Athens - Israeli commandos killed a Turkish activist on a ship trying to ferry aid to Gaza last week in order to halt the transfer of video images to the internet, a Greek activist said on Sunday.
"Up to half an hour after the attack, despite the electronic warfare measures, the Mavi Marmara continued to send images to the internet thanks to an ultra-modern system run by a Turkish volunteer," Greek activist Dimitris Plionis told the Eleftherotypia newspaper.
"Then, I saw him dead, with a bullet wound in his torso," said the mechanic, one of two Greeks on board the Mavi Marmara.
"The Israelis above all wanted to shut down the transfer of images. The Turks had installed maybe a hundred cameras that continuously broadcast images. The system went silent after its administrator was assassinated," he added.
Israeli commandos last Monday stormed a flotilla of ships trying to break the Jewish state's blockade of the Gaza Strip to ferry aid to the Palestinian enclave.
Violent clashes broke out on that Mavi Marmara that left dead nine Turks, including one US-Turkish dual national.
Israel, which claims that its troops acted in self defence, has released numerous images to bolster its case.
Plionis said he took refuge in the press centre during the raid at the order of the ship's captain, and that after taking control of the vessel Israeli commandos "hit the journalists a lot ... and broke all of the cameras, computers and telephones."
- AFP
Israel rejects multinational inquiry into flotilla attack
UN-proposed commission into flotilla raid is dismissed as global pressure grows for Israel to ease its blockade of Gaza
Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, today dismissed a UN proposal for an international commission to investigate last week'sassault on a flotilla of aid ships.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, proposed a commission of inquiry headed by the former New Zealand prime minister Geoffrey Palmer, who is an expert in maritime law. The commission would include representatives of Israel, the US and Turkey. All nine activists killed in the operation were Turkish; one held joint US citizenship.
Ban discussed the plan with Netanyahu, who later briefed party colleagues on the call, saying: "We need to consider the issue carefully and level-headedly while monitoring Israel's national interests."
Israel would not react or take decisions under the pressure of events, an official who was present at the meeting said.
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, was more explicit: "We are rejecting an international commission. We are discussing with the Obama administration a way in which our inquiry will take place," he said.
Despite global condemnation of last week's raid and demands for a thorough and impartial investigation and an easing of Israel's blockade on Gaza, there was no discussion of the issues at today's cabinet meeting.
Important decisions relating to security issues are usually taken by a smaller security council, rather than full Israeli cabinet. However, according to the official, there are no firm plans for the smaller group to meet.
Israel is also pursuing compromise measures to deflect growing pressure to relax the blockade. Significantly, the US has added its voice to calls for a new policy, with the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, describing the current siege as "unsustainable".
Signs of divergent views within the cabinet came from Israel's welfare minister, Isaac Herzog, who called for the siege policy to be reconsidered. "The time has come to do away with the blockade, ease the restrictions on the inhabitants and find another alternative," he said.
The government claims it has indicated a willingness for greater flexibility in the amount and type of aid it allows into Gaza through land crossings, but insists it will maintain its naval blockade for security reasons.
"The policy was not static. It was moving anyway [before the flotilla] and we will continue to move," an official said.
Aid agencies say any relaxation of the blockade has been minimal and the current situation is totally inadequate to meet the needs of the 80% of Gazans dependent on international aid.
Britain's shadow foreign secretary, David Miliband, described the isolation of Gaza as "a stain on policy right across the Middle East". "I think there have been a series of deadly and self-defeating actions by successive Israeli governments in respect of Gaza," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.
The UK today announced a £19m donation of aid to Gaza.
Israel's hard line on future shipping aid convoys could be as tested as early as this week after two organisations pledged to send boats carrying aid to Gaza in the next few days. Reporters Without Borders was attempting to assemble 25 European activists and 50 journalists for a boat leaving Beirut. The Free Palestine Movement was planning a similar operation.
The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan – who was the subject of fresh vitriol in the Israeli media today – had raised the idea of personally joining an aid ship to Gaza, according to Lebanese media reports. Turkey last week recalled its ambassador to Israel.
Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, today insisted that "it is inconceivable that we should apologise to the Turkish government". He hinted that Turkey was heading in the same direction as Iran, saying Iran had been a "good friend" to Israel in the 1970s. This was echoed by his deputy, Danny Ayalon, who said: "If they sever relations, it is clear they are switching sides in the direction of extremist Islam."
The 19 passengers and crew who were on board the aid ship the Rachel Corrie when it was forcibly diverted to the Israeli port of Ashdod are due to arrive in Ireland tomorrow after being deported from Israel.
The Israeli government, still battling for the dominance of its version of events surrounding the flotilla assault, attempted to draw a distinction between the Rachel Corrie and the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish vessel that was the scene of last week's bloodshed. "The entire world saw the difference between a humanitarian flotilla and a hate flotilla by violent, terrorism supporting extremists," Netanyahu told party colleagues.
The US rock band Pixies cancelled a concert in Tel Aviv in protest at last week's bloodshed. The decision followed similar moves by Klaxons and Gorillaz. Authors Alice Walker and Iain Banks have backed the boycott, with Banks saying his books will not be translated into Hebrew.
Dockworker unions in Sweden and South Africa have refused to handle Israeli ships, while the UK's Unite union passed a motion to boycott Israeli companies.
Israel forced to apologise for YouTube spoof of Gaza flotilla
Israeli government press office distributed video link featuring Arabs and activists singing
The Israeli government has been forced to apologise for circulating aspoof video mocking activists aboard the Gaza flotilla, nine of who were shot dead by Israeli forces last week.
The YouTube clip, set to the tune of the 1985 charity single We Are the World, features Israelis dressed as Arabs and activists, waving weapons while singing: "We con the world, we con the people. We'll make them all believe the IDF (Israel Defence Force) is Jack the Ripper."
It continues: "There's no people dying, so the best that we can do is create the biggest bluff of all."
The Israeli government press office distributed the video link to foreign journalists at the weekend, but within hours emailed them an apology, saying it had been an error. Press office director Danny Seaman said the video did not reflect official state opinion, but in his personal capacity he thought it was "fantastic".
Government spokesman Mark Regev said the video reflected how Israelis felt about the incident. "I called my kids in to watch it because I thought it was funny," he said. "It is what Israelis feel. But the government has nothing to do with it."
The clip features a group led by the Jerusalem Post's deputy managing editor Caroline Glick, wearing keffiyehs and calling themselves the Flotilla Choir. The footage is interspersed with clips from the recent Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound aid ship, the Mavi Marmara.
The clip has been praised in Israel, where the mass-circulation daily Yediot Aharonot said the singers "defended Israel better than any of the experts".
But Didi Remez, an Israeli who runs the liberal-left news analysis blog Coteret, said the clip was "repulsive" and reflected how out of touch Israeli opinion was with the rest of the world. "It shows a complete lack of understanding of how the incident is being perceived abroad," she said.Award-winning Israeli journalist Meron Rapoport said the clip demonstrated prejudice against Muslims. "It's roughly done, not very sophisticated, anti-Muslim – and childish for the government to be behind such a clip," he said.
A similar press office email was sent to foreign journalists two weeks ago, recommending a gourmet restaurant and Olympic-sized swimming pool in Gaza to highlight Israel's claim there is no humanitarian crisis there. Journalists who complained the email was in poor taste were told they had "no sense of humour".
Last week, the Israel Defence Force had to issue a retraction over an audio clip it had claimed was a conversation between Israeli naval officials and people on the Mavi Marmara, in which an activist told soldiers to "go back to Auschwitz". The clip was carried by Israeli and international press, but yesterday the army released a "clarification/correction", explaining that it had edited the footage and that it was not clear who had made the comment.
Last week the army backed down from an earlier claim that soldiers were attacked by al-Qaida "mercenaries" aboard the Gaza flotilla. An article appearing on the IDF spokesperson's website with the headline: "Attackers of the IDF soldiers found to be al Qaeda mercenaries", was later changed to "Attackers of the IDF Soldiers Found Without Identification Papers," with the information about al-Qaeda removed from the main article. An army spokesperson told the Guardian there was no evidence proving such a link to the terror organisation.
While the debate over accounts of the flotilla raid continues, Israel is facing more boycotting. In the past week, three international acts, including the US rock band the Pixies, have cancelled concerts in Tel Aviv.
Best-settling authors Alice Walker and Iain Banks have backed the boycott campaign, with Banks announcing his books won't be translated into Hebrew. Dockworker unions in Sweden and South Africa have refused to handle Israeli ships, while the UK's Unite union just passed a motion to boycott Israeli companies.Last week the army backed down from an earlier claim that soldiers were attacked by "al Qaida mercenaries" aboard the Gaza flotilla. An article appearing on the IDF spokesperson's website with the headline: "Attackers of the IDF soldiers found to be al Qaeda mercenaries", was later changed to "Attackers of the IDF Soldiers Found Without Identification Papers," with the information about al Qaeda removed from the body copy. An army spokesperson told the Guardian there was no evidence proving such a link to the terror organisation.
While the debate over accounts of the flotilla raid continues, Israel is facing an acceleration of boycott activity. In the past week, three international acts, including the US rock band the Pixies, have cancelled concerts in Tel Aviv. Best-settling authors Alice Walker and Iain Banks have publically backed the boycott campaign, with Banks announcing that his books won't be translated into Hebrew. Dockworker unions in Sweden and South Africa have refused to handle Israeli ships, while the UK's Unite union just passed a motion to boycott Israeli companies.
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