Flotilla Civilians Under Attack by Israel.

[Ponce]

Flotilla Civilians Under Attack by Israel.
By Free Gaza Movement | May 30, 2010


(Cyprus, June 1, 2010, 6:30 am) - Under darkness of night, Israeli commandoes boarded the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot. According to the live video from the ship, two have been killed, and 31 injured. Al Jazeera has just confirmed the numbers. Israel says they are taking over the boats.

Streaming video shows the Israeli soldiers shooting at civilians, and our last SPOT beacon said, “HELP, we are being contacted by the Israelis.”

The coalition of Free Gaza Movement (FG), European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG), Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), the Perdana Global Peace Organisation, Ship to Gaza Greece, Ship to Gaza Sweden, Gaza Freedom March, and the International Committee to Lift the Siege on Gaza appeal to the international community to demand that Israel stop their brutal attack on civilians delivering vitally needed aid to the imprisoned Palestinians of Gaza and permit the ships to continue on their way.

The attack has happened in international waters, 75 miles off the coast of Israel, in direct violation of international law.

[keehah]

Israel boards Gaza-bound ships (http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE64T21820100531)


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Activists sailing an aid convoy to Gaza said two people were killed and about 30 wounded on Monday when Israeli forces boarded a Turkish ship that was part of the flotilla which Israel had vowed to stop.

There was no comment from Israel, where public radio quoted an Arab journalist aboard one ship as saying the navy had intercepted the activists and that shooting had been heard.

"Two people have been killed on board the Turkish boat and 30 or more were wounded," said Mary Hughes Thompson, a spokesewoman for the Free Gaza Movement, which was behind the convoy.

"As far as we know IDF (Israeli military) commandos descended on the boat from helicopters and took it over."

With Harper in his corner, Netanyahu gets warm Canadian welcome (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/john-ibbitson/with-harper-in-his-corner-netanyahu-gets-warm-canadian-welcome/article1586138/)

The official portion of Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Ottawa on Monday reflects Canada’s status as Israel’s best friend.

This is the first time an Israeli prime minister has visited both Toronto and Ottawa. His weekend in Toronto, which included addressing the annual Walk with Israel event, was as much a tourist jaunt – complete with a visit to the CN Tower – as it was an official visit, signalling the intimacy of the relationship that the Israeli Prime Minister seeks to establish with his receptive Canadian host. In Ottawa, he will meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and with Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff

Much has changed in the Conservative government’s foreign policy since Stephen Harper came to power in 2006. Suspicion of China because of its human-rights record has given way to enthusiastic courting of its business potential. Indifference to Africa has been replaced by a major commitment to promoting maternal health. Full-throated support for the mission in Afghanistan has become an unequivocal commitment to withdraw in 2011.

But on Middle East issues, the Harper government remains an unswerving defender of Israel, even after the Obama administration replaced George W. Bush’s uncritical support with a more balanced approach that included sharp criticism of Israel’s ongoing settlements in the West Bank.

“Look, the United States is Israel’s main benefactor. We have friends in Europe, like the UK and France and so on,” said one senior Israeli official who asked not to be identified. “Nobody, I think, is as close as Canada.”
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