另一場製造的危機：以色列強擊加沙救援船隊

另一場製造的危機：以色列強擊加沙救援船隊
Another manufactured crisis as Israel storms Gaza aid flotilla
Monday, 31 May 2010 11:45

latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-israel-flotilla-20100531,0,1839736.story

latimes.com
至少10個活躍分子死於以色列攔截加沙援助船隊
At least 10 activists die as Israel intercepts Gaza aid flotilla

Israel's military says troops come under fire when they move in on vessels carrying humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip. Protesters call the deaths murder, and the violence is widely condemned.
以色列軍方說，部隊遭到開火當他們移入携有人道主義物資到加沙地帶的船隻。示威者稱為死亡謀殺，和暴力被廣泛譴責。
By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times

5:15 AM PDT, May 31, 2010

Reporting from Jerusalem -
來自耶路撒冷的報告 -

Israeli naval ships seized control of a protest flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 10 people and injuring several dozen, the Israeli military said.

Israeli television, citing foreign media reports, said the death toll could be as high as 16.
以色列電視台引述外國媒體報導，死亡人數可能會高達 16人。
"The images are certainly not pleasant. I can only voice regret at all the fatalities," Trade and Industry Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel's Army Radio.
“照片是肯定不愉快的，我只能對所有死亡講出遺憾，”貿易與工業部長本雅明本埃利澤告訴以色列軍方電台。
The raid set off a storm of international protest and drew condemnations from leaders from Spain, Sweden, France, Germany, the U.N., the European Union and Arab League.
襲擊引發一場國際抗議的風波和引起譴責從來自西班牙，瑞典，法國，德國，聯合國，歐洲聯盟和阿拉伯聯盟的領導人。
But after some initial expressions of regret, Israeli officials Tuesday came out strongly in defense of the raid, characterizing the protesters as hard-core extremists who had prepared an ambush for soldiers.
但經過一些初步遺憾表示，以色列官員星期二出來強烈辨護襲擊，表徵抗議者是死硬派極端分子，他們已準備好伏擊士兵。
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon called the flotilla an "armada of hate and violence" that launched a "premeditated and outrageous provocation." He said Israeli soldiers found evidence that "weapons" had been prepared in advance, but he did not specify whether those weapons included guns.

Israel's military said that protesters managed to grab two guns from Israeli soldiers and use them against the commandos, prompting soldiers to return fire. An Israeli commando, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he and other Israeli soldiers who rappelled onto the boat from a helicopter were immediately attacked by about 30 people on board.

"They beat us up with metal sticks and knives," he said. "There was live fire at some point against us. ... They were shooting at us from below deck."

He said activists tossed some of the soldiers from the top deck to the lower deck and the soldiers jumped in the water to save themselves. Activists grabbed some soldiers and tried to hold them hostage, stripping them of their helmets and equipment, he said.

Ten Israeli soldiers were wounded, two seriously, the military said.

Protest organizers said the nighttime raid on the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, the flotilla's largest vessel with 600 passengers, occurred in international waters more than 40 miles off shore.

Video released by television crews onboard and a live Internet signal transmitted from the boat show armed and masked Israeli soldiers rappelling from helicopters onto the boat and being attacked by passengers with iron clubs.

Israeli military claims that protesters grabbed soldiers' guns are "absurd," according to Greta Berlin, leader of Free Gaza, one of the flotilla's organizers.

"This was murder," Berlin said in a telephone interview from Cyprus. The group has been unable to reach passengers since the attack occurred because the Israeli military has blocked telephone signals, she said. "They can spin it any way they want. We're the civilians and they are the military."

Responding to images of protesters striking soldiers, Berlin said the activists were acting in self-defense after soldiers opened fire.

"People had the right to defend themselves against soldiers armed with machine guns,'' she said.

According to Berlin, flotilla organizers hoped to bring international attention to Israel's Gaza blockade and expected a confrontation, "but we never expected this kind of violence."

The group had launched nine previous ships to Gaza and five were permitted to pass to the territory after being searched by the Israeli navy.

Protest organizers described a chaotic early morning takeover in international waters.

Berlin earlier told Israel Radio that the confrontation was broadcast live from a Turkish boat participating in the flotilla. The footage, she said, clearly showed Israeli soldiers opening fire on civilians.

"The minute their feet hit the deck, they started to shoot," Berlin said.

She added, "Something happened to your country to make it think it is all right" to shoot civilians.

Israel Defense Force sources told Ynet, a popular Hebrew-language website, that the "organizers were not innocent — they demonstrated violence against the soldiers. They were prepared for their arrival."

Israeli radio military analyst Yoav Limor blamed the military for underestimating the resistance it would encounter. "There was serious violence" that forced the soldiers to open fire, he said.

But condemnation was wide and swift.

Protests against Israeli embassies in Jordan and Turkey erupted, and Greece canceled a planned joint military training exercise in protest.

Reaction from Turkey, whose citizens were among the dead, was particularly harsh, warning of "irreparable" harm to Israeli-Turkish relations. Turkey recalled its ambassador from Israel and warned of further actions. Israel's counter-terrorism bureau urged its citizens not to travel to Turkey as a security precaution.

Turkey was once one of Israel's only Muslim allies in the region, with close economic and military ties. But over the past 18 months, their relationship has soured, particularly after Israel's 2008-2009 military assault on the Gaza Strip. Israel has accused Turkey of shifting its loyalty toward Iran.

Israel put its security forces on alert in case of demonstrations by the nation's Arab minority.

Flotilla organizers say they were carrying first-aid supplies and medical professionals in the event of casualties, but Adam Shapiro, the husband of one flotilla leader, said that "we thought that the possibility that Israeli soldiers would shoot" was remote.

The six-vessel flotilla, packed with hundreds of international activists, food and other humanitarian supplies, had left Cyprus on Sunday night in an attempt to break Israel's longstanding blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Israel had vowed to intercept the boats, by force if necessary, and tow them to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where passengers would be arrested or deported.

Israel says the blockade of Gaza, which is controlled by the armed Palestinian group Hamas, is needed to combat terrorism.

It's not the first time activists have attempted to break the Israeli blockade. Previously, protest ships have been turned back, escorted to Israel or allowed to pass through to Gaza. But the current flotilla, organized by Free Gaza and other pro-Palestinian advocacy groups, presented a greater challenge due to the sheer number of people — as many as 800 — taking part.

edmund.sanders@latimes.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Batsheva Sobelman of The Times' Jerusalem Bureau contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times

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以色列放出武器搜獲量畫面 '發現'在加沙和平船上

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