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<font size=4><b>UN decries Israeli flotilla raid <br>
</b></font><font size=3>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/20106133254496419.html" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/20106133254496419.html</a>
<br>
June 1, 2010<br><br>
Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Jerusalem on the storming of
the flotilla and its aftermath<br><br>
The UN Security Council has condemned acts leading to the deaths of
civilians during Monday's Israeli attack on a humanitarian aid convoy
that was headed to the Gaza Strip.<br><br>
In a formal statement adopted after more than 10 hours of closed-door
negotiations, the council requested the immediate release of ships and
civilians held by Israel and called for an impartial
investigation.<br><br>
Prior to the emergency session, almost all the 15 members of the council
deplored the attack that left at least 10 activists on board the Freedom
Flotilla dead and dozens injured.<br><br>
"It is clearer than ever that Israel's restrictions on access to
Gaza must be lifted in line with Security Council Resolution 1860,"
Mark Lyall Grant, the British ambassador, said on Tuesday.<br><br>
"The current closure is unacceptable and counterproductive,"
Grant said.<br><br>
France, Russia and China also called for the blockade to be lifted and
for an independent inquiry.<br><br>
The United States, Israel's traditional ally, did not request
specifically that Israel end its blockade on the Gaza Strip. But it
hinted that the measure at least should be eased.<br><br>
Alejandro Wolff, US deputy permanent representative, said that Washington
was "deeply disturbed by recent violence and regrets tragic loss of
life and injuries".<br><br>
Meanwhile the EU and Russia have issued a joint condemnation of Israel's
use of deadly force in the operation, and urged the opening of crossings
in Gaza.<br><br>
Speaking during a Russia-EU summit, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign
minister and Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief demanded an
end to the blockade of Gaza.<br><br>
Their joint declaration added: "The EU and Russia call for immediate
opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods
and people to and from Gaza."<br><br>
The EU's president, Herman Van Rompuy, called for a "durable
solution" for the situation in Gaza. "We regret the loss of
life, condemn the use of violence and demand an immediate, full and
impartial investigation," he said.<br><br>
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president, said that the civilian deaths were
"irreparable and absolutely unjustified." <br><br>
Meanwhile, Egypt opened its Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip
letting Palestinians cross until further notice.<br><br>
Palestinian TV said that Mahmood Abbas, the president, phoned Hosni
Mubarak, his Egyptian counter-part, to thank him for "responding to
the massacre" by opening the post.<br><br>
<b>Deadly raid<br><br>
</b>The statements reflected the international community's
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/20105316216182630.html">
strong disapproval</a>of Monday's events in the high seas, when Israeli
soldiers stormed the six ships in international waters about 65km off the
Gaza coast.<br><br>
The ships with about 700 pro-Palestinian activists were carrying 10,000
tonnes of humanitarian aid for Gaza, the coastal territory under a
crippling Israeli siege.<br><br>
Israel insisted that its troops had acted in self-defence after being
attacked by those on board.<br><br>
But Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal, on board the lead ship <i>Mavi
Marmara</i>, said troops opened fire even after passengers had raised a
white flag.<br><br>
Israeli troops have taken the ships to the port of Ashdod after seizing
them.<br><br>
Activists who were injured are being treated in hospitals while 480
others are been detained and subjected to interrogations. Another 48
activists have been deported to their respective countries.<br><br>
Al Jazeera's Elshayyal is reportedly being held at a detention facility
at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport, together with two of his
colleagues.<br><br>
Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Ashdod, said: "We are
still trying to get information in terms of the condition of the
passengers...<br><br>
"An identification and interrogation process has gotten under way,
to identify the individuals and then provide them with the option of
being deported immediately or sent to prison here," he
said.<br><br>
<b>Global outrage<br><br>
</b>Freedom Flotilla has incensed people, triggering
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/05/201053116143622331.html">
mass protests</a> in cities across the world.<br><br>
Thousands marched in the streets of Istanbul, London and Amman in Jordan
among other cities on Monday, denouncing the deadly raid on the ships
that sought to deliver much-needed supplies to Gazans.<br><br>
But Israel has remained defiant with Mark Regev, its government
spokesman, insisting that "Israel was totally within its rights
under international law to intercept the ship and to take it to the port
of Ashdod".<br><br>
He said the people on board the flotilla were not peaceful
activists.<br><br>
"They are part of the IHH, which is a radical Turkish Islamist
organisation which has been investigated by Western governments and by
the Turkish government itself in the past for their links with terrorist
organisations."<br><br>
Reporting from Jerusalem, Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland said Israel's
reaction has largely been of defiance.<br><br>
"Many [Israeli citizens] have flocked to the port of Ashdod to
basically express their rejection of what they see as the foreign media's
negative spin on events.<br><br>
"...Israeli spin masters have been going into overdrive, doing their
best possible to spin this event as though the Israeli commandos were not
the ones attacking but rather the attack was perpetrated by people on
board," she said.<br><br>
<b>Israeli 'cover-up'<br><br>
</b>But Israeli efforts notwithstanding, the country has come in for
strong censure.<br><br>
Murat Mercan, the head of Turkey's foreign relations committee, said that
activists on board had links to terrorist organisations was Israel's way
of covering up its mistake.<br><br>
"Any allegation that the members of this ship is attached to
al-Qaeda is a big lie because there are Israeli civilians, Israeli
authorities, Israeli parliamentarians on board the ship," he told Al
Jazeera.<br><br>
"Does he [Regev] think that those are also attached to
al-Qaeda?"<br><br>
Mark Taylor, an international legal expert, told Al Jazeera that every
state, including Israel, has the right to self-defence.<br><br>
"In this case, we're looking at a humanitarian aid convoy, with
prominent people and activists, clearly not a military target in any way
whatsoever."<br><br>
Israeli media reported that many of the dead were Turkish
nationals.<br><br>
Hamas, the Palestinian group which governs the Gaza Strip, said the
assault was a "massacre" and called on the international
community to intervene.<br><br>
The Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, urged Arabs and Muslims to show
their anger by staging protests outside Israeli embassies across the
globe.<br><br>
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