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1. 20000? Yeah right. Are there even 20000 usual suspects in Britain?
2. Not a "massacre" but a battle between the IDF and armed Islamic radicals, bent on (and granted) "martyrdom".
3. To end the blockade, FREE GILAD SHALIT.

"reality check" you're fighting a losing battle. you're going the way of apartheid south africa. history will remember the zionist state like it remembers hitler's Germany. the tide of humanity is against you.

1. No idea. But I wouldn't be surprised.

2. Aw, come on. That's practically a straw man argument. If you're still believing the Israeli propaganda about the boats being full of terrorists (it must be true - there's a photo of a guy with a beard and a knife!) then nothing much is going to persuade you. But here, for the benefit of people who are not blinkered trolls / closet Zionists, are a few holes in your argument -
a. Many of the activists were veteran peace protesters who are not exactly known for their commitment to Jihad.
b. Virtually all belonged to undeniably positive non-violent groups.
c. There's no serious debate about the chronology. The IDF commandos abseiled onto the boat and began firing (if they hadn't begun before landing). They shot indiscriminately and with fatal intent. The tired lie that they were shooting for limbs to protect themselves doesn't cover the evidence of execution-style wounds.
d. Find me one bit of evidence of aggression from the boats. They were attacked in international waters; piracy and an act of war against Turkey.
e. The Israeli story changes so quickly I can hardly keep up with it.
f. To blame the whole shabang on Islamic fundamentalism is nothing but a boring propagandist blood libel. The Israeli's didn't attack because they were Jews and the Turkish didn't attack because they were Muslims. Religion had very little to do with the whole event. It was an arbitrary and brutal show of force by Israel to try and paper over the cracks that are rapidly spreading in their so-called settlement plans for Gaza.

3. The man should be released. But that's not capable of putting an end to the crisis; it would only be a result of it. Just pay attention to the language of newspaper articles - Palestinians 'kidnap', Israelis 'arrest'. If they release him, he'll be a poster boy for Israeli hard-line progress, freed from kidnap. Gaza will still be kept as a ghetto. Considering how nasty Hamas are, they've made reasonable progress towards seeking a solution, but Israel won't have any of it, and I don't think releasing one man will make any difference.



C.