Israel’s media blackout, doctored Flotilla recording condemned
8 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Although Israel successfully controlled news of its deadly commando raid on the Freedom Flotilla during the first crucial 48 hours of media coverage, emerging evidence from witnesses and survivors is challenging the Israeli government’s version of events.

Palestinian trade unionists call on dockworkers to block Israeli trade
7 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Palestinian trade union movement, as a key constituent member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), calls on dockworkers’ unions worldwide to block Israeli maritime trade in response to Israel’s massacre of humanitarian relief workers and activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla, until Israel complies with international law and ends its illegal blockade of Gaza.

Israel’s attack on Flotilla violates international law
7 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIn the aftermath of Israel’s 31 May attack on the Freedom Flotilla that left nine dead and scores wounded, each side claimed their actions were protected under international law. While the Israelis cited self-defense, and the Flotilla passengers reiterated that they were peace activists on a humanitarian mission that were attacked in international waters where neither Israel (nor any other state) has any claim. Jinan Bastaki comments for The Electronic Intifada.

What happened to us is happening in Gaza
6 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIn the predawn hours of 31 May, I was aboard the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, part of a convoy of humanitarian vessels aiming to deliver aid to besieged civilians in Gaza, when we were attacked in international waters by a unit of Israeli commandos. Iara Lee comments.

Gaza occupation and siege are illegal
5 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIsrael’s deadly attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla was flagrantly illegal. The Flotilla, carefully searched for arms before disembarkation, enjoyed the right of free navigation in international waters, and Israel had no legal justification to interrupt its peaceful mission. George Bisharat comments.

You will have no protection
4 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rFor one thing, as soon as I wrote those words I was able to weep. Which I had not been able to do since learning of the attack by armed Israeli commandos on defenseless peace activists carrying aid to Gaza who tried to fend them off using chairs and sticks. I am thankful to know what it means to be good. Alice Walker writes for The Electronic Intifada.

Global boycotts of Israel intensify after bloody Flotilla attack
4 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIsrael’s bloody attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla on 31 May killing at least nine and injuring dozens of activists carrying humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip, has already intensified global actions for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it respects international law and human rights. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Israel censors news on deadly Flotilla raid
4 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rTEL AVIV (IPS) – Attempts by media to interview some of the hundreds of Freedom Flotilla members, who were being deported from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, Wednesday, were thwarted by Israeli authorities. “No you will not be able to talk to them or interview them,” a deputy-spokesman from Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs told IPS.

The day the world became Gaza
4 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rSince Israel’s massacre of over 1,400 people in Gaza global civil society movements have stepped up their campaigns for solidarity with Palestinians. Governments, by contrast, carried on with business as usual. Israel’s lethal attack on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza may change that, spurring governments to take unprecedented action to check Israel’s growing lawlessness. EI’s Ali Abunimah comments.

US helps Israel avert international inquiry
4 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rUNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Less than 48 hours after the Israeli attack on a flotilla of six ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, the most powerful political body at the United Nations acted most ineffectively: it opted for a shaky “presidential statement” instead of a demanding resolution.

The urgency of this moment
3 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIsrael has sent the world a loud message: we will do whatever we want wherever want. So what if we kill civilians in international waters? In response, the world gets the typical excuses and rationales it has come to expect from the United States, Egypt, and all the other states that should be levying demands on Israel to free Palestinians from siege, occupation and apartheid. Radhika Sainath comments for The Electronic Intifada.

A massacre is not a massacre
3 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rI don’t write poems but, in any case, poems are not poems. Long ago, I was made to understand that Palestine was not Palestine; I was also informed that Palestinians were not Palestinians; They also explained to me that ethnic cleansing was not ethnic cleansing. And when naive old me saw freedom fighters they patiently showed me that they were not freedom fighters, and that resistance was not resistance.

Rights org condemns detention of political leaders after Flotilla raid
2 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rLast night, 1 June 2010, Judge Dina Cohen of the Magistrates’ Court in Ashkelon, after a nine-hour hearing before a packed courtroom, decided to extend the detention of Arab political leaders Mr. Muhammed Zeidan, Sheikh Raed Salah, Sheikh Hamad Abu Daabes and Ms. Lubna Masarwa for one week, until 8 June 2010.

Israeli MP’s terror aboard aid ship
2 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAn Arab member of the Israeli parliament who was on board the international flotilla that was attacked on Monday as it tried to take humanitarian aid to Gaza accused Israel yesterday of intending to kill peace activists as a way to deter future convoys. Jonathan Cook reports.

The Flotilla attack and Turkey’s views of Palestine
1 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rTurkish society has been deeply divided over many issues, from political allegiances to cultural preferences. The public sphere in Turkey is more a realm of appropriation and exclusion than one of mutual agreement and consensus building. However, when it comes to Palestine—as the current furor of Israel’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza—demonstrates, there is a surprising consensus. Murat Dagli comments for The Electronic Intifada.

“No other options:” Gaza’s tunnel industry
1 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rGAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) – Life can be hard working in these tunnels, and it is always at risk. But many have no choice but to work in them, particularly since mid-2007, when Israel and Egypt, with the help of the international community, imposed a siege of staggering severity on the 1.5 million humans in the Gaza Strip.

Besieged Palestinians outraged over Israel’s attack on Flotilla
1 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAs news was released of Israel’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla and rising casualties among the passengers, the mood at Gaza’s modest seaport grew somber. Hundreds of civilians including governmental and non-governmental representatives, activists, and ordinary Palestinians were waiting anxiously to welcome those on board the Flotilla. Rami Almeghari writes from the occupied Gaza Strip.

Thousands rally for Freedom Flotilla in Stockholm
1 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe central Sergels Torg square in Stockholm is not the place you would normally expect to hear the words “stop the blockade,” or “boycott Israel,” or even “In our souls and with our blood we support you Palestine,” in Arabic no less. Sami Halabi and Assaad Thebian report from the Swedish capital on protests against Israel’s attacks on the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy.

Gazans unite in call for solidarity with Freedom Flotilla
31 May 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWe Gaza-based Palestinian Civil Society Organizations and international activists call on the international community and civil society to pressure their governments and Israel to cease the abductions and killings in Israel’s attacks against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla sailing for Gaza, and begin a global response to hold Israel accountable for the murder of foreign civilians at sea and illegal piracy of civilian vessels carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza.

International solidarity and the Freedom Flotilla massacre
31 May 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rEarly this morning under the cover of darkness Israeli soldiers stormed the lead ship of the six-vessel Freedom Flotilla aid convoy in international waters and killed and injured dozens of civilians aboard. Israel had been openly threatening a violent attack on the Flotilla for days, but complacency, complicity and inaction, specifically from Western and Arab governments once more sent the message that Israel could act with total impunity.

Action alert: Call your governments, demonstrate support for Freedom Flotilla
31 May 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rUnder darkness of night, Israeli commandos from at least 14 warships and military helicopters boarded the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began shooting. According to live video from the ship, at least two civilians have been murdered, and dozens injured. Israeli television is reporting 16 civilians killed.

Rights org condemns “hideous” attack on Freedom Flotilla
31 May 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe Palestinian Center for Human Rights strongly condemns the crime perpetrated by Israeli Occupation Forces earlier this morning, 31 May 2010, when Israeli naval forces attacked the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters as it was sailing towards the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza flotilla and the ironies of history
30 May 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rNo one can accuse history of not having a sense of irony. Sixty-three years ago in July 1947 a passenger ship destined for Palestine and named The Exodus was stopped and boarded by the British Navy. The ship was crowded with Holocaust survivors determined to make a new life for themselves in British controlled Palestine. Today another small flotilla of ships is making its way to Palestine. Richard Irvine comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Freedom Flotilla exposes international community’s failure
28 May 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe Freedom Flotilla of nine vessels sailing to the Gaza Strip is exposing the partisan nature of the response of the United Nations and the international community to Israel’s three-year siege on Gaza. Allegra Pacheco comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Israel indicts tortured rights activist Ameer Makhoul
27 May 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rA leading human rights activist from Israel’s Palestinian Arab minority was charged yesterday with the most serious security offenses on Israel’s statute book, including espionage. Prosecutors indicted Ameer Makhoul, the head of Ittijah, an umbrella organization for Arab human rights groups in Israel, with spying on security facilities on behalf of Hizballah after an alleged meeting with one of its agents in Denmark in 2008. Jonathan Cook reports.