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Israel flotilla action criticized by friends and foes
DUBAI |
DUBAI (Reuters) - Israel's storming of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla set off an international furor on Monday, threatening to further strain ties with Turkey and drawing criticism from friends and enemies alike.
France's foreign minister said he was "profoundly shocked" by the violence that killed at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists on board a convoy of six ships. The European Union called for an enquiry into the incident.
The head of the Arab League said Arab states must reconsider their dealings with Israel in light of the violence while Turkey, traditionally its strongest Muslim ally in the region, summoned the Jewish state's ambassador.
"Israel's attack indicates Israel is not ready for peace. Israel attacked the liberty fleet because it feels it is above the law," Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said in Doha.
"There is no benefit in dealing with Israel in this manner and we must re-assess our dealing with Israel," he said.
Israeli commandos intercepted the aid flotilla on Monday. Officials said they were met with knives and staves when they boarded the ships, which included a ferry flying the Turkish flag.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the interception was unacceptable.
"Israel will have to endure the consequences of this behavior," the ministry said in a statement.
Television images from Ankara showed dozens of people gathered outside Israeli Ambassador Gabby Levy's residence in the Turkish capital.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described the killings as a massacre and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the violence could not be justified.
"I am profoundly shocked by the tragic consequences of the Israeli military operation against the Peace Flotilla for Gaza," Kouchner said in a statement.
"The circumstances of this drama must be fully brought to light and we wish for a thorough inquiry to be put in place without delay."
IRAN CALLS ATTACK IN HUMAN
Iran, one of Israel's biggest foes in the Muslim world, said the killings were "inhuman" and would help lead to the Jewish state's demise.
"All these acts indicate the end of the heinous and fake regime and will bring it closer to the end of its existence," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told state broadcaster
IRIB.
In the Arab world, analysts said the incident was such an overreaction to an attempt to challenge Israel's Gaza blockade that it could put the brakes on any further efforts at normalization and may derail the peace process.
Israel has previously halted such activist ships, although some others have reached the Gaza Strip before.
"For the Arab world, any hope of a peace process with this government is going to evaporate. If they are going to react to this simple issue of humanitarian supply this way, the message is very clear," said Mustafa Alani of the Gulf Research Center.
Israel says food, medicine and medical equipment are allowed in regularly to Gaza. It says an embargo is needed to stop weapons and materials that can be used to produce them from reaching Hamas Islamists.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said the move was a "crazy step" that risked inflaming conflict in the region.
The Arab League, which has endorsed indirect peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel that started last month, called an emergency meeting for Tuesday to discuss the violence.
In Cairo, the violence also inflamed public opinion on the streets.
"What do you expect from a state that even America fears and cannot stop or do anything to except use empty diplomatic words?" said Mohamed Morsi, a 45-year-old restaurant owner.
(Additional reporting by Marwa Awad and Alex Dziadosz in Cairo, Ramin Mostafavi in Tehran, James Mackenzie in Paris, Yara Bayoumy in Beirut, Tamara Walid in Dubai and Khaled Oweis in Damascus, Writing by Cynthia Johnston)
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It has been obvious that not all Israeli’s are pig headed fools and this event will be as traumatizing to their own political discussions as it is with the rest of the world.
Louis XVI faced the inevitable with more grace than the Israeli’s have.
Or maybe we should sit Idle while the new hero of the muslim world (the midget from Iran) develops the means for the destruction of Israel (nuclear bombs and the means for delivering them)?
I know that you’d rather Israel to vanish from the face of the earth, but then my friend, you will be the one facing the muslim wrath, and not me. please consider that…
The inevitable is most likely that the Israelis will forget the idea of having a “Jewish Homeland” and that they will have to anti up for years of illegal confiscations. They don’t define the laws of the world you know – the UN has been making far more fair minded and better grounded statements on the issues there than either side.
I don’t give a damned if there is a “Jewish state”. Why the hell should I? I have never lived in any country on earth – or any state in the US where it would be legal for someone to claim that the country or state was officially created in the name of a particular religious or ethnic identity. I know they exist but I never lived there. I can live without it – why can’t they or you?
You are a fool,if you think the Israeli’s and their ambiguous nuclear capability will change the rest of the region. If the rest of the Middle East is supposed to accept the Israeli capability and the unmonitored ability to use civilian nuclear power why shouldn’t the rest of the region follow suit? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
What makes the Israelis think they are such a special exception? When that idiot Theodore Herschell dreamed up the idea of a Jewish homeland, he should have picked an island in the middle of the ocean and not tried to reclaim an area that had moved on with a history of it’s own. What makes Jewish religious pretensions a superior creature to Islamic religious pretensions? The money? The muscle?
You have to be just as reactionary to accept a Jewish state as you have to be to accept states that want to reimpose purely Islamic values. I fail to see any great virtue in either of them.
But they sure make for some exciting political, religious, and shear crime drama. I has become my favorite hot button issue. After all these years,if there wasn’t a little murder and mayhem over there it would feel like a very dull news day.
And if the Israelis’ were so discomforted by those oh so terrible missile attacks – why did they not once draw their own civilians out of the area? I am sure they loose more lives to car accidents than they ever lost to those very poorly aimed and homemade missiles. The Israelis lost very few lives, a few patio walls and had a few holes in the walls of their very nice looking homes. I am sure by now they are all repaired, but Gaza is still sitting in the same rubble and has not been allowed to rebuild in spite of several years of UN statements – at least from the Secretaries General and the General Assembly. How generous of the Israelis to let the Gazans have some basic food stuffs and some medications.
Here’s a simple definition of the “inevitable”. Most of the rest of the world will be so disgusted by the attempt to maintain that very modern Jewish Ghetto that we will easily accept its dissolution or redefinition. What a waste of money and time and life. Is that inevitable enough for you or for them? Do you think they might get the bigger picture?
At this point what would be worse – facing so called Islamic wrath or Israeli bread and water?
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