Support Gaza flotillas

Israel asked Turkey to stop international peace activists who plan to send aid to the besieged Gaza on the first anniversary of deadly Israeli raid on a Turkish ship. The move comes after the organizers of the new flotilla to deliver aid to Gaza have asked for protection against what they say are threats from Israel.

In response to Israeli pressure, Turkey said, “this is an initiative by civil society”.  Israel urged European states to stop their nationals participating in the flotilla. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed for action from EU ambassadors in Jerusalem during a meeting with them. “This flotilla must be stopped,” he told ambassadors.

On April 1, Netahyahu’s office also asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to stop the planned flotilla setting sail to Gaza. The new flotilla, called Freedom Flotilla 2, is expected to sail to Gaza in the coming weeks, a year after an attack by Israeli forces on a similar mission that left eight Turkish citizens and one American citizen dead.

The Free Gaza Movement, an activist umbrella group, has said that a flotilla expected in late May would comprise 15 ships with international passengers including Europeans and Americans.

Netanyahu told Ban Ki-moon that the mission of ships was being organised by “Islamic extremist elements” intent on bringing about “a flare-up.”
Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, Gaby Levy, asked the Turkish government this week to help halt the peace activists, saying sending humanitarian aide to Israel-besieged Gaza outside “legal channels” was a “provocation,” an Israeli diplomatic official told Reuters.

Asked about the pressure, a Turkish foreign ministry official told Reuters: “We listened to the message given by the Israeli side and told them this is an initiative by civil society.” The official did not elaborate… read more on World Bulletin