Israeli commandos storm aid flotilla - 20 killed - 31May2010 - English
Israeli naval commandos stormed a flotilla of ships carrying aid and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday,...
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.
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Israel attacked Turkish ship with White flag - 31May2010 - Arabic
More than 18 people have been killed after Israeli commandos stormed a convoy of ships carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army says....
More than 18 people have been killed after Israeli commandos stormed a convoy of ships carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army says.
Armed forces boarded the largest vessel overnight, clashing with some of the 500 people on board. It happened about 40 miles (64 km) out to sea, in international waters.
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Midnight on the Mavi Marmara - English
“We have been attacked while in international waters. That means the Israelis have behaved like pirates … The moment they start to steer this...
“We have been attacked while in international waters. That means the Israelis have behaved like pirates … The moment they start to steer this ship towards Israel, we have also been kidnapped. The whole action is illegal.”—Henning Mankell, aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla
Eastern Mediterranean, Monday, May 31st, 2010, 4.30am: Israeli commandos, boarding from sea and air, attack the six boats of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla as it sails through international waters bringing humanitarian relief to the beleaguered Palestinians of Gaza. Within minutes, nine peace activists are dead, shot by the Israelis. Scores of others are injured. The 700 people on board the ships are arrested before being transported to detention centers in Israel and then deported.
Within hours, outrage at Israel’s action echoes around the world. Spontaneous demonstrations in Europe, the United States, Turkey, and Gaza itself denounce the attack. Turkey’s prime minister describes it as a “bloody massacre” and “state terrorism.” Lebanon’s prime minister calls it “a dangerous and crazy step that will exacerbate tensions in the region.”
In these pages, a range of activists, journalists, and analysts piece together the events that occurred that May night, unpicking their meanings for Israel’s illegal, three-year-long blockade of Gaza and the decades-long Israel/Palestine conflict more generally. Mixing together first-hand testimony, documentary record, and illustration, with hard-headed analysis and historical overview, Midnight on the Mavi Marmara reveals why the attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla may just turn out to be Israels Selma, Alabama: the beginning of the end for an apartheid Palestine.
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German activist gives his account of the attack on Flotilla, Norman...
German pro-Palestinian activist Norman Paech has said he only saw wooden sticks being brandished as Israeli commandos abseiled on to the deck of...
German pro-Palestinian activist Norman Paech has said he only saw wooden sticks being brandished as Israeli commandos abseiled on to the deck of the Mavi Marmara.
Eyewitness accounts from ships raided by Israeli commandos have cast doubt on Israel's version of events that led to the deaths of at least 10 people.
Israel says its soldiers were attacked with "knives, clubs and other weapons" More..and opened fire in self defence.
Update:
"European Campaign to End Siege on Gaza", announced that it already obtain the funding of the first three ships of the new fleet which will go to the Gaza Strip, which will be named "fleet of Freedom 2", related to the name of the First Fleet, who was exposed to piracy and a bloody massacre by Israel against the peace activists on board.
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Israeli Attack on the Mavi Marmara - Raw Footage - 11Jun2010 - All...
On the night of Sunday, May 30, showing a terrifying disregard for human life, Israeli naval forces surrounded and boarded ships sailing to bring...
On the night of Sunday, May 30, showing a terrifying disregard for human life, Israeli naval forces surrounded and boarded ships sailing to bring humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip. On the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara, Israeli commandos opened fire on civilian passengers, killing at least 9 passengers and wounding dozens more. Others are still missing. The final death toll is yet to be determined. Cultures of Resistance director Iara Lee was aboard the besieged ship and has since returned home safely.
Despite the Israeli government's thorough efforts to confiscate all footage taken during the attack, Iara Lee was able to retain some of her recordings. Above is raw footage from the moments leading up to and during the Israeli commandos' assault on the Mavi Marmara.
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Israel Threatens Libyan Aid Ship for Gaza - 11July2010 - English
To defy Israel's four-year blockade of the impoverished Palestinian enclave, a Libyan aid ship departs for the Egyptian port of El-Arish en route...
To defy Israel's four-year blockade of the impoverished Palestinian enclave, a Libyan aid ship departs for the Egyptian port of El-Arish en route to Gaza.
The cargo ship Amalthea, which left the Greek port of Lavrio, southeast of Athens, late Saturday, is carrying 2,000 tons of food and medical supplies, including sacks of rice, sugar, corn oil and olive paste, intended for suffering Gazans.
"We hope that the Israeli authorities would not ban the ship from entering the port of Gaza," said Youssef Sawani, Executive Director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation. The foundation is chaired by the son of Libyan Leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
"I think the Israelis need to understand that we are not provoking any kind of action, we are not in military action, we are a peaceful organization, a humanitarian organization," he said.
Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas said he has discussed the ship's planned trip with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Friday.
The ship has nine crew members — six Libyans, a Moroccan, a Nigerian and an Algerian.
This latest attempt comes after Israeli commandos attacked the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy on May 31 in international waters, killing 9 Turkish activists.
The Israeli assault sparked a worldwide condemnation and a row between Ankara and Tel Aviv. Turkey's Prime Minister demanded that Israel apologize for the deadly attack on the Turkish-owned ship Mavi Marmara, offer compensation to the victims, agree to an international investigation and end the blockade of Gaza.
It also recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and cancelled military exercises with Israel. It has also twice denied Israel the use of its airspace.
Israel has refused to apologize, claiming its commandos only used force to defend themselves after being ambushed.
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Cynthia McKinney in an Israeli jail - English
As if we needed any more proof that the international media deliberately avoids exposing anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian injustices, its suspect...
As if we needed any more proof that the international media deliberately avoids exposing anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian injustices, its suspect behavior during recent days has sealed the case.
Even as we were being force-fed minute details of Michael Jackson's colorful life along with endless speculation as to the true parentage of his children, a former U.S. Congresswomen and presidential candidate, Cynthia McKinney, was languishing in an Israeli jail.
Her 'crime' was boarding the Free Gaza Movement's aid vessel The Spirit of Humanity in Cyprus, in an effort to break Israel's cruel siege of Gaza, which even the U.S. President has condemned.
Like several of her sister vessels, The Spirit of Humanity was attacked by the Israeli Navy in international waters before being boarded by Israeli commandos and dragged along with its crew and passengers towards Israel.
Once there, 21 human rights advocates from the U.S., Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Jordan, Palestine and Yemen, including McKinney, Noble Laureate Mairead Maguire, and documentary filmmaker Adam Shapiro, were incarcerated.
Let's be realistic. If just about any other high-profile U.S. politician on any other mission had been detained within a cell block on foreign soil, the incident would have merited headlines.
However, McKinney's abduction went almost unnoticed. Not only was the story relegated to the back pages, if it ran at all, there was a corresponding absence of comment from Congress and the White House.
McKinney is now home after refusing to sign a statement in Hebrew that she was guilty of a violation, but the mainstream media is certainly not clamoring at her door for interviews.
As far as I can tell, her ordeal has mostly been covered by left-wing outlets such as Democracy Now or Middle East networks including Al Jazeera and Press TV.
A number of McKinney's supporters say the reason for the media blackout was the fact that she is a Black American. But, in fact, it's her cause that's the problem rather than her color.
My analysis is based on the lack of media coverage given to the Viva Palestina aid convoy of trucks and ambulances from London to Gaza, led by British Parliamentarian George Galloway.
The Herculean efforts of hundreds of ordinary Britons to deliver much-needed humanitarian supplies to war-torn Gaza earlier this year was a non-event as far as the media was concerned until Galloway was barred from entering Canada as a result.
Unless you're a person who relentlessly digs on the internet, you probably are not aware that during McKinney's ordeal, Galloway, along with Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic, were meeting up with over 200 Americans in Cairo armed with $2 million (Dh7.35 million) that was raised in the U.S. to buy trucks and medical aid destined for Gaza.
The Egyptian English-language paper Al Ahram Weekly dubs this ""the largest grassroots medical relief effort for Gaza in U.S. history"" but once again, this doesn't merit column inches in either U.S. or European mainstream papers.
In a similar vein, is the way that the horrendous courtroom stabbing of 32-year-old Marwa Al Sherbini was considered inconsequential by the German media until it elicited angry protests in her hometown of Alexandria.
There are so many aspects to this story, which should have been emblazoned across front pages.
First of all it was a blatant race crime, which Germany is normally sensitive about. Second, it begs questions concerning court security.
What were armed officers doing when Marwa was stabbed 18 times and why was her husband shot when he attempted to protect his pregnant wife?
What kind of editors would bin reports of such a horrendous crime carried out in full view of the authorities? What were they thinking?
Purely coincidentally, I was sitting at a table with one of Marwa's uncles in an Alexandria coffee shop when he received a call on his mobile and had to dash off because of a ""family emergency"".
Today, this exceptionally close-knit family is devastated and hurt that the murder of one of their own wasn't initially treated with the weight the crime deserved.
Egyptians are outraged at Germany's disinterest and the inaction of their own foreign office. The numbers who attended her funeral, who gathered outside the German embassy in Cairo and who demonstrated in Cairo and Alexandria speak for themselves.
Because Marwa's dispute with her attacker was based on his objections to her Islamic headscarf, the death of the young pharmacist has become an emblem for the rights of Muslim women at a time when the French President is attempting to ban the burqa. Marwa loved life.
She didn't plan to become a martyr. But in the eyes of Egyptians calling for a mosque and a street in Alexandria to be renamed in her honor, she is a heroine.
If the U.S. and Europe are chronically supine when it comes to Muslim causes, then the governments and media throughout the Arab and Muslim world should embrace them clearly and loudly.
With anti-Muslim hate crimes on the rise, Muslims need a strong united voice on the international stage. Shame on the world's media that appears to be united only in its anti-Muslim bias!
Linda S. Heard is a specialist British writer on Middle East affairs.
(Source: Gulf News
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Attack on Gaza convoy - Talat Hussain missing - 31May2010 - English
No contact has been established with Pakistani journalist Talat Hussain who was on board one of the six ships carrying aid to blockaded Gaza, after...
No contact has been established with Pakistani journalist Talat Hussain who was on board one of the six ships carrying aid to blockaded Gaza, after Israel attacked the convoy killing at least 16 and wounding 30.
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Freedom Flotilla VS Israel Army Overview - 31 May 2010 - English
Death toll from Gaza aid attack hits 20
Mon, 31 May 2010 05:27:14 GMT
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The death toll from the Israeli navy's takeover of a...
Death toll from Gaza aid attack hits 20
Mon, 31 May 2010 05:27:14 GMT
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The death toll from the Israeli navy's takeover of a Gaza aid convoy has risen to 20 while Israel carefully censors reports on the casualties from the attack.
Gaza Freedom Flotilla came under fire early on Monday by Israeli navy forces in international waters more than 150km (90 miles) off the coast of Gaza.
The six-ship aid fleet was soon stormed by commandos descending from helicopters.
At least 20 people were killed in the takeover of the Gaza aid convoy, al-Aqsa TV channel reported, saying that more than 50 people, including leader of the Palestinian Islamic Movement Sheikh Raed Salah, were wounded in the attack.
The news trickled through the Israeli military censorship which has sought to block the reporting of any information about the casualties.
A report on the Israeli radio said the censorship was aimed at covering up the number of casualties brought to Israeli hospitals for treatment.
Meanwhile, Israeli Trade and Industry Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer expressed regret for the deaths aboard the Gaza aid ships.
"The images are certainly not pleasant. I can only voice regret at all the fatalities," he told Israel's Army Radio.
The comments come as the first official acknowledgement by Tel Aviv that the attack had turned fatal.
Israel had initially declined to comment on the reports of casualties from the takeover of the aid ships.
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[FARSI] Statement by Wali Amr Muslimeen on israeli Attack on Flotilla -...
Rahber e Muazzim, Wali Amr Muslimeen e Jahan, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khemenei (H.A) condemned israel\'s attack on the peaceful convoy taking...
Rahber e Muazzim, Wali Amr Muslimeen e Jahan, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khemenei (H.A) condemned israel\'s attack on the peaceful convoy taking the humanitarian good into Gaza Palestine. At least 20 innocents were killed by the Zionist commandos. Around 500 innocents have been detained.
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[URDU] Statement by Wali Amr Muslimeen on israeli Attack on Flotilla -...
Rahber e Muazzim, Wali Amr Muslimeen e Jahan, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khemenei (H.A) condemned israel\\\'s attack on the peaceful convoy...
Rahber e Muazzim, Wali Amr Muslimeen e Jahan, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khemenei (H.A) condemned israel\\\'s attack on the peaceful convoy taking the humanitarian good into Gaza Palestine. At least 20 innocents were killed by the Zionist commandos. Around 500 innocents have been detained.
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[FARSI sub ENGLISH] Statement by Wali Amr Muslimeen on israeli Attack on...
Rahber e Muazzim, Wali Amr Muslimeen e Jahan, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khemenei (H.A) condemned israel\\\'s attack on the peaceful convoy...
Rahber e Muazzim, Wali Amr Muslimeen e Jahan, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khemenei (H.A) condemned israel\\\'s attack on the peaceful convoy taking the humanitarian good into Gaza Palestine. At least 20 innocents were killed by the Zionist commandos. Around 500 innocents have been detained.
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[FRENCH] Flottille de la Liberté: le message du Guide suprême de la...
Rahber e Muazzim, Wali Amr Muslimeen e Jahan, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khemenei (H.A) condemned israel\\\'s attack on the peaceful convoy...
Rahber e Muazzim, Wali Amr Muslimeen e Jahan, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khemenei (H.A) condemned israel\\\'s attack on the peaceful convoy taking the humanitarian good into Gaza Palestine. At least 20 innocents were killed by the Zionist commandos. Around 500 innocents have been detained.
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Freedom Flotilla attack - Daniel Machover of Lawyers for Palestinian...
Full video of Daniel Machover from press conference organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Also appearing was Sarah Colborne who was on the...
Full video of Daniel Machover from press conference organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Also appearing was Sarah Colborne who was on the ship stormed by Israeli commandos.
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Ireland expels israeli diplomat over Hamas assassination - English
DUBLIN (AP) -- Ireland announced Tuesday it's expelling an Israeli diplomat in punishment for the Mossad use of forged Irish passports to...
DUBLIN (AP) -- Ireland announced Tuesday it's expelling an Israeli diplomat in punishment for the Mossad use of forged Irish passports to assassinate a top Hamas official in Dubai.
israel has refused to confirm or deny its agents' involvement in the January slaying of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Dubai police said Israeli agents posing as holidaymakers in the oil-rich Arab emirate killed Mabhouh in his hotel room.
They said assassins using 32 fake passports — including eight depicting fictional Irish citizens — participated in the hit squad. The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Ireland's national police force, the Garda Siochana, launched parallel investigations, but said their appeals for information from Israel fell on deaf ears.
"The misuse of Irish passports by a state with which Ireland enjoys friendly, if sometimes frank, bilateral relations is clearly unacceptable and requires a firm response," Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said as he announced the expulsion.
Ireland's two investigations received no cooperation from the Israelis, but nevertheless reached "the inescapable conclusion that an Israeli government agency was responsible," he said.
The Israeli embassy in Dublin includes four diplomats and two security officials. Both Ireland and Israel declined to identify the official facing expulsion by name or position, but The Irish Times reported it was one of the security officials.
Martin said the official was chosen for expulsion to send a symbolic message, and the Irish investigations found no evidence that any of the embassy staff was involved in the conspiracy.
"The official concerned is not accused or suspected of any particular wrongdoing," Martin said. "The official concerned is a victim of the actions of the state they represent."
Martin condemned Israel's assassination of Mabhouh.
"Many allegations have been made against Mr. Mabhouh which, if true, would categorize him as a committed terrorist," Martin said. But Ireland "does not believe that states should fight terror with terror. As a matter of principle, Ireland opposes extra-judicial killings. We believe that states have a duty to operate according to the law and to respect that way of life that terrorists seek to destroy."
Martin's aides said this was the first time Ireland has expelled an Israeli official. It last took such action in the mid-1980s against Russian officials suspected of spying activity on behalf of the former Soviet Union.
Israel's ambassador to Ireland, Zion Evrony, said he was summoned Tuesday to the Department of Foreign Affairs to be told of the expulsion.
Earlier this month Israeli commandos seized an Irish-run vessel trying to run aid into Gaza Port. All the Irish citizens aboard, including former UN humanitarian official Denis Halliday and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, were arrested and deported.
The Dubai assassins also used fake passports from Britain, Germany, France and Australia. British officials determined that Israeli officials stole the identities of real British citizens, but Martin said all eight Irish passports involved fake identities. He said six of the forged Irish passports used real numbers assigned to real Irish people with different names, while two others were total fabrications.
Australia expelled an Israeli diplomat May 24 after concluding that Mossad was involved in forging four Australian passports.
Britain expelled an Israeli diplomat in March after reaching the same conclusion about 12 fraudulent British passports used by the alleged assassins.
The governments of France and Germany have yet to announce conclusions of their own investigations.
Tehran Times
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israel Threatens New Lebanese Gaza Aid Flotilla - 18 June 2010 - English
As outrage and condemnation continues over Israel's deadly attack on a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, Tel Aviv once again...
As outrage and condemnation continues over Israel's deadly attack on a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, Tel Aviv once again threatens to halt any ship trying to break the Gaza blockade. In a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Israel's Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev called for a halt to a new aid ship scheduled to set sail from Lebanon to break the siege of Gaza, warning that Tel Aviv would use "all necessary means" to stop the vessel. "Israel reserves its right under international law to use all necessary means to prevent these ships from violating the existing naval blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip," she said. The warning comes as a group of female Lebanese activists announced a plan to send an aid ship loaded with medical supplies to Gaza, which has been under siege since 2007. According to the organizers, 50 Lebanese and foreign activists would be aboard the aid ship. The new aid convoy planned the mission after Israeli commandos on May 31 stormed the Gaza Freedom Flotilla aid convoy, killing 20 civilian activists and injuring dozens of others. The Israeli envoy also claimed the aid ship was linked to the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah. Hezbollah, however, has denied having any links to the mission, saying it would not join the convoy as it did not want to give Israel an excuse to attack the Gaza campaigners. The warning comes as earlier on Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Lebanon against allowing the aid ship to depart from Lebanon for Gaza.
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