Israelis are barbaric murders period…attack on Freedom Flotilla

How many times do we need to say this? How many people need to die so something is done about it?! They kill the Palestinians, persecute and oppress them every day but no one does anything about it. They starve the people of Gaza and no one does anything about it. When a group of humane brave souls try to do break the siege they get murdered.

The audacious killers (i.e. Israelis) said these people are “terrorists”, “extremists” and they had to attack them in an act of “self-defense”! Now that’s rich, the “terrorists” are the ones who end up being massacred.

In “Ashdod” port a group of Israelis started harassing the Al Jazeera reporter supporting what happened, insulting Turks, Arabs and Muslims and even passing around sweets!

May the martyrs rest in peace, may God give their families patience to endure this hardship and may the injured get well soon.

Israeli Massacres Go International; Commandos Kill 19 Free Gaza Activists

Al Manar

31/05/2010 Israeli occupation forces massacred 19 activists on board the Gaza-bound “Freedom” flotilla Sunday overnight and Monday, according to the Israeli TV. 60 other people were also injured. Early reports put the death toll at two then ten.

The killing took place in international waters. Among the injured, leader of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch in the occupied territories Sheikh Raed Salah whose injuries were serious, according to reports. Dr. Hani Suleiman, head of the Lebanese mission was also injured in the Israeli attack.

Al-Jazeera Channel reported that the Israeli takeover of the vessels has been completed and the ships were dragged by the Navy to the Ashdod Port. Sixteen detainees from one of the Gaza aid flotilla ships underwent an examination by the Israeli Interior Ministry, and were transferred by Israeli occupation guards to the Ela Prison in Beersheba.

A Turkish charity involved with the flotilla told AFP in Gaza that at least 15 people were killed in the Israeli navy raid, most of them Turkish nationals. “Fifteen people were killed in the raid, most of them Turkish nationals,” said Mohammed Kaya, who heads the Gaza branch of the IHH, a Turkish charity involved with organizing the fleet of aid ships.

The Israeli occupation army said that “more than 10 people were killed” when Israeli navy seals stormed the aid. “From an initial report, more than 10 passengers were killed,” an Israeli army spokesman told AFP in what was the first official confirmation of deaths on board the convoy.

Few hours later, a Greek non-governmental organization said Monday that Israeli forces in helicopters and inflatable boats fired on a Greek vessel in the aid convoy attacked while heading for Gaza.

The Boat For Gaza group said the Sfendoni was attacked alongside the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara. “There was an attack with live bullets against the Greek boat Sfendoni and the Turkish boat Mavi Marmara, with helicopters and inflatable boats,” the Greek organization said in a statement.

It said the attack took place in international waters about 80 nautical miles from the coast.

Boat For Gaza said it was told about the attack by activists on another Greek vessel, the Eleftheri Mesogeio, which was also seized by the Israeli navy, said the statement.

The statement said the Eleftheri Mesogeio tried to keep going toward Gaza. It quoted one of the activists on board, Takis Politis, as saying Israeli commandos had boarded the vessel.

The statement said that before the satellite telephone line was cut, Politis was heard shouting “they are coming on board with grappling irons, we are under arrest.”

Earlier, Israeli marine commandos had opened fire as they stormed one of the ships the (Mavi Marmara). Israeli television justified the commandos’ massacre claiming that the soldiers were attacked with knives and axes, but did not elaborate. The Israeli censor blocks all reports on the activists murdered on the flotilla.

According to a reporter on one of the ships, the Israeli occupation army raided all vessels from the sea and air at the same time and informed all of the passengers that they were under arrest.

The Israeli vessels attacked the flotilla in international waters with aerial reinforcement, using gas. A Qatari television channel broadcast live the dramatic images from the ships, with Hamas spokespeople giving interviews and vowing to punish Israel for “the new crime”.

The images showed Commando soldiers with their faces covered. A fighter in uniform, wearing a gas mask, tried to block the camera with his hand, while more and more troops raided the ship after sliding down from a helicopter using a rope.

One of the passengers on the ship called out to the Navy vessels, “Don’t attack us. We are unarmed civilians. There are injured people onboard.”

The calls were first made in English, and were later joined by Knesset Member Hanin Zuabi (Balad), who called out to the ships in Hebrew.

ISRAEL CLAIMS PASSENGERS ‘STARTED THE VIOLENCE’

Meanwhile, Israel blamed activists on board the Gaza aid ships for the bloodshed which broke out. “They initiated the violence,” Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed. “We made every possible effort to avoid this incident. The servicemen were given instructions that it was to be a police operation and to use maximum restraint. Unfortunately they were attacked with deadly force by the people on the boats – with iron bars, knives and live fire.”

Israeli army spokesman General Avi Benayahu said he did not know who ordered a naval commando to open fire on the Freedom Flotilla. “I don’t know who gave the order to shoot, it is too early to determine,” he told army radio. “The navy acts in accordance with orders and the rules for opening fire are very clear. The soldiers had been warned not to give in to provocations.”

Moreover, following the Israeli massacre at sea, the Israeli Transport Ministry instructed the Israeli cruise ship Magic 1 not to dock in Turkish ports. The ship is carrying 850 Israeli passengers and was en route to Antalya. It was diverted to Cyprus.

‘Activists refuse to leave Gaza aid ships’

Mon, 31 May 2010, Press TV

International activists aboard ships load with humanitarian aid for Gaza which were attacked and rerouted by the Israeli navy have refused to leave the vessels.

All activists on board the vessels have refused to leave the ships at the port of Ashdod because they want to fulfill their mission and deliver supplies to the people of Gaza, a Press TV correspondent reported on Monday.

Some of the injured activists have been transferred to Israeli hospitals, added our correspondent.

Israel stormed the Freedom Flotilla earlier on Monday, killing at least 20 people, mostly Turkish nationals and injuring 50 others, reported al-Aqsa television.

The convoy was intercepted in international waters, some 150km (90 miles) off the coast of the Gaza Strip.

The killing of the international activists by the Israeli military has faced condemnation across the world.

Turkey, which led the nine-vessel convoy, along with several European countries, denounced the Israeli navy’s move and called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council over the incident.

Sweden, Greece, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, and Ireland have all summoned Israeli envoys to their respective countries.

The convoy was carrying 10,000 tons of supplies and hundreds of politicians, activists and journalists.

The Flotilla was seeking to break Israel’s three-year-long blockade of Gaza and deliver basic necessities to the impoverished Palestinians living in the coastal enclave.

Turkey to Call UN Meeting over Israeli Attack, Recalls Envoy

Al Manar

31/05/2010 Turkey will call an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over Israel’s deadly raid on aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip, a Turkish diplomat told AFP Monday as above tens of thousands of people went out to Turkish streets condemning the Israeli inhumane act.
 
Turkey also recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said. “Our ambassador to Israel has been recalled to Ankara,” Arinc told a press conference. He said plans for three joint military exercises with Israel had been scrapped.
 
Turkey’s foreign ministry condemned the Israeli operation following the Israeli attack Gaza-bound aid ships in international waters saying it may lead to “irreparable consequences” in bilateral ties.
 
“By targeting civilians, Israel has once again shown its disregard for human life and peaceful initiatives. We strongly condemn these inhumane practices of Israel,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement. “This deplorable incident, which took place in open seas and constitutes a fragrant breach of international law, may lead to irreparable consequences in our bilateral relations,” it said. “Israel will have to bear the consequences of this behavior, which constitutes a violation of international law,” it said. 
 
The Israeli envoy was summoned to the foreign ministry. Israeli ambassador Gabby Levy held a 20-minute meeting with a senior foreign ministry official and left the ministry without making a statement. He was told that “Turkey retains all its rights under international law concerning this assault,” a Turkish diplomat, who asked not to be named, told AFP. “We are considering the actions that we may take under international law,” he said. High-ranking Turkish source said that there’s a possibility that the Israeli ambassador would be expelled.
 
Turkey also asked for a detailed report on the fate of all people who were aboard the vessels, he said, adding that they included nationals from a total of 33 countries. Levy was also told that the Turkish passengers and the wounded should be repatriated to Turkey in the shortest possible time and the vessels released, he said.
 
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyeb Erdogan cancelled his trip to Chile over the Israeli crime and headed to Ankara to follow up the crisis. Also, Turkey’s army chief cut short a visit to Egypt Monday after the deadly Israeli operation and a rocket attack on a navy base in southern Turkey, Anatolia news agency reported. General Ilker Basbug was expected to arrive in Ankara later in the day, the report said.
 
Turkish vessels were part of an international flotilla carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, which Israeli forces stormed early Monday.
 
“TANKS AND STONES WILL BE YOUR DEFEAT!”
 
Meanwhile, Tens of thousands gathered to protest in Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul Monday following the deadly Israeli raid. Under the watch of police, at least 10,000 marched on the city’s central Taksim square from the Israeli consulate.
 
“Damn Israel!”, “A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye, revenge, revenge!” the protesters chanted, carrying Turkish and Palestinian flags, as they marched towards the square, an AFP photographer said. “Close down the Zionist embassy,” read a banner carried by the crowd. Police closed all roads along the protesters’ route to traffic as their numbers swelled.
  
Passers-by expressed their support by applauding the protesters on their march, television reports said. The group had earlier protested outside the Israeli consulate, chanting anti-Israeli slogans, as police kept them from approaching the building.
  
In a second demonstration, a crowd of about 500 people gathered outside the residence of Israeli ambassador Gabby Levy in Ankara, calling Israel a murderer and reciting prayers. “Damn the Zionist murderers!”, “Israel will drown in the blood of the martyrs!” chanted the protesters. Several demonstrators threw eggs and plastic bottles into the garden of the residency which is surrounded by a high wall before they were warned by police to cease their actions. A large banner reading “Tanks and stones will be your defeat” was hung at the entrance of the street facing the residency.
 
 
Two TV networks reported earlier that Israeli warships attacked the six ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists and aid for blockaded Gaza, killing 19 and wounding dozens of people on board.
 
A Turkish charity involved with the flotilla told AFP in Gaza that at least 15 people were killed in the Israeli navy raid, most of them Turkish nationals. “Fifteen people were killed in the raid, most of them Turkish nationals,” said Mohammed Kaya, who heads the Gaza branch of the IHH, a Turkish charity involved with organizing the fleet of aid ships. “We were not expecting such an operation in international waters,” Omer Faruk Korkmaz, an official of the IHH, said. “Israel has been caught red-handed and the international community will not forgive it.” Korkmaz said the ship was being escorted to Haifa.
 
Murat Mercan, a lawmaker from Erdogan’s ruling party, said: “I was expecting an intervention. I was not expecting bloodshed, the use of arms and bullets.” “Israel is engaged in activity that will extremely hurt its image,” he said.
 
Hamas resistance movement urged Arabs and Muslims to “rise up” in front of Israeli embassies across the globe in protest against the deadly raid.

Angry Palestinians Take to Streets; Israeli Occupation Forces on High Alert

Al Manar

31/05/2010 In response to the Israeli massacre against the “Freedom” flotilla on Monday and amid high alert declared by the Israeli occupation forces,  angered Palestinians in the 48 occupied territories took to the streets, as the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee declared a one-day strike on Tuesday.

Hundreds of Palestinians flooded onto the streets of the northern city of Nazareth to protest against the bloody attack, which left at least 19 activists martyred and other 60 wounded.

The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee declared a one-day strike would take place on Tuesday, and called for protests across the country.

Among the injured leader of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch in the occupied territories Sheikh Raed Salah whose injuries are serious.

Later on, Israel media reported that the condition of Sheikh Salah is hopeless.

Shortly after news of operation became public, Israel occupation police raised the level of high alert in the West Bank and closed several other areas east of occupied Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and lands occupied in 1948.
“We have raised our level of alert across the country to deal with possible disturbances,” Micky Rosenfeld foreign press spokesman for Israel occupation Police told AFP.

Speaking to army radio, Industry and Trade Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer called on the Palestinians population to “react in a reasonable manner” to the attack.

Lebanon Calls for Urgent UN Meeting over Israeli Massacre on “Freedom” Flotilla

Al Manar

31/05/2010 Lebanese Minister Saad al-Hariri called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, currently chaired by Lebanon, after the Israeli occupation forces massacre 10 activists on board of the “Freedom” flotilla tons of aid supplies to the Gaza Strip.

A government official said that al-Hariri “has asked the Lebanese delegation at the UN to call for an emergency meeting over what happened today”.

Lebanon chairs the UN Security Council until 0400 GMT Tuesday, or midnight in New York.

For his part, President Michel Suleiman on Monday “strongly condemned the crime and massacre that Israel added to its list of murders and organized terrorism,” the presidency said in a statement.

The president held the Zionist entity fully responsible for endangering the lives of civilians aboard the ships and urged international humanitarian organizations to interfere and save them.
Attacking a ship “carrying humanitarian aid and food to besieged people is a crime against humanity,” the statement added.

Earlier, Speaker Nabih Berri asked Foreign Minister Ali al-Shami for Lebanese action against the “brutal assault,” denouncing the Massacre as a “terrorist piracy”.

Berri also told al-Shami that Lebanon’s ambassador Nawaf Salam should call for the Council to convene immediately.

Following Berri’s call, al-Shami announced that Lebanon has called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council in order to condemn the Israeli attack.

Al-Shami added that all countries should condemn the attack because there were activists from more than 40 states on board of the flotilla.

Also earlier, al-Hariri condemned the attack on the flotilla as a “dangerous and crazy that will exacerbate tensions in the region.”

In a statement, al-Hariri said Lebanon “firmly denounces this attack and calls on the international community, notably major powers… to take action in order to end this continued violation of human rights and threat to international peace.”

Israeli occupation forces massacred 19 activists on board the Gaza-bound “Freedom” flotilla Sunday overnight and Monday. Most of the martyrs, 15, are of Turkish nationals.

60 other people were also injured in the killing which took place in international waters.

“Israel” envoys summoned across Europe

Mon, 31 May 2010, Press TV

Greece, Spain and Sweden have summoned Israeli envoys to explain a deadly strike by Israeli navy commandos on a Turkish-sponsored humanitarian Gaza aid convoy.

The Greek foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday that it had summoned Israeli ambassador, demanding an “immediate” report on the safety of about 30 Greek citizens on board the boats targeted in international waters before reaching the Gaza Strip.

The foreign ministry said it asked for “immediate information concerning the safety of Greek citizens on board the boats… and stressed the need to take the necessary measures to ensure their security,” AFP quoted the statement as saying.

Meanwhile, the Greek defense ministry announced Athens’s decision to withdraw from joint military exercises with Israel in protest at Israel’s raid which reportedly killed some 20 people and left more than 50 injured.

In Sweden, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt expressed concern over the reported casualties and said it was crucial to “quickly establish” what had happened with the Gaza-bound flotilla which was carrying pro-Palestinian activists and tons of humanitarian aid.

“We have summoned the Israeli ambassador to get information,” said Bildt, who is currently visiting Italy, adding he had also been in touch with the European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to ensure that the EU gives a “clear response during the day when we get a clearer picture of what has happened.”

Spain, who holds the rotating EU presidency, also summoned Israel’s ambassador for an explanation for the deadly raid on the six aid ships, aboard which were at least three Spanish aid workers.

In Berlin, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle voiced “deep concern” at the reports of deaths caused by the Israeli attack on the aid convoy.

“The initial news is alarming,” said Westerwelle, adding German officials were seeking more details into the incident.

The aid convoy Gaza Freedom Flotilla, co-organized by the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), was carrying tens of thousands of humanitarian aid for the blockaded Gaza Strip, and had more than 700 Palestinian and international activists onboard.

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