Articles from the Palestine Center http://www.palestinecenterblog.org/
“Western leaders are too cowardly to help save lives” by Robert Fisk (The Independent)
Has Israel lost it? Can the Gaza War of 2008-09 (1,300 dead) and the Lebanon War of 2006 (1,006 dead) and all the other wars and now yesterday’s killings mean that the world will no longer accept Israel’s rule?
“U.S. must condemn Israel for ship killings” by Amjad Atallah (CNN.com)
President Obama, in his memorable speech almost exactly one year ago in Cairo, Egypt, urged Palestinians to pursue nonviolent means toward securing their freedom and raised the hopes of many Muslim-majority nations who saw a new, unbiased Mideast policy in the making. Those hopes were shattered by America’s tepid response to the killings aboard a ship on a peaceful humanitarian mission Sunday night.
“Israeli aid boat attack has opened worlds eyes to Gazas plight” by Sheera Frenkel (Times Online)
Israels botched commando raid has succeeded in doing the one thing that Tel Aviv will have wanted to avoid drawing attention to the Jewish states harsh three-year blockade of Gaza.
“Israel’s latest brutal blunder” by Stephen M. Walt (Foreignpolicy.com)
By now you’ll all have heard about the IDF’s unwarranted attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, a fleet of six civilian vessels that was attempting to bring humanitarian aid (i.e., medicines, food, and building materials) to Gaza. The population of Gaza has been under a crippling Israeli siege since 2006.
“Turkey: All options are on the table” by Nuh Yilmaz (Foreignpolicy.com)
“All options are on the table” is the best phrase to describe how Turkey feels about Israel’s attack on humanitarian aid flotilla carrying more than 600 activists from 32 countries. What happened on Sunday night is a real game changer. Israel will, most likely, no longer be seen as a friendly state nor an ally, but will be treated as a rogue state by Turkey.
“Following Israeli Raid On Flotilla, Egypt Opens Its Border With Gaza” by David Gura (NPR)
Egypt has decided to open its border with Gaza, following an Israeli raid on six ships. Linda Gradstein, reporting for NPR, says that, “if the border stays open, it will be a victory for the Islamist Hamas movement, which controls Gaza.”
“Turkey calls for punishment of Israel for killings” by Jeffrey Heller and Ibon Villelabeitia (Reuters)
Israel detained or deported hundreds of activists who were aboard a flotilla of ships seized en route to the Palestinian enclave which has been under Israeli blockade since 2006.
“World leaders demand probe into Israel raid” (AFP)
World leaders demanded Tuesday an investigation into Israel’s deadly commando raid on a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla and the swift release of their seized citizens.
“Human Rights Watch Urges Inquiry Into Israeli Raid” by Henry Meyer and Massoud A. Derhally (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)
Human Rights Watch urged Israel to carry out an immediate and impartial investigation into the killing of at least nine activists in an Israeli commando raid on a flotilla bringing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
“The U.S. Should Break the Gaza Blockade” by Michael Kieschnick (The Huffington Post)
Brutal violence is all too commonplace. But usually it is not public, as was the Israeli Navy’s attack on the flotilla bringing aid to Gaza. The flotilla was designed to bring public attention to the plight of civilians of Gaza, and it has done so.