Israelis Kill At Least Ten, Injure Dozens in Assault on Gaza Ship Convoy Carrying Humanitarian Aid

Israeli commandos surround convoy, fire live ammunition upon Mavi Marmara, with hundreds of aid workers and activists aboard, including Chicago activist Fatima Mohammadi. LIVE STREAM of Israeli commandos attacking the Gaza aid flotilla: www.livestream.com/insaniyardim

Media contacts:
Kevin Clark, Free Gaza Movement/Midwest: FGMinchicago (at) aol.com, cell 312-259-4380
Fatima Mohammadi, Chicagoan on board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla: satellite phone: +8821636619168; email: fatmoh (at) gmail.com
Huwaida Arraf on board the Challenger: 0088 216 5207 2093
Ewa Jasciewica on board the Challenger: 0088 163 184 7926
Greta Berlin, Free Gaza Movement: 00 357 99 18 72 75
Mary Hughes: 00 357 96 38 38 09

UPDATE, 1:45 AM CST, May 31, 2001: According to Israeli news outlets, the death toll has topped ten, and other outlets are reporting between 14 and 16 dead. See Haaretz at www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/at-least-10-activists-killed-as-israel-navy-opens-fire-on-gaza-aid-flotilla-1.293089

Other outlets are reporting that Israel is now censoring news about fatalities and casualties, and the live stream carried commentary from an individual reportedly speaking for the Israeli government or military who claimed weapons were found on board the Mavi Marmara, the ship that was attacked by Israeli commandos by helicopter and boat. Peace activists involved in organizing and participating in the convoy flatly deny that charge. Live stream is here: www.livestream.com/insaniyardim

10 PM CST: Solidarity activists aboard one of six relief vessels traveling to Gaza with humanitarian aid report that they have been attacked by Israeli forces, with three aid workers killed and more than 50 injured, according to live updates from the flotilla. The assault comes in the wake of the flotilla being surrounded earlier today by three Israeli warships in international waters, roughly 70 miles away from the Israeli coast. The Flotilla moved further west, deeper into international waters to avoid any conflict with Israeli navy vessels, but had been concerned all night that Israeli forces would send small inflatable military boats towards the flotilla and attempt to attack and board the humanitarian vessels.

Those fears have apparently been realized, with people aboard the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship with hundreds of aid workers and activists aboard, reporting that they have been attacked. At least three aboard one ship have been killed and dozens more wounded, including at least one European Parliament member. Israeli commandos apparently rappelled onto a ship believed to be the Mavi Marmara, whose passengers range in age from 88 to a year old and include Christians, Muslims and Jews seeking to end Israel's blockade of Gaza. Midwest U.S. activists have been unable to reach Chicagoan Fatima Mohammadi, traveling aboard the Mavi Marmara.

LIVE STREAM of Israeli commandos attacking the Gaza aid flotilla: www.livestream.com/insaniyardim

Live video from the flotilla shows Israeli naval commando vessels pulling alongside the aid ships, then boarding, while Israeli warships flank the flotilla nearby, and what sounds like gunfire can be heard in the background. No-one on the aid ships is carrying any kinds of weapons, including for defense against a feared Israeli attack in international waters.

"This is an act of terrorism and piracy that exposes the despicible underbelly of Israeli policy against Gaza and the Palestinians," says Kevin Clark, midwest coordinator for the Free Gaza Movement. "Americans need to understand that our tax dollars, to the tune of billions of dollars a year, bankroll this kind of state terrorist attack on peaceful, non-violent people. U.S. aid to this rogue government and its murderous thugs must end."

Hundreds of elected officials, former diplomats, aid workers and activists — including a Nobel laureate and many European legislators — are with the flotilla, traveling by sea to Gaza to break Israel's blockade of the tiny strip of land. Foreign news correspondents and independent journalists are traveling aboard the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship with hundreds of aid workers and activists aboard which is also running its own press operation reachable at the satellite number +8821636619168. A total of six ships, including two cargo ships and other passenger vehicles, are carrying thousands of tons of humanitarian aid to the beseiged region, which has been under Israeli blockade since 2006.

Israel has marshalled its most lethal military vessels to try to stop the humanitarian marine convoy, and at around 2:20 pm Central Standard Time (US) the first reports of unmanned drone planes buzzing the vessels was received from convoy passengers.

Two boats in the aid flotilla, one currently traveling with the convoy to Gaza and another in port in Cyprus for repairs, are flagged and registered in the United States. The ships are U.S. territory under maritime law, and the U.S. government is required to intervene if this "U.S. property" is attacked or illegally confiscated by Israeli authorities — a tactic Israel has threatened and deployed in the past. Israel has a long history of attacking ships whose missions are deemed undesirable. In December 2008, it rammed the Dignity, carrying medical and humanitarian aid, doctors, human rights workers and a former U.S. congresswoman, without warning in international waters.

Israel intensified its 2006 blockade after attacking the area in a weeks-long assault that ended in January 2009, killing more than 1,400 and leaving thousands more homeless and reducing huge swaths of housing to rubble. The blockade has created mass unemployment and extreme poverty, leaving four out of five Gazans — half of whom are children — dependent on humanitarian aid.

The Freedom Flotilla carries more than 10,000 tons of relief and developmental aid to Gaza, along with roughly 700 participants from more than 30 countries, among them volunteers from South Africa, Algeria, Turkey, Macedonia, Pakistan, Yemin, Kosovo, the UK and US and Kuwait – and an exiled former Archbishop of Jerusalem who currently lives in the Vatican. The cargo includes prefabricated homes and playgrounds, cement and other home-building supplies, medical devices and medications, textiles and food, in defiance of Israel's siege on Gaza, which restricts the entry of all materials, including food and medicine. The flotilla's supplies were gathered by a coalition of international civil society and human rights organizations to be sent directly to the people of Gaza by sea, using only international waters and the coastal waters immediately off of Gaza for passage. The flotilla is expected to arrive in Gaza as early as today.

Participants on board speak languages that include English, Turkish, Kurdish, over ten dialects of Arabic, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Malaysian, Indonesian, Norwegian, Swedish, Urdu, Punjabi, Farsi, Hindi, German, Flemish, Greek, Catalan, Russian, Bosnian, Chechen, Macedonian and Albanian. Reporters on board hail from locations that include the United Kingdom, Spain, Malaysia, Indonesia, Venezuela, Kuwait, South Africa, Pakistan, Jordan, the Persian Gulf and across the Arab world.

Protests in support of the aid convoy have been occuring around the world since Thursday, with Chicagoans scheduled to protest again at 4:30 PM on Tuesday, June 1, in front of the Israeli consulate at 111 E. Wacker Dr. in Chicago.

U.S.-based humanitarian projects with news updates on the Gaza aid flotilla:

LIVE video feed: www.livestream.com/insaniyardim
www.WitnessGaza.com
www.freegaza.org
gazafreedommarch.org
fpmdigitalship.blogspot.com/
www.ihh.org.tr
savegaza.eu/eng
www.perdana4peace.org/Default.aspx
www.shiptogaza.gr
shiptogaza.se
www.commondreams.org

Recent news reports on the aid flotilla:
Gaza aid flotilla anticipates high-seas standoff with Israel - LA Times: www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-gaza-flotilla-20100531,0,7691835.story
Gaza Aid Convoy Showdown Poses Challenge for Israel - Time Magazine: www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1992205,00.html
Pro-Palestinian aid flotilla sets sail for Gaza - Associated Press: www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD9G172NG0
Gaza Freedom Flotilla Shows Power of Nonviolent Resistance - Huffington Post: www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/gaza-freedom-flotilla-sho_b_594407.html
Rel ief convoy sails from Cyprus for Gaza- Reuters: www.iol.co.za/index.php
Convoy of ships resumes journey toward Gaza - CNN: www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/05/30/gaza.protest/
Aid ships set out to bust Gaza blockade - AFP: www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gx-Zcxvyt5gEOZXW1NrQEoxEB_pw
Cyprus stops MPs from joining Gaza flotilla - Cyprus Mail: www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/cyprus-stops-mps-joining-gaza-flotilla/20100529
Gaza-bound aid ships leave Cyprus - Aljazeera.net: english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/201053062124985747.html
Report: Israeli navy prepares to stop Freedom Fleet - Maan News Agency (Palestine): www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx
Gaza-bound aid ships leave Cyprus - Aljazeera.net: english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/201053062124985 747.html
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