[HCCN] Israeli attack on Freedom Flotilla leaves at least 19 peace activists dead

[Judith Robbins]

What news updates are available come  from AlJazeera    http:// 
english.aljazeera.net/
Scroll down to read Col. Ann Wright's communique from onboard the  
Mavi Marmara yesterday.


UPDATED ON:
Monday, May 31, 2010
07:52 Mecca time, 04:52 GMT
News Middle East
Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet

Aid convoy was attacked 65km off the Gaza coast

Israeli forces have attacked a flotilla of aid-carrying ships aiming  
to break the country's siege on Gaza.

Up to 16 people were killed and more than 30 people injured when  
Israeli troops stormed the Freedom Flotilla early on Monday, the  
Israeli Army Radio said.

The flotilla was attacked when it was 65km off the Gaza coast.

Footage from the flotilla's lead vessel, the Mavi Marmara, showed  
armed Israeli soldiers boarding the ship and helicopters flying  
overhead.

Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal, on board the Mavi Marmara, said Israeli  
troops had used live ammunition during the operation.

The Israeli Army Radio said soldiers opened fire "after confronting  
those on board carrying sharp objects".

Free Gaza Movement, the organisers of the flotilla, however, said the  
troops opened fire as soon as they stormed the ships.

They also said the ships were now being towed to the Israeli town of  
Haifa, instead of Ashdod to avoid waiting journalists.

Earlier, the Israeli navy had contacted the captain of the Mavi  
Marmara, asking him to identify himself and say where the ship was  
headed.

Israeli intervention

Shortly after, two Israeli naval vessels had flanked the flotilla on  
either side, but at a distance.

Organisers of the flotilla carrying 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid  
then diverted their ships and slowed down to avoid a confrontation  
during the night.

They also issued all passengers life jackets and asked them to remain  
below deck.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Jerusalem, said the  
Israeli action was surprising.

"All the images being shown from the activists on board those ships  
show clearly that they were civilians and peaceful in nature, with  
medical supplies on board. So it will surprise many in the  
international community to learn what could have possibly led to this  
type of confrontation," he said.

Protests

Condemnation has been quick to pour in after the Israeli action.

Thousands of Turkish protesters tried to storm the Israeli consulate  
in Istanbul soon after the news of the operation broke. The  
protesters shouted "Damn Israel" as police blocked them.

Turkey is also reported to have summoned the Israeli ambassador to  
lodge a protest.

Meanwhile, Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader in Gaza, has dubbed the  
Israeli action as "barbaric".

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists, including a Nobel laureate and  
several European legislators, are with the flotilla, aiming to reach  
Gaza in defiance of an Israeli embargo.

But Israel has said it will not allow the flotilla to reach the Gaza  
Strip and vowed to stop the six ships from reaching the coastal  
Palestinian territory.

The flotilla had set sail from a port in Cyprus on Sunday and aimed  
to reach Gaza by Monday morning.

Israel said the boats were embarking on "an act of provocation"  
against the Israeli military, rather than providing aid, and that it  
had issued warrants to prohibit their entrance to Gaza.

It asserted that the flotilla would be breaking international law by  
landing in Gaza, a claim the organisers rejected.
  Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org



Published on Sunday, May 30, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
Life Aboard an International Activist Ship
by Ann Wright
There is nothing easy about planning or conducting an international  
action, especially with moving parts called ships!  Yet, activists on  
board keep their spirits afloat!

After delays caused by damaged propellers and broken steering  
mechanisms, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla now reduced to seven ships is  
heading for Gaza.

Yesterday, May 29, 2010, in a major confrontation, the Greek Cypriot  
government, under substantial pressure from the Israeli government,  
refused to allow members of the Irish and Scottish Parliament, and  
other dignitaries, board Challenger 1 that would bring them to the  
flotilla waiting some 50 miles from Cyprus.  The group travelled to  
the Turkish Cypriot side of the island and boarded Challenger 1,  
whose steering had been repaired.

Despite delays and damaged ships, spirit on board the ships is high,  
particularly on board the Challenger 1 that arrived in the flotilla  
this morning at 1:30am carrying German members of Parliament,  
Belgians, Irish and UK citizens, some of whom have been on the three- 
day odyssey from Crete to Cyprus and now to the flotilla.

In the 36 hours I’ve been on board the 600-passenger Turkish ship,  
life has developed into a routine of sleeping, eating, watching the  
horizon.  Virtually everyone is sleep-deprived.  All of the  
passengers are activists in their home countries.  They have been  
fundraising, speaking and travelling for months and years for the  
plight of the Palestinians.  They are seldom without email,  
computers, mobile calls.  Yet, on board the ship, there is only  
expensive satellite phone service, if you brought your own sat phone,  
and satellite internet service on the ship is only for journalists to  
file their stories about the flotilla.

So, for the first time in many months, very active people have extra  
time on their hands.  Time for lengthy conversations with activists  
from the other 50 countries, time for interviews with the  
considerable media and time for a well-needed nap on the floor of the  
deck or in one of the passenger lounges.

The Mava Marmara is a day passenger ferry with no cabins or private  
areas.   About ninety percent of the passengers come from Muslim  
countries, mostly Arab-Muslim, but substantial delegations from  
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country and from Malaysia. In  
deference to cultural norms, one lounge has been turned into a  
women’s only lounge, where women eat, sleep and hold conversations on  
humanitarian programs, religion and a variety of other topics, as  
women are wont to do. Women have free run of the ship and participate  
in all the activities of the ship, but do have a “refuge” from the  
activity of the ship.

Meals on board an activist ship rather than a cruise liner are basic,  
but very good. Hot tea and Nescafe are available 24 hours a day as is  
powdered soups. Breakfast is tomatoes, feta cheese, bread, honey.   
Lunch and dinner is from cans—the choices are beef and potatoes,  
beans and rice stuffed peppers.  Apples and oranges are available  
during the day.  Snacks of nuts, bread and muffins.  Last night, we  
had our first hot meal. The IHH staff cooked a meal of grilled meat  
kabobs, with tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.

Conversations automatically turn to Gaza.

Those of us who have been in Gaza, particularly since the Israeli 22  
day attack over one year and five months ago that killed 1440,  
wounded 5,000 and left 50,000 homeless, describe what we saw—the  
destroyed buildings, lives turned upside down and yet an incredible  
spirit of the Palestinians to survive the horrific effects of the  
Israeli attack and long term brutal effects of the three year siege  
that has made Gaza an “open-air prison.”

Last night, all the passengers on the ship gathered to hear from the  
leaders of the various groups that had sent materials and  
delegations.  Turkey, Greece, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, Indonesia,  
the United Kingdom, Scotland, Ireland all gave spirited talks about  
why they have worked so hard to be here.

I’ve just been told that we are going to transfer 4 of us whom have  
been on the Marmara onto the Challenger 1 so 4 on that boat will be  
able to come on the big ship.

So, off I go to back to the small boat and then off to Gaza we go, I  
hope!

Ann Wright is a 29-year US Army/Army Reserves veteran who retired as  
a Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in March, 2003 in  
opposition to the war on Iraq.  She served in Nicaragua, Grenada,  
Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and  
Mongolia.  Wright made three trips to Gaza in 2009 and helped  
organize the Gaza Freedom March that in December, 2009 brought 1350  
persons from 44 countries to Cairo, Egypt in an attempt to break the  
siege of Gaza.  She is the co-author of the book "Dissent: Voices of  
Conscience."  (www.voicesofconscience.com) 
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