Several Israeli Arab protesters arrested in mass rallies over Gaza flotilla deaths
Israeli forces on high alert on Lebanon, Gaza and Syria borders; Hezbollah demands 'international punishment' of Israel.
By Jack Khoury and Amos Harel Tags: Israel news Gaza flotilla Gaza
Hundreds of Israeli Arabs took part in mass demonstrations across Israel on Monday, to protest against the Israel Navy's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid convoy earlier in the day.
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Palestinian protesters demonstrating in the Old City of Jerusalem on May 31, 2010. |
| Photo by: Emil Salman |
Angry Palestinians were hurling rocks at police forces positioned near the Old City gates. A handful of protesters were arrested in the northern town of Umm al-Fahm as the demonstrations turned violent.
Protests were also held over the course of the afternoon in the Israeli Arab cities of Acre, Sakhnin, Arabe and Shfaram. There was no word of violence or disruption in those areas.
A spontaneous demonstration erupted in Nazareth as Israel's law enforcement authorities prepared to face an anticipated wave of violence after Israel shot dead at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid convoy.
The protest in the Arab-populated town in northern Israel was the first mass response to news in the early hours of the morning that Israeli commandos had fired on flotilla passengers as they approached a maritime exclusion zone imposed by Israel off Gaza.
Reports in the Arabic-language press on Monday that Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Israeli-Arab Islamic Movement, had been seriously wounded sparked widespread anger among the country's Arab minority - some 20 per cent of the population.
IDF officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Haaretz that Salah was alive - but offered no other details on his condition.
Salah's deputy, Kamel Khatib, said in a radio interview that there was still no clear indication of Salah's state. Khatib said that if emerged Salah had been killed, Israel would be directly responsible.
Local authorities in Arab-populated areas in Israel on Monday declared a general strike for the following day.
Israeli-Arab leaders condemned Israel's handling of the interception.
Knesset member Mohammed Barakeh offered sardonic praise for the government, congratulating Defense Minister Ehud Barak on his "decisive victory of the army of pirates over the flotilla of civil liberty".
Barakeh added: "Any government that puts itself outside international and humanitarian law will consign itself to the garbage can of history.
MK Taleb al-Sana said the operation had "exposed the ugly face of Zionism, the violence and aggression of the government of Israel". Sana described the interception as an act of state terror against a humanitarian mission and called for Israel's leaders to be tried for war crimes.
"This event proves you don't have to be a German to be a Nazi," he said.
By lunchtime, police were preparing for disturbances in Arab-majority districts in the north of the country, as well as around the Al-Aqsa Mosque atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the harbor at Ashdod and hospitals across the country where casualties are being treated.
"At this moment we have to act with restraint and complete control, so as not to inflame the situation needlessly,' said police commander David Cohen.
The internal security minister, Yitzhak Aharonovitch, also held emergency planning meetings with police, saying that while he hope to maintain calm, law enforcement agencies were prepared for any eventually.
The Arab Higher Monitoring Committee, which represents Israel Arab minority, called on Israeli forces to stay out of Arab areas so as not to provoke violence.
"The government of Israel and the police carry responsibility for the safety of Arab citizens that will demand the right to protest against the police of the government and defense ministry that was carrying a message of peace to Gaza."
Hezbollah demands 'international punishment' over Gaza flotilla deaths'
The Hezbollah guerrilla group on Monday said Israel's action against Gaza-bound aid ships in which at least 10 people were killed, was a "terrorist act that deserves international punishment".
Israeli commandos stormed the ships before dawn and at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists on board were killed, unleashing fierce criticism from Israel's friends and enemies.
Israel put its forces on high alert on its borders with Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip, as well as around Jerusalem and the West Bank, following the incident.
"Israel's kidnapping of civilian hostages from international waters and their arrest constitutes a barbaric aggression and Israel bears complete responsibility if anything happens to them," Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters.
"Any delay by the Security Council in moving quickly against this Israeli crime constitutes a cover-up. This never would have happened without international and U.S. silence over the Gaza blockade and the crimes that Israel commits against civilians."
Hundreds of people protested against Israel in Beirut and Palestinian refugee camps across the country also witnessed several demonstrations during which protesters chanted anti-Israeli slogans and raised Palestinian flags.
"We hope they come back safely. My father is on the ship and he is injured but our blood is not more precious than the blood of all martyred Palestinians," said Adham Suleiman, the son of Lebanese activist Hani Suleiman, in Beirut.
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I seem to recall the US government boarding ships in international waters that are known to be smuggling illegal drugs. Comments from the anti-semites pretending to be pro-Palestinians???
Only if they have treaty agreements with the governments whose flags the ships sail under.
Amazing. 5 boats complied with the inspection without any resistants. The 6th was obviously the one geared up ready to 'NOT' comply. Now we see yet more condemation and more 'terrorist' violence against a country (Israel) trying to protect its self.
UNBELIEVEABLE... WHEN KNOWN TERRORISTS DEMAND PUNISHMENT for people ONLY TRYING TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM TERRORISTS... GIVE ME A BREAK !!!!! THERE IS SOMETHING RADICALLY WRONG IF the WORLD BOWS TO SATANIC-TERRORISTS. ISRAEL DOESN'T OWE ANYONE ANYTHING... THOSE SHIPS of 'HUMANE' TERRORIST SYMPATHIZERS WERE WARNED ... SEVERAL TIMES.. ... WERE GIVEN OTHER OPTIONS... PEACEFUL OPTIONS... BUT THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE TOO SMART.... TOUGH GUYS.... BRIGHT BOYS .... THEY SIGNED THEIR OWN DEATH CERTIFICATES.... PEACEFUL HUMANE WORKERS WOULD HAVE FULLY CO-OPERATED WITH SHIP INSPECTION ... THEN GONE ABOUT THEIR MERRY WAY... OHH BUT NOT TERRORISTS...THEY WANTED CONFRONTATION... THEY LIVE FOR CONFRONTATION.... THEY DESERVED WHAT THEY GOT... THEY ASKED FOR IT... SOME PEOPLE WILL SELL THEIR SOUL FOR ANYTHING.... IT SHOWS HOW SICK & EVIL THIS WORLD HAS BECOME TO CRITICIZE ISRAEL for doing what any SANE NATION WOULD HAVE DONE... TAKEN PREVENTATIVE ACTIONS .... TRYING TO PROTECT IT'S CITIZENS ... FROM KNOWN TERRORIST GAINING WEAPONS & MATERIALS WITH THE ONLY MOTIVE-TO KILL PEOPLE ... .. ....WHO DAILY VERBALLY & PHYSICALLY THREATEN TO DESTROY ISRAEL. WORLD LEADERSHIP TODAY IS REALLY PATHETIC.... ISRAEL IS INNOCENT !!!!!
israel made a smart move with commandos..woowww..yeah..theyre smart..they use helicopters+commandos...yeahh...they think theyre playing "red alert"...
Israeli Arabs should deal the Zionist State a heavy blow by taking in mass their economic and cultural talents to areas they would be more appreciated such as Yemen or Iraq.
The incident was planned and caused by fanatics who knew better. Perhaps this will give Israel the opportunity to destroy all of its enemies once and for all.
The world knows where they stand. No surprises there.
as they are activists and should apologize to Israel and the World for the trouble the caused and the potential trpuble the may have created in terms of further destabilaizing the area . I think the goal of the activist was exactly that - to cause problems and further destabilizing of the area if possible - Turkey has a small on its face right now - it certainly made Syria and Iran happy.
Standing back looking at the situation: Israel has established a long standing blockade of Gaza. A turkish-backed aid convey attempted to BREAK through it. Attempting to break through a blockade appears highly irresponsible and antagonistic; especially having been warned they would be intercepted. Ensuring agreement of safe passage of ANY aid convey past ANY blockade that needs to be traversed is the ONLY responsible means of ensuring tragedies like this do not occur. Approaching a military presence and failing to listen to their instruction puts all parties in a very difficult situation. Risk was assumed by the aid convey not only approaching the blockade (without agreement being reached ahead to ensure safe passage) but then attempting to break through it. Choosing to ignore military instruction at sea will almost certainly lead to being boarded. What did the aid convey expect? I find the parallels to piracy highly tenuous. Piracy is an opportunistic act for net benefit. The boarding of this aid convey is to the contrary on both counts. Aid conveys must run their operations in a responsible fashion. Doing so will remove the risk of such tragedies transpiring. It is painful to read about what has happened here as it could so well have been avoided. Groups that fail to act in the interests of the international community should be held accountable. Setting sail as an aid convey without safe passage being agreed with nations that have blockades that need to be traversed should not be viewed as acceptable. International community step up – take responsibility by the horns so such events do not happen!
They are a collective bunch of blood-thirsty thugs. Always waiting to see Israel slip,then rushing from all their villages,forming a circle to lap Jewish blood. Just as they did on the steps of the Egyptian Foreign Office.when they drank the blood of one of their adversaries. It was shown on TV. Wasn't Amr Moussa the Foreign Minister at that time ?
I would seriously advise them not to get over -excited , because they might be the harbingers of the 3rd Intifada. All the signs are there: In their eyes the world is now with them & Israel is in a corner. .......But don't miscalculate, because after the third Intifada there won't be any need for 'Proximity 'talks or whatever. There won't be with whom to talk. Most of them will opt to go over to Jordan & make there home there .
Our cultures do not mix well, the first loyalty of the arabs is to other arabs not the state which has given them citizenship. In wartime many arabs take the side of the enemy. Israel is a jewish state, its symbols & the days of the working week & national holidays are all jewish not arab. When the jews are celebrating independence day the arab citizens of Israel are mourning its creation. Neither side is ashamed to admit that they don't like the other. The palestinians are the distraction for Israel the real threat comes from within and if the palestinians get a state the Israeli arabs will be inspired and there will be some kind of civil war between arabs & jews. Solve the external problems and the internal ones will eventually surface and we will be faced with a war we can't win with tanks & fighter jets. The only way for peace is to try and find a way to get the arabs to peacefully leave, certainly even a left wing government is going to try and offload thousands of Israeli arabs onto any future palestinian entity. The country is to small, has to much history & politics and there is just no way arabs & jews will ever be able to live together in peace.
Your views are based on stereotype not on facts. Israeli arabs have no desire for a state of their own, in fact we strive to integrate and be part of the collective Israeli society. Majority of Israeli-arabs are peaceful and never take part in any actiuon that violates the state's security. These are FACTS that are supported by the shabak and any organization that closely monitors our community. Moreover, at the same time many jews are dudging military service, there is an increasing number of Israeli arabs serving in the IDF (eventhough it's not mandatory) and volunteering for national service.
They start out looking like an innocent humanitarian mission and then they continue with arms smuggling on the next trip and the next, etc. Very bad strategy to challenge the blockade in this way which provoked a military response and produced a tragic consequence.
Arabs don't want to be citizens of the Jewish state. Why not help them? Have a compassion.
Israel conducts a surprise, night-time commando raid in international waters before the ships were anywhere near Gaza's coast. What were they thinking? They must be punished for this.
Will call it a massacre? Even if the "Civilians" begin the fight by opening fire on a military? The Kal v Chomer is than what would Abbas say about children who were killed in suicide bombings? for him to be credible those must be beyond a Massacre? Or is a massacre to Abbas only when Pa;lestinians or their supporters die? in which case, if world believes Abbas =Moral, than, using Abbas's logic why should Israel care for Palestinian deaths? And if it does what is it then? Super Moral? Or perhaps Abbas is not moral? holy Sh*t but he is western backed uh oh...
al-Sana should be prosecuted for calling Israelis Nazis. There has to be a limit on acceptable behavior.
Israel is not America's friend, is not a country of peace, and is not working toward ending its problems or in making things better, this is a fine example of that.
Hundreds of people protested against Israel in Beirut and Palestinian refugee Camps. How there can be a law creating hereditary refugees that these refugee's cant willingly sign out of, a law that is contrary to all other refugee's on the planet. The best part, this crime hides in plain sight. Hizbollah and Punishments, I wonder if they act both ways. That and you have to love the punish now, ask questions later approach they have, really justice and truth orientated how can you not trust, love and want to send your kids to their summer camps where they will learn all the skills a terrorist needs
Punishment is much to simple.
The victims should spend their time in jail for not observing the law . This would not have happened if they would have done what thy were told. I support Israel and i say keep fighting for your land.
The attack on the Freedom Flotilla was a symbol of Israel's weakness.Its not a sign of power.What a disgrace,showing how strong they are on helpless civilians.
Attacking Commandos doing there job who had no intention of harming them is by your defiinition helpless civilians???
Jack, these were not "helpless civilians". They were armed with guns, knives, metal bars and bats etc. They tried to lynch the Israeli soldiers who had warned them not to approach Gaza, but instead they could deliver their aid stuffs to an Israeli port. You must remember the Muslim Brotherhood who sponsored this expedition are responsible for many terror attacks on Israel in the past.
You really don't know about weakness. Coumtry where women are slaves and are abused and arab world are weakest. Israel put women aside to men, that's really courageous. Better ask yourself, if you want your mother, sisters, wife and femele childeren living in an arab way.
With machetes, axes, & guns...
These guys came to provoke a fight with Israel and they were successful in achieving their goal. Israel promised to deliver the aid but the thugs on-board the ships wanted a fight. How they could support Hamas, a violent terrorist group, is beyond the comprehension of civilized people.
The problem for Palestinians is that they elected a group of international terrorists to lead them. These terrorist thugs, who are bankrolled by Iran, have as their primary goal the destruction of Israel. They are less interested in taking care of their own people than they are in destroying Israel as a Jewish State. There will be no "Freedom" for Palestinians until they decide to be led by individuals who are willing to help the people work hard and make thriving lives for themselves. Blaming Israel for every one of their problems allows them to shift responsiblity for their lives, and people that do that end up with defeated lives. Israel has a right to protect its citizens from a terrorist group of leaders, who employ their citizens into making bombs instead of homes and businesses. Israel has a right to prevent the entrance into Gaza of materials that can be made into more bombs that will be fired onto innocent civilians. The group who organized this flotilla was interested in making Israel look like the aggressor, and make the Palestinians again look like the victims. It does nothing for Palestinians to have the world look at them as total victims of fate. They can make their land what they want of it, if them stop blaming Jews and Israel for all their poor choices.
You are a Blind person, and only Darkness guides your ways.
If the IDF cannot prove it has the right to act on international waters this has a high risk to become a new Munich Olympic Game incident. This time it was not only arabic people but EU citicens together with otehr international people, and how will this be considered as? An accident? A state terrorist act?
There is nothing quite like cracking peanuts with a sledge hammer. Add to that turning a loose/loose public relations problem into a huge public relations disaster. . . The Three Stooges, Netanyahu, Lieberman and Barak have outdone themselves this time. Israel has elected them, and they are Godsend for Hamas.
The do-gooders supporting the flotilla for Gaza should have been speaking up when the Gazans lobbed thouands of rockets at the farmers and civilians of Israel. If you mess around with Israel, you're going to get hurt.
No, it will be seen as Israel trying to protect itself from avowed terrorists (who were duly warned not to approach the Gazan port). They were incidentally armed and attacked the Israeli soldiers with guns,knives, metal bars and such.
EU supports terrorists, you should read a little more about the FARC in Colombia, fully support by european groups than doesn't know anything about that country, they just send money to provide terrorists of weapons. Belonging to UE doesn't make them good people.
"The Hezbollah guerrilla group" The Israeli PR machine is dieing just like Israel. Hezbollah have members in government.
filthy creatures the lesson again...maybe this time even Ashdod will be hit hard
These shot...executed...what they considered traitors or collaborators after the war with Israel. With no trials! Some say dozens were murdered, some say in the hundreds. By what moral authority can they speak to anything regarding human rights? Laughable is what this is!!!
In Iraq IED's go off at Mosques killing dozens at a time and wounding often 100's. Not a peep from any Muslim nation. This is a pre-planned confrontation with a stated goal to get Israel to react violently, and now they run to the UN for international condemnation of Israel. This is laughable, the double standard is so obvious. Anybody who buys into this is a fool. Almost a week doesn't go by that you hear of Muslim on Muslim violence with numbers of wounded and killed much higher, typically people worshiping, shopping etc.. Yet let Israel try to enforce a legal blockade, give people the chance to turn back, tell them not to come at all, and give them every opportunity to avoid a conflict, and bingo Israel gets blamed. Unless Israel gave in to these misguided fools, it their fault? No, No and NO. Israel carries NO fault in this matter, at ALL!
And Iraq is not occupying land that is not theres - but to continue to use your example, remember what happened when the Iraqi's occupied Kuwait? Its time the world sent that same message to Israel.
It's not funny to see the lost of life anywhere, let it be in Iraq or in international waters. I still can't find where Israel has the legal right to board ships that aren't a threat (while in international waters) to the country's welfare or security. What they were carrying has been made public, check by the Turkey Government before leaving port, and yet this collection of ships is a threat? No, what Israel did was illegal period no matter how you spin it. If Israel just had waited until they had cross into their territorial waters (which is by legal terms of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 12 miles) then no one would be making a fuss as then they would have broken the legal or illegal blockade. Sorry to say Mark, looks like Israel is going to be on the hook for this and those who gave the order to "attack" those boats. Btw, not everything can be believed by either the Government, Media or those on the boats....Or Fox News
Maybe you haven't heard Gaza isn't "occupied" Israel left 5 years ago. Since then Hamas has attacked Israel from Gaza between 6-8 thousand times. Certainly Israel has an interest in stopping what may be dangerous supplies from entering Israel.
Hezbollah are terrorists. Israel is a nation trying to live in peace since 1948 and as far back as 1500 BC. Arab/muslim states who embrace Islam cannot cope with the world making a lier out of their mythology (namely the Israel is Muslim land). This is all about Islamic supremicism. Hezbollah is a haram, trife organization of people who desire power. They are a violent cult. If anyone should be looked at for the slaughter of innocents it is hezbollah.
There were over 700 Activists on that ship; including people from Germany, Greece, Sweden, Malaysia, France, Syria, Turkey, Ireland; also including some European parliement members. They were from different religions: Islam, Christianism, Judaism. What they were doing was carrying aid for Palestine victims of the 4 year ILLEGAL seige. They need aid, because an Amnesty International report on the situation in Gaza reveals: "Four out of five Gaza residents need humanitarian assistance. Hundreds are waiting to the point of embarrassment to be allowed out for medical treatment, and 28 already have died." So please, listen to your heart... What does it say to you? Did Israeli Navy do right or wrong? I think we all know the answer.....
Wow, you are just completedly outside all sense of human rationality, You need to fine a planet for yourself so you can keep all your racist narcisim all to yourself and those you choose to call your own. God help you.
funny. I have yet to meet someone who was in Government that did not relish in the waters of power. Hezbollah is not the victim or is Israel. It is the people who suffer under both powers that be.. How can you live in peace when all you have known is war and death since the creation of the state of Israel. Up until Munich, Israel was the hope of all people as what everyone else lack was mortal compass when making correct choices for the greater good of the Country... Since then Israel has acted like whose who would see it crushed. They are no better now then Germany Government of 1939. They have be come that which defined the Jewish people through the horror... They are lost.