Is this some kind of joke?!

75, 86 and 93 are the ages of the three wise men that Israel has appointed to probe their wanton act of piracy in international waters. To mollify the US, two relatively youthful international observers of 65 and 55 have been appointed to observe the farce, but as Bibi points out, they may as well not be there at all given they would not be able "to vote in relation to the proceedings and conclusions of the commission".  What's more when you read this, it does make you wonder why the international observers should even bother to show up.

Turkey should lobby the UN Security council to hold an inquiry that coincides with the Israeli one, especially since the Israeli one will whitewash the criminal acts of the members of the Israeli navy into the usual national security bullshit they peddle out all the flippin' time!!

The idea of cultural, economic and sporting boycott gains credence with each passing day after all if they don't want to engage with the international community, why should the international community engage with them?!

It's time for a cultural, economic and sporting boycott

In 1968, the UN General Assembly proposed ending all cultural, economic and sporting connections with South Africa's apartheid government, but because of South Africa's strategic importance to the west given the fact that South Africa had the world's largest resources of uranium, a key ingredient in the manufacture of nuclear weapons, and it was the height of the Cold War, economic sanctions against South Africa were not implemented until the late 1980s - there's a long list of western companies who put profit before morals and continued to trade with the ostracised regime.

South Africa's state sanctioned policy of separate development aka apartheid is no different to Israel's modern day treatment of the Palestinians. The ritual humiliations meted out to the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories is on par with the debasement experienced by black/coloured South Africans under apartheid. The Occupied Territories are the modern day equivalent of the Bantustans. The apartheid South African government was dismissive of international condemnation of its policies just as Israel is dismissive of any international criticism concerning the collective punishment of the citizens of Gaza - what Israel is subjecting the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to is reminiscent of the treatment meted out to Jews in Europe during World War II.

If South Africa's apartheid government warranted a cultural, economic and sporting boycott, isn't today's Israel deserving of one too?