A contingent of Turkish ships has set sail for the Gaza Strip in order to break the blockade of the region and deliver humanitarian aid to Gazans.
The three cargo vessels left Istanbul on Saturday to join an international fleet organized by the human rights organization, Free Gaza Movement.
The seaport was overwhelmed by thousands of well-wishers, who had come to show their support for the people of Gaza, Press TV correspondent Hassan Ghani reported.
Before departing, the organizers from different countries, including: Greece, Ireland and Sweden, outlined their reasons for joining the project and warned Israel not to interfere with the humanitarian act.
"Even if Israel stops us, if we have to swim, we will swim to Gaza," said Noorazman Shamsuddin, one of the organizers.
The Israeli navy, which has prevented many ships from entering the coastal region, has told the aid vessels not to come to the Gaza Strip.
The Free Gaza Movement is coordinating with numerous pro-Palestinian groups in the Freedom Flotilla project. The nine-vessel flotilla is set to cast anchor at the docks of Gaza on Thursday.
The Freedom Flotilla convoy is carrying 5,000 tons of construction material, medical equipment, and school supplies, as well as around 600 people from 40 countries.
Since 2007, the siege of Gaza has deprived 1.5 million Palestinians of fuel, food, and other basic necessities.
I don't know if all activist on board were Muslims.
Would a non-Muslim who died for an Islamic cause be considered a martyr in the eyes of Islam?
no, but why would it matter to them?
He it is Who sends blessings on you, as do His angels, that He may bring you out from the depths of Darkness into Light: and He is Full of Mercy to the Believers. [Quran {33:43}] www.QuranicAudio.com www.Quran.com
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
format_quote Originally Posted by Woodrow
The Muslim concept is often seen as being a person willing to die in a fight to defend Islam.
But what's wrong with that? If Chinese would die defending their homeland against an aggressor, I wouldn't call them terrorists or fundamentalists/Buddhist extremists/Chinese fanatics. Defending your people and lands is the most honorable duty. All people have the right to defend themselves, as Muslims Allah forbids us to "start hostilities" in the Qur'an. It says 'but do not start hostilities', I'm too lazy to find the relevant verse now.
Last edited by Argamemnon; 06-02-2010 at 07:18 PM.
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
format_quote Originally Posted by Argamemnon
But what's wrong with that? If Chinese would die defending their homeland against an aggressor, I wouldn't call them terrorists or fundamentalists/Buddhist extremists/Chinese fanatics. Defending your people and lands is the most honorable duty. All people have the right to defend themselves, as Muslims Allah forbids us to "start hostilities" in the Qur'an. It says 'but do not start hostilities', I'm too lazy to find the relevant verse now.
There is nothing wrong and it is the right and honorable thing to do. I was pointing out the language difference. The Western meaning of martyr means the person died without putting up resistance. The Western world usually does not see a person who dies in combat as a martyr but use the word hero instead.
Dictionary: mar·tyr (mär'tər
n.
1. One who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles.
2. One who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle.
3.
1. One who endures great suffering: a martyr to arthritis.
2. One who makes a great show of suffering in order to arouse sympathy.
tr.v., -tyred, -tyr·ing, -tyrs.
1. To make a martyr of, especially to put to death for devotion to religious beliefs.
2. To inflict great pain on; torment.
[Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Late Greek martur, from Greek martus, martur-, witness.]
I think this limited view of martyr by Westerners makes it difficult to understand why we call our heroes martyrs. Also the western world usually does not have the concept of civilian soldiers and only see them as civilians using force, which gets twisted into terrorist in their minds.
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
There is going to be some protest here on Friday..I am just confused as some brother told me not to go because, protesting is not the sunnah etc. Also, some of the people who are organizing are misguided..hmm..Should I go? I mean protesting rarely does anything these days..
Then how can you avoid the punishment, if you disbelieve, on a Day that will make the children grey-headed?
Sura Al-Muzzammil 73:17
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
Salaam
Beware wall of text incoming but its worth the read
Another day, another atrocity, Israel truly does deserves its label ‘Rogue State’ a state not bound by international laws or norms, but it needn’t worry to much, its main backer (USA )knows a thing or two about how irrelevant International law becomes when it interferes with its goals so after some mild protests it will turn (as per usual) a blind eye to its thuggery.
First off we have to remember that Israel has been attacking shipping for many years prior to this event. Israel has been hijacking Lebanese boats and kidnapping Lebanese fisherman for years notwithstanding the daily harassment Palestinian fisherman suffer, (if they can get out to sea at all) but since these people are deemed little better than ‘two legged beasts’ nobody took much notice.
However last year, there was a confrontation between International peace activists and the Israeli navy. Very similar though far less deadly to the one we have just witnessed (before the Gaza massacre took place). A small boat named the Dignity was travelling from Cyprus to Lebanon. There were doctors, human rights activists on board. Their goal was to bypass Israel’s blockade of the Gaza strip and bring much needed food and supplies to the trapped population. The boat was intercepted by the Israeli navy far out at sea in International waters. The Israeli ship rammed it without warning severely damaging the boat but thankfully it managed to limp to a Lebanese harbor.
Israel provided the routine lies, terrorists, Iranian agents, Al Qaida etc etc and even had the gall to claim they didn’t ram the boat! Unluckily for the Western propaganda systems there were respected journalists on board for example CNN correspondent Karl who reported what happened but this incident was dismissed and quickly forgotten.
Another aspect was that Israeli had their Hasbra operation (propaganda operation) well prepared. Check out this report which was filed before the incident took place
It’s a public relation blitz we haven’t seen in years. As a flotilla of boats attempts to sale to Gaza to deliver aid and to break the siege Israel is busy with its own good will campaign. At this impromptu press conference given by the army department responsible for transporting goods into Gaza the message was simple. The flotilla is unnecessary because there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Reporter
According to the UN 80% of the population of Gaza is poor, 60% are unemployed. 75% are insecure, every major international organisation from Amnesty International to the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, I could go on, has called it a humanitarian crises.
Col Moshe Levi
We know the data base you introduce, this is not an indication of a crises in the strip. . . . .
Reporter
Lie? 80%. . . . .
Col Moshe Levi
No no, its not a lie we know more than 70% of population is under the poor rate but this is part of area. . . .
Next journalists were taken for a tour around Kabin Abi Salem one of the few terminals into Gaza that Israel hasn’t shut down.
The part of all this is to show us all the goods that enter the Gaza through Israel. The authorities has also given us the fact sheet dazzling us with the hundreds of thousands of tons that enter Gaza almost every day from Israel. Problem is nowhere on the sheet of paper does it tell us or compare how much Gaza gets to much Gaza needs.
So lets do the missing math’s, according to the army 156000 tones of food has been delivered in the last 6 months, that means around 4kg of food per Gazan per week.
But the point is not the volume of food, but the type being allowed in say the UN, especially the lack of fresh vegetables and protein causing malnourishment.
The army claimed that they allowed 6000 people to leave Gaza for medical reasons but what about those who are denied exits. According to the UN since the start of the siege 40% who apply for medical permits aren’t granted them.
I put that to the army who conceded that 1000 patients had been prevented from leaving this year, he also didn’t refute the claim that 4 Palestinians died last year waiting for permits to exit Gaza for medical reasons and it goes on. Government press office recently sent journalist the menu of a restraint in Gaza in a tongue and cheek effort to prove that there is no food shortage.
But according to the restraints owner 70% of his food is smuggled from Egypt via the tunnels which also means that its expensive and out of reach for the vast majority of the population. To press the point further the media office also provided video of Gazans eating at the restraint but one of the diners is Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas who hasn’t set foot in Gaza since the siege began 3 years ago.
Away from the statistics, shows and spin lies the real Gaza strip. 1.7 million people trapped inside a 40km long ghetto, if the flotilla arrives this is the Gaza activist will see and when they go this is what they will leave behind.
Here’s two reaction to the incident. First of Norman Finkelstein being interviewed by RT
Reporter
We have had widespread condemnation from Europe of the actions of the Israeli defence force who boarded the aid ship flotilla, what has been the reaction in America?
Norman Finkelstein
So far there has been a mild statement by President Obama, regretting what happened, saying it should be investigated but not going beyond that. I would call that a mild display of concern.
Reporter
So just a mild display of concern but Jerusalem was saying it was trying to protect its borders and its citizens and the flotilla was on a mission to discredit the State of Israel. What do you say to that?
Norman Finkelstein
I think there are many things that need to be said and there has to be serious thought given to what has happened. Lets start with the basics
1
Israel is imposing an illegal blockade on Gaza, what was called by Amnesty International last week a flagrant violation of International Law. The United Nations committee of elders, people like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu just distributed a statement today in which they called the blockade of Gaza
‘one of the worst human rights violations in the world today’
2
Number 2 Israel attacked a humanitarian convoy in International waters. They used armed commandoes to attack an international or should I say humanitarian convoy in International waters. I think everyone agree that there is no possible way to justify using armed force against what were clearly unarmed humanitarians trying to relive an illegal siege of Gaza.
To me the more important question is this, namely Israel’s massacre in Gaza in December 2008/January 2009, afterwards Israeli officials were saying that they wanted to show the Arab world that they were capable of acting like a lunatic state and like mad dogs, they wanted to restore the Arab worlds fear of Israel and that’s why they acted like a lunatic state and mad dogs in Gaza.
But after yesterdays events we really have to ask the question, is Israel acting like a lunatic state or has it become a lunatic state and that’s not rhetoric, it’s a very serious issue.
Reporter
The UN are meeting today, it’s held an emergency meeting to discuss the raid and to react to what Israel has done. What conclusions do you think they will come to? Do you think their findings will make any difference?
Norman Finkelstein
Well I think the important issue is what happened in Gaza, excuse me, what happened with the Gaza flotilla was not an accident, you have to remember the Israeli cabinet met for fully a week, all the cabinet ministers discussed, deliberated, how they would handle the flotilla. There were numerous reports in the Israeli press, numerous suggestions, words, and recommendations on what to do. They decided on a night time armed Commando raid on an International convoy.
Israel now is a lunatic state; it’s a lunatic state with between 200 and 300 nuclear devices, its threatening war daily against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah in Lebanon has already stated in several occasions, if Israel attacks it will retaliate in kind, things are getting out of control.
We have to ask ourselves a basic fundamental question. Can a lunatic state like Israel be trusted with 200 to 300 nuclear devices when it is threatening its neighbors and Lebanon with attack.
These are serious issues
A response from George Galloway
This is George Galloway, Viva Palestina I’m calling from Houston Texas in the United States of America
News has just broken of this barbarous act of piracy conducted by the so called state of Israel in which innocent humanitarian aid workers have been cold bloodily murdered and dozens wounded, maybe more deaths to come in the hours that will follow.
This crime is one of the most dastardly attacks on humanitarian aid workers in recent times and amidst the wreckage of the freedom flotilla is what remains of Israel’s reputation as a member of the International community.
Israel has grown used to killing people as an answer to their political problems, but now they have moved from killing those Palestinians who have the misfortune to live under their occupation or behind the walls of their siege, now International citizens of 40 countries have come under a hail of gunfire from the Israeli defence force.
This crime will not go unanswered by the government of Turkey which has invested heavily in the International diplomacy to try to come to the aid of the Palestinians under siege but the International community as a whole must respond.
Ambassadors must be recalled, Israeli ambassadors should be asked to leave and a whole review of the international community’s relationship with this criminal pirate state if Israel should now be launched
I will be giving a press conference in Houston in the morning and we will decide then what to do about the rest of the tour of the United States.
People should stay in touch with Viva Palestina, Viva Palestina Arabia was a partner in the flotilla and we send our condolences to the families of the dead, our sympathies to the wounded, our disappointment to the poor Palestinians under siege in Gaza who will not now receive the 20 million dollars worth of charitable aid given from all over the world to try to make their lives just a little bit easier.
This disaster cannot go unanswered, for the International community to stand up and be counted and to stop treating the law breaking rogue state as if it were a respectable member of the United Nations
This is George Galloway from Houston Texas sending my most sincere condolences to all those gravely affected by this crime.
Now after the incident took place there was a flurry of activity. This Israeli statement would put satirists out of a job, satire incarnated as Mark Twain would say.
DEPUTY FM AYALON:
Good morning, everyone. ]I want to report this morning that the armada of hate and violence in support of the Hamas terror organization was a premeditated and outrageous provocation. The organizers are well-known for their ties to Global Jihad, Al-Qaeda and Hamas. They have a history of arms smuggling and deadly terror. On board the ship we found weapons that were prepared in advance and used against our forces. The organizers’ intent was violent, their method was violent, and unfortunately, the results were violent.
Israel regrets any loss of life and did everything to avoid this outcome. We repeatedly called upon the organizers and all those who were associated with them, through diplomatic channels and any other means we could, to stop this provocation.
The so-called humanitarian aid was not for a humanitarian purpose. Had it been for a humanitarian purpose, they would have accepted our offer to deliver all humanitarian supply through the appropriate channels which are used on a daily basis, as we make sure that Gaza will not be in short of humanitarian supplies. On a daily basis, we do that. We ask them to send this through the appropriate channels, whether it’s the U.N., whether it’s the Red Cross, whether it’s our people, but to no avail.
In fact, what they said was that it’s a humanitarian campaign, but they said repeatedly that their intent and purpose was to break the blockade, the maritime blockade, on Gaza. The maritime blockade on Gaza is very legal and justified by the terror that Hamas is applying in Gaza. Allowing these ships to go in an illegal way to Gaza would have opened in fact a corridor of smuggling arms and terrorists to Gaza, with the results, inevitable results, of many, many thousands of civilian deaths and violence all over the area.
After these repeated calls where not heeded by the organizers, we told them that they will not be allowed to break the blockade, as according to maritime law we have the right to do that. Unfortunately, they also, people, the organizers upon the ship, did not heed the calls of our forces this morning to peacefully follow them and bring a closure, a peaceful closure, to this event.
No sovereign country would tolerate such violence against its civilian population, against its sovereignty, against international law. And we in Israel call today upon all relevant parties and all relevant countries to work together on calming the situation. Thank you very much. [/QUOTE]
For example Israeli commandos claiming they didn’t attack them they attacked us, or the outrageous behaviour of the activists as they dared to defend themselves from attack. No doubt the Israeli media will describe them as ‘lynch mob’ ‘thugs’, ‘Iranian agents,’ ‘Al Qaida’, ‘terrorists’. I also wonder if the Israelis will sink as low as trying and plant weapons on the ships to discredit the humanitarian convoy.
However During the day Israeli propaganda did improve. We had our good friend Mark Regev heroically defending the indefensible. I was particularly impressed with his lie that if only the flotilla docked at an Israeli port, the Israelis would kindly transport all goods to the Gazans, I’m sure Goebbels would be impressed. The subtle racism is also worth drawing attention to. Note how Israeli is entitled to do whatever it takes to ‘defend’ itself by ‘whatever’ means yet the Palestinians are not permitted to do the same and the existential threat they face is far far worse, they are trying to prevent their people becoming a victim of politicide.
However they maybe some glimmers of hope. Many of Israeli backers are becoming unhappy at Israelis two bit thuggery, check out this comment piece from the Financial Times not exactly a radical outfit
Attack on blockade-busters damages its legitimacy
With yesterday’s brazen act of piracy, Israel dealt a blow to the legitimacy of its own struggle. The killing of activists aboard the captured ships sent Israel’s way of defending its security, which it was already imperative to return within the bounds of international law, hurtling into lawlessness.
Israel claims the activists had links with extremist groups and that some attacked Israeli soldiers with knives and sticks (and in some accounts the odd light firearm). Even if true, this would not justify the illegal capture of civilian ships carrying humanitarian aid in international waters, let alone the use of deadly force.
Outrageous as this behaviour was, the true outrage is the illegal blockade of Gaza that it enforced. Since the January 2009 Gaza war, which exposed Israel’s determination to destroy Hamas’s capabilities regardless of the cost to innocent Palestinians, Israel and Egypt have colluded to prevent the enclave’s reconstruction. According to the United Nations, three-quarters of the damage has not been repaired and 60 per cent of homes do not have enough food.
The ostensible goal is to weaken Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood offshoot that rules Gaza (and whose Egyptian incarnation is Hosni Mubarak’s only real opposition ). But the blockade aimed at crushing it, besides the illegal collective punishment it implies, only shores up Hamas’s support. If Israel and Egypt wanted to turn Gaza into a mafia-run statelet, they could hardly do better than sever any alternatives to Hamas’s smuggling network, leaving the population even more at its mercy.
Hamas engages in terrorism and fires occasional rockets into Israel, but it is an example of that rarest of Middle Eastern species: a popularly elected government. It has also signed up to the 2002 comprehensive peace offer by the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. If this is a bluff, it is one Israel has yet to call. That is what this is ultimately about. Israel’s government has been pretending it is ready to negotiate for peace, but that there is no one to negotiate with on the other side. The attack on the blockade-busters lays bare the country’s slide into contempt for international law, intolerance of dissent and wilful sabotage of viable representation for Palestinians.
Israel has always known the importance of its conduct being judged legal by the world’s leading powers. Those powers – in the body of the Quartet and the UN Security Council – must now make clear it has gone too far.
and even Israel papers are despondent
State of insanity
Gaza flotilla drives Israel into a sea of stupidity
Of course the peace flotilla will not bring peace, and it won’t even manage to reach the Gaza shore. The action plan has included dragging the ships to Ashdod port, but it has again dragged us to the shores of stupidity and wrongdoing
By Gideon Levy
The Israeli propaganda machine has reached new highs its hopeless frenzy. It has distributed menus from Gaza restaurants, along with false information. It embarrassed itself by entering a futile public relations battle, which it might have been better off never starting. They want to maintain the ineffective, illegal and unethical siege on Gaza and not let the “peace flotilla” dock off the Gaza coast? There is nothing to explain, certainly not to a world that will never buy the web of explanations, lies and tactics.
Only in Israel do people still accept these tainted goods. Reminiscent of a pre-battle ritual from ancient times, the chorus cheered without asking questions. White uniformed soldiers got ready in our name. Spokesmen delivered their deceptive explanations in our name. The grotesque scene is at our expense. And virtually none of us have disturbed the performance.
The chorus has been singing songs of falsehood and lies. We are all in the chorus saying there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We are all part of the chorus claiming the occupation of Gaza has ended, and that the flotilla is a violent attack on Israeli sovereignty - the cement is for building bunkers and the convoy is being funded by the Turkish Muslim Brotherhood. The Israeli siege of Gaza will topple Hamas and free Gilad Shalit. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy, one of the most ridiculous of the propagandists, outdid himself when he unblinkingly proclaimed that the aid convoy headed toward Gaza was a violation of international law. Right. Exactly.
It’s not the siege that is illegal, but rather the flotilla. It wasn’t enough to distribute menus from Gaza restaurants through the Prime Minister’s Office, (including the highly recommended beef Stroganoff and cream of spinach soup ) and flaunt the quantities of fuel that the Israeli army spokesman says Israel is shipping in. The propaganda operation has tried to sell us and the world the idea that the occupation of Gaza is over, but in any case, Israel has legal authority to bar humanitarian aid. All one pack of lies.
Only one voice spoiled the illusory celebration a little: an Amnesty International report on the situation in Gaza. Four out of five Gaza residents need humanitarian assistance. Hundreds are waiting to the point of embarrassment to be allowed out for medical treatment, and 28 already have died. This is despite all the Israeli army spokesman’s briefings on the absence of a siege and the presence of assistance, but who cares?
And the preparations for the operation are also reminiscent of a particularly amusing farce: the feverish debate among the septet of ministers; the deployment of the Masada unit, the prison service’s commando unit that specializes in penetrating prison cells; naval commando fighters with backup from the special police anti-terror unit and the army’s Oketz canine unit; a special detention facility set up at the Ashdod port; and the electronic shield that was supposed to block broadcast of the ship’s capture and the detention of those on board.
And all of this in the face of what? A few hundred international activists, mostly people of conscience whose reputation Israeli propaganda has sought to besmirch. They are really mostly people who care, which is their right and obligation, even if the siege doesn’t concern us at all. Yes, this flotilla is indeed a political provocation, and what is protest action if not political provocation?
And facing them on the seas has been the Israeli ship of fools, floating but not knowing where or why. Why detain people? That’s how it is. Why a siege? That’s how it is. It’s like the Noam Chomsky affair all over again, but big time this time. Of course the peace flotilla will not bring peace, and it won’t even manage to reach the Gaza shore. The action plan has included dragging the ships to Ashdod port, but it has again dragged us to the shores of stupidity and wrongdoing. Again we will be portrayed not only as the ones that have blocked assistance, but also as fools who do everything to even further undermine our own standing. If that was one of the goals of the peace flotilla’s organizers, they won big yesterday.
Five years ago, the noted Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who is a Jerusalem Prize laureate, after concluding his visit to Israel, said the Israeli occupation was approaching its grotesque phase. Over the weekend Vargas Llosa, who considers himself a friend of Israel, was present to see that that phase has since reached new heights of absurdity.
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
Not sure if this has been posted or not..
Israel has started releasing the 700 activists it captured after it troops stormed a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Turkey sent three planes, including two military ambulance aircraft, to bring its nationals home.
Six Greek passengers returned to Athens on Tuesday after being expelled from Israel.
On Wednesday morning, another 124 passengers reached Jordan after being freed.
Here are excerpts of what some of the freed passengers had to say:
Mohamed Vall, Al Jazeera reporter
The Israeli assault took those of us on the ship by complete surprise.
During that hour an half in the early morning everybody on board the ship thought that no-one would survive the Israeli attack because we saw about 30 war vessels surrounding this ship and helicopters attacking with very luminous bombs, the sound of them makes you think you are dead
That was a fear of war, complete war, on a ship that was full of men, women and even children.
The first soldiers on the ship were not killed, they were not shot at, they were captured by the defenders of the ship.
Moments later another bigger helicopter landed more troops and this time they fired immediately at people and killed as many as they could so that they could reach the cabin and take control of the ship.
I saw blood spilt on the ship and everyone knew that there was no weapons. we all knew the Israelis would intercept us and try to stop us, but we didn't think that they would open fire at the first moment.
I have been shown the picture of a Yemeni man, and this is ridiculous, who was on the ship and most people know that every Yemeni in the world has a Yemeni style knife, that is a cultural thing and does not have anything to do with violence.
I understand now that in Israel they are trying to make a big deal about that, saying that the boat was full of violent people and just because of that one man. '
Othman Battiri, Al Jazeera crew member
At 4:15, tens of Navy boats carrying tens of soldiers tried to board the ships. They were met by resistance. Peaceful resistance. Helicopters came and tried to download soldiers. They could not.
At that moment, they started firing live ammunition.
First, they fired sound and gas bombs and rubber bullets. Some people were injured from the rubber bullets. Then, live bullets were used. I saw several men being wounded. We tried to help some of the wounded. I saw four people who were killed.
I saw two people die before my eyes. One of them had a bullet in the chest. The other was bleeding but I did not know where he was shot.
We went down to see the other dead people. One had a bullet in his head as if he was hit by a sniper. Live bullets were every where.
They did not respect that all those on the ships were civilians. There were no weapons.
There was not firing by the activists on the soldiers. As media we stand witnesses on that.
They four dead people that I saw were all Turkish. Two were old men. The other two were younger. One of the young people was a coordinator in the media room. His name is Juwdat.
We heard that more people were killed. I only saw four. Most of the fighting took place on the upper level around the room of ship captain, where the activist tried to prevent the soldiers from trying to control the captain’s room. This is where live ammunition were used.
The attack started at 4:15 and ended around 5:30 when we heard that the ship was controlled by the Israeli's.
Around 7:00 they asked us to leave our rooms and they started tying our hands.
Hazem Farouq, Egyptian MP from the Muslim Brotherhood
Helicopters were flying above us. Four military ships and 10 Navy boats surrounded us. They rained us with sound and gas bombs as if we were in real war.
Four people died before my eyes and in my hands. We could not find any first aid material. What happened required a field hospital to treat the injured. I did not have the necessary material to treat their bleeding wounds.
When we tried to carry the injured, the Israeli soldiers refused to allow men to carry the wounded. They pointed their guns with laser light toward their heads. They asked women to carry the wounded. Some women could not.
The wounded were very hurt because they were not carried in the proper way through the stairs and narrow doors.
Farouq is a dentist who was on board Mavi Marmara, the lead ship of the flotilla. He spoke to Al Jazeera after arriving in Cairo.
Issam Zaatar, Al Jazeera cameraman
I was filming, and then he [an Israeli solider] ran after me with a stun gun.
He could not catch me. One of his colleagues hit my hand from behind with a stun gun. My camera fell down. He ran to crush the camera with his feet.
I told him, don't break my camera. If you want the tapes, I will give them to you. I told him these are media equipment. They had no limits.
They used rubber bullets. They used tear gas bombs. It was an unbelievable scene.
Haneen Zubi, Palestinian member of the Knesset
We were expecting the Israeli army to stop us, to prevent us from entering but surely we didn't expect such a war against us.
It was 14 ships which approached us, nearly at 4.30 in the morning. Fourteen ships that I could count and one helicopter. Maybe more than 10 soldiers, I couldn't say exactly [how many] were getting out of the helicopter.
On the second floor of the ship there were just passengers who are journalists, a nurse and organisers of the flotilla who didn't have anything in their hands.
After 20 minutes, maybe 15 minutes, there were three dead bodies.
It ended at six, when a voice from the microphone said the ship was controlled by the Israelis, 'please enter the rooms'.
Norman Paech, former member of the German parliament
This was not an act of self-defence [by the Israeli army], but rather it was completely disproportionate - although we were counting on our ship being blocked and maybe checked.
This was a very serious offence, this was a war crime.
I personally saw two and a half wooden sticks which were used [by activists].
We had not prepared in any way to fight. We didn't even consider it.
No violence, no resistance - because we knew very well that we would have absolutely no chance against soldiers like this.
Mihalis Grigoropoulos, Greece
I was steering the ship, we saw them [Israeli soldiers] capture another ship in front of us, which was the Turkish passenger vessel with more than 500 people on board and heard shots fired.
We did not resist at all, we couldn't even if we had wanted to. What could we have done against the commandos who climbed aboard?
The only thing some people tried was to delay them from getting to the bridge, forming a human shield. They were fired upon with plastic bullets and were stunned with electric devices.
There was great mistreatment after our arrest. We were essentially hostages, like animals on the ground.
They wouldn't let us use the bathroom, wouldn't give us food or water and they took video of us despite international conventions banning this.
Nilufer Cetin, Turkey
We stayed in our cabin and played games amid the sound of gunfire.
My son has been nervous since yesterday afternoon ... I did not need to protect my son.
They knew there was a baby on board. I put a gas mask and life jacket on my son.
We did not experience any other problems on board, only a water shortage.
We took walks on the deck, played games with my son. The curtains were drawn, so I did not see the raid as it was happening. I only heard the voices.
There are lightly and heavily wounded people.
There are thousands, millions of babies in Gaza. My son and I wanted to play with those babies. We planned to deliver them aid. We wanted to say: 'Look, it's a safe place, I came here with my baby-son.'
I saw my husband from a distance, he looked okay. The ship personnel was not wounded, because they [the soldiers] needed them to take the ship to port.
I will go again if another ship goes.
Cetin returned to Istanbul airport with her one-year-old son.
Youssef Benderbal, France
The instructions were clear. Do not provoke, remain calm and go to meet them [the commandos] saying 'we are pacifists and not terrorists'.
Masked commandos took possession of the ship. They were aiming for the captain's cabin.
Benderbal was not on board Mavi Marmara, the lead ship of the flotilla, but on one of the other five ships. He gave this account to Europe 1 radio after arriving at a Paris airport.
Dimitris Gielalis, Greece
Suddenly from everywhere we saw inflatables coming at us, and within seconds fully equipped commandos came up on the boat.
They came up and used plastic bullets, we had beatings, we had electric shocks, any method we can think of, they used.
Gielalis was on board the ship Sfendoni.
Mutlu Tiryaki, Turkey
When we went up to the deck, they emerged from helicopters and military boats and attacked us.
They approached our vessel with military ships after issuing a warning. We told them we were unarmed. Our sole weapon was water.
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
Activists Describe Experience: Israel Cold-Bloodedly Attacked Us!
Freed activists who were transfered to Jordan early on Wednesday after being hauled off a Gaza-bound aid flotilla accused Israeli commandos who carried out the raid of killing passengers cold-bloodedly.
"What happened was unbelievable. The way the criminal Israeli soldiers beat us and killed Turkish activists in cold blood was like a bloody movie. They could have arrested them," Morrocan MP Abdelqader Amara, 47, told AFP in a hotel in Amman. "The Israelis used live ammunition and showed us all the barbarism and cruelty in the world although all of us were unarmed. The Israelis beat some of them up with the butts of their rifles before they shot them dead."
The Israeli enemy early Wednesday deported to Jordan 126 people it held after Monday's raid, among them 30 Jordanians as well as nationals from Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, Syria, Algeria, Oman, Yemen, Mauritania, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia and Azerbaijan.
Amara said the attempt by the "Peace Flotilla" to breach the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip had served to highlight the "crimes" of the Zionist entity. "What we did has exposed the Zionist entity to the world because its crimes took place in international waters. They did not warn us at all before storming the ship. It was a nightmare," said Amara. He added that he and seven other Moroccans were to head home later Wednesday.
"We were beaten, humiliated, insulted and stripped of our clothes. An Algerian MP nearly lost his eyes after the Israelis beat him," said another passenger, Salha Nuweisreyh, 51, of Algeria.
Najwa Sultan, 48, also from Algeria, said Israel treated the activists as if they were terrorists. "We were deprived of basic rights. They handcuffed us after the raid and kept us waiting under the sun for many hours. It was inhuman," said Sultan. "I think we have achieved our goal and broke the blockade despite all what happened. Israel has gone mad and it will not continue to exist forever."
Around 28 Algerian nationals are expected to head home on Thursday.
Meanwhile, eighteen Kuwaiti activists returned home on Wednesday, accusing Israeli troops of having opened fire without warning. The activists, including MP Waleed al-Tabtabai and six women, were flown home aboard a government plane from Jordan after crossing by bus from the occupied territories early Wednesday, following hours of delay.
"Israeli commandos started shooting from the air without warning," lawyer Mubarak al-Mutawa, who was on the main vessel, the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, told reporters. "They killed a number of volunteers even before landing aboard the ship," he said on arrival at Kuwait Airport.
Young activist Ali Buhamd said he saw an "Israeli soldier shooting and killing a wounded Turk in the head" and that "soldiers left another wounded Turk to bleed to death despite repeated appeals for help."
"I assure you that no one from the aid volunteers had any firearms. We had no other weapons, except kitchenware, and the volunteers did not start any resistance," Mutawa said.
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
"What happened was unbelievable. The way the criminal Israeli soldiers beat us and killed Turkish activists in cold blood was like a bloody movie.
When I first heard of this attack, I imagined just that. I haven't expressed my opinion here because truly words escape me. I can't begin to discuss this matter without getting emotional, angry, frustrated, you name it.Honestly this is sickening, absolutely sickening. I feel more anger than sadness now when I hear of these things. All we can do is wait for yom al Qiyama, that day, inshAllah all will get what they deserve. I can't begin to imagine the grief of the families who lost loved ones on this trip. Inna lillahi wa ilayhi raji3oon.
Jazak'Allah kher to all those who share found articles here.
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
Muslims will never learn - look at what this Fatah traitor says...
Fatah's Azzam Al-Ahmad: Gaza Doesn't Need Food, Humanitarian Supplies
Senior Fatah Movement official, Azzam Al-Ahmad, told the German News Agency (DPA) that the Gaza Strip did not need humanitarian or food supplies. The Fatah Central Committee member stressed in his telephone call with DPA the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas was securing the needs of the Strip on daily basis. “I confidently say that Gaza does not need humanitarian or food supplies because the PA is securing all of this. The PA sends 200 trucks into Gaza, not through Rafah but through other crossings,” he told the Genrman News Agency. “These trucks are always full of food supplies, medicaments, and fuel,” he added.
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
format_quote Originally Posted by Argamemnon
Muslims will never learn - look at what this Fatah traitor says...
Fatah's Azzam Al-Ahmad: Gaza Doesn't Need Food, Humanitarian Supplies
Senior Fatah Movement official, Azzam Al-Ahmad, told the German News Agency (DPA) that the Gaza Strip did not need humanitarian or food supplies. The Fatah Central Committee member stressed in his telephone call with DPA the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas was securing the needs of the Strip on daily basis. “I confidently say that Gaza does not need humanitarian or food supplies because the PA is securing all of this. The PA sends 200 trucks into Gaza, not through Rafah but through other crossings,” he told the Genrman News Agency. “These trucks are always full of food supplies, medicaments, and fuel,” he added.
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
format_quote Originally Posted by τhε ṿαlε'ṡ lïlÿ
didn't his kid become a kaffir?
one of those top hamas people had a kid turn kaffir and go abroad.. amazing stuff.. sob7an Allah
Yes, he admitted that he spied for Israel.
New York (CNN) -- The son of a founder of the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, Tuesday told CNN that he was a spy for Israel.
For 10 years, Mosab Yousef said he gathered information about Hamas terrorist plots and fed them to Israel's domestic security service Shin Bet.
Yousef, in an exclusive interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, said he did it because he came to believe that Hamas was practicing "exceptional cruelty" against its members and "killed people for no reason."
He has now written a book, "Son of Hamas" detailing his exploits from his new base in the United States where he has lived since 2007. CNN could not independently confirm his story and Israel has refused to comment.
In the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, a former Israeli handler said of Yousef: "One insight of his was worth 1,000 hours of thought by top experts."
Yousef told CNN: "They offered me to work for them. My goal was to be a double agent and attack them from the inside."
But then his views changed. Watch the full interview here
"After I was tortured by Shin Bet I was transferred to prison [where] Hamas tortured Hamas members and I became confused who was really my enemy ... I accepted to meet Shin Bet."
Yousef said he agreed to spy on Hamas and that his decision was partly a moral one. "My people did not understand this. Shin Bet is committed to a constitution but Hamas targets civilians. There's a difference between targeting a terrorist and civilians."
He said that in part his transformation was due to spiritual reasons. "Later on, I became a Christian, during that time, the first few months, and I was convinced by the principle of loving your enemies. And I saw that my enemy, who I thought that they were my enemies, they had morality, they had their responsibilities more than my own people."
He added: "As a Shin Bet agent, when I had information I helped arrest people, otherwise they hit randomly. When I specified a particular person I had a condition - not to kill that person ...
"In 10 years working for Shin Bet I am not responsible for killing one terrorist. I care about my people, my problem was their [Hamas'] ideology.
His father, Sheikh Yousef, is serving time in an Israeli prison. He recently wrote a letter from jail saying that the whole family "inclusively and exhaustively denounce our eldest son."
An attorney for the elder Yousef obtained a statement last week from the father saying Hamas knew of his son's contact with Israeli intelligence and adding that he "was not on any day an active member in the ranks of Hamas."
Asked if he feels in danger because of what he's done, Yousef says he is not afraid. "Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a human being, physical death. The worst, spiritual and soul death. This is what really scares me."
The Israeli government, including Shin Bet, has not offered CNN official comment, and his family has broadly denied his story. But an intelligence source told Amanpour that the core claims are true, this is a "modus operandi of how Israeli agents work," to penetrate the opposite side, to try to get as much information as possible.
But the source added some of the high profile claims of thwarting terrorism or helping with high-level captures are "gross exaggerations."
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
and so his father is no different.. just a couple of turds sailing in a cesspool .. glad he converted to christianity.. I can't think of a more becoming religion for a traitor!
Text without context is pretext If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
Apparently one of the ships that was supposed to join the flotilla earlier but couldn't due to technical problems is still on its way to Gaza. They are planning to reach there tomorrow night or early Saturday morning. I'm afraid though that the Israelis will act no differently than they did with the other ships.
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
Hundreds of Gaza aid survivors from a Turkish-led aid flotilla after Israeli attack landed at Istanbul early on Thursday, given a hero's welcome by thousands of cheering supporters waiting at the airport.
The planes, carrying 466 activists as well as bodies of 9 people that were killed in the attack, landed at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport at short intervals.
Three Turkish planes that bore the activists from Tel Aviv to Turkey also carried the simple wooden coffins of the nine killed when Israeli commandos stormed the ships trying to take aid to Gaza.
"We've been scared, frightened, kidnapped and attacked with battleships while we were taking aid to needy people in Gaza," said Mustafa Ahmet, a British citizen of Turkish origin.
As activists descended from the planes at Istanbul's Ataturk airport they lifted their arms in defiance, but afterwards some were overcome with emotion and wept.
The majority of the 466 people aboard the planes were Turkish with some Irish, British, Norwegian, Dutch and Spanish citizens among them.
Turkish State Minister & Deputy Premier Bulent Arinc and a number of officials welcomed the THY planes which also brought back four Justice and Development (AK) Party deputies who went to Israel to help the volunteers.
Speaking to reporters while waiting for the arrival of the planes at the airport, Arinc said, "For now, diplomacy has succeeded, however, Israel will be asked within the framework of laws to pay for the murders it has committed".
Arinc said that the Turkish justice ministry had also launched the necessary initiatives in order to follow the issue within the scope of criminal and international laws.
Addressing the crowd waiting at the airport for the activists as well, Arinc said, "We have all condemned this unfair, cruel and barbaric attack which was totally an act of piracy".
Arinc noted that the Turkish government had expressed its condemnation over the incident and informed the world on such injustice just like Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had done in his speech at AK Party's latest group meeting.
Pointing to the declaration signed by all the political parties in the Turkish parliament which condemned the Israeli attack, the Turkish deputy premier also said necessary actions would be taken in line with such declaration.
"Israeli soldiers dead bodies into sea"
Several activists said, the death toll was higher than nine, and accused the Israeli army of hiding bodies and destroying forensic evidence.
"The soldiers shot a doctor who surrendered and they threw dead bodies into the sea. We still don't know what happened to them," said Bulent Yildirim, chairman of the IHH, the Turkish charity which organised the convoy.
He said Israeli commandos had forced activists to kneel with their hands behind their backs after they stormed the flotilla, and helicopters circling overhead poured cold sea water onto them.
Kevin Ovenden of Britain said a man who had pointed a camera at the soldiers was shot directly through the forehead with live ammunition, with the exit wound blowing away the back of his skull.
Many of those waiting at Istanbul's Ataturk airport carried Palestinian flags and bore slogans such as "murderer Israel", while one group of protesters tore up an Israeli flag. Hours earlier thousands had demonstrated in a central Istanbul square.
On Monday, an Israeli raid on the convoy of ships with more than 600 people on board killed 9 people and injured nearly 30 others.
The Turkish vessel was the largest of the six vessels in the aid convoy and it was here that the deadly attacks took place.
"Best treatment in Turkey"
Earlier Wednesday, Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdag was on hand at a military base near Ankara to receive two seriously wounded activists, one Turkish and one an Irish national, as they flew in from Israel.
Early Thursday a Greek military plane repatriated 31 Greeks, three French citizens and an American, the Greek foreign ministry said.
Greek alternate foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas welcomed the activists at the military airfield of Elefsina where the C-130 touched down after 3:00 am (0000 GMT).
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters he had asked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to intervene during their meeting in Washington Tuesday.
No one has the right to prosecute people kidnapped in international waters," he said.
(from other forum)
From Occupied Palestine:
We have suffered too much for too long. We will not accept apartheid masked as peace. We will settle for no less than our freedom.
ACTION ALERT: Get your MP to sign up to Flotilla EDM
Get your MP to sign up to Flotilla EDM
A parliamentary Early Day Motion (EDM) calling for a full investigation and an end to the blockade of Gaza has been tabled by Richard Burden MP and will be presented when the House of Commons sits this afternoon.
An Early Day Motion (EDM) is a formal motion submitted for debate in the House of Commons. They are used for publicising the views of individual MPs and drawing attention to specific events or campaigns. An MP can add their signature to an EDM to show their support for a particular cause or point of view.
!! Get your MP to sign up to it !!
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
1. Check whether your local MP has signed these EDMs by going to:
Fill in the online form and in the "Subject" box please put the EDM you want your MP to sign up to, or put both i.e. "EDM 127".
The EDM is as follows:
EDM 127 ISRAEL AND GAZA FLOTILLA by Burden, Richard
That this House is appalled by the loss of life associated with Israel's attack on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza; notes that UK and other nationals have been held by Israel despite the attack having taken place in international waters; endorses the call of the United Nations Secretary General for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards; recognises that Israel's blockade which has destroyed the economy of Gaza and deepened poverty still inflicts widespread suffering and, by imposing collective punishment on the people of Gaza, is itself contrary to international law; and calls on the international community to require Israel to end its blockade and to redouble international efforts to secure a lasting settlement with a secure and independent state of Palestine alongside a secure and independent Israel.
Please feel free to post your responses below so others can use them for inspiration.
Re: Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists
A respected Turkish scholar - he is not even very 'traditional' or 'conservative' - says that if you side with enemies of Muslims, or if you don't feel any love towards Muslims of other races, you have abandoned Islam completely. If this is true, then a very large number of Turks (and probably Arabs and other Muslims too) fall into this category. Arabs hate other Arabs, or as we have seen in this case; Palestinians side with the enemies of Palestinians, this is unbelievable and beyond absurdity! God knows best.
Last edited by Argamemnon; 06-03-2010 at 06:53 PM.
JERUSALEM (June 3) -- As Turkey held emotional funerals for the nine pro-Palestinian activists killed in this week's Israeli assault on the Turkish-flagged ship Mavi Marmara, Israel faced increasing pressure for an international inquiry into the event.
Turkish officials said that a forensic inquiry found that eight of the dead are Turkish nationals and the ninth is a U.S.-Turkish dual national. The inquiry said that all bore bullet wounds, according to Agency France-Presse. The Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that attendees at a joint funeral in Istanbul for eight of the dead chanted anti-Israeli slogans. Dogan Family Archive/AP
American citizen Furkan Dogan, shown here in a November 2008 family photo, was one of nine activists killed in Israeli's assault on a Turkish-flagged ship on Monday.
Turkish authorities identified the U.S. citizen as Furkan Dogan, 19, a university student who was to be buried in his home town of Kayseri in central Turkey. The teen, who had dual U.S.-Turkish citizenship, had been shot at close range five times, including four bullets in the head, reported the Anatolian news agency.
Sources at The Turkish ambassador in Israel has already been recalled, and some in Turkey are urging the government to completely cut off diplomatic relations with Israel. Turkey's energy minister today said that Turkey has suspended all energy and water projects with Israel. South Africa today also recalled its ambassador for consultations in a sign of disapproval of Israel's actions.
Another aid ship, the Irish-registered Rachel Corrie, was expected to delay its planned voyage to Gaza until it could be fitted out with live video transmission capabilities so that any confrontation with Israeli troops could be broadcast live, CNN reported. The ship had been expected as early as Friday afternoon.
Israel has launched its own military inquiry into the events of May 31, but many even in Israel say the military cannot effectively investigate itself. The Geneva-based Human Rights Council on Wednesday announced it will set up its own "fact-finding" panel to look into Monday's attack. The same group commissioned jurist Richard Goldstone's 2009 report on fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Israel refused to cooperate with Goldstone, saying the Human Rights Council is an anti-Israel body, and it reject the report's conclusions. Vadim Ghirda, AP
Mourners carry the coffin of a victim of the Israeli raid on Thursday in Istanbul.
Israeli government sources say President Barack Obama has offered a compromise, in which Israel will conduct an independent inquiry with a U.S. observer. That is being seen as a way for Israel to avoid a U.N. independent probe beyond the one already begun by the Human Rights Council.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not responded to this idea, but Israeli press reports said Defense Minister Ehud Barak opposed it.
"It is our standard practice after military operations, especially operations in which there have been fatalities, to conduct a prompt, professional, transparent and objective investigation in accordance with the highest international standards," said Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev.
A senior official in the prime minister's office told AOL News that there are "at least 20" recent cases in which the armies of democratic countries, including the U.S. and Germany, killed many more civilians than Israel killed on the Turkish ship.
"In all of these cases, who investigates?" he asked rhetorically. "The army of the country involved. That's how democratic countries work."
Support for an independent commission with a U.S. observer however, did come from Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman.
"We have no need to fear any commission of inquiry," he said today. "I told the prime minister that we should create a commission of inquiry that is open and transparent."
Debate continued today over what exactly happened in the pre-dawn darkness on Monday. Israel continued to maintain that its forces were attacked by some of the pro-Palestinian activists on the ship who were lying in wait for the soldiers with knives and clubs and that the soldiers acted in self-defense after several activists grabbed their weapons and began firing.
The Israeli army today released video footage of an interview with one of the ship's passengers for Press TV taken before the Israeli soldiers boarded. In the footage, he tells the interviewer how he twice before tried to become a martyr, or shahid, and then says, "Third time lucky, with the help of God I will be a shahid (martyr)."
Some of the activists on the ship maintain that they did not present a threat to the soldiers.
"Yes, we took their guns," Bulent Yildirim, the head of the Turkish charity IHH that organized the aid convoy, told the Reuters news agency, referring to the soldiers. "[But] we threw all the guns we took from them into the sea."
He said that the Israeli commandos fired rubber bullets from close range before switching to live ammunition after some activists on board attacked them with chairs and bats. He also said that an Indonesian doctor was shot in the stomach as he helped a wounded Israeli soldier.
Meanwhile, Hamas in Gaza has refused to accept at least 20 trucks of humanitarian supplies taken off the six ships that tried to break the blockade of Gaza. Hamas officials and a spokesman for Israel's defense ministry said the aid, including medical supplies, clothing, blankets and toys, was being held at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza.
"The government decided not to receive any aid until the occupation releases all those who are held," Ahmed al-Kurd, the Hamas minister for social welfare, told the Bloomberg news agency. "We will accept all of the aid or none of it."
Israel says it has released all of the foreigners who were on the ship except for a few who remain in Israeli hospitals. Israeli officials said all humanitarian aid on the ship may enter Gaza, but Israel will not allow cement or other building materials in. The activists say the cement is meant to rebuild homes Israel destroyed in Gaza, but Israel says Hamas could use the cement to build bunkers. http://www.aolnews.com/world/article...ttack/19501699
of course written by a gradstein, like her closing statement .. smooth PR move..
Text without context is pretext If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him
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ACTION ALERT: Get your MP to sign up to Flotilla EDM
of course written by a gradstein, like her closing statement .. smooth PR move..
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