Aftermath of the Israel Flotilla Raid: Der Spiegel
German Activists File War Crimes Complaints
By John Goetz
Left Party parliamentarians Annette Groth (l.) and Inge Höger (r.) together with human rights activist Norman Paech (c.).
Public prosecutors in Germany are looking into a war crimes complaint filed against Israel by two members of parliament with the far-left Left Party and a human rights activist who were on board the Mavi Marmara when Israeli troops stormed it 11 days ago.
Eleven days ago, the Israeli military stormed the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, part of a flotilla carrying pro-Palestinian activists toward the Gaza Strip in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade. Now, it has become a case for German prosecutors.
Human rights activist Norman Paech and two German parliamentarians from the far-left Left Party, Annette Groth and Inge Höger, have filed criminal complaints for “numerous potential offences, including war crimes against individuals and command responsibility … as well as false imprisonment.”
At 5:10 a.m. on May 31, the complaint reads, Höger, Groth and Paech heard from the captain of the Mavi Marmara via the ship’s loudspeaker that the Israeli soldiers who had boarded the ship as part of the commando operation were taking over control of the ship. An hour later, Israeli soldiers ordered the Germans on deck, where their backpacks and other belongings were searched. Their hands were temporarily bound.
German Jurisdiction?
It wasn’t until 9:10 p.m. that parliamentarian Annette Groth was given the possibility of contacting the German Embassy. At 2 a.m. on June 1, the Germans were brought to the airport in a prisoner transport vehicle for their flight back home.
According to international criminal law expert Florian Jessberger of Berlin’s Humboldt University, “there is cause to believe that false imprisonment was perpetrated as understood by German law.” He says that German criminal law would have jurisdiction “irrespective of the fact that the act was perpetrated on the high seas.”
German public prosecutors told SPIEGEL ONLINE that they were currently investigating whether there was enough evidence to warrant pursuing the case further.
‘Barbaric’
The Israeli raid of the Mavi Marmara, which resulted in the deaths of nine activists onboard the ship, unleashed a storm of criticism against Israel and its ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip. It has also severely damaged Israel’s relations with Turkey.
The blockade began in 2007 after the Islamist militants from Hamas took over power in Gaza. Israel claims that many of those traveling with the flotilla had ties to Hamas or other terrorist groups, but the activists deny the charge.
Upon returning home to Germany, Höger told reporters that “we felt like we were in a war, like we had been kidnapped.” Her colleague Groth spoke of a “barbaric act.”
Israeli Commandos be ashamed! Why did you kill so few?: The Only Democracy?
June 12th, 2010 | by Amir Terkel
By Amir Terkel
That’s the banner this bus driver decided to adorn his bus with.
Speaking of signs and the commandos, I’ve seen quite a few large banners along the highway that read: “Commando Soldiers, Israel is proud of you!”
Public rage against opposing views has reached a boiling point. Last week on my way to a demonstration protesting Israeli action against the flotilla I walked by
a crowd of right wing protestors screaming “Kill the Lefties, Kills the Lefties” at the top of their lungs. I was glad to see police near by.
That’s the quick Israel report for today.
Pressure on Israel to lift Gaza blockade: The Independent
The three-year Israeli embargo on goods going into Gaza is ‘unacceptable and counterproductive’, says a report by the Quartet.
By Donald Macintyre, Sunday, 13 June 2010
Israel’s cabinet meets today under the heaviest international pressure yet – in the aftermath of its lethal naval commando assault on a pro-Palestinian flotilla a fortnight ago – to relax the three-year economic embargo on Gaza.
Western diplomats are hoping that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, will give the first indication this morning of a major rethink of Gaza policy, under which a wide range of civilian goods would be admitted to start reviving the paralysed commercial life of the besieged territory. The international Middle East envoy, Tony Blair, met Mr Netanyahu for the third time in eight days on Friday to press him to end the heavily restrictive list of “allowed” civilian goods and produce one for those that are to be banned instead, as a first step towards reviving commerce and allowing postwar reconstruction.
The seemingly technical change would have potentially far-reaching consequences since it would require Mr Netanyahu to agree the general authorisation of civilian imports to Gaza – including raw materials needed for manufacturing and subsequent exports – other than those agreed to pose a clear threat to Israel’s security.
Today’s Israeli cabinet meeting comes 24 hours ahead of a meeting in Brussels of EU foreign ministers, three of whom, France’s Bernard Kouchner, Italy’s Franco Frattini, and Miguel Moratinos of Spain, also called publicly last week for a relaxation of the naval embargo and the reopening of the main cargo crossing between Gaza and Israel at Karni.
The embargo, imposed after Hamas seized full control of Gaza by force when its coalition with Fatah collapsed in June 2007, has precipitated the virtual collapse of Gaza’s once productive private-sector manufacturing industry, decimated agricultural exports, confined the formerly vital fishing industry within a one-mile limit, left 80 per cent of Gazans dependent on food aid, and rendered pointless the vast bulk of the $7.5bn pledged by donor countries for reconstruction after Israel’s 2008-2009 military offensive in the territory.
An insight into the plans being worked on by the Quartet (the UN, US, EU and Russia) – which has specifically mandated Mr Blair to conduct the negotiations with Mr Netanyahu – is contained in a draft of the paper authorised for circulation by the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, in the wake of the flotilla attack, and which describes the three-year-old blockade as “unacceptable and counterproductive”. It adds that the blockade “hurts the people of Gaza, holds their future hostage, and undermines work to drive reconstruction, development and economic empowerment. At the same time, the blockade empowers Hamas through the tunnel economy and damages Israel’s long-term security through its corrosive impact on a generation of young Palestinians.”
The British draft, which has been seen by The Independent on Sunday, stresses that the new approach is “not about rewarding Hamas”; that the Quartet needs to restate its “wider position on Hamas and its concern about Hamas’s role in Gaza” and repeats calls for the unconditional release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured by Hamas and other Gaza militants four years ago.
But although the working paper was drafted for last week’s Quartet meeting, it summarises what it says was “already broad agreement” on a package of measures needed to ease the blockade, “including through earlier work by the UN and the Quartet representative [Mr Blair]”. These include:
* Urgent UN-led reconstruction. It says the blockade has prevented implementation of the UN’s “comprehensive” plan for the most urgently needed building of schools, hospitals, sewerage water and other infrastructure;
* Switching from the list of “allowed” to one of “permitted goods” – which it says is “the right way to protect both valid security measures and vital economic activity”;
* “Robust monitoring” of potential dual-use materials such as cement and piping, with the international community playing an important potential role;
* The reopening of Karni, “the only crossing suited to the large volume of goods that need to start flowing”, with a possible EU monitoring role such as that undertaken at Rafah before June 2007;
* Starting seaborne delivery “via [the Israeli port of] Ashdod” to help kickstart both imports and exports;
* A boost in funding for the UN refugee agency UNRWA, which is responsible for the education and health of almost 1 million of Gaza’s 1.5m residents.
The negotiations on the embargo have overlapped with those – especially between Israel and the US – over what form of inquiry should be conducted into the commando raid which halted the flotilla and cost the lives of nine Turks in the fighting aboard the biggest of the boats, the passenger ferry Mavi Marmara. Israel, whose military chief of staff, Gabi Ashekenazi, has appointed Giora Eiland, a reserve general and former head of the national security agency, to head an internal inquiry into the naval operation, has indicated that it will also appoint a former high court judge to head a civilian inquiry. It is not expected that such an inquiry will take testimony from naval special forces personnel who took part in the raid.
While Western governments and Israel have denied any direct linkage between the two issues, diplomats have acknowledged that any expectation that Israel was prepared for a significant relaxation of the Gaza embargo would lessen pressure for a full international inquiry, of the sort proposed by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.
The switch from an “allowed” to a “banned” list would be a major policy shift, since the latter would presumably only include goods deemed to put Israel’s security at risk. That would reflect a change of purpose at the time of the original imposition of the embargo – reinforced by the Israeli cabinet’s declaration of Gaza as a “hostile entity” – which had the much wider goal of crippling its economy.
Documents produced by the Israeli authorities at the time in the face of court challenges to the blockade specifically cited international conventions permitting “economic warfare” under certain circumstances. Mr Netanyahu, not then in office, could thus plausibly argue that he had no responsibility for the original decision.
When Israel relaxed the embargo last week to allow in a range of additional foods – from the previously banned coriander, jam, packaged hummus and biscuits – Gisha, the Israeli human rights organisation, pointed out that Israel was still not letting in raw materials like margarine and glucose that could be used for processed food manufacture in Gaza itself.
The same is true of a much wider range of raw materials – such as textile fabrics that up to 2007 were imported in large quantities by hundreds of small clothing firms. It is well nigh impossible to justify a ban on importing rolls of cloth on security grounds.
The switch from a “permitted” to a “banned” list is reportedly envisaged by Mr Blair as the first of three principles for a relaxation of the embargo. The second is that international aid agencies, in consultation with Israel, would have oversight for “dual use” goods which Israel fears could be seized by Hamas for military purposes. The model is the severely limited increase of building materials for sewage, hospital and housing projects in Gaza in the past few weeks, in which the UN has successfully acted as guarantor that the imports will not so be used, and which it wants expanded.
While some Europeans have been suggesting that the naval blockade could be lifted to allow ships to go to Gaza after international and/or Israeli inspection, Israel has so far been resistant to any transfer to Gaza other than by land.
The third is the reopening of land crossings – most notably the big cargo terminal at Karni – in which EU officials, and possibly in the longer term, units of President Mahmoud Abbas’s presidential guard would assume responsibility for monitoring goods entering Gaza.
Arab League demands Gaza siege end: Al Jazeera online
Israeli blockade has dangerous ramifications for children of Gaza Strip
Amr Moussa, the Arab League secretary-general, has called for an end to Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip.
“This blockade…must be lifted and must be broken and the Arab League decision is very clear in this regard,” he said on Sunday.
Moussa’s comments came immediately after he arrived in the Gaza Strip, his first visit to the territory since Israel’s imposition of a crippling blockade in 2006.
He told reporters at the Rafah crossing point that Arab governments should help in implementing the Arab League resolution that seeks to end the siege.
Moussa reached the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing shortly before 10:00am (0700 GMT) where he was welcomed by members of Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement, as well as representatives of various Palestinian groups.
He crossed into the enclave from Egypt, two weeks after Israel’s deadly interception of a Gaza aid flotilla that was intended to deliver humanitarian aid to the territory.
Palestinian reconciliation
At a joint news conference with Moussa shortly after his arrival, Basim Naeem, the Hamas health minister, said the visit indicated that “the boycott between Gaza and the Arab nation was broken”.
Egypt had kept its border with Gaza largely closed, bolstering Israel’s embargo, since Hamas seized control of the Strip from Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah forces in 2007.
But Cairo eased restrictions at its Rafah crossing with the territory after Israeli marines killed nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists during violent confrontations on the Turkish-flagged aid convoy on May 31.
Palestinian and Arab League officials said Moussa’s visit was also aimed at giving momentum to reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah. Egypt has sponsored the talks but they have failed to bridge deep mistrust between the two rivals.
Moussa, however, said he had not come to Gaza to give support to any political faction, but to meet the Palestinian people of the territory.
Ismail Haniya, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, said he hoped that Moussa’s visit would result in practical measures to end the siege on Gaza.
EDITOR: Denial as proof…
The more this deal below is fervently denied, the more persuasive this news seems… again, the Anglo-Americans are out to save Israel from itself. Let us hope Israel prevails and goes on destrying its own foundation…
Britain: No quid pro quo deal on Gaza blockade: Haaretz
Britain denies report in the Daily Telegraph that in exchange for decreased world pressure for an international probe into Gaza flotilla events, Israel is expected to ease the Gaza siege.
By Natasha Mozgovaya and Barak Ravid
Tags: Gaza flotilla Benjamin Netanyahu
Britain has denied a report in The Daily Telegraph of a British plan wherein Israel will ease the Gaza siege in exchange for decreased world pressure for an international probe into the events of the Gaza flotilla, the British Embassy in Tel Aviv said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We don’t know where the idea of a quid pro quo came from… the Foreign Secretary has made clear that the current restrictions on Gaza must be lifted in line with UNSCR 1860,” the statement read.
“In this context, we are of course giving some thought to how this might be done, and discussing with our partners, including Israel. Other partners are doing the same, and we hope that all such discussions will lead to rapid progress on this issue,” the statement continued.
The Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday that Israel is expected to agree to a British proposal in which it will ease the Gaza blockade in exchange for international acceptance of Israel’s internal investigation into the events that led up to the deaths of nine Turkish activists aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla last week.
According to the report in the conservative British daily, Britain has taken upon itself a central role in mediating the crisis that has erupted following the Gaza flotilla events and has drawn up a confidential document proposing ways of easing the blockade on Gaza.
Israeli officials said that in light of growing international criticism over Gaza’s humanitarian situation, they would agree to permit a substantial amount of aid to pass through Israel’s land crossing into the Gaza Strip, the paper reported.
According to the Telegraph, Israeli officials denied any direct link between their readiness to cooperate over the blockade and the decrease in international support for the UN-led proposal for an international probe. However a Western source involved in the discussions with Israel said that there are talks of a mutually beneficial deal.
“A quid pro quo deal is in the offing,” said the Western source.
Moreover, British Foreign Secretary William Hague also hinted that pressure for a UN investigation was easing after he said that a probe with simply international presence may also be acceptable.
U.S.: International probe into Gaza flotilla raid is ‘essential’
Echoing countless calls on Israel to subject itself to an international investigation of the events that led up to the deaths of nine Turkish activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid ship last week, the U.S. on Tuesday demanded that some international body be involved in the probe of the events.
This, after a senior official said earlier Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nearly completed a draft of guidelines for the establishment of a commission of inquiry comprised of Israeli jurists.
The future commission would investigate the clash between Israeli navy commandos who were rappelled onto a Turkish ship, participating in a flotilla attempting to break Israel’s three-year blockade on the Gaza Strip and deliver aid, and Turkish activists aboard the ship.
The incident sparked harsh criticism against Israel and international calls for an independent investigation. Israel has so far rejected any external investigation, insisting that any investigation by an external body would be biased against Israel.
“International participation in investigating these matters will be important to the credibility that everybody wants to see,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley on Tuesday. “We are discussing with Israel and others the prospective nature of international participation in the investigation. And we’re sharing different ideas on how to best accomplish that.”
“We want to see an impartial, credible, prompt, thorough investigation. We recognize that international participation, which lends itself to countries and entities being able to vouch for the results of the investigation – will be an essential element to putting this tragedy behind us,” he went on to say.
Meanwhile Tuesday, Netanyahu demanded that he and his forum of seven senior ministers be allowed to testify before the investigation committee that will be established, comprised of Israeli jurists, and said that he and his top ministers would supply any future committee with all the required information.
In drafting the guidelines for the future investigation, Netanyahu insisted that Israel Defense Forces soldiers will not be personally interrogated, and asked that the investigation committee use instead the findings of internal military investigations already conducted. Netanyahu added that IDF Chief of Staff would testify.
According to the senior official, the guidelines for the panel of investigation have been almost finalized by the forum of seven during a meeting they held Monday morning. However, the forum is expected to convene an additional meeting on the topic on Wednesday. The draft of the guidelines has been approved unanimously by the forum ministers, who supported Netanyahu’s demands.
The Prime Minister’s Bureau has neither made the draft public nor the names of the individuals who will serve on the committee. The reason, according to the official, is the fact that the cabinet has yet to complete coordinating the investigation with the U.S. administration and other Western countries in order to ensure their support. The aim, he said, is that these countries will send observers to oversee the investigation. In addition, the official added, conflicts of interest must be examined in regard to the possible members of the investigation panel.
The Prime Minister’s Bureau approached several top litigators to inquire whether they would be interested in taking part in the work of the committee. Several of the candidates are former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Meir Rosen, former legal adviser to Israel’s Foreign Ministry Alan Baker, and Bar-Ilan University professor Yaffa Zilbershatz, who is also a candidate to become Israel’s next ambassador to the United Nations.
The public has a right to know: Haaretz Editorial
The government’s efforts to avoid a thorough and credible investigation of the flotilla affair seem more and more like a farce.
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.”
The disagreements that erupted at the week’s end between Netanyahu and his deputy, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon, over the question of whether Ya’alon was updated in time about the action underscored the suspicion of serious faults in the decision-making process with regard to the flotilla. Instead of being part of the whitewash, Tirkel, whose dodging of his earlier statements does him no honor, should return his mandate to the prime minister and demand that Netanyahu establish a government committee of inquiry with real powers. The public, as Netanyahu said, has a right to know the truth.
Arab League chief in Gaza in bid to end siege: YNet
After coordinating trip with Palestinian president, Amr Moussa slated to meet with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to discuss internal reconciliation, ways to lift blockade following flotilla raid
Published: 06.13.10, 10:45
Arab League chief Amr Moussa on Sunday arrived in Gaza following the league’s decision to break the siege on the Strip due to the recent Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla.
Moussa, who arrived in the Strip via Rafah crossing accompanied by Egyptian security officers, is slated to meet with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, as well as with representatives of other Palestinian organizations in the Strip.
The main issues to be discussed are the need for internal Palestinian reconciliation and ways to end the blockade on the Strip.
The Arab League chief said, “The siege on the Strip must be broken immediately, and the Palestinian organizations must reconcile at once.”
At a press conference held at Rafah crossing, Moussa said the efforts for internal Palestinian reconciliation must not fail, and that the Arab League is determined to proceed and demand the blockade be lifted.
“The Palestinians deserver that the world, and not just the Arab world, stand by them in the face of the siege and in the face of what is happening in the occupied territories and Jerusalem.”
Moussa said he was in Gaza to show his support of the Palestinians, “in hopes that the Palestinians do not act as pawns in the hands of one source or another.”
He said he had visited Gaza before, during Yasser Arafat’s rule.
Moussa was welcomed by Hamas Interior Minister Bassem Naim, Fatah Central Committee member Zakaria al-Agha and other parliament members.
‘Arab recognition of Hamas’
While the visit was coordinated in advance with the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas elements consider the vist official Arab recognition of their control over the Strip.
The movement has gone to great lengths to ensure that the visit is a success and leads to cooperation with the Arab League.
However, sources in the Strip are still skeptical that Moussa’s visit will help lift the siege, and are hanging most of their hopes on international pressure, and in particular, pressure from the United States and Europe.
After the crossing between Gaza and Sinai has been closed for three years, save for isolated incidents, Egypt formally announced last week that the crossing, which was opened at the start of the month following the takeover of the Gaza aid sail, is to remain open indefinitely.
On Tuesday, nine Egyptian parliament members crossed Rafah crossing into Gaza. Two of them, Mohammed al-Baltaji and Hazem Farouq, took part in the sail to Gaza.
The delegation visited the Strip in a show of “identification with Gaza’s residents”. The members met with Hamas officials, including some of the movement’s parliament members.
Ministers want Mabhouh suspect in Israel: YNet
Tourism minister suggests Israel use relations with Poland to fight Uri Brodsky’s extradition to Germany, meanwhile Mabhouh’s brother reiterates desire for extradition to Dubai, says arrest is another Mossad ’embarrassment’
Published: 06.13.10, 12:06
Government ministers on Sunday objected to the extradition to Germany of an additional suspect in the assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Uri Brodsky, who was arrested in Poland.
Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov called on the government to utilize its relationship with Poland in order to convince the latter to allow Brodsky to be tried in Israel, despite Israeli assessments that his extradition to Germany is as good as a done deal.
“I don’t believe the arrest of an Israeli citizen in Warsaw will amount to a crisis with Germany. They need to prove that he did indeed commit the acts he is suspected of. Because he is our citizen, we are obligated to bring him back to Israel,” Misezhnikov told Ynet.
“We should make use of our great friendship (with Poland), which has shown endless support of Israel recently. Poland must tell Germany that this is an Israeli citizen who must be legally handled in his country. Our legal system is known throughout the world and can handle this issue,” he said.
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz added that “Israel must object to the extradition of an Israeli citizen to another country, regardless of the reason for his arrest”.
But Mabhouh’s brother Hussein said Brodsky’s arrest was just another embarrassment for the Mossad.
The brother said he and the rest of the family had not received any official updates on the ongoing affair, and were mainly using the media to update themselves.
“We hope the man who was arrested will be extradited to Dubai so the authorities there can question him, but we have received no promises or guarantees that this will happen,” he said.
According to reports Saturday, the German probe conducted in recent months revealed that Brodsky’s role was to assist Mossad men in acquiring German passports.
This would mean that Brodsky was responsible for the logistical operation in Germany in respect to the Mabhouh killing, where the hit team apparently used a real German passport issued to a “Michael Bodenheimer.”
Polish officials confirmed that the Israeli suspect was detained in connection with the Dubai assassination.
Netanyahu: Former justice to head flotilla probe: YNet
Prime minister says he expects US agreement on inquiry committee’s composition, rights shortly
Published: 06.13.10, 11:21
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Sunday at a Likud ministers meeting that the Israeli investigation on the IDF flotilla raid will be headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Yaakov Tirkel.
Netanyahu added that negotiations with the US over the establishment of an investigation committee, its composition, and the rights afforded it were held until late Saturday night, and that he expects an agreement on the matter shortly.
Regarding the blockade on the Gaza Strip Netanyahu said, “There are others in the region concerned over this matter aside from Israel. There is real concern in the Islamic Republic, if indeed Iran can be called a ‘republic’. There are also those in Europe and the Middle East who oppose a naval port in Gaza.”
Netanyahu also spoke of the Gaza blockade at his opening speech in the weekly Cabinet meeting. “Even before the flotilla we held discussions in different forums on the continuation of our policy in Gaza,” he said.
“The debates continued last week. Our policy is clear: We must prevent weapons and combat support equipment from entering the Strip while allowing civilian humanitarian aid to enter. These discussions will continue.”
Government ministers justified the delay in announcing the establishment of the inquiry committee. Minister Isaac Herzog, of the Labor Party, rejected speculations that Israel had postponed the announcement until the World Cup began in order to soften international pressure.
“It’s a nice illusion,” he said. “We need to cooperate with our allies in the international arena and shake off the image of the siege from Israel. This issue will actually come up during a meeting of the foreign ministers of the European Union.”
On Friday the White House denied a Weekly Standard report that the US administration intends to support the appointment of a UN commission to investigate the flotilla raid.
White House Spokesman Tommy Vietor said the United States continues to back the swift, credible, independent and transparent probe that Israel plans to launch.
Earlier Friday, Washington sources told Ynet that the US administration was disappointed with Israel’s proposed solution for an investigation into the flotilla raid.
According to the sources, time is working against Israel, and the delays are only pushing the US into a corner and decreasing the chances it may promote a solution that is favorable for Israel.
Netanyahu: Gaza flotilla probe to be headed by former justice: Haaretz
Yaakov Tirkel is to head the Israeli investigative committee that will look into the IDF’s takeover of Gaza-bound flotilla, which resulted in nine deaths.
Former Supreme Court Justice Yaakov Tirkel is to head the Israeli investigative committee that will look into the events surrounding the takeover of the Gaza-bound aid flotilla nearly two weeks ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.
Netanyahu added that he had personally updated U.S. President Barack Obama as to the move, as well as to the developing nature of the commission.
Also Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak canceled a planned trip to a Paris arms show, over what his office described was his desire to be present in the discussion over the formation of the Gaza flotilla probe committee.
It is estimated that Barak wants to avoid a situation in which Netanyahu would fold in the face of international pressure and agree to make, what the defense minister would see as, unacceptable changes to the committee’s charter.
Referring to the blockade on Gaza at the opening the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said that discussions on the decision to blockade the Strip had taken place “even before the Gaza-bound flotilla.”
“These discussions continued last week, inter alia, in the meetings I held on the subject with Quartet envoy Tony Blair,” Netanyahu said, adding that the “principle guiding our policy is clear – to prevent the entry of war materiel from entering Gaza and to allow the entry of humanitarian aid and non-contraband goods into the Gaza Strip.”
Netanyahu did not, however, announce the creation of a committee of inquiry into the naval commando raid on the Gaza Strip flotilla, and the matter will not be brought before the cabinet for a vote in Sunday’s meeting.
The Prime Minister’s Bureau said yesterday evening that the conditions have not matured for such an announcement “due to political reasons.”
Talks have been held with the U.S. administration and several European countries to rally support for the mandate of the committee of inquiry and approval of its makeup. The Americans have rejected – a number of times – Israel’s proposals and asked that a retired Supreme Court justice head the probe. The issue was resolved when Justice Yaakov Tirkel was proposed for the post.
Egypt activists denied Gaza entry: YNet
Gaza blockade not ending yet: Egypt prevents hundreds of activists carrying Palestinian flags, trucks carrying humanitarian aid from entering Strip via Rafah Crossing; meanwhile, Hamas says no Red Cross visits for Shalit
Published: 06.12.10, 22:42
Egypt banned hundreds of activists from Gaza, igniting protests at the Rafah border that is the only non-Israeli entry into the Palestinian enclave, a security official said on Saturday.
Hundreds of Egyptian activists headed to the Rafah border crossing on Friday but were denied entry into the Gaza Strip, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“They spent the night in front of the crossing asking to be let in and continued protesting on Saturday,” the official said.
Carrying Palestinian flags, they chanted “Palestine is Arab,” “Open the border,” and “Lift the blockade,” witnesses told AFP.
By Saturday afternoon, most of the activists had started making their way back to Cairo, the official said.
Authorities also denied entry to two trucks carrying humanitarian aid sent by the people of the Egyptian province of Daqahliya.
“Authorities forced the truck drivers to head back to the (north Sinai) town of El-Arish saying that the Rafah crossing was only for the passage of people not goods,” one of the organizers, MP Mohsen Radi, said.
Blockade relief?
Amid the international outcry over an Israeli commando operation against a Gaza-bound aid flotilla which killed nine Turkish activists in international waters on June 1, Egypt announced it was opening its Rafah border crossing.
The surprise move has allowed some additional aid into Gaza but only some Palestinians, such as those seeking treatment or study abroad, are permitted to cross.
The Egyptian opposition has long campaigned against the government’s refusal to fully open the Gaza border, even at the height of the deadly offensive which Israel launched against the territory in December 2008.
Opposition parties have accused the authorities of being complicit in the Israeli blockade through their construction of an underground barrier intended to prevent smugglers tunneling under the border.
Meanwhile, Hamas’ Political Bureau Chief Khaled Mashaal said Saturday that the Gaza blockade should not be linked to the Gilad Shalit issue. The Hamas leader said that Shalit is just like the Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and rejected any possibility that a Red Cross delegation would be allowed to visit him.
Mashaal spoke at a Khartoum press conference, where a Hamas delegation is visiting at this time.
Mad Israelis section
A rush to judgment that will be refuted by history and fact: Irishtimes
ZION EVRONY
OPINION: Future historians will puzzle over the western media’s portrayal of the flotilla activists as humanitarians, ignoring evidence of motive
AN IMPARTIAL historian analysing, 20 years hence, the events of last week surrounding Israel’s interception of the Gaza “Freedom Flotilla”, will be perplexed by several aspects of the media coverage of the episode. One would expect that, by then, the salient facts will be available to all and agreed upon by those who share a commitment to the truth.
The first and most obvious of these facts is the difference in outcome between six of the flotilla ships, including the Rachel Corrie, and the remaining one, the Mavi Marmara, on which the regrettable loss of life occurred. On the former, only passive resistance was offered to Israeli personnel and the ships were peacefully escorted to the port of Ashdod. Our historian will wonder at media headlines that portrayed Israeli commandos as opening fire, unprovoked, on unarmed men and women trying only to bring aid materials to the “besieged” inhabitants of Gaza. If this had been the case, why the offer to unload the aid cargos at Ashdod in Israel? And why no violence on six of the seven ships?
Regarding the seventh ship, the facts now emerging will tell a very different story from the western media’s rushed judgment of the affair. Already in the public arena was the Al Aqsa TV interview of May 30th and the Guardian newspaper report of June 3rd in which members of the IHH “charity”, a jihadist organisation with proven links to Al Qaeda and Hamas, spoke of their wish to “die as martyrs”.
There was also the video footage (now available on YouTube) showing the Mavi Marmara passengers leaving port chanting “Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahoud, jaish Muhammad sa yaoud” (“.. O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return”) a reference to a seventh-century slaughter of Arabian Jews that has become a modern jihadist battle-cry.
Lastly, there was the footage of the answer sent to the Israeli ship that warned the Mavi Marmara it was approaching the blockade: “Shut up, go back to Auschwitz . . . don’t forget 9/11”. Our historian will puzzle over the media’s ignoring of this evidence of motive, and its portrayal of such self-styled warriors as “humanitarians”.
Interviews with the detained passengers of the Mavi Marmara are now confirming that the violence met by the Israeli commandos as they boarded the ship was not spontaneous but an organised, premeditated action carried out by a hardcore of approximately 40 IHH operatives, recruited specially for the mission. This group boarded at Istanbul without undergoing security checks, while the other 500 or so passengers boarded at Antalya after a full check. (It is also emerging that the Mavi Marmara, the biggest ship in the flotilla, carried no humanitarian aid at all; only personal possessions and extremely large sums of money were found on board).
The hardcore took over the upper deck and set up a communications room. They took control of the ship using walkie-talkies and restricted the movements of the other passengers and crew. As they approached the blockade, they sent ordinary passengers below, donned ceramic vests and gas masks, and armed themselves with weapons such as knives, axes, hammers, slingshots, wooden clubs and steel rods cut in advance from the ship’s railings using angle grinders. This latter action appears to have been carried out contrary to the captain’s orders.
The IHH operatives were instructed not to allow the Israeli soldiers to board. They successfully repelled the attempts to board the ship from corvettes using grappling hooks. When Israeli commandos landed one by one by rope from a helicopter, they were surrounded by these IHH operatives and beaten severely with the weapons already prepared. Once again, these facts are corroborated by video footage. Initially under strict orders not to open fire, the Israeli commandos had anticipated at worst a riot-control situation, not a violent ambush. Only when several of them had been beaten, shot and stabbed and it was clear that they were fighting for their lives did they open fire.
Our historian of the future will find it curious that, in an age of instant video documentation, the Irish media showed so little interest in revisiting their initial hasty judgments of the whole episode. (S)he will also remark on the very different portrayals of the Israeli soldiers and the IHH activists given in the western media and those of the Islamic world. While the former paint the Israelis as brutal, shoot-first aggressors and the IHH as weak victims, the Turkish paper Hurriyet proudly showed photographs, taken with the cameras of the jihadist-humanitarians, of Israelis as bloodied prisoners humiliated by the ‘warriors of Islam’.
Another aspect of the affair that will perplex our historian will be the media’s focus on Israel’s interception as taking place in international waters, and their characterisation of Israel’s Gaza blockade as ‘illegal’, as if no historical precedents or legal justification existed for either.
Under the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, 12 June 1994, maritime blockades are a legitimate measure that may be implemented as part of an armed conflict, and are included as such in the naval handbooks of several western countries. A blockade may be enforced in international waters so long as it does not bar access to the ports and coasts of neutral states.
A state of armed conflict exists between Israel and Hamas, which forms part of the Iranian strategy aimed at encircling Israel with hostile forces in furtherance of its declared goal of “wiping it off the map”. Many of the 1,350 rockets fired into southern Israel by Hamas in 2008 alone were of the sophisticated Grad 2 type smuggled into Gaza from Iran. It is worth remembering that Israel has intercepted two ships sent by Iran, the Francop destined for Hizbullah in 2009, the Karine A destined for Hamas in 2002, each carrying large supplies of weapons and war material.
In the case of the Gaza flotilla, Israel acted perfectly legally in (i) warning the boats of the existence of the blockade and providing them with its precise co-ordinates through the accepted maritime channels, (ii) asking them to change course and to take their cargo to the port of Ashdod, (iii) when these notices were rejected, warning them that they faced being boarded and commandeered by its navy. Finally, our future historian, while aware that Israel restricted the entry of certain items into Gaza, will read with amazement of the woman in a Gaza market who told Danish journalist Steffen Jensen in 2010: “We have nothing. We need everything! Food, drinks . . . everything!” The woman spoke of this doomsday scenario while standing, according to Jensen, between ‘mountains of vegetables, fruit, eggs, poultry and fish . . .’ The historian will be able to see visual corroboration of this in the pictures published in Gaza newspapers and on Palestinian websites in 2009-10 that show Gaza food stalls laden with supplies.
While aware that life in Gaza was difficult, (s)he will wonder all the more at the persistence of the claim of the ‘humanitarian crisis’, and the gullibility of well-intentioned westerners in accepting the Hamas propaganda of victimhood.
Having calmly analysed the staged made-for-media event of the 2010 “Freedom Flotilla”, she or he will see it for what it is: merely the latest phase in an ongoing war to undermine the state of Israel. The enemies of the Jewish state, having failed over 62 years to defeat it either in open frontal attack or by terror and rocket campaigns, had resorted to a different tactic: the delegitimisation of its right to defend itself.
Zion Evrony is ambassador of Israel to Ireland