Freedom Flotilla

[Badh]

Thought this might be worth its own thread. The freedom flotilla The Madleen was getting close to Gaza but seems to have made a diversion, as it was the closest boat to answer a distress call. They seem to also have four Sudanese asylum seekers on board who were trying to escape the Libyan coast patrol.

The UK and France are asking Israel for its safe passage.

The tracker is here but is in and out of action.
https://freedomflotilla.org/ffc-tracker/

More details here, although the latest detour is not covered in the article.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-navy-gears-up-to-block-high-profile-protest-ship-headed-for-gaza/amp/

It’s the small red ensign beneath the huge Palestine flag at the rear of the boat. Easy to miss.
I’m guessing the Israeli navy will either disable the propeller and tow it into port, or board it and captain it to port.
In any case, it won’t be allowed to land in Gaza.

Yes. It is.

Agree 100%

WTAF!

You think attending the funeral of a renowned terrorist responsible for the deaths of thousands is a ‘misjudged choice’.

Yeah, I think someone who would attend the funeral and celebration of the life of a man like this sympathises with their cause (and a proscribed terrorist group) and is a bad person.

There’s deflection and there’s raving delusion!

That’s my point.

It wasn’t being flown.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0r1xl5wgnko

For the second time you decline to answer whether you trust everything Hamas say so I will conclude that you do.

Which makes your bias stronger than mine as while I side with Israel, I can acknowledge that lies have been told by the IDF. Lies have also been told by Hamas whether you choose to admit it or not.

I think Jeremy Bowens lacks neutrality so that detracts from his reports, despite him being an experienced war reporter as you say.

I agree with @NotABottie and while I think a genocide is absolutely happening and Israel are committing war crimes, I also think Tadgh Hickey is a raving anti-Semite who has completely lost his marbles over this war.

Why do you keep denying this @NotABottie
It was being flown from the very beginning and clearly visible in the news

‘There’s none so blind as those who will not see’

I also can acknowledge that governments lie. Look at our own democratic country’s involvement in the Iraq war.

We have posters on here calling the entire IDF forces (predominantly young Jewish men and women of course), ‘evil monsters who enjoy killing babies, an evil, fascist entity’ etc, which does indicate some bias.

If Israel had invaded Gaza without Oct 7th having taken place, with the level of atrocities, hostage taking etc, in frenzied live streamed glee with absolutely no attempt to hide it, the immediate global calls for ‘ceasefire’ but no surrender of Hamas and protest marches chanting ‘From the River to the Sea’, I might have ignored the decades of terrorist attacks and the Hamas charter as irrelevant history and been on the other side.

@NotABottie I have seen interviews with British medics in Gaza who have claimed incidents were down to the Israelis which were, subsequently, proved to be Hamas. I don't doubt they believed what they said but they only have the information they are given which is likely to come from the Gazan authorities/Hamas. One was the shelling of a hospital some time back which the, supposedly impartial, authorities declared to be an Israeli attack, later proven by verified satellite imagery to be a misfired Hamas rocket. The other was more recent when a medic claimed on C4 news that large numbers of gunfire casualties were caused by IDF shooting at aid queues, later shown to be black-clad, masked gunmen and in a different location.

My biggest concern here, given how easily Hamas seem to be able to convince people that they are blameless and all evil is Israeli, while they continue to sacrifice their own people, is that Hamas will attack the flotilla and pass the blame elsewhere

Have you got a picture with it actually flying rather than being folded up in a corner?

I’ve posted two on here already. !

You are wrong, it happens.

Hickey isn’t on the Freedom Flotilla

This is the Red British Ensign.

Quite. You’d have thought that people might have a tiny concern that Hamas might be a safety risk considering their track record of not protecting their own civilians and using them as human shields, publicly stating they want as many of them to die as possible and they have no responsibility to them. prolonging this war that they can’t win militarily to ensure as much carnage as possible for SM clips while refusing to give back hostages etc, and even killing them themselves. but it seems most think Hamas are of no concern at all.

Very odd.

They’re also relying on an ‘evil, fascist, genocidal, baby killing, child starving government who indiscriminately target civilians’ to protect the boat.

Which is even odder.

I completely get why this is such a strong emotional issue, and I don’t blame anyone for reacting with horror to anything that seems like it might signal support for a terrorist group especially one with such a violent history.

Just to clarify, I don’t support Hezbollah, and I wasn’t trying to excuse or downplay the gravity of their actions or of Nasrallah’s legacy. My point was more about trying to understand what might have motivated someone like Hickey, who has consistently spoken out about justice, to be there. I’m not saying it was wise or right far from it but I do think it’s possible for people to make seriously flawed decisions without them necessarily aligning with every aspect of what an event represents.

He may well have believed he was attending in solidarity with Palestinians rather than in support of Hezbollah, and I suspect he underestimated (or misunderstood) how it would be perceived. That doesn’t make it OK but it might not mean he’s a “bad person” in the all-encompassing sense either.

History is also complicated. Plenty of people who were once labelled as terrorists have later become respected political leaders Menachem Begin and Nelson Mandela are two clear examples. That doesn’t mean all violent movements are equivalent or excusable, but it does suggest that not everything is as black and white as it might first appear.

I totally respect that others will see it differently, and I appreciate you taking the time to respond even if we land in very different places on this.

Any way we deflect back to the topic under dicussion.

They are carrying aid and raising awareness that the Israeli Government are not allowing enough aid in to Gaza and for many months and days non at all.
They are raising awareness that the Israeli Government are starving a population

Hamas wont attack,
Any suggestion of this is clearly waiting for Israel to claim they have….Which of course wouldn’t be a surprise at all.

It will be stopped well before it gets to Gaza but if theoretcially it did what would there be to stop Israel's proxy mafia getting one in with plausible deniability. After all they seem to be guns for hire.

I agree.

However, It would be political suicide to attack even if they lie about it.
I’m Wondering if they’ll be made to dock in Israel.

Why?

Because Hamas are to be believed and Israel aren’t?

The fact is this: whatever happens, Israel will be blamed. If Hamas attack them, they’ll lie about it and convince everyone it was the IDF. If Israel intervene to keep them safe, they’ll be blamed for not allowing aid into Gaza.

An update