Israel/Palestine Thread

You may not like them, but that's irrelevant surely. Why should they be stopped sailing to Gaza, which is engaged in a cease-fire? The USA has a ceasefire with Iran, should a third country intervene and stop people going to America?

It's a very good point - according to the regime and its supporters, there is a ceasefire and no fighting in Gaza. What would be the issue with a flotilla of civilian craft landing there briefly and leaving again a day or two later? What international law would be broken?

Oh, so there is a ceasefire? When people pointed that out previously, you had the responses that there is no ceasefire really, as people were still dying…..so there is a ceasefire…brilliant, maybe let's let Israel and Gazans work together with OUR encouragement and assistance, IF ASKED FOR. When it was pointed out (FAI ISRAEL thread) weeks and weeks ago that there was a ceasefire in place, you had posters jumping in to disagree. A ceasefire wasn't good enough for them, as it meant they couldn't attack the FAI/Ireland for playing soccer games against Israel

Maybe I missed it, but I didn't ever hear Gazans asking people from Ireland and other Euro countries to start saling to them to save them.

Maybe it's just a bunch of self-righteous one sided do-gooders causing more problems than sorting things? Maybe we are missing a real chance to assist Gazans and Israelis of a more peaceful existence, because instead of trying to be so ridiculously one-sided here, we coud be much more balanced and cooperative.

Ceasefire in place! It is now time to work with both sides to find a peaceful solution, not the antagonizing insincere antics of the flotilla selfies

There is a ceasefire in place….so let Isarel and Gazans work together now to try bring about a peace. No need for these selfie flotillas to be sticking their oars in under the guise of we want to help Gazans.

Yes, they should not be allowed sail into a conflict zone between two peoples (ceasefire in place or not). Truth the matter is that Israel intercepting these troublemakers is likely a lot more beneficial to Gazans than to allow them free passage into Gaza (which they really don't want anyway, and nor do the Gazans).

So, that is my tuppence on this conflict/war/hostilities between Israel and Gaza. Lot damage has been done, and now and recently a lot less damage has been done, which has to be seen as a positive. Instead of this incessant ramping up of Israel bad bad bad, maybe let's try work a little more evenly and to promote both sides to bring about a peace! That is where the real sincerity of people can be seen, not the fake type that these flotilla crew are all about!

Now I think your're deliberately not undersatnding….yes, a ceasefire, but far from actaul peace. Still lot lot tensions and hate and anger etc between people who have been killing each other for years and year; so don't be all "there's a ceasefire, all is hunky dory."

And you're advocating that Israel and Gazanas just allow foreign peoples waltz in on boats with their few packets a biscuits and cartons milk, pretending they want to help everyone? You don't see that in a conflict zone (with a ceasefire in place) that this may not be a good idea? I really thin you do believe that this is not a good idea, but cannot actually say it, because oh my god, wouldn't that be seen as being on Israel's side here, when it really should not be seen like this. It should be seen as bloody good common sense from a person who is more concerned with wanting both sides to progress their peace……

And it is THEIR peace at stake, not the peace of Europeans on selfie crusade that are 100 percent only interested in painting one side (Israel) in the baddest light they can

And, the difference between me and you, and plenty others is that I don't want anyone on ANY side…..it should be about bringing sides together.

So you think during a ceasefire in a conflict zone where 1000s have already died, and where fragility is clearly there, that a free for all flotilla crusade should be able to sail in unchallenged to go about their business? No consideration that the security of both Israel and Gaza could be compromised. Israel are 100 percent right to intercept. And flotillas knew they’d be intercepted. Nothing to do with simple English. Israel are spot on here.

Whatever you feel about the motivations or whether you come down on the side of Israel or Palestine in this war, no navy has any business stopping a ship in international waters and arresting the crew with zero justification. Israel are far from being "spot on" with their actions here

The Choctaw Nation were a Native American tribe that are still commemorated in Middleton. They raised $170 and sent it to the Irish people, to aid with their famine-relief. On the grand scheme of the horrific humanitarian crisis, what is €5,000-6,000, in today’s money. It hardly saved many starving people. Yet to this day, it means the world to Irish people. It is about solidarity and showing the suffering individuals that we do care. The flotilla may not undo the awful humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. But at least their people can see that people in the West do care. And that is a worthy gesture. Also, there is the added benefit of the political spotlight shining on the poor treatment of the activists by BG and others

Walshb, you are the kind of person who watches Titanic and denounces Kate for throwing away the Heart of the Ocean, missing the point completely. Symbolic gestures do manner and they go far beyond the act itself.

it’s for their safety and the safety of Israelis. What if they were to kick off and attack? You want to see them shot? Remember, these people didn’t sail there as friends or peacemakers. They sailed there as hostile to Israel and Israelis. They know that and Israel knew that. So absolutely spot on that first they were detained, and secondly restrained. Because only an absolute fool would not restrain people who did not come as your friend.

Oh, and if shoe on other foot and they were sailing there as friends of Israel, and Hamas terrorists intercepted them, it wouldn’t be as easy as cable ties

A savage viscious regime

https://greatreporter.com/2026/05/25/itvs-stark-gaza-report-breaks-from-typical-uk-mainstream-coverage-disgraces-israel-over-inhumanity/

“In many cases there are no personal effects found on the body,” Mushumba said. “The body is decomposed to the extent that we cannot do visual identification.”

“The remains are buried as unidentified,” he added, “but ensuring that they have a unique code where the person is buried to ensure traceability.”

The report then shifted to families who know where their relatives are buried but cannot reach them because of destroyed infrastructure and lack of machinery.

“Other families know where their dead are,” Younger said. “They just can’t reach them.”

Ayad Abu Jared, who leads a civil defense recovery team in Gaza, explained the impossible conditions facing rescuers.

“He says he gets more than ten calls a day from bereaved families begging for his help,” Younger reported. “But the job is impossible.”

“The civil defense team doesn’t have a single excavator,” Abu Jared said. “We depend on the Red Cross to give us a few hours with theirs so that we can recover bodies.”

If you truly believe that (and I cannot believe that you do), then take a little inspiration from Nietzsche: “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”

As for the efficacy of their strategy, this campaign, if anything, encourages further flotillas to make the journey.

The flotilla was a deeply symbolic and successful gesture. Not everything is defined by the final outcome (ie whether they reached Gaza). Fair play to these people for trying

Imagine what they would say about 1916. I remember my history teacher saying that people think of Easter Sunday as some big spectacle, in front of the thronging crowds. The reality was it was seven random lads (hero-lads) standing up with a piece of paper outside the GPO (Bunreacht na hEireann). On the face of it, Easter 1916 to the Walshbs of 1916 would have seemed like a self-serving publicity stunt. But the subsequent slaughter of the 7 signatories, our forefathers led to the foundation of the Irish State. How incredibly lucky we are that they made that symbolic gesture on Easter Sunday 1916 and paid their lives for the price of our freedom. A war is not won by a single battle. Nor is a war simply won on the battlefield. The public sentiment turning led for Ireland to fight harder for our independence. Symbolism does matter