Monday, May 31, 2010

Deaths as Israeli forces storm Gaza aid ship

At least nine 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 activists were attempting to defy a blockade imposed by Israel after the Islamist movement Hamas took power in Gaza in 2007.

ANALYSIS

Jonathan Marcus

This was always going to be a high-risk operation for Israel both in terms of reputation and diplomatic repercussions.

Taking over vessels at sea is no easy task, even if the units carrying out the mission are well-trained, and it is especially difficult if the people already on board the vessels resist.

The full details of what happened will emerge in time, but in political terms the damage has already been done.

The deaths threaten to make what was always going to be a potential public relations disaster for Israel into a fully-fledged calamity.

Israel faces flotilla raid fallout

There has been widespread condemnation of the violence, with several countries summoning the Israeli ambassadors serving there.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "shocked by reports of killings and injuries" and called for a "full investigation" into what happened.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in Canada, has cancelled a scheduled visit to Washington on Tuesday to return to Israel, officials said.

Earlier, he expressed his "full backing" for the military involved in the raid, his office said.

The White House said the US "deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained" in the storming of the aid ship.

A spokesman said US officials were "currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy".

'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 had repeatedly said the boats would not be allowed to reach Gaza.

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.

Deputy Speaker of Israeli parliament Danny Danon: "It was not a peaceful mission"

A leader of Israel's Islamic Movement, Raed Salah, who was on board, was among those hurt.

Contact with activists on the ships was lost after the raids and no first-hand accounts from them have yet emerged.

Arafat Shoukri, of the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) which organised the convoy, said those on board one ship had told them by telephone that Israeli helicopters had arrived.

"Then we started to hear screams, shouting, shooting everywhere," he said. "We heard some of them shouting 'we are raising the white flag, stop shooting at us'."

He said Israeli claims that activists had pistols and other weapons were "cheap propaganda".

Audrey Bomse, also of the FGM, told the BBC that the activists were "not going to pose any violent resistance".

By midday Israel had towed three of the six boats to the port of Ashdod and says it will deport the passengers from there.

Condemnation

Turkish TV pictures taken on board the Turkish ship leading the flotilla appeared to show Israeli soldiers fighting to control passengers.

GAZA AID CONVOY

Mavi Marmara just before it left Istanbul on 22 May
  • 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
In pictures: Aid ship stormed Reaction to Gaza aid ship deaths Guide: Gaza under blockade Hague 'deplores Gaza ship deaths'

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, while Hamas said Israel had committed a "great crime and a huge violation of international law".

Turkey, whose nationals comprised the majority of those on board, accused Israel of "targeting innocent civilians".

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.

Israel had repeatedly said it would stop the boats, calling the campaign a "provocation intended to delegitimise Israel".

Israel says it allows about 15,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid into Gaza every week.

But the UN says this is less than a quarter of what is needed.

Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet

Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet


Israeli forces have attacked a flotilla of aid-carrying ships aiming to break the country's siege on Gaza.

At least 19 people were killed and dozens injured when troops intercepted the convoy of ships dubbed the Freedom Flotilla early on Monday, Israeli radio reported.

The flotilla was attacked in international waters, 65km off the Gaza coast.

Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman, confirmed that the attack took place in international waters, saying: "This happened in waters outside of Israeli territory, but we have the right to defend ourselves."

Footage from the flotilla's lead vessel, the Mavi Marmara, showed armed Israeli soldiers boarding the ship and helicopters flying overhead.

Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal, on board the Mavi Marmara, said Israeli troops had used live ammunition during the operation.

Live blogging

The Israeli military said four soldiers had been wounded and claimed troops opened fire after "demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF Naval personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs".

Free Gaza Movement, the organisers of the flotilla, however, said the troops opened fire as soon as they stormed the convoy.

Our correspondent said that a white surrender flag was raised from the ship and there was no live fire coming from the passengers.

Before losing communication with our correspondent, a voice in Hebrew was clearly heard saying: "Everyone shut up".

Israeli intervention

Earlier, the Israeli navy had contacted the captain of the Mavi Marmara, asking him to identify himself and say where the ship was headed.

Shortly after, two Israeli naval vessels had flanked the flotilla on either side, but at a distance.


Organisers of the flotilla carrying 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid then diverted their ships and slowed down to avoid a confrontation during the night.

They also issued all passengers life jackets and asked them to remain below deck.

Al Jazeera’s Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Jerusalem, said the Israeli action was surprising.

"All the images being shown from the activists on board those ships show clearly that they were civilians and peaceful in nature, with medical supplies on board. So it will surprise many in the international community to learn what could have possibly led to this type of confrontation," he said.

Meanwhile, Israeli police have been put on a heightened state of alert across the country to prevent any civil disturbances.

Sheikh Raed Salah,a leading member of the Islamic Movement who was on board the ship, was reported to have been seriously injured. He was being treated in Israel's Tal Hasharon hospital.

In Um Al Faham, the stronghold of the Islamic movement in Israel and the birth place of Salah, preparations for mass demonstrations were under way.

Protests

Condemnation has been quick to pour in after the Israeli action.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, officially declared a three-day state of mourning over Monday's deaths.

Turkey, Spain, Greece, Denmark and Sweden have all summoned the Israeli ambassador's in their respective countries to protest against the deadly assault.


Thousands of Turkish protesters tried to storm the Israeli consulate in Istanbul soon after the news of the operation broke. The protesters shouted "Damn Israel" as police blocked them.

"(The interception on the convoy) is unacceptable ... Israel will have to endure the consequences of this behaviour," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader in Gaza, has also dubbed the Israeli action as "barbaric".

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists, including a Nobel laureate and several European legislators, were with the flotilla, aiming to reach Gaza in defiance of an Israeli embargo.

The convoy came from the UK, Ireland, Algeria, Kuwait, Greece and Turkey, and was comprised of about 700 people from 50 nationalities.

But Israel had said it would not allow the flotilla to reach the Gaza Strip and vowed to stop the six ships from reaching the coastal Palestinian territory.

The flotilla had set sail from a port in Cyprus on Sunday and aimed to reach Gaza by Monday morning.

Israel said the boats were embarking on "an act of provocation" against the Israeli military, rather than providing aid, and that it had issued warrants to prohibit their entrance to Gaza.

It asserted that the flotilla would be breaking international law by landing in Gaza, a claim the organisers rejected.

Who will dare damn Israel?

The mountain of words and pictures last week mirrored the piles of rubble in New York. Like the rescue workers there, one waded in trying to find something that was alive, that would illuminate and explain what had happened.

Noticeable was the reluctance throughout the media to contemplate the Israeli factor - the undeniable and central fact behind the disaster that Israel is now and has been for some time an American colony, sustained by billions of American dollars and armed with American missiles, helicopters and tanks.

Such has been the pressure from the Israeli lobby in this country that many, even normally outspoken journalists, are reluctant even to refer to such matters. Nor would you find anywhere in last week's coverage, any reference whatever to things I have mentioned here in recent issues of The Observer: the fact, for example, that Mr Blair's adviser on the Middle East is an unelected, unknown Jewish businessman, Lord Levy, now installed in the Foreign Office; the fact that this same Lord Levy is the chief fundraiser for the Labour Party; unmentioned also would be the close business links with Israel of two of our most powerful press magnates, Rupert Murdoch and the newly ennobled owner of the Telegraph newspapers, Lord Conrad Black.

When Mr Blair, supported by these gentlemen's papers, pledges his support for Mr Bush as he prepares for war with an as yet unidentified enemy, we ought to be prepared at least to incur the charge of anti-Semitism by giving these matters an airing before the balloon goes up.

Another Kildee? This is your response?

Another Kildee? This is your response?

i knew you were small minded. I knew you were not very smart and i knew you were a bigot. But now i know you are also a coward who can't justify what you believe. I would expect no more.

I get things done. My church helps people from all walks of life. You do nothing but complain.

I would really like to meet this kildee. If my telling you that I belong to organizations that avoid hateful people, help people and feed the poor, then kildee deserves the same awards and commendations that i and my organization has earned.

One more time: Do you do anything other than complain dpat? Do you ever do anything that actually helps ANYONE? Have you ever in your entire life made an attempt to shut your mouth, roll up your sleves and lend a hand?

You don't have to respond. I already know the answer.

Once Upon a Time in RAFAH

Damn you, Israel!!!

Damn you, Israel!!!




What are you doing?


How dare can you kill innocent ppl?
Who are you? God? Or a mighty country? No, you are a great nothing!!! You are simply a feeble pawn of some damned countries!!!

You think you’ll never be punished?


What? You say you are doing it only for protecting you country? Huh… What stupid could believe it?! It’s just your “genius” pretext…But stop… You are right. Absolutely right. Animals always “protect” temselves by this way…



By the way, Happy New Year, Israel. My wishes for you? Ok…


I wish you the worst new year – 2009. Mett new years how Palestine met 2009.


I wish you the same fate that Palestine have now…


I wish you the same sharp cry that mothers cry for help in Palestine…


I wish you the same view that you’ve made in Palestine…


You know? All world congratulate you, wih a great damn…

So, where are you, USA? Where is your great democracy, humanity? You killed so many ppl in Irak under the name of democracy? What know? Because they are Muslims? What a great democracy you have… Bravo(!)…