The IDF is now releasing more of the video confiscated from the “peace activists” aboard the Gaza flotilla; here’s a recording made on the Mavi Marmara on May 30, 2010, in which IHH leader Bulent Yildirim gives a speech laden with jihadist symbology, telling the assembled activists not to be “cowards,” but to attack the Israeli commandos and throw them overboard.

The crowd responds by chanting, “Millions of martyrs to Jerusalem!” and “Allah Akbar!”

Pro-Israel front group Reuters (ahem) asks the timely question: Q&A: Is Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza legal?

The short answers:

Yes, Israel’s blockade is legal under international law.

Yes, Israel has the legal right to stop ships in international waters.

Yes, Israel has the legal right to use force when stopping ships.

And no, this was not “piracy” by any legal definition.

The applicable legally recognized document is titled: “San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea.”

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan’s embarrassing visits to Syria and Iran (and Saudi Arabia, oddly enough) produced laughable empty promises to “support the Hizballah-Israel truce” from the two countries most responsible for creating and sustaining Hizballah.

Now Annan seems to think those empty promises are real checks he can take to the bank: Annan sees end of Israel blockade of Lebanon in 48 hours.