The following is indicative of the mindset at the United Nations.
Interesting to note that Sir Desmond de Silva is a leading barrister based in London; his judgement probably resonates with the foreign office.
http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=128...
GENEVA, October 6 – The U.N. commission into Israel’s May 31 flotilla clash declared during a recent U.N. Human Rights Council debate that “even if Bin Laden himself were on the Mavi Maramara, Israel’s blockade would still be illegal.”
The statement was made by U.N. commissioner Desmond de Silva in response to questions posed in the council plenary by the Geneva-based UN Watch as to why the probe’s report ignored voluminous evidence it had submitted on the stated intentions of the Islamist flotilla members to physically confront Israel and become “Shahids,” or martyrs.
The chair of the flotilla probe, Judge Karl T. Hudson-Phillips, said that he had never heard the term “Shahid” before. Nevertheless, he insisted that the intentions of the IHH activists carried no legal relevance.
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