Members of the UN Security Council have condemned Israel ahead of an emergency session over Israel's deadly raid on a flotilla of ships carrying aid to Gaza.
At least nine pro-Palestinian activists, some Turkish, were killed when Israeli commandos stormed the ships in international waters.
Turkey's foreign minister called Israel's actions "murder by a state".
Israel's UN envoy said troops acted in self defence when activists attacked them, charges the campaigners deny.
"This flotilla was anything but a humanitarian mission," Israel's deputy UN ambassador Daniel Carmon said.
He said the activists had used "knives, clubs and other weapons" to attack the soldiers who boarded the lead boat, the Mavi Marmara.
The campaigners insist the soldiers opened fire without any provocation.
Injured activists have been taken to Israeli hospitals, while dozens of others have been detained and are being processed for deportation.
Israel has imposed an information blackout, making it difficult to gather first-hand accounts from the campaigners.
The ships were carrying 10,000 tonnes of aid in an attempt to break Israel's three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.
International outrage
Most of the activists killed are believed to have been Turkish, and Turkey led a chorus of criticism of Israel at the United Nations in New York.
ANALYSIS
Jeremy Bowen
BBC News, Jerusalem
For Israel, there are likely to be severe diplomatic consequences. Pressure to end the Gaza blockade will increase - from Israel's allies, as well as its enemies.
The damage done to what remains of Israel's alliance with Turkey is serious. Turkey is important because it straddles Europe and the Muslim Middle East - where it has real diplomatic influence. Israel always relied on Turkish support. That is no longer possible.
One question is how strongly the US tries to water down any criticism. Their own relations with Israel have been in crisis. The talks they are sponsoring between Israel and the Palestinians will probably continue, but under an even darker cloud.
"In simplest terms this is tantamount to banditry and piracy. It is murder conducted by a state," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
Mr Davutoglu told the BBC that Israel must issue an immediate apology for its storming of the aid ship and repatriate the pro-Palestinian campaigners.
None of the other 15 members of the Security Council was so outspoken in their individual statements, issued ahead of a possible official UN Security Council resolution, but most called for a full investigation and were critical of Israeli actions.
Many - including veto-wielding members France, Russia and China - also demanded an end to the Israeli blockade on Gaza which the aid ships were trying to break.
Israel's closest ally, the United States, expressed concern, although deputy US ambassador to the UN, Alejando Wolff, said it was still not clear what had happened.
"The US is deeply disturbed by the recent violence and regrets the tragic loss of life and injury suffered among those involved in the incident last night, aboard the Gaza bound ships," he said.
US state department spokesman Philip Crowley later said America "deeply regrets" the loss of life and expected a "full and credible" investigation by Israel.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has also called for a full inquiry.
Draft text
Ehud Barak: "I hope that common sense will prevail"
Based on the stated positions of Security Council members, it is difficult to see how they can agree on a consensus statement, but that is what they are trying to do now behind closed doors, the BBC's Barbara Plett reports from the UN headquarters.
Diplomats say the draft text condemns the Israeli raid, requests immediate release of the impounded ships, and calls for an international investigation, our correspondent says.
Washington will face pressure to join the international condemnation of Israel, she adds.
There have been demonstrations against the Israeli operation in cities around the world and several countries summoned their Israeli ambassadors demanding an explanation for the violence.
GAZA AID CONVOY
Israel faces flotilla raid fallout Where next for Israel? In pictures: Aid ship stormed Reaction to Gaza aid ship deaths Guide: Gaza under blockade
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the Israeli "massacre" and declared three days of mourning across the West Bank.
The Arab League has called for an emergency meeting on Tuesday, as Jordan and Egypt - the two Arab states with peace deals with Israel - sharply condemned the violence.
For many critics of Israel - on the streets and in foreign ministries - it is not just about this single incident at sea, serious and deadly though it was, says the BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Jerusalem.
It is about a pattern of violent and disproportionate behaviour, with Israel playing to its own rules rather than international law, our correspondent says.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told the BBC that Israel did not want to harm innocent civilians in Gaza, but had to fight the militant group Hamas which controls Gaza.
Israel imposed the blockade on the Gaza Strip after Hamas took power there in 2007.
"We have nothing against the Gazans as human beings... Basically we are in a conflict with Hamas, we do not deny it and this Hamas is a terrible neighbour," said Mr Barak.
He said that in a "tough neighbourhood", one couldn't "just act according to the rules".
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he regretted any loss of life, but gave full backing to the action of the Israeli troops.
Mr Netanyahu cut short a visit to Canada to deal with the growing crisis and cancelled a scheduled meeting in Washington with US President Barack Obama on Tuesday.
Map locator
The six-ship left Cyprus on Sunday convoy to carry 10,000 tonnes of aid to Gaza, despite repeated Israeli warnings that it would not be allowed to reach the territory. It was due to arrive on Monday.
Reports say soldiers boarded the ships about 40 miles (64km) out to sea.
In Tel Aviv, Israel's navy commander said the troops took over five boats without incident and that all of the violence was centered on the Mavi Marmara.
Organisers of the flotilla said at least 30 people were wounded in the incident. Israel says 10 of its soldiers were injured, one seriously.
Israel has escorted the ships to the port of Ashdod and says it will detain or deport the passengers from there.
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.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Ship clash leaves Israel in diplomatic hot water
Mon May 31, 2010 9:38pm EDT
Israeli forces approach a naval vessel in the Mediterranean Sea May 31, 2010. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel could pay a heavy price -- including damage to peace efforts with the Palestinians -- over the killing of 10 international activists on a Turkish ship trying to break a blockade of Gaza.
World
Foreign anger at the boarding of the pro-Palestinian flotilla was loud even among Israel's allies and may drown out its argument that such action was needed to keep Gaza's Hamas rulers isolated and peacemaking efforts afloat.
Islamist Hamas's rival for Palestinian loyalties, secular president Mahmoud Abbas, was quick to condemn the naval attack as a "massacre" -- an ill omen for the U.S.-mediated negotiations with Israel on which he embarked three weeks ago.
President Barack Obama will have to balance relations with Turkey and other Muslim allies of the United States against Washington's ties with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on a visit to Canada when the Israeli raid took place, canceled a planned White House meeting with Obama on Tuesday and would leave later on Monday for home, Israeli officials said.
The relationship between the two leaders has already been strained by Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank -- where Palestinians also seek statehood -- and Obama has urged Netanyahu to ease access to Gaza's 1.5 million residents.
Netanyahu's White House invitation was widely seen in Israel as an attempt by Obama to mend fences -- and shore up U.S. Jewish support for Democratic candidates in a November mid-term election -- after a frosty Oval office meeting in March.
But Oussama Safa of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies predicted Obama might "ante up the pressure against the Israelis" to accommodate Palestinian demands -- though the Netanyahu government has said the Gaza blockade will remain.
Another delay in negotiations that have been stop-start for almost two decades would hold little real impact. Abbas, with his truncated West Bank mandate, is too beholden to Israel and the United States to close the door on rapprochement.
But the possibility of a fallout with Turkey, whose flag was flown on the flotilla and which recalled its Tel Aviv envoy in protest at the naval raid, could deepen Israel's own isolation even as it tries to present Iran as the main regional threat.
FOR HAMAS, HEROES
Turkey, a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, said it would seek a resolution against Israel -- a poke in the eye for Israel and the United States, which would prefer to see the Council sanction Iran for its nuclear programme.
Rising Iranian power has stirred concern among many Arabs, to Israel's advantage. But the Palestinian crisis makes such sympathies fickle, as Israeli Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer discovered while on a official visit to Qatar.
"I see all the looks that I'm getting," Ben-Eliezer told Israel's Army Radio by telephone.
Hamas, which has largely fallen from world headlines since its war with Israel some 18 months ago, welcomed what it described as a win-win situation from the violence at sea.
Hamas government head Ismail Haniyeh said of the activists: "You were heroes, whether you reached (Gaza) or not."
Israel insisted its commandos opened fire when they were attacked by gun- and knife-wielding activists aboard one of the flotilla's six vessels. At least seven marines were wounded.
But, as with its crackdowns against a Palestinian uprising in the early years of the past decade, Israel will face tough questions abroad about the wisdom of using military force for what are essentially policing missions -- especially when the nationalities of the dead are made public.
Nahman Shai, a former Israeli military spokesman turned opposition lawmaker, likened the confrontation to the police killing of a dozen Arab citizens of Israel who demonstrated in solidarity with the Palestinians in late 2000.
"The difference is that this time foreigners are involved, which means a much wider impact," Shai told Israel Radio.
(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Yara Bayoumy in Beirut; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)
Israeli forces approach a naval vessel in the Mediterranean Sea May 31, 2010. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel could pay a heavy price -- including damage to peace efforts with the Palestinians -- over the killing of 10 international activists on a Turkish ship trying to break a blockade of Gaza.
World
Foreign anger at the boarding of the pro-Palestinian flotilla was loud even among Israel's allies and may drown out its argument that such action was needed to keep Gaza's Hamas rulers isolated and peacemaking efforts afloat.
Islamist Hamas's rival for Palestinian loyalties, secular president Mahmoud Abbas, was quick to condemn the naval attack as a "massacre" -- an ill omen for the U.S.-mediated negotiations with Israel on which he embarked three weeks ago.
President Barack Obama will have to balance relations with Turkey and other Muslim allies of the United States against Washington's ties with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on a visit to Canada when the Israeli raid took place, canceled a planned White House meeting with Obama on Tuesday and would leave later on Monday for home, Israeli officials said.
The relationship between the two leaders has already been strained by Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank -- where Palestinians also seek statehood -- and Obama has urged Netanyahu to ease access to Gaza's 1.5 million residents.
Netanyahu's White House invitation was widely seen in Israel as an attempt by Obama to mend fences -- and shore up U.S. Jewish support for Democratic candidates in a November mid-term election -- after a frosty Oval office meeting in March.
But Oussama Safa of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies predicted Obama might "ante up the pressure against the Israelis" to accommodate Palestinian demands -- though the Netanyahu government has said the Gaza blockade will remain.
Another delay in negotiations that have been stop-start for almost two decades would hold little real impact. Abbas, with his truncated West Bank mandate, is too beholden to Israel and the United States to close the door on rapprochement.
But the possibility of a fallout with Turkey, whose flag was flown on the flotilla and which recalled its Tel Aviv envoy in protest at the naval raid, could deepen Israel's own isolation even as it tries to present Iran as the main regional threat.
FOR HAMAS, HEROES
Turkey, a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, said it would seek a resolution against Israel -- a poke in the eye for Israel and the United States, which would prefer to see the Council sanction Iran for its nuclear programme.
Rising Iranian power has stirred concern among many Arabs, to Israel's advantage. But the Palestinian crisis makes such sympathies fickle, as Israeli Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer discovered while on a official visit to Qatar.
"I see all the looks that I'm getting," Ben-Eliezer told Israel's Army Radio by telephone.
Hamas, which has largely fallen from world headlines since its war with Israel some 18 months ago, welcomed what it described as a win-win situation from the violence at sea.
Hamas government head Ismail Haniyeh said of the activists: "You were heroes, whether you reached (Gaza) or not."
Israel insisted its commandos opened fire when they were attacked by gun- and knife-wielding activists aboard one of the flotilla's six vessels. At least seven marines were wounded.
But, as with its crackdowns against a Palestinian uprising in the early years of the past decade, Israel will face tough questions abroad about the wisdom of using military force for what are essentially policing missions -- especially when the nationalities of the dead are made public.
Nahman Shai, a former Israeli military spokesman turned opposition lawmaker, likened the confrontation to the police killing of a dozen Arab citizens of Israel who demonstrated in solidarity with the Palestinians in late 2000.
"The difference is that this time foreigners are involved, which means a much wider impact," Shai told Israel Radio.
(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Yara Bayoumy in Beirut; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)
Obama urges Netanyahu to get facts on Gaza ship raid
Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON
Mon May 31, 2010 2:07pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he deeply regretted the loss of life in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on Monday and urged him to quickly get to the bottom of the incident.
The White House's cautious response, which contrasted with an outcry against Israel's actions in Europe and the Muslim world, reflected a difficult balancing act for Obama.
He will face international pressure to join condemnation of Israel but must also be mindful that the Jewish state, a close U.S. ally, is popular with American lawmakers and voters. At the same time, fledgling U.S.-led Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts are at risk of collapse.
"The president expressed deep regret at the loss of life in today's incident, and concern for the wounded," the White House said in a summary of Obama's phone call with Netanyahu hours Israeli marines stormed a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza and at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists were killed.
"The president also expressed the importance of learning all the facts and circumstances around this morning's tragic events as soon as possible," it said.
Obama, ending a long holiday weekend in Chicago, also told Netanyahu he understood his decision to cancel their White House talks set for Tuesday and return home from a visit to Canada, to deal with the incident. They agreed to reschedule a meeting soon, the White House said.
Israel's storming of the aid ship unleashed international outrage over the bloody end to a bid by human rights campaigners to break an Israeli blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The U.N. Security Council called an emergency session for later on Monday.
Netanyahu said Israeli forces had been attacked during the boarding and had to defend themselves. In addition to the activists killed, seven troops and 20 protesters were injured, the Israeli military said.
TALKS MEANT TO GIVE NUDGE
"At this point, it is unclear what happened and there must be a thorough investigation," U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry said. "This unfortunate incident underscores the necessity of resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians."
Obama had hoped to use his talks with Netanyahu to give a nudge to indirect U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians and ease any lingering U.S.-Israeli strains over Jewish settlement construction on occupied land.
Getting long-stalled negotiations back under way, even in the so-called "proximity" format, marked Obama's biggest achievement in Middle East diplomacy since taking office last year pledging to make it a priority for his administration.
The effort is also part of his outreach to the Muslim world, where Obama has sought to counter widespread perceptions of U.S. bias in favor of Israel against the Palestinians, especially under his predecessor George W. Bush.
But there has been little progress since talks started this month, and chances for a breakthrough are considered slim.
After the Gaza flotilla incident, prospects even for keeping the process alive look bleak. Obama will have a chance to try when he meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who called the raid a "massacre," at the White House on June 9.
Potential fallout from the incident poses another big headache for Obama, who is already struggling with a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill and high unemployment at home and nuclear standoffs with North Korea and Iran abroad.
(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, editing by Alan Elsner)
WASHINGTON
Mon May 31, 2010 2:07pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he deeply regretted the loss of life in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on Monday and urged him to quickly get to the bottom of the incident.
The White House's cautious response, which contrasted with an outcry against Israel's actions in Europe and the Muslim world, reflected a difficult balancing act for Obama.
He will face international pressure to join condemnation of Israel but must also be mindful that the Jewish state, a close U.S. ally, is popular with American lawmakers and voters. At the same time, fledgling U.S.-led Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts are at risk of collapse.
"The president expressed deep regret at the loss of life in today's incident, and concern for the wounded," the White House said in a summary of Obama's phone call with Netanyahu hours Israeli marines stormed a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza and at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists were killed.
"The president also expressed the importance of learning all the facts and circumstances around this morning's tragic events as soon as possible," it said.
Obama, ending a long holiday weekend in Chicago, also told Netanyahu he understood his decision to cancel their White House talks set for Tuesday and return home from a visit to Canada, to deal with the incident. They agreed to reschedule a meeting soon, the White House said.
Israel's storming of the aid ship unleashed international outrage over the bloody end to a bid by human rights campaigners to break an Israeli blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The U.N. Security Council called an emergency session for later on Monday.
Netanyahu said Israeli forces had been attacked during the boarding and had to defend themselves. In addition to the activists killed, seven troops and 20 protesters were injured, the Israeli military said.
TALKS MEANT TO GIVE NUDGE
"At this point, it is unclear what happened and there must be a thorough investigation," U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry said. "This unfortunate incident underscores the necessity of resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians."
Obama had hoped to use his talks with Netanyahu to give a nudge to indirect U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians and ease any lingering U.S.-Israeli strains over Jewish settlement construction on occupied land.
Getting long-stalled negotiations back under way, even in the so-called "proximity" format, marked Obama's biggest achievement in Middle East diplomacy since taking office last year pledging to make it a priority for his administration.
The effort is also part of his outreach to the Muslim world, where Obama has sought to counter widespread perceptions of U.S. bias in favor of Israel against the Palestinians, especially under his predecessor George W. Bush.
But there has been little progress since talks started this month, and chances for a breakthrough are considered slim.
After the Gaza flotilla incident, prospects even for keeping the process alive look bleak. Obama will have a chance to try when he meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who called the raid a "massacre," at the White House on June 9.
Potential fallout from the incident poses another big headache for Obama, who is already struggling with a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill and high unemployment at home and nuclear standoffs with North Korea and Iran abroad.
(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, editing by Alan Elsner)
UN Security Council Discusses Israeli Raid on Aid Boat
VOA News 31 May 2010
The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss an Israeli naval raid on an aid flotilla.
At least nine passengers were killed, and dozens of others were injured, when Israeli commandos stormed ships bringing aid to the Gaza Strip early Monday. The flotilla, led by a Turkish ship, was in international waters about 60 kilometers off the coast of Israel when it was intercepted.
Israel says seven soldiers also were wounded in the violence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed regret at the loss of life, but said Israeli troops acted in self-defense.
Israeli Government Spokesman Mark Regev says the activists had weapons and were prepared to attack the commandos when they came aboard the ship. But representatives of the Free Gaza Movement, which organized the flotilla, described the raid as an attack on civilians, saying the activists did not have violent intentions.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the raid an act of "state terrorism." Turkey has recalled its ambassador from Israel and canceled three planned military exercises with Israel to protest the incident.
The aid ships, carrying more than 600 pro-Palestinian activists and 10,000 tons of supplies, left for Gaza Sunday and defied a radio warning from the Israeli navy not to approach the region.
Organizers from the Free Gaza Movement and a Turkish human rights group said the convoy was carrying medical supplies as well as cement and other building materials, which Israel has banned from entering Gaza because of what it says are security concerns.
Israel has taken the ships to a nearby port to begin deportation procedures for the activists. It says that after inspection, the humanitarian aid will be transferred to Gaza by land.
The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss an Israeli naval raid on an aid flotilla.
At least nine passengers were killed, and dozens of others were injured, when Israeli commandos stormed ships bringing aid to the Gaza Strip early Monday. The flotilla, led by a Turkish ship, was in international waters about 60 kilometers off the coast of Israel when it was intercepted.
Israel says seven soldiers also were wounded in the violence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed regret at the loss of life, but said Israeli troops acted in self-defense.
Israeli Government Spokesman Mark Regev says the activists had weapons and were prepared to attack the commandos when they came aboard the ship. But representatives of the Free Gaza Movement, which organized the flotilla, described the raid as an attack on civilians, saying the activists did not have violent intentions.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the raid an act of "state terrorism." Turkey has recalled its ambassador from Israel and canceled three planned military exercises with Israel to protest the incident.
The aid ships, carrying more than 600 pro-Palestinian activists and 10,000 tons of supplies, left for Gaza Sunday and defied a radio warning from the Israeli navy not to approach the region.
Organizers from the Free Gaza Movement and a Turkish human rights group said the convoy was carrying medical supplies as well as cement and other building materials, which Israel has banned from entering Gaza because of what it says are security concerns.
Israel has taken the ships to a nearby port to begin deportation procedures for the activists. It says that after inspection, the humanitarian aid will be transferred to Gaza by land.
CALL FROM GAZA FOR GLOBAL RESPONSE TO KILLINGS ON THE FREEDOM FLOTILLA
From: One Democratic State Group (onedemocraticstategroup@gmail.com)
Mon 5/31/10 1:25 AM
PRESS RELEASE
GAZA, PALESTINE
31.MAY.2010
CALL FROM GAZA FOR GLOBAL RESPONSE TO KILLINGS ON THE FREEDOM FLOTILLA
We Gaza based Palestinian Civil Society Organizations and International activists call on the international community and civil society to pressure their governments and Israel to cease the abductions and killings in Israel’s attacks against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla sailing for Gaza, and begin a global response to hold Israel accountable for the murder of foreign civilians at sea and illegal piracy of civilian vessels carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza.
We salute the courage of all those who have organized this aid intervention and demand a safe passage through to Gaza for the 750 people of conscience from 40 different countries including 35 international politicians intent on breaking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade. We offer our sincerest condolences to family and friends who have lost loved ones in the attack.
By sailing directly to Gaza, outside of Israeli waters, with cargo banned illegally by Israel, such as the 10,000 tonnes of badly needed concrete, toys, workbooks, chocolate, pasta and substantial medical supplies, the flotilla is exercising international law and upholding article 33 of the Geneva Convention which clearly states that collective punishment is a crime against humanity.
The hardships of Israel's closure of Gaza have been well documented by all human rights groups operating, most recently by Amnesty International in their Annual Human Rights Report concluding that the siege has "deepened the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Mass unemployment, extreme poverty, food insecurity and food price rises caused by shortages left four out of five Gazans dependent on humanitarian aid. The scope of the blockade and statements made by Israeli officials about its purpose showed that it was being imposed as a form of collective punishment of Gazans, a flagrant violation of international law." The United Nations continuously states that only a fraction of the required aid is entering the Strip due to what it calls ‘the medieval siege’, with John Ging the Director of UNRWA in Gaza specifically expressing the need for the Flotilla to enter Gaza. The European Union’s new foreign affairs minister Catherine Ashton has just reiterated its call for, “an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza.”
The people of Gaza are not dependent people, but self sufficient people doing what they can to retain some dignity in life in the wake of this colossal man-made devastation that deprives so many of a basic start in life or minimal aspirations for the future.
We, from Gaza, call on you to demonstrate and support the courageous men and women on the Flotilla and join the, many now murdered on a humanitarian aid mission. We insist on severance of diplomatic ties with Israel, trials for war crimes and the International protection of the civilians of Gaza. We call on you to join the growing international boycott, divestment and sanction campaign of a country proving again to be so violent and yet so unchallenged. Join the growing critical mass around the world with a commitment to the day when Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as any other people, when the siege is lifted, the occupation is over and the 6 million Palestinian refugees are finally granted justice.
Press Contacts:
Dr Haidar Eid: One Democratic Sate Group and University Teachers' Association +972-0599441766
Dr Mona El Farra: Middle East Children's Alliance, Gaza 00.972(0)598.868.222
Adie Mormech: International Solidarity Movement 00.972(0)597.717.696
Max Ajl: Gaza Freedom March 00.972(0)597.750.798
Signatory Organisations:
The One Democratic State Group
University Teachers Association
Arab Cultural Forum
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
Association of Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Info
Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements
International Solidarity Movement
Palestinian Network of Non-Governmental Organisations
Palestinian Women Committees
Progressive Students Union
Medical Relief Society
The General Society for Rehabilitation
Gaza Community Mental Health Program
General Union of Palestinian Women
Afaq Jadeeda Cultural Centre for Women and Children
Deir Al-Balah Cultural Centre for Women and Children
Maghazi Cultural Centre for Children
Al-Sahel Centre for Women and Youth
Ghassan Kanfani Kindergartens
Rachel Corrie Centre, Rafah
Rafah Olympia City Sisters
Al Awda Centre, Rafah
Al Awda Hospital, Jabaliya Camp
Ajyal Association, Gaza
General Union of Palestinian Syndicates
Al Karmel Centre, Nuseirat
Local Inititiative, Beit Hanoun
Union of Health Work Committees
Red Crescent Society Gaza Strip
Beit Lahiya Cultural Centre
Al Awda Centre, Rafah
One Democratic State Group
Mon 5/31/10 1:25 AM
PRESS RELEASE
GAZA, PALESTINE
31.MAY.2010
CALL FROM GAZA FOR GLOBAL RESPONSE TO KILLINGS ON THE FREEDOM FLOTILLA
We Gaza based Palestinian Civil Society Organizations and International activists call on the international community and civil society to pressure their governments and Israel to cease the abductions and killings in Israel’s attacks against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla sailing for Gaza, and begin a global response to hold Israel accountable for the murder of foreign civilians at sea and illegal piracy of civilian vessels carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza.
We salute the courage of all those who have organized this aid intervention and demand a safe passage through to Gaza for the 750 people of conscience from 40 different countries including 35 international politicians intent on breaking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade. We offer our sincerest condolences to family and friends who have lost loved ones in the attack.
By sailing directly to Gaza, outside of Israeli waters, with cargo banned illegally by Israel, such as the 10,000 tonnes of badly needed concrete, toys, workbooks, chocolate, pasta and substantial medical supplies, the flotilla is exercising international law and upholding article 33 of the Geneva Convention which clearly states that collective punishment is a crime against humanity.
The hardships of Israel's closure of Gaza have been well documented by all human rights groups operating, most recently by Amnesty International in their Annual Human Rights Report concluding that the siege has "deepened the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Mass unemployment, extreme poverty, food insecurity and food price rises caused by shortages left four out of five Gazans dependent on humanitarian aid. The scope of the blockade and statements made by Israeli officials about its purpose showed that it was being imposed as a form of collective punishment of Gazans, a flagrant violation of international law." The United Nations continuously states that only a fraction of the required aid is entering the Strip due to what it calls ‘the medieval siege’, with John Ging the Director of UNRWA in Gaza specifically expressing the need for the Flotilla to enter Gaza. The European Union’s new foreign affairs minister Catherine Ashton has just reiterated its call for, “an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza.”
The people of Gaza are not dependent people, but self sufficient people doing what they can to retain some dignity in life in the wake of this colossal man-made devastation that deprives so many of a basic start in life or minimal aspirations for the future.
We, from Gaza, call on you to demonstrate and support the courageous men and women on the Flotilla and join the, many now murdered on a humanitarian aid mission. We insist on severance of diplomatic ties with Israel, trials for war crimes and the International protection of the civilians of Gaza. We call on you to join the growing international boycott, divestment and sanction campaign of a country proving again to be so violent and yet so unchallenged. Join the growing critical mass around the world with a commitment to the day when Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as any other people, when the siege is lifted, the occupation is over and the 6 million Palestinian refugees are finally granted justice.
Press Contacts:
Dr Haidar Eid: One Democratic Sate Group and University Teachers' Association +972-0599441766
Dr Mona El Farra: Middle East Children's Alliance, Gaza 00.972(0)598.868.222
Adie Mormech: International Solidarity Movement 00.972(0)597.717.696
Max Ajl: Gaza Freedom March 00.972(0)597.750.798
Signatory Organisations:
The One Democratic State Group
University Teachers Association
Arab Cultural Forum
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
Association of Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Info
Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements
International Solidarity Movement
Palestinian Network of Non-Governmental Organisations
Palestinian Women Committees
Progressive Students Union
Medical Relief Society
The General Society for Rehabilitation
Gaza Community Mental Health Program
General Union of Palestinian Women
Afaq Jadeeda Cultural Centre for Women and Children
Deir Al-Balah Cultural Centre for Women and Children
Maghazi Cultural Centre for Children
Al-Sahel Centre for Women and Youth
Ghassan Kanfani Kindergartens
Rachel Corrie Centre, Rafah
Rafah Olympia City Sisters
Al Awda Centre, Rafah
Al Awda Hospital, Jabaliya Camp
Ajyal Association, Gaza
General Union of Palestinian Syndicates
Al Karmel Centre, Nuseirat
Local Inititiative, Beit Hanoun
Union of Health Work Committees
Red Crescent Society Gaza Strip
Beit Lahiya Cultural Centre
Al Awda Centre, Rafah
One Democratic State Group
World reaction to Israel's pre-dawn raid
May 31, 2010 7:30 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- The United Nations said it is shocked at the loss of life during the Israeli military pre-dawn raid on a flotilla of six ships carrying aid for the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
The U.N. has urged Israel to take no further steps that could endanger civilian lives.
"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," said a joint statement from Robert Serry, U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Filippo Grandi, Commissioner-General of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency.
The British Foreign Office said it was seeking "urgent clarification" into the incident, while the Swedish foreign ministry summoned Israel's ambassador, a spokeswoman said.
According to CNN affiliate TV4, 11 Swedes are among the activists traveling aboard the ships.
Greece summoned the Israeli ambassador in Athens to demand a report on the safety of Greek passengers aboard the flotilla.
After the meeting, the Greek foreign ministry said that the visit of the Israeli Joint Chiefs -- scheduled for Tuesday -- is being postponed, and that the Greek-Israeli military exercise that was in progress has been discontinued. A Greek foreign affairs ministry official could not say how many Greeks were aboard the six ships.
The Turkish foreign ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador for an explanation. "This grave incident which took place in high seas in gross violation of international law might cause irreversible consequences in our relations," the ministry said in a statement.
Protests continued Monday outside the Israeli embassy in Istanbul. The protests, which began on Sunday, were largely peaceful, but police did use water cannons at one point to keep demonstrators at bay.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said the raid will inflame the region.
"Lebanon strongly condemns this attack and calls on the international community, and specifically on the major countries which are supposed to be responsible about the peace process, to take action in order to stop this continuous violation of human rights, which is putting the international peace at risk," Hariri said.
Pakistan said it was concerned about the well-being and whereabouts of two journalists who were aboard the flotilla.
"The Government of Pakistan strongly condemns the use of brazen force by Israel against a humanitarian Mission that was embarked on delivering humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza," the country's foreign ministry said.
"The killing of members of this humanitarian mission, which also included women, is brutal, inhuman and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and norms."
Earlier, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said there was no excuse for an attack "by armed forces on a humanitarian convoy."
"The Palestinian government strongly condemns this crime, which portrays, once again, Israeli disrespect for the lives of innocent civilians, and its disrespect for international law," Fayyad said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for three days of mourning in the Palestinian territories, while Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator said the attack was "on civilians who came from all over the world peacefully with wheelchairs and food supplies and medical supplies."
Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, said: "The Israeli occupation tries to deny this massacre by saying that the activists on the boat are from Hamas and Muslim brotherhood and this is a lying campaign, because the activists are international activists and between them are parliament members of western countries and know international peace activists."
(CNN) -- The United Nations said it is shocked at the loss of life during the Israeli military pre-dawn raid on a flotilla of six ships carrying aid for the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
The U.N. has urged Israel to take no further steps that could endanger civilian lives.
"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," said a joint statement from Robert Serry, U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Filippo Grandi, Commissioner-General of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency.
The British Foreign Office said it was seeking "urgent clarification" into the incident, while the Swedish foreign ministry summoned Israel's ambassador, a spokeswoman said.
According to CNN affiliate TV4, 11 Swedes are among the activists traveling aboard the ships.
Greece summoned the Israeli ambassador in Athens to demand a report on the safety of Greek passengers aboard the flotilla.
After the meeting, the Greek foreign ministry said that the visit of the Israeli Joint Chiefs -- scheduled for Tuesday -- is being postponed, and that the Greek-Israeli military exercise that was in progress has been discontinued. A Greek foreign affairs ministry official could not say how many Greeks were aboard the six ships.
The Turkish foreign ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador for an explanation. "This grave incident which took place in high seas in gross violation of international law might cause irreversible consequences in our relations," the ministry said in a statement.
Protests continued Monday outside the Israeli embassy in Istanbul. The protests, which began on Sunday, were largely peaceful, but police did use water cannons at one point to keep demonstrators at bay.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said the raid will inflame the region.
"Lebanon strongly condemns this attack and calls on the international community, and specifically on the major countries which are supposed to be responsible about the peace process, to take action in order to stop this continuous violation of human rights, which is putting the international peace at risk," Hariri said.
Pakistan said it was concerned about the well-being and whereabouts of two journalists who were aboard the flotilla.
"The Government of Pakistan strongly condemns the use of brazen force by Israel against a humanitarian Mission that was embarked on delivering humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza," the country's foreign ministry said.
"The killing of members of this humanitarian mission, which also included women, is brutal, inhuman and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and norms."
Earlier, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said there was no excuse for an attack "by armed forces on a humanitarian convoy."
"The Palestinian government strongly condemns this crime, which portrays, once again, Israeli disrespect for the lives of innocent civilians, and its disrespect for international law," Fayyad said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for three days of mourning in the Palestinian territories, while Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator said the attack was "on civilians who came from all over the world peacefully with wheelchairs and food supplies and medical supplies."
Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, said: "The Israeli occupation tries to deny this massacre by saying that the activists on the boat are from Hamas and Muslim brotherhood and this is a lying campaign, because the activists are international activists and between them are parliament members of western countries and know international peace activists."
Israeli Commandos Storm Aid Flotilla; 10 Dead
By AP / AMY TEIBEL and TIA GOLDENBERG Monday, May. 31, 2010
(JERUSALEM) — Israeli naval commandos stormed a flotilla of ships carrying aid and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 10 passengers in a predawn 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. (See pictures of 60 years of Israel.)
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 longtime 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, canceling three joint military drills and calling on the U.N. 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. (See pictures of life under Hamas in Gaza.)
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 Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressed regret for the deaths but blamed the violence on organizers 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 Monday.
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 organizers' 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 U.N. 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 U.N. 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 3-year-old Israeli blockade of the coastal territory. Israel imposed the blockade after Hamas, which it considers a terrorist group, violently seized the territory. Critics say the blockade has unfairly hurt Gaza's 1.5 million people.
"It's disgusting that they have come on board and attacked civilians. We are civilians," said Greta Berlin, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza movement, which organized the flotilla. She spoke from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus and said she had lost contact with the flotilla.
Before the ships set sail from waters off the east Mediterranean island of Cyprus on Sunday, Israel had urged the flotilla not to try to breach the blockade and offered to transfer the cargo to Gaza from an Israeli port, following a security inspection.
Israeli naval commandos stormed the ships in a pre-dawn raid while they were in international waters after ordering them to stop about 80 miles (130 kilometers) from Gaza's coast, according to activists.
A Turkish website showed video of pandemonium on board one of the ships, with activists in orange life jackets running around as some tried to help an activist apparently unconscious on the deck. The site also showed video of an Israeli helicopter flying overhead and Israeli warships nearby.
Turkey's NTV showed activists beating one Israeli soldier with sticks as he rappelled from a helicopter onto one of the boats.
The Al-Jazeera satellite channel reported by telephone from the Turkish ship leading the flotilla that Israeli navy forces fired at the ship and boarded it, wounding the captain.
"These savages are killing people here, please help," a Turkish television reporter said.
The broadcast ended with a voice shouting in Hebrew, "Everybody shut up!"
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.
Satellite phones on board the ships were turned off, and communication with a small group of reporters embedded with the Israeli military was blocked.
The Free Gaza Movement is an international group of pro-Palestinian activists that claims the blockade, imposed three years ago after the militant Islamic Hamas group overran Gaza, is unjust and a violation of international law.
Organizers included people affiliated with the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian group that often sends international activists into battle zones, and the IHH, a Turkish aid group that Israel accuses of having terrorist links.
Hasan Naiboglu, the Turkish maritime affairs undersecretary, told the Anatolia news agency that Israel had jammed communications with the ships. He accused Israel of violating international law by carrying out the raid in international waters.
Israel's Ynet news website said Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called Turkish officials, including the defense and foreign ministers, to discuss the raid.
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 U.N. official in the region, Robert Serry.
The flotilla of three cargo ships and three passenger ships carrying 10,000 tons of aid and 700 activists was carrying items that Israel bars from reaching Gaza, like cement and other building materials.
This is the ninth time that the Free Gaza movement has tried to ship in humanitarian aid to Gaza since August 2008.
Israel has allowed ships through five times, but has blocked them from entering Gaza waters since a three-week military offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers in January 2009.
The latest flotilla was the largest to date.
Goldenberg reported from aboard the Israeli warship INS Kidon. AP writer Selcan Hacaoglu contributed to this report from Ankara.
(JERUSALEM) — Israeli naval commandos stormed a flotilla of ships carrying aid and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 10 passengers in a predawn 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. (See pictures of 60 years of Israel.)
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 longtime 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, canceling three joint military drills and calling on the U.N. 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. (See pictures of life under Hamas in Gaza.)
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 Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressed regret for the deaths but blamed the violence on organizers 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 Monday.
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 organizers' 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 U.N. 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 U.N. 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 3-year-old Israeli blockade of the coastal territory. Israel imposed the blockade after Hamas, which it considers a terrorist group, violently seized the territory. Critics say the blockade has unfairly hurt Gaza's 1.5 million people.
"It's disgusting that they have come on board and attacked civilians. We are civilians," said Greta Berlin, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza movement, which organized the flotilla. She spoke from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus and said she had lost contact with the flotilla.
Before the ships set sail from waters off the east Mediterranean island of Cyprus on Sunday, Israel had urged the flotilla not to try to breach the blockade and offered to transfer the cargo to Gaza from an Israeli port, following a security inspection.
Israeli naval commandos stormed the ships in a pre-dawn raid while they were in international waters after ordering them to stop about 80 miles (130 kilometers) from Gaza's coast, according to activists.
A Turkish website showed video of pandemonium on board one of the ships, with activists in orange life jackets running around as some tried to help an activist apparently unconscious on the deck. The site also showed video of an Israeli helicopter flying overhead and Israeli warships nearby.
Turkey's NTV showed activists beating one Israeli soldier with sticks as he rappelled from a helicopter onto one of the boats.
The Al-Jazeera satellite channel reported by telephone from the Turkish ship leading the flotilla that Israeli navy forces fired at the ship and boarded it, wounding the captain.
"These savages are killing people here, please help," a Turkish television reporter said.
The broadcast ended with a voice shouting in Hebrew, "Everybody shut up!"
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.
Satellite phones on board the ships were turned off, and communication with a small group of reporters embedded with the Israeli military was blocked.
The Free Gaza Movement is an international group of pro-Palestinian activists that claims the blockade, imposed three years ago after the militant Islamic Hamas group overran Gaza, is unjust and a violation of international law.
Organizers included people affiliated with the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian group that often sends international activists into battle zones, and the IHH, a Turkish aid group that Israel accuses of having terrorist links.
Hasan Naiboglu, the Turkish maritime affairs undersecretary, told the Anatolia news agency that Israel had jammed communications with the ships. He accused Israel of violating international law by carrying out the raid in international waters.
Israel's Ynet news website said Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called Turkish officials, including the defense and foreign ministers, to discuss the raid.
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 U.N. official in the region, Robert Serry.
The flotilla of three cargo ships and three passenger ships carrying 10,000 tons of aid and 700 activists was carrying items that Israel bars from reaching Gaza, like cement and other building materials.
This is the ninth time that the Free Gaza movement has tried to ship in humanitarian aid to Gaza since August 2008.
Israel has allowed ships through five times, but has blocked them from entering Gaza waters since a three-week military offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers in January 2009.
The latest flotilla was the largest to date.
Goldenberg reported from aboard the Israeli warship INS Kidon. AP writer Selcan Hacaoglu contributed to this report from Ankara.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Israel recoils as US backs nuclear move
By Marius Schattner (AFP) – 3 hours ago
JERUSALEM — Washington's unprecedented backing for a UN resolution for a nuclear-free Middle East that singles out Israel has both angered and deeply worried the Jewish state although officials are cagey about openly criticising their biggest ally.
The resolution adopted by the United Nations on Friday calls on Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and urges it to open its facilities to inspection.
It also calls for a regional conference in 2012 to advance the goal of a nuclear-free Middle East.
Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, with around 200 warheads, but has maintained a policy of deliberate ambiguity about its capabilities since the mid-1960s.
The document, which singles out Israel but makes no mention of Iran's controversial nuclear programme, drew a furious reaction from the Jewish state who decried it as "deeply flawed and hypocritical."
But it was US backing for the resolution which has caused the most consternation among Israeli officials and commentators, who interpreted the move as "a resounding slap around the face" which has dealt a very public blow to Israel's long-accepted policy of nuclear ambiguity.
Publicly, the Israel government has not criticised the US position but privately, officials expressed deep disappointment over the resolution, which Washington backed despite intensive Israeli efforts to block it.
According to the top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "furious with the Obama administration for having failed to prevent the resolution from passing... and for choosing to support it."
"The American support for the resolution, after decades in which it supported Israel on this issue, came as a complete surprise," the paper said.
"In the secret talks that Netanyahu held with Obama's men... Israel was promised that the resolution would not focus on Israel and that if it did, the Americans would vote against."
The left-leaning Haaretz daily said Israel had been "sacrificed by the US on the altar of a successful conference" in what constituted "a diplomatic victory for Egypt" which has campaigned against Israel's nuclear arsenal.
Five years ago, the paper recalled, Obama's predecessor George W. Bush, refused to accept parts of a draft document calling on Israel to join the NPT and dismissed the idea of holding talks to create a nuclear-free Middle East -- even at the cost of the conference's failure.
The controversial resolution was passed just days ahead of a key meeting between Obama and Netanyahu aimed at restoring friendly ties between the two allies which had been soured over a dispute about Jewish settlements.
But the Maariv daily said that Obama's 'last minute' invitation for Netanyahu to visit the White House had clearly been planned with the NPT review conference in mind.
"It is reasonable to assume that the Americans knew they were going to deliver a blow to Israel's policy of nuclear ambiguity and that Obama wanted to try to minimize the damage," the paper said.
The move draws a line under a long-held "agreement" between Israel and Washington dating back to 1969 under which the Jewish state was permitted to keep silent on its country's nuclear potential while holding back from any nuclear test.
In return, Washington agreed not to exert or allow any pressure on Israel over its nuclear capabilities.
"It is an undeniably negative change to US policy" with regards to Israel's nuclear programme, said Eitan Gilboa, an analyst from Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv.
Pointing to contradiction between Obama both applauding the resolution and criticising it for singling out Israel, Gilboa said Washington was "losing its leadership role because of the naive and unrealistic" outlook of its president.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.
This is a gutsy move by Obama considering JFK may have been assassinated because he demanded Israel have its atomic weapons installations inspected in 1963, a couple of months before he was assassinated in Dallas. Since Johnson, no U.S. president has asked again unless Carter did secretly at some point.
JERUSALEM — Washington's unprecedented backing for a UN resolution for a nuclear-free Middle East that singles out Israel has both angered and deeply worried the Jewish state although officials are cagey about openly criticising their biggest ally.
The resolution adopted by the United Nations on Friday calls on Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and urges it to open its facilities to inspection.
It also calls for a regional conference in 2012 to advance the goal of a nuclear-free Middle East.
Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, with around 200 warheads, but has maintained a policy of deliberate ambiguity about its capabilities since the mid-1960s.
The document, which singles out Israel but makes no mention of Iran's controversial nuclear programme, drew a furious reaction from the Jewish state who decried it as "deeply flawed and hypocritical."
But it was US backing for the resolution which has caused the most consternation among Israeli officials and commentators, who interpreted the move as "a resounding slap around the face" which has dealt a very public blow to Israel's long-accepted policy of nuclear ambiguity.
Publicly, the Israel government has not criticised the US position but privately, officials expressed deep disappointment over the resolution, which Washington backed despite intensive Israeli efforts to block it.
According to the top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "furious with the Obama administration for having failed to prevent the resolution from passing... and for choosing to support it."
"The American support for the resolution, after decades in which it supported Israel on this issue, came as a complete surprise," the paper said.
"In the secret talks that Netanyahu held with Obama's men... Israel was promised that the resolution would not focus on Israel and that if it did, the Americans would vote against."
The left-leaning Haaretz daily said Israel had been "sacrificed by the US on the altar of a successful conference" in what constituted "a diplomatic victory for Egypt" which has campaigned against Israel's nuclear arsenal.
Five years ago, the paper recalled, Obama's predecessor George W. Bush, refused to accept parts of a draft document calling on Israel to join the NPT and dismissed the idea of holding talks to create a nuclear-free Middle East -- even at the cost of the conference's failure.
The controversial resolution was passed just days ahead of a key meeting between Obama and Netanyahu aimed at restoring friendly ties between the two allies which had been soured over a dispute about Jewish settlements.
But the Maariv daily said that Obama's 'last minute' invitation for Netanyahu to visit the White House had clearly been planned with the NPT review conference in mind.
"It is reasonable to assume that the Americans knew they were going to deliver a blow to Israel's policy of nuclear ambiguity and that Obama wanted to try to minimize the damage," the paper said.
The move draws a line under a long-held "agreement" between Israel and Washington dating back to 1969 under which the Jewish state was permitted to keep silent on its country's nuclear potential while holding back from any nuclear test.
In return, Washington agreed not to exert or allow any pressure on Israel over its nuclear capabilities.
"It is an undeniably negative change to US policy" with regards to Israel's nuclear programme, said Eitan Gilboa, an analyst from Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv.
Pointing to contradiction between Obama both applauding the resolution and criticising it for singling out Israel, Gilboa said Washington was "losing its leadership role because of the naive and unrealistic" outlook of its president.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.
This is a gutsy move by Obama considering JFK may have been assassinated because he demanded Israel have its atomic weapons installations inspected in 1963, a couple of months before he was assassinated in Dallas. Since Johnson, no U.S. president has asked again unless Carter did secretly at some point.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Israel: NPT deal hypocritical
Jerusalem sources wonder why Israel only state mentioned in Non-Proliferation Treaty conference, which called for inspection of its nuclear facilities. Iran pleased with decision, says US must toe line in backing it.
AFP
Published: 05.29.10, 12:33 / Israel News
Sources in Jerusalem on Saturday criticized as "hypocritical" the Nuclear Non-Proliferation conference that ended with a declaration placing Israel under obligation to have its nuclear facilities inspected by the UN's watchdog.
Earlier
Obama rejects 'singling out' of Israel in NPT deal / Yitzhak Benhorin and AFP
US president says agreement reached at Non-Proliferation Treaty conference 'includes balanced, practical steps to advance nuclear disarmament', but opposes 'efforts to single out Israel' by naming it while ignoring Iran
Full Story
"The conference mentioned only Israel and not other countries that hold nuclear weapons, such as India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Much worse is its silence on Iran, which is trying to obtain such weapons," one official said.
He added that the fact that Iran was not mentioned was suspicious, especially in light of recent findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding the Islamic Republic's progress towards acquiring nuclear power.
Meanwhile Iran's representative to the IAEA on Saturday hailed the declaration, and said the US must go along with it.
The accord, reached on Friday at the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference and agreed by the NPT's 189 members, commits to holding a regional gathering in 2012 to create a Middle East free of nuclear weapons.
It also calls on Israel to sign the treaty, mentioning "the importance of Israel's accession to the treaty and the placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards."
Iran's IAEA representative Ali Asghar Soltanieh, who attended the conference at the United Nations, welcomed the move. Soltanieh told IRNA that the United States, despite opposing the NPT text on Israel, will have to fall in line with other countries.
"The US reservation is symbolic and it is obliged to go along with the world's request, which is that Israel must join the NPT and open its installations to IAEA inspectors," he said.
Earlier US President Barack Obama welcomed the accord but "strongly" opposed singling Israel out over talks on a nuclear weapons-free Middle East while making no mention of Iran.
"The greatest threat to proliferation in the Middle East, and to the NPT, is Iran's failure to live up to its NPT obligations," Obama said.
But Soltanieh dismissed the US stance. "Of course this was to be expected, since (US Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton made such during the inaugural session (of the NPT meeting) and several times later," he said.
"The Americans are isolating themselves since Iran's nuclear file is an (IAEA) agency issue. This conference was about the NPT and its future."
AFP
Published: 05.29.10, 12:33 / Israel News
Sources in Jerusalem on Saturday criticized as "hypocritical" the Nuclear Non-Proliferation conference that ended with a declaration placing Israel under obligation to have its nuclear facilities inspected by the UN's watchdog.
Earlier
Obama rejects 'singling out' of Israel in NPT deal / Yitzhak Benhorin and AFP
US president says agreement reached at Non-Proliferation Treaty conference 'includes balanced, practical steps to advance nuclear disarmament', but opposes 'efforts to single out Israel' by naming it while ignoring Iran
Full Story
"The conference mentioned only Israel and not other countries that hold nuclear weapons, such as India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Much worse is its silence on Iran, which is trying to obtain such weapons," one official said.
He added that the fact that Iran was not mentioned was suspicious, especially in light of recent findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding the Islamic Republic's progress towards acquiring nuclear power.
Meanwhile Iran's representative to the IAEA on Saturday hailed the declaration, and said the US must go along with it.
The accord, reached on Friday at the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference and agreed by the NPT's 189 members, commits to holding a regional gathering in 2012 to create a Middle East free of nuclear weapons.
It also calls on Israel to sign the treaty, mentioning "the importance of Israel's accession to the treaty and the placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards."
Iran's IAEA representative Ali Asghar Soltanieh, who attended the conference at the United Nations, welcomed the move. Soltanieh told IRNA that the United States, despite opposing the NPT text on Israel, will have to fall in line with other countries.
"The US reservation is symbolic and it is obliged to go along with the world's request, which is that Israel must join the NPT and open its installations to IAEA inspectors," he said.
Earlier US President Barack Obama welcomed the accord but "strongly" opposed singling Israel out over talks on a nuclear weapons-free Middle East while making no mention of Iran.
"The greatest threat to proliferation in the Middle East, and to the NPT, is Iran's failure to live up to its NPT obligations," Obama said.
But Soltanieh dismissed the US stance. "Of course this was to be expected, since (US Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton made such during the inaugural session (of the NPT meeting) and several times later," he said.
"The Americans are isolating themselves since Iran's nuclear file is an (IAEA) agency issue. This conference was about the NPT and its future."
Sunday, May 02, 2010
New Yorkers Avert ‘Deadly Event’; Police Disarm Bomb
By Henry Goldman and Mark Tannenbaum
May 2 (Bloomberg) -- New York police disarmed a bomb in a sport utility vehicle parked in Times Square, averting an attack in the heart of the city’s theater district on a Saturday evening.
“We are very lucky that we avoided what could have been a very deadly event,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters at a 2:20 a.m. news conference today one block from the corner of 45th Street and Broadway. “We have no idea who did this or why.”
Richard Kolko, a Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesman, said the joint investigation by the FBI and New York Police Department hasn’t pinpointed a suspect.
The Pakistani Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the bombing attempt in a video posted on YouTube, said SITE Intelligence Group, a Bethesda, Maryland-based company that monitors use of the Internet by Islamic militant groups.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Qari Hussein Mehsud said the attack was vengeance for the killings of two militant leaders in Iraq. Mehsud could not immediately be reached by phone in Pakistan for confirmation of the claim.
Focus on ‘Symbols’
“Terrorists around the world who feel threatened by the freedoms that we have always focus on those symbols of freedoms and that is New York City,” said Bloomberg, who had been in Washington D.C. attending the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. He returned to the city upon hearing about the incident and arrived at the scene with Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
Bloomberg said a T-shirt vendor alerted a police officer to a suspicious Nissan Pathfinder parked near the Minskoff Theater, venue of “The Lion King” musical. Bloomberg took office in January 2002, weeks after the coordinated Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by the al-Qaeda terror group that killed almost 3,000 people, most at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon just outside of Washington.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the attempt appears to be a “one-off” event unrelated to any larger terrorist plot. She was interviewed today on ABC’s “This Week.” Later, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Napolitano said the incident “certainly looks” to be a terrorist act, although “it’s too soon to tell who was responsible.”
‘Lone Wolf’
Senator Charles Schumer told CNN that since intelligence services didn’t detect an unfolding plot, “the odds are quite high that this was a lone wolf.”
Bomb squad technicians used a robotic dismantler to take apart a crude explosive device that included propane tanks, Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne, the department’s chief spokesman, said in a telephone interview earlier.
Parts of the heavily trafficked area were evacuated at about 6:35 p.m. There were no injuries and the bomb appeared to be unable to explode, Browne said.
While there may be images of the vehicle captured by video cameras in the neighborhood, the police have no witnesses who saw a suspicious man exiting the vehicle or running from the scene, the mayor said.
Propane Tanks, Fireworks
The car contained three propane tanks, consumer grade fireworks, two filled 5-gallon gasoline containers and two clocks including batteries and a box resembling a gun locker, Kelly told reporters.
“It certainly could have exploded and have a decent amount of impact,” Bloomberg said.
Browne said the bomb was apparently in the process of detonating, but malfunctioned, the New York Times reported.
Witnesses interviewed by CNN said that white smoke began filling the interior of the car, followed by sparks.
The wiring was “amateurish,” Bloomberg said in his briefing.
He also said the vehicle identification number had been removed from the SUV, and police discovered its license plates, registered in the state of Connecticut, had been removed from a different vehicle, a truck discarded by its former owner at a Connecticut junkyard.
The street vendor alerted the mounted police officer to the vehicle, which had been emitting white smoke, at 6:28 p.m., Bloomberg said. The officer called for backup and began removing pedestrians from the area.
Tourist Destination
“The bottom line is we have the world’s greatest police department which focuses on anti-terrorism and intelligence and a public that understands that when you see something you say something and that’s why the city is safe,” Bloomberg said.
New York City in 2009 was the top U.S. tourist destination with 45.25 million visitors, surpassing Orlando, Florida, home of Walt Disney Co.’s Walt Disney World and Las Vegas. New York City visitors spent about $28 billion last year, injecting about $45 billion of total purchases into the economy, NYC & Co. said.
The city predicted 46.7 million visitors in 2010, and the mayor has set a goal of 50 million by 2012. The tourism office, with an annual budget of $38 million, has 18 branches serving 25 markets worldwide.
Some Broadway shows started 15 minutes to 30 minutes late because of the incident, including “Red” and “God of Carnage” playing in theaters on the block of 45th Street where the bomb was found, the New York Times reported.
The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
When we were taking a bus from Jerusalem to Bethlehem last month there was a bomb scare at the bus stop. The IDF pulled in with an armored jeep and moved us all across the street from the bus stop saying there was "an incident". We watched as one of them dressed in an armored bomb suit and strung a line down the street a half a block to what looked for all the world like a white plastic trash bag. They attached a rope to it, tried to pull it towards the jeep but it snagged and they went up to it, and soon we heard a loud BANG!. It wasn't a bomb but the IDF blowing the plastic bag up themselves. Then they said it was all clear and we boarded the bus. Later when I told our Israeli Arab friends about this they said it wasn't unusual for Israelis to pull such a stunt at the busiest time of year for tourists in Jerusalem--to reinforce the idea that terrorists were always lurking. This NY bomb thing timed for Ahmadinejad's arrival has the same feeling to it to me, i.e. a deliberate attempt to link Iran's president with terrorism to discredit anything he says at the NPT summit.
May 2 (Bloomberg) -- New York police disarmed a bomb in a sport utility vehicle parked in Times Square, averting an attack in the heart of the city’s theater district on a Saturday evening.
“We are very lucky that we avoided what could have been a very deadly event,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters at a 2:20 a.m. news conference today one block from the corner of 45th Street and Broadway. “We have no idea who did this or why.”
Richard Kolko, a Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesman, said the joint investigation by the FBI and New York Police Department hasn’t pinpointed a suspect.
The Pakistani Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the bombing attempt in a video posted on YouTube, said SITE Intelligence Group, a Bethesda, Maryland-based company that monitors use of the Internet by Islamic militant groups.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Qari Hussein Mehsud said the attack was vengeance for the killings of two militant leaders in Iraq. Mehsud could not immediately be reached by phone in Pakistan for confirmation of the claim.
Focus on ‘Symbols’
“Terrorists around the world who feel threatened by the freedoms that we have always focus on those symbols of freedoms and that is New York City,” said Bloomberg, who had been in Washington D.C. attending the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. He returned to the city upon hearing about the incident and arrived at the scene with Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
Bloomberg said a T-shirt vendor alerted a police officer to a suspicious Nissan Pathfinder parked near the Minskoff Theater, venue of “The Lion King” musical. Bloomberg took office in January 2002, weeks after the coordinated Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by the al-Qaeda terror group that killed almost 3,000 people, most at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon just outside of Washington.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the attempt appears to be a “one-off” event unrelated to any larger terrorist plot. She was interviewed today on ABC’s “This Week.” Later, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Napolitano said the incident “certainly looks” to be a terrorist act, although “it’s too soon to tell who was responsible.”
‘Lone Wolf’
Senator Charles Schumer told CNN that since intelligence services didn’t detect an unfolding plot, “the odds are quite high that this was a lone wolf.”
Bomb squad technicians used a robotic dismantler to take apart a crude explosive device that included propane tanks, Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne, the department’s chief spokesman, said in a telephone interview earlier.
Parts of the heavily trafficked area were evacuated at about 6:35 p.m. There were no injuries and the bomb appeared to be unable to explode, Browne said.
While there may be images of the vehicle captured by video cameras in the neighborhood, the police have no witnesses who saw a suspicious man exiting the vehicle or running from the scene, the mayor said.
Propane Tanks, Fireworks
The car contained three propane tanks, consumer grade fireworks, two filled 5-gallon gasoline containers and two clocks including batteries and a box resembling a gun locker, Kelly told reporters.
“It certainly could have exploded and have a decent amount of impact,” Bloomberg said.
Browne said the bomb was apparently in the process of detonating, but malfunctioned, the New York Times reported.
Witnesses interviewed by CNN said that white smoke began filling the interior of the car, followed by sparks.
The wiring was “amateurish,” Bloomberg said in his briefing.
He also said the vehicle identification number had been removed from the SUV, and police discovered its license plates, registered in the state of Connecticut, had been removed from a different vehicle, a truck discarded by its former owner at a Connecticut junkyard.
The street vendor alerted the mounted police officer to the vehicle, which had been emitting white smoke, at 6:28 p.m., Bloomberg said. The officer called for backup and began removing pedestrians from the area.
Tourist Destination
“The bottom line is we have the world’s greatest police department which focuses on anti-terrorism and intelligence and a public that understands that when you see something you say something and that’s why the city is safe,” Bloomberg said.
New York City in 2009 was the top U.S. tourist destination with 45.25 million visitors, surpassing Orlando, Florida, home of Walt Disney Co.’s Walt Disney World and Las Vegas. New York City visitors spent about $28 billion last year, injecting about $45 billion of total purchases into the economy, NYC & Co. said.
The city predicted 46.7 million visitors in 2010, and the mayor has set a goal of 50 million by 2012. The tourism office, with an annual budget of $38 million, has 18 branches serving 25 markets worldwide.
Some Broadway shows started 15 minutes to 30 minutes late because of the incident, including “Red” and “God of Carnage” playing in theaters on the block of 45th Street where the bomb was found, the New York Times reported.
The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
When we were taking a bus from Jerusalem to Bethlehem last month there was a bomb scare at the bus stop. The IDF pulled in with an armored jeep and moved us all across the street from the bus stop saying there was "an incident". We watched as one of them dressed in an armored bomb suit and strung a line down the street a half a block to what looked for all the world like a white plastic trash bag. They attached a rope to it, tried to pull it towards the jeep but it snagged and they went up to it, and soon we heard a loud BANG!. It wasn't a bomb but the IDF blowing the plastic bag up themselves. Then they said it was all clear and we boarded the bus. Later when I told our Israeli Arab friends about this they said it wasn't unusual for Israelis to pull such a stunt at the busiest time of year for tourists in Jerusalem--to reinforce the idea that terrorists were always lurking. This NY bomb thing timed for Ahmadinejad's arrival has the same feeling to it to me, i.e. a deliberate attempt to link Iran's president with terrorism to discredit anything he says at the NPT summit.
Press Release - Bil’in Sunday May2nd 2010
Iyad Burnat, a leader in the popular struggle against the Israeli
wall, was banned by Israel’s military from crossing the West Bank
borders into Jordan on Saturday. Burnat is head of the local committee
against the wall and settlement in the central West Bank village of
Bil’in. The villagers of Bil’in have been organizing weekly anti wall
protest since five years.
“This just another episode of Israel’s aggression on us, soldiers
detained me for three hours and then told me to go back, when I asked
them why they said for security reasons.” Burnat said.
Despite the non-violent nature of the protesters, the Israeli army
often respond with violence . Last year the army killed local activist
Bassem Abu Rahma after shooting him in the chest with a high velocity
tear gas bombs. In total the army killed 29 Palestinians during anti
wall protests in the West Bank.
Burnat was going to tour a number of E.U countries to give talks about
the Palestinian nonviolent popular struggle against the Annexation
Wall in the West Bank.
Bil’in villagers continued nonviolent protests against the Wall; and
the legal proceedings managed to get the Israeli Supreme Court of
Justice, to order a re-routing of the wall section built on Bil'in's
land. Due to the ruling, the villagers got back 275 of the 600 acres
Israeli was planning to use to build the wall.
Israeli troops stepped up attacks against community organizers
starting February of last year; since then the military detained five
popular committee organizers from Bil’in village during night
invasions. As many as 85 people were detained by the army for up to 10
months because of their work in the popular resistance.
Note
Two months ago the Israeli military authorities,in a further effort to suppress the nonviolent resistance, declared the area between the village and the Apartheid-Annexation Wall a closed military zone between 8am and 8pm on Fridays to internationals and Isralis - the day when Bil'in marches in protest to the nearby Wall. Iyad Burnat has declared: "We will not be silenced, we will continue to resist, we refuse to die in silence, we will continue to cry out for peace and justice to a world whose ears are deaf to the agony of Palestine."
wall, was banned by Israel’s military from crossing the West Bank
borders into Jordan on Saturday. Burnat is head of the local committee
against the wall and settlement in the central West Bank village of
Bil’in. The villagers of Bil’in have been organizing weekly anti wall
protest since five years.
“This just another episode of Israel’s aggression on us, soldiers
detained me for three hours and then told me to go back, when I asked
them why they said for security reasons.” Burnat said.
Despite the non-violent nature of the protesters, the Israeli army
often respond with violence . Last year the army killed local activist
Bassem Abu Rahma after shooting him in the chest with a high velocity
tear gas bombs. In total the army killed 29 Palestinians during anti
wall protests in the West Bank.
Burnat was going to tour a number of E.U countries to give talks about
the Palestinian nonviolent popular struggle against the Annexation
Wall in the West Bank.
Bil’in villagers continued nonviolent protests against the Wall; and
the legal proceedings managed to get the Israeli Supreme Court of
Justice, to order a re-routing of the wall section built on Bil'in's
land. Due to the ruling, the villagers got back 275 of the 600 acres
Israeli was planning to use to build the wall.
Israeli troops stepped up attacks against community organizers
starting February of last year; since then the military detained five
popular committee organizers from Bil’in village during night
invasions. As many as 85 people were detained by the army for up to 10
months because of their work in the popular resistance.
Note
Two months ago the Israeli military authorities,in a further effort to suppress the nonviolent resistance, declared the area between the village and the Apartheid-Annexation Wall a closed military zone between 8am and 8pm on Fridays to internationals and Isralis - the day when Bil'in marches in protest to the nearby Wall. Iyad Burnat has declared: "We will not be silenced, we will continue to resist, we refuse to die in silence, we will continue to cry out for peace and justice to a world whose ears are deaf to the agony of Palestine."
Iran: Nukes greatest threat to world
Press TV
Sun, 02 May 2010 11:30:08 GMT
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left for New York heading a high-level delegation.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says nuclear weapons have posed "the single greatest threat" to the world for more than sixty years.
Before embarking on his trip to New York early on Sunday, Ahmadinejad told reporters that the possession of an atomic bomb has become "an instrument to serve the hegemonic and expansionist interests of a select few."
"Under the pretext of nuclear non-proliferation, certain countries exert political pressure on those merely seeking to pursue peaceful enrichment activities," said the Iranian president.
Ahmadinejad added that Iran has some practical proposals with regards to reviewing the 40-year-old Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which should be considered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
He went on to say that the IAEA has failed to fulfill its main obligations over the past four decades. One of the obligations the IAEA has failed to meet, Ahmadinejad said, was the disarmament of all nuclear-armed states.
"The UN nuclear agency has fallen short of its commitments over the past 40 years. During this period we have witnessed no progress in the disarmament process as certain countries continue to develop nuclear weapons and test atomic bombs," he explained.
Ahmadinejad, who is scheduled to attend the 2010 NPT Review Conference at the United Nations headquarters, left for New York at the head of a high-ranking delegation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, senior Presidential Advisor Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, and the Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi will accompany Ahmadinejad during the visit.
The conference, which will run from May 3 to May 28, aims to monitor the global progress in fulfilling disarmament obligations set out in the NPT.
SBB/MTM/MMN
Sun, 02 May 2010 11:30:08 GMT
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left for New York heading a high-level delegation.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says nuclear weapons have posed "the single greatest threat" to the world for more than sixty years.
Before embarking on his trip to New York early on Sunday, Ahmadinejad told reporters that the possession of an atomic bomb has become "an instrument to serve the hegemonic and expansionist interests of a select few."
"Under the pretext of nuclear non-proliferation, certain countries exert political pressure on those merely seeking to pursue peaceful enrichment activities," said the Iranian president.
Ahmadinejad added that Iran has some practical proposals with regards to reviewing the 40-year-old Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which should be considered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
He went on to say that the IAEA has failed to fulfill its main obligations over the past four decades. One of the obligations the IAEA has failed to meet, Ahmadinejad said, was the disarmament of all nuclear-armed states.
"The UN nuclear agency has fallen short of its commitments over the past 40 years. During this period we have witnessed no progress in the disarmament process as certain countries continue to develop nuclear weapons and test atomic bombs," he explained.
Ahmadinejad, who is scheduled to attend the 2010 NPT Review Conference at the United Nations headquarters, left for New York at the head of a high-ranking delegation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, senior Presidential Advisor Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, and the Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi will accompany Ahmadinejad during the visit.
The conference, which will run from May 3 to May 28, aims to monitor the global progress in fulfilling disarmament obligations set out in the NPT.
SBB/MTM/MMN
Saturday, May 01, 2010
'US weapons' destabilize Middle East
Sat, 01 May 2010 15:33:07 GMT
A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon
Amid US and Israeli claims of arms transfer against Damascus, Syria says it is the United States' military reinforcement of Israel which harms the Middle East.
"What destabilizes the region is the United Sates supplying significant quantities of sophisticated weaponry to Israel and the fact that Washington adheres to the unjust allegations made by the Israeli government against Syria," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem was quoted by AFP as saying on Saturday in comments to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
Tel Aviv remains the number one recipient of the US arms supplies.
During the former US administration, the military aid helped Tel Aviv muster the readiness to launch the three-week-long Gaza War at the turn of 2009. The current American leadership reportedly continued to dispatch the arms shipments Israel's way following the raids which killed more than 1,200 Palestinians
"The entire world recognizes the constructive role played by Syria in preserving the security and stability of the region, and the public remembers the American slander campaign launched before the war in Iraq," Muallem added according to state news agency SANA.
Among other things, the US accused Iraq of harboring weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) before launching the 2003 invasion of the country.
The WMD claim was found to have nothing to do with the realities on the ground. Over one million Iraqis have, however, reportedly died during the occupation, says California-based investigative project, Project Censored.
"It seems the US administration is now trying to play the same game," added the Syrian foreign minister.
Washington, in addition, has joined hands with Tel Aviv in claiming that Syria supplies the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah with arms.
Damascus, Beirut and the Lebanese movement itself have repeatedly rejected the allegation. Standing by the claim, however, Washington and Tel Aviv have sent threatening signals to Damascus.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned on Friday that President Assad should also "hear directly from us."
"President Assad is making decisions that could mean war or peace for the region," she said.
Syria and Lebanon, meanwhile, remain technically at war with Israel since as the regime keeps parts of each one's territory occupied since 1967.
HN/NN
A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon
Amid US and Israeli claims of arms transfer against Damascus, Syria says it is the United States' military reinforcement of Israel which harms the Middle East.
"What destabilizes the region is the United Sates supplying significant quantities of sophisticated weaponry to Israel and the fact that Washington adheres to the unjust allegations made by the Israeli government against Syria," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem was quoted by AFP as saying on Saturday in comments to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
Tel Aviv remains the number one recipient of the US arms supplies.
During the former US administration, the military aid helped Tel Aviv muster the readiness to launch the three-week-long Gaza War at the turn of 2009. The current American leadership reportedly continued to dispatch the arms shipments Israel's way following the raids which killed more than 1,200 Palestinians
"The entire world recognizes the constructive role played by Syria in preserving the security and stability of the region, and the public remembers the American slander campaign launched before the war in Iraq," Muallem added according to state news agency SANA.
Among other things, the US accused Iraq of harboring weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) before launching the 2003 invasion of the country.
The WMD claim was found to have nothing to do with the realities on the ground. Over one million Iraqis have, however, reportedly died during the occupation, says California-based investigative project, Project Censored.
"It seems the US administration is now trying to play the same game," added the Syrian foreign minister.
Washington, in addition, has joined hands with Tel Aviv in claiming that Syria supplies the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah with arms.
Damascus, Beirut and the Lebanese movement itself have repeatedly rejected the allegation. Standing by the claim, however, Washington and Tel Aviv have sent threatening signals to Damascus.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned on Friday that President Assad should also "hear directly from us."
"President Assad is making decisions that could mean war or peace for the region," she said.
Syria and Lebanon, meanwhile, remain technically at war with Israel since as the regime keeps parts of each one's territory occupied since 1967.
HN/NN
US, Egypt negotiate Mideast nuclear-free zone: report
(AFP) – 8 hours ago
WASHINGTON — US officials are in talks with Egypt over a plan to make the Middle East a nuclear-free zone, part of an effort to block the Iranian nuclear program, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
Citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said the White House wanted to build on a non-binding agreement that emerged from a 1995 UN review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
That agreement had designated the region as a zone free of weapons of mass destruction: the aim now was to promote a Middle East nuclear weapons-free zone, which would include Israel, the Arab states, Iran and Turkey.
The US administration was also seeking a conference on the subject.
US officials said talks with Egypt would resume in New York in the coming month during the month-long nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference, the paper said.
"We've made a proposal to them that goes beyond what the US has been willing to do before," the Journal quotes one senior US official as saying.
However, US officials stressed that they didn't believe progress in the nuclear-free zone talks would happen without first achieving major advances in Arab-Israeli peace talks, the paper noted.
The United States had also discussed the proposal with the Arab League and other members of the Non-Aligned Movement, the paper reported, quoting Ellen Tauscher, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.
But this latest initiative could raise new tensions between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Journal said.
Israel has never publicly acknowledged having nuclear weapons, maintaining a policy of deliberate ambiguity since it inaugurated its Dimona nuclear reactor in 1965.
It is not a party to the NPT, which requires international inspections.
A new nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review summit opens Monday at UN headquarters in New York. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to participate.
The summit comes as the United States and its partners seek to craft a new UN resolution imposing a fresh round of sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.
On Tuesday, Egypt's UN Ambassador Maged Abdel Aziz said that establishing a Middle East nuclear-free zone at the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference was the key to resolving the nuclear standoff with Iran.
Iran denies the charges that its civilian nuclear program hides a covert quest for an atomic arsenal, but has refused to freeze uranium enrichment, which can be a key step towards developing a nuclear weapon.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
Let's see how far Obama gets with this plan when Israel refuses to even talk about their nuclear arsenal.
WASHINGTON — US officials are in talks with Egypt over a plan to make the Middle East a nuclear-free zone, part of an effort to block the Iranian nuclear program, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
Citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said the White House wanted to build on a non-binding agreement that emerged from a 1995 UN review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
That agreement had designated the region as a zone free of weapons of mass destruction: the aim now was to promote a Middle East nuclear weapons-free zone, which would include Israel, the Arab states, Iran and Turkey.
The US administration was also seeking a conference on the subject.
US officials said talks with Egypt would resume in New York in the coming month during the month-long nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference, the paper said.
"We've made a proposal to them that goes beyond what the US has been willing to do before," the Journal quotes one senior US official as saying.
However, US officials stressed that they didn't believe progress in the nuclear-free zone talks would happen without first achieving major advances in Arab-Israeli peace talks, the paper noted.
The United States had also discussed the proposal with the Arab League and other members of the Non-Aligned Movement, the paper reported, quoting Ellen Tauscher, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.
But this latest initiative could raise new tensions between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Journal said.
Israel has never publicly acknowledged having nuclear weapons, maintaining a policy of deliberate ambiguity since it inaugurated its Dimona nuclear reactor in 1965.
It is not a party to the NPT, which requires international inspections.
A new nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review summit opens Monday at UN headquarters in New York. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to participate.
The summit comes as the United States and its partners seek to craft a new UN resolution imposing a fresh round of sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.
On Tuesday, Egypt's UN Ambassador Maged Abdel Aziz said that establishing a Middle East nuclear-free zone at the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference was the key to resolving the nuclear standoff with Iran.
Iran denies the charges that its civilian nuclear program hides a covert quest for an atomic arsenal, but has refused to freeze uranium enrichment, which can be a key step towards developing a nuclear weapon.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
Let's see how far Obama gets with this plan when Israel refuses to even talk about their nuclear arsenal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
We are Holy One
Altarnative
About Me
- Steve Lewis
- Prophesy bearer for four religious traditions, revealer of Christ's Sword, revealer of Josephine bearing the Spirit of Christ, revealer of the identity of God, revealer of the Celestial Torah astro-theological code within the Bible. Celestial Torah Christian Theologian, Climax Civilization theorist and activist, Eco-Village Organizer, Master Psychedelic Artist, Inventor of the Next Big Thing in wearable tech, and always your Prophet-At-Large.