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Palestine (1) -- News -- 2010
Turkey demands Israel be ‘punished’ over Gaza raid
01.06.2010
Turkey demanded today that Israel be punished for yesterday’s bungled commando raid on a flotilla of ships taking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
“The insolent, irresponsible and impudent attack by Israel, which went against law and trampled human honour underfoot, must definitely be punished,”
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
“Nobody should test Turkey’s patience. Turkey’s enmity is as violent as its friendship is valuable. Losing Turkey’s friendship is a cost all on its own.”
At least nine activists, most of them Turks, were killed and one Briton injured in the pre-dawn raid in international waters,
when Israeli commandos rapelled from helicopters on to the fleet of ships.
After 12 hours of negotiations that stretched into the early hours, the UN Security Council issued a statement demanding an “impartial” investigation of the
deaths and condemning the “acts” that led to it.
Thanks to blocking action from the Americans, Israel’s closest ally, the presidential statement was notably weaker, however, than that drafted by Turkey,
the Palestinians and Arab states, which had called for condemnation “in the strongest terms” and an independent international inquiry.
Palestine (1) -- Analyses -- 2010
More about the Gaza raid
01.06.2010
The pro-Palestinian groups which organised the flotilla said that they would send more ships with humanitarian supplies for the besieged Gaza Strip,
but Israel warned it will halt any new bid to breach its blockade of the Hamas-run territory.
The crisis has provided Britain’s coalition Government with its first foreign policy challenge. Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, called on Israel today
to lift its “unjustifiable and untenable” blockade of the Gaza Strip.
“Whilst, of course, Israel has every right to defend itself and its citizens from any attack, it must now move towards lifting the blockade in Gaza as soon as possible,”
he said.
Downing Street said that David Cameron had spoken by telephone to Binyamin Netanyahu to deplore the heavy loss of life and to urge him to ensure there
was no repeat of yesterday’s events.
There was further confirmation of the attacks from President Medvedev of Russia, who said that the loss of lives was “absolutely unjustified,”
while the European Union President Herman Van Rompuy called the events “inexplicable”.
Israel is still holding hundreds of activists detained in the raid but the first few deported said that the Israeli commandos had beaten passengers and
used electric shocks during the assault.
Some 400 Turkish activists were on the six-ship flotilla, along with more than 30 Greeks and people of some 20 other nations including Germany,
the United States and Russia. It had been trying to break the three-year blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel after the Hamas takeover.
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