Israel’s War Against Palestine: Documenting the Military Occupation of Palestinian and Arab Lands

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Israeli Arab MK who joined Gaza flotilla: IDF raid was a ‘pirate’ operation

2 June 2010

MK Miri Regev (Likud) accused Zoabi of being “responsible for a double crime: Joining terrorists, and a moral crime against the state of Israel.” Regev then called at her in Arabic: “Go to Gaza, you traitor.”

Jonathan Cook: Israel’s ‘mad dog’ diplomacy doesn’t make it more secure

2 June 2010

Moshe Dayan, Israel’s most celebrated general, famously outlined the strategy that he believed would keep Israel’s enemies at bay: “Israel must be a like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother.” But the Israeli commando attack on the Gaza-bound flotilla… proves that this is now a diplomatic strategy too. Israel is feeling cornered on every front it considers important – and like Dayan’s “mad dog”, it is likely to strike out in unpredictable ways.

Rashid Khalidi Interview on the Gaza Flotilla (audio)

2 June 2010

Rashid Khalidi covers Israel’s attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, and turns the focus to Israel’s Gaza siege, Israel-Palestine, and the US – Israel relations in an interview with WBEZ radio, Chicago (Audio).

Former US Ambassador Edward Peck: Israel’s Explanation for Deadly Gaza Aid Attack “Full of Holes as a Window Screen”

2 June 2010

Democracy Now! interviews former US Ambassador Edward Peck
who was on the Gaza aid flotilla that came under attack by Israeli forces. At least nine people were killed and dozens wounded. Peck says Israel’s explanation for the attack is “twisting the truth” and is “as full of holes as a window screen.”

Daniel Machover: Who will bring Israel to book over flotilla attack?

2 June 2010

Will the rule of law be applied to Israel this time? In principle, it is unlawful for a state to enforce a blockade against ships that are flying the flag of another state on the high seas. The only exceptions to this would be if the blockade were mandated by the UN security council acting under chapter VII of the UN charter.

Craig Murray: Israeli Murders, NATO and Afghanistan

2 June 2010

Is NATO genuinely a mutual defence organisation, or is it just an instrument to carry out US foreign policy? With its unthinking defence of Israel and military occupation of Afghanistan, is US foreign policy really defending Europe, or is it making the World less safe by causing Islamic militancy?

Israeli MP’s terror on aid ship

2 June 2010

Jonathan Cook: Haneen Zoubi said Israeli naval vessels had surrounded the flotilla’s flagship, the Mavi Marmara, and fired on it a few minutes before commandos abseiled from a helicopter directly above them… She added that within minutes of the raid beginning, three bodies had been brought to the main room on the upper deck in which she and most other passengers were confined. Two had gunshot wounds to the head, in what she suggested had been executions.

CNN interview with activist Huwaida Arraf

2 June 2010

CNN interview with Gaza Freedom Flotilla leader Huwaida Arraf.

Lauren Booth: Why we sailed to Gaza

2 June 2010

I was a passenger on the first effort to break the Gaza blockade. Our mission was to show that normal people cared.

Haaretz publisher: Self-censorship is greatest threat to press freedom

2 June 2010

“There are even journalists in Israel for whom it is possible to expect the subject of the Palestinians to be as important as sports, celebrities or film, and who are involved with this. And each time I see how Israeli society finds it difficult to accept this.”

LPHR: The Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and Int’l Law

1 June 2010

A legal analysis of the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla by the London-based Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR).

US activist loses eye after being shot in face with tear gas canister

1 June 2010

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

Middle East Report Online: Outlaws of the Mediterranean

1 June 2010

UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk: the raid is “clearly a criminal act, being on the high seas.” Storming a peaceful boat is akin to a home invasion, with the aggravating circumstance that the invaded space in this case was packed with goods intended to alleviate human suffering.

Robert Fisk: Western leaders are too cowardly to help save lives

1 June 2010

Has Israel lost it? Can the Gaza War of 2008-09 (1,300 dead) and the Lebanon War of 2006 (1,006 dead) and all the other wars and now yesterday’s killings mean that the world will no longer accept Israel’s rule? Don’t hold your breath.

Israelis opened fire before boarding Gaza flotilla, say released activists

1 June 2010

“The operation started immediately with firing. First it was warning shots, but when the Mavi Marmara wouldn’t stop these warnings turned into an attack”… “We continuously told them we did not have weapons, we came here to bring humanitarian help and not to fight”… “We were in international waters. The Israelis acted like pirates… They took us hostage, pointing guns at our heads; they descended from helicopters and fired tear gas and bullets. There was absolutely nothing we could do… Those who tried to resist forming a human ring on the bridge were given electric shocks.”

Women in Black vigil: Jerusalem, 4 June 2010

1 June 2010

June 5, 2010 marks 43 years since the Six-Day War and the beginning of the occupation. Three and a half million Palestinians live under Israeli occupation which denies their most basic freedoms. Gaza is hungry and under siege, no one is allowed in or out. Families are expelled from their homes; menacing walls keep apart families and friends, and separate farmers from their lands. Freedom to travel is denied to thousands who are forced daily to undergo humiliation and harassment at the checkpoints.

World Zionist Organization: Responding to the Consequences of the Flotilla Episode

1 June 2010

An example of a so-called “pro-Israel” organization participating in Israel’s official propaganda campaign designed to whitewash its international law violations, and crimes, related to the attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

FT: Israel is lost at sea

1 June 2010

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.

MK Hanin Zoabi: Israel wanted highest number of fatalities

1 June 2010

Arab Knesset member who participated in Gaza aid flotilla holds press conference says, ‘It was clear from size of force that boarded ship that purpose was not to stop sail, but to cause largest number of fatalities to prevent future initiatives.’ “There was not a single passenger who raised a club. We put on our life vests. From where I was standing, I didn’t see any clubs or anything of the sort. There were gunshots, I don’t know if they were live bullets or not. There were gunshots fired from the ships in our direction.

Hebrew University to Remove Judge Goldstone from its Board of Governors

1 June 2010

Hebrew University of Jerusalem will remove Judge Goldstone from its Board of Governors, for the “technical” reason that he has not attended Board meetings… Substantial political pressure has been exerted by American and European donors on Hebrew University President Professor Menachem Ben Sasson and the university administration to remove Judge Goldstone following the report issued by the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, which Goldstone led.

Mossad chief: Israel gradually becoming burden on US

1 June 2010

“Israel is gradually turning from an asset to the United States to a burden,” said Dagan, speaking before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

IOA Editor: A similar assessment was made by Prof. Rashid Khalidi in a May 2010 interview with the IOA
. Separately, of course, there’s no discussion on the legality of sabotaging the engines of ships docked in foreign harbors.

Israeli-Arab leaders declare general strike to protest clash

1 June 2010

The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee declared a general strike in Israel’s Arab sector yesterday to protest the flotilla clash… In addition, the committee also announced that protest marches and rallies would be held in Arab communities, and called on the international community to investigate the circumstances behind the flotilla’s interception.

Gideon Levy: Operation Mini Cast Lead

1 June 2010

Israel embarked yesterday on a mini Operation Cast Lead. Like its larger, losing predecessor, this operation had it all: the usual false claim that is was they who had started it – and not the landing of commandos from helicopters on a ship in open sea, away from Israeli territorial waters. There was the claim that the first act of violence came not from the soldiers, but the rioting activists on Mavi Marmara; that the blockade on Gaza is legal and that the flotilla to its shores is against the law – God knows which law.

Tariq Ali speaking outside Downing Street after the attack on the aid flotilla to Gaza

31 May 2010

Tariq Ali speaking outside Downing Street after the attack on the aid flotilla to Gaza

Norman Finkelstein: ‘Israel is a Lunatic State’ (video)

31 May 2010

Norman Finkelstein on Gaza Flotilla Attack (TV)

Israeli ship raid draws condemnation from West, East

31 May 2010

Israel’s regional allies froze military ties as angry protests erupted over the storming Monday of aid ships bound for Gaza, while Muslim leaders demanded swift U.N. action to punish the “criminal” assault. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “shocked” by the navy assault on a convoy carrying hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists, lawmakers and journalists through international waters toward besieged Gaza.

Palestinian Human Rights Council Condemns Israel’s Attack on Int’l Aid Flotilla

31 May 2010

The Palestinian Human Rights Council condemns the unlawful assault by the Israeli navy on a flotilla of international ships bringing aid to Gaza early this morning. The assault is unprecedented and illegal under international law.

Campaign for Peace and Democracy: Protest Israeli attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla – US Events TODAY

31 May 2010

Demonstrations are being organized in Washington DC, New York, and Boston. Please join in where you can or organize your own. It is time to end the blockade of Gaza and the Israeli occupation of Palestine by ending US support for Israeli slaughter.

ALL EVENTS TODAY – 31 May 2010

New York – 3pm, Times Square
Washington, DC – 3pm, Israeli Embassy, 3514 International Drive NW (Van Ness metro) – Moving on to the White House at 5pm
Boston – 4pm, Park Street Station
Seattle (JVP): 1:00 pm – 5th Avenue and Broad St, Seattle Center, near the Experience Music Project
Miami (JVP): 5pm-7pm – Torch of Friendship (Downtown)

PCHR Condemns Israeli Attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla

31 May 2010

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the crime perpetrated by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) 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. IOF used excessive and lethal force in its attack on the ships, which left dozens of international civilian solidarity activists who were on board dead or injured.

AIC: Israel Commits Massacre, Piracy in International Waters against Freedom Flotilla

31 May 2010

The Alternative Information Center (AIC) places complete responsibility with the Israeli government and we request that the international, legal, political and humanitarian bodies move immediately to condemn this crime and to hold Israel accountable for its harsh actions. We also request the immediate lifting of the siege on Gaza so supplies can enter without any conditions.

Scottland: Demonstrate for Gaza and Isolate the rogue State of Israel

31 May 2010

The Israeli navy this morning massacred at least 10 peaceful, unarmed citizens from many different countries sailing to Gaza with humanitarian aid. The massacre took place in international waters, 65 km off the coast of Gaza. Over 700 other participants have been abducted to Israel by the Israeli military.

READ MORE FOR DETAILS ABOUT DEMONSTRATIONS AND POLITICAL ACTIONS IN SCOTTLAND

Uri Avnery: A crime perpetrated by order of the government of Israel and the IDF Command

31 May 2010

“Only a crazy government that has lost all restraint and all connection to
reality could something like that – consider ships carrying humanitarian aid
and peace activists from around the world as an enemy and send massive
military force to international waters to attack them, shoot and kill.”

Turkish PM calls Israeli raid on Gaza flotilla ‘state terror’

31 May 2010

“It should be known that we will not stay silent and unresponsive in the face of this inhuman state terror,” Erdoğan said in live televised remarks ahead of his departure from Chile to Turkey, cutting short a Latin American tour.

Gaza Flotilla: Israeli propaganda already hard at work

31 May 2010

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon:
“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 with global Jihad, Al-Qaeda and Hamas. They have a history of arms smuggling and deadly terror. On board the ship we found weapons – prepared in advance and used against our forces. The organizers’ intent was violent, their method was violent, and the results were unfortunately violent.”

IOA Editor: Those of us who follow the actions and behavior of Israeli Occupation Forces already know that blaming the victims is an old Israeli trick. However, as the statements by Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon demonstrate, Israel is surpassing its own record of irrationality and criminal irresponsibility, and its propaganda machine has now reached well beyond its previous limits of the imagination.

Nobel-winning Elders deplore Gaza flotilla attack

31 May 2010

The Elders group of past and present world leaders, including former South African president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, on Monday condemned as “completely inexcusable” the deadly Israeli attack on a flotilla carrying aid for Gaza.

Free Gaza Calls for ‘Open, Independent’ Investigation Into Deadly Flotilla Raid

31 May 2010

Adam Shapiro: It is utterly absurd to think that we could face down a military with the strength and the kind of technology and weapons that Israel possesses. To even think for a second that we could use violence in any way that would be to our advantage, it’s utterly absurd. Israel has always tried to portray its victims, whether they be internationals like Rachel Corrie or Tom Hurndall or Palestinians, as — to present the victims as the perpetrators. And I think we’re seeing the response of the world today.

IOA Editor: Indeed. See our earlier comments on Israeli propaganda, past and present