Israel's collapsing case regarding the aid flotilla

So it turns out that 30 shots were found in the nine victims of the Israeli assault on the flotilla trying to deliver goods to Gaza. Israel has claimed that they were acting in self-defense. This is absurd. They attacked a ship that was in international waters. The accounts of folks who were on the boat are coming in and they indicate that the initial violence came from Israel. From multiple accounts it seems that the Israelis timed the assault to coincide with morning prayers and that they first unleashed sound bombs and tear gas. They tried to board the boat from the side and found the humanitarian aid workers not particularly accommodating. That was why they then tried land via helicopter from above.

Another interesting tidbit not reflecting well on Israel is the claim that the footage that has been replaying repeatedly on American TV is pirated. It is allegedly footage confiscated from journalists who were held incommunicado by Israel after being brought to the Israeli port of Ashdod. This is not of such great concern as the blatant disregard for laws and international norms which Israel has flouted via this attack, but it's another instance reflective of the Israeli disregard for any law or norm they don't want to respect.

Israeli commandos kill up to 19 aid workers

Israel has killed as many as 19 humanitarian aid workers attempting to deliver food to Gaza by boat. The flotilla of boats was boarded by Israeli commandos although the reason for the murders of the aid workers is unknown at this point. Some of the members of the group Free Gaza have asserted that the flotilla was attacked in international waters. Israel has claimed that the waters off the Gaza coast are "Israeli territorial waters" but they actually have no legal claim to the Gaza coast, having been in contravention of international law on Israeli/Palestinian borders since 1967.

Israeli settlers taking over Palestinian homes

This video is heartbreaking, but maddening at the same time. That the US continues to play possum regarding Israel, and fund Israel when Israel is a strategic liability for the US, is an embarrassment to the United States. Unfortunately, most Americans are so ill-informed about events in Palestine and Israel that they will not be fully aware of the scale of humanitarian catastrophe which continues to persist in the West Bank, until another particularly audacious Israeli land grab occurs again, as it did in '08 and '06 most recently.

Meantime, these sorts of steady, grinding thefts of Palestinian property will continue, until the US tells Israel that its ongoing financial sponsorship is contingent on Israel evidencing some sort of regard for Palestinian human rights.