EVEN HAMAS MURDERERS DON'T WANT THE EXTREMIST AIDE IN GAZA.SO EVEN MURDERERS AND EXTREME MILITANTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD WHO CLAIM THEIR ONE HATE EACH OTHER.ISRAEL SHOULD FORCE ALL THE EXTREMISTS TO FLEE TO GAZA SEE HOW LONG THEIR THERE BEFORE THEY GET BEHEADED FOR NOT BEING A MUSLIM CONVERTER.
Hamas refusing to allow flotilla aid into Gaza: Israel
JUNE 2,10 1:30PM
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas ruling Gaza is not allowing Israel to deliver the aid brought by activists in a flotilla seized earlier this week, the Israeli military said on Wednesday.Israel has filled 20 trucks with cargo from the captured ships, mostly medical supplies, clothes, blankets and toys, but has not been able to take them into the territory, military spokeswoman Avital Leibovitz told reporters.Unfortunately at this point the Palestinians are not willing to accept the cargo so the trucks that are loaded are not entering the Gaza Strip, she said.Our understanding is that Hamas is actually stopping the entrance of this humanitarian aid,she added.Hamas government spokesman Taher al-Nunu declined to comment on the allegations but confirmed the Palestinian authorities in Gaza had not received any supplies.The priority now is to release those who were kidnapped and return them, the martyrs and the wounded to their own countries, Nunu said, referring to the nearly 700 activists on board the ships, nine of whom were killed in an Israeli raid on Monday.He added that the delivery of the aid should be coordinated with Turkey, which supplied much of the 10,000 tonnes of building and other supplies organisers said were on the ships.Israel had earlier said all of the more than 600 activists who had been detained were being deported, including the majority of those wounded.Hamas social affairs minister Ahmad al-Kurd, meanwhile, told reporters that if the aid were to enter it would have to be brought in without anything being stolen from the activists, and without any exceptions.
This includes the prefabricated homes, the cement, the iron and the electric generators, he said.But the Israeli military said it could not refill the trucks with more cargo until it delivered the first shipment of supplies.The military said no weapons were found aboard the ships aside from knives, wooden batons and metal rods it says the activists used to ambush the naval commandos that stormed one of the ships, wounding six of them.There was nothing illegal and nothing that does not enter on a regular basis, Leibovitz said, adding that inspectors had not yet come across any cement.Egypt and Israel largely sealed their borders with Gaza after the capture of an Israeli soldier by Hamas and other Palestinian militants in 2006 and have only allowed in limited amounts of basic goods since Hamas seized power in June 2007.Israel has recently started allowing in limited amounts of building materials for UN projects, but the closures have severely hindered reconstruction efforts following a devastating 2008-2009 Gaza war.
Israeli PM: Gaza blockade prevents attacks By MARK LAVIE and SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press Writers JUNE 2,10 1:45PM
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected criticism of a deadly raid against a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza earlier this week, saying the blockade of the Palestinian territory is needed to prevent missile attacks against Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.The comments came hours after all remaining pro-Palestinians activists from the aid ships were sent to Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv to be expelled. Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said Israel decided not to prosecute any of them, writing in an order Wednesday that keeping them here would do more damage to the country's vital interests than good.About a dozen female activists scuffled with security officers at the airport but were subdued, Israeli officials said.One police officer, identified only by his first name Shahar, told The Associated Press that two of the women jumped on his back and another punched him in the face.Officials said Wednesday no charges will be filed and the women, along with hundreds of other activists, will be expelled as planned.The activists were all on board a flotilla that tried to breach Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip on Monday. Israel intercepted the flotilla, setting off clashes on one ship that killed nine activists and wounded dozens more.In a statement broadcast from his office, Netanyahu defended the blockade and said the aim of the flotilla was to break it, not to bring aid to Gaza.Israel is facing an attack of international hypocrisy, he said.If the blockade had been broken, it would have been followed buy dozens, hundreds of boats," he added. Each boat could carry dozens of missiles.
He noted that the Israeli takeover of five of the boats went relatively calmly, but on the sixth ship, we saw an action directed by terrorists affiliated with Hamas. This was not the Love Boat.There was an attempt to lynch Israeli soldiers, Netanyahu charged. Are these peace lovers, pacifists? These are supporters of terrorism, extremists.
Blair: blockade counterproductive but hard to ease By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer JUNE 2,10
JERUSALEM – The international Mideast envoy says the 3-year blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza has been counterproductive but that the policy is difficult to change because of strong Israeli objections.Envoy Tony Blair also said in an interview Wednesday that the raid earlier this week on a Gaza-bound ship was a reminder that Gaza cannot be ignored as the West tries to broker a peace deal between Israel and Hamas' moderate rivals in the West Bank.Blair said the international community's demand to allow more goods into Gaza has been a matter of strong disagreement with Israel. Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after Hamas violently seized power in Gaza in 2007, and only allow in basic humanitarian supplies.Blair said many more goods must be allowed in.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's blockade of Gaza is at the center of the crisis following the bloody raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid supplies and pro-Palestinian activists. Here are some aspects of the blockade:
-When: Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after the Islamic militant Hamas violently overran the Gaza Strip in June 2007.
-Why: Israel considers Hamas a terror group responsible for firing thousands of rockets at Israel and carrying out dozens of suicide terror attacks. Egypt is concerned that Hamas' strict Islamic message could boost Muslim radicals in Egypt.
-Goal: Keeping weaponry away from Hamas. Also, Israel expected that hardship caused by the blockade would weaken support for Hamas among the people of Gaza.
-What's allowed in: Israel transfers an average of 15,000 tons of humanitarian supplies a week into Gaza, including basic food, clothing, footwear and limited quantities of building supplies.
-What's banned: Weapons and explosives; cement, iron and steel, fertilizer and other products Israel believes Hamas could use to strengthen its fortifications or make explosives; items considered luxuries.
-Results: Hamas has institutionalized a system of smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border to bring in weapons, explosives, some building materials and consumer products. Support for Hamas has not lessened, as Gazans blame Israel for hardships. International demands that Israel lift the blockade were increasing even before the flotilla raid.
Gaza flotilla activists deported as witnesses accuse Israel
by Steve Weizman - JUNE 2,10
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel on Wednesday was deporting more than 600 foreign activists whose accounts of a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla contradicted Israeli reports that its soldiers acted in self-defence.As a new standoff with another aid ship loomed, British Prime Minister David Cameron took a tough stand against Monday's pre-dawn Israeli raid, which killed nine activists, terming it completely unacceptable.The hundreds of activists detained on the boats and diverted to Israel have all been released for deportation, prisons authority spokesman Yron Zamir said. They were all taken to Tel Aviv airport or the Jordanian border.Authorities said 682 people from 42 countries, with Turks the most numerous, were on board the six ships that tried to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.Under widespread international condemnation over the bloodshed, Israel retorted that the violence had been initiated by the activists, forcing its soldiers to use live fire in self defence.The Israelis defended themselves from a lynching, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.The military said on Wednesday no weapons were found aboard the ships aside from knives, wooden batons and metal rods it says the activists used to ambush the commandos that stormed one of the ships, wounding six of them.On their return home, some accused the Israelis of having opened fire without warning.Israeli commandos started shooting from the air without warning, Kuwaiti lawyer Mubarak al-Mutawa, who was on the main vessel, the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, told reporters in Kuwait City.About 380 Turks were on the six-boat flotilla when it was raided by Israeli naval forces in an operation that quickly deteriorated into chaos and bloodshed.
Turkey has already recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and scrapped plans for joint military exercises, plunging already sour bilateral ties into deep crisis.And as the diplomatic fallout intensified over the raid, which reportedly killed four Turks, Ankara warned it would rethink its ties with Israel unless all Turks were released on Wednesday.There was very little official information about the condition of the injured activists treated in Israeli hospitals.By mid-afternoon, 28 of them were in hospitals, but authorities later said the majority of the wounded were being deported, according to Physicians for Human Rights.A few could still not be transported, said spokeswoman Adar Grayevsky.I know of at least two people who are not conscious.Israel's political leadership was locked in talks over how to handle the arrival of another foreign aid ship, due early next week.While the bloody showdown has dented Israel's international image, activists bent on running the Gaza blockade said another ship of Irish and Malaysian activists is heading toward Gaza despite the potential for more violence. The Rachel Corrie, which is carrying building supplies, is in the Mediterranean, and organisers say it will be several days before it arrives in Gaza. Ireland's Foreign Minister Micheal Martin renewed an urgent appeal for the ship, reported to be carrying 15 people including a Nobel laureate and a Malaysian MP, to be allowed to reach Gaza. It is imperative that there should be no further confrontation or bloodshed arising from what has been all along a purely humanitarian mission by those involved in the Gaza flotilla, he said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Hamas is not allowing Israel to deliver seized aid brought by the flotilla. Israel has filled 20 trucks with cargo from the captured ships, mostly medical supplies, clothes, blankets and toys, but has not been able to take them into the territory, spokeswoman Avital Leibovitz told reporters.Unfortunately at this point the Palestinians are not willing to accept the cargo so the trucks that are loaded are not entering the Gaza Strip,she said. Hamas government spokesman Taher al-Nunu declined to comment but confirmed that the authorities in Gaza had not received any supplies. He said the delivery should be coordinated with Turkey, which supplied much of the 10,000 tonnes of building and other supplies organisers said were on the ships.Hamas social affairs minister Ahmad al-Kurd told reporters that if the aid were to enter it would have to be brought in without anything being stolen from the activists, and without any exceptions.
Israeli raid puts Obama between rock and hard place: experts by Lachlan Carmichael - JUNE 2,10
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Obama team was caught Wednesday between a rock and a hard place as it tried to navigate between key allies Israel and Turkey following an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish ship, analysts said.US-Turkish ties have already come under strain over Ankara's diplomacy with Iran and risk further friction over the deadly commando raid Monday on a Turkish-flagged ship carrying aid to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, analysts said.The clash on the high seas -- which came after Turkey backed the six-ship aid flotilla in defiance of an Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza -- points up Turkey's growing bid to set its own course in the Middle East, they added.Unlike the harsh denunciations of Israel from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Barack Obama declined Tuesday to condemn the Jewish state, but he did reach out to Turkey.The president spoke to Erdogan to express deep condolences over the deaths on board the ship -- four of the nine dead were Turks -- and to say Washington was working with Israel on the release of impounded vessels and passengers.A senior US State Department official sought to stress that the two-hour meeting in Washington on Tuesday between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was a good one between allies.It was not an acrimonious meeting at all, the official said on the condition of anonymity when queried by reporters.
The foreign minister and the secretary both reflected on the fact that we are clearly friends of Turkey, we're friends of Israel and we will approach this as close allies and friends,he added.However, analyst Steven Cook said, when it comes down to it, we are going to fall closer to the Israelis than to the Turks on a variety of issues.And the biggest difference has really been on Hamas, the analyst with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) told AFP.Turkish President Abdullah Gul this month said Hamas should not be excluded from the peace process as he stressed the need to reunite the Palestinians -- divided between the US-backed Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza.However, the United States and its international partners demand Hamas first recognize Israel's right to exist, forsake violence against the Jewish state, and accept previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.The Turks have become competitors of Washington in places in the Middle East, he said.
Turkey -- along with Brazil -- has also been in a deepening confrontation with the United States over Washington's dismissal of a nuclear swap deal the two hammered out with Iran on May 17.Cook said Turkey and the United States also share differences in their approaches to Syria, which supports Hamas and the Lebanese radical movement Hezbollah.There are changes in the world that have happened (... and) the Turks are calculating their interests differently from the way we are, he said.The Turks see themselves playing an increasingly influential role and they are not necessarily willing to adhere to the rules of the road that we have established, Cook said.They are willing to bend them or break them in some cases,he added.
Analyst Marina Ottaway said the most delicate issue is how the raid will affect US-Turkish relations as the two countries look at their interests in the Middle East differently. Their ties are at a critical juncture because Turkey was offended by Washington's off-hand dismissal of the nuclear fuel agreement with Iran negotiated by Turkey and Brazil,she said in a Carnegie analysis. Relations will only worsen if the US reaction to (Monday's) incident leads Turkey to conclude that the United States condones Israeli actions. Washington must think carefully about the long-term implications of its response,she said.
THIS UN IS USELESS AND WILL BE FOLDING.AND THIS WAS JUST A SCAM BY ISRAEL HATERS EXTREME MILITANTS,AND HAMAS,MUSLIMS AND IRAN AND SYRIA AND EGYPT TO GET THE WORLD AGAINST ISRAEL.THESE MUSLIM MURDERER,EXTREME MILITANTS SET THE WHOLE THING UP.
UN rights council approves probe into Israel's ship raid
By Hui Min Neo - JUNE 2,10
GENEVA (AFP) – The UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday condemned Israeli's outrageous attack on Gaza-bound aid ships and set up an independent international investigation into the raid.The criticism came in a resolution proposed by Pakistan, Sudan and the Palestinian delegation and adopted with 32 countries voting in favour, three against and eight abstentions.The resolution Condemns in the strongest terms the outrageous attack by the Israeli forces against the humanitarian flotilla of ships which resulted in the killing and injuring of many innocent civilians from different countries.It decides to dispatch an independent international fact-finding mission to investigate violations of international law, including international humanitarian aid and human rights law resulting from the attack.It also authorises the president of the council to appoint members of the mission.Israeli commandos boarded one of the aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip in a pre-dawn raid on Monday that left at least nine passengers dead. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists were also arrested.The raid sparked global outrage and prompted states from the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to ask for the special session of the 47 member states in the UN rights council.During the urgent sitting stretching over two days, not only Muslim states but others ranging from Laos to Peru and Iceland spoke out against Israel's move.
No impunity can be accepted from this atrocious crime, said a Palestinian representative.These murderous attacks are characteristic tools used by Israel to derail every peaceful effort and silence every voice of moderation and reason, Pakistani ambassador Zamir Akram told the council Tuesday on behalf of the OIC.The United States said on the first day of the sitting it was deeply disturbed by the violence. But it also said that it opposed the resolution.US ambassador Eileen Donahoe said the text rushes to judgement on a set of facts that were only starting to emerge.It creates an international mechanism before giving the responsible government an opportunity to investigate this incident itself and thereby risks further politicising a sensitive and volatile situation, she added.The Netherlands also voted against the text with its envoy saying that the rights council's investigation, parallel to one called for by the UN Security Council, would not be conducive to relaunching the Middle East peace process.Britain and France abstained saying they regretted that the resolution failed to reflect the language used by the Security Council which called for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards.Israeli ambassador Aharon Leshno Yaar did not refer to the resolution when he spoke ahead of the vote, but he reiterated that the activists onboard the raided ship did not have peaceful motives.
He said Molotov cocktails, clubs and iron bars were used against Israeli soldiers.
The ambassador also claimed that large quantities of cash were also found on board, some in the pockets of the attackers and most in courier belts ready for transfer to the Hamas.
Gaza convoy raid may boost militancy, experts say By William Maclean, Security Correspondent JUNE 2,10
Whatever the detailed context and facts of the clash, it is the killing by Israeli forces of nine activists that dominates perceptions of the incident among Muslims, for whom the Palestinian cause is dear, analysts and Muslim commentators say.
Revulsion at the bloodshed on a Turkish vessel sailing to the Palestinian enclave could translate into increased fund-raising for transnational militant groups such as al Qaeda or like-minded allies, or foster tolerance or even sympathy for such groups among Muslims who are not otherwise ideological.In some cases, it could push passive al Qaeda sympathizers into active participation against Israel or its Western allies, and undermine the international cooperation needed for tracking down illicit funding of militant groups, they said.For al Qaeda it doesn't get any better than this. It's really very dangerous, said Noman Benotman, a British-based Libyan analyst and a former associate of Osama bin Laden.He noted al Qaeda's online propaganda experts were adept at recycling footage of Middle East violence to incite followers.Peter Neumann, director of the Center for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College, London University, said the incident could prove to be a tipping point similar to the publication of U.S. abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, credited by analysts with deepening Arab and Muslim opposition to Western intervention in Iraq.I'd expect a significant impact from this on radicalisation, he told Reuters.Whatever the facts are, whoever is responsible for the violence, this will play on people's perceptions. Psychologists call it a tipping point that can push someone from passive mode into active mode.
VULNERABLE TO VIOLENCE
Attacks on London's transport system in 2005 by four young suicide bombers highlighted the danger of radicalisation among alienated young men from disadvantaged immigrant districts in Britain. Europe's deadliest Islamist militant attack occurred in Madrid in 2004 when bombs on commuter trains killed 191.While radicalisation of young Muslim citizens has been a concern in Europe for years, a Pakistani-American's failed bid to set off a car bomb in New York's Times Square on May 1 has raised fears that the United States is just as vulnerable to violence from immigrants as other Western countries.In London, a British security source said the event would not necessarily produce any immediate result but it would play into al Qaeda's wider narrative and might contribute over time to an ongoing radicalisation message.U.S.-based terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann said terrorism financing networks were best countered using accepted legal sanctions and transnational cooperation between regional allies.Incidents such as the deadly Gaza flotilla raid risked weakening a shared international resolve to punish those who manipulate humanitarian relief as a cover to fund terrorism.In Germany, Guido Steinberg, an expert on Islamist militancy, said the Turkish government's tough criticism of Israel could influence Germany's large Turkish community.Gaza is a mobilizing factor for jihadists, but it has been so for a while. What I'm worried about at the moment is the harsh reaction of Turkey. That might affect some people ... Support for Gaza and Hamas mixes with Turkish national pride here, he said.
In Britain, Muslim activists reported fury at the incident.My streets are in danger, and I say streets meaning not just Bradford but the whole UK. This makes trouble for us peacemakers, said Owais Rajput, a researcher at Bradford University in West Yorkshire, the home area of three of the four men who killed 52 people in the London attacks of 2005. Abu Muaz of Call2Islam, a radical British-based Muslim group that seeks uncompromising opposition to Israel, said in the past two days there had been a lot of anger among the youth.They ask what's the point of just demonstrating? In the mosques, the imams don't have a solution.
Israel deports flotilla activists after world outcry By Jeffrey Heller and Alastair Macdonald - JUNE 2,10
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Defending Israel's enforcement of its blockade of Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday it was vital for the country's security and would stay in place.In a televised address after world outrage erupted over nine deaths in Monday's seizure of a Turkish ship bound for Gaza, a defiant Netanyahu said easing controls would put long-range Iranian missiles into the hands of the Palestinian enclave's Hamas rulers.This threatened not just Israel but Europe too, he said.Turkey, a Muslim country that had been Israel's strategic ally, accused it of state terrorism and has recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and demanded it lift its blockade.Those calls have been echoed by European leaders and the United Nations, who also want an inquiry into the incident.Once again, Israel faces hypocrisy and a biased rush to judgment, Netanyahu said of his international critics, as he defended the actions of Israeli marines who, he said, fired in self-defense after boarding Turkish cruise liner Mavi Marmara.The international community cannot afford an Iranian port on the Mediterranean...The same countries that are criticizing us today, should know that they could be targeted tomorrow.His key backer the United States has been less outspoken and has called for calm between its Turkish and Israeli allies.
Dismissing complaints from the United Nations and other agencies on which Gaza's 1.5 million people depend for aid, he said Israel was letting in civilian goods but must halt weapons.He noted Israel's previous capture of ships carrying arms to its enemies -- Lebanon's Hezbollah and Palestinian groups.Israel said it was deporting all 682 activists from more than 35 countries detained after the assault in international waters on the six ships it commandeered. All but nine wounded prisoners were expected to be gone by the end of the day.
SELF-Defense
Israel said the marines who rappelled onto the Mavi Marmara, fired in self-defense after activists attacked them with clubs, knives and two pistols snatched from the boarding party.Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told parliament that two of the activists killed during the takeover were shot after they used the two handguns to wound two commandos.The captain of the Turkish-flagged Gazze, a freighter carrying the bulk of the aid, said the convoy was 68 miles outside Israeli territorial waters when he saw lights in the sea and sky and helicopters approaching.Israeli commandos then boarded his ship and subdued his crew.They pointed two guns to the head of each of us, Captain Huseyin Tokalak told a news conference in Istanbul after Israel released him. There were no casualties on his vessel.Vilnai said warnings were issued by radio to the six captains that they were entering a blockaded area and could instead dock in Israel and unload their aid for transfer to the Gaza Strip. He said the navy had recordings of the captains swearing in response. I didn't know there were so many curse words in foreign languages, Vilnai said. Ahmed Brahimi, an Algerian who said he was on board the Mavi Marmara, told Reuters by telephone from Jordan: We were not armed. We did not go there to fight.He added: We used sticks and all what we could find to defend ourselves to stop the assault.
POLL
Turkey said three of the nine dead had been identified as Turks and a fourth had a Turkish credit card. Israel has not named publicly any of those killed. An opinion poll in Israel's Maariv newspaper showed that more than 60 percent of Israelis believed the interception was flawed operationally. But few question the Gaza blockade. Israeli military affairs experts have described the assault as a blunder because the strength of the resistance on board was underestimated. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited commandos who took part in the raid and told them: I came in the name of the Israeli government to say thank you.Another attempt to bust the blockade loomed on the horizon: The MV Rachel Corrie, a converted merchant ship bought by pro-Palestinian activists and named after an American woman killed in the Gaza Strip in 2003, set off on Monday from Malta. It is carrying 15 activists, including a Northern Irish Nobel Peace laureate, and expects to be at the point of Monday's interception between Friday evening and Saturday morning, crew member Derek Graham told Irish state broadcaster RTE. Asked how Israel planned to deal with any new attempt to steam into Gaza, Tzachi Hanegbi, head of parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said: We cannot let them blur the red line Israel has set. Letting them in to help Hamas is not an option.Egypt, which has kept its own Gaza border largely closed since Hamas, an offshoot of the opposition Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, seized the territory in 2007, reopened the frontier crossing on Tuesday. The move was widely seen as an attempt to deflect criticism of its blockade, and hundreds of Palestinians flocked to the frontier terminal at Rafah on Wednesday. It is the only Gaza crossing not controlled by Israel.(Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Rafah, Tom Perry in Ramallah, Marie-Louise Gumuchian in Dublin, Simon Cameron-Moore in Istanbul and Lamine Chikh in Algiers; editing by Alastair Macdonald)
Turkey calls on Israel to end blockade to restore ties By Tulay Karadeniz – Wed Jun 2, 9:48 am ET
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey demanded Israel lift its blockade of Gaza as a condition for normalizing relations but added it was time that calm replaced anger after Israel's deadly raid on a Turkish-backed aid flotilla.The future of ties with Israel will depend on the attitude of Israel,Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference in Ankara on his return from the United States.I see no reason for not normalizing the ties, once the Gaza blockade is lifted and our citizens are released.
Turkey canceled joint military exercises and recalled its ambassador from Israel after the flotilla incident on Monday, which has infuriated the Muslim country.On Wednesday, Turkey's usually fractious parliament unanimously passed a non-binding declaration calling for a review of economic, political and military ties with Israel.Davutoglu said three of nine activists killed when Israeli commandos stormed ships trying to take aid to Gaza had been identified as Turks. A fourth had a Turkish credit card, but his nationality had not yet been confirmed.He was speaking as Israel's navy prepared to block another aid ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, which expects to reach the point of Monday's interception between Friday evening and Saturday morning.Davutoglu spoke with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday to discuss the diplomatic crisis, and had been in New York a day earlier for a U.N. Security Council meeting called by Turkey to pass a resolution condemning Israel's actions.
Turkey was awaiting the repatriation on Wednesday of hundreds of activists from Israel, after sending civilian and military aircraft to bring them home.I told Mrs. Clinton on the phone that we would review all ties with Israel if our citizens were not released within 24 hours, which is tonight, Davutoglu said, though he noted two of them were too badly wounded to travel.Washington faces a delicate task handling a crisis between two heavyweight military powers whose friendship has helped U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East.Davutoglu called for the United Nations to investigate the incident, and was scathing about the prospects for an Israeli probe.We want a detailed investigation by the United Nations into Israel's rogue state actions, Davutoglu said. What can be expected from an investigation run by a state in criminal status? It's Israel's actions that need to be investigated.Once a close ally of Israel, Turkey became a harsh critic after the Israeli offensive in Gaza in December 2008.But the killings of Turks on a Turkish-flagged ship in international waters has brought the strained relationship between the Jewish state and Turkey's Islamist-leaning government close to breaking point.Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has become one of the most popular figures in the Islamic world by championing the Palestinian cause.With an election due next year, his strong stand could help win support for his Islamist-leaning AK Party, and some analysts see Turkey's increasing antipathy to Israel as fitting the ruling party's domestic agenda.
Protests have been held outside Israeli diplomatic missions in Ankara and Istanbul since Monday. It's time that calm replaced anger in reaction to Israel, people should avoid impulsive behavior,Davutoglu said. The security of families of Israeli diplomats, Israeli tourists and Jewish Turks is our nation's honor. We will be making sure they are safe.(Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; editing by Noah Barkin)
Pope saddened by flotilla raid violence
Wed Jun 2, 9:19 am ET
VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI said violence during an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid left him with a heavy heart.Violence does not solve disputes, but increases their tragic consequences and generates more violence, the Pope said at the end of his Wednesday audience in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, according to Vatican Radio.With great trepidation I followed the tragic events that occurred near the Gaza Strip. I feel the need to express my heartfelt condolences for the victims of these painful events, which worry those who care about peace in the region, he said.Israeli commandos boarded the aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip in a pre-dawn raid on Monday that left at least nine passengers dead and sparked global outrage.The Israeli military accused activists aboard the ship of provoking the bloodshed by attacking its soldiers as they boarded.I appeal to those who have political responsibilities, locally and internationally, to relentlessly seek just solutions through dialogue, to ensure the people of the best living conditions, harmony and serenity, the pope said.A Vatican document leaked Tuesday called the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories a political injustice, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.The occupation is a political injustice imposed on the Palestinians,said the Instrumentum Laboris, a working document on an upcoming synod of bishops on the Middle East, embargoed for release until Sunday, when Pope Benedict is to present it during a visit to Cyprus.The Vatican has said the raid will not influence the pope's trip to Cyprus, from which the flotilla set off.
124 Gaza aid flotilla activists arrive in Jordan By DALE GAVLAK, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jun 2, 12:59 am ET
ALLENBY BRIDGE, Jordan – Dozens of pro-Palestinian activists detained in the Israeli raid on the Gaza aid flotilla said upon arriving in Jordan Wednesday that they were roughed up and humiliated before Israel deported them.The 124 activists from 12 Muslim nations — most of them without diplomatic ties with Israel — crossed the Allenby Bridge aboard five Jordanian buses. The bridge across the Jordan River, which is under Israeli control, links Jordan with the West Bank.The Israelis roughed up and humiliated all of us — women, men and children, said Kuwaiti lawmaker Walid al-Tabtabai, who was on board one of the ships with other activists from Muslim countries.They were brutal and arrogant, but our message reached every corner of the world that the blockade on Gaza is unfair and should be lifted immediately, he added.
The bearded lawmaker said there was not a single weapon with the passengers aboard all the ships.Algerian Izzeddine Zahrour said Israeli authorities deprived us of food, water and sleep and we weren't allowed to use the toilet.It was an ugly kidnapping and subsequently bad treatment in Israeli jail, he said. They handcuffed us, pushed us around and humiliated us.Mauritanian Mohammed Gholam said Israel wanted us to sign documents saying that we entered Israel illegally.We refused to sign anything and told our captors that we didn't wish to go to Israel, but to Gaza and that their commandos kidnapped us from international waters, he added.An Algerian activist, who only gave her first name as Sabrina, accused Israeli commandos of taking a 1-year-old child hostage.They point a gun to his head in front of his Turkish parents to force the captain of our ship to stop sailing,she said.
Jordanian government spokesman Nabil Al-Sharif said there were 30 Jordanians in the group. Jordan is one of two Arab nations with a signed peace treaty with Israel.The bridge's Jordanian chief, Brig. Mahmoud Abu Jumaa, said Jordan will help repatriate the activists — who also include journalists — to their respective countries in coordination with their governments.Kuwaiti ambassador Sheik Faisal Al Sabah said there were 16 Kuwaitis aboard the buses. They will be flown home aboard a Kuwaiti government-chartered plane later Wednesday,Al Sabah said.He said the other activists came from Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Yemen, Oman and Bahrain.Dozens of other activists remain in Israeli detention, but most are expected to be deported in the coming days.Worldwide condemnation has poured on Israel since its naval commandos halted the aid flotilla in international waters overnight Monday, setting off a melee that left nine activists dead and dozens wounded. Turkey, an unofficial backer of the flotilla, has led the criticism, accusing Israel of committing a massacre, and the U.N. Security Council demanded an impartial investigation.Associated Press Writer Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.
