Israel's Actions Were Entirely Lawful Though Probably Unwise

[BootinUp]

Alan Dershowitz
Posted: June 1, 2010 03:40 PM

Israel's Actions Were Entirely Lawful Though Probably Unwise

Although the wisdom of Israel's actions in stopping the Gaza flotilla is open to question, the legality of its actions is not. What Israel did was entirely consistent with both international and domestic law. In order to understand why Israel acted within its rights, the complex events at sea must be deconstructed.

snip

The legality of blockades as a response to acts of war is not subject to serious doubt. When the United States blockaded Cuba during the missile crisis, the State Department issued an opinion declaring the blockade to be lawful. This, despite the fact that Cuba had not engaged in any act of belligerency against the United States. Other nations have similarly enforced naval blockades to assure their own security.

snip

Third, were those on board the flotilla innocent non-combatants or did they lose that status once they agreed to engage in the military act of breaking the blockade? Let there be no mistake about the purpose of this flotilla. It was decidedly not to provide humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, but rather the break the entirely lawful Israeli military blockade. The proof lies in the fact that both Israel and Egypt offered to have all the food, medicine and other humanitarian goods sent to Gaza, if the boats agreed to land in an Israeli or Egyptian port. That humanitarian offer was soundly rejected by the leaders of the flotilla who publicly announced:

"This mission is not about delivering humanitarian supplies, it's about breaking Israel's siege on 1.5 million Palestinians." (AFP, May 27, 2010.)

more...Huffington Post

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First time I have posted in the I/P forum. Just trying to balance things out a little here, too much noise on one side imho, and the causes of the I/P conflict are certainly not one-sided.

[WeDidIt]

1. Alan Dershowitz?

Good grief.

[totodeinhere]

37. Why good grief? He is a well known liberal who supported Barack Obama.

He is not some right wing nut case.

[islandmkl]

2. it is always good, or is that 'nice', to be the writer of the rules...

legal is always a matter of interpretation(s)...ALWAYS...

however, RIGHT is pretty much set, settled, etc....

yeah, it was legal, under whoever's established 'definition'...

people tend to know right from wrong, LEGAL notwithstanding...

[LakeSamish706]

3. "the State Department issued an opinion declaring the blockade to be lawful." lol

You gotta be fucking kidding me! That seems like a very unbiased opinion indeed! :sarcasm:

[MindandSoul]

9. I agree. . and in addition. . .the state dept is only ONE of the opinion, while this

issue involves the INTERNATIONAL community, not just Israel and the U.S.!

[LakeSamish706]

4. Oh, and I think that I would side with the UN on the illegality of the Blockade in the first place.

[BootinUp]

16. Thats a valid point of contention

I think the real question is, what is the best solution to resolving the blockade. By sending ships to try and run through it / break it i.e. through violent conflict or both sides getting serious about resolving through negotiation.

[LakeSamish706]

18. I agree with both sides resolving the blockade, but in the meantime you don't kill

innocent people on the High Seas to get your point across.

[Vinnie From Indy]

19. Really?

The entire world except for Israel and the US are against thisblockade. The rest of the world have asked, pleaded, demanded and begged the Israelis to lift the blockade of Gaza for TWO FUCKING YEARS. The result? Israel has done NOTHING but continue to punish to death an entire community by turning Gaza into one of the planet's largest ghettos.

[LakeSamish706]

21. I agree with you, but the US and Egypt have had a hand in keeping this blockade in place to.

This blockade should never have lasted this long because it is illegal as the UN has stated. The US as part of the UN has stood in the way of this blockade coming down and the US is standing in the way of Israel being brought to justice over this lastest incident.

[BootinUp]

23. Of course some would argue that

the Palestinians and Hamas and their allies have a major part in making it the ghetto it is. But then we are just wasting time here.

[aranthus]

28. Can you post a link to the UN resolution that declares the blockade illegal? n/t

[LakeSamish706]

5. Oh, and the humanitarian flotilla had nothing to do with the I/P conflict. n/t

[BootinUp]

10. thats a very silly proposition. nt

[Vinnie From Indy]

6. This from a guy that is perfectly OK with torturing people

Dershowitz's opinion is worth shit.

[BootinUp]

8. This thread is not about torture

if his opinion is shit in this article, you should have no problem making a case to that effect.

[jonnyblitz]

13. you seriously need it explained to you why people are giving

you grief over using that piece of shit as a reference? holy crap. :crazy:

[BootinUp]

15. Ok, really?

I don't think the opinion in the article is that far out of the mainstream.

[EFerrari]

34. Dershowitz, in addition to being a notorious bigot, is as far to the right

as you can get without turning yourself inside out.

His argument is crap. The siege of Gaza violates Article 33 of the 4rth Geneva Convention against collective punishment. Israel has no jurisdiction -- not of the Gaza coast and not in international waters.

[Vinnie From Indy]

17. Sure, I'll explain why Dershowitz is full of shit which, by the way, is his natural condition

Alan D. offers that Israel was acting lawfully when they boarded these ships and KILLED people. Where his argument breaks down completely is the fact that these ships were in INTERNATIONAL WATERS and had not, at that point, entered into the dubiously claimed Israeli blockade zone. So, in short, the IDF boarded a ship in international waters, killed a whole mess of people and then kidnapped those not killed and are still holding many of them in Israeli jails without any contact with the outside world.

How's that?

[BootinUp]

20. I believe the article addresses that, but in my opinion

the lawfulness is not the most important question anyways. Any country that is threatened by acts of warfare, or terrorism by a neighbor will take action(s) they deem are necessary. Consider Turkey's actions during the early part of the Iraq conflict, in Northern Iraq.

No the real question is how will this be resolved with the least bloodshed, I posted this article as an example of how both sides have grievances that have lead to the violence and both sides can make various claims that their violent actions or defensive actions or whatever are justified and this blame game isn't getting us anywhere.

[EFerrari]

33. DERSHOWITZ? People post DERSHOWITZ in this forum?

Is this DU?

LOL

[IndianaGreen]

38. This is where the fascist cabal gets a free reign by hiding behind the Star of David

and yelling Holocaust and accusing others of being anti-Semites.

[IndianaGreen]

7. The torture-loving rat Alan Dershowitz

He can FRAK himself!

[Webster Green]

11. Yeah, torture is legal now too, and imprisoning people forever with no trial.

And executing citizens if you call them a terrorist first. (Note: BP protesters in the Gulf of Cheney are facing terrorism charges for scrawling messages in oil on the side of a ship).

Isn't that fucking special?

[BootinUp]

14. Its easy to make an argument when you can pick any topic

you want.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KoKo]

12. "UNWISE" for SURE......Who is running their "PR Campaign"..they need to Fire the Suckers!!

:puke:

[madrchsod]

22. alan d? ya that`s a really unbiased view of the situation ....

i used to think this guy was intelligent

[Cicada]

24. Israeli blockade illegal

when humanitarian cost disproportionate to military benefits blockade illegal

until Senator Kerry couldnt get pasta in gaza pasta was banned - is that military? the blockade is intended to torment people not protect Israel

60% kids have anemia because very little food allowed in etc

only monsters would do that to children

[BootinUp]

26. This problem will still exist to a large degree

in my opinion even if the blockade were lifted. As long as violence is seen by both sides as their only viable option.

Filippo Grandi, commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA):

“Very often journalists ask me whether I define the crisis in Gaza as humanitarian and I give this reply: It’s far beyond humanitarian. It’s much more serious,” said Grandi. “You can address a humanitarian crisis with medicines and food; this is far more serious. It’s a crisis of the economy first of all - people are very poor. It’s a crisis of the institutions and it’s a crisis of the infrastructure. This requires years to fix.”

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89169

[Webster Green]

27. It's a crisis of genocide.

That's what it is. Spin it anyway that makes you feel good, but it's fucking genocide.

Israel is a brutal, terrorist rogue nation. I'll be leaving this country if the US continues to support genocide. I will no longer pay taxes to support that.

[BootinUp]

29. Meanwhile

In contrast the West Bank economy appears to be growing since the beginning of 2009, partly due to an influx of donor assistance but also because Israel has eased movement restrictions there, and an improved security environment has led to increased investor confidence and more economic activity.

from the same article

[Webster Green]

30. I don't read that prick.

I don't go to free republic either.

[BootinUp]

31. wrong article, I meant this.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89169

enjoy your evening. I've had enough "fun".

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[grassfed]

35. Location of the Freedom Flotilla in relation to Israel’s territorial waters (map)

Murder on the high seas is legal?

[hulka38]

36. The Kent State massacre was ruled by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to have been lawful

That many people were murdered intentionally by a state is a minor thing relative to the law if you're Alan Dershowitz.

[Ignis]

39. Oh, Israel has already decided that the IDF acted appropriately.

Sure, we'll have a show "investigation" :eyes:--but why bother when we already know the outcome?

And our leaders in the US are apparently OK with this. :puke:

[FBI_Un_Sub]

40. Posted without comment

http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/1909b.htm">Declaration concerning the Laws of Naval War, 208 Consol. T.S. 338 (1909).

ICRC, San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, 12 June 1994


Evidence of the international law of naval blockades.