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Israeli Butchery at Sea by Gilad Atzmon
Live Stream from Turkish's IHH Mission to Gaza (video of the deadly event)
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Israel Butchering Peace Activists in International Waters
http://english.pravda.ru/ print/hotspots/ conflicts/ 113576-israel_ butchering_ peace_activis- 0
31.05.2010 Source: Pravda.Ru
Pages:
Israel Butchering Peace Activists in International Waters
Israel Imposes Blackout on the Number Killed on Turkish Ship
BREAKING NEWS
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Peace activists aboard the Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara, with hundreds of aid workers and activists aboard, report that they have been attacked. At least 20 persons have been killed at last report and over 50 more wounded. Israeli commandos apparently lowered themselves onto the Mavi Marmara with ropes. Passengers range in age from 88 to a year old and include Christians, Muslims and Jews seeking to end the blockade.
Film footage from the vessel showed armed Israeli soldiers boarding the ship and helicopters flying overhead. Israelis shot indiscriminately into groups of sleeping civilians.
Technically speaking, Israel has committed an act of war against Turkey by attacking a ship sailing under the Turkish flag in international waters. Months ago when the mission was in the planning stages, Turkey predicted dire consequences should the Israels attack their ship. The Israeli ambassador was summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry Monday after the incident.
"The ambassador (Gabby Levy) was summoned to the foreign ministry. We will convey our reaction in the strongest terms," the diplomat said.
Shortly afterwards, Israeli military censors ordered a block on all information regarding those injured or killed during the storming of the ship.
No weapons are onboard the humanitarian aid convoy. Gunfire was heard under the cover of darkness. Hundreds of elected officials, former diplomats, aid workers and activists, including a Nobel laureate and many European legislators, are with the flotilla, traveling by sea to Gaza to break Israel's blockade of the tiny strip of land.
Evidently they are witnessing Israel's brutality and murderous intentions first hand. Israel is showing itself as a terrorist state, founded and established by acts of terrorism and sustained by state terrorism.
One boat in the aid convoy is flagged and registered in the United States. The ship is U.S. territory under maritime law, and the U.S. government is required to intervene if this "U.S. property" is attacked or illegally confiscated by Israeli authorities.
As of this writing, the attack is ongoing, the total dead and wounded will most likely increase.
Israelis supposedly took over the convoy. Waiting for international reaction...silence? excuses? glossing over? strong words with nothing to back it up? U.S. sending more weapons to Israel by federal express mail??
EUROPEAN UNION Brussels, 28 May 2010
Statement by the spokesperson of
High Representative Catherine Ashton
on the flotilla sailing to Gaza
The spokesperson of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President of the Commission Catherine Ashton issued a following statement today:
"We strongly urge that all involved act with a sense of restraint and responsibility and work for a constructive resolution. The EU remains gravely concerned by the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The continued policy of closure is unacceptable and politically counterproductive. We would like to reiterate the EU's call for an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza."
Lisa KARPOVA
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
Israel attacks Gaza flotilla - live coverage
The Israeli military says more than 10 activists have been killed after it intercepted ships carrying aid to Gaza. Follow the latest here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/ blog/2010/ may/31/israel- troops-gaza- ships
Daily Newsletter - Sabbah Report
Why is Israel afraid of a few boats?
Posted: 28 May 2010 06:00 AM PDT
By Yousef Munayyer* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz
Hundreds of activists are on their way to the blockaded Gaza strip via a "flotilla" of boats carrying humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, which are badly lacking in the impoverished Palestinian territory.
Israel has promised to intercept the good-willed boats and arrest and deport the activists. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has exerted great effort in the past few days to convince onlookers to this confrontation on the high seas that the activists carrying humanitarian goods are terrorist sympathizers, and that everything is just fine and dandy in the Gaza Strip. The ministry has portrayed Israel (the country enforcing the blockade of Gaza's ports) as a benevolent victim, who despite the threat from Gaza's Hamas government is still caring for the civilian population.
There comes a point when an oppressive regime's propaganda crosses a threshold from mere lies to utter lunacy so extreme, in fact, that objective onlookers find it almost comical. This point came yesterday when the Government Press Office disseminated a link to a Gaza restaurant which appears to be luxurious. So what Israel is essentially saying is: "There you have it. There is a website for a restaurant with cloth napkins in Gaza. How can there be any problems?"
The reality is, of course, that the situation in Gaza is very dire. A slew of reports from human rights organizations attest to the hardships faced by most Palestinians in Gaza. In the densely populated strip where 80 percent of the population are refugees, a similar percentage relies on international aid organizations for daily sustenance. That number was only ten percent a decade ago. That's how bad things have become. Malnutrition in children has reached ten percent and critical medicines are not available, according to the World Health Organization.But no one is starving to death in Gaza–at least not suddenly. A tunnel industry has evolved and become the main supplier for most goods. That's all part of the plan. Israel seeks to squeeze the strip to the point of near catastrophe, bad enough to make people suffer, but just short of having to take responsibility for it. It's a form of torture kind of like water-boarding under the Bush administration: the objective is to bring the subject to the edge and break his will, but not kill him (lest they be charged with murder). But just because Gaza's civilian population has managed to keep its collective head above water doesn't mean things should be this way.
Like life in most prisons, if you "know a guy," anything is available for a price. Generators, for example, are in high demand because of the shortages of electricity. The shortages are due to the destruction of Gaza's only power plant in 2006 by Israeli jets. Since then, Israel has never permitted the full reconstruction of the power plant, forcing perpetual dependence of Gaza on Israel and Egypt, who take an eye-dropper approach to supplying Gaza with electricity. But even though generators smuggled through Gaza's tunnels provide some light, there is also a dark and often unheard downside that comes with them: explosions and fires. Several reports in the past few years of civilians being killed or maimed from overworked and exploding generators have become common. These are just some of the siege-related causalities we do not hear about.
The 10,000 tons of supplies aboard the Gaza aid ships are a drop in the bucket for what Gaza really needs. Israel's spokesmen have pointed out that they have permitted the entry of supplies in the past and argued that the aid boats are unnecessary. The reality is that aid which Israel does permit into Gaza is purchased by Palestinians, vetted and often rejected or held up for months. Israel has calculated the precise minimum necessary caloric intake for Palestinians in Gaza, and has often rejected things like pasta, lentils and coffee. So it's easy to understand why international humanitarian organizations and the activists aboard the aid boats are not about to trust the welfare of Gaza's civilians to Israel's benevolence.
The aid boats will have a far greater impact, however, than the 10,000 tons of aid they are bringing to Gaza. The aid boats compel us to have this discussion, a discussion that Israel desperately wants to avoid at a time when its international reputation has never been lower.
Hundreds of unarmed civilians carrying humanitarian aid are approaching a blockaded piece of land where 1.5 million civilians suffer from a life of uncertainty and despair, and Israel is going to stop them. While much of the focus on the Israeli-Palestinian issue has been on the settlements, the failed peace process and the long-awaited restart of talks about talks, Gaza has been forgotten. To their credit, the few hundred non-violent activists-turned-
sailors have found a way to maximize their power as individuals to force one of the world's most powerful regimes into a corner. Whether the boats make it to Gaza or not, this is a tremendous victory for civil society in international affairs. Headlines and stories covering this confrontation at sea will shift the focus back to Gaza, even if only for a few hours. For Israel, Gaza is the tortured and famished step-child it locks in the basement when visitors arrive, and the activists on these boats seek to expose what Israel is doing in the strip: imposing a draconian siege to collectively punish civilians for political aims.
* Yousef Munayyer is the Executive Director of the Jerusalem Fund and the Palestine Center.
Why is Israel afraid of a few boats? was published by Sabbah Report. Get Daily Newsletter, follow on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.
Monday, May 31, 2010 
