[geeks] Yes, paintball guns

[Patrick Giagnocavo]

gsm at mendelson.com wrote:
> Here is some footage from Fox (with some IDF footage spliced in)
> showing the peaceful protestors attacking the soldiers with chains,
> pipes and firebombs.

I hesitate to get into political discussions, and am not blaming Israel...

but now supposedly Turkey is going to use military ships to escort
another ship or ships?

I am unable to find a good source and reliable interpretation of
maritime law concerning blockades (don't trust Wikipedia on something
like this) and actions that occur in international waters; so I am not
able to have a good opinion on whether or not Israel's actions were
"lawful" or not.

Stopping and boarding the boat in international waters was a true
miscalculation, especially when the boat was flying under Turkey's flag;
just following the boat until it was inside Israel's waters, then
boarding it, would have made it an internal matter.

If it had been Panama registered, it would not have mattered.

For all we know, this may have been a deliberate provocation--I don't
feel I know enough to have an accurate viewpoint.

The guy in the Israeli Coast Guard (or whatever part of the IDF it is
called) who decided to do this, is probably in the hot seat at this point.

Cordially

Patrick