Gaza Humanitarian Aid | The American Task Force on Palestine

Challenger I passengers: Commandos shot first
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Mya Guarnieri - June 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Alex Harrison, a British activist who participated in the Freedom Flotilla, was on the neighboring Challenger I when the Israeli army overtook the Mavi Marmara, leaving at least nine activists dead and dozens injured. An eyewitness to the takeover, Harrison told Ma'an what she saw in the moments before the Israeli army boarded the Mavi Marmara. "I was on the Challenger I, on the upper deck," Harrison said. "We were very close to the Marmara. We actually thought [the Israeli navy] was coming for us first."

Egypt keeps border with Gaza open
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
June 8, 2010 - 12:00am

After three years of co-operating in the Israeli blockade of Gaza, Egypt said that it will leave its border with the Palestinian territory open indefinitely for humanitarian aid and restricted travel. With international pressure building to ease the blockade, an Egyptian security official said on Monday that sealing off Hamas-ruled Gaza has only bred more militancy.

Israel’s Gaza policy has strengthened Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) June 8, 2010 - 12:00am

The recent attempts to break the naval blockade of Gaza are the strongest evidence that the occupation over Gaza has never ended. When the Sharon government completed the disengagement from Gaza in 2005, foreign minister Tzipi Livni planned to announce to the UN General Assembly in September 2005 that Israel no longer occupied Gaza and that the international body is now responsible for the welfare of its people. The Legal Department of the Foreign Ministry informed her that she could not make that claim.

Knesset panel recommends revoking Arab MK's privileges
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The Knesset's House Committee on Monday recommended revoking the privileges of Israeli Arab MK Hanin Zuabi, after she participated in last week's Gaza-bound aid flotilla which resulted in an IDF raid that killed nine activists. The decision was passed by a majority of seven to one, with MK Ilan Gilon of Meretz opposing. The Knesset committee recommended rescinding from Zuabi three key privileges usually granted to Knesset Members. One is the privilege to exit the country – which is supposed to prevent Zoabi from fleeing Israel if she commits a felony or has debts in Israel.

Turkey seeks strong regional pressure on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Tulay Karadeniz - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Turkey will seek the backing of its Middle Eastern and Asian neighbours at a regional summit on Tuesday to step up pressure on Israel over the killing of nine Turks on an aid ship bound for Gaza. Israel has already rejected a United Nations call for an international inquiry into its seizure of the ship last week, but Turkey, flexing its diplomatic muscle as one of the biggest military and economic powers in the region, is not giving up.

EU, PNA contact to set plan for ending Gaza blockade: official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 7, 2010 - 12:00am

A Palestinian official revealed Monday that there are contacts between Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the European Union to submit a plan to the international Quartet for ending Gaza blockade. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that a number of European countries, including Spain and Switzerland, are contacting the PNA to discuss the ways possible to lift the blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007.

The hijacking of the truth: Film evidence 'destroyed'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Catrina Stewart - June 6, 2010 - 12:00am

Jamal Elshayyal, a journalist with al-Jazeera, woke with a start to the opening salvos of an Israeli assault that would transform the decks of the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish vessel bound for Gaza, into a bloodbath. From the ship's position deep in international waters, satellite images of Israeli speedboats and helicopters approaching the vessel were beamed across the globe before communications were abruptly cut off, leaving the events on the Marmara to unfold away from the eyes of the world.

Iran Revolutionary Guards ready to escort Gaza ships
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Robin Pomeroy - June 6, 2010 - 12:00am

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are ready to provide a military escort to cargo ships trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday. "Iran's Revolutionary Guards naval forces are fully prepared to escort the peace and freedom convoys to Gaza with all their powers and capabilities," Ali Shirazi, Khamenei's representative inside the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency.

Photos from Turkish aid ship show blood and chaos
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ayla Jean - June 6, 2010 - 12:00am

Turkish pro-Palestinian campaigners released photographs on Sunday showing terrified, bleeding Israeli soldiers cowering and surrounded by activists on the Turkish aid ship that they had stormed. Nine activists from Turkey were killed last Monday in the storming of the Mavi Marmara, part of a convoy trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza and deliver some 10,000 tonnes of aid. The photographs were taken by a member of the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Aid, or IHH, which organised the convoy, said spokesman Salih Bilici.

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