Yes, while we all watched the flotilla, daily oppression and brutality continues, as it has done for years. Read below about one of hundreds of the incidents which took place during the buildup to the massacre on Mavi Marmara. Being American does not protect you from Israel’s barbarity.
June 1st, 2010 | by Jesse Bacon | Add a Comment
From the International Solidarity Movement
US citizen Emily Henochowicz was shot directly in the face with a tear gas canister as she non-violently demonstrated against the Flotilla massacre 31 May 2010: An 21-year old American solidarity activist was shot in the face with a tear gas canister during a demonstration in Qalandiya, today. Emily Henochowicz is currently in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem undergoing surgery to remove her left eye, following the demonstration that was held in protest to Israel’s murder of at least 10 civilians aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters this morning.
Henochowicz was hit in the face with a tear gas projectile fired directly at her by an Israeli soldier during the demonstration at Qalandiya checkpoint today. Israeli occupation forces fired volleys of tear gas at unarmed Palestinian and international protesters, causing mass panic amongst the demonstrators and those queuing at the largest checkpoint separating the West Bank and Israel.
“They clearly saw us,” said Sören Johanssen, a Swedish ISM volunteer standing with Henochowicz. “They clearly saw that we were internationals and it really looked as though they were trying to hit us. They fired many canisters at us in rapid succession. One landed on either side of Emily, then the third one hit her in the face.”
Henochowicz is an art student at the prestigious Cooper Union, located in East Village, Manhattan.
The demonstration was one of many that took place across the West Bank today in outrage over the Israeli military’s attack on the Gaza freedom flotilla and blatant violation of international law. Demonstrations also took place in inside Israel, Gaza and Jerusalem, with clashes occuring in East Jerusalem and Palestinian shopkeepers in the occupied Old City closing their businesses for the day in protest.
Tear gas canisters are commonly used against demonstrators in the occupied West Bank. In May 2009, the Israeli State Attorney’s Office ordered Israeli Police to review its guidelines for dispersing demonstrators, following the death of a demonstrator, Bassem Abu Rahmah from Bil’in village, caused by a high velocity tear-gas projectile. Tear-gas canisters are meant to be used as a means of crowd dispersal, to be shot indirectly at demonstrators and from a distance. However, Israeli forces frequently shoot canisters directly at protesters and are not bound by a particular distance from which they can shoot.
EDITOR: No Need to Worry, Uncle O’Bummer Will Come in to Protect You…
So afetr all the anger rage and shock, Obama comes in like a messenger from hell, making sure the murderers ‘inquire’ into their own brutality. Justice the American Zionist way. Wait for no more from this supporter of murder and piracy. The good news – Israel will not even accept this arrangement…
Political sources: Netanyahu in no rush to accept U.S. proposal, in part because Defense Minister Ehud Barak is opposed to it.
The United States has proposed a possible way for Israel to avoid an international probe of the events surrounding the Gaza flotilla, but at this point Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leaning against it, in part because Defense Minister Ehud Barak is opposed to it.
The Americans have proposed that Netanyahu announce that an independent Israeli commission of inquiry will look into the events of the flotilla clashes and accept the participation of an American observer.
On Monday and Tuesday, advisers of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Yitzhak Molcho and Uzi Arad, traveled to Washington. On Tuesday they were at the White House with Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, and met National Security Adviser James Jones, and President Barack Obama’s adviser on the Middle East, Denis Ross, as well as Dan Shapiro, who holds the Middle East portfolio at the National Security Council.
One of the main issues discussed was the American demand that Israel investigate the events surrounding the handling of the flotilla.
A senior U.S. official delivered an American proposal to the two senior Israeli advisers, which would both assuage the international community and also would not be too hard a blow for Israel’s wish to undertake its own investigation without massive foreign involvement.
The American proposal, which calls for an independent commission of inquiry here, with an American representative as an observer, is believed to offer the idea of bolstering international confidence in the probe’s conclusions.
Molcho returned to Israel Wednesday and met with the prime minister to update him on the details of the American proposal.
Political sources in Israel say that Netanyahu is in no rush, at this stage, to accept the American offer. The possibility was not discussed at length during the cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Sources in the prime minister’s bureau said it was still too early to talk of a committee of inquiry.
However, several ministers from the “group of seven” who meet to discuss the most sensitive political-military issues and others from the security-political cabinet, said there is urgency for such a probe.
“If we do not do this now at our own initiative, it will be forced upon us by the world,” one of the ministers said.
Another minister added that “we must make a decision on this quickly.”
International pressure
While there is still uncertainty here about the need for an investigation, the international community is moving ahead. The United Nations Human Rights Council decided Wednesday to dispatch an international committee of inquiry to the region to look into the events of the Gaza flotilla. A total of 32 countries voted in favor of the committee of inquiry, nine abstained and three – the U.S., the Netherlands and Italy – voted against.
The decision is similar to the one that established the Goldstone Committee, which looked into Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip and whose published report accused Israel and Hamas of having committed war crimes.
The Arab states asked the council to condemn Israel for violating international law because it had taken over the flotilla’s ships in international waters.
The council’s resolution calls on Israel to lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip and to provide its residents with food, fuel and medicines.
The resolution’s final article states that the council will send an independent, international group to investigate the facts of the incident and any violations of international law as a result of “the Israeli attack against a convoy of ships carrying humanitarian aid.”
After Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, Netanyahu did not comment on the possibility of an Israeli inquiry, but accused the international community of hypocrisy and warned against what he said would lead to transforming the Gaza Strip into an Iranian missile base.
It was Israel’s obligation to prevent the import of weapons into the Strip that would be directed against Israel, the prime minister said.
“Iran continues to smuggle weapons to the Gaza Strip that are aimed at Israel,” Netanyahu said, and called for the blockade to stay in place.
If ships are allowed to enter Gaza port freely, “the implication would be that there would be an Iranian port in the Gaza Strip, close to Tel Aviv, and this is a genuine threat to Israel’s security. I say to you, and to the countries criticizing us, that an Iranian port in Gaza is also a threat to European states.”
Senior political sources told Haaretz they see no justification for an external probe. They said the Israel Defense Forces needs to evaluate itself and at most someone from outside the chain of command should be included in the process.
‘Self-flagellation’
Calls in Israel for a commission of inquiry were also described by government sources as “exaggerated responses,” and they warned against “self-flagellation.”
Sources in the political leadership and in the General Staff reject the idea that the operation against the flotilla was a failure and argue it achieved its aim because it stopped the ships from reaching the Gaza Strip.
Another aid ship, the Irish-flagged Rachel Corrie, named after the American peace activist killed by an army bulldozer, is also planning on reaching the Gaza Strip.
The ship is known to be carrying some 15, mostly European and Malaysian, peace activists. The assumption is there will be no violent resistance if the ship is boarded.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi plan to recommend that if necessary, violence be used to stop the ship but lessons learned from the incident Monday will be adopted to prevent bloodshed.
Meanwhile, Israel is trying to calm the tensions with Turkey, and all those arrested in the flotilla incident will be expelled.
In an unusual turn of events, six unidentified bodies of those killed in the incident Monday were sent to Turkey, along with three identified corpses. Usually, only the dead who have been identified are released.
AlJazeeraEnglish — June 03, 2010 — Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal has been released by Israeli authorities following Monday’s deadly raid on the Mavi Marmara aid ship that was destined for Gaza.
Our producer, who reported from the ship as Israel launched the raid, was on the top deck when the ship was attacked.
June 2nd, 2010, by Jesse Bacon
By Jesse Bacon
I had the privilege of speaking with Huwaida Arraf of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla direct from Ramallah today. I will write up a transcript later of the talk, but for now here’s the interview audio, which takes a few seconds to begin in both clips.
I will speak to her again tomorrow and be asking her more about what happened on May 31 itself.
Huwaida Arraf is a pro-Palestinian activist and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). The stated mission of the ISM is to “resist the Israeli occupation of the West Bank using nonviolent tactics”.
Arraf is the daughter of a Palestinian mother and father. Her father has Israeli citizenship. Arraf majored in Arabic and Judaic studies and political science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She also spent a year at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and studied Hebrew on a kibbutz. Arraf later earned a J.D. at American University’s Washington College of Law. Her focus was on International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, with a particular interest in war crimes prosecution.
Arraf was aboard the Challenger 1, the largest ship of a humanitarian flotilla to Gaza, when the flotilla was attacked by the Israeli military. She is the chairperson for the Free Gaza Movement, the organization behind the flotilla.
EDITOR: And Now for the Hollywood movie of the IDF vs Al Qaida on the High Seas…
Israeli propaganda has now moved into overdrive. The scripts have been written, the narratives have been prapared for those in the west who need to believe in fiction, and deny reality. Israeli academics were sent a kit of Propaganda materials, and asked to do the job abroad and with the media. You can read parts of this bizarre kit below. The dailies, and especially Yediot Aharonot, the most-read evening paper, is blue for all the flag waving on its pages. Interviews with the soldiers who ‘saved Israel’ from an attack of of Al Qaida opertaives are covering every page, are carpeting radio and television in Israel.
Of course, this is the result of the ‘fiasco’ as some of its critics in the Israeli media called it. In order to cover up murder and lunacy and to counter the survivors’ stories, they have to crank up the lie machine to full volume. And who is going top believe them? The gullibles in the Jewish community, the BBC, and Obama, who, while being too intleligentfor this stuff, is still going to support them to the hilt, if his silence and the US vote against an inquiry are evidence of the ‘thinking’ in Washington. For those good people who still expected something from this smoke-and-mirrors man, this last twist should clarify the picture. Gone is the new politics, the Cairo speech, the New World of Change, and instead we have the black president with a ‘White Man’s burden’… Sad, indeed, but far from surprising. Put your pennies on any horse, but not on this one. It will go nowhere fast, and bring nothing by prevarication, denial of rights and justice in the Middle East and elsewhere, and the coninuation of imperialist wars. Watch this space.
Before boarding the Marmara, Ali Khaider Benginin told his family he dreamt of becoming a shahid. Turkish press reports two other slain flotilla participants expressed similar wish. A Dutch activist arrested on flotilla suspected of ties with Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood
Aviel Magnezi
Published: 06.02.10, 16:27
The Gaza flotilla organizers insist that all activists killed on board the Marmara ship were innocent peace activists. However, new reports reveal a completely different picture.
Media reports in Ankara on Wednesday revealed that three out of the four Turkish citizens that were killed during the raid declared their wishes to become shahids (martyrs). Another Dutch report claimed a Dutch activist, who was arrested by the IDF is suspected of being a senior Hamas operative.
In an interview with Turkish newspaper Haber, the family members of Ali Khaider Benginin (39), resident of east Turkey’s Kurdistan region, revealed their relative’s true intentions.
“I am going to be a shahid; I dreamt I will become a shahid – I saw in a dream that I will be killed,” Benginin told his family before leaving for the sail.
According to the report, beniginin, who graduated from al-Azhar University in Cairo, served for the past two years as the chairman of a foundation for rights and freedom in education and culture. His family noted that he had spoken in the past about his dream to become a shahid in Gaza.
Another Turkish citizen killed during the raid, Ali Akhbar Iritilmis (55), a father of four from Ankara, was active in the IHH organization, which led the naval convoy to Gaza. “He was devoted to this activity, and always dreamt about becoming a shahid,” said his close friend Mehmet Faruq Cheber.
Anadolu News Agency reported that the third activist killed on boards the Marmara, Ibrahim Bilgen (61), an engineer and father of six, was active in the Islamic party in southern Turkey. “He was a role model to all of us; a true philanthropist. Therefore, it suited him to die a shahid’s death. Allah gave him the death he wanted,” said Ibrahim’s brother, Nuri Mergen.
The fourth slain activist, Muharram Kuchak, was also a volunteer with the IHH.
The three Turkish “shahids,” as it turns out, were not alone. Holland-based Teltarif newspaper reported Wednesday morning that Amin Abou Rashed, 43, and Anne de Jong, 29, are probably the only two Dutch citizens that were arrested among the flotilla participants.
The newspaper’s investigation revealed incriminating details from Abou Rashed’s past; intelligence sources claimed he is the local Hamas leader, while the Muslim Brotherhood’s website identified him as one of the organizers of the naval convoy.
According to Teltarif’s report, Dutch intelligence services have been following Abou Rashed’s activities for a long time. He worked, among other places, with al- Aqsa Foundation, suspected of acting under the guise of a charity, while funneling its donations to Hamas.
An Email from an Israeli university professor:
Various Israeli official bodies, including the ministry for Hasbara [i.e. propaganda] have sent messages to Israeli citizens urging them to take an active part in the “propaganda war”. They are told not to ask questions but rather to spread the official messages in every possible way in the virtual world: talkbacks, forums, Facebook etc.. I have the material which is mostly in Hebrew. Although every citizen was asked to use the languages he knows. The attached file is in English. It would be nice if some of you can publish it on the net in order to unveil this coordinated campaign.
Former US Ambassador Edward Peck, serving as a diplomat under eight US presidents, who was on the boat where the murders happened, speaks for an hour about the brutality and and madness of the operation. His critique of the US position and of President Obama is clear, searing and very fair. view and distribute link widely.
Israel’s Explanation for Deadly Gaza Aid Attack “Full of Holes as a Window Screen”–Former US Ambassador Edward Peck
Former US Ambassador Edward Peck was on the Gaza aid flotilla that came under attack by Israeli forces. At least nine people were killed and dozens wounded. Peck says Israel’s explanation for the attack is “twisting the truth” and is “as full of holes as a window screen.” [includes rush transcript]
Work has to finally start on rebuilding a peace process worthy of the name
Day two of the aftermath of Operation Sea Breeze, and it was anything but. The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, flew back from the US, postponing a kiss-and-make-up session with Barack Obama to discuss the Israeli premier’s pet subject, Iran. Egypt opened its border with Gaza, as much to give vent to domestic anger as to provide temporary relief to its hapless neighbours. The UN huffed and puffed, as the first eyewitness accounts of what happened on the high seas on Monday morning began to emerge. “There was a plan, and they went according to the plan,” concluded Annette Groth, a German politician on board the Mavi Marmara. “They created terror and were shooting without warning. They wanted to demonstrate their power and demonstrate if you want to go to Gaza, don’t even try it.” An Israeli cabinet meeting demanded a probe into a decision which seven of its most senior members took. Don’t hold your breath.
None of this matters. The real question is: will anything change? Or will the deaths of those on board the convoy pass loudly but swiftly into history, as the killings of Rachel Corrie, Tom Hurndall and James Miller have before them? The few clues around yesterday were all depressing ones. Opening the Egyptian border temporarily to humanitarian aid is gesture politics. What Gaza wants is what was in those ships – concrete, steel, building materials with which to repair the damage inflicted by Israel’s punishment raid last year. But as an Egyptian security source told Reuters, those are the last things that will be let through the Rafah crossing. “Hard materials” will still have to go through Israel. No change there.
Nor was there any discernible movement in the UN security council debate. Turkey, whose citizens had been killed by Israeli naval commandos, proposed a statement condemning Israel for violating international law, demanding a UN investigation and the prosecution of those responsible. What did the administration of the man who promised a new approach to the Middle East do? It went back to the old approach. The US watered down Turkey’s just demands, so the shootings became “acts”, and blame was neatly apportioned to both sides. Alejandro Wolff, the deputy permanent representative of the US on the council, said the direct delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea was neither appropriate nor responsible. Forget the signals that words like these send to Gazans. They are used to them. The next time Barack Obama appeals to the Muslim world it will be to deaf ears, and for this his administration has only got itself to blame.
As Robert Malley, director of the International Crisis Group’s Middle East programme, said yesterday, the international community has been complicit in a policy of isolating Gaza and weakening Hamas – a policy that he called both morally appalling and politically self-defeating. Yesterday there was scant sign of Washington abandoning an approach which has repeatedly failed.
The reason is that so many other failing US policies depend on it: the support for a beleaguered Palestinian Authority as the sole representative of Palestinians; the attempt to talk up the work of one man without a party, the prime minister Salam Fayyad, as transformative; and proximity talks which will never be able to bridge the gap between the maximum Mr Netanyahu can give and the minimum even a weakened Palestinian leader like Mahmoud Abbas can accept. One error of judgment reinforces another, and another, and another. Meanwhile the settlements keep on growing.
As the edifice underpinning these misjudgments starts to fall apart, work has to finally start on rebuilding a peace process worthy of the name: one based on dealing with both wings of the Palestinian national movement without preconditions. That is the only realistic way out of this morass.
The power of public opinion – and the internet – will be a major factor in how the flotilla disaster shapes Istanbul’s diplomacy
by Fadi Hakura
Turkey has traditionally enjoyed a close – albeit quiet – relationship with Israel since diplomatic ties were established in 1949. Mirroring the general climate in the Middle East, relations between the two countries experienced a trough after the 1967 war, peaked following the 1990s Middle East peace process and deteriorated since Israel’s 2008 military operations in Gaza. Coming soon after the diplomatic spat over the treatment of Turkey’s ambassador to Israel, the tragic loss of Turkish lives when Israeli commandos stormed the flotilla en route to Gaza, has sent a deepening chill over those once-strategic ties. While barriers between Turkey and Israel are proliferating, they are tumbling down with neighbouring Syria, Iran and the Gulf Arab region. In recent years, Turkey has lifted visa restrictions with Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, signed countless agreements with Arab countries, and launched a strategic dialogue with Arab governments.
The emergence of Turkey in the Middle East has been marked by a palpable shift to the Arab world and Iran for a variety of reasons. One is economic interests: Turkey’s annual trade with Israel stands at $2.5bn compared with over $30bn with Iran and the Arab countries. At the same time, Turkey imports almost a fifth of its natural gas consumption from Iran.
The power of graphic, real-time media images streaming from Israel’s 2006 and 2008 wars in Lebanon and Gaza respectively, or from the raid on the flotilla, has clearly inflamed Turkish popular reactions.
Yet the key reason for the shift is the continuing democratisation of Turkish society. It was previously the norm for the Turkish state establishment to ignore, or downgrade, the influence of public opinion on foreign policy. That is no longer the case. Today, as Turkey proceeds along the path of greater democracy and civilian rule, public opinion is becoming a crucially important ingredient in foreign policy choices.
As far as it is decipherable from surveys, Turkish public opinion is quite hostile to Israel and the United States. It seems that Turks have a deep distrust of both countries, feelings that will be bolstered by the loss of Turkish lives. Conversely, however, it would be premature to assume that Turks necessarily desire overtly warm ties with Iran and the Arab world. They normally cite Europe, and particularly Germany, as the region that they most trust in international affairs, despite repeated obstacles bedevilling Turkey’s EU accession process.
These survey results, therefore, point to an intriguing and realistic understanding by the Turkish public on the future of Turkey in the Middle East. They appear to want closer relations with Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia without sacrificing integration efforts with Europe, nor getting overly entangled in the Middle East. In fact, that understanding matches two important lessons drawn from recent events. Prime among such lessons is that Turkey is not the only major player in the Middle East. There are multiple players – ranging from the US and Israel to Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia – with sometimes converging interests, and on other occasions competing goals. That’s why not only the US, but also some Gulf Arab states, did not exhibit any enthusiasm for the Turkish-Brazilian deal with Iran to swap 1,200kg of low-enriched uranium for higher-grade uranium.
Similarly, Turkey has thus far resorted to diplomatic protests against Israel – from withdrawing its ambassador and releasing robust and muscular statements to securing a vague condemnation from the UN security council. In other words, Turkey has not threatened any military retaliation. Nor has Turkey opted for a complete breakdown of relations with Israel, which is a real possibility, though not a forgone conclusion.
Another important lesson is that Turkey’s capacity does not always match its foreign policy ambitions. Turkey is still a maturing democracy with a developing economy, which places strict limitations on its abilities to project power in the Middle East. Consequently, the complications of the Middle East require a delicate balancing of capacity and ambitions as well as carefully defining priorities. Nuance is the one word most relevant to Turkey’s foreign policy.
EDITOR: The Lunatic State of the Jewish State
In Israel, as well as abroad, the full lunacy and vileness of this latest Israeli war crime is becoming clear to all who can read. Israeli propaganda has worked overtime, based on the kidnapping of the activists, isolating them from the whole world, confiscating all their material evidence, on top of the brutalities of maiming and murdering many of them. This meant that for the last few days, only the the voice of Israeli propaganda was available to the international media. Fictional narratives, more complex than most Hollywood scripts, were woven and reinforced by what must be the largest propaganda machine anywhere.
Of course, this matter little now. The facts are now coming out, and many inquiries will be conducted and will establish the full horror of this murderous piracy. The world will not be fooled by this anymore. In Israel, however, the public, and the elites are fully behind this latest crime, as they always were behind the ones committed before. They no longer matter, of course. Anyone waiting for internal transformation must be seriously delusional; there shall be no such change ever – the change will come from outside, from the outraged millions, who watch disbelievingly as their own governments, yet again, do nothing to stop mayhem, murder and lawlessness by the Israeli regime. It is interesting to note that the public support of the Israelis for the war crimes committed in their names everywhere – in Beirut, in Gaza, in the rest of Palestine, in Dubai, and now on the high seas, not for the first time – is much higher than that enjoyed by the apartheid regime in its heyday! Israel is a Jewish military democracy, for Jews only, and as such, all its Jewish citizens are responsible for what is done in their name, unless they act against the crimes. Because of this continued unstinting support, there is no hope for change in Israel, and we should not expect it or try to bring it about. It is a waste of time and effort – Israelis are living in a parallel universe, where normal legalities do not exist, and morality is absent, where racism and apartheid are still ruling the day.
The change will come from us, from the enraged and caring millions, angry with the duplicity of their own governments and their collusion with Israeli crimes; the international community is now realising it is up to all of us to do what many did during the apartheid days – to isolate and ostracise and isolate this pariah military and piratical regime, this State of Lunacy and lawlessness. We will all need to stop any relationship with this entity of crime: no products to be purchased, no touring in Israel, no conferences there, no invites and collaboration with Israeli academics and institutions who do not declare their unequivocal opposition to the occupation and its iniquities. The resolution of this conflict will only be reached by the annulling Zionism and its racism, its military and ‘civil’ racist machineries, the total removal of all settler communities, and the return of Palestinian refugees, as well as the payment of full compensation to all those who were hurt by the Zionist enterprise over the last few decades.
The way to achieve this is by the careful and thoughtful but total BDS – Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, that will lead to a Just peace and a stable and long-lasting political order in Palestine. Anything else will just lead to more murder, and to a likely destabilizing of the region, and towards exporting militant radicalism and possibly terrorism to all parts of the globe, as a result of an obvious failure of the west to deal with this colonial and imperialist abscess.
An old Israeli saying describing various less-than-esteemed military leaders says: “He was so stupid that even the other generals noticed.” The same derisive remark could be applied almost without exception to the present generation of Israeli politicians.
Such healthy scepticism among Israelis about the abilities of their military and political leaders has unfortunately ebbed in recent decades. As a result, Israelis are left perplexed as to why their wars, military interventions and armed actions have so often ended in failure since the 1973 war, despite the superiority of their armed forces.
The latest example of this is the assault on the Gaza aid convoy by naval commandos, a confrontation initiated by Israel which thereby ensured that the convoy’s organisers achieved their objectives to a degree beyond their wildest dreams. By using assault troops in a police action against civilians with predictably bloody results Israel managed to focus international attention on its blockade of Gaza, which the world had hitherto largely ignored. The Israeli action infuriated Turkey, once its strongest ally in the region, and strengthened the claim of Hamas to Palestinian leadership.
The capacity of Israel to shoot itself in the foot needs explanation. From the beginning the operation was idiotic, since Israel was always likely to look bad after any confrontation between élite troops and civilian protesters. Even more ludicrous is the Israeli explanation that their élite and heavily armed soldiers were at risk of their lives because they had to use thick gloves to protect their hands when sliding down cables from a helicopter and therefore could not use their weapons.
The nature of the fiasco should cause little surprise because such botched Israeli military actions have been the norm for years. The 1982 invasion of Lebanon was discredited by the massacre of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps by Christian militias loosed on them by Israeli army commanders. Syria, not Israel, became the predominant power in Lebanon. In south Lebanon, the Israeli army fought a long and unsuccessful guerrilla war against Hizbollah. The bombardments of Lebanon in 1996 and 2006 left Hizbollah stronger, and a similar attack on Gaza in 2008 failed to weaken Hamas.
The problem is that nobody believes Israeli propaganda as much as Israelis. Pro-Palestinian activists often lament the fluency and mendacity of Israeli spokesmen on the airwaves and the pervasive influence of Israel’s supporters abroad. But, in reality, these PR campaigns are Israel’s greatest weakness, because they distort Israelis’ sense of reality. Defeats and failures are portrayed as victories and successes.
The slaughter of civilians is justified as a military necessity or somehow the fault of the other side. Opponents are demonised as bloodthirsty terrorists. Comforted by such benign accounts of their activities, Israeli leaders are consumed by arrogance because they come to believe they have never made a mistake. Denial that errors have occurred makes it extremely difficult to sack generals or ministers, however gross their incompetence or record of failure.
Many Israelis privately take their own propaganda with a pinch of salt, though the number is diminishing. But abroad, the most third-rate Israeli politicians strut before fawning audiences as heroic defenders of the state. Not surprisingly they return home with a dangerously inflated idea of their own abilities and in a perilously self-important mood.
The Israeli propaganda machine, official and private, has been running full throttle in the last few days justifying the assault on the aid convoy to Gaza. Probably spokesmen feel they are performing well given the weakness of their case. In fact, they do nothing but harm to Israel. The greater their success in denying gross and culpable mistakes, the more likely it is that the perpetrators will hold their jobs – and the more likely it is that the mistakes will be endlessly repeated.
Israel deports 124 pro-Palestinian activists to Jordan and transfers 200 more to Tel Aviv airport amid increasing calls for independent inquiry into deadly assault
Wednesday 2 June 2010 09.15 BST
Israel today started deporting all the detained activists seized during its botched raid on an aid shipment to Gaza, as some of the first to be freed spoke of their mistreatment at the hands of the Israelis.
A group of 124 pro-Palestinian activists from 12 Muslim nations crossed the border in five Jordanian buses. Another 200 activists have been transferred from a holding centre to Israel’s airport near Tel Aviv, a prison service spokesman said. The remaining activists will be released throughout the day, the spokesman said.
Yesterday Israel had indicated it might prosecute some of the activists.
The decision to free the detainees came as more accounts from those on the ships began to emerge.
One Briton who was on one of the boats heading towards Gaza arrived back in Britain last night.
IT professional Hasan Nowarah, from Glasgow, described the moment the aid flotilla was stormed by Israeli troops.
He told Sky News that the Mavi Marmara ship was surrounded by helicopters and Zodiac assault craft.
“All you could see was screaming and bullets. Out of the blue as I looked around our ship, all I could see were hundreds of Zodiacs. Hundreds of Zodiacs full of soldiers, and big ships, lots of ships, and I believe as well submarines in the sea.”
The assault left nine dead and dozens wounded and has led to criticism of Israel and increasing calls for an independent, impartial inquiry.
One of the group deported to Jordan today, Walid al-Tabtabai, a Kuwaiti politician who was on board one of the ships with other activists from Muslim countries, said: “The Israelis roughed up and humiliated all of us, women, men and children.
“They were brutal and arrogant, but our message reached every corner of the world that the blockade on Gaza is unfair and should be lifted immediately.”
Like many passengers on the flotilla he insisted there were no weapons on any of the ships.
Algerian Izzeddine Zahrour said Israeli authorities “deprived us of food, water and sleep and we weren’t allowed to use the toilet”.
“It was an ugly kidnapping and subsequently bad treatment in Israeli jail,” he said. “They handcuffed us, pushed us around and humiliated us.”
Mauritanian Mohammed Gholam said Israel “wanted us to sign documents saying that we entered Israel illegally”.
An Algerian activist, who only gave her first name as Sabrina, accused Israeli commandos of taking a one-year-old child hostage.
“They point a gun to his head in front of his Turkish parents to force the captain of our ship to stop sailing,” she said.
A Jordanian government spokesman said there were 30 Jordanians in the group. Jordan is one of two Arab nations with a signed peace treaty with Israel. Kuwaiti ambassador Sheik Faisal Al Sabah said the group included 16 Kuwaitis. He said the other activists came from Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Yemen, Oman and Bahrain.
Turkey has led criticism of the raid, accusing Israel of committing a “massacre”, and the UN security council demanded an impartial investigation. There were reports in the Israeli media today that Israel had ordered the families of its diplomats in Turkey to leave that country because of Turkish anger at the raid.
Washington blocked an attempt at the UN security council for an international inquiry yesterday, issuing a mild statement regretting the loss of life. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, later called the situation in Gaza “unsustainable”.
“Israel’s legitimate security needs must be met, just as the Palestinians’ legitimate needs for sustained humanitarian assistance and regular access to reconstruction materials must also be assured,” she said.
Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, said this morning that Israel’s blockade of Gaza was “an absolute humanitarian catastrophe” that was “not in Israel’s own long-term self-interest”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning that Israel had “every right” to protect its people from terrorist threat, but said: “What I ask my Israeli friends and Israeli politicians and officials I meet is: what’s the strategy, where do you go next, how are you going to secure in the long term, not just day to day, the security which you rightly crave?”
Last night, the foreign secretary, William Hague, said 31 British nationals and a further 11 with dual nationality were known to have been detained after the seizure of the vessels as they attempted to breach the Israeli blockade of the territory.
The Foreign Office confirmed that 29 of the Britons had received a visit – with no complaints about their treatment.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, said that the detainees were being treated in line with international practice.
“We are not charging them with anything, we have detained them and we will help them leave our country,” he told the BBC.
There was concern among friends and relatives in the UK who complained that they were unable to establish contact with the detainees.
Rachel Bridgeland, whose partner, Peter Venner, 63, from Ryde, Isle of Wight, was on the Mavi Marmara, said that the government should be putting more pressure on Israel.
“It’s absolutely terrible not knowing what has happened to him and it’s terrible that the British government hasn’t done more, but they don’t want to fall out with Israel,” she said.
UN security council calls for impartial investigation into Israel’s assault on a flotilla carrying aid supplies to the Gaza Strip
Members of the UN security council meet in the wake of the Israeli raid on the Gaza aid flotilla. Photograph: Louis Lanzano/AP
The full text of a formal presidential statement adopted today by the United Nations security council on Israel’s action against an aid flotilla heading for Gaza:
The security council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza. The council, in this context, condemns those acts which resulted in the loss of at least 10 civilians and many wounded, and expresses its condolences to their families.
The security council requests the immediate release of the ships as well as the civilians held by Israel. The council urges Israel to permit full consular access, to allow the countries concerned to retrieve their deceased and wounded immediately, and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance from the convoy to its destination.
The security council takes note of the statement of the UN secretary-general on the need to have a full investigation into the matter and it calls for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards.
The security council stresses that the situation in Gaza is not sustainable. The council re-emphasises the importance of the full implementation of Resolutions 1850 and 1860. In that context, it reiterates its grave concern at the humanitarian situation in Gaza and stresses the need for sustained and regular flow of goods and people to Gaza as well as unimpeded provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.
The security council underscores that the only viable solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an agreement negotiated between the parties and re-emphasises that only a two-state solution, with an independent and viable Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours, could bring peace to the region.
The security council expresses support for the proximity talks and voices concern that this incident took place while the proximity talks are under way and urges the parties to act with restraint, avoiding any unilateral and provocative actions, and all international partners to promote an atmosphere of cooperation between the parties and throughout the region.
Now, more than 36 hours after the massacre, we still do not know anything about:
How many have been murdered, injured and what are their names?
What is going on in the detention centre where over 620 people, kidnapped on the boats, are being held illegally?
When will people be released?
and most importantly, when will the illegal and immoral Blockade on Gaza be terminated?
Israel, a pariah terrorist state of pirates and murderers, has again killed and maimed innocent people, kidnapped and arrested them, denied their human rights, and all this with perfect immunity. Do not be confused by the noises of the leaders of the western nations, please! None of this means anything. Israel has NEVER paid for any of its crimes, because our leaders have supported it, and will continue to do so. The only route to change in the Middle East is total Boycott, Divestment and Sanction, like we have pushed for successfully in the case of South Africa! There is no more time for Mr. Nice Guy O’Bummer – good oratory is leading us nowhere, and we should say so. Trust not in the politicians – what we need is a mass civic campaign, and we can do this, and will.
Do not forget! Do not Forgive! Do not overlook War Crimes! Do not avoid the voices of Palestine and Gaza calling out, calling for an end of the decades oif nightmare called Zionism. Let the ‘friends of Israel’ defend this murder – we will fight against this vile entity until it is gone, like apartheid South Africa!
By Gideon Levy, Haaretz – 1 June 2010
Like in “Mini-Israel,” the park where there is everything, but smaller, Israel embarked yesterday on a mini Operation Cast Lead. Like its larger, losing predecessor, this operation had it all: the usual false claim that is was they who had started it – and not the landing of commandos from helicopters on a ship in open sea, away from Israeli territorial waters. There was the claim that the first act of violence came not from the soldiers, but the rioting activists on Mavi Marmara; that the blockade on Gaza is legal and that the flotilla to its shores is against the law – God knows which law.
Again came the claim of self defense, that “they lynched us” and that all the dead are on their side. Once more the use of violence and excessive and lethal force was in play and once more civilians wound up dead.
This action also featured the pathetic focus on “public relations,” as if there is something to explain, and again the sick question was asked: Why didn’t the soldiers use more force.
Again Israel will pay a heavy diplomatic price, once which had not been considered ahead of time. Again, the Israeli propaganda machine has managed to convince only brainwashed Israelis, and once more no one asked the question: What was it for? Why were our soldiers thrown into this trap of pipes and ball bearings? What did we get out of it?
If Cast Lead was a turning point in the attitude of the world toward us, this operation is the second horror film of the apparently ongoing series. Israel proved yesterday that it learned nothing from the first movie.
Yesterday’s fiasco could and should have been prevented. This flotilla should have been allowed to pass and the blockade should be brought to an end.
This should have happened a long time ago. In four years Hamas has not weakened and Gilad Shalit was not released. There was not even a sign of a gain.
And what have we instead? A country that is quickly becoming completely isolated. This is a place that turns away intellectuals, shoots peace activists, cuts off Gaza and now finds itself in an international blockade. Once more yesterday it seemed, and not for the first time, that Israel is increasingly breaking away from the mother ship, and losing touch with the world – which does not accept its actions and does not understand its motives.
Yesterday there was no one on the planet, not a newsman or analyst, except for its conscripted chorus, who could say a good word about the lethal takeover.
The Israel Defense Forces too came out looking bad again. The magic evaporated long ago, the most moral army in the world, that was once the best army in the world, failed again. More and more there is the impression that nearly everything it touches causes harm to Israel.
EDITOR: “Friends of Israel’?
Friends of Israel? Friends of murderers, pirates and fascists? Friends of those who incarcerate and starve almost two million people in Gaza, for over four years, just because they exercised their vote which displeased Israel? Friends of the apartheid wall, of the racist Jewish state? Friends of vile vice, of brutality and bloodthirsty regime? What are they friends of? Not of us, the rest of humanity!
By Mark LeVine
Americans protest against the attack on the Gaza aid flotilla [AFP]
Perhaps now Americans will understand the true nature of the Israeli occupation.
It has never been about security. Not for one day. It has been about land and power. And this is where it has led. And we have made it possible.
Since at least the mid-1970s, only one country has had the power to force Israel to give up its dreams of permanent occupation of the West Bank: The US.
After the success against Soviet-backed Arab forces in 1967, Israel suddenly became a “strategic asset” – a useful proxy in the global great game against Communism.
For three decades the US and its political class have feigned concern, affection and even love for Israel; the reality is that Israel has always been a tool to advance US strategic goals and power, and nothing more.
All the while, thoughtful Israelis – not to mention Palestinians and the rest of the world – have begged the US to intervene, to stop the insanity before it created an abscess that threatened not just the Jewish state, but the whole region, and even global peace.
But the US goal was never to “protect” or “support” Israel.
Facilitators
The US’ goal was never to protect or support it’s ‘friend’ Israel [AFP]
We have pretended to be its friend, but we are the friend in the way your drug dealer is your friend, sitting with you late at night listening to your problems while hooking you up with your next fix – only in strange twist, the American people rather than the Israelis are paying for the habit their government and corporate elites grow richer sustaining.
We are the ultimate facilitators of this insane and immoral arrangement, which is part of our larger addiction to war that now reaches $1 trillion per year.
We cannot see Israel and the occupation for what they are, because to do so would be to look into the most uncomfortable mirror imaginable.
We are like the local arms dealer – Nicholas Cage’s character in the chilling film Lord of War, only real, and 300,000,000 strong.
We tell Israel everything is okay when it is disastrously wrong. We reinforce every bad habit while declaring its behaviour largely above reproach.
We “defend” Israel from every criticism – “No! It doesn’t have a problem!” “It’s the only democracy in the region!” “We stand with Israel!” – really, we stand beside Israel, give it some more “brown-brown” (cocaine mixed with gun powder) to snort, hand it some new weapons and send it out to kill and oppress some more, in our name.
Some friend.
Politicide
The occupation has been an act of sheer brutality for decades. What has happened in Gaza – what the US and the world community have allowed to happen, for we could always stop it with a simple phone call from the US president to the Israeli prime minister – is sheer madness.
It is politicide. It is slow starvation, of the soul and mind as much as the body. Not the kind that produces pictures of distended bellies, blank eyes and ragged clothes, but that slowly eats away at the personality, the will to fight, the ability to overcome, that produces medical problems that will haunt a million people for life.
And because the US and other so-called “great powers” would do nothing and Palestinians have little power left to effectively resist, people around the world, average people, from Palestinians to Holocaust survivors, have felt compelled to act.
They have sent ships now numerous times to break the siege of Gaza. Israel could not allow the siege to be broken because if the world saw what Gaza has become, not merely a prison but something far worse and hard to speak of, even its vaunted “hasbara” or propaganda machine, would not be able to spin it.
And the worse it gets, the more Israel’s backers, like the US, cannot afford the world to see it because we have made it happen.
Moral turpitude
Israel’s backers cannot allow the world see the result of the siege they have let happen [AFP]
And now at least 10 people are dead because of the shame, because of the inability of Israel’s best friends to look it in the eye and say: “Stop this insanity. Treat Palestinians like humans before you destroy not only them, but you.”
We cannot say that because we are guilty as well, and the US has proved singularly unable to come to grips with our own culpability in occupations from Iraq and Afghanistan to Gaza and, of course, our own original sin, which demanded millions of dead native Americans to ensure the creation of the very country that now supplies Israel with its weapons and tells it everything is going to be okay.
Some day you can let the Palestinians have casinos and they will thank you.
It is tragically fitting that this disaster should happen on Memorial Day in the US.
The martyrs of the ships are heroes, they are warriors every bit as deserving of our tears and support as the soldiers of American wars past and present.
They are, in fact, the soldiers of the future – the only ones who can help us get out of the disastrous slide to moral turpitude that we, as much as Israel, have descended as a country.
Let us hope that the deaths of the Gaza flotilla activists will not be as in vain as those of the 5,000 American soldiers who have died in our own illegal and useless wars in the last decade.
Mark LeVine is a professor of history at UC Irvine and senior visiting researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University in Sweden. His most recent books are Heavy Metal Islam (Random House) and Impossible Peace: Israel/Palestine Since 1989 (Zed Books).
rabbletv — May 31, 2010 — On May 31, 2010, Torontonians took to the streets to protest the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla carrying aid supplies to Gaza overnight.
The rally and march ended in Dundas Square, where Naomi Klein delivered an impassioned speech about the attack which has left an estimated 20 people dead and many more injured, and about the need for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.
Filmed by Bob Chandler, edited by Michelle Langlois for rabbletv.
“Israel is the only Piratical Jewish Democracy in the Middle East”
President and Chief War Criminal, Shimon (Smiley) Peres
The murder of these peace activists will count. Sanctions must surely be the price
This will count. A flotilla of relief boats attacked in international waters. Armed commandos boarding a vessel carrying supplies for a besieged civilian population. More than 10 peace activists reported killed. This has to be made to count.
The dead have joined Rachel Corrie, Tom Hurndall, James Miller and Brian Avery in giving up their lives for the Palestinians. None of these young men and women went out to die or wanted to die or was accepting of death. Each and every one of them ultimately believed that they were safe; that there was a boundary – call it a boundary of legality, a boundary of civilisation – that Israel would not cross. They were wrong. And in proving them wrong, Israel has revealed, once again, its true face to the world.
This face, of course, the Palestinians know well. They see it every day in the teenage soldiers of the occupation chewing gum as they dish out humiliations, in the settlers shooting young Palestinians with impunity, in the soldiers firing gas canisters at the heads of demonstrators. The world saw that face in January last year when Israel unleashed the might of its air force on Gaza – the only time in modern warfare that a civilian population was sealed in as it was being bombed and shelled. Now Israel is out on the high seas killing internationals.
So never mind the multimillion-dollar public relations campaign – actions speak louder than words, and the murder of these peace activists is Israel’s message to the world. It does not matter what Mark Regev or any other Israel spokesperson says. It does not matter what spin the Israeli government tries to put on this; the only link between Israeli words and Israeli deeds is this: Israel uses words as a decoy and an obfuscation and a cover for its deeds. It has done so for 62 years. These internationals, dead now, murdered, have ensured that anyone who does not see this is wilfully blind.
Western governments are fond of holding up Israel as the “only democracy in the Middle East”. So should we assume that the Israeli people are behind their government? That they approve these killings? Last month I was at al-Quds University in Abu Dis. Israel’s wall shaved the edge off the campus. On it, in tall blue letters, a Palestinian student had written: “My Israeli sisters: this is not the answer.”
A few days ago, young Jewish Israeli activists told me they saw that the only hope for their country lies with the international community. Israel is on a path to self-destruction, they said, and it will take the region with it. It will not stop, they said, until the price it pays for its actions becomes too heavy. This price has to be a moral and economic price imposed by the world.
My anger and my sadness are so great that I have to deliberately draw a deep breath from time to time to ease the bands I feel around my chest. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that millions of people in the world are feeling the same. People everywhere see and understand what is happening. Many of us feel that Palestine is nearing its South Africa moment. This latest outrage must push it closer. And it will.
Donations will, I’m sure, flood in to the other relief boats waiting in harbour. More and more people will take the boycott to heart. More civil bodies will insist on divestment from companies that do business with Israel. The time has come for the governments that represent us to stop engaging with Israeli lies and excuses. The price of Israel’s action today has to be to put the issue of sanctions squarely on the table.
Monday, 31 May 2010 Israeli naval commandos stormed a flotilla of ships carrying aid and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to the blockaded Gaza Strip today, killing at least 10 passengers in a pre-dawn raid that set off worldwide condemnation and a diplomatic crisis.
Israel said the forces encountered unexpected resistance as they boarded the vessels. Dozens of passengers and at least five Israeli soldiers were wounded in the confrontation in international waters.
Israel’s tough response triggered widespread condemnation across Europe; many of the passengers were from European countries. The raid also strained already tense relations with Israel’s long-time Muslim ally Turkey, the unofficial sponsor of the mission, and drew more attention to the plight of Gaza’s 1.5 million people.
Turkey announced it was withdrawing its ambassador to Israel, cancelling three joint military drills and calling on the UN Security Council to convene in an emergency session about Israel. The Israeli ambassadors in Sweden, Spain, Denmark and Greece were summoned for meetings, and the French foreign minister called for an investigation.
The violent takeover also threatened to deal yet another blow to Israel’s international image, already tarnished by war crimes accusations in Gaza and its blockade of the impoverished Palestinian territory.
It occurred a day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss the Middle East peace process.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned “the disproportionate use of force” against the flotilla.
“All light must be shed on the circumstances of this tragedy, which underlines the urgency of resuming peace talks,” he said in a statement.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak expressed regret for the deaths but blamed the violence on organisers of the flotilla, calling the effort a “political provocation” by anti-Israel forces.
Israeli security forces were on alert across the country, and the government advised Israelis to avoid travel to Turkey.
There were conflicting accounts of what happened early today.
An Al-Jazeera reporter on one of the Turkish ships said the Israelis fired at the vessel before boarding it. The Israelis, who had declared they would not let the ships reach Gaza, said they only opened fire after being attacked by activists with sticks, knives and live fire from weapons seized from the Israeli commandos.
“On board the ship we found weapons prepared in advance and used against our forces,” declared Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon.
“The organisers’ intent was violent, their method was violent and the results were unfortunately violent. Israel regrets any loss of life and did everything to avoid this outcome.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Israeli “aggression,” declared three days of mourning across the West Bank and called on the UN Security Council and Arab League to hold emergency sessions on the incident.
Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the rival Hamas government in Gaza, condemned the “brutal” Israeli attack and called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to intervene.
Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, said soldiers were forced by violent activists to respond with live fire.
The activists were headed to Gaza on a mission meant to draw attention to a three year-old Israeli blockade of the coastal territory. Israel imposed the blockade after Hamas, which it considers a terrorist group, violently seized the territory.
The Israeli military said troops only opened fire after encountering unexpected resistance from the activists. Activists attacked troops with knives and iron rods, and opened fire with two pistols seized from the forces.
A total of five soldiers were wounded, two seriously, including at least one hit by live fire, the army said. Two of the dead activists had fired at soldiers with pistols, the army said.
“They planned this attack,” said Israeli military spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovitch. “Our soldiers were injured from these knives and sharp metal objects … as well as from live fire.”
The ships were being towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, and wounded were evacuated by helicopter to Israeli hospitals, officials said. One of the ships had reached port by midday.
There were no details on the identities of the casualties, or on the conditions of some of the more prominent people on board, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland, European legislators and Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, 85.
The United Nations expressed “shock” and condemned the killings. “We are in contact with the Israeli authorities to express our deep concern and to seek a full explanation,” said a statement from the highest-ranking UN official in the region, Robert Serry.
Netanyahu later spoke by telephone with top Israeli officials and expressed his “full backing” for the military, according to a statement from the army.
The White House said in a written statement that the US “deeply regrets” the loss of life and injuries and was working to understand the circumstances surrounding this “tragedy.”
An Israeli commando who spoke to reporters on a naval vessel off the coast said he and his comrades were surprised by a group of Arabic-speaking men when they rapelled onto the deck.
He said some of the soldiers, taken off guard, were stripped of their helmets and equipment and thrown from the top deck to the lower deck, and that some had even jumped overboard to save themselves. At one point one of the passengers seized one of the soldiers’ weapons and opened fire.
A high-ranking naval official displayed a box confiscated from the boat containing switchblades, slingshots, metal balls and metal bats. “We prepared (the soldiers) to deal with peace activists, not to fight,” he said. Most of the 10 dead were Turkish, he added.
At least nine activists killed and dozens more wounded by Israeli naval commandos
Israel was engulfed by a wave of global condemnation tonight after a botched assault on a flotilla carrying aid and supplies to the Gaza Strip ended in carnage and a diplomatic crisis involving the UN security council.
At least nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed as Israeli naval commandos stormed the largest ship in the flotilla carrying passengers. Dozens more were wounded and evacuated by helicopter to Israeli coastal hospitals.
Israel said more than 10 of its troops were injured, two seriously, in the battle that began early yesterday morning in international waters, about 40 miles from the coast of Gaza.
The UN security council was due to meet tonight in emergency session and Turkey, whose relations with Israel have been severely strained since the war in Gaza in 2008-9, called for Nato to convene over the military assault. The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who ordered the recall of the country’s ambassador to Israel, described the operation as “state terrorism” and said Israel had violated international law. “We are not going to remain silent in the face of this inhumane state terrorism,” he said.
Israel immediately imposed a communications blackout on the detained activists while simultaneously launching a sophisticated public relations operation to ensure its version of events was dominant. Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who defended the assault, put off a meeting with US president Barack Obama at the White House scheduled for tomorrow to fly back to deal with the crisis.
Activists with less serious injuries began to trickle into Israeli hospitals late this afternoon. There were believed to be about 27 British civilians aboard the flotilla. Most of the dead were reported to be Turkish nationals.
The deaths and injuries were condemned by the UN, EU and other countries. The US, in contrast, was initially restrained in its response, expressing regret and saying it was “currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy”.
UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, condemned the violence and called for an investigation. “I am shocked by reports of killing of people in boats carrying supply to Gaza. I heard the ships were in international water. That is very bad.”
The foreign secretary, William Hague, issued a statement “deploring” the loss of life. “There is a clear need for Israel to act with restraint and in line with international obligations,” he said.
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, described the storming of the flotilla as a “massacre” and called for three days of national mourning. Israel’s navy had promised to exercise restraint in dealing with the flotilla, and the bloodshed will inevitably leave Israel open to charges of a disproportionate response involving excessive force.
The government, however, was robust in defending its actions, saying its troops had been provoked and attacked by activists aboard the Mavi Marmara, the biggest of the passenger-carrying ships in the flotilla.
However, some Israeli commentators expressed reservations about the operation, fearing that it would leave Israel internationally isolated. Alon Liel, a former Israeli ambassador to Turkey, told the Guardian the situation could have been averted. “Definitely we made mistakes and in retrospect anything would have been better – including letting the boats reach Gaza,” he said.
The assault began at 4.30am as the convoy was heading to Gaza to deliver its cargo of aid. According to a spokeswoman for Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Avital Leibovich, officers aboard its warships gave the activists several warnings before commandos were winched from helicopters on to the deck of the Mavi Marmara.
“We found ourselves in the middle of a lynching,” she told reporters in the Israeli port of Ashdod. Around 10 activists attacked commandos, she said, relieving them of their pistols.
“We didn’t look for confrontation but it was a massive attack,” she said. “What happened was a last resort.”
It was impossible to contact protesters on the ships, but the Free Gaza Movement, one of the organisers of the flotilla, said the IDF had started the violence, firing as soon as they boarded the ship. Leibovich defended Israel’s action in international waters, saying it was permissible when a country’s security was threatened.
The Mavi Marmara was brought into port at Ashdod, 23 miles north of Gaza City, tonight following the earlier arrival of two other passenger ships. The area was closed to the media.
Activists were expected to be processed in a large white tent on the quayside, where they would be offered the choice of immediate deportation to their country of origin or going through the lengthy process of the Israeli courts system.
The Israeli authorities gave no details of the injuries to activists. It confirmed that nine were dead, although government sources suggested the figure could rise
The flotilla was trying to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, which has been enforced for the past three years.
Israel advised its nationals in Turkey to leave the country for fear of reprisals. A luxury liner, Magic 1, was diverted from the Turkish coast to Cyprus.
Israeli police cancelled leave and the army was on high alert, saying it feared possible rocket attacks from Islamist militants in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
Egypt summons Israeli ambassador; Arab League urges member states to ‘reconsider dealings with Israel’; European Union condemns incident; UN chief calls for full inquiry.
Turkey announced Monday that it was recalling its ambassador to Israelafter 10 international activists were killed when the Israel Navy stormed a ship bringing aid to the Gaza Strip, while Egypt summoned Israel’s envoy in Cairo in response to the incident.
Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel. Turkey and Israel hold diplomatic ties, though they have been strained over the last year.
The Arab League, meanwhile, urged member states to “reconsider” their dealings with Israel.
“Israel’s attack indicates Israel is not ready for peace. Israel attacked the liberty fleet because it feels it is above the law,” Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said in Doha.
“There is no benefit in dealing with Israel in this manner and we must re-assess our dealing with Israel,” he said.
Israeli commandos intercepted the aid flotilla on Monday. Officials said they were met with knives and staves when they boarded the ships, which included a ferry flying the Turkish flag.
Israel’s foreign ministry warned its citizens to avoid travel to Turkey and instructed those already there to keep a low profile and avoid crowded downtown areas.
Turkey denounced Israel’s killing of 10 left-wing activists as “unacceptable” and summoning Israel’s ambassador to discuss the incident – bringing already tense relations between the countries to new heights.
The ministry said that Israel had violated international law and must now carry the consequences.”[The interception on the convoy] is unacceptable … Israel will have to endure the consequences of this behavior,” it said in a statement.
Murat Mercan, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, said: “I was expecting an intervention. I was not expecting bloodshed, the use of arms and bullets.”
“Israel is engaged in activity that will extremely hurt its image,” he said. Erdogan, meanwhile, cut short a trip abroad to deal with the incident.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described the clashes as a “massacre.
UN chief calls for full inquiry into Gaza flotilla deaths
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a full investigation and expressed shock at Israel’s storming of the convoy.
“It is vital that there is a full investigation to determine exactly how this bloodshed took place. I believe Israel must urgently provide a full explanation,” he said at a press conference in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.
France became the first European nation to respond to the early morning’s events. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he was “profoundly shocked”.
Many of the activists aboard the protest ships were European nationals and analysts have predicted a harsh diplomatic response from the European Union and its member states.
Many of the activists aboard the protest ships were European nationals and analysts have predicted a harsh diplomatic response from the European Union and its member states.
The European Union demanded an inquiry and Germany said it was “shocked”. The United Nations condemned violence against civilians in international waters.
Germany, one of Israel’s most loyal allies, expressed shock at the deadly interception and questioned whether the action by Israeli commandos was proportionate.
Two members of the Bundestag lower house of parliament were among five Germans on board the ships, the foreign ministry said.
“The German government is shocked by events in the international waters by Gaza,” government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a regular news conference, adding the government was seeking further clarification about the incident.
“Every German government supports unconditionally Israel’s right to self defence,” said Wilhelm. But he added that Israeli actions should to correspond to what he described as the “basic principle” of proportionality.
“A first look does not speak in favor of this basic principle being adhered to,” he said. Berlin would await further details before judging the incident, he added.
Italy also condemned the killing of civilians during Israel’s storming of the aid flotilla as “very grave” and asked for an EU investigation to ascertain the facts.
“I deplore in the strongest terms the killing of civilians. This is certainly a grave act,” said Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
Referring to the European Commission, he said it was “indispensable that there be an inquest to ascertain the facts, which are still not clear.”
He also said he had asked the Israeli ambassador for clarification and hoped that it would not hurt efforts on the part of Israel and Turkey to cooperate in the search for Middle East peace.
Mon, 31 May 2010 05:27:14 GMT
The death toll from the Israeli navy’s takeover of a Gaza aid convoy has risen to 20 while Israel carefully censors reports on the casualties from the attack.
Gaza Freedom Flotilla came under fire early on Monday by Israeli navy forces in international waters more than 150km (90 miles) off the coast of Gaza.
The six-ship aid fleet was soon stormed by commandos descending from helicopters.
At least 20 people were killed in the takeover of the Gaza aid convoy, al-Aqsa TV channel reported, saying that more than 50 people, including leader of the Palestinian Islamic Movement Sheikh Raed Salah, were wounded in the attack.
The news trickled through the Israeli military censorship which has sought to block the reporting of any information about the casualties.
A report on the Israeli radio said the censorship was aimed at covering up the number of casualties brought to Israeli hospitals for treatment.
Meanwhile, Israeli Trade and Industry Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer expressed regret for the deaths aboard the Gaza aid ships.
“The images are certainly not pleasant. I can only voice regret at all the fatalities,” he told Israel’s Army Radio.
The comments come as the first official acknowledgement by Tel Aviv that the attack had turned fatal.
Israel had initially declined to comment on the reports of casualties from the takeover of the aid ships.
Israel suffered a searing diplomatic defeat at the five-year review conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that ended last weekend.
Israel suffered a searing diplomatic defeat at the five-year review conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that ended last weekend. The treaty’s 189 member states, including the United States, urged Israel to sign the NPT, which would mean ending its policy of ambiguity and dismantling its alleged nuclear capability. The conference also decided to promote the establishment of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East, and to convene a regional conference on this issue in 2012.
The U.S. administration tried to mitigate the damage to Israel, and President Barack Obama restated his commitment to its security. This issue will be discussed tomorrow at his White House meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel will not hasten to alter its nuclear policy, and one should not expect foreign inspectors to visit the Dimona nuclear reactor anytime in the foreseeable future.
But the lameness of the review conference’s decision in practice, and even the consoling messages from Washington, do nothing to obscure the main problem: Israel has once again found itself isolated against the entire international community. The prime minister’s response – to declare that Israel will not help implement the decision – only painted it as rejectionist in the face of a global consensus. Even if Israel has no formal obligation to honor the decisions of a group to which it does not belong, its diplomatic isolation is only worsened by saying no to international decisions.
We must not ignore Obama’s message: While expressing reservations about isolating Israel, the White House also made clear that it is adhering to long-standing American policy on the peace process. Or in less diplomatic language, Israel’s stubbornness on the Palestinian issue is liable to carry a price in other areas of strategic importance. Those who want to control the territories for all eternity and expand the settlements are liable to undermine Dimona. Indeed, Israel itself is the one that created the link between nuclear capability and peace when it declared years ago that nuclear disarmament in the Middle East would be possible only once a comprehensive peace had been achieved.
At his meeting with Obama tomorrow, Netanyahu will have an opportunity to repair Israel’s relationship with its most important, and indeed only, ally. He must not waste it in yet another attempt to buy time and stymie the justified demand for an end to the occupation. For Israel to break out of its growing international isolation, Netanyahu must say yes, without reservations, to the peace process that Obama seeks to advance.
Anyone still supporting Israel, are themselves criminals, aidingand abbeting a criminal apartheid regime. From now on, the war against the Israeli war criminals will not stop, until they will face their justice in international courts. Any Israelis who are not openly against their governemnt, are by definition supporting it, and should face boycott, divestment and sanctions. Even before this terrible murder of innocent civilian activists, the international community has started the anti-apartheid canmpaign, which has intensified after the Gaza massacre. This latest crime will only help to clarify that the fascist Israeli government must be faced off by the whole international community, and brought to justice.
The news about this murder is still patchy, due to the total control Israeli Occupation Army forces have enforced on the ships. All activists are under illegal arrest, another crime Israel will have to pay for. The beginning of the end of Zionism is here, in those ruthless, mindless crimes, and those usual apologists for Israeli crimes will no longer be listened to, I am sure. No doubt the BBC, CNN and other news channels under the spell of Israeli propaganda will continue to spout lies, but they will confuse no one. The countdown has started on the apartheid regime!
On all channels Israeli spokesperson are now claiming that they were attacked by the convoy… who will believe them? Do not bother reading listening to the BBC, apart from reacting to their pro-Israeli bias on all reports. The same can be said about ALL US channels. Al Jazeera is the only channel worth listrening to, if you wish to hear an objective and well informed reports.
Page last updated at 10:06 GMT, Monday, 31 May 2010 11:06 UK
E-mail this to a friendPrintable version
Turkish TV footage appeared to show Israeli troops on board
More than 10 people have been killed after Israeli commandos stormed a convoy of ships carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army says.
Armed forces boarded the largest vessel overnight, clashing with some of the 500 people on board.
It happened about 40 miles (64 km) out to sea, in international waters.
Israel says its soldiers were shot at and attacked with weapons; the activists say Israeli troops came on board shooting.
The European Union has called for an inquiry to establish what happened.
‘Guns and knives’
The six-ship flotilla, carrying 10,000 tonnes of aid, left the coast of Cyprus on Sunday and had been due to arrive in Gaza on Monday.
Israel says its soldiers boarded the lead ship in the early hours but were attacked with axes, knives, bars and at least two guns.
“Unfortunately this group were dead-set on confrontation,” Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told the BBC.
“Live fire was used against our forces. They initiated the violence, that’s 100% clear,” he said.
Organisers of the flotilla said at least 30 people were wounded in the incident. Israel says 10 of its soldiers were injured, one seriously.
A leader of Israel’s Islamic Movement, Raed Salah, who was on board, was among those hurt.
Audrey Bomse, a spokesperson for the Free Gaza Movement, which is behind the convoy, told the BBC Israel’s actions were disproportionate.
“We were not going to pose any violent resistance. The only resistance that there might be would be passive resistance such as physically blocking the steering room, or blocking the engine room downstairs, so that they couldn’t get taken over. But that was just symbolic resistance.”
She said there was “absolutely no evidence of live fire”.
Israel is towing the boats to the port of Ashdod and says it will deport the passengers from there. It says it will deliver the ships’ aid to Gaza.
Condemnation
Turkish TV pictures taken on board the Turkish ship leading the flotilla appeared to show Israeli soldiers fighting to control passengers.
Consists of three cargo ships and three passenger ships
Casualties reported on the Mavi Marmara passenger ferry
Mavi Marmara is one of three ships provided by Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), a Turkish aid organisation with links to the Turkish government
Other ships are organised by the Free Gaza Movement, an international coalition of activist groups
Up to 600 mostly Turkish passengers, tonnes of cement and at least two journalists on board the Mavi Marmara
The footage showed a number of people, apparently injured, lying on the ground. A woman was seen holding a blood-stained stretcher.
Al-Jazeera TV reported from the same ship that Israeli navy forces had opened fire and boarded the vessel, wounding the captain.
The Al-Jazeera broadcast ended with a voice shouting in Hebrew, saying: “Everybody shut up!”
Israel’s deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said his country “regrets any loss of life and did everything to avoid this outcome”.
He accused the convoy of a “premeditated and outrageous provocation”, describing the flotilla as an “armada of hate”.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Israel’s actions, saying it had committed a massacre.
Most of the people on board the boats were Turkish.
Turkey accused Israel of “targeting innocent civilians”.
“We strongly denounce Israel’s inhumane interception,” it said, warning of “irreparable consequences” to the two countries’ relations.
Danny Ayalon, Israeli deputy foreign minister: “The organisers’ intent was violent.”
Turkey was Israel’s closest Muslim ally but relations have deteriorated over the past few years.
In Turkey, thousands of protesters demonstrated against Israel in Istanbul, while several countries have summoned Israeli ambassadors to seek an explanation as to what happened.
Greece has withdrawn from joint military exercises with Israel in protest at the raid on the flotilla.
Blockade
Israel had repeatedly said it would stop the boats, calling the campaign a “provocation intended to delegitimise Israel”.
Israel and Egypt tightened a blockade of Gaza after the Islamist movement Hamas took power there in 2007.
Israel says it allows about 15,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid into Gaza every week.
But the United Nations says this is less than a quarter of what is needed.
The incident comes a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington after one of the most strained periods in US-Israeli relations in years.
Do you know someone aboard these ships? What is your reaction to this story? Send us your comments, pictures and videos.
31.05.10
Inverser l’ordre de tri
13:07 – L’ambassadeur israélien à Paris convoqué au Quai d’Orsay
L’ambassadeur d’Israël en France, Daniel Shek, va être convoqué lundi après-midi au ministère des affaires étrangères, qui veut des explications sur le raid meurtrier israélien contre une flottille internationale en route vers Gaza, a annoncé un porte-parole du Quai d’Orsay.
12:56 – Le président du Parlement européen veut la levée du blocus de Gaza
Le président du Parlement européen, Jerzy Buzek, a dénoncé “invite la haute représentante de l’UE pour les affaires étrangères, Catherine Ashton, à prendre des mesures au sein du Quartette pour forcer Israël à lever le siège qui frappe la population de Gaza immédiatement et sans condition”. Catherine Ashton a déjà demandé une “enquête complète” des autorités israéliennes sur les circonstances de la prise d’assaut de la flottille, et réclamé une ouverture “immédiate” et “sans conditions” de Gaza.
12:45 – Le PS demande une réunion immédiate du Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU
Le Parti socialiste a demandé une “réunion immédiate” du Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU. Lors d’un point-presse, Benoît Hamon, porte-parole socialiste, a exprimé “l’émotion du PS et sa condamnation à l’action inacceptable et très choquante d’Israël contre la flottille humanitaire”.
“Nous sommes confrontés à une crise internationale”, a dit M. Hamon qui a demandé “des réponses sous la forme d’une réunion immédiate du Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies : d’abord pour éviter l’embrasement” et “faire baisser la tension”, et “ensuite pour espérer que les Etats-Unis, cette fois-ci, s’associent à une condamnation solennelle de l’opération” qui “oblige le gouvernement israélien à bouger”.
12:42 – La Turquie annule un exercice militaire conjoint avec Israël
La Turquie a rappelé son ambassadeur en Israël, a annoncé le vice-premier ministre turc, Bulent Arinc.
M. Arinc a annoncé aussi que des préparatifs pour des manoeuvres militaires conjointes avec Israël avaient été annulés. Il a confirmé que la Turquie avait démandé une réunion d’urgence du Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU.
12:24 – Sarkozy : “Toute la lumière doit être faite sur cette tragédie”
Nicolas Sarkozy a exprimé sa profonde émotion et demandé une enquête après l’assaut meurtrier des forces israéliennes contre une flottille humanitaire qui cherchait à atteindre Gaza. “Le président de la République exprime sa profonde émotion devant les conséquences tragiques de l’opération militaire israélienne (…). Il condamne l’usage disproportionné de la force et adresse ses condoléances aux familles des victimes”, lit-on dans un communiqué. “Toute la lumière doit être faite sur les circonstances de cette tragédie, qui souligne l’urgence d’une relance du processus de paix”, ajoute-t-il.
12:15 – Sept Français à bord de la flottille, selon “Le Parisien”
Selon les informations du Parisien, “une délégation de sept Français représentant trois associations est à bord de la flottille”. “Les responsables de la Campagne Civile Internationale pour la Protection du Peuple Palestinien ont indiqué qu’ils n’avaient plus de nouvelles de leurs ‘camarades depuis 3 heures cette nuit’, ‘peu de temps avant le raid de l’armée’.”
12:10 – Une action “inacceptable” pour la Norvège
La Norvège juge “inacceptable” l’assaut de l’armée israélienne, déclare le premier ministre Jens Stoltenberg. Il a ajouté que l’ambassadeur israélien à Oslo a été convoqué. “Le gouvernement norvégien est ébranlé par les informations selon lesquelles l’armée israélienne a donné l’assaut à des bateaux transportant de l’aide humanitaire civile”, a dit M. Stoltenberg. La flottille comptait trois Norvégiens dont le sort n’est pas encore connu, a-t-il précisé. Le chef du gouvernement norvégien a réclamé “une enquête internationale indépendante immédiate”. “Cela renforce aussi le point de vue norvégien selon lequel le blocus de Gaza doit être levé”, a-t-il ajouté.
12:06 – Rome rectifie sa position sur l’assaut israélien
Le ministre des affaires étrangères italien, Franco Frattini, a “déploré le meurtre de civils” dans l’assaut militaire israélien. Auparavant, le sous-secrétaire d’Etat aux affaires étrangères Alfredo Mantica avait estimé que la tentative de la flottille pro-palestinienne de rompre l’embargo israélien sur Gaza était de “la pure provocation”.
12:00 – Les Israéliens invités à éviter la Turquie
Le bureau israélien de lutte contre le terrorisme, qui dépend des services du premier ministre, appelle les Israéliens à reporter leurs projets de visite en Turquie de crainte de manifestations hostiles après l’assaut contre la flottille pour Gaza.
11:57 – Une ONG grecque dénonce des tirs à balles réelles
Un bateau grec de la flottille pro-palestinienne en route vers Gaza, le Sfendoni, a essuyé des tirs à “balles réelles” dans la nuit à partir d’hélicoptères et de canots gonflables israéliens, affirmée une ONG grecque engagée dans la flottille.
11:54 – Manifestations à Istanbul et Ankara
Plusieurs milliers de personnes ont manifesté lundi sur la principale place d’Istanbul pour protester contre le raid israélien. “Mort à Israël !”, “Soldats turcs, partez pour Gaza !”, ont scandé les manifestants rassemblés en fin de matinée sur la place Taksim, au coeur de la plus grande ville turque.
De nombreux autres manifestants arrivaient sur la place, où d’importants effectifs de police étaient déployés. Environ 400 manifestants avaient plus tôt dans la matinée scandé des slogans hostiles à Israël devant le consulat israélien, dans le quartier de Levent. Quelques manifestants avaient jeté des bouteilles en plastique en direction du bâtiment, avant d’être repoussés par la police. A Ankara, un peu moins de 200 personnes sont venues manifester devant la résidence de l’ambassadeur d’Israël, protégé par des forces de police. Les manifestants ont organisé une prière devant le domicile de l’ambassadeur.
11:54 – Le bilan de l’assaut revu à la hausse : 19 morts, 26 blessés
Dix-neuf passagers ont été tués et 26 autres blessés lors de l’assaut des commandos israéliens contre la flottille humanitaire, affirme la chaîne 10 de la télévision israélienne.
11:46 – José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero condamne l’intervention israélienne
Le chef du gouvernement socialiste, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, a qualifié les événements qui ont causé la mort de plus de dix passagers de la flottille de “faits graves et préoccupants”. L’ambassadeur d’Israël à Madrid “a été convoqué” pour qu’on lui demande des explications. Cet assaut est “absolument condamnable”, a jugé pour sa part le secrétaire d’Etat aux Affaires européennes, Diego Lopez Garrido.
11:45 – Inquiétude pour une délégation algérienne
Le Mouvement algérien de la société de la paix (MSP) indique qu’il est “sans nouvelles” d’une délégation algérienne de 32 membres faisant partie de la flotille prise d’assaut, “comprenant des députés, des journalistes et des médecins”.
11:40 – Le Danemark convoque l’ambassadeur israélien
La ministre des affaires étrangères danoise, Lene Espersen, convoque l’ambassadeur d’Israël à Copenhague pour entendre ses explications sur l’assaut.
IDF says 10 killed, 2 commandos wounded as troops tried to board; ships towed to Ashdod port.
Confrontation took place in international waters
IDF: Passengers attacked lone commando with iron bars, opened fire
Flotilla had reportedly changed course to avoid confrontation
Israel Navy troops opened fire on pro-Palestinian activists aboard a six-ship flotilla carrying aid destined for the Gaza Strip before dawn Monday, killing at least 10 people and wounding several others, after the convoy ignored orders to turn back. The Navy later towed the ships to Ashdod port.
The Israel Defense Forces said 10 activists were killed after its troops came under fire while intercepting the convoy. Unofficial reports put the death toll at between 14 and 20.
“Our initial findings show that at least 10 convoy participants were killed,” an army spokesman said.
The military said in a statement: “Navy fighters took control of six ships that tried to violate the naval blockade (of the Gaza Strip) … During the takeover, the soldiers encountered serious physical violence by the protesters, who attacked them with live fire.”
Turkey’s NTV said over 60 were also wounded after IDF vessels stormed the flotilla in international waters.
The IDF earlier confirmed that two navy commandos had been wounded in fight, which apparently broke out after activists tried to seize their weapons.
According to the IDF, commandos who stormed the Turkish ferry Mavi Marmara, the largest vessel in the convoy, encountered violent resistance from activists armed with sticks and knives.
Activists attacked a commando with iron bars as he descended onto the ship from a helicopter, the army said. The IDF said its rules of engagement allowed troops to open fire in what it called a “life-threatening situation”.
Elite troops from Shayetet 13, a naval commando unit, boarded the protest boats at around 4:00 A.M. Earlier Monday, Al Jazeera reported that the Gaza aid flotilla had changed course to avoid a confrontation with Israeli warships.
The Israeli naval vessels reportedly made contact earlier with the six-ship flotilla, which is carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid and supplies to Gaza.
Some 700 pro-Palestinian activists are on the boats, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland, European legislators and an elderly Holocaust survivor.
The Israeli navy was operating under the assumption that the activists manning the boats would not heed their calls to turn around, and Israeli troops were prepared to board the ships and steer them away from the Gaza shores and toward the Israeli port city of Ashdod.
Huwaida Arraf, one of the flotilla organizers, said the six-ship flotilla began the journey from international waters off the coast of Cyprus on Sunday afternoon after two days of delays. According to organizers, the flotilla was expected to reach Gaza, about 400 kilometers away, on Monday afternoon, and two more ships would follow in a second wave.
The flotilla was fully prepared for the different scenarios that might arise, and organizers were hopeful that Israeli authorities would do what’s right and not stop the convoy, one of the organizers said.
“We fully intend to go to Gaza regardless of any intimidation or threats of violence against us,” Arraf said. “They are going to have to forcefully stop us.”
After nightfall, three Israeli navy missile boats left their base in Haifa, heading out to sea to confront the activists’ ships.
Two hours later, Israel Radio broadcast a recording of one of the missile boats warning the flotilla not to approach Gaza.
“If you ignore this order and enter the blockaded area, the Israeli navy will be forced to take all the necessary measures in order to enforce this blockade,” the radio message continued.
The flotilla, which includes three cargo ships and three passenger ships, is trying to draw attention to Israel’s three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip. The boats are carrying items that Israel bars from reaching Gaza, like cement and other building materials.
The activists said they also were carrying hundreds of electric-powered wheelchairs, prefabricated homes and water purifiers.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that after a security check, permitted humanitarian aid confiscated from the boats will be transferred to Gaza through authorized channels. However, Israel would not transfer items it has banned from Gaza under its blockade rules. Palmor said that for example, cement would be allowed only if it is tied to a specific project.
This is the ninth time that the Free Gaza movement has tried to ship in humanitarian aid to Gaza since August 2008.
Israel has let ships through five times, but has blocked them from entering Gaza waters since the three-week military offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers in January 2009. The flotilla bound for Gaza is the largest to date.
The mission has experienced repeated delays, both due to mechanical problems and a decision by Cyprus to bar any boat from sailing from its shore to Gaza. The ban forced a group of European lawmakers to depart from the breakaway Turkish Cypriot northern part of the island late Saturday.
Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade on Gaza after Hamas militants violently seized control of the seaside territory in June 2007.
Israel says the measures are needed to prevent Hamas, which has fired thousands of rockets at Israel, from building up its arsenal. But United Nations officials and international aid groups say the blockade has been counterproductive, failing to weaken the Islamic militant group while devastating the local economy.
Israel rejects claims of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying it allows more than enough food and medicine into the territory. The Israelis also point to the bustling smuggling industry along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, which has managed to bring consumer goods, gasoline and livestock into the seaside strip.
Israel has condemned the flotilla as a provocation and vowed to block it from reaching Gaza.
Israeli military officials said they hoped to resolve the situation peacefully but are prepared for all scenarios. Naval commandos have been training for days in anticipation of the standoff. Military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under official guidelines, said the forces would likely take over the boats under the cover of darkness.
Palmor said foreigners on the ships would be sent back to their countries. Activists who did not willingly agree to be deported would be detained. A special detention facility had been set up in Ashdod.
Page last updated at 9:27 GMT, Monday, 31 May 2010 10:27 UK
E-mail this to a friendPrintable version Angry demonstrations quickly flared at the Israeli consulate in Istanbul
A number of people have been killed as Israeli forces intercepted a convoy of ships carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
A Turkish vessel leading the flotilla was among those raided. There has been strong international reaction to the incident.
DANIEL AYALON, ISRAELI DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER
The armada of hate and violence in support of [the] Hamas terror organisation was a premeditated and outrageous provocation. The organisers are well known for their ties with global jihad, al-Qaeda and Hamas. They have a history of arms smuggling and deadly terror.
On board the ship, we found weapons prepared in advance and used against our forces. The organisers intent was violent, their method was violent and the results were unfortunately violent. Israel regrets any loss of life and did everything to avoid this outcome.
TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY
We strongly condemn these inhumane practices of Israel. This deplorable incident, which took place in open seas and constitutes a fragrant breach of international law, may lead to irreparable consequences in our bilateral relations.
GRETA BERLIN, FREE GAZA MOVEMENT SPOKESWOMAN
It’s disgusting that they have come on board and attacked civilians. We are civilians.
How could the Israeli military attack civilians like this? Do they think that because they can attack Palestinians indiscriminately they can attack anyone?
SAEB EREKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR
What we have seen this morning is a war crime. These were civilian ships carrying civilians and civilian goods – medicine, wheelchairs, food, construction materials – intended for the 1.5 million Palestinians holed up under a cruel and criminal siege by Israel. And for that, many have paid with their lives. What Israel does in Gaza is appalling; no informed and decent human can say otherwise.
The unarmed civilian activists were attacked on foreign vessels while sailing in international waters. This is another incident confirming that Israel acts as a state above the law. The international community must take swift and appropriate action.
MARK REGEV, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER’S SPOKESMAN
Though our naval servicemen were instructed to exercise maximum restraint, they were attacked. They were attacked with knives, with iron clubs, and also with live fire.
We have unfortunately 10 servicemen injured, one of them very, very seriously. The violence was initiated unfortunately by these activists, and this is regrettable.
SAMI ABU ZUHRI, HAMAS SPOKESMAN
We in Hamas consider the Israeli attack on the freedom flotilla as a great crime and a huge violation of international law. In spite of the great harm suffered by the people who joined this flotilla, we consider that their message has been delivered.
Thanks to these heroes from other countries who showed their solidarity with Gaza, the Israeli siege is now an international issue and we consider that the occupiers, through this crime, are the ones under siege now.
OFFICE OF BARONESS ASHTON, EU HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
High Representative Catherine Ashton expresses her deep regret at the news of loss of life and violence and extends her sympathies to families of the dead and wounded. On behalf of the European Union, she demands a full enquiry about the circumstances in which this happened.
She reiterates the European Union’s position regarding Gaza – the continued policy of closure is unacceptable and politically counterproductive… She calls for an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of the crossing for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza.
AMR MOUSSA, ARAB LEAGUE SECRETARY-GENERAL
The Arab League’s Secretary-General has called for an urgent meeting at the level of representatives to look into this heinous crime committed by Israeli forces against unarmed civilians that left scores of dead and wounded.
The Arab League strongly condemns this terrorist act.
SENIOR UN OFFICIALS ROBERT SERRY AND FILIPPO GRANDI
We are shocked by reports of killings and injuries of people on board boats carrying supplies for Gaza, apparently in international waters. We condemn the violence and call for it to stop. The situation is still ongoing and we are awaiting confirmation of what has happened.
We wish to make clear that such tragedies are entirely avoidable if Israel heeds the repeated calls of the international community to end its counterproductive and unacceptable blockade of Gaza.
NAVI PILLAY, UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
To foster longer-term political reconciliation, I urge the government to ensure that an independent investigation of recent events be conducted and all those found responsible for human rights violation are held to account.
BERNARD KOUCHNER, FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER
I am profoundly shocked by the tragic consequences of the Israeli military operation against the peace flotilla for Gaza. Nothing can justify the use of violence such as this, which we condemn.
The circumstances of this drama must be fully brought to light and we wish for a thorough inquiry to be put in place without delay.
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT
The inhuman action of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people and preventing the humanitarian aid from reaching Gazans does not show this regime’s strength, but is a sign of its weakness, and all this brings this sinister and fake regime closer than ever to its end.
The israeli secret service has done all it can to stop the boats, and a number of them are now unable tyo travel, and have to be towed back to Famagusta. The Flotilla is now waiting for the passengers on those boats to join the main body and then will leave to Gaza. All the Flotilla boats are surrounded by Israeli navy boats, in an act of piracy on the high seas. No one seems to care about international law, all of a sudden… Israel has also manged to sabotage international satellite communication, so that the boats are unable to keep in touch with the waiting world.
Israsel can indeed stop the boats, kill people on them, arrest them, and detain them in OIsrael, so that they cannot arrive in Gaza. What Israel can no longer do, is to stop the growinf international campaugn, spreading like bush fire over the the globe. They have already lost the battle over public opinion.
Support Gaza – join the locally organised action wherever you live!
In Columnists, Dan Owens, Middle East, Politics on May 30, 2010 at 10:28 am
By Daniel Owens
A flotilla of nine boats, carrying over 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid and over 700 pro-Palestinian activists, is expected to arrive in Gaza on Sunday 30th May 2010, if it manages to break through the armed Israeli blockade.
Israeli authorities have vowed to prevent the convoy from reaching Gaza, claiming that there is no humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories. However, organisers have protested against the Israeli ‘misinformation campaign’ and have claimed that “for over four years, Israel has subjected the civilian population of Gaza to an increasingly severe blockade, resulting in a manmade humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions.” The organisers have stated that all the cargo on board is designed to make life better for those living within Gaza, including building materials, medical supplies, dental equipment and chocolate for the children.
The Israeli blockade of Gaza has been in place since the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas took control after a battle with rival Palestinian group Fatah – following the election of Hamas in 2006. Nearly all exports and imports are banned under the terms of the blockage and only a limited supply of humanitarian aid is allowed in (15,000 tonnes per week). The United Nations has stated that this is less than a quarter of what is needed to sustain those within the strip. The Israeli navy also enforces a 23 mile closure of the sea around Gaza which has devastated its fishing industry and has vowed to use limited force to prevent the flotilla from making ground in Gaza.
More concerning than Israel’s apparent ignorance of a humanitarian crisis, or its willingness to threaten force against an unarmed convoy, is the mainstream media’s apparent ignorance of the ‘freedom fleets’ mission. Having browsed several of the leading news websites in the UK this evening (including The Times, BBC News and The Guardian) it is hard to find reference to the mission unless you actually search “flotilla” or “Gaza”. Similarly, watching the 10 o clock news mentioned nothing of their plight and chose to focus on domestic issues such as David Laws’ resignation and the Eurovision song contest.
It appears that Israel is expecting yet more criticism from international groups with YNetnews.com (Israel’s largest paper) reporting that the Knesset are “preparing for the media blitz certain to follow the flotilla, which many believe will harm the state’s already floundering reputation”. The article proceeds to detail how IDF, Foreign Ministry and PR representatives are preparing to make TV appearances to defend Israel’s position – mainly claiming that “the flotilla serves the terror organisation ruling Gaza and not its residents.”
The Jerusalem post published an article claiming that the basic elements of the Israeli media campaign is to “stress that the supplies the ships are carrying are unnecessary and that Israel – together with various international organizations – already transfers these supplies to Gaza via land crossings.” Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor stated that “the existing land crossings were more than capable of meeting Gaza’s needs;” that “15,000 tons of supplies enter Gaza each week.” However, contradicting Palmors statement is a UN report that has found that the “Livelihoods and lives of people living in the Gaza Strip have been devastated by over 1000 days of near complete blockade” and that “Most of the property and infrastructure damaged in Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip [in 2008] was still unrepaired”
The flotilla, which is currently being delayed in International waters by Cypriot authorities, is expected to arrive in Gaza at some point on Sunday. It is undoubtedly beyond time that action is taken over the blockage and as Richard Falk, Princeton University, has stated “it has been demonstrated that neither governments nor the UN will challenge this blockade, only people of conscience and courage will.” Let’s hope this flotilla makes it.
(Cyprus, May 30, 2010) The Free Gaza Movement now has two boats included in the Freedom Flotilla that is on its way to deliver 10,000 tons of supplies to the imprisoned people of Gaza. The third boat is being repaired.
Our two passengers boats, Challenger 1 and Challenger 1I, had mechanical problems on Friday, May 28, and were pulled into ports in Cyprus. After Cypriot port authoriies on the Greek side denied our request to pull in for repairs, our boat, Challenger 1 limped into the port of Famagusta, on the Turkish side of Cyprus.
Both boats are flagged and registered in the United States, which means they are U.S. territory.
Therefore we expect the U.S. government to intervene if U.S. property is wrongly confiscated by Israeli authorities as they have threatened. Israel has yet to return the Spriit of Humanity, registered under a Greek flag.
Please contact the American State Department and ask them what their plans are in case this happens. They can be contacted at Telephone No. (202) 647-4000 (24-hour number) or publicaffairs@panet.us.state.gov .
Of course the peace flotilla will not bring peace, and it won’t even manage to reach the Gaza shore. The action plan has included dragging the ships to Ashdod port, but it has again dragged us to the shores of stupidity and wrongdoing
By Gideon Levy
The Israeli propaganda machine has reached new highs its hopeless frenzy. It has distributed menus from Gaza restaurants, along with false information. It embarrassed itself by entering a futile public relations battle, which it might have been better off never starting. They want to maintain the ineffective, illegal and unethical siege on Gaza and not let the “peace flotilla” dock off the Gaza coast? There is nothing to explain, certainly not to a world that will never buy the web of explanations, lies and tactics.
Only in Israel do people still accept these tainted goods. Reminiscent of a pre-battle ritual from ancient times, the chorus cheered without asking questions. White uniformed soldiers got ready in our name. Spokesmen delivered their deceptive explanations in our name. The grotesque scene is at our expense. And virtually none of us have disturbed the performance.
The chorus has been singing songs of falsehood and lies. We are all in the chorus saying there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We are all part of the chorus claiming the occupation of Gaza has ended, and that the flotilla is a violent attack on Israeli sovereignty – the cement is for building bunkers and the convoy is being funded by the Turkish Muslim Brotherhood. The Israeli siege of Gaza will topple Hamas and free Gilad Shalit. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy, one of the most ridiculous of the propagandists, outdid himself when he unblinkingly proclaimed that the aid convoy headed toward Gaza was a violation of international law. Right. Exactly.
It’s not the siege that is illegal, but rather the flotilla. It wasn’t enough to distribute menus from Gaza restaurants through the Prime Minister’s Office, (including the highly recommended beef Stroganoff and cream of spinach soup ) and flaunt the quantities of fuel that the Israeli army spokesman says Israel is shipping in. The propaganda operation has tried to sell us and the world the idea that the occupation of Gaza is over, but in any case, Israel has legal authority to bar humanitarian aid. All one pack of lies.
Only one voice spoiled the illusory celebration a little: an Amnesty International report on the situation in Gaza. Four out of five Gaza residents need humanitarian assistance. Hundreds are waiting to the point of embarrassment to be allowed out for medical treatment, and 28 already have died. This is despite all the Israeli army spokesman’s briefings on the absence of a siege and the presence of assistance, but who cares?
And the preparations for the operation are also reminiscent of a particularly amusing farce: the feverish debate among the septet of ministers; the deployment of the Masada unit, the prison service’s commando unit that specializes in penetrating prison cells; naval commando fighters with backup from the special police anti-terror unit and the army’s Oketz canine unit; a special detention facility set up at the Ashdod port; and the electronic shield that was supposed to block broadcast of the ship’s capture and the detention of those on board.
And all of this in the face of what? A few hundred international activists, mostly people of conscience whose reputation Israeli propaganda has sought to besmirch. They are really mostly people who care, which is their right and obligation, even if the siege doesn’t concern us at all. Yes, this flotilla is indeed a political provocation, and what is protest action if not political provocation?
And facing them on the seas has been the Israeli ship of fools, floating but not knowing where or why. Why detain people? That’s how it is. Why a siege? That’s how it is. It’s like the Noam Chomsky affair all over again, but big time this time. Of course the peace flotilla will not bring peace, and it won’t even manage to reach the Gaza shore. The action plan has included dragging the ships to Ashdod port, but it has again dragged us to the shores of stupidity and wrongdoing. Again we will be portrayed not only as the ones that have blocked assistance, but also as fools who do everything to even further undermine our own standing. If that was one of the goals of the peace flotilla’s organizers, they won big yesterday.
Five years ago, the noted Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who is a Jerusalem Prize laureate, after concluding his visit to Israel, said the Israeli occupation was approaching its grotesque phase. Over the weekend Vargas Llosa, who considers himself a friend of Israel, was present to see that that phase has since reached new heights of absurdity.
Israel to World: Screw You, We will Continue to Block Gaza
May 29th, 2010 | by Assaf Oron | Add a Comment
It all happened before.
A ship sailing to Palestine. Its organizers care not so much about the ship’s arrival. They want to bring world attention to the injustices in Palestine. Live broadcasts from aboard the ship excite and inspire supporters on the shores.
The power controlling Palestine in a non-democratic manner, responds in form. It sends soldiers to storm the ship at sea some 20 miles out of Gaza. Passengers fight back using non-lethal means. Troops open fire killing 3, then force the ship to another port, arrest the passengers and deport them. The battle is won, but the campaign is lost. World opinion, and other world powers, turn against the controlling power. Within a few months it decides to cede control of Palestine.
The ship’s name was “Europe Exodus 1947″, or in short, “Exodus”.
Now, 63 years later, the tables have fully turned, and Israel’s leaders seem determined to act every bit as brutally and stupidly as their British predecessors.
First, links to the Witness Gaza flotilla.
(intermittent, but authentic and quite entertaining when on. Maybe less entertaining if you know Turkish)
Homepage of Free Gaza, the group organizing siege-breaking sailings since 2008, and one of the organizers of the present flotilla.
Now, let us set the record straight regarding the Gaza siege, in particular the siege of Gaza’s port. English-language media keep insisting that the port has been blockaded since the Gaza mini-civil-war in 2007, or perhaps since the Hamas election victory in 2006.
Bullcrap.
The 2008 Free Gaza boat was the first foreign vessel to land in Gaza since…
1957.
In other words: Egypt had blockaded Gaza for 10 years. Then Israel for 38 years of direct control. Then, since Israel’s 2005 “disengagement” – a Potemkin display if there ever was one – both Israel and Egypt have colluded to continue the siege. So the next time anyone says “Hamas”, “terror”, etc. to justify the siege, set them right. Gaza has been a de-facto prison for decades. Only the rationales for this atrocity keep shifting.
The new trend: they’re not even hiding it!
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman has no problem saying “We have to remember: These people are entering Israel illegally” (h/t TomJ). In other words, when convenient Israel claims it “does not control” Gaza, but when push comes to shove it regards Gaza’s waters as its own, in plain view of the world.
Whence the Chutzpah? Here’s whence. In 1947, the newly-dominant powers of the US and the USSR were all too happy shafting the UK via the Palestine question. Both had sided with the Jewish immigrants and insurgents, a support which quickly led to a UN resolution favorable to he Jews, and – more importantly – to the Brits obeying the resolution, in fact eager to get out of Palestine.
In 2010, there is no major government in the world really willing to put any political dime next to its cheap “remove the siege” talk. Why, even Obama formally asked Israel to remove the Gaza siege. Talk is indeed cheap. In actions, Obama, like Bush before him and like all others leaders of the West, have colluded with Gaza’s imprisonment and made sure that Western puppets like Mubarak collaborate with it.
During this decade, increasingly, Israel has become allied with the world’s political and economic elites, and oblivious, even hostile, to global public opinion. This includes many countries considered friends of Israel. The US where public sentiment tends to reflexively support the Israeli stand, has been a somewhat different story – but even here, the ground has been shifting since the 2008-9 Gaza war. In most other countries, that same war has pretty much sealed the case and solidified a seemingly irreversible anti-Occupation public consensus. And yet, the Occupation and the imprisonment of Gaza continue.
Coincidentally, last year a new government coalition came into power in Israel, its most right-wing coalition ever. Previous governments knew they must give the world some lip-service about peace, to help ally governments divert attention from the Occupation so as not to get into trouble with their constituencies. By comparison, the present Bibi-Lieberman-Barak government seems like a physical incarnation of Deh Stoopid.
Israeli pundits call the new diplomatic approach Pissing into the Pool from the High Jump: if we’ve got the power and all powers-that-matter keep doing our bidding, then we couldn’t care less about what anyone thinks, and we might as well do it out in the open. In Bibi’s books, the strategy is working well. Why, only a few weeks ago Israel was admitted to the OECD, reportedly thanks to some behind-the-scenes arm-twisting from the Obama administration.
Beyond that, the sad fact is that Israel’s government and its military leadership do genuinely think and act like dictators, and at this point seem unable to even start thinking differently. Rather than sit back, let the modest flotilla sail in, make a few speeches and sail back – they are willing to risk a major PR catastrophe, and employ violence so as to deny Gazans anything except what they prescribe for them.
The Gaza flotilla story unfolding right now is the perfect occasion to remind the Israeli regime, that yes, the vast majority of the world’s population who think the Gaza siege should have never started and should stop yesterday DOES COUNT, and that he who keeps pissing from the top of the high jump right into the pool of global community, might eventually get his private parts damaged.
31 May 2010: An 21-year old American solidarity activist was shot in the face with a tear gas canister during a demonstration in Qalandiya, today. Emily Henochowicz is currently in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem undergoing surgery to remove her left eye, following the demonstration that was held in protest to Israel’s murder of at least 10 civilians aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters this morning.
Tear gas canisters are commonly used against demonstrators in the occupied West Bank. In May 2009, the Israeli State Attorney’s Office ordered Israeli Police to review its guidelines for dispersing demonstrators, following the death of a demonstrator, Bassem Abu Rahmah from Bil’in village, caused by a high velocity tear-gas projectile. Tear-gas canisters are meant to be used as a means of crowd dispersal, to be shot indirectly at demonstrators and from a distance. However, Israeli forces frequently shoot canisters directly at protesters and are not bound by a particular distance from which they can shoot.
June 2nd, 2010, by Jesse Bacon
