The U.S. government is considering to offer Turkey a deal in which Ankara would stop a second Gaza flotilla that is due to depart later this month in exchange for the opportunity to host an Israeli-Palestinian peace summit in Ankara, the Turkish newspaper Today\’s Zaman reported Friday.
The Israel Navy is prepared to intercept and take control of the ships participating in the new flotilla to the Gaza Strip, a senior Navy officer said Tuesday on the anniversary of the IDF operation to stop the Mavi Marmara that ended in the death of nine Turkish nationals.
An organization of which I think very highly e-mailed a poorly worded headline this week. “Arab Mobs Attack Israel on All Fronts,” screamed the subject line of a May 15 e-mail alert from The Israel Project. The attached story reported how “tens of thousands of Arab protesters marking Palestinian Nakba Day (the day of the catastrophe) have marched on Israel, from Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank.”
Members of the U.S. Congress issued a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in which they urge Turkey\’s premier to stop the departure of another flotilla to the Gaza Strip.
Israel must continue diplomatic efforts to prevent a new Gaza flotilla, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Netanyahu met Wednesday with his inner Cabinet, called the Forum of Seven, to discuss ways to thwart the new flotilla, which reportedly has been delayed until after June 12 parliamentary elections in Turkey.
Israel warned the United Nations Security Council on Thursday not to allow a new flotilla to sail to Gaza, saying that the flotilla organizers had \”ties to Hamas and other terrorist organizations.\”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Friday to stop the impending flotilla that is supposed to set sail to the Gaza Strip in May.
Israel\’s Navy intercepted a ship bound for Egypt that the Israeli military said was smuggling weapons for use by terror organizations in the Gaza Strip.Israel\’s Navy intercepted a ship bound for Egypt that the Israeli military said was smuggling weapons for use by terror organizations in the Gaza Strip.
Several Irish politicians and adventure travel writer Dervla Murphy will join a group of Irish anti-Israel activists on a boat bound for Gaza next month. The group, which is expected to sail for the Palestinian territory from an undisclosed Mediterranean port on March 30, will be led by two protesters who took part in the Gaza-bound flotilla that was intercepted by Israeli commandos last May, leading to the death of nine Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara.
The response was predictable when Israel released the findings of its commission of inquiry into the May 2009 Turkish flotilla incident: Israel’s defenders heralded it as absolving Israel of wrongdoing, Turkish critics of Israel dismissed it as not credible. Now the question is how the international community will view the report, which found that the Israeli Navy was not at fault in the May 31 confrontation aboard one of a flotilla of Gaza-bound ships that left nine Turkish passengers dead. \”We think that this is an independent report, credible and impartial and transparent investigation that has been undertaken by Israel,\” U.S. State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley said late Monday. \”It will contribute to the broader process that continues through the secretary-general\” of the United Nations. It\’s not clear that other countries will be as receptive to the Turkel Commission\’s findings released Sunday.
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