Israeli raid on Gaza-bound ships triggers world-wide condemnation

01 June 2010

The Israeli government has defended the raid on a ship carrying 600 pro-Palestinian campaigners, two thirds of them Turks, during which nine people were killed and many more injured. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the élite forces who went onboard one of the six ships were enforcing a legal blockade of Gaza and fired back in self-defense after being attacked with knives, clubs and other weapons. The Israeli military released a video of the early moments of the raid and pictures of the weapons (see below) to support that claim.

The Gaza "Freedom Flotilla," organized by the pro-Hamas group Free Gaza, had left last week from ports in Ireland, Greece and Turkey. IDF forces boarded the largest of the six Gaza-bound vessels, the Marmara - run by IHH, a Turkish humanitarian relief fund with a radical Islamic anti-Western orientation - about 40 miles off Israel’s coast.

The activists, among them European parliamentarians and Swedish writer Henning Mankell, were attempting to defy a blockade imposed by Israel after the Islamist Hamas took power in Gaza. Organizers of the flotilla said at least 30 people were wounded in the incident. Israel says ten of its soldiers were injured, one seriously.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement: “During the intercept of the ships, the demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF Naval personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs. Additionally one of the weapons used was grabbed from an IDF soldier. The demonstrators had clearly prepared their weapons in advance for this specific purpose. As a result of this life-threatening and violent activity, naval forces employed riot dispersal means, including live fire.”

The six ships were towed to the port of Ashdod and their passengers taken into custody. Israeli officials said about 50 of the 671 activists have been taken to Ben Gurion Airport for deportation. The others had refused to identify themselves and would remain in detention.

The flotilla, carrying 10,000 tons of aid, had left the coast of Cyprus on Sunday and had been due to arrive in Gaza on Monday morning. Israel had repeatedly said the boats would not be allowed to reach Gaza, but had offered that the goods could be unloaded in Ashdod and would then be delivered to the Gaza Strip.

In New York, the United Nations Security Council condemned the “acts” which led to the deaths of at least ten activists during the operation, but did not single out Israel for criticism. Instead, the council called for an independent inquiry into the incident which should be "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent". The statement adopted read: “The Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza.”

The compromise text took out direct condemnation of Israel and removed references to an international investigation. The UN body also requested the immediate release of the ships, currently impounded at the port of Ashdod, as well as the civilians held by Israel. It also stressed that the situation in Gaza was "not sustainable".

Governments around the world strongly condemned the use of what they considered “disproportionate” force on the part of the Israeli soldiers. Several Western leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, also called on Israel to lift the blockade of Gaza. In Brussels, the European Union strongly condemned Israel, and several EU member states called in their respective Israeli ambassadors to demand an explanation of the Israeli action.

On Tuesday, shortly after the UN statement was released, several Gaza militants crossed the border into Israel and exchanged fire with troops. Two militants were killed, according to the IDF.

The Turkish government withdrew its ambassador to Israel and canceled three planned joint military drills. On Monday, protesters burnt Israeli flags and tried to storm Israel's Consulate in Istanbul. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on the Israel raid: “This is tantamount to banditry and piracy. It is murder conducted by a state". Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told parliament in Ankara that the action had been a "bloody massacre."

Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said them that the passengers on the ships had not been freedom fighters, but terrorist supporters who fired at IDF soldiers as soon as the latter had boarded the ships. What happened had been “pre-planned violence, and Israel does not intend to allow any attack on its sovereignty by groups of terror supporters and anarchists,” a statement from Lieberman’s office read.
 

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