
It urged those wishing to deliver goods to Gaza to do so through “established channels,’’ which include Israeli and Egyptian crossings.
The Quartet “urges restraint and calls on all governments concerned to use their influence to discourage additional flotillas, which risk the safety of their participants and carry the potential for escalation,’’ the statement said.
Meaning the "world community" has COME DOWN on the SIDE OF ISRAEL YET AGAIN!
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And about that Irish boat:
"Irish boat drops out of flotilla, cites sabotage" by Menelaos Hadjicostis Associated Press / June 30, 2011
ATHENS, Greece—An Irish ship on Thursday dropped out of the pro-Palestinian flotilla planning to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, citing sabotage, and a U.S. ship declared it may set sail from a Greek port for Gaza without permission, activists said.
Up to 400 international activists had been due to sail this week to Gaza aboard 10 ships leaving from Greece to protest the naval blockade that Israel imposed on the Palestinian territory after Hamas militants overran it in 2007.
They WON ELECTIONS, damn you!
Related:
"Hamas overwhelmingly won Palestinian Parliament elections in 2006.... Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in early 2006.... In 2006, Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections.... Hamas won the last parliamentary elections in 2006.... Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006.... Hamas won a majority in 2006 elections"
So the AmeriKan media KNOWS the TRUTH but CONTINUES to DISTORT and OBFUSCATE in favor of ISRAEL, 'eh?
Btw, Hamas foiled a COUP ATTEMPT!!!! I noticed they left that out, too.
An Israeli raid on a similar flotilla last year killed nine activists on a Turkish ship and each side blamed the other for the violence.
The Irish ship MV Saoirse had to abandon plans to set sail because of what it called Israeli sabotage.
Activist Huwaida Arraf told Israel's Army Radio that the ship's engine was damaged while in port and could have lead to deaths on board.
Then Israel would have been responsible for more murders.
"When the engine was started, it completely bent," Arraf said. "While out at sea, if this would have happened, if it would have bent in this way, the boat would have started taking on water and it could have led to fatalities."
The alleged sabotage occurred at the Turkish coastal town of Gocek where the MV Saoirse has been berthed for the past few weeks, organizers said.
Earlier this week, activists said Israeli agents damaged the propeller of a Swedish ship in the Greek port.
Israel has refused AP requests for comment on the allegations....
That's where the print ends.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner -- asked to comment Thursday on the alleged sabotage -- said there was no proof it had taken place due to a lack of "independent confirmation."
Toner, speaking to reporters in Washington, said State Department opinion is "the flotillas are a bad idea," and there're other ways to get this kind of assistance to Gaza....
On Thursday, American activist Ann Wright said Greek authorities were bowing to Israeli pressure and deliberately stalling the departure of 53 passengers and crew -- including 11 journalists -- aboard a ship named the Audacity of Hope from a port near Athens.
"We're fed up with it already, we've already waited seven days. We were ready to go a week ago," Wright said....
Audacity of Hope passenger Alice Walker, author of the acclaimed novel "The Color Purple," on Thursday read to journalists letters and cards that American children are sending to Gaza residents via the ship.
That is the THREAT Israel is worried about? LETTERS to KIDS?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the flotilla at Thursday evening at a graduation ceremony for new pilots in central Israel, praising the action of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.
What more do you need?
"Sometimes we are required not only to repel physical attacks by our enemies but also repel the attacks against our right to defend ourselves. In that regard, I want to thank the many world leaders who spoke out and acted lately against the flotilla provocation," he said....
The man disgusts me so much he's not even worthy of a response.
Yeah, we know western governments has dropped to its knees and opened its mouth for you.
My nation is at the head of the line (pun intended).
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Related: DAMAGE TO IRISH BOAT WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT
Next Day Update:
"Flotilla organizers still plan for Gaza; Greece has banned sailing to the territory" by Christopher Torchia, Associated Press / July 4, 2011
ATHENS - Organizers of a Gaza-bound flotilla said yesterday they have not abandoned their plans to breach Israel’s sea blockade of the territory despite a Greek government ban on their vessels leaving the country’s ports.
The campaign experienced a major setback when Greece announced its restrictions Friday, and authorities arrested the captain of a boat carrying American activists that tried to leave Greece without permission.
However, coordinators of the flotilla were trying to maintain momentum with small protests in Athens in the face of increasing calls for them to scrap their campaign.
Maybe they could join the Greeks already in the streets.
On Saturday, the Middle East Quartet of Mideast mediators - the United States, United Nations, European Union, and Russia - urged governments to discourage Gaza-bound flotillas that could escalate tension in the region.
Translation: They all work for Israel.
Several protesters from the American vessel briefly protested outside the US Embassy before leaving.
That is the problem with AmeriKan protests.
They had originally planned to stay there overnight. They want Washington to pressure Greece to release their American captain, John Klusmire, and allow them to depart for the Gaza Strip....
The Obama administration had warned American activists against participating in the flotilla, saying they might be violating US law...
I'll take a grain of salt with that charge from a government that does it all the time.
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