Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Israel calls Gaza blockade critics hypocrites
|
Edition:
U.S.
Article
Comments (14)
Slideshow
Video
Save
Email
Print
Reprints
Most Popular
Most Shared
BP inches ahead in latest bid to control oil spill
| Video
1:21am EDT
Israel calls Gaza blockade critics "hypocrites"
| Video
1:53am EDT
China delays Gates trip in apparent snub for Taiwan
02 Jun 2010
Caffeine addicts get no real perk from morning cup
02 Jun 2010
WRAPUP 1-BP inches ahead in latest bid to control oil spill
1:19am EDT
SCENARIOS-The future for BP after the oil spill
1:01am EDT
Powerful Cyclone Phet barrels toward Oman
02 Jun 2010
Asian stock jump after U.S. data
| Video
3:02am EDT
AT&T to end unlimited use mobile data plan
02 Jun 2010
Hole opens in Guatemala neighborhood, 3 missing
23 Feb 2007
Costa Rica shuts stem cell clinic
02 Jun 2010
Caffeine addicts get no real perk from morning cup
02 Jun 2010
Iran to sell 45 bln euros, buy dollars, gold -Xinhua
02 Jun 2010
AT&T to end unlimited use mobile data plan
02 Jun 2010
Burger diet linked to higher childhood asthma risk
02 Jun 2010
Israel calls Gaza blockade critics "hypocrites"
| Video
1:53am EDT
2010 hurricane season seen more active than feared
02 Jun 2010
Facebook CEO says no date in mind for IPO
02 Jun 2010
Obama extends benefits for gay federal employees
02 Jun 2010
Vitamin E linked to less of the skin disease eczema
28 May 2010
Israel calls Gaza blockade critics "hypocrites"
Thu Jun 3, 2010 1:53am EDT
Related News
Israel tension boosts Turkey's popularity with Arabs
1:53am EDT
U.N. rights body sets probe into flotilla raid
1:53am EDT
Biden backs Israel's right to stop Gaza-bound ships
1:53am EDT
Flotilla activists given hero's welcome in Turkey
1:53am EDT
Related Video
Netanyahu defends military's raid
Wed, Jun 2 2010
Israel frees flotilla activists
Tue, Jun 1 2010
Turkey wants Gaza blockade lifted
Wed, Jun 2 2010
Egypt reopens Gaza border
Tue, Jun 1 2010
Israel frees flotilla activists
Turkey wants Gaza blockade lifted
Egypt reopens Gaza border
1 / 30
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a televised address at his office in Jerusalem, June 2, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Jim Hollander/Pool
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Defending Israel's enforcement of its blockade of Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday it was vital for security and would stay in place.
World
In a televised speech after world outrage erupted over nine deaths in Monday's seizure of a Turkish ship bound for Gaza, a defiant Netanyahu said easing controls would put Iranian missiles in the hands of the Palestinian enclave's Hamas rulers.
This threatened not just Israel but Europe too, he said.
Turkey, a Muslim country that had been Israel's strategic ally, accused it of "state terrorism" and has recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and demanded it lift its blockade.
Those calls have been echoed by European leaders and the United Nations whose Human Rights Council voted to set up an independent fact-finding mission into the incident.
Israel's key backer, the United States, is less outspoken. It has called for calm. Western powers agree with Israel that Iranian-backed Hamas is a threat but say the embargo should not punish the 1.5 million people trapped in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu made no mention of launching any form of investigation, despite the growing calls inside Israel as well for a hard look at what critics say was a bungled raid.
He lambasted world leaders for criticizing the ships' takeover, accusing some of holding Israel to what he called a double standard and questioning its right to defense.
"Once again, Israel faces hypocrisy and a biased rush to judgment," Netanyahu said as he defended the actions of Israeli marines who, he said, fired in self-defense against Turks wielding sticks and knives on the cruise liner Mavi Marmara.
"The international community cannot afford an Iranian port on the Mediterranean...The same countries that are criticizing us today, should know that they could be targeted tomorrow."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said leaders in London and Washington were discussing what might be done to ease the pain of the blockade on ordinary Gazans, telling parliament it had created an "unacceptable and unsustainable situation."
TESTIMONY
Israel said it was deporting all 682 activists from more than 35 countries detained after the assault in international waters on the six ships it commandeered. All but nine wounded prisoners were expected to be gone by the end of the day.
The accounts of some released challenged Israeli versions that all of those shot, including two who grabbed pistols from the boarding party, were attacking the marines.
Moroccan Islamist lawmaker Abdelkader Amara said: "I will never forget a Turkish companion. I had just left him to go down below and I thought he would follow me, and then I saw they had shot him in the chest and he died."
Israel says it has not been able to identify all nine dead, but says most of them were Turks.
It said the marines who rappelled onto the Mavi Marmara, fired in self-defense after activists attacked them with clubs, knives, as well as two pistols snatched from the commandos.
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told parliament that two of the activists killed during the takeover were shot after they used the two handguns to wound two commandos.
Turkey said three of the nine dead had been identified as Turks and a fourth had a Turkish credit card. Israel has not named publicly any of those killed.
An opinion poll in Israel's Maariv newspaper showed that more than 60 percent of Israelis believed the interception was flawed operationally. But few question the Gaza blockade.
TURKS SEIZED COMMANDOS
Israeli military affairs experts have described the assault as a blunder because the strength of the resistance on board was underestimated. Andre Abu Khalil, a Lebanese television cameraman deported on Wednesday, said he saw Turks on the Mavi Marmara seize the first four commandos to land on the deck.
Israel has said marines winched down from helicopters armed with riot-control paintball guns were beaten and about to be "lynched" before comrades opened fire with live ammunition.
"The first attempt to descend failed. They detained four soldiers," Abu Khalil said. "They (Israelis) opened fire on three quarters of the men who were at the back of the ship."
Tensions over the flotilla rippled through Israel's parliament on Wednesday where a Jewish lawmaker denounced as a traitor an Arab member, Hanin Zoabi, who had been aboard one of the ships. Another tried to grab Zoabi's microphone.
A new attempt to bust the blockade loomed on the horizon: The MV Rachel Corrie, a converted merchant ship bought by pro-Palestinian activists and named after an American woman killed in the Gaza Strip in 2003, set off on Monday from Malta.
It is carrying 15 activists, including a Northern Irish Nobel Peace laureate, and expects to be at the point of Monday's interception between Friday evening and Saturday morning, crew member Derek Graham told Irish state broadcaster RTE.
Asked how Israel would treat any new attempt to steam into Gaza, Tzachi Hanegbi, head of parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said: "We cannot let them blur the red line Israel has set. Letting them in to help Hamas is not an option."
Egypt, which has kept its own Gaza border largely closed since Hamas, an offshoot of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, seized the territory in 2007, reopened the frontier.
The move was widely seen as an attempt to deflect criticism of its blockade, and hundreds of Palestinians flocked to the frontier terminal at Rafah on Wednesday. It is the only Gaza crossing not controlled by Israel.
(Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Rafah, Tom Perry in Ramallah, Marie-Louise Gumuchian in Dublin, Simon Cameron-Moore in Istanbul, Yara Bayoumy in Beirut, Zakia Abdennebi in Rabat and Lamine Chikh in Algiers; editing by Angus MacSwan)
World
Comments
See All Comments (14) | Post Comment
Jun 03, 2010 12:08am EDT
lol, I’m not surprised to see in the picture that Netanyahu is doing something that looks like a Nazi salute. Very fitting for him, the photographer who took that picture, did a great job.
alwaysright
Report As Abusive
Jun 03, 2010 12:17am EDT
After what Israel has done, the world should be as concerned about them as anyone who commits terrorism!
slsierz
Report As Abusive
Jun 03, 2010 12:37am EDT
Israel, and the marines that repelled down showed AMAZING restraint. Had i been in command, and my soliders had come under that kind of savage attack, from a so called mission of peace, i would not have hesitated to target every club wielding man on that vessel, and not with paintballs.
the armed activists on that ship were equipped with gas masks, weapons, and crude body armor.
This was not a mission of peace, this was an attack on the Israeli military in the hopes of getting it on camera.
Hamas, and The Palestinian org did not care how many of their own people died, only that they caused Israel a black eye.
I can hardly wait, till Israel starts recognizing the Kurds, the way the Turks recognize Hamas. I wonder what kind of response that will draw. Hypocritical ones i imagine.
JayWx
Report As Abusive
Jun 03, 2010 1:07am EDT
I understand Israel’s reluctance to ease the blockade. However, I see the blockade as being forced on Israel as well, not just on Palestinians. Hamas, and others, are implacably determined to utterly annihilate Israel and will never be satisfied with anything less. Hamas and its supporters can afford any number of lost battles because Israel is not committed to their utter destruction. They can always regroup later. However the Israelis are always fighting for their very survival and can never afford to lose even one war.
I’m not saying that everything Israel is doing is right, far from it, but they are not the fundamental problem here. Rather, it is the utter hatred Islamic extremists have for Jews which leaves Israelis little choice but to defend themselves at all costs or perish. Try really putting yourself in the place of ordinary Israelis knowing that Hamas won’t be satisfied until you’re dead and they are trying to import weapons into Gaza all the time to fire at you. The greatest enemies of peace for the Palestinian people are either Hamas or their own personal hatred for Israelis.
RogerMaddrell
Report As Abusive
Jun 03, 2010 1:34am EDT
Israelis are not fools to allow terrorists as peace workers….terrorists will be hiding some part of the peace ship!
alphyn
Report As Abusive
Jun 03, 2010 1:51am EDT
Israel is as dishonest as China.
JaylikeBirdz
Report As Abusive
Jun 03, 2010 2:01am EDT
A flotilla of activists arrived today at Polish port of Gdansk with supplies for half-million Jews hemmed into the Warsaw Ghetto. However, they were informed they were late as the Ghetto had already revolted and been liquidated with thousands of civilian casualties. Next they sought to help the Armenians whom they heard were being exterminated in Turkey, but found that the mere mention of this idea landed them in Turkish jails for a number of years, and that helping the Kurds was also just as problematic for the Turkish authorities. Next heading for South Africa to alleviate apartheid where relative newcomers were taking and settling land and water and keeping natives in bantustans under a state of military conquest and poverty, they found that there also they were too late, but a Jewish Judge there suggested they might find similar situations elsewhere, although he was roundly condemed by his community for this. Finally, with some doubt, they headed for Gaza City which they heard had become an outdoor prison with limited building and educational supplies and no exports allowed. However they were not able to reach there also.
GodisRight
Report As Abusive
Jun 03, 2010 2:08am EDT
The cost of Israel’s security is measured in human lives. I’m sure people are starving and hospitals, power plants and infrastructure haven’t been fixed since the last war on Gaza. Netanyahu doesn’t want peace, that would be a compromise. Israel can do whatever it wants, take it all and build cages around the animals.
josh711
Report As Abusive
Jun 03, 2010 2:34am EDT
1.5 million Palestinians blockaded and locked up in a modern ghetto just so Israelis can have their lebensraum. Those who don’t understand history are doomed to repeat it.
sudpralad
Report As Abusive
See All Comments (14)
Add a Comment
*We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language or appear to be spam and review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters.
© Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters
Editorial Editions:
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
United States
Reuters
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Help
Journalism Handbook
Archive
Site Index
Video Index
Analyst Research
Mobile
Newsletters
RSS
Podcasts
Widgets
Your View
Labs
Thomson Reuters
Copyright
Disclaimer
Privacy
Professional Products
Professional Products Support
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Careers
Online Products
Acquisitions Monthly
Buyouts
Venture Capital Journal
International Financing Review
Project Finance International
PEhub.com
PE Week
FindLaw
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
Other News on Thursday, 3 June 2010 Iran denies nuclear gear vanished from facility
Gunman kills 12 in rampage through British tourist hotspot
Former US president George W. Bush joins Facebook
Western Balkans' future is in European Union: EU
Militants attack as Afghan peace conference starts
Outgoing Japan PM wants to keep his Twitter followers
US automakers post double-digit sales jump
French archaeologists dig up 30-year-old banquet
GM US sales jump 16.6% in May
Amazon Kindle going on sale in Target stores across US
Powerful Cyclone Phet barrels toward Oman
|
Body of fugitive British gunman believed found: police
Finnish police scrap probe into Google privacy breach
Iran says enriching to higher levels as backup plan
|
US pending home sales soar ahead of tax credit deadline
New floods in central Europe, at least two dead
|
Iraqi Kurdish leader in Turkey for landmark visit
|
Darfur activism had negative consequences: report
|
Greek corruption inquiry lost in translation
|
Moderate quake hits Papua New Guinea: US seismologists
At least 30 dead, 18 missing in south China rain, landslides
Foxconn confirms another employee death
Top Cambodian court upholds lawmaker's defamation conviction
Nearly 5 million downloaded Skype iPhone 3G app
|
EBay CEO says volume on iPhone app could triple
|
Chinese PM in Myanmar ahead of rare elections
Hong Kong deports democracy statue sculptor: lawmaker
Australian PM calls Israel's Netanyahu on Gaza aid flotilla
Sony to shut Blu-ray player factory in Hungary
AT&T, T-Mobile infringe patents, U.S. lawsuit says
|
Toshiba invention brings quantum computing closer
|
Twitter returns Chavez to Venezuela's reality
|
Toyota US sales rise 6.7 percent in May
WTO members want more transparency from China
Cambodia promises effective use of international aid
China inflation could hit 3.7 percent in 2010: state media
Organisers reject S.Lanka Bollywood awards boycott
Old gold: Seniors find second life in modelling
'Wives' of Catholic priests speak out against celibacy
One careful owner... James Bond's Aston Martin up for sale
Churchill's cigar under hammer in London
Sick John Mayer cancels Europe shows, heads back to U.S.
|
Russell Brand talks his way to Hollywood stardom
|
TV film looks at odyssey of guitarist Billy McLaughlin
|
Twilights Kristen Stewart likens her fame to rape
|
Afghan peace conference mulls talks with Taliban
Paul McCartney honoured at White House
Israel calls Gaza blockade critics hypocrites
|
Murdoch hails Apple's Jobs as top US CEO
Three killed in C.Europe floods, hundreds moved
Afghan elders debate peace plan despite Taliban attack
|
Militants attack Afghan peace conference
First round of bidding closes for Newsweek
Six men to be isolated in 520-day 'Mars mission'
BOJ warns on public debt as Japan seeks new PM
|
US debt tops 13 trillion dollars for first time
U.N. investigator calls for halt to CIA drone killings
|
US automakers post double-digit sales jump
Oil closes in on Florida, BP saw snags on pipe
S.Korea hesitates bringing sea attack to U.N. council
|
Somali troops storm cargo ship but pirates kill captain
|
Another Foxconn worker dies, family blames overwork
|
Bangladesh halts building collapse rescue, 25 dead
Powerful Cyclone Phet takes aim at Oman
|
Former Aceh rebel dies at 85 in Indonesia
S.Korea's president suffers election setback
Minimum and maximum global temperatures in Celsius
Computers used in drive to test stress levels
Korean tensions top agenda at Asian security forum
Ugly row over Australia's Facebook 'freaks'
S.Africa's Zuma seeks to boost India trade links
Asian Games Chinese host city to force out beggars
Angry passengers attack China airport staff
China 'not very optimistic' on cutting emissions
U.S. Markets Rally On Strong Home Sales, Energy Rebound
Indian Minister Sets Tone For U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue
Mexicans Angered by Beating Death of Illegal Immigrant in California
Facebook CEO says no date in mind for IPO
|
Nokia Siemens conducts 30 next gen LTE network trials
|
Pakistan central bank chief resigns
Yen drops against dollar
China begins trial of energy tax in oil region
Jackson memorial museum complex plans unveiled
Oil spill likely to doom Louisiana seaside restaurant
Spain to extend smoking ban to bars, restaurants next year
Butoh legend, Japanese dancer Ohno dies at 103
Director James Cameron says BP turned down help offer
|
Adam Lambert promises sexy but tasteful show
|
Court halts release of Jim Carrey film
|
Actor Brad Pitt joins U.S. bid to host World Cup
|
Obama presents award to former Beatle McCartney
|
Oprah Winfrey among Minerva Award recipients
|
Red Dawn remake irks Beijing
|
Grand Ole Opry back in Oct. after $17 million in flood repairs
|
Mother of seven touted as new German president
Security boosted for Afghan 'peace jirga'
Taiwan's Green Book unveils lightest e-book reader
Aid ship sailing towards Gaza, prefers U.N. escort
|
Gaza activists hailed as ambassador recalled from Israel
Briton warned of 'rampage' before shooting 12 dead
Did bloggers bring down the German president?
BP rocked by ratings downgrades
Differences remain at Afghan peace conference
Aquino has unbeatable lead in Philippine vote tally
|
Nokia launches bicycle-powered charger
Taiwan: Time is not right to bolster Iran ties
BP Organizes Massive Apology Campaign
Spill threatens Florida's beaches and tourism
Afghan peace conference mulls talks with Taliban
Movie Ticket Vendor Fandango Offering 10-Cent Ticket Giveaways For 10th Anniversary
British police seek answers after shooting rampage
|
Australian commando has suspected drug overdose
Maytag Recalls More Than 1 Million Dishwashers
U.S.-India Business Body To Strengthen Educational Links
Man Shot, Dragged For Miles In Possible South Carolina Hate Crime
New Jersey "Real Housewife" Danielle Staub To Record Pop Track
Nokia launches bicycle-powered charger
Liza Minnelli Denies "Celebrity Rehab" Participation
Turkey, Iraqi Kurds see deeper ties after visit
|
U.S. Marshals Capture 73-Year-Old Fugitive
Study: Indian Consumers Best At Making Green Choices, Americans Least
U.S. backs South Korea in face of unpredictable North
|
Threat To Blow Up FBI Building In D.C. Results In Prison Term
North Korean envoy warns war could erupt soon
|
Imprisoned Azeri journalist goes on hunger strike
|
US senator cancels Myanmar trip on nuclear suspicions
Chinese and Myanmar leaders sign deals, discuss border
US senator nixes Myanmar trip over nuclear concern
Death toll from China landslides rises to 38
US senator to meet Suu Kyi on Myanmar trip
Pacific islands adapt to climate change
Anwar accuser was sodomised, says Malaysian doctor
Egypt opposition get four upper house seats
|
Book asks: Is Internet ruining our minds?
|
Nokia unveils 4 cheap phones
|
EU court says countries can ban online gambling
|
Zuma calls for stronger ties with India
G20 warns global recovery still fragile: draft
Nokia unveils bicycle mobile charger
|
B.B. King to keep playing until 'called from above'
Honda's China strike a lesson for Japanese exporters
Excavation throws up 1980s lunch
Asian oil prices rebound as US stocks soar
Jeff Koons to give Le Mans art-car fee to charity
'Twilight' author to issue last of vampire series
G-20 finance officials begin global economy talks
Honda says China factories back to work Friday
Wallander writer may bar Hebrew version of books
Honda to resume car production in China
Century-old S.African market fights new mall plans
Japan's Prime Minister To Step Down
Offer you can refuse? Holidays on ex-mafia hideout
Taiwan president faces hurdles in key China deal
Mars Trip Simulation To Lock Up 6 Men In Mock Spaceship For 18 Months
Namibians Sterilized Without Consent Sue Government For $130,000
Bollywood stars arrive in Sri Lanka for awards
China, Japan Form Largest Ecommerce Service With 260 Million Users
Couple Destined To Be Together
Military Aircraft Injures 10 In Memorial Day Demonstration
Landslide-Formed Lake Overflows In Pakistan, Threatens To Engulf Villages
Sack Tapping Results In Testicle Loss For One Boy
Sting goes classical as kicks off world tour Symphonicity
|
Pop princess Minogue tweets and says love life rosy
|
Brad Pitt joins U.S. bid to host World Cup
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights