Early reports of the Israeli interception of the Malaysian-owned, Moldovan-flagged small coastal freighter, MV Finch (renamed recently, The Spirit of Rachel Corrie) on early Monday morning didn't give a lot of detail:Israeli naval forces fired warning shots at a Malaysian aid ship as it approached the Gaza Strip on Monday, forcing the vessel to retreat to Egypt, organisers and the Israeli military said.Most of the sparse news reports throughout Monday were based on the same information in the above one. Around mid-day Gaza time, more details emerged from the Perdana Foundation:
"The MV Finch, carrying sewage pipes to Gaza, had warning shots fired at it by Israeli forces in the Palestinian security zone this morning at 6:54 am (0354 GMT)," said Shamsul Azhar from the Perdana Global Peace Foundation.
"The vessel was in the Palestinian security zone, about 400 metres from the Gaza shoreline, when they were intercepted by Israeli naval forces," he told AFP, adding it was now anchored 30 nautical miles away in Egyptian territory.
An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that the vessel, flying a Moldovan flag, had been intercepted as it sailed from Egypt's El-Arish port, where it had been docked for several days.
"A navy patrol boat contacted the vessel, which claimed to be heading for the Gaza shores. Once it crossed into Israeli naval territory and didn't answer calls to turn back, warning shots were fired in the air and it returned to El-Arish," she said.
The Perdana Foundation is helmed by former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad, an 85-year-old firebrand who was a strident critic of the West and Israel over the treatment of Palestinians during his two decades in power.
The organisation was also involved in the first "Freedom Flotilla", a May 2010 attempt to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which ended in disaster when naval commandos raided the aid ships, killing nine Turks on board one of the vessels.
Perdana Foundation officials said the MV Finch left Greece on May 11, carrying plastic pipes to help restore the "devastated" sewage system in Gaza.
The Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF) condemned in the strongest possible terms the act of aggression by the Israeli Naval Forces when they fired on the humanitarian mission bound for the Gaza Strip. The Spirit of Rachel Corrie ship, a humanitarian cargo vessel, officially known as FINCH came under attack one nautical mile inside Gazan waters at 6.35, this morning. We urge the international community to join with us in condemning this illegal, barbaric and uncivilised act.Late Monday, more details emerged, including what is being reported as the conversations between the crew of the unarmed vessel and the intercepting Israeli boats:
The cargo ship was inside the Palestinian territorial waters and had broken the siege when the Israeli Naval Forces intercepted the ship and ordered the Captain to retreat. The first shot was fired across the bow and followed by several more shots. One of the shots almost hit a crew member, Mohd Jaffrey Ariffin, causing others to panic and hide for safety.
During the ordeal all those on board feared for their lives. The inhumane behaviour by the Israeli Naval Forces continued, despite the ship already turning towards the Egyptian waters.
In the communication between the Captain and the Israeli Forces it was clearly stated that the ship was unarmed, and only carrying humanitarian aid. Despite that, the Israeli Naval Forces were not dissuaded and continued to shoot directly at the ship when it was leaving.
As far as PGPF and the anti-war activists are concerned, we had ‘Broken the Illegal Israeli Siege’ by being one nautical mile inside Palestinian territorial waters. The Gazan fishermen and other locals witnessed the event from the shoreline as they had gathered to welcome the siege breaking vessel and receive the aid mission.
PGPF acknowledge the sensitive manner in which Egyptian authorities have dealt with the situation. The vessel, under the guidance of the Egyptian navy has made its way to the port of El Arish. PGPF are currently being assisted in making arrangements for the transfer of the aid to Gaza by land via the Rafah Crossing.
We left the scene and entered Egyptian waters when the lives of unarmed civilians on board were endangered by this act of violence. Mindful of Israeli’s numerous killings of civilians at yesterday’s Nakba commemorations, the vessel withdrew to protect those on board from becoming victims of another act of terrorism by Israel.
According to Faizal, after the Israeli navy fired the first shot, the ship’s Captain Jalil Mansor was heard telling the Israelis through radio: “This is a violation of law against unarmed civilians”.This is new. Last year, I made a number of suggestions as to how the spring 2010 flotillas might have done things differently. This vessel, having embarked from Greece early in the month, appears to have sought the seam between Egyptian and de facto Israeli zones of sea control, perhaps intending to test whether the Egyptians might react differently than they did in 2010. If the description above is accurate, it appears the Israeli Navy has backed down in the face of Egyptian intrusion into an ongoing seizure or attempted boarding, as in - "Next time, we land on your ship."
The following exchange then took place.
Israeli army: “This is a warning shot. Turn around.”
Captain Jalil Mansor: “We are unarmed civilians on a humanitarian mission to Gaza”.
Israeli army: “This is a closed military zone. It’s a violation. Turn around.”
Captain Jalil Mansor: “We will continue (the mission)”.
The Israelis then headed to the back of the aid vessel and released a second warning shot into the air.
Derek Graham: “This is a violation (of international law). We are on a peaceful mission and unarmed.”
Israeli army: “Turn around. We will fire again”.
Derek Graham: “You are firing towards unarmed civilians”.
Israeli army: “We didn’t fire towards unarmed civilians”.
Derek Graham: “Looks like firing towards us.”
Israeli army: “We didn’t fire towards you. That is only a warning shot”.
Following that conversation, the Israeli army fired two more shots and threatened: “Next time, we will land on your ship”.
Then the Egyptian navy was heard telling the Israelis on the radio: “Stop firing. They are in the Egyptian waters”.
Upon realising the presence of Egyptian naval forces, the Israelis departed. [emphasis added]
This past weekend, the Israelis killed dozens of Palestinians and others on territory Syria has not relinquished, in spite of Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights. And they fired across the border with Lebanon, into territory Israel has occupied so many times in the past, but isn't theirs. And they fired once again into Gaza, which is on Egypt's border, and mere miles from Monday's maritime standoff.
The Egyptian military is not that of Syria or Lebanon, however. Their officers and troops have been indoctrinated that Egypt, not Israel, prevailed in the 1973 October (or Yom Kippur, or Ramadan) War. In a sense, they did, as the strategic consequence of the war was the withdrawal of the Israelis from the Sinai Peninsula, and the re-opening of the Suez Canal, which had been closed since the Israelis occupied its eastern banks in June, 1967.
The Egyptian Navy is larger than the Israeli. Their largest surface combatants, six former American frigates, displace 4,200 tons. The largest Israeli surface ships, the three Saar 5 corvettes are slightly more than half as large. The Israeli navy is assumed to be far better trained, and its coordination with land and air forces is regarded as a model of efficiency. The Egyptian Navy has little control over air forces other than its small fleet of helicopters.
The last time the two naval forces met in a serious encounter, was on October 8-9, 1973, in the Battle of Baltim, an Israeli victory, in which six 400-ton Saar class corvettes encountered four Egyptian 200-ton Osa class patrol boats, sinking three of the Osas, in return for slight damage to one of their corvettes. But before that incident, in October 1967, in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, the Egyptian Navy sank the INS Eilat, a 1,700 ton destroyer, with missiles fired from very small patrol boats.
The Egyptian demilitarization of the Sinai Peninsula has created a military vacuum there, which has benefited Israel enormously, allowing it to invade Lebanon time and again since the Camp David Accords were signed. But the Egyptian Navy maintains its country's sovereignty right up to the Gaza border.
Monday's encounter might not signal a change in Egyptian policy regarding the sea zone abutting Gaza's southern border, but it shows an Israeli Navy less than eager to act as it did last summer, in the presence of foreign military vessels whose crews identify with Palestinian aspirations.
The summer flotillas are watching. So are the Turkish, Syrian and American navies.
7 comments:
How is this progressive? Your blog is becoming like the Fox News of the Left.
Putting the sum total of your many, many anti-Israel posts together, its reasonable to assume that you're just another ignorant garden-variety Leftist anti-Semite. You immediately believe anything you read that is against Israel, mock the Jewish religion, and pay no attention whatsoever to the other side of a very complicated story.
When Hamas fired an anti-tank missile from Gaza at a clearly marked school bus in Israel last month, you were curiously silent. Imagine that, a Jewish boy was killed by an Arab. Who cares. A young man was killed Sunday here in Tel Aviv by a Palestinian terrorist. Big deal.
Anti-Semitism is a sickness thats been around a long time, so the symptoms are obvious and well-documented. Its often expressed on the Left in anti-Israel sentiments, because progressives are not supposed to be bigots in their own eyes... But the result is the same - your frothy, disgusting hatred, and I can tell you that it stinks from 10,000 miles away.
I'm not sure theres a billing code for it, so it may not be covered, but I would suggest you just avoid the subject until you go through some serious psychoanalysis.. You shame real progressives with this medieval crap.
So anyone that disagrees with Israel's actions against Palestine, Lebanon and the like is an anti-semite?
And those of us against Israel's treatment of Palestinians are only against it BECAUSE we are anti-semites? (rolling my eyes)
It's YOU, David, who give REAL progressives a bad name. In your rant about anti-semitism, you allow no room for, give no credence to intelligent, thinking, caring human beings who are simply against the invasion and despicable treatment of one country by another, no matter what their nationality.
FYI, I'm also against Palestine firing on Israelis, but no doubt they will keep responding that way as long as Israel continues to invade and blockade the country of Palestine?
I'm also against a lot of my American government's heinous actions. (Destroying the country of Iraq based on the egotistical whim of a really stupid, evil American president)
But, following your skewed brand of logic, David, being against America's actions in Iraq, must mean I'm anti-American? Or am I against a plethora of races that make up America?
Your logic in labeling the Israel against Palestine naysayers as "anti-semites" is absurd.
David, calm down. Yes it may seem like the whole world is against you.
What with at least 65 UN resolutions targeting Israel and zero targeting the Palestinians it doesn't seem fair does it?
And on top of that a significant percentage of the worlds 1.2 billion Muslims are enraged with Israeli gov't policy. It just never seems to end does it?
Last year you had an Israeli Air Force Captain lead a relief flotilla, not to mention Holocaust survivors participating. Oy Vey!!!
But not to worry, you have a true friend in America. Me and other American taxpayers are shelling out 3 billion a year, around 8 million a day in aid to Israel primarily in the form of sophisticated weaponry.
I helped pay for the white phosphorus bombs you used in Cast Lead in Gaza. The pale blue 155mm rounds are clearly marked with the designation M825A1, an American-made WP munition.
I helped pay for the bulldozer you used to kill Rachel Corrie another "Made in the USA"
Israel receives more USA aid than all of Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean combined.
Please try to show a little gratitude David because without me and my fellow Americans YOU and your Zionist enterprise is toast.
David I take offense at your statement that progressives on the left do not support Israel.
Take NY congressman Anthony Weiner, a proud member of the Zionist Organization of America.He is one of many.
Or President Obama himself who chose as his first chief of staff, None other than the current mayor of Chicago, Rahm Israel Emanuel.
He felt such loyalty to Israel during the first Gulf War that he quit his job as director of Bill Clinton's election finance committee to serve as a civilian volunteer for the IDF refinishing brake drums.
David, for cryin' out loud his legal middle name is Israel.
His father, Benjamin Emanuel, was a member of Irgun, the group responsible for the bombing of the King David Hotel.
Unfortunately Benjamin Emanuel's Wikipedia page was hastily deleted when Rahm was appointed Chief of Staff. He was asked by a journalist if his son Rahm would influence Obama to favor Israel.
Ben's response: "Why wouldn't he be? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House."
Don't worry David, we progressives got your back. But unless you offer a sincere apology we will work tirelessly to bleed you dry of the 3 billion we shell out for you every year.... and then David, in short order the hoards will descend upon you.... and your toast.
As a final piece of advice, since you seem to have predilection for psychoanalysis; do some reading on victims becoming abusers.
David,
I'm unaware of Phil "mocking the Jewish religion"
I find nothing comical about your imaginary Bronze Age Sky God and wholeheartedly agree with Richard Dawkins quoted below:
"Yahweh: "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unplesant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser, a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."
— Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion)
David, don't bother trying to defend this monster because I will quote the Talmud and the Torah until the cows come home, site chapter and verse of some the most vile,racist, hateful bilge on par with Mein Kampf.
Responding to David:
"How is this progressive? Your blog is becoming like the Fox News of the Left."
--- what does that mean - FOX news of the left?
"Putting the sum total of your many, many anti-Israel posts together, its reasonable to assume that you're just another ignorant garden-variety Leftist anti-Semite."
--- please read this post to get an idea of why I'm concerned.
"You immediately believe anything you read that is against Israel..."
--- bullshit
"mock the Jewish religion..."
--- please provide an example. I may be critical of the most fundamentalist aspects of Judaism and of militant expansionist Zionism, but treasure Judaism and its core ideas quite closely.
"and pay no attention whatsoever to the other side of a very complicated story."
--- I've written several articles about my hopes that the Palestinian people can find their ways to better leadership, and get out of the grasps of both Hamas and Fatah. Young, educated people are the key.
"When Hamas fired an anti-tank missile from Gaza at a clearly marked school bus in Israel last month, you were curiously silent."
--- It needed more coverage? PA tends to cover news in this regard that is not otherwise covered in Alaska.
I deplore all such attacks, but don't feel obligated to condemn each Hamas attack, as I don't feel obliged to cover every Israeli act of stupidity or cruelty.
"Imagine that, a Jewish boy was killed by an Arab. Who cares. A young man was killed Sunday here in Tel Aviv by a Palestinian terrorist. Big deal."
--- again - all these senseless acts of violence are beyond stupidity.
"Anti-Semitism is a sickness thats been around a long time, so the symptoms are obvious and well-documented. Its often expressed on the Left in anti-Israel sentiments, because progressives are not supposed to be bigots in their own eyes... But the result is the same - your frothy, disgusting hatred, and I can tell you that it stinks from 10,000 miles away."
--- If you can smell something from that far away, I suggest you check your pants and underwear.
"I'm not sure theres a billing code for it, so it may not be covered, but I would suggest you just avoid the subject until you go through some serious psychoanalysis.. You shame real progressives with this medieval crap."
real progressives stand up for human rights, and view nation states based on religion - whether that be Wahabiism, Hinduism, Zionism, Catholicism or Calvinism - to be detrimental to the human rights of citizens within those states who either practice a religion other than the state religion, or who have no such superstitions.
I have no desire and even less time to educate you or your august friends- I live here and your opinions are sort of beside the point.
But its clear that for you and your supporters Phil, Israel and Jews are some sort of metaphor. I can tell from your comments that we have become completely demonized in your minds. Its not even very original, this demonization of the other. Its been going on for centuries, way before there was a State of Israel, and you aren't the first of your ilk to come from the Left.
Of course- criticizing Israel doesn't make you an anti-Semite. And any of your misguided posts by themselves surely don't make you an anti-Semite or a bigot. Theres plenty to criticize. What makes you an anti-Semite lies in the totality of your posts, your focus, and your selective anger.
In the last two months over 1200 Syrians have been murdered by their own government. This doesn't seem to bother you very much. It says a lot when I read about how angry israeli policies make you.
Essentially you're an anti-Semite for the same reason I believe most Tea-Partiers are racists. They demanded Obama's birth certificate. Not so weird in itself, but the fact that they don't demand any other (white) politician's birth certificate says a lot. When Obama proposes ideas that could have come out of the mouth of Reagan they lose their shit completely- in fact they lose their shit over his policies in a way that conservatives never did with much more liberal ideas from Bill Clinton. And its the anger and vitriol with which they express their disagreement and even hatred of Obama- not to mention the veiled threats of violence that show their racism.
If you would take any single issue from the far Right, it would be hard to say that their position makes them racist, but when you put it all together, its quite clear.
This is you, Phil. Your anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic posts betray exactly the same thing, and this is what makes you a disgusting anti-Semite.
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