Israel Does it Again

How many more times will the Israelis get away with attacking ships in international waters and killing their occupants? They did it in 1967 with a US Navy ship, killing 34 crew members. Their excuse was that it was a terrible error, but they attacked with airplanes and torpedo boats without first identifying the ship.

Once again the Israelis have attacked in international waters, killing at least 10 people. They say their boarders were attacked and that they retaliated. One would naturally expect anyone in international waters to defend themselves, when they are attacked. These people, who were on a relief mission to Palestinian Gaza, apparently attempted to repel the boarders with sticks and, possibly, pistols taken from the Israeli commandos. At any rate the Israelis have taken the boats and their occupants into custody and one can bet their side of the story will not be heard for some time.

In the case of the attack on the US ship, Liberty, both countries said it was a terrible mistake, and the Israelis paid millions to the US and the families of those killed and wounded. The case was closed, without even a Congressional investigation, so strong was the Israeli lobby in this country. In the current case, given the atrocities that Israeli soldiers have said happened in the latest Israeli attack on the Palestinians, I do not think that Israel is going to get off quite so easily in the court of world opinion.

Already, Netanyahu has canceled his U.S. visit this week and returned to Israel. Turkey, Israel's strong Arab ally, has condemned the attack and recalled its ambassador. I do not expect a strong show of support from the U.S. This country cannot continue to condone these acts of piracy in international waters by the Israeli government. It is high time that this country took a stand against the haughty actions by Israel that continue to take the Middle East farther and farther away from any chance of peace. As long as the U.S. continues to support Israel's rogue actions, the chance of our freedom from Arab terrorist attacks wanes even more.