Israel sets up inquiry into deadly Gaza flotilla raid

[Cdude]

Een Canadees en een Ier.
Ben eens benieuwd hoe ze dat gaan aanpakken en hoe lang het gaat duren.

Israel has announced an internal inquiry into its deadly raid last month on a convoy of Gaza-bound aid ships.

Israel earlier rejected a UN proposal for an international probe, but has now agreed to include two foreign observers in its own inquiry.
The "independent public commission" proposal would be voted on by the cabinet, said a government statement.
Nine Turkish activists were killed when Israeli commandos stormed the ships in international waters on 31 May.

ISRAEL'S FLOTILLA INQUIRY

-Three-man panel
-Headed by ex-Supreme Court judge Yaakov Tirkel
-Two foreign observers: David Trimble and Ken Watkin
-Will consider how nine Turkish activists died after their ship was boarded by Israeli commandos
-Will also adjudge whether Israel's naval blockade of Gaza is allowed under international law

Reacting to the Israeli announcement, Washington described it as "an important step forward".
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: "We expect Israel's commission and military investigation will be carried out promptly.

"We also expect that, upon completion, its findings will be presented publicly and will be presented to the international community."http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/10305902.stm

[ministe van agitatie]

Een Canadees en een Ier.
Ben eens benieuwd hoe ze dat gaan aanpakken en hoe lang het gaat duren.


Over de Canadees:

Ken Watkin was implicated in the Canadian Afghan detainee issue, in which several detainees arrested by the Canadian Forces went missing or were tortured following their transfer to the Afghan National Police and National Directorate of Security.

Mr. Watkin refused to answer questions when called to testify in Canada's House of Commons about whether he was directed to authorize the transfers or had knowledge of Canadian diplomatic reports of torture, and claimed that solicitor-client privilege owed to the Government of Canada prevented him answering the House's questions.


Over de Ier:

In 1974 he acted as legal adviser to the Ulster Workers' Council during the paramilitary-controlled Ulster Workers' Strike, during which loyalist paramilitaries intimidated thousands of utility workers.

his role in the Drumcree conflict, in which he led a controversial Orange Order march, amidst Nationalist protest

On 17 April 2007, Trimble announced he had decided to join the Conservative Party

[ministe van agitatie]

Nog een interessant weetje over de Ier:

David Trimble vervoegde onlangs de organisatie “Friends of Israel“. Deze organisatie stelt dat Israel een soevereine en verantwoordelijke staat is die onterecht beschuldig wordt; en vindt dat men zich moet concentreren op Iran.

[Tamam]

Wat een grap..

[roodhaar]

tja, als je zoveel misdaden te verbergen hebt als de israelieten moet je wel liegen,hun ganse terreurstaat is erop gebaseerd.

wel benieuwd of deze achtergrond van deze "figuren" ook aan bod zal komen in de media als israel zijn *onderzoek:roll:* zal voeren...

[ministe van agitatie]

The three-man panel will be led by former Israeli Supreme Court judge Yaakov Tirkel. The other members are Amos Horev, a retired major-general in the Israeli military and a former president of the Israel Institute of Technology, and Shabtai Rosen, a 93-year-old professor of international law.

Ziet er een bijzonder straf panel uit. Waarschijnlijk heel dynamische mensen die goed hun mannetje kunnen staan en kunnen optornen tegen alle soorten van druk.

Het panel zal overigens niets onderzoeken behalve de vraag of Israël volgens internationaal recht gelegitimeerd was om het schip te kapen. Over de bevelvoering, de strategie, de uitgangspunten, de bedoeling van het IDF en de staat Israël zal met geen woord gerept worden.

Een analyse van de BBC:

An experienced politician like Benjamin Netanyahu knows that getting the outcome you want from a public inquiry is all about the right terms of reference and who you appoint to sit on the inquiry.

So, the commissions' remit does not include looking at the process of government decision making which led to Israeli commando raid. It will instead focus on questions of international law.

And the two foreign observers who have been appointed are seen as friends of Israel.

Turkey - and others critical of Israel - want a fully independent UN commission of inquiry. This demand has now been deflected with the appointment of credible (but not unfriendly) international figures as non-voting observers.

Whatever happens in the commission of inquiry, Israel is under immense pressure - from allies as well as enemies - to lift the Gaza blockade.

En het Haaretz Editorial over de commissie is al even veelzeggend:

The government's efforts to avoid a thorough and credible investigation of the flotilla affair seem more and more like a farce. The conclusions of an ostensible probe are intended to justify retroactively the decision to blockade Gaza, to forcibly stop the Turkish aid flotilla in international waters and to use deadly force on the deck of the Mavi Marmara.

To make the costume seem credible, the Prime Minister's Bureau asked a retired Supreme Court justice, Yaakov Tirkel, to chair the committee. Alongside him will sit foreign observers in order to legitimize the conclusions in international public opinion. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even pledged to testify before the committee, together with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, other ministers and the chief of staff, so "the truth will come out."

The truth that Netanyahu wishes to bring out involves the identity of the flotilla's organizers, its sources of funding and the knives and rods that were brought aboard. He does not intend to probe the decision-making process that preceded the takeover of the ship and the shortcomings that were uncovered. As far as Netanyahu is concerned, it will be enough for television channels to broadcast footage of dark-suited jurists, and politicians addressing them, to present the semblance of an "examination."

But Netanyahu's panel will have no powers, not even those of a government probe, and its proposed chairman does not believe in such a panel. In an interview to Army Radio, Tirkel said there is no choice but to establish a state committee of inquiry. He opposed bringing in foreign observers and made clear that he is not a devotee of drawing conclusions about individuals and dismissing those responsible for failures. When a Haaretz reporter confronted Tirkel about these remarks, the former justice evaded the question saying, "I don't remember what I said."