Spain ‘issues arrest warrant’ for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over 2010 Gaza flotilla

[Turborama]

Source: The Independent

Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith | 2 hours ago

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and seven other former and current government officials are at risk of arrest if they set foot in Spain, after a Spanish judge effectively issued an arrest warrant for the group, it has been reported.

According to the Latin American Herald Tribune, Spanish national court judge Jose de la Mata ordered the police and civil guard to notify him if Mr Netanyahu and the six other individuals enter the country, as their actions could see a case against them regarding the Freedom Flotilla attack of 2010 reopened.

The other men named in the issue are former defence minister Ehud Barak, former foreign minister Avigdor Leiberman, former minister of strategic affairs Moshe Yaalon, former interior minister Eli Yishai, minister without portfolio Benny Begin and vice admiral maron Eliezer, who was in charge of the operation.

The case – which was put on hold by Judge de la Mata last year – was brought against the men following an attack by Israeli security forces against the Freedom Flotilla aid ships in 2010, which was trying to reach Gaza.

It concerns the Mavi Marmara ship, the main civilian vessel in a fleet of six that were attempting to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. The six ships were carrying around 500 passengers, humanitarian aid and construction materials. The Israeli Defence Force stormed the ship in a raid that left nine human rights activists dead. A tenth activist died later that month due to wounds sustained in the raid.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/spain-issues-arrest-warrant-for-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-over-2010-gaza-flotilla-a6736436.html

[Faux pas]

1. K N R

[zazen]

2. I wish they'd add Cheney and company to that list n/t

[SoapBox]

6. Ditto that...

And pick up a few Banksters that brought down the world economy.

My...the list could get long.

[Duckfan]

3. Good to see the rest of the world see's this guy is a war monger

And one who could give a rats ass about human rights.

Oh no..Here it comes: We're all anti-Semitic!

[emsimon33]

4. Good. Netanyahu & his gang are truning world opinion against Israel

Soon they will be regarded as the terrorist state that they are by the whole world and they will stand alone with such countries as North Korea.

[EX500rider]

5. Were any Spanish citizens killed or hurt in the raid?

If not, hard to see how they have any jurisdiction.

And somehow I doubt all the ministers names in the warrant had anything to do with the Israeli Shayetet 13 naval commandos switching from non-lethal weapons to their sidearms after they were attacked.

[Iggo]

8. Oh, those poor commandos. They must've been so scared.

[EX500rider]

10. Since 10 of them were wounded even with full body armor and helmets....

....I would guess yes, it was scary being attacked..... "the Israeli Navy faced resistance from about 40 of the 590 passengers, including IHH activists – described in an Israeli report as a separate "hardcore group" – who were said to be armed with iron bars and knives."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_flotilla_raid

[Unknown Beatle]

11. The Israelis raided the flotilla,

the passengers of said flotilla were defending themselves from the brutal assault.

Do you really think the Israelis went on board with flowers and beads? No, they went in with the equivalent of the Navy Seals with killing in their minds.

Ohhh, ten were wounded even with full body armor and helmets. They were actually wounded? Wow! On the other side ten were actually killed.

Don't let Israeli propaganda fool you, the intent was not to let the flotilla through by using aggression leading to deaths. It's sends a message to others not to send aid to Palestinians. Why do you think Spain charged them with crimes.

[EX500rider]

12. There were 6 ships....no one got hurt on the other ones..

.....because no one attacked the commandos. Or threw them off the upper deck...(as seen in the vid of the incident)

[Unknown Beatle]

13. Why do you think Israeli commandos were storming the ships?

They weren't there to welcome them, that's for sure.

Israel has a way with trying to spin situations to their advantage. They storm a flotilla and to get the world behind them, all of a sudden they have videos to prove they're innocent. Just as they did when they murdered countless Palestinians in their attack last year, spin it and hope the world will see it through their eyes.

[EX500rider]

14. They were boarding the ships because they were breaking a blockade.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a parallel probe in August 2010 by a four-member panel headed by Geoffrey Palmer. The Palmer report was published on 2 September 2011 after being delayed, reportedly to allow Israel and Turkey to continue reconciliation talks. The report found that the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza was legal, and that there were "serious questions about the conduct, true nature and objectives of the flotilla organizers, particularly IHH"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_flotilla_raid

[Unknown Beatle]

15. No amount of excuses, legal or illegal, will make up

for the fact that the Israeli forces acted recklessly without regard for human life. Legal or not, why was Israel trying to block ships from delivering aid to a people that have seen atrocity after atrocity inflicted on them by any means possible.

That's like starting a forest fire in a densely populated area and then blocking people from delivering aid to the afflicted. There's no excuse for such behavior.

[EX500rider]

20. "the Israeli forces acted recklessly without regard for human life"

Really? Lets see what they went through before switching to guns:

Three Israeli commandos were captured. The first captured soldier, the commanding officer of the assault team, was abseiling from the helicopter when he was attacked by ten men before his feet hit the deck. He was beaten across his body and head, then picked up and thrown to the lower deck, where he was attacked by a dozen activists. They beat and choked him, removed his bulletproof vest and sidearm and smashed his helmet, and shoved him into a passenger hall below deck. The second soldier was surrounded by a team of fifteen to twenty activists in two groups. One group attacked him when he landed on the ship's roof. He fired one shot at an activist holding a knife before being subdued. The activists seized his gun and beat him as he attempted to fight them off with his back to the hull. He was picked up by his arms and legs, and thrown over the hull. He attempted to hang on to the hull with both hands, but was forced to let go when activists beat his hands and pulled him down by his legs. He was then surrounded by another group of activists, stabbed in the stomach and dragged into a lounge while being beaten. A third soldier who was lowered onto the deck saw an activist waiting to attack him with an iron crowbar. After shoving him away, he was attacked by four more activists, one of whom wrapped a chain around his neck and choked him until he lost consciousness. He was then thrown onto the bridge deck, where he was attacked by about twenty activists, who beat him, cut away his equipment, and dragged him into the lounge.The three soldiers were severely wounded and bleeding heavily. Two of the soldiers had their hands tied, and a third was unconscious and went into convulsions

Yeah most soldiers would have switch away from paintball guns WAY before that.

The IDF identified a group of some 50 men who were responsible for attacking IDF soldiers. The members of this group were not carrying identity cards or passports, but each carried an envelope with some $10,000 in cash. The Israeli defense establishment suspected that the funding may have come from elements in the Turkish government. One member of the group, who was identified as its ringleader, travelled to Bursa to recruit members. The members were stationed in groups throughout the ship, mostly on the upper deck, and communicated with each other via walkie-talkies. The members were well-trained and equipped with gas masks and bulletproof vests.


"why was Israel trying to block ships from delivering aid to a people..."

Israel proposed inspecting the cargo at the Port of Ashdod and then delivering non-blockaded goods through land crossings, but this proposal was turned down.
Israel, like Egypt knows better then to let Hama's bring in uninspected cargo, it cuts down on the size and amount of rockets and bombs fired at them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_flotilla_raid

[itcfish]

22. A Spaniard must have been hurt

or else no judge would issue this warrant. Just like what happened with Pinochet. Spaniards were killed.

[EX500rider]

25. "...nine activists were killed including eight Turkish nationals and one Turkish American"

The raid resulted in the deaths of ten activists. Nine were killed during the raid: Cengiz Akyüz (42), Ali Haydar Bengi (39), İbrahim Bilgen (61), Furkan Doğan (18), Cevdet Kılıçlar (38), Cengiz Songür (47), Çetin Topçuoğlu (54), Fahri Yaldız (43), and Necdet Yıldırım (32). The tenth to die, Ugur Süleyman Söylemez, (51), died 23 May 2014, in hospital, after having been in a coma for four years. All of the dead were members of, or volunteers for the İHH.

A BBC documentary concluded that Israeli forces had faced a violent premeditated attack by a group of hardcore IHH activists, who intended to orchestrate a political act to put pressure on Israel.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_flotilla_raid

[Ghost Dog]

26. It appears that the charges under consideration could include

illegal detention and deportation, torture, and crimes against persons and goods protected in the case of armed conflict, involving Spanish citizens. (I translate from: http://www.publico.es/internacional/audiencia-ordena-policia-le-avise.html )

[FarrenH]

27. Spain has encoded several obligations under international law

into domestic law, in the manner required for various states to ratify their membership of the relevant treaties. In Spains legal system, for reasons I've forgotten, this makes it very easy for local officials and/or ordinary citizens (as I said, can't remember all the details) to prosecute even foreign leaders, regardless of conflict with whatever diplomatic aims of the government exist. IIRC, Bush, Chency and Rumsfeld have been similarly threatened by the actions of Spanish prosecutors.

[EX500rider]

28. Seems either politically or anti-Israeli motivated...

......if not, where are the charges against the much more terrible things that have gone on in North Korea, the Congo, Egypt, the Ukraine, Syria, etc...

[blackspade]

7. Thanks for the reminder of this murderous raid.

These assholes know no shame.

[Jesus Malverde]

17. Israel has an unusual extradition policy.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/extraditionpol.html

[FLPanhandle]

16. No EU government would allow the arrest of Netanyahu

This is for show. Netanyahu could book a hotel across from the judges house and nothing.

There is no valid jurisdiction.

[Jesus Malverde]

18. Tell that to Pinochet.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indictment_and_arrest_of_Augusto_Pinochet

[FLPanhandle]

19. Was Pinochet currently a head of state?

Nope.

[Ghost Dog]

21. In Spain, the executive branch of government has no power

over the judicial branch. As should be the case in a proper democracy.

[itcfish]

23. In Spain the Executive Branch

can replace judges at whim. Just look at what happened with Baltazar Garzón. When a judge tries to issue warrants against the rightwing crooks, he/she is replaced by one of their party. Very bad system. That has to be changed in their Constitution.

[Ghost Dog]

24. No. That was a (bad) decision taken by the judicial branch.

The Supreme Court.

[itcfish]

29. Supreme Court Justices

are selected more or less like the US, but "federal" judges are taken off political cases at whim:

http://hayderecho.com/2011/02/28/por-que-no-hay-en-espana-una-justicia-eficaz-ii-la-necesaria-despolitizacion-del-cgpj/

1. Caso Punica
2. Caso Güertel
3. Caso Bárcenas

and so many many more.

[Ghost Dog]

30. Yes, there is political interference, and plenty of corruption,

unfortunately.

Nevertheless, the government can not formally instruct investigating magistrates (prosecutors) and judges as to what they may or may not judicially undertake.

Edit to add: How come we are told that it has been President Obama (executive branch) who has made the decision not to investigate or prosecute (judicial branch) the apparent crimes of the Shrub administration?