316 Israel's claim that Peace activists are Terrorists. Commandos opened fire before boarding flotilla

Israel's claim that Peace activists are Terrorists. Commandos opened fire before boarding flotilla

(1) Israel's claim that Peace activists are Terrorists; "We don't have any evidence"
(2) 'Al Jazeera' reporter says Israelis fired from helicopter
(3) Witness: Edward Peck, former US Chief of Mission in Iraq, was passenger on the flotilla
(4) Israeli commandos started Firing before boarding
(5) Israelis opened fire before boarding Gaza flotilla, say released activists
(6) Israeli commandos let passengers bleed to death; found no Arms or other weapons
(7) Eliot Spitzer defends Israel in Debate on attack on Gaza Flotilla
(8) Israel's ambassador to US compares Gaza flotilla to Nazi Wehrmacht of WWII
(9) Gaza Siege: lack of electricity, water, food & building materials
(10) UN Security Council stops short of condemning naval attack on Flotilla

(1) Israel's claim that Peace activists are Terrorists; "We don't have any evidence"
From: ReporterNotebook <RePorterNoteBook@Gmail.com> Date: 05.06.2010 04:12 PM

What about the Turkish charity's alleged links to terrorists?

by KORAY CALISKAN

04 Jun 2010 10:08 AM PDT

http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/what-about-the-turkish-charitys-alleged-links-to-terrorists.html

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly argued that the Turkish Islamic Charity IHH that owned the ship Blue Marmara has been linked to various networks of terror. Many journalists reiterated the claim; at times referring to former French judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere's statements about the links between IHH and Al Qaeda.

Previously, Judge Brugiere had reached erroneous judgements that attracted critique from both the left and right establishment of France, a position difficult to reach. In his controversial report that came out in 2006, he accused politicians in Burundi for acts of terror by consulting only two sources, who were established political enemies of the man the judge accused. Both Liberation and Le Figaro, the ideological poles that are hard to bring together, had joined forces to discredit the judge's previous accusations of terror.

This time by consulting no source at all, Mr. Brugiere points a finger at another alleged source of terror, IHH. According to the former judge, now a professional politician who has ran for office with Sarkozy's conservative coalition, the Islamic charity is linked to networks of terror. He is wrong, again. This time for three solid reasons:

First, IHH e.v has also been active in Germany, which ran a thorough investigation of all Islamic charity networks in Germany, including IHH. Despite great effort and careful research supported by Turkish government, no link to any organization that even ideologically supports forms of active resistance of any sort was found. The organization is pacifist, denying employment to any one who embraces even symbolic violence.

Second, IHH is closer to Saadet Party, the political enemy of the ruling AKP and a party closer to the ideology of Christian Democrats in Germany and other parts of Europe. AKP would be inclined to do its best to discredit its rival's charity organization, and with reasons more legitimate than those of former Judge Brugiere. They could not find any links.

Third, the ultra-secular establishment of Turkey loathes any form of political Islamic organization, including IHH. So far, none of these organizations, including the ones who were innovative enough to accuse president Abdullah Gul of being a "US agent", could even imagine that IHH had links to Al Qaeda.

The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs has imagination wilder than Turkish Islamists and Seculars, French Communists and Conservatives combined. The time has come to use that imagination for peace, not killing or accusing peace activists.

Koray Caliskan is Vice Chair of Bogazici University's Department of Political Science and International Relations in Istanbul ==

'Terror' smear against IHH springs from a familiar source

by MARSHA B. COHEN

04 Jun 2010 10:00 AM PDT

http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/terror-smear-against-ihh-springs-from-a-familar-source.html

The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) has backed down from the claim that forty activists in the Gaza flotilla, who had resisted the ship's interception by Israeli commandos in international waters on Monday, are "al Qaeda mercenaries." 

Some participants in the Gaza convoy are members of Insan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ?nsani Yardım Vakfı --the Foundation for Human Rights, Liberties, and Humanitarian Relief-- IHH, a Turkish non-governmental organizaion (NGO) established in the early 1990s.   Its mission is to provide humanitarian relief in regions of conflict or that have experienced natural disasters.  For the past six years, IHH has held Special Consultative status as an NGO (non-governmental organization) in the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

According to Max Blumenthal, when he and Lia Tarachansky, an Israel-based  freelance journalist fluent in Hebrew, called the IDF requesting more conclusive evidence of al Qaeda affiliation than possession of bullet-proof vests and night vision goggles, they were each told, "We don't have any evidence."  The IDF press release had been based on information emanating from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's National Security Council.

The next day, Blumenthal notes with satisfaction, the IDF's press office changed the headline to Attackers of the IDF Soldiers Found Without Identification Papers, although the browser retains the original accusation of a link with al Qaeda. The rewritten story, which still bears yesterday's date and the original time it was posted, omits any mention of a connection of the group with al Qaeda.

But the condemnation of IHH participants now ricocheting around the blogosphere isn't about to go away anytime soon. ... The link goes back to a strategy crafted in the aftermath of the events of Sept. 11, 2001. ...

Israel's Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres (now Israel's president), proposed that Israel affirm its agreement with US aims in the "war on terror." Several cabinet ministers agreed with the ingenious suggestion that the Palestinian Authority (PA) be presented as "Israel's Taliban," and Sharon announced that the PA would be considered as a state that harbors terrorists.

(2) 'Al Jazeera' reporter says Israelis fired from helicopter

From: ReporterNotebook <RePorterNoteBook@Gmail.com> Date: 05.06.2010 04:12 PM

by PHILIP WEISS

04 Jun 2010 06:43 AM PDT

http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/al-jazeera-reporter-says-israelis-fired-from-helicopter.html

No wonder Israelis detained him for three days. Jamal ElSheyyal, speaking from Istanbul:

{quote} There is no doubt from what I saw that live ammunition was fired before any Israeli soldier was on deck. {end quote}

Indiscriminate fire from helicopter-- one man shot in the top of the head. Three shot passengers died because they did not get treatment over many hours.

Passenger violence: "I definitely saw iron bars." Passengers took apart the railings and used them to fend off the Israelis. "I did see a number of Israeli soldiers being beaten by them." There were no weapons. People wielded those bars as the Israelis tried to come aboard the ship.

He heard accounts of three Israeli soldiers being taken captive by the passengers. The Israelis were released, because the capture produced more intense

Treated with contempt by the Israelis, he said. Hands tied for 24 hours. "Soldier requested that I urinate where I was."

(3) Witness: Edward Peck, former US Chief of Mission in Iraq, was passenger on the flotilla

From: Kenneth Rasmusson <rasken@kulturservern.se> Date: 04.06.2010 01:28 AM

Witness Edward Peck, former US Chief of Mission in Iraq, was passenger on the flotilla...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKNI5q38ABs

---

http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidGN_02062010_030601/3-Phase%20Attack

Gulf News June 03, 2010

Attack came in three phases

A red laser dot appeared on his head, and seconds later he was shot dead. A member of the organisers rushed to his aid, only to have the man's brains spill out onto his hands.

This was the first death in the deadly attack on the Mavi Marmara lead ship in the Freedom Flotilla carrying 700 aid workers, journalists and diplomats.

Israeli forces first attacked the ship 74 nautical miles from Gaza six miles from the extended Israeli zone.

Israeli troops attacked the boat in three stages. The first attack came during dawn prayers when smoke bombs were thrown on deck. These were thrown overboard by the defence teams on board the ship.

The Mavi Marmara tried to alter its course so that any further attack would occur during daylight, but the Israelis persisted and boarded the ship. They used paintball guns on passengers the ammunition mixed with glass.

Israeli troops tried to board the ship from speedboats and the defence teams used hose pipes to prevent soldiers from boarding the vessel.

Makeshift weapons were fashioned from items lying on the deck, but there were absolutely no weapons on board the ship, as Israel claims. As chaos and panic swept the boat the Israelis began stage two, using rubber bullets. Once blood started flowing, anger mounted against the Israelis.

In the third attack, the injuries turned to deaths. Four people were killed instantly while 12 others bled to death. Finally, the captain surrendered and agreed to take the Mavi Marmara to the Israeli port city of Ashdod after an Israeli soldier pointed a gun at a one-year-old Turkish child.

Abbas Al Lawati

Abbas Al Lawati has been freed. He left Amman, Jordan, for Muscat, Oman, and was scheduled to arrive late last night.

(4) Israeli commandos started Firing before boarding

From: Dr. Gunther Kümel <sapere--aude@web.de> Date: 02.06.2010 01:30 AM

Fire Started Before IDF Landing, Wounded bled to Death

Posted By kawther.salam

On 2010 June 1

http://www.kawther.info/wpr/2010/06/01/fire-started-before-idf-landing-wounded-bled-to-death

"I felt that I would not get out alive from Flotilla of humanitarian ships. It was possible to stop [1]the fleet, but not in this way with the use of military brutality, weapons and the horrific attack on over 600 participants in the campaign, who all were civilians, parliamentarians, peace activists" said Hanan Al-Zoubi, the Arab-Israeli Knesset member from National Democratic Alliance who was on one of the ships during the Israeli maritime piracy operation against the International peace activists on their way to break the genocidal siege imposed on Gaza. The remarks of Al-Zoubi came during a press conference hold in Nazareth after her release from the Ashdod detention center where she spent the last night under interrogation by the Israeli intelligence.

Al-Zoubi confirmed that the fire on the passengers on the ship Marmara began before the Israeli navy commandos landed on the ship and before any contact between soldiers and the passengers of the ship. She added: "two of the wounded bled to death as a result of not receiving medical assistance, despite my persistent calls for medical treatment".

She said that it was expected that the ship would be stopped, but it was not expected it would be with the giant numbers of military, the excessive brutality the massive weaponry used in this terrible attack on the 600 participants in the campaign. They were civilians, parliamentarians, peace activists had been dealt by Israel since the start of the fleet as "terrorists "in order to justify aggression against them.

Al- Zoubi stressed that the attack took place on the ship in international waters, at a distance of 130 miles from the coast, at around quarter past four early at dawn. She pointed out that the campaign organizers had asked the passengers to wear life jackets, but that the commandos landing started out very fast. In less than 10 minutes there were already 3 dead and dozens wounded. "The goal of the operations was to create an atmosphere of terror and fear among us. A participant raised a white flag. There were sufficient indications that we do not want any confrontation. And after that we were almost certain that a confrontation would not happen I felt that we were in danger and that I would not get alive from the ship. There was no provocation and the Israeli narrative spoke about provocation, but the truth is that there were people afraid for the safety of passengers, and the organizers gave instructions to the passengers to go into basements and to enter the rooms for their own safety".

 [2]

"I did not see any passengers carrying a stick, or a sharp object. The Israeli attack gave the impression that something big would happen. The commandos started shooting between quarter and half past four before landing. There was a clear message that our lives are in big danger, and that the goal was not to stop the ship, but more than that". That was the feeling of everybody on the ship according to Al-Zoubi.

She added: "After an hour and a half the deck was under control of the commandos, and all the passengers were taken to large rooms and tied, except the women and the elderly. After that they searched the body of the people using police dogs during the inspection, and after all the inspection they did not find any weapons, no piece of weapon were found".

Al-Zoubi pointed out that the Navy commandos moved the ship to the of port Ashdod. "We arrived at six in the morning". She added: "We knew that there were 5 bodies and dozens of wounded, among them 7 injured in critical condition. I asked several times to provide them with first aid of emergency, but the military did not cooperate with us. The consequence of not giving them of any kind of relief was that two wounded peace activists bled to death".

After her release from detention, MK Al-Zoubi called for an international investigation committee which should be led by United Nations because crime was committed in international waters and the victims are nationals of many countries. She pointed out that this crime must not remain covered by the Israeli narrative and liess, and that reporters should be allowed immediate access to the 600 detainees which include 60 journalists, in order to listen to their testimonies.

listen to the speech in Arabic [3] of MK Hanan Al-Zoubi.

(5) Israelis opened fire before boarding Gaza flotilla, say released activists

First eyewitness accounts of raid contradict version put out by Israeli officials

Dorian Jones in Istanbul and Helena Smith

Tuesday 1 June 2010 14.12 BST

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/01/gaza-flotilla-eyewitness-accounts-gunfire

Survivors of the Israeli assault on a flotilla carrying relief supplies to Gaza returned to Greece and Turkey today, giving the first eyewitness accounts of the raid in which at least 10 people died.

Arriving at Istanbul's Ataturk airport with her one-year-old baby, Turkish activist Nilufer Cetin said Israeli troops opened fire before boarding the Turkish-flagged ferry Mavi Marmara, which was the scene of the worst clashes and all the fatalities. Israeli officials have said that the use of armed force began when its boarding party was attacked.

"It was extremely bad and very tough clashes took place. The Mavi Marmara is filled with blood," said Cetin, whose husband is the Mavi Marmara's chief engineer.

She told reporters that she and her child hid in the bathroom of their cabin during the confrontation. "The operation started immediately with firing. First it was warning shots, but when the Mavi Marmara wouldn't stop these warnings turned into an attack," she said.

"There were sound and smoke bombs and later they used gas bombs. Following the bombings they started to come on board from helicopters."

Cetin is among a handful of Turkish activists to be released; more than 300 remain in Israeli custody. She said she agreed to extradition from Israel after she was warned that conditions in jail would be too harsh for her child.

"I am one of the first passengers to be sent home, just because I have baby. When we arrived at the Israeli port of Ashdod we were met by the Israeli interior and foreign ministry officials and police; there were no soldiers. They asked me only a few questions. But they took everything – cameras, laptops, cellphones, personal belongings including our clothes," she said.

Kutlu Tiryaki was a captain of another vessel in the flotilla. "We continuously told them we did not have weapons, we came here to bring humanitarian help and not to fight," he said.

"The attack on the Mavi Marmara came in an instant: they attacked it with 12 or 13 attack boats and also with commandos from helicopters. We heard the gunshots over our portable radio handsets, which we used to communicate with the Mavi Marmara, because our ship communication system was disrupted. There were three or four helicopters also used in the attack. We were told by Mavi Marmara their crew and civilians were being shot at and windows and doors were being broken by Israelis."

Six Greek activists who returned to Athens accused Israeli commandos of using electric shocks during the raid.

Dimitris Gielalis, who had been aboard the Sfendoni, told reporters: "Suddenly from everywhere we saw inflatables coming at us, and within seconds fully equipped commandos came up on the boat. They came up and used plastic bullets, we had beatings, we had electric shocks, any method we can think of, they used."

Michalis Grigoropoulos, who was at the wheel of the Free Mediterranean, said: "We were in international waters. The Israelis acted like pirates, completely out of the normal way that they conduct nautical exercises, and seized our ship. They took us hostage, pointing guns at our heads; they descended from helicopters and fired tear gas and bullets. There was absolutely nothing we could do … Those who tried to resist forming a human ring on the bridge were given electric shocks."

Grigoropoulos, who insisted the ship was full of humanitarian aid bound for Gaza "and nothing more", said that, once detained, the human rights activists were not allowed to contact a lawyer or the Greek embassy in Tel Aviv. "They didn't let us go to the toilet, eat or drink water and throughout they videoed us. They confiscated everything, mobile phones, laptops, cameras and personal effects. They only allowed us to keep our papers." ...

(6) Israeli commandos let passengers bleed to death; found no Arms or other weapons

From: Sadanand, Nanjundiah (Physics Earth Sciences) <sadanand@mail.ccsu.edu> Date: 03.06.2010 11:57 PM

Israeli Legislator Reveals Her Terror on Ship, Accuses Israel of Intentionally Killing Peace Activists to Deter Future Flotillas

By Jonathan Cook, AlterNet
Posted on June 2, 2010
http://www.alternet.org/story/147083/

Nazareth, Israel --An Arab member of the Israeli parliament who was on board the international flotilla that was attacked on Monday as it tried to take humanitarian aid to Gaza accused Israel yesterday of intending to kill peace activists as a way to deter future convoys.

Haneen Zoubi said Israeli naval vessels had surrounded the flotilla's flagship, the Mavi Marmara, and fired on it a few minutes before commandos abseiled from a helicopter directly above them.

Terrified passengers had been forced off the deck when water was sprayed at them. She said she was not aware of any provocation or resistance by the passengers, who were all unarmed.

She added that within minutes of the raid beginning, three bodies had been brought to the main room on the upper deck in which she and most other passengers were confined. Two had gunshot wounds to the head, in what she suggested had been executions.

Two other passengers slowly bled to death in the room after Israeli soldiers ignored messages in Hebrew she had held up at the window calling for medical help to save them. She said she saw seven other passengers seriously wounded.

"Israel had days to plan this military operation," she told a press conference in Nazareth. "They wanted many deaths to terrorise us and to send a message that no future aid convoys should try to break the siege of Gaza."

Released early yesterday by police, apparently because of her parliamentary immunity, she said she was speaking out while most of the hundreds of other peace activists were either being held by Israel for deportation or were under arrest.

Three other leaders of Israel's large Palestinian Arab minority, including Sheikh Raed Salah, a spiritual leader, were arrested as their ships docked in the southern port of Ashdod. Lawyers said that under Israeli law they could be held and questioned for up to 30 days without being charged.

Contradicting Israeli claims, Ms Zoubi said a search by the soldiers after they took control of the Marmara discovered no arms or other weapons.

It was vital, she added, that the world demand an independent UN inquiry to find out what had happened on the ship rather than allow Israel to carry out a "whitewash" with its own military investigation.

Ms Zoubi spoke as Palestinians inside both Israel and the occupied territories observed a general strike called by their leaders.

A statement from the High Follow-Up Committee, the main political body for Israel's Palestinian citizens, described the raid on the flotilla as "state-sponsored terrorism". ...

(7) Eliot Spitzer defends Israel in Debate on attack on Gaza Flotilla
From: ReporterNotebook <RePorterNoteBook@Gmail.com> Date: 03.06.2010 10:24 PM

Glenn Greenwald Clobbers Eliot Spitzer in Debate on the Gaza Flotilla

One of the best cable news smackdowns ever recorded.

June 3, 2010

By Jane Hamsher

http://www.alternet.org/story/147087/glenn_greenwald_clobbers_eliot_spitzer_in_debate_on_the_gaza_flotilla

You don't often get a piece of cable TV this good, so it's worth transcribing and posting in its entirety.

Yesterday, two Netanyahu propagandists appeared on MSNBC prior to Glenn Greenwald, painting a picture of the flotilla raid that was so grossly distorted it was unrecognizable as the incident that is being rightfully condemned around the world.  Host Eliot Spitzer vigorously agreed with them, and then brought them back once again to counter Glenn after his appearance.

Spitzer was not nearly so conciliatory with Glenn, and during the interview, clips of the selectively edited IDF propaganda videos and their helpful English subtitles played continuously.  In a rare and contentious eight minute cable news segment, Glenn decided to set the record straight:

ELIOT SPITZER: Now let's bring in Glenn Greenwald from Salon.com who calls Israel's actions quote, "heinous and repugnant" and, well let me just ask you, you have ships approaching Gaza, controlled by Hamas; Hamas is a terrorist organization, Israel did (I don't think this is disputed) offer to have the ships inspected, if there was no contraband on board, let the ships continue on to Gaza.  Why was that not a reasonable offer, why should Israel not intercede to stop the flow of contraband?

GLENN GREENWALD: Well, first of all, international waters, which is where this ship was, is not owned by Israel.  It is a crime, a war crime, to attack a ship in international waters that has not engaged in any aggression, and no one claims that these ships were.  I mean, what you're describing is absolute anarchy, that any country can just say, "no ships can go here, and if you disobey our order, we're going to attack you, board your ship forcefully, and kill anybody who does resist."

SPITZER: Well, let me interr…

GREENWALD:  No, let me just finish because you just had on 10 minutes of uninterrupted pro-Israeli propaganda filled with falsehoods.  The blockade is one of the most brutal and inhumane blockades that we've seen in the last generation.  Look at UN reports that are objective, not Netanyahu aides, that say that 60% of the babies in Palestine have anemia, 65% of the population is food insecure; the entire Palestinian economy has collapsed as a result of this blockade.  Israel routinely refuses to permit all sorts of imports including food, chocolate, french fries, anything but the barest necessities to keep those prisoners — which is what they are — alive…

SPITZER: Glenn, I hear you.  Hold on one second.  Let's go back to Ruth Wedgewood, who is really a top-flight intellect and scholar of international law, said that nations that are a war are permitted in international water to enforce a blockade and to check to see if contraband is on board.  Now, nobody has said that Israel has prevented humanitarian materials to flow through to Gaza.  You may be saying there's not enough…

(8) Israel's ambassador to US compares Gaza flotilla to Nazi Wehrmacht of WWII
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/7796277/Gaza-flotilla-attack-Israeli-ambassador-compares-raid-to-Second-World-War.html

Gaza flotilla attack: Israeli ambassador compares raid to Second World War

Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, has compared the Gaza flotilla attack with America's fight against Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

By Alastair Jamieson

Published: 9:38AM BST 02 Jun 2010

In an interview with Fox News, he described the operation, in which nine people died, as "perfectly legal, perfectly humane – and very responsible".

He defending the attack in open waters, saying: "Israel acted in accord with international law. Any state has the right to protect itself, certainly from a terrorist threat such as Hamas, including on the open seas.

"The US acted under similar international law when it fought the Germans and the Japanese in World War Two." ...

(9) Gaza Siege: lack of electricity, water, food & building materials

From: Sadanand, Nanjundiah (Physics Earth Sciences) <sadanand@mail.ccsu.edu> Date: 03.06.2010 11:57 PM

The Gaza Siege: A Fact Sheet

Thursday, June 3, 2010

By Yousef Munayyer

In recent days, coverage of the attack on the aid flotilla headed to the Gaza Strip has focused on the lack of availability of certain humanitarian goods. This fact sheet is a reference tool based on international aid agencies and human rights groups on the impact of the siege on the population of Gaza.

Electricity: The siege has led to a significant lack of power in the Gaza Strip. In 2006, Israel carried out an attack on Gaza's only power plant and never permitted the rebuilding to its pre-attack capacity (down to producing 80 megawatts maximum from 140 megawatts). According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), the daily electricity deficit has increased since January of 2010 with the plant only able to operate one turbine producing only 30 megawatts compared to its previous average of 60-65 megawatts in 2009. The majority of houses have power cuts at least eight hours per day. Some have no electricity for long as 12 hours a day. The lack of electricity has led to reliance on generators, many of which have exploded from overwork, killing and maiming civilians. Oxfam reported that "[in 2009], a total of 75 Palestinians died from carbon monoxide gas poisoning or fires from generators, and 15 died and 27 people were injured in the first two months of this year."

Water: Israel has not permitted supplies into the Gaza Strip to rebuild the sewage system. Amnesty International reports that 90-95 percent of the drinking water in Gaza is contaminated and unfit for consumption. The United Nations even found that bottled water in Gaza contained contaminants, likely due to the plastic bottles recycled in dysfunctional factories. The lack of sufficient power for desalination and sewage facilities results in significant amounts of sewage seeping into Gaza's costal aquifer--the main source of water for the people of Gaza.

Industry: Prior to the siege, the industrial sector employed 20 percent of Gaza's labor force. One year after the siege began, the Palestinian Federation of Industries reported that "61% of the factories have completely closed down. 1% was forced to change their scope of work in order to meet their living expenses, 38% were partially closed (sometimes means they operate with less than 15% capacity)". A World Health Organization report from this year states: "In the Gaza Strip, private enterprise is practically at a standstill as a consequence of the blockade. Almost all (98%) industrial operations have been shut down. The construction sector, which before September 2000 provided 15% of all jobs, has effectively halted. Only 258 industrial establishments in Gaza were operational in 2009 compared with over 2400 in 2006. As a result, unemployment rates have soared to 42% (up from 32% before the blockade)."

Health: Gaza's health sector, dramatically overworked, was also significantly damaged by Operation Cast Lead. According to UN OCHA, infrastructure for 15 of 27 of Gaza's hospitals, 43 of 110 of its primary care facilities, and 29 of its 148 ambulances were damaged or destroyed during the war. Without rebuilding materials like cement and glass due to Israeli restrictions, the vast majority of the destroyed health infrastructure has not been rebuilt. Many medical procedures for advanced illnesses are not available in Gaza. 1103 individuals applied for permits to exit the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing for medical treatment in 2009. 21 percent of these permits were denied or delayed resulting in missed hospital appointments, and several have died waiting to leave Gaza for treatment.

Food: A 2010 World Health Organization report stated that "chronic malnutrition in the Gaza Strip has risen over the past few years and has now reached 10.2%. Micronutrient deficiencies among children and women have reached levels that are of concern." According to UN OCHA: "Over 60 percent of households are now food insecure, threatening the health and wellbeing of children, women and men. In this context, agriculture offers some practical solutions to a humanitarian problem. However, Israel's import and access restrictions continue to suffocate the agriculture sector and directly contribute to rising food insecurity. Of particular concern, farmers and fishers' lives are regularly put at risk, due to Israel's enforcement of its access restrictions. The fact that this coastal population now imports fish from Israel and through tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border speaks to the absurdity of the situation." 72 percent of Gaza's fish profit comes from beyond the three nautical mile mark, but further restrictions by Israel's naval blockade prevents Gazans from fishing beyond that mark. Between 2008 and 2009 the fishing catch was down 47 percent.

This article originally appeared on Foreignpolicy.com.

Yousef Munayyer is Executive Director of the Palestine Center.

(10) UN Security Council stops short of condemning naval attack on Flotilla

UN stops short of condemning naval attack

http://www.smh.com.au/world/un-stops-short-of-condemning-naval-attack-20100601-wvgj.html?skin=text-only

Date: June 02 2010
Simon Mann WASHINGTON Jason Koutsoukis BEERSHEVA

THE United Nations Security Council has called for an impartial investigation into Israel's botched assault on a flotilla carrying aid supplies to the Gaza Strip, but it stopped short of an outright condemnation of the attack.

In a carefully worded compromise statement drafted after 10 hours of debate, the Security Council also called for the immediate release of hundreds of civilians held after the raid.

At least nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed when Israeli naval commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara, the largest ship in the flotilla carrying passengers. Dozens more were wounded. The assault sparked a wave of condemnation and protests worldwide. ...