Libya called the UN Security Council into an emergency session on Wednesday. Was it war? Famine? Zimbabwe? Sudan? Piracy off the coast of Africa? The situation in Mumbai? Afghanistan? China? Tibet? Kashmir?
Nope.
It’s because the IDF turned back a Libyan ship that tried to break through the Gaza blockade.
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session on Wednesday night to discuss Israel’s refusal to allow a Libyan vessel carrying humanitarian supplies to dock on Gaza’s shore.
The session was convened at Libya’s request on the grounds that preventing the ship from reaching the Strip constituted an affront to peace on Israel’s part.
The incident occurred on Monday, when a Libyan cargo ship approached Israel’s territorial waters on its way to Gaza. Palestinian and Libyan officials claimed it was transporting 3,000 tons of food and humanitarian equipment intended for residents of the besieged Strip.
Libya, the current representative of the group of Arab nations on the Security Council, demanded an emergency session be convened following the incident, which forced the ship to veer in the direction of Egypt. Libya’s envoy to the Council slammed Israel’s refusal to allow the humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.
But wait. It gets better. The Libyan representative accused Israel of piracy. Yes. Really.
Libya accused Israel of piracy at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday for preventing a Libyan ship from delivering humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip.
The Libyan boat, Al-Marwa, turned back in the face of an Israeli naval blockade on Monday. Libyan and Palestinian officials said it was carrying 3,000 tonnes of food, medicine and other aid to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Libyan U.N. Ambassador Giadallah Ettalhi told the 15-nation council that the Israeli action was “an act of piracy” as defined by the U.N. convention on law of the sea.
He asked the council “to take the necessary urgent actions to allow the … ship to enter the port and unload its cargo.” He added that Libya would allow the United Nations or other organizations to confirm that its cargo was purely humanitarian.
Basically, the Libyans wasted the evening of the UNSC members.
US Deputy Permanent Representative Alejandro Wolff also rejected Libya’s arguments during the debate and deemed it “absurd to assert Israel committed an act of piracy” since not a single shot was fired nor was the Libyan ship boarded.
He said Libya’s attempt to access a closed sea port instead of following the usual channels for international aid was “dangerous and irresponsible.”
Several council members used the debate to voice their concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza and deplore the Israeli blockade of the region.
I really like the AFP lead:
Libya protested in vain Wednesday before the UN Security Council over Israel’s interception of one of its cargo ships attempting to offload aid in Gaza.
Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi told an emergency council session that Israel was guilty of “piracy in the high seas,” and called for “effective action that will ensure compliance of Israel with international humanitarian law and the law of the seas”.
His complaints, however, failed to elicit a formal condemnation of Monday’s actions by Israel, which needed unanimous consensus by the council’s 14 members — Libya is one of the 15-strong council’s 10 rotating members.
When even the AFP is mocking you, well, it’s time to throw in the towel.
And remember, this is brought to you by the geniuses who thought of “Isratine“. Of course refusing to let a ship from an enemy nation into a hostile territory is piracy—if you’re effing nuts to begin with.
Oh, I’m sure there are no guns or ammo in the hold. No waaaayyy.
Piracy? Not a surprising charge. Wasn’t it a Saudi source that accused Zionists of working with the Somali pirates so that the US and the Zionists would have an excuse to mass warships in Red Sea and the gulf?