Israeli settlers torch hundreds of Nablus olive trees

Ma'an – Residents of the illegal Yitzhar settlement set fire to more than 100 dunums of Palestinian lands near Urif village, southwest of Nablus on Wednesday afternoon, Palestinian officials said.

Local official in charge of the settlements file in the northern West Bank Ghasan Daghlas said the fire was set in the Jabal Marwes area, the hill separating the villages of URif and Asira Al-Qaliya, into which Yitzhar's "municipal area" extends.

"The settlers had set fire to the area, and it spread across a large swath of agricultural land," Daghlas said.

When Palestinians saw the fire, dozens rushed to put it out, Daghlas continued, but said hundreds of almond and olive trees were destroyed...... Full story

Israeli Soldiers Break Into Arab Hospital In East Jerusalem

IMEMC – Israeli soldiers and Border Policemen broke into the al-Makassed hospital in East Jerusalem in an attempt to arrest a wounded Palestinian but were forced out in a clash with local youths.

The patient in question was wounded during a clash with Israeli soldiers in East Jerusalem. The Army wanted to arrest him despite his injuries.

Israeli policemen, soldiers and under-cover forces raided the town of Silwan while settlers also entered the town and shot at the residents...

Soldiers and policemen fired live ammunition, rubber-coated bullets and gas canisters; several injuries were reported  Full story

NATO legally obliged to react to attack by Israel on a NATO member flagged ship (Turkey)

'Israeli Murders, NATO and Afghanistan" - Craig Murray

I was in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office for over 20 years and a member of its senior management structure for six years, I served in five countries and took part in 13 formal international negotiations, including the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea and a whole series of maritime boundary treaties. I headed the FCO section of a multidepartmental organisation monitoring the arms embargo on Iraq.

I am an instinctively friendly, open but unassuming person who always found it easy to get on with people, I think because I make fun of myself a lot. I have in consequence a great many friends among ex-colleagues in both British and foregin diplomatic services, security services and militaries.

I lost very few friends when I left the FCO over torture and rendition. In fact I seemed to gain several degrees of warmth with a great many acquantances still on the inside. And I have become known as a reliable outlet for grumbles, who as an ex-insider knows how to handle a discreet and unintercepted conversation.

What I was being told last night was very interesting indeed. NATO HQ in Brussels is today a very unhappy place. There is a strong understanding among the various national militaries that an attack by Israel on a NATO member flagged ship in international waters is an event to which NATO is obliged - legally obliged, as a matter of treaty - to react.

I must be plain - nobody wants or expects military action against Israel. But there is an uneasy recognition that in theory that ought to be on the table, and that NATO is obliged to do something robust to defend Turkey.

Mutual military support of each other is the entire raison d'etre of NATO. You must also remember that to the NATO military the freedom of the high seas guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is a vital alliance interest which officers have been conditioned to uphold their whole career.

That is why Turkey was extremely shrewd in reacting immediately to the Israeli attack by calling an emergency NATO meeting. It is why, after the appalling US reaction to the attack with its refusal to name Israel, President Obama has now made a point of phoning President Erdogan to condole.

But the unhappiness in NATO HQ runs much deeper than that, I spoke separately to two friends there, from two different nations. One of them said NATO HQ was "a very unhappy place". The other described the situation as "Tense - much more strained than at the invasion of Iraq".

Why? There is a tendency of outsiders to regard the senior workings of governments and international organisations as monolithic. In fact there are plenty of highly intelligent - and competitive - people and diverse interests involved.

There are already deep misgivings, especially amongst the military, over the Afghan mission. There is no sign of a diminution in Afghan resistance attacks and no evidence of a clear gameplan. The military are not stupid and they can see that the Karzai government is deeply corrupt and the Afghan "national" army comprised almost exclusively of tribal enemies of the Pashtuns.

You might be surprised by just how high in Nato scepticism runs at the line that in some way occupying Afghanistan helps protect the west, as opposed to stoking dangerous Islamic anger worldwide.

So this is what is causing frost and stress inside NATO. The organisation is tied up in a massive, expensive and ill-defined mission in Afghanistan that many whisper is counter-productive in terms of the alliance aim of mutual defence. Every European military is facing financial problems as a public deficit financing crisis sweeps the continent. The only glue holding the Afghan mission together is loyalty to and support for the United States.

But what kind of mutual support organisation is NATO when members must make decades long commitments, at huge expense and some loss of life, to support the Unted States, but cannot make even a gesture to support Turkey when Turkey is attacked by a non-member?

Even the Eastern Europeans have not been backing the US line on the Israeli attack. The atmosphere in NATO on the issue has been very much the US against the rest, with the US attitude inside NATO described to me by a senior NATO officer as "amazingly arrogant - they don't seem to think it matters what anybody else thinks".

Therefore what is troubling the hearts and souls of non-Americans in NATO HQ is this fundamental question. Is NATO genuinely a mutual defence organisation, or is it just an instrument to carry out US foreign policy? With its unthinking defence of Israel and military occupation of Afghanistan, is US foreign policy really defending Europe, or is it making the World less safe by causing Islamic militancy?

I leave the last word to one of the senior NATO officers - who incidentally is not British:
"Nobody but the Americans doubts the US position on the Gaza attack is wrong and insensitve. But everyone already quietly thought the same about wider American policy. This incident has allowed people to start saying that now privately to each other."

Craig Murray is a human rights activist, writer, former British Ambassador, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Lancaster School of Law. Visit his blog http://www.craigmurray.org.uk

Israeli Colonel admits sabotaging civilian aid ships; the Rachel Corrie to take extra precautions

Free Gaza Press Release
(Cyprus, June 4, 2010) On Tuesday, Colonel Itzik Tourgeman told the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday that two more ships are on their way to try and break the naval blockade of Gaza. The head of research in the operations division said, "The ships have not
reached their target as of today because covert action was taken against them." http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/187299

We had suspicions about our two boats, Challenger 1 and 2 and their mechanical problems as they sailed toward the flotilla, but we were not going to say anything unless we could prove it. Turns out we didn't have to prove it. Israeli mouthpieces did.

The Guardian ran a piece the same day, saying, Israel gave strong indications today that its forces had secretly sabotaged some of the ships bound for Gaza as part of the freedom flotilla.

Matan Vilnai, the deputy defence minister, was asked on Israel Radio whether there had not been a smarter alternative to direct assault. He answered that "all possibilities had been considered," adding: "The fact is that there were less than the 10 ships that were due to participate in the flotilla."

An unnamed Israeli Defence Force source who briefed the Knesset's foreign affairs and defence committee on the widely criticised armed interception of the flotilla at sea, also spoke of "grey operations" being mounted against the flotilla."

We were lucky that our two captains were supurbly trained and able to offload the passengers safely.

So we are going to make sure the Rachel Corrie is well protected and that Israel is put on notice that anything that happens to her, the passengers and the crew will rest with Israel. As a result of these threats, we're going to pull Rachel Corrie into a port, add more high-profile people on board, and insist that journalists from around the world also come with us.

And sabotage happens with more than deeds. It also happens with words. In today's Haaretz, Barak Ravid reported incorrectly,

"A diplomatic solution seems imminent to allow the humanitarian aid vessel the Rachel Corrie to dock without incident at the Ashdod Port. According to European diplomats and senior Foreign Ministry officials in Jerusalem, quiet messages have been exchanged over the past few days between Israel and the group operating the ship, to allow it to dock."

This, too, is sabotage in writing. We called Haaretz and the reporter. He did not return our call.

We have no intention nor would we ever have any intention of ever docking in Ashdod.

British survivor of Gaza flotilla raid: 'Israelis ignored SOS calls', trained laser sites on heads, handcuffed medical workers trying to treat the injured

UK Guardian 

Sarah Colborne said pleas for aid were dismissed by the troops who fired live rounds at the activists and handcuffed medical staff

VIDEO 

Sarah Colborneo insists that troops fired live ammunition at activists Link to this video The first British survivor of the assault on the Mavi Marmara Gaza aid ship to return to London has told of her terror as Israeli troops ignored SOS calls for medical aid and continued to fire live rounds at activists.

Sarah Colborne, director of campaigns and operations at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who was on board the Turkish ship when the Israeli navy mounted a raid early on Monday, gave a press conference in central London still wearing her grey prison fatigues from her spell in jail in Be'er Sheva, southern Israel. She described how she saw one man fatally wounded from a gun shot to the head and how passengers feared for their lives as Israeli troops trained laser sights on the activists through the ship's windows.

Colborne, 43, from London, insisted the activists on the boat were on a purely humanitarian mission and the passengers were aged between one and 89. She claimed:

• Unarmed activists were shot by Israelis using live ammunition;
• The death toll of nine is likely to rise, because some activists remain missing;
• The Israelis ignored calls over the Tannoy and on written signs calling for them stop firing and to evacuate the critically injured;
• The Israeli forces handcuffed members of the activists' medical team who were sent to help treat the injured.

Colborne said she was positioned on the deck when the assault was at its peak.

"It felt a bit surreal," she said. "I couldn't quite believe they were doing what they were doing.
"There was live ammunition flying around and I could hear the sounds of the bullets flying and the whirr of the helicopter blades as people were dropped down onto the roof. What I saw was guns being used by the Israelis on unarmed civilians. I saw a bullet wound in someone's head. It was very clear it was live ammunition."

She said the activists had set up a makeshift medical centre below deck on the previous evening, after Israeli naval vessels were detected on the ship's radar. They also donned lifejackets and some went to sleep.

"At around 4.10am I woke up, went up to the deck so I could see outside and I saw small dinghies bristling with guns and Israeli military speeding towards the ship," she said.

"Helicopters then appeared and gas and sound bombs were used ... We then had the first passenger fatally injured. He was brought to the back of the deck below. He was shot in the head.

"I saw him. He was in a very bad way and he subsequently died. There were bullets flying all over the place. We asked for the Israelis to stop the attacks. We asked this in English: 'We are not resisting, please help the injured.' Instead of helping the injured the saloon remained surrounded by soldiers targeting individuals with laser sights.

"The captain announced live ammunition was being used, to stop resisting and to go downstairs. At 5.15am we started broadcasting over the Tannoy for help to evacuate the critically injured and for emergency medical assistance. We asked the Israelis to stop the attacks in English."

She said she could "see the red of the laser sights sweeping over people's heads".

"The Israeli military were firing on us," she said. "We had no arms. We made two attempts to get the message across in the written form. We wrote a sign in Hebrew saying 'SOS! Need medical assistance. People are dying. Urgent.'"

After 7am, after the commandos had taken control of the boat, she said they handcuffed everyone using cable ties, confiscated their phones and told them to sit in lines on the deck in the sun for several hours, before being taken into the cabin after some complained of dehydration.

"It was terrifying," she said. "If you talked they pointed a gun at you."

She said they were then taken to the port of Ashdod where men and women were separated, before being bussed to prison at Be'er Sheva.

Asked if the trip had been worth it, she said: "We are hoping that the horrific deaths of the people will not be in vain. We are hoping this will act as a wake up call internationally ...

"We can't sit by and watch Israel violate international law every day. We want the British government to take action, ensure there is no future attacks on humanitarian aid convoys, to ensure there is a search carried out for those that remain missing, to ensure that those people who have been detained illegally will be released and most importantly to end the siege of Gaza."

American, 19, Among Gaza Flotilla Dead - Shot Five Times at close range, Including Four Times in Head

ABC
A U.S. citizen who lived in Turkey is among the nine people killed when Israeli commandos stormed a Turkish aid ship heading for the Gaza Strip, officials said today. The victim was identified as Furkan Dogan, 19, a Turkish-American. A forensic report said he was shot at close range, with four bullets in his head and one in his chest, according to the Anatolian news agency.

Dogan was a high school student studying social sciences in the town of Kayseri in central Turkey. He was born in the United States and moved to Turkey at the age of 2. He will be buried in his hometown tomorrow.

Dogan's body was returned to Turkey today along with eight others, all Turkish nationals, who were on board the Mavi Marmara.

Update - Zoe Magee

......The ship was sponsored by a Turkish charity, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH) and was carrying aid to Gaza in defiance of the Israeli blockade. The charity released the names of all nine dead. All are male and the ages range from 32 to 61....

Israeli commandos rappelled onto the decks of the six ships Monday, but on the Mavi Marmara the passengers battled the soldiers with metal rods, wrested weapons from soldiers and, according to the Israeli military, fired on them. Nine people died and more than 30 were wounded, including several Israeli troops.

The activists on board the ship told a very different version of events from the one released by the Israeli military.

A Canadian on board, Farooq Burney, described watching an elderly man bleed to death. The head of a Turkish charity that organized the aid flotilla said an Indonesian doctor was shot in the stomach and a photographer was shot in the forehead.

"They [Israeli commandos] were trying to land on the boat. So obviously there was this hand-to-hand combat and during that process the people on the boat were basically able to disarm some of the soldiers because they did have guns with them," Burney told Reuters. "So they basically took the guns away from them and took the cartridges out and threw them away." 

Asked if anyone had used the guns against the Israeli commandos, Burney said, "No, not at all."
"Yes, we took their guns. It would be self defence even if we fired their guns," Bulent Yildirim, chairman of the IHH, said.

"We told our friends on board we will die, become martyrs, but never let us be shown... as the ones who used guns," he said, adding that people shouted that the weapons should not be used. 

"By this decision, our friends accepted death, and we threw all the guns we took from them into the sea," Yildirim said. 

Thousands of mourners flocked to the funeral held for the Turkish activists today in Istanbul. Coffins of most of those killed, draped in Turkish and Palestinian flags, were brought to Istanbul's Fatih Mosque for the service before the bodies were taken to their home towns for burial.

"Turkey will never forget such an attack on its ships and its people in international waters. Turkey's ties with Israel will never be the same again," Turkish President Abdullah Gul told a news conference.
"Israel made one of the greatest mistakes in its history. It will see in time what a huge mistake it made," he said........

Meanwhile, Israel is preparing for a new ship to run the blockade, the Irish ship MV Rachel Corrie, due to arrive in the area Friday. 
"The Rachel Corrie will not be allowed into Gaza," David said. "We are watching it and waiting to see what will happen. Hopefully, the people on board will direct to the port in Ashdod. "The naval blockade is still in effect and the ship will not be allowed to enter into the naval blockade area."

Former U.N. assistant secretary general Denis Halliday, who is on board the Rachel Corrie, told ABC News that they do not intend to stop their mission or head to the Israeli port of Ashdod instead. 

"It's a totally unacceptable embargo. There's no justification for it, there's no legality for it, it's not endorsed by the U.N., it's not endorsed by anybody else. It's an Israeli military zone which is without legal status," he said in a phone interview from the ship today.

The Rachel Corrie expects to be boarded by the Israelis Friday when they are approximately 80 miles off coast.

"When they tell they are about to board we will cooperate because it's too dangerous not to do so, particularly as you say it may be at night which is the usual tactic. We're not fools, we're not about to throw away our lives." 

"We're very upbeat and having seen the appalling consequences of Monday we're more determined than ever to try and make this work," Halliday said.  Full story

The Legal Position on the Israeli Attack

Craig Murray - former British Ambassador and expert on maritime law
...A word on the legal position, which is very plain. To attack a foreign flagged vessel in international waters is illegal. It is not piracy, as the Israeli vessels carried a military commission. It is rather an act of illegal warfare.

Because the incident took place on the high seas does not mean however that international law is the only applicable law. The Law of the Sea is quite plain that, when an incident takes place on a ship on the high seas (outside anybody's territorial waters) the applicable law is that of the flag state of the ship on which the incident occurred. In legal terms, the Turkish ship was Turkish territory.

There are therefore two clear legal possibilities. 

Possibility one is that the Israeli commandos were acting on behalf of the government of Israel in killing the activists on the ships. In that case Israel is in a position of war with Turkey, and the act falls under international jurisdiction as a war crime. 

Possibility two is that, if the killings were not authorised Israeli military action, they were acts of murder under Turkish jurisdiction. If Israel does not consider itself in a position of war with Turkey, then it must hand over the commandos involved for trial in Turkey under Turkish law.

In brief, if Israel and Turkey are not at war, then it is Turkish law which is applicable to what happened on the ship. It is for Turkey, not Israel, to carry out any inquiry or investigation into events and to initiate any prosecutions. Israel is obliged to hand over indicted personnel for prosecution.

Craig Murray is a former British Ambassador. He is also a former Head of the Maritime Section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He negotiated the UK's current maritime boundaries with Ireland, Denmark (Faeroes), Belgium and France, and boundaries of the Channel Islands, Turks and Caicos and British Virgin Islands. He was alternate Head of the UK Delegation to the UN Preparatory Commission on the Law of the Sea. He was Head of the FCO Section of the Embargo Surveillance Centre, enforcing sanctions on Iraq, and directly responsible for clearance of Royal Navy boarding operations in the Persian Gulf.

"Israeli piracy and murder: An act of self defence?" Statements by Amnesty International, Desmond Tutu, International Law expert; Passenger: "They pointed guns at our heads"

Vancouver Sun / Pulse Media
As international outrage spreads at the Israeli elite commando attack on an unarmed humanitarian convey in the middle of the night on international waters, Israel is desperately trying to rebrand the incident as one of self-defence...

Yet, Amnesty International released a statement about Israel’s excessive use of force, further stating that Israel’s version of events begs credibility.  Former Archbishop Desmond Tutu proclaimed the actions of Israel as “completely inexcusable”. According to Craig Murray, specialist on maritime law, “To attack a foreign flagged vessel in international waters is illegal.”

Deported activists tell a horrifying story of the use of electric shock, live ammunition, smoke bombs, gas canisters, beatings, and seizure of all evidence on cameras. Greek activist Michalis Grigoropoulos said, “They took us hostage, pointing guns at our heads…There was absolutely nothing we could do.” A Turkish woman, with her 1 year old baby, recalls “The ship turned into a lake of blood.”

Israeli-Arab Knesset member Hanin Zoabi, who was on board, demanded an international inquiry: “It was clear from size of force that boarded ship that purpose was not to stop sail, but to cause largest number of fatalities to prevent future initiatives.”

In contradiction of the carefully managed public relations campaign, a top Israeli Navy commander brags to the Jerusalem Post that “We boarded the ship and were attacked as if it was a war.” The names of the 10-19 dead, 60-80 injured, and hundreds detained have yet to be released.

Zoabi further stated that the passengers made clear they were non-confrontational, substantiated by live footage of a white flag raised shortly after the armed commandos descended from helicopters.  Upon release from Israeli custody, two German parliamentarians also denied that the activists provoked the violence, though some had tried to stop the armed onslaught by using two wooden sticks. If that were not enough, custom officials in Greece confirmed that the boats were screened prior to departure and no weapons were aboard.

Even before the events of May 31, the Israeli government had publically warned that the Flotilla would be intercepted, even though the convoy would be entering from international waters in the Mediterranean and not from Israeli territory. An extensive May 25 article in the Jerusalem Post describes a campaign between the media, military, and government officials to “coordinate efforts to stop the flotilla and manage the potential media fallout.”

The Gaza Freedom Flotilla convoy was comprised of nine ships and 700 activists, politicians, journalists, Nobel laureates, and aid workers from 40 countries. An initiative that took almost two years of grassroots organization, they were bringing 10,000 tons of medical and humanitarian aid including toys, wheelchairs, construction supplies, paper, food, and medicines for Gaza’s 1.5 million besieged residents.

Since 2007, Israel has imposed a tight blockade on Gaza: maintaining control of airspace, waters, and land crossings; disallowing residents to leave without permits; and prohibition on imports and exports including food, fuel, and medical supplies. The result has been catastrophic: 70% of Gazans live on under $1 a day, 60% have no daily access to water, only 23 of 3,900 industrial enterprises are operational. This constitutes collective punishment of an entire civilian population and condemns them to an open-air prison, leading the UN to call the siege ‘medieval’.

One of the justifications for the siege is the violence inflicted by Palestinian fighters. Palestinians live under occupation and lack any effective military capabilities. According to UN statistics, from 2000-2008, the Israeli military killed 2677 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In the same period, 11 Israelis were killed by Palestinian home-made rockets. During the bombings of Gaza in 2008-2009, over 1400 Palestinians and five Israelis were killed. While these numbers are clearly asymmetrical, a focus on violence alone obscures the reality of the occupation of Palestine since 1948. UN Special Rapporteur John Dugard has stated that acts committed against a military occupation may not be justifiable but must be understood not as mindless acts of terror but as “a painful but inevitable consequence of colonialism, apartheid or occupation.”

Though Stephen Harper and Barack Obama are shameless in rolling out the red carpet for Benjamin Netanyahu; UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk has called on the world to act: “It is essential that those Israelis responsible for this lawless and murderous behavior, including political leaders who issued the orders, be held criminally accountable for their wrongful acts. It is time to insist on the end of the blockade of Gaza. The worldwide campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel is now a moral and political imperative.”

Standing up to one of the worlds most powerful state’s – who possesses nuclear capabilities, one of the largest militaries, has repeatedly rebuked international law, and continues an immoral occupation – hundreds of thousands of people have spilled onto the streets in every continent. Spain, Sweden, Greece, Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey have recalled their ambassadors to Israel. Perhaps most poignantly, human rights activists in South Africa called the deadly raid ‘Israel’s Sharpeville’ with a bold reminder that “the desperation of the oppressor is an indication of the beginning of freedom for the oppressed.”   Full story

Israel deports Palestinian to Gaza, says society

Ma'an – A Palestinian man from Beersheba was deported into Gaza on Tuesday evening, the Wa'ed Prisoners Society said, after Israeli authorities invoked a controversial military order allowing the expulsion of Palestinians broadly defined as "infiltrators."

The society said Nasser Al-Jarushah was detained late Tuesday night from his home in the southern Israeli city and left at the Erez crossing into Gaza, leaving behind his wife and children.
A statement said the latest expulsion indicates Israel's intention to deport Palestinians with Israeli citizenship in particular and said 17 Palestinians from the West Bank and Israel had been expelled under military order 1650.

The number of Palestinians detained and expelled under the order remains unclear, with various rights groups and societies estimating between seven and 20. In May, a Palestinian from Hebron was deported to Jordan under the order.

Israel announced that it would enforce two amended military orders on 13 April, expanding the definition of an "infiltrator" to include any person residing in areas under Israeli control without Israeli permission. Rights organizations and governments from around the world have condemned the move.

One Tulkarem native was released from prison on in late April and dropped off at the Erez crossing; he was not permitted into Gaza and remains stranded at the crossing He said he would remain there, in a protest tent set up by the de facto government, pending intervention by rights groups.

A second Palestinian man, born in Gaza but residing with his wife and children in the Palestinian community of Yaffa, in Tel Aviv, was detained from a hospital and transported to Gaza. The decision, however, was later reversed for unknown reasons, and he was permitted to travel back to his family.

A Hebron man was deported to Gaza two weeks ago, and a Beersheba resident visiting a Jerusalem eye clinic was also detained and sent into Gaza, a decision later reversed by Israel.

The new orders, by substantively changing the definition of an “infiltrator,” HaMoked said in a statement "effectively apply [the term] to anyone who is present in the West Bank without an Israeli permit," noting "the orders do not define what Israel considers a valid permit," and that "the vast majority of people now living in the West Bank have never been required to hold any sort of permit to be present therein."

The amendments apply to a 1969 order issued following the start of the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem. The order was first amended in 1980, when an infiltrator was defined as "a person who entered the Area knowingly and unlawfully having been present in the east bank of the Jordan, Syria, Egypt or Lebanon following the effective date."

In the latest order, an "infiltrator" is defined as: "A person who entered the Area unlawfully following the effective date, or a person who is present in the Area and does not lawfully hold a permit."

The presumption that the orders will be used to clamp-down on Palestinians participating in popular protests against land confiscation and the construction of the separation wall follows a series of failed measures by the Israeli army to stifle the increasingly broadly supported actions.

Palestinian Israeli Member of Parliament describes terror on aid ship; passengers shot in the head

Ma'an -  Jonathan Cook
A Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament who was on board the international flotilla that was attacked on Monday as it tried to take humanitarian aid to Gaza accused Israel yesterday of intending to kill peace activists as a way to deter future convoys.

Haneen Zoubi said Israeli naval vessels had surrounded the flotilla’s flagship, the Mavi Marmara, and fired on it a few minutes before commandos descended from a helicopter directly above them.

Terrified passengers had been forced off the deck when water was sprayed at them. She said she was not aware of any provocation or resistance by the passengers, who were all unarmed.
She added that within minutes of the raid beginning, three bodies had been brought to the main room on the upper deck in which she and most other passengers were confined. Two had gunshot wounds to the head, in what she suggested had been executions.

Two other passengers slowly bled to death in the room after Israeli soldiers ignored messages in Hebrew she had held up at the window calling for medical help to save them. She said she saw seven other passengers seriously wounded.

“Israel had days to plan this military operation,” she told a press conference in Nazareth. “They wanted many deaths to terrorize us and to send a message that no future aid convoys should try to break the siege of Gaza.”

Released early yesterday by police, apparently because of her parliamentary immunity, she said she was speaking out while most of the hundreds of other peace activists were either being held by Israel for deportation or were under arrest.

Three other leaders of Israel’s large Palestinian Arab minority, including Sheikh Raed Salah, a spiritual leader, were arrested as their ships docked in the southern port of Ashdod. Lawyers said that under Israeli law they could be held and questioned for up to 30 days without being charged.

Contradicting Israeli claims, Zoubi said a search by the soldiers after they took control of the Marmara discovered no arms or other weapons.

It was vital, she added, that the world demand an independent UN inquiry to find out what had happened on the ship rather than allow Israel to carry out a “whitewash” with its own military investigation.

Zoubi spoke as Palestinians inside both Israel and the occupied territories observed a general strike called by their leaders. A statement from the High Follow-Up Committee, the main political body for Israel’s Palestinian citizens, described the raid on the flotilla as "state-sponsored terrorism."

Demonstrations and marches in most of the main Palestinian towns and villages in Israel passed off quietly. Local analysts described the mood as angry but subdued, not least because of the openly hostile climate that has developed towards Palestinian citizens since crackdowns on their protests during the Israeli attack on Gaza 18 months ago.

However, police were reported to have been put on high alert, with thousands of extra officers drafted into the north, where most Palestinian citizens live.

On Monday, clashes between protesters and police broke out close to the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City and in the northern town of Umm al Fahm after false rumors circulated that Sheikh Salah, the leader of Israel’s main Islamic Movement, had been killed in the Israeli naval operation.

Even before the attack on the flotilla, the country’s Palestinian minority, a fifth of the population, had been braced for a backlash from the government and Jewish public for its leaders’ participation in the flotilla. As the ships set sail, Ynet, Israel’s most popular news website, had asked whether Zoubi was an "MP in the service of Hamas."

But faced with the severe diplomatic fall-out from Israel’s killing of peace activists, Israel’s Palestinian leaders warned that they were likely to come under even fiercer criticism in coming days.

Yesterday right-wing parties launched their first attacks on Zoubi, demanding the revocation of her immunity and her expulsion from the parliament. Danny Danon, a member of the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, called for her to be "tried for treason."

In her statement on the attack, Zoubi said that at 4am on Monday she had seen at least 14 Israeli boats surround their ship 130km out at sea, in international waters.

She said the passengers had been gripped with fear at the noise and confusion as the commandos abseiled on to the deck. “I did not believe we were going to survive more than five minutes,” she said.

Taleb As-Sana, another Palestinian MP, supported Zoubi’s contention that Israeli claims that the commandos shot only at the passengers’ legs were false. “I have visited the wounded in hospital and they all have shot wounds to the head and body,” he said.

Adalah, a legal centre for Israel’s Arab minority, said nine lawyers had been given limited access yesterday afternoon to the hundreds of activists detained in the southern city of Beersheva and were trying to take testimonies "in very difficult circumstances."

Its lawyers and human rights groups were also trying to track down who had been injured and where they being treated.

“Our view is that Israel is intentionally trying to obstruct this work and is enforcing an information blackout,” said Gaby Rubin, a spokeswoman for Adalah.

Detained flotilla activist: 'I saw blood everywhere'

Ma'an – Lawyers were finally allowed to access some 680 activists..... testimony from the detainees on Wednesday, describing Israeli forces opening fire and the state of panic that followed.

Lawyers from the Palestinian Prisoners Society and Adalah, the Legal Center for the Arab Minority in Israel, said they spoke with nationals who were on board as Israel attacked the six-vessel fleet in international waters, meeting with Indonesian, German, Turkish, Algerian, Syrian, and French nationals, said the society's director, Qaddura Faris.

After having stormed the vessels, the detained activists said Israeli forces confiscated all mobile phones, laptops, and cash. They told lawyers that Israeli commandos began firing live ammunition, rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear-gas canisters from helicopters without prior notice, which caused panic and confusion amongst those on board.

The overhead helicopters terrified the passengers, with many having assembled for the Muslim dawn prayer.

Syrian activist Shatha Barakat said that when she tried to go to the upper deck of one of the ships to help the injured, she saw blood stains everywhere and heard gunshots from all directions. Offering first aid to an elderly man who was struck, Barakat said all on board the vessel were unarmed. Israeli soldiers, she said, were hit by random fire from military helicopters overhead.

Indonesian doctor Muhammad Halim Ben Hassan, also on the Flotilla, told lawyers that he gave first aid to several people who sustained both gunshot and rubber-coated bullet wounds, confirming he saw four activists dead on board.

Early on Monday morning the six-vessel fleet was attacked by Israel commando forces, who shot dead at least 10 activists on board. The incident occurred in international waters, with Israel's navy later diverting the aid boats to Ashdod, and detaining all those on board, which included members of parliaments from across the world.

The boats were carrying with them some 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid in an attempt to break Israel's four-year-long blockade of the Gaza Strip, which UN organizations say three-quarters of which remain in disrepair following Israel's assault 16-months prior as building material remains largely embargoed by Israel.

US activist loses eye after being shot in face with tear gas canister; three metal plates inserted in her face and her jaw is wired shut

Palsolidarity

US citizen Emily Henochowicz was shot directly in the face with a tear gas canister as she non-violently demonstrated against the Flotilla massacre

UPDATE 1 June, 8:30PM (GMT+2): Emily is recovering at Hadassah Hospital after two surgeries Monday night. She lost her left eye, three metal plates were inserted into her head/face, and her jaw is wired shut. The bone surrounding her eye socket, cheekbone and jawbone are all fractured. Emily was standing peacefully during a demonstration at Qalandiya checkpoint Monday when Border Police fired a large number of tear gas canisters directly at the heads of Emily and another ISM activist.

. 31 May 2010: An American solidarity activist was shot in the face with a tear gas canister during a demonstration in Qalandiya, today. Emily Henochowicz is currently in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem undergoing surgery to remove her left eye, following the demonstration that was held in protest to Israel’s murder of at least 10 civilians aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters this morning.

21-year old Emily Henochowicz was hit in the face with a tear gas projectile fired directly at her by an Israeli soldier during the demonstration at Qalandiya checkpoint today. Israeli occupation forces fired volleys of tear gas at unarmed Palestinian and international protesters, causing mass panic amongst the demonstrators and those queuing at the largest checkpoint separating the West Bank and Israel.

“They clearly saw us,” said Sören Johanssen, a Swedish ISM volunteer standing with Henochowicz. “They clearly saw that we were internationals and it really looked as though they were trying to hit us. They fired many canisters at us in rapid succession. One landed on either side of Emily, then the third one hit her in the face.”

Henochowicz is an art student at the prestigious Cooper Union, located in East Village, Manhattan......

Henochowicz lost her left eye after being shot directly in the face with a tear gas canister

Tear gas canisters are commonly used against demonstrators in the occupied West Bank. In May 2009, the Israeli State Attorney’s Office ordered Israeli Police to review its guidelines for dispersing demonstrators, following the death of a demonstrator, Bassem Abu Rahmah from Bil’in village, caused by a high velocity tear-gas projectile. Tear-gas canisters are meant to be used as a means of crowd dispersal, to be shot indirectly at demonstrators and from a distance. However, Israeli forces frequently shoot canisters directly at protesters and are not bound by a particular distance from which they can shoot....

[Another American shot by such a canister, Tristan Anderson, had a portion of his brain removed; his prognosis is still unknown. Latest reports show him still hospitalized over a year after he was shot.]

Irish ship named "Rachel Corrie" heading toward Gaza, Nobel Laureate and former UN assistant secretary general on board; Irish foreign minister demands that Israel allow boat to reach Gaza

Irish ship keeps on through adversity
Morning Star -

A lone boat carrying Free Gaza activists is heading towards the Gaza Strip in a poignant display of defiance following Israel's slaughter of at least nine of their colleagues. 

The Rachel Corrie is carrying an Irish and Malaysian crew of 12. Among its cargo it is thought there are 200 fire officers' uniforms donated by Fire Brigades Union members in Bristol. 

Nobel laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire and former UN assistant secretary general Denis Halliday are both on board.
 
Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin demanded that Israel allows the boat - named after the US activist who was crushed to death under an Israeli army bulldozer in 2003 - to reach its destination unimpeded. 

"The Rachel Corrie, the Irish ship which citizens of Ireland are on, can be shadowed in, but unimpeded, given what has happened and the need to defuse the situation rapidly and allow them to discharge their goods," he said.

Speaking about Israel's three-year siege of Gaza yesterday, Ms Maguire said: "Could you imagine if that happened to the 1.5 million people in Northern Ireland, the world would be absolutely crying out that this stop immediately."

The latest attempt to break Israel's illegal blockade follows the assault on Monday morning on a convoy carrying 700 solidarity campaigners.

Tel Aviv has since been the focus of continued outrage - particularly from Turkey, the home country of the victims of the bloody massacre on the lead ship.

Following an emergency session of the United Nations security council on Monday night, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the Israeli raid "banditry and piracy" on the high seas and "murder conducted by a state."

Istanbul, which currently holds a temporary seat on the security council, was instrumental in securing a statement which was watered down by the United States, Israel's main financial backer and political ally.

Palestinians, Arabs and Turks had called for condemnation of the slaughter "in the strongest terms" and "an independent international investigation."

In the event the agreed statement called only for "a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards" and did not name Israel.

But Palestinian UN observer Riyad Mansour told an open security council meeting that "those fleets, one after the other, will be coming until the unethical blockade is put to an end and the suffering stops for our people."

Report: Turkey considers navy escort for future Gaza aid ships

Ma'an - Turkey may escort future aid ships to Gaza, according to news reports.

IBN, the US network CNN's affiliate in India, reported Tuesday that Turkey was considering accompanying future aid ships to Gaza.

The threat, which was not attributed to any specific Turkish official, came a day after Israeli commandos killed 10 peace activists aboard a ship carrying international aid to the Gaza Strip.

Reporters Without Borders condemns Israeli censorship

Ma'an - Reporters Without Borders has strongly condemned the censorship attempts that accompanied Monday's deadly assault by Israel on a flotilla that was carrying humanitarian aid, 750 pro-Palestinian activists and several journalists to the Gaza Strip.

“We deplore this assault, which left a heavy toll of dead and wounded,” Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. “The journalists who were on the flotilla to cover the humanitarian operation were put in harm’s way by this disproportionate reaction.

"We urge the Israeli authorities to release the detained journalists and allow them unrestricted access to the Gaza Strip. The international community needs accurate information about this Palestinian Territory.”
“Hundreds of Israeli soldiers attacked the flotilla and the captain of our boat is seriously injured,” Al Jazeera correspondent Abbas Nasser reported in his last call to his TV station’s headquarters in Qatar before communications were severed.

Two Bulgarian journalists working for the Bulgarian television station BTV were arrested during the assault. Bulgarian news media identified them as reporter Svetoslav Ivanov and cameraman Valentin Vassilev. Aaj TV presenter Talat Hussain was also on the flotilla. There is still no news of him. The Israeli authorities have forbidden all the journalists to enter the Gaza Strip.

Israeli public radio reported in the course of the morning that the authorities had banned the media from providing any information about the dead and wounded, who were taken to hospitals in Israel. The censorship order was lifted at around midday.

Reporters Without Borders urges Israel to release 15 journalists taken during flotilla aid

Ma'an - Reporters Without Borders is urging the Israeli authorities to release a list of the journalists who were arrested during Monday's raid on the humanitarian flotilla and to say where they are being held.

There were at least 15 foreign journalists travelling with the flotilla who still cannot be reached directly, the Paris-based media watchdog said. These are the names of the journalists known to have been aboard the flotilla:

• Reporter Svetoslav Ivanov and cameraman Valentin Vassilev of Bulgarian television station BTV
• Muna Shester of the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
• Talat Hussain, a presenter with Pakistan’s Aaj TV
• Sydney Morning Herald correspondent Paul McGeough and photographer Kate Geraghty
• Al Jazeera correspondent Abbas Nasser and cameraman Isaam Zaatar
• Mario Damolin, a freelancer working for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
• David Segarra of TeleSUR
• Reporter Ayse Sarioglu of the daily Taraf
• Reporter Murat Palavar of the Islamist daily Yeni Safak (New Dawn)
• TVNET foreign news chief Sümeyye Ertekin, producer Ümit Sönmez and cameraman Ersin Esen

An Al Jazeera TV crew was meanwhile attacked by Israeli citizens in the port of Ashdod Monday after the Israeli defense minister gave a news conference about the attack on the flotilla. Walid Al-Omri, Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in the Palestinian territories, was injured in the attack, which followed virulent criticism of the Qatar-based TV station in the Israeli media.  Full story

Israel urged to release detained journalists

Ma'an - After Israeli commandos boarded aid ships bound for Gaza on Monday and at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists on board were killed, concern mounted as well over the well-being and whereabouts of dozens of journalists reportedly on board.

Many have been out of contact since the raid, with reports that some may be detained in the Israeli port of Ashdod. As the raid unfolded, journalists on board reported the jamming of electronic devices, the media watchdog International Press Institute reported.

Peter Kerr, executive editor of the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper – which had two journalists, reporter Paul McGeough and photographer Kate Geraghty on board – told IPI that the two had been transported to a detention facility in the Israeli port of Ashdod.

He added that he had had no contact with the two since the incident. “It is unclear whether we will be able to talk to them before they have to make a decision between ‘free passage deportation’ or further detention and trial. We want to talk to them before that decision.

The two journalists had, Kerr said, done nothing wrong: “We maintain that they are bona fide journalists with proper accreditation and have a right to report.”

The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera network, meanwhile, has lost contact with seven of its journalists on board the flotilla boats.

Al-Jazeera English managing editor Ibrahim Helal said that, together, Al Jazeera and Al Jazeera English had seven reporters, in three teams, on board the boats. He said “We put all responsibility on the Israeli government’s shoulders for their safety …

"Al Jazeera Network also calls upon all media organizations to act for the release of all journalists on board the ships and to ask for their freedom to practice their profession without pressure and harassment."

IPI Director David Dadge said: “The priority for the International Press Institute is the safety of those journalists on board the flotilla of ships, but I also hope that there has been no interference in their ability to report on this ongoing news story.

"Given the controversy surrounding this incident, a free and independent media is probably the best possible safeguard for ensuring that the truth reaches the outside world.”

UN chief demands immediate release of Gaza flotilla detainees, investigation; retiurn of deceased and care for wounded also top priority

Ma'an - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed for the immediate release of those detained following Monday's Israeli raid of an aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip, reiterating his call for a prompt probe into the deadly incident.

The return of the deceased and care for the wounded are also a top priority, UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters in New York, according to the UN News Centre.........   Full story

What will Israel do with the flotilla detainees?

Ma’an – Before the Freedom Flotilla set sail for Gaza, Israeli authorities erected tents at Ashdod port to be used as detention centers for the peace activists, the Israeli daily Maariv reported Monday.

After the fierce attack by Israeli navy commandos on the aid ships Monday morning killing at least 10 and injuring dozens, Israel decided to divide activists into two categories. The first includes those who have not put up resistance; they will be detained inside tents. Those who refuse will be taken by to Ashkelon prison before they are interrogated and sent back to their home country or any country they choose.

The second category includes activists whom Israel accuses of resisting and attacking navy commandos. Those, according to Maariv, will be tried as criminals and could be detained indefinitely, Maariv reported.

Rights groups have expressed concern over the continued detention of 480 passengers from the ships, reportedly moved to the Ela Prison in Israel's south.

The Israeli daily Haaretz said Tuesday that 50 of the passengers had been voluntarily repatriated to their home countries, while some 629 had refused to be deported and would remain in Israeli prison until the nation decided what, if any, legal action would be taken.........  Full story

NPT members, including US, urge Israel to open nuke sites to inspectors

Ma'an/Agencies - Signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty have approved a resolution backing a nuclear-free Middle East and have called on Israel to open its nuclear sites to international inspection.

A measure was approved by consensus by all 189 NPT signatories, including the United States, the US program Democracy Now reported.

Egypt’s ambassador to the UN, Maged Abdelaziz, hailed the move as a major step forward.

"The road ahead is not easy, but it is the only way forward. Today’s reaffirmation by the conference of the importance of Israel’s accession to the treaty and the placement of all its nuclear facilities under IAEA comprehensive safeguards confirms the continued resolve of the state’s parties to pursue the 1995 and 2000 commitments in this respect," Abdelaziz was quoted as saying.

Democracy Now reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the measure, calling it biased for excluding Iran. Israel, which has never confirmed the existence of its alleged secret nuclear weapons program, is the only Middle East state not to have signed the NPT. Full story

Mashal: Hamas will end resistance if Israel withdraws to 1967 borders

Ma’an – Hamas will end armed struggle against Israel if it withdraws from the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, Hamas chief Khalid Mashal told a US TV station.

In an interview with PBS host Charlie Rose recorded Thursday, Mashal said that Israel started the conflict by occupying Palestinian land, and that resistance broke out in response.

“Israeli occupation was the action, and Palestinian resistance was the reaction, and when occupation comes to an end, resistance will simply stop,” Mashal said. He added that if Israel retreats to the 1967 borders, that action will end Palestinian resistance. “If a real Palestinian sovereign state is established, the nature of future relations with Israel will be determined later by the Palestinians democratically.” 

World Council of Churches condemns flotilla rad

Ma'an - The World Council of Churches has condemned the Israeli naval raid on a Gaza-bound vessel carrying humanitarian aid in international waters before dawn Monday that killed at least 10 civilians and injured more. Several soldiers were also hurt.

"We condemn the assault and killing of innocent people who were attempting to deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, who have been under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007," WCC General Secretary Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit stated Tuesday.

"We further condemn the flagrant violation of international law by Israel in attacking and boarding a humanitarian convoy in international waters. We pray for all those who are affected by the attack, especially the bereaved families," Tveit said.

An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church.

Tveit urged Israel to repatriate those detained from the flotilla and "for an immediate release of the impounded ships, and an end to the economic blockade of Gaza. It is our considered opinion that the legitimate humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza be met in accordance with international humanitarian law. We further call the UN Security Council to mandate a full investigation into the assault."

Tveit concluded: "The deplorable events which occurred yesterday off the coast of Gaza remind us yet again of the pressing need for an end to the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territories. The World Council of Churches reiterates its commitment to work for just and lasting peace in Palestine and Israel.  Full story

NATO demands release of flotilla activists

Ma'an - After convening for an emergency session on Tuesday at Turkey's behest, NATO has called on Israel to immediately release the activists detained by Israel following a fatal attack on an aid convoy en route to Gaza

A statement issued by NATO's secretary-general expressed "deep regret over the loss of lives and the other casualties resulting from the use of force during the incident involving the convoy sailing to Gaza."

The NATO chief further "condem[ned] the acts which have led to this tragedy" and echoed the EU and UN calls for a prompt, impartial inquiry into the incident.

On Monday morning Israeli commando units stormed the aid flotilla, killing at least 10 activists on board and injuring others.

The ships were then diverted to the Israeli Ashdod port, where many of the passengers were detained. Over 629 activist have refused voluntarily deportation and are choosing to remain in Israeli custody in jails across the country.  Full story

Jordan to receive flotilla's injured

Ma'an – Jordan has begun coordinating the transfer of activists on board the Freedom Flotilla injured during an Israeli attack in international waters into Jordan, under King Abdullah II's request.

The Jordanian embassy in Tel-Aviv has taken all necessary measures to funnel those countries' nationals on board the flotilla vessels...

UAE, Kuwait , Bahrain, Oman, Morocco, Algeria and Pakistan have asked to funnel their nationals via Jordan, he added.

On Tuesday, a statement issued by King Abdullah II's office said it was immediately prepared to transfer all the wounded to Jordan, and called on Israel to ensure its citizens' safe return.

Moreover, the royal statement included instructions on the dispatch of a new aid convoy to the Gaza Strip through the Jordan Charitable Foundation, which has delivered humanitarian assistance into Gaza since Operation Cast Lead 16 months ago.

King Abdullah II of Jordan gave directives on Tuesday to prepare immediately to transfer wounded activists of Freedom Flotilla to Jordan for medical treatment.

The international community should take immediate steps to end the "illegal and inhuman siege Israel imposes on the Gaza Strip, and to launch transparent international investigation into the Israeli crime against the Freedom Flotilla," the king wrote.

Medical care will be provided to convoy participants injured during the Israeli attack, the government spokesman noted, saying " we received preliminary reports that all Jordanians on board the flotilla are well and no one was injured in the raid."

3 dead in Israeli airstrike on Gaza

Ma'an - Medics in the Gaza Strip confirmed three dead following an Israeli air strike on the northern Strip near the town of Beit Lahiya on Tuesday afternoon.

An Israeli military source said planes were aiming for a "clear target" in the area, and pilots noted "secondary explosions" following the bombing.

A medical source said the bodies were transferred to the Kamal Udwan Hospital and are unidentifiable due to the injuries sustained in the blast.

The victims were later identified as Hayil Al-Qadi, Ali Ghannam, and Arafat Ghneim, all in their twenties.

Israel's military released a statement late Tuesday confirming the strike.

Forces "targeted a terrorist squad preparing to fire rockets into Israel," the statement said. .....  Full story

American Activist Loses Eye After Israeli Soldier Shoots Her In Face With Gas Canister

IMEMC -  Emily Henochowicz, 21, was hit in the face by a tear gas canister Monday while attending a Ramallah protest against Israel's raid on the Freedom Flotilla.

Henochowicz was taken to the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem where she is undergoing surgery to remove her left eye.

According to eyewitnesses, an Israeli soldier shot Henochowicz directly in the face during a demonstration at Qalandiya checkpoint today. Israeli troops forces fired volleys of tear gas at unarmed Palestinian and international protesters, spreading panic amongst the demonstrators and Palestinian workers lined up at the checkpoint.

“They clearly saw us,” said Sören Johanssen, a Swedish ISM volunteer standing with Henochowicz. “They clearly saw that we were internationals and it really looked as though they were trying to hit us. They fired many canisters at us in rapid succession. One landed on either side of Emily, then the third one hit her in the face.”

Henochowicz is a student at Cooper Union, a prestigious art school in Manhattan.

The demonstration was one of many that took place across the West Bank today in outrage over the Israeli military’s attack on the Gaza freedom flotilla and blatant violation of international law. Demonstrations also took place in inside Israel, Gaza and Jerusalem, with clashes occurring in East Jerusalem and Palestinian shopkeepers in the occupied Old City closing their businesses for the day in protest.

Tear gas canisters are commonly used against demonstrators in the occupied West Bank. In May 2009, the Israeli State Attorney’s Office ordered Israeli Police to review its guidelines for dispersing demonstrators after Bassem Abu Rahmah was hit and killed by a gas canister in Bil’in. Tear-gas canisters are designed to be used as a means of crowd dispersal, to be shot indirectly at demonstrators and from a distance. However, Israeli forces frequently shoot canisters directly at protesters.
 
The protest was held to condemn an Israeli military attack on the Mavi Marmara, one of six ships on the Freedom Flotilla at 5 a.m. this morning, during which soldiers opened fire on the hundreds of unarmed civilians aboard. No-one aboard the ships were carrying weapons of any kind, including for defense against a feared Israeli attack in international waters. At least 9 aid workers aboard the ship have been confirmed dead, with dozens more injured. The assault took place 70 miles off the Gaza coast in international waters, after the flotilla was surrounded by three Israeli warships.

The Freedom Flotilla, carrying 700 human rights activists from over 40 countries and 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid, was headed for the after an besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip. The Israeli blockade on Gaza, combined with the illegal buffer zone, has put a stranglehold on the territory. 42% of Gazans are unemployed, and food insecurity hovers around 60% according to figures from the Palestine Centre for Human Rights

Flotilla Activist's Family on Hunger Strike to Demand his Release

IMEMC- The family of Osama Qashoo, a British citizen of Palestinian descent, has declared a hunger strike that will only end with Qashoo's release. Qashoo was one of the activists aboard this Freedom Flotilla attempting to bring aid supplies to Gaza. His mother, father, and six brothers are demanding his release after he and all of the other activists aboard the Flotilla were arrested by Israeli troops.

Qashoo was a passenger aboard the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara that was that was illegally attacked by Israeli commandos Monday.

It has been frontpage news in most international news organisations that as many as 19 people have died in this attack and there are large numbers of injured as well.

Osama Qashoo is a British citizen and a resident of Haringey in North London, a post-graduate from the National Film and Television School, and a member of the Free Gaza movement. He is a Palestinian activist and an award-winning documentary filmmaker.

Last news of him was heard on the evening before the attack, through press contacts at CNN. One brother in Saudi Arabia, another in New York and the rest of the family in the West Bank are beside themselves with grief and uncertainty. They do not know if he is one of the killed or injured, nor the conditions and length of his detention. Media contact has been cut, and family members have been unable to find out any information, even the names of those killed, since the attack occurred on the 31st.

“I know I am not alone in my distress and fear for my brothers life, and share this with the 749 other families and friends of those killed, injured and being held captive. My family is on hunger strike until Osama is delivered to us, safe and sound.” said Osama’s brother Mosab who is currently in New York.

“If anyone has any idea of his whereabouts, and whether he is safe, we beg of them to let us know.”

Imprisoned flotilla activists denied lawyer, being interrogated

Ma'an - Rights groups have expressed concern over the continued detention of 480 passengers from the six Freedom Flotilla ships, reportedly moved to the Ela Prison in Israel's south.

Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz said Tuesday that so far 50 of the Flotilla passengers had been voluntarily repatriated to their home countries, while some 629 had refused to be deported and would remain in Israeli prison until the nation decided what, if any, legal action would be taken.

Critics say Israel has little ground to lay charges, and by refusing to be deported and demanding to be returned to their ships and proceed to Gaza, activists put Israel in a difficult position.

According to a statement from the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza, none of the activists were permitted to meet with lawyers, and Free Gaza updates say no contact with the crew of the ship had been made since 3:30am Monday morning.

As a response, three human rights organizations submitted a petition to the Israeli High Court.

The petition seeks to ensure that the passengers have access to lawyers and proper health facilities, and to ensure that information about the hundreds of men and women is released to their consulates and families.

Israeli media said that the 480 would be questioned Tuesday morning, and investigators would determine whether or not they would be charged or deported. Reports say 48 have already been deported, but there is no information suggesting that any have had contact with either their consulates or the media.

It remains unclear what the activists would be charged with, as lawyers and rights experts say ships in international waters have the right to defend themselves if attacked.
Media outlets also reported that Palestinian citizens of Israel Sheikh Raed Salah, Muhammad Zeidan and Hammad Abu Da'bas will stand in Israeli court later Tuesday, where they will hear charges against them.

Sheikh Raed Salah, Muhammad Zeidan and Hammad Abu Da'bas to stand in Israeli court and hear charges against them Tuesday afternoon, Israeli media says.

Other Palestinian figures whose whereabouts has been reported on include Kamal Khatib, who is reportedly detained at Ela Prison, and Hanin Zubi, who was questioned and released.

A statement from Al-Mezan said that because the flotilla was intercepted in international waters, Israel has no right to detain the passengers of the boats, with the center's lawyer describing the treatment akin to how Israel "treats illegal immigrants; offering them voluntarily deportation from Israel by planes."

The reports said early indicators show that most of the activists have refused deportation and insist on returning to their ships to come to Gaza.

Al-Mezan said it expects all of the passengers to appear before a judge on Tuesday, where their detentions can be extended by 72 hours, adding that 'the situation for a handful of Palestinian citizens of Israel is different. They are detained in Ashkelon prison and are being interrogated."
Activists detained, imprisoned, questioned

Investigations by Al-Mezan revealed that after the passengers of the ships were seized by Israeli officers, they were kept in a detention facility in the port of the town of Ashdod in southern Israel. The port area was declared a closed military zone, a lawyer for the center said, meaning legal council for the foreign nationals was prohibited.

2 dead following Israeli incursion into Gaza, Israeli forces shoot 65-year-old woman

Ma'an - Israeli forces entered Gaza east of Khan Younis and exchanged fire with fighters near the border, with two reported dead according to Israeli media and military.

Palestinian officials say medics have not confirmed the deaths.

Witnesses said Israeli forces shelled the area, hitting agricultural lands in the area of the sealed Kissufim crossing, and entered into Gaza proximately 100 meters.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said soldiers "identified two infiltrators" near the border, and said she could not comment on how the two were attempting to enter Israel.

She said there was an exchange of fire, confirmed no deaths or injuries of Israeli soldiers. A statement from the military spokesman's office later said soldiers confirmed that two men had been killed during the exchange of fire.

The statement said two senior officers were traveling to the scene to investigate the "circumstances surrounding the infiltration."

Woman shot near Kerem Shalom

Palestinian medical and security sources in the Gaza Strip reported the injury of a 65-year-old woman, identified as Salma Abu Shallouf, who was said to have been shot by Israeli fire in the southern Gaza Strip.
A coordinator of medical services in the Gaza Strip Adham Abu Silmiyya said Abu Shallouf was hit once in each leg near the southern Gaza border and evacuated to hospital.

An Israeli military spokesman said he was not familiar with any Israeli activity in the region where the woman was injured, but said he would look into the report.

Gaza turmoil

Overnight, the Israeli military reported the firing of a projectile from Gaza into the western Negev, with no injuries reported. The Al-Aqsa Brigades, an armed group with allegiances to Fatah, claimed the launch of the projectile.

In a statement sent to Ma'an, the brigades said they worked in conjunction with the Imad Mughniyeh Brigades, also affiliated with Fatah, to fire two homemade projectiles eastward from the Strip, and a third toward the Kissufim military base.

The statement said the fire was a "response to the Israeli crimes against the Freedom Flotilla."

The events follow directly on the heels of an Israeli combat operation at sea Monday morning, which saw armed soldiers repel from helicopters onto six aid ships attempting to break the blockade on Gaza, and shoot dead at least ten of the anti-siege activists...   Full story

Security Council: Bloodshed could have been avoided

Ma'an - The UN Security Council called for an end to Israel's blockade after after hearing a briefing from UN Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, saying the killing of activists on aid ships could have been avoided if Israel had heeded calls to end its siege on Gaza.

Following the meeting, a statement from the UNSC demanded "the immediate release of the ships as well as the civilians held by Israel," urged Israel to permit consular access and allow nations to retrieve their dead and wounded immediately, and to "ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance from the convoy to its destination."

The UNSC also said that it "stresses the need for sustained and regular flow of goods and people to Gaza," and called for the implementation of UN resolutions over the regulation of the Gaza crossings.

Events, as described by the UNSC

The briefing focused on the lead-up to Monday's killings, noting first that the "stated purpose of the convoy was to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza," and enumerating the goods onboard the ships, including educational, medical and construction materials, some 700 anti-siege activists and members of parliament from several nations.

Fernandez-Taranco noted that both Israel and the ships indicated that they intended to stick to their courses of action; for Israel that was "Not to allow the convoy to reach Gaza," while the Flotilla " indicated their intention to proceed with their convoy and to attempt to deliver their full consignment of cargo to Gaza and to break the blockade."

The UN official also noted that " Several governments with nationals on board the vessels urged restraint from all sides and indicated to the Israeli authorities their utmost concern that their nationals be protected."

What happened during the Israeli attack on the vessels remained unclear for the UN Security Council, as Fernandez-Taranco noted that "that those who were on board the ships are now in Israeli custody, including reporters who were traveling with the convoy and had their transmission equipment confiscated by the boarding Israeli forces."

He verified that neither the UN nor the international media have any "independent information on what transpired," and noted that despite Israel's statements that nine activists were killed, "no finally confirmed casualty figures at this stage"

Reiterating UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's call for a "full investigation to determine exactly how the bloodshed took place," and demand that "Israel must urgently provide a full explanation," Fernandez-Taranco said the UN had to "underscore the importance of a full investigation into this incident as called for by the Secretary-General."

Siege caused bloodshed

"Finally, we wish to point out that today’s bloodshed would have been avoided if repeated calls on Israel to end the counterproductive and unacceptable blockade of Gaza had been heeded. We stress the scale of unmet needs of Gaza’s civilian population and reiterate that the blockade is unacceptable and counterproductive and must end," Fernandez-Taranco said.

Report: Delayed aid ship sets sail for Gaza

Ma'an - Despite threats from Israel's navy, an Irish boat packed with humanitarian aid is reportedly proceeding toward Gaza.

The crew of the MV Rachel Corrie, which delayed voyage due to technical problems ahead of its participation in a seven-member flotilla that came under deadly Israeli fire late Sunday, has decided to proceed, a member of the Belfast Palestine Solidarity Committee said.

Niamh Moloughney of the Free Gaza Movement stated that the ship was two days away, according to a brief statement posted on the personal website of Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American writer who cofounded the Electronic Intifada website.

"We have 2 days to turn this outrage into a victory & get the Rachel Corrie into Gaza with the support of the world and open this sea route," Moloughney was quoted as saying. She said the voyage is a Malaysian and Irish partnership, and that it has Malaysia's full support....  Full story

BBC angers Palestinian group over 'biased coverage'

Ma'an - A Palestinian group expressed "deep apprehension and anger" Tuesday, over what it said was "direct bias" language and reporting from the UK's BBC news, in its coverage on the Israeli attack on an aid convoy en route to Gaza.

The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), was not the only party concerned with world coverage of the incident, with Sylvain Cypel at France's Le Monde noting that in the United States, the coverage was "relegated to the back, overturned by new from the oil wells that continue to spill petrol into the Gulf of Mexico."

US papers that did cover the events prominently, Cypel said, "were more favorable to the Israeli side." MSNBC's correspondant, the report continued "went into extensive detail on the Israeli theory, that the boats' passengers had been the aggressors," but did not a hint of skepticism around the legality of the raid in international waters.

PRC's criticism of BBC coverage were similar, saying that in "most of its coverage BBC depended on Israeli sources whilst the Palestinian side has been ignored."

The organization said a unit had monitored the BBC coverage closely, noting that the site relied on the testimonial of Danny Ayalon, Israeli deputy foreign minister, and running with his account of the attack, that the intent of the Flotilla "organizers was violent."

In the morning, evening and night broadcasts of news on the incident, PRC said, "Spokespersons and Israeli officials were given a chance to justify the Israeli attack." The organization asked if it was not BBC's duty to get both sides to a story, and wondered where Flotilla organizers, Palestinians or other activists were in the coverage.

The organization called on the BBC to "investigate the Israeli positions over the past week and compare it with what happened" on the Flotilla, alleging that the Israeli propaganda had started weeks ago.

"With so many different sources of information from governments to NGOs, the BBC finds it morally and journalistically appropriate to provide justifications of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) for its unprovoked crime. The BBC is alone in quoting the IDF that the Flotilla had violent intentions and humanitarian personnel on board were carrying knives, guns and fired shots," a statement from the PRC said.

According to the group, an official complaint was filed with the BBC, where it outlined the accusations listed above. A statement from PRC said a station spokesperson responded that the BBC was "unable to respond as we have not been given the courtesy of detailed evidence of any accusation."

Israel to deport former Jerusalem Archbishop on board flotilla

Ma'an – The Catholic Church in Jerusalem said Tuesday that former Jerusalem Archbishop Hilarion Capucci, 88, who was on board the Freedom Fleet, is being held by Israel at the Beersheba prison and is slated for deportation.

Church officials early expressed concerns over Capucci's safety with Sebastia Archbishop Atallah Hanna saying his whereabouts were unknown. "We have not received any information about archbishop Capucci, and he was not among the activists detained by Israel at Ashdod port," said Hanna Tuesday.

Hanna described the Israeli attack on the flotilla which saw at least 10 activists killed as "brutal and savage" and said Israel was responsible for Capucci's safety, applauding the participation of Sheikh Raed Salah on the fleet.

Capucci has served four years in Israeli jails and was exiled to the Vatican in 1978.

The Vatican expressed "pain" and "great concern" at the deaths of activists on a convoy bringing aid to Gaza on Monday, with Vatican spokesman Reverend Federico Lombardi saying the Israeli attack was "a very painful thing, in particular for the useless loss of human lives."

The spokesman confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI would conduct an official tour of the Middle East between 4 and 6 June

Wake for slain activists to be held at Gaza port

Ma'an – A wake for the activists killed during an Israeli raid of an aid convoy en route to Gaza will be held at Gaza's port on Monday, the de facto government's Undersecretary Ahmed Yousef announced.

Yousef said journalists, security officers, ambulances and Palestinian leaders arrived at the port in the early morning hoping to greet the Freedom Fleet, but a wake will be held for the reported 10 dead, of which five were Palestinians from Haifa.

Deputized Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Ahmad Bahar told reporter's at the port that Israel's naval attack was an act of "dangerous piracy as defined by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of Sea."...  Full story

Report: Israel carries out mock air raid over southern Lebanon

Ma'an - Israeli war planes reportedly carried out a series of mock air raids on Sunday over villages in southern Lebanon.

According to the sate-run National News Agency, Israeli war planes preformed mock air raids while flying at medium altitude over Nabatiyeh, Khiam and Marjayoun, with Lebanon's Daily Star news site reporting that Israeli MK surveillance drones violated Lebanese airspace over villages and towns in the area of Nabatiyeh.

The daily wrote that last week, Lebanese anti-aircraft guns opened fire on two Israeli warplanes that were violating Lebanon’s airspace... Full story

Israel Tows Aid Ships to Ashdod, Detains 700 Activists Including Foreign Members of Parliament

Israeli forces board aid ship (photo from freegaza.org)

IMEMC - 16 hours after the attack on the humanitarian Freedom Flotilla that killed at least 19 passengers, Israeli naval vessels towed the convoy's ships to the port of Ashdod. The Israeli military has constructed an extemporaneous jail there to hold the activists until they are deported to their counties of origin.

 

16 activists were taken to Israeli prison for refusing to identify themselves. Another 16 were taken for interrogation, though why they specifically were chosen is unknown.

Dozens of others were taken to a hospital for wounds suffered during the Israeli raid. Each of the Flotilla's six ships was carrying humanitarian aid that had been carefully inspected by Greek and Cypriot authorities. The ships were in international waters when they were attacked by the Israeli military.

Israeli officials tried to make all 700 Flotilla activists to sign orders consenting to their deportation. Only about two dozen of the passengers agreed, according to Israeli media sources. The Israeli government says that it will deport all of the Flotilla's activists and aid workers, warning that anyone who refuses to cooperate will be imprisoned for an indefinite amount of time.

Among those arrested is Edward Peck, a veteran diplomat who has served as the US Ambassador to Iraq and Mauratania.

Another notable American passenger is Joe Meadors, a retired sailor who was aboard the USS Liberty when Israel attacked it during the Six-Day War.

Also detained are 85-year old Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, and Members of Parliament from the EU, Cyprus, Turkey, and Algeria.