Turkish Court Indicts Senior Israeli Military Officials in Murders on Gaza Flotilla

Actual Video on board Mavi Marmara

Source Video: Cultures of Resistance.org

Article By: Col. Ann Wright

Original Source: War is a Crime

Source: Global Research

On the Second Anniversary of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Turkish Court Indicts Senior Israeli Military Officials in Murders of Nine Passengers

Two years ago I was a passenger on the first Gaza Freedom Flotilla which was sailing to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. I watched from a small boat called the Challenger 1, as a much larger boat, the Mavi Marmara, with almost 600 passengers, was brutally attacked by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) commandos. 30 minutes later, our boat was attacked.

Using snipers from helicopters Israeli commandos shot many of the passengers on the exposed top deck of the ship. Other commandos in boats fired live ammunition, as well as percussion grenades, into all levels of the ship. As commandos repelled down from helicopters and boarded the ship, they executed at point blank range 5 passengers, including a 19 year old American citizen Furkan Dogan, whose body had five bullets including one to the back of his head. 9 persons, 8 Turkish citizens and one American citizen, were murdered and 50 others were wounded. One severely wounded Turkish man later died after being in a coma for many months.

Each of the six ships in the flotilla was attacked by IDF commandos. Passengers on the ships were shot with tasers and beaten by commandos. Potentially lethal paintballs were shot into the faces of passengers narrowly missing eyes and soft parts of the skull.

IDF commandos took the computers, cameras, identification and credit cards and several hundred thousands of dollars in cash from the passengers. IDF commandos sold many of the stolen computers. Very few of the items taken by the IDF have been returned to passengers.

The Mavi Marmara was returned to Turkey with a new coat of paint to cover the blood stains of those wounded and killed. The other five ships are still held by the Israeli government in the port of Haifa.

Turkish Court Indictment of Senior Israeli Military Officials

On May 28, 2012, almost two years after the Israeli attack, a court in Istanbul, Turkey, voted unanimously to approve an indictment against Israel's former military chief Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, as well as for Eliezer Marom, Amos Yadlin, and Avishai Levi, the former heads of the Israeli Navy, Air Force Intelligence, and Military Intelligence. If convicted, each faces nine consecutive life terms in prison for "inciting to kill monstrously, and by torturing." http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/turkish-court-charges-senior-idf-officials-over-gaza-flotilla-deaths-1.432983#article_comments

The indictment also charged several unidentified soldiers who shot passengers. The charges against members of the Israeli military include commandeering vehicles, voluntary manslaughter, attempted murder, persecution and causing damage to the ship.

The indictment specifies 490 victims and complainants, among them 189 who were injured during the raid. The indictment rejected Israeli claims that Israeli commandos who boarded the Mavi Marmara acted in self-defense, saying that Israeli commandos used disproportional force by firing with heavy weapons and automatic rifles on passengers who only carried "plastic flag masts, spoons, and forks." The indictment stated that some of the victims were shot dead from close range and from the back.

2011 Gaza Flotilla and Freedom Waves

Despite the lethal Israeli attack a year earlier, in 2011, international citizen activists prepared ten ships to sail to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. The Israeli and US governments pressured the Greek government to prevent the sailing of 8 of the ships that were in Greece. Three ships from the 2011 Gaza Freedom Flotilla eventually challenged the Israeli blockade. One ship that had sailed from France in July, 2011 and two others (one from the Irish campaign and one from the Canadian/Australian campaign) that sailed from Turkey in November, 2011 were intercepted by the Israeli navy, the boats confiscated and the passengers deported from Israel.

Next Challenge to the Israeli Blockade-Gaza’s Ark

Committed to continue to bring international attention to the continuing brutal Israeli naval blockade of Gaza, international activists are working with the sailing and boating community of Gaza to prepare a ship to sail FROM Gaza carrying Gazan exports goods that will have been purchased by the international community. The boat will be called “Gaza’s Ark” and will provide job skills and employment for workers on the boat as well as a market for the beautiful crafts of Gaza. http://www.tahrir.ca/en/gazaark

About the Author: Ann Wright spent 29 years in the US Army/Army Reserves and retired as a Colonel. She was a US diplomat for 16 years and resigned in 2003 in opposition to the Iraq war. She travelled to Gaza three times in 2009, helped organize the 2009 Gaza Freedom March and was a passenger on the 2010 and 2011 Gaza Freedom Flotillas. She was an organizer for the US Boat to Gaza, the Audacity of Hope and is an organizer for the US campaign for Gaza’s Ark.

To DOWNLOAD THE VIDEO :

http://tc.indymedia.org/files/flotilla-footage/index.html

On the night of Sunday, May 30, showing a terrifying disregard for human life, Israeli naval forces surrounded and boarded ships sailing to bring humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip. On the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara, Israeli commandos opened fire on civilian passengers, killing at least 9 passengers and wounding dozens more. Others are still missing. The final death toll is yet to be determined. Cultures of Resistance director Iara Lee was aboard the besieged ship and has since returned home safely.

Despite the Israeli government's thorough efforts to confiscate all footage taken during the attack, Iara Lee was able to retain some of her recordings. Above is raw footage from the moments leading up to and during the Israeli commandos' assault on the Mavi Marmara.

Visit http://www.culturesofresistance.org/gaza-blockade to learn more.

Mossad boss secretly in US over Iran

Mossad boss Tamir Pardo

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/224529.html

The head of Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, has recently paid a clandestine visit to the United States during which he reportedly held talks with high-ranking US officials in secret.

Tamir Pardo's clandestine visit to Washington was exposed during a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Haaretz reports.

The session, held last Tuesday, was attended by CIA Director David Petraeus, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Dianne Feinstein who chairs the Senate panel.

According to the report, Feinstein asked Clapper during the meeting whether or not Israel intended to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. The top US intelligence official answered he would rather discuss the issue behind closed doors.

Feinstein then indicated she had met the Mossad chief earlier in the week in Washington, with Petraeus saying he too has met Pardo and cited what he called Israel's growing concern over Iran's nuclear program.

The CIA chief added that it was important to note that Israel considered a nuclear Iran as an existential threat.

No further detail was revealed about Pardo's secret meeting during the session which was broadcast live on American television.

News of the Mossad chief's reported visit to Washington came as Israel's President Shimon Peres said on the same day that Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons capability.

Hinting at the possibility of a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, Peres reiterated that "no option should be ruled out in our dealing with the Iranian danger. This is an existential threat."

He claimed that preventing Iran from getting its hands on nuclear weapon was “the obligation of most of the leaders of the free world, one which they must meet."

The United States, Israel and their European allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program and used this pretext to sway the UN Security Council to impose four rounds of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Washington and Tel Aviv have also threatened Tehran with the "option" of a military strike against its nuclear facilities.

Iran has refuted the allegations, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Tehran has a right to use nuclear technology for peaceful use.

'3,000 buried in mass graves in Turkey'

Ozturk Turkdogan, the chairman of Turkey's Human Rights Association

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/221652.html

The chairman of Turkey's Human Rights Association says that there are at least 3,000 bodies buried in mass graves in the country and most have not been excavated yet, Press TV reports.

In light of the enormity of the issue, a center should be established to excavate remains from the graves, based on international regulations and standards, so that clues that could help identify the victims and those responsible for the killings will not be damaged, Ozturk Turkdogan told Press TV on Tuesday.

Several sets of human remains were recently discovered in mass graves in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir.

The remains were reportedly found in an area where a building formerly used by the Gendarmerie Intelligence Anti-Terrorism Unit (JITEM) is located.

It is widely believed that numerous unsolved murders in eastern and southeastern Turkey in the 1990s were committed by JITEM, mostly as part of the campaign against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Turkdogan says that the remains found in Diyarbakir should be used in the investigations of the thousands of unsolved murders of the 1990s.

“Forensic experts can determine when the people buried in the Diyarbakir mass graves were killed. Then they can find the military and security officials responsible (for the killings),” Turkdogan said.

To solve the case of the mass killings, all that is needed is determination on the part of the government, he added.

"US CONGRESSIONAL BILL LISTS Ken O’Keefe AS HAMAS, AL QAEDA LINKED TERRORIST

Source: Ken O’Keefe Press
http://kenokeefe.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/us-congressional-bill-lists-me-as-hamas-al-qaeda-linked-terrorist/

Myself (Ken O’Keefe) and a US citizen, along with IHH and several Turkish nationals are named as having 'known links to Al Qaeda, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations' in US Congressional Bill now being processed through the traitorous US Congress. Here is the applicable paragraph;

'(9) In 2010, IHH organized a flotilla that included the ship Mavi Marmara carrying 40 IHH members, including Fatima Mahmadi, Ken O’Keefe, Hassan Iynasi, Hussein Urosh, Ahmad Umimon, and others with known links to Al Qaeda, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations who were armed with 100 metal rods, 200 knives, 150 military self-defense vests, 50 wooden clubs, gas masks, and a telescopic sight for a gun.'

In the last year and a half I have been jailed three times, once by Israel (where I was beaten as well), once by Canada (under terrorism laws), and once most recently on bogus 'Fraud by misrepresentation' allegations made by the hijackers of the Trade Not Aid mission and carried out by the disgraceful UK Police. I have had my personal items, most notably my computers and hard drives, stolen by Israel, Canada, the US and Britain. The latter three did return my stolen property, but of course everything on my hard drives will be copied and scrutinised with a fine tooth comb. Right now however, agents of the British government have stolen my property for a second time in less than six months, this time through Swansea Police. They have two of my computers and several hard drives, plus my phone, personal documents and even my camera. Once again they stole this property based on the bogus allegation that I supposedly got Catherine Myles, Jez Cuthbert and Cath Jenkins to believe that I was carrying out a humanitarian mission (Trade Not Aid) when in fact (they allege) I said I was doing it all for a "charity".

This is a laughable accusation easily disproved by the facts, have a look at my press conference in Gaza as just one bit of proof what I am up to;

Source Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU-zsUJ9tw8




But since when do the police serve the people and justice?

The problem with this farce is that I have no money, and this is 100% verifiable; I take no salary and do not even cover my expenses. In fact I have incurred provable debt for the work I have done. In particular with the playground I built in Gaza for the Samouni children. Whats more, although I have the legal and moral right to take some pay for the work I do, from the money I raise no less, I have not taken any pay since early 2009 and that was a pittance which was agreed by the donor who supported the launch of Aloha Palestine. Do we honestly think heads of charities work for free? Well I do, and yet I am the one being harassed. I do not take pay because there is never enough money to do all that needs to be done. So I do the most I can with what I have got.


What is truly astonishing is that I have absolute proof that Catherine Myles, Jez Cuthbert and Cath Jenkins are guilty of the fraud they accused me of. They solicited donations for a charity that did not exist. While I have never referred to Aloha Palestine or Trade Not Aid as a charity, while I have taken no financial compensation for my work, I was arrested. Will the UK police arrest these lot? Not a chance.

I will post screenshots of these pitiable traitors soliciting money for the non-Charity 'Palestine Aid'. You will recall these same scoundrels attempted to turn Trade Not Aid into 'Palestine Aid'.





But hold on, it gets even better.

Not only can we establish that those accusing me of fraud are in fact fraudsters and thieves, but the police have been informed by myself, my solicitor and others that the primary fraudster, Catherine Myles, has had at least £10,000 (but probably twice that or more) deposited by supporters of the mission, in good faith, to her account for the Samouni Project and Trade Not Aid, and that money is still completely unaccounted for. The UK Police have the authority to verify what we have alleged, and if they did their job they would have an iron clad case that Catherine Myles has taken over £10,000 of donations and held it for purposes unknown, for over 6 months. Is that fraud? No, not according to the UK police, instead they arrest and harass me.



Say hello to the Trade Not Aid hijacking crew; Catherine Myles (aka Soraya Fitzgerald), Saeb Shaath, Sammi Coulthard (aka Saja Rana & Maitreyi Atmaja), Jez Cuthbert, Allison Hubbard (aka Vera Lynn) Ismail Patel (aka Iggle Piggle), Cath Jenkins and Yousef Khalfan.

It has become pretty clear that the whole reason for this is to justify the stealing of my property and cast doubt about my integrity. With this job being carried out the disgraceful UK police will probably conclude their sham investigation by concluding it was all a civil matter. At which point I have to rely on the corrupt UK "justice" system to recoup this stolen money and property. This all takes time and money and more importantly it delays the mission. Which is the whole point, to get me to give up or at the very least to delay it all, water it down, Zionize it and make it another bullshit band-aid on a gushing wound "aid mission".

Watch this video to see how "aid" is doing massive harm to Palestine;

Source Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVTYyRLMljc




Here is the truth, the British, US and Israeli governments are one and the same, they are the true "Axis of Evil". The police within these nations have proven over and over again that they are servants to these traitors and tyrants. "Just following orders" as any good Nazi would... as it were.

Catherine Myles and Saeb Shaath have played the critical role in thwarting the Trade Not Aid mission, ultimately victimising the already terribly victimised Samouni family, all the while using disgusting slander to support their treachery, with the UK police and themselves all acting as agents of the Zionists whether they know it or not.

The point of all this is to intimidate me, it has not worked. Listing me as a terrorist is meant to scare me. It has not worked. Stealing my property and copying every last bit of my business and personal files is meant to stop me from carrying on. Once again, not happening.

These bastards within MI5-6 and/or "Special Branch" are copying every single file I have ever saved, looking into every single thing I have ever done. They are all cowards the lot of them. They are doing personality profiling on me and trying to find any weakness, any area to exploit. And of course, if there was even a shred of evidence that I was a fraudster, they would be all over it.

Ain't happening, these pathetic minions will have to make something up, I am an honourable man who cannot be bought for any price and when and if I am judged by my maker I have absolutely nothing to fear. I am not brainwashed and fearful of the madness in this world, I will die with honour no matter what the price and no matter what fraud is used to defame me.

I want this to be clear for any so-called "intelligence" or police reading this. I extend respect to the good among you, I know you do exist. To the military, same thing. You are caught up in a machine that is using you, dishonouring you, and at some point you will know this and in order to redeem yourself you must speak out and disobey your unlawful, immoral orders.

For some good news, I have 26 stories I filmed in Gaza coming out in the next few weeks. The initial editing is done and they will be completed soon. This was only possible because I transferred all the video files to a friend before the police stole my property. For sure however this theft has prevented me from doing some work, and of course that is part of the plan. I do not have my most vital piece of equipment, the laptop I use for all sorts of business, most notably my videos. I have had to borrow a machine to do this as I do not have the money to replace my equipment once again.

In addition, if and when I get my property back, these items will have been in the hands of my enemies for months. How can I keep such equipment and not know all sorts of malicious crap will have been planted within them? Ladies and gentlemen, we live in 1984. And if I was Arab or Muslim? I would have been put away long ago, or outright assassinated. But I am white, making things just a little bit trickier.

So I am a fraudster and a womaniser and a thief and a terrorist and blah, blah, blah, regardless of the effort to stop me from doing what I do the next phase of Trade Not Aid will be launched, and we will see just how much damage to this cause all these Zionist slander tactics have had. Either way I will never turn my back on my Palestinian family, whether it is my wife and children who have Palestinian blood, or my extended Palestinian family who I love unconditionally.

The world remains upside down, it is up to us to turn it round and make it right. Until such time I will take the accusations and harassment from the minions of the powers that be as a badge of honour.


Read The Bill: H.R. 3131 - GovTrack.us
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h112-3131

'Turkish attack in SE was no blunder'

People look at the dead bodies of Kurd civilians killed in airstrikes in the village of Ortasu in the southeastern Turkish province of Sirnak, December 29, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/218594.html

Survivors and witnesses of a recent Turkish airstrike that killed 35 Kurdish civilians have questioned the military's claim that they had mistaken them for Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists.

Turkey has admitted that its warplanes mistakenly targeted Kurdish smugglers in the village of Ortasu in Sirnak province in southeastern Turkey close to the border with Iraq on Wednesday night.

"A 10-year-old, a 13-year-old cannot be terrorists," one of the survivors, Servet Encu, said on Friday.

Local security sources confirmed the group was “smuggling gas and sugar into Turkey from northern Iraq.”

“The lightness of their load should have made it obvious the travelers were not fighters” Encu added.

According to the locals, PKK terrorists travel with fewer mules and are fully loaded.

On Thursday, at the state hospital of Uludere, another survivor said soldiers had phoned his village chief to say they could come and pick up the bodies of the smugglers.

"How could they know the dead people were smugglers if it is a mistake?" he asked.

On Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the attack as “unfortunate” and “saddening,” noting that half the dead were less than 20 years old.

The incident sparked clashes between hundreds of stone-throwing protesters and police in several cities in southeast Turkey.

The Turkish military began an operation in northern Iraq in October after 24 Turkish troops were killed in an attack by the PKK in the town of Cukurca near the Iraqi border. The army killed 36 PKK members in the Kazan Valley of Hakkari province.

Over 45,000 people have lost their lives since the PKK launched an armed campaign against Ankara in Turkey's Kurdish majority southeast in 1984.

Israeli warplanes attack Gaza Strip

An Israeli Air Force F-16 fighter jet

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/209123.html

The Israeli military says Israeli warplanes have once again bombarded the impoverished Palestinian territory of Gaza Strip, Press TV reports.

The attack occurred during early hours of Wednesday morning, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The Israeli military claimed that the attack came as retaliation to a rocket fired at southern Israel, although there has been no reported claim of responsibility by any Palestinian group for a rocket attack.

Last week, more than a dozen Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the coastal territory, which has been under a total economic blockade by the Tel Aviv regime since 2007.

The Israeli military frequently bombs the Gaza Strip, claiming that the deadly military attacks are carried out for defensive purposes. However, the Israeli use of disproportionate force, in violation of international law, has always been employed against largely defenseless Palestinian territories, inflicting heavy losses in life and property on the civilian population.

Meanwhile, the Israeli blockade of Gaza has led to a situation that has prompted a severe decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

After Israel's assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters on May 31, 2010, in which nine civilians were killed, Tel Aviv slightly eased the land blockade of Gaza, allowing in more consumer goods.

However, the naval siege of the Gaza Strip remains in place, as exports are banned and imports of raw and construction materials are restricted.

Press TV man still in Israeli's custody

20 Activists also still missing

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/208979.html

The fate of a Press TV correspondent captured by Israeli forces onboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters remains unknown, Press TV reports.

The British citizen, Hassan Ghani, has been denied access to an attorney and the Israeli regime has not divulged which prison he is being held in.

The Press TV reporter was taken into Israeli custody along with 26 other activists and journalists on Friday as he was reporting on an attempt by two aid ships to break Tel Aviv regime's economic blockade of the Palestinian populated Gaza strip.

His father, Haq Ghani, said he had a short phone conversation with Hassan and that his son has refused to sign a waiver the Israelis tried to impose on him, absolving the Tel Aviv regime of all responsibilities.

“A terrorist state like Israel is allowed to get away with state terrorism as it has done in this case where it has gone on high seas, international waters and has kidnapped two boats with 27 people and yet no country in the world has made any reaction,” Haq Ghani said.

The mini aid flotilla, called Freedom Waves to Gaza, departed from the Turkish port city of Fethiye on Wednesday and was scheduled to reach the Gaza Strip on Friday.

The Canadian ship, Tahrir (Freedom), and the Irish ship, Saoirse (Freedom) were carrying 27 activists, including journalists and crewmembers, along with 30,000 dollars worth of medicine.

Shortly before Hassan's boat, the Tahrir, was attacked by Israeli warships and minutes before his arrest, he managed to file one last report.

Subsequently, seven were reportedly released, but at least 20 remained in custody because they refused to sign deportation papers.

Ex- Gaza convoy member, Alex Lorty Philips, who previously traveled with Hassan on two convoys to Gaza, including one during which the Israelis killed nine Turkish citizens, is now launching public information campaign to keep Hassan's predicament in the spotlight.

“We are very disappointed that again the only response that the UK government when our citizen has been illegally intercepted and detained ... assistance. There has been no statement from many I have been aware of as yet about his situation. The same for the Canadian detainees,” Phillips said.

The British Foreign Office claims that they have provided Hassan with consular assistance in Israel. Meanwhile, their Israeli allies insist that they won't allow the Gaza blockade to be broken due to what the claim as the possibility of smuggling weapons for the Hamas government in Gaza.

Israel has intercepted Gaze-bound aid flotillas before. On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos attacked the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters, killing nine Turkish activists and injuring dozens of others.

Pro-Palestinian activists say the Gaza flotillas will continue despite aggressive military measures by Israeli forces, arguing that Israel's blockade of Gaza is causing unprecedented suffering for all Palestinian residents of the impoverished territory.

Gaza has been blockaded since 2006, a situation which has caused a decline in the standard of living in the densely populated enclave and brought about unprecedented levels of unemployment and poverty there.

Turkey vows to control Israel at sea

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/199303.html

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the country's navy will patrol the Mediterranean to prevent Israel from assaulting ships in the international waters.

"Israel will no longer be able to do what it wants in the Mediterranean and you'll be seeing Turkish warships in this sea," Erdogan said after a meeting with his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi, AFP reported.

The Turkish leader also reiterated Ankara's call on Israel to formally apologize for last year's deadly takeover of a Gaza-bound aid convoy.

On May 31, 2010, Israel navy commandos launched a deadly attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while it was sailing in international wasters on a mission to break Tekl Aviv's siege on the Gaza Strip.

The strike left nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists, including a Turkish-American teenager, killed and dozens of others wounded.

"Relations with Israel cannot normalize if Israel does not apologize over the flotilla attack, compensate the martyrs' families and lift the blockade of Gaza," the Turkish prime minister stated.

On September 8, Erdogan said Turkey had taken steps to stop the Israeli regime from unilaterally exploiting natural resources in the Mediterranean.

"Turkish warships, in the first place, are authorized to protect our ships that carry humanitarian aid to Gaza...From now on, we will not let these ships to be attacked by Israel, as what happened with the Freedom Flotilla," he said.

Tel Aviv has refused to apologize for the last May bloodshed, prompting Ankara to expel the Israeli ambassador and cut all bilateral military ties with Israel.

Turkey has also vowed to take action at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to challenge Tel Aviv's four-year siege of Gaza. The blockade has been preventing the flow of food, medicine, and other basic supplies into the impoverished coastal territory.

Ex-minister questions UNSC legitimacy

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197283.html

The UN Security Council (UNSC) has lost its moral credit and Britain and its western allies have been using it in an organized violation of the international law, a former British minister says.

In an attack uncharacteristic of a western politician on what Iran and other countries have called an unjust world order, newly-resigned British International Development Minister Clare Short said the Israeli Regime did not have a chance of usurping Palestinian territories if the international law was truly implemented.

Short told the BBC Persian's Page 2 show on September 1 that the west also did not need to support dictators in the Middle East including former Egyptian despot Hosni Mubarak if it did not need to support the illegal acts of the Israeli occupiers.

She said the US and its western allies use the UN Security Council as a tool in line with their own interests and not as a representative body to safeguard the well-being of all nations.

“The problem is the UN Security Council is unbalanced. The council does not represent or support the interests of all countries. The US has full control over the body and Britain always follows the US lead. Therefore the council does not have a reasonable structure and is not effective enough,” Short said based on the Persian translation of her remarks on BBC Persian.

“Everyone knows that the UN Security Council has lost its moral leverage, yet in many countries including the developed world UN agencies are still highly respected,” she added.

In the BBC Persian show that was meant to discuss the NATO presence in Libya, Short pinpointed oil as the root cause of the west's interventions in the Middle East.

“I think the west tries to intervene in the Middle East because it has rich oil reserves and that the US considers access to energy resources in line with its national interests. The Middle East would have a completely different fate if there were no oil,” she said.

The former minister who resigned over the war in Iraq, further underlined the main reason for the west's willingness to keep close ties with regional countries including the Saudi Arabia is having access to their energy resources adding western powers neglect the very human rights principles they claim to support to keep energy resources within the reach.

“Let's not forget that the Saudi Arabia's record of human rights, democracy and women's rights is in many respects against what the west supports, yet the west's interest in friendship with Saudi Arabia shows oil is an important factor,” she added.

Short also referred to the Palestinian-Israeli issue in the Middle East saying that is not a conflict fueled by oil.

She said sowing discord in the region is a method that helps the west advance its goals adding the Palestinian issue could be solved differently if it did not have wider implications for the west.

Following her candid remarks, the BBC presenter asked her what did she propose as an alternative as she is “openly questioning the current world order”, particularly concerning the policies in the Middle East.

She answered that the west is not observing the “rules of the game”, which she identified as “the international law”, in the Middle East saying regional conflicts should be left at the discretion of regional countries and they will be able to solve their problems.

“If the rules were respected Israel could not occupy the Palestinian lands and there was no need for the west to support regional dictators in Egypt and other countries to defend Israel,” she concluded adding if there was no foreign intervention regional nations could taste stability and use their wealth on the welfare of their people.

“The policies of the west are stupid and cause tensions and hatred that lead to the creation of organizations similar to al-Qaeda. If the west respected values such as international law and human rights which it supports, we could see a better Middle East but as long as no such change happens it will go on to be explosive and troublesome,” she said.

Turkey to challenge Israel's Gaza siege

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197323.html

Turkey says it plans to challenge Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip at the International Court of Justice, amid rising tensions between Ankara and Tel Aviv.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced the decision on Saturday, one day after the release of a United Nations report on Israel's May 31, 2010 attack on a Gaza-bound aid convoy in international waters and the deaths of nine Turkish nationals on board the fleet.

The report, written by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, approved Israel's blockade of Gaza -- tightened a year after the election of Hamas in Palestine's general elections of 2006 -- as a so-called security measure.

It called the Israeli raid "excessive and unreasonable," but also blamed Turkey and the flotilla organizers for contributing to the killing of pro-Palestinian activists.

Davutoglu rejected the Palmer report saying it was in contrast with an earlier report on the incident prepared by the UN Human Rights Council in September, which found that Israel violated international law by attacking the civilian aid convoy.

He argued that the recent document was not endorsed by the United Nations and was therefore not binding.

“What is binding is the International Court of Justice,'' Davutoglu said.

“This is what we are saying: let the International Court of Justice decide,'' he added, explaining that Ankara was preparing the necessary grounds for the legal action.

The comments came a day after Turkey, irked by Israel's refusal to apologize over its deadly attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, expelled Tel Aviv's ambassador to Ankara and froze all military ties with Israel.

Turkey, which has been actively pursuing the case of Israel's flotilla attack, also promised to support legal actions against Israel by the families of the victims of the attack.

It also vowed to take measures to ensure freedom to navigate in the eastern Mediterranean, a move that analysts suggest could mean sending navy forces to escort future aid convoys.

In his Saturday comments, Davutoglu warned Tel Aviv that its persistence in disdaining to apologize could seriously endanger Israel's interest in Arab and Muslim countries, swept by popular revolutions and a surging wave of Islamic Awakening.

"If Israel persists with its current position, the Arab spring will give rise to a strong Israel opposition as well as the debate on the authoritarian regimes,'' he said.

'Turkey must cut all ties with Israel'

Lawmaker Hossein Naqavi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197269.html

A senior Iranian lawmaker has urged Turkey to take serious action towards completely severing its ties with Israel, downplaying Ankara's recent expulsion of the Israeli ambassador.

“[Turkey's] contracts and contacts [with Israel] are still in place with the expulsion of the ambassador of the [Israeli] regime,” member of the Majlis (Parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Hossein Naqavi told Fars News Agency on Saturday.

“If Turkey has the intention of taking practical measure vis-à-vis the Zionist regime [of Israel], [it] must display this practical measure by terminating and revoking its contracts with this regime,” he noted.

On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the country had suspended all its military ties with Tel Aviv and expelled Israel's envoy from Ankara.

The measures came in response to Israel's refusal to apologize for its attack on an aid flotilla, which set sail for the Tel Aviv-blockaded Gaza Strip in May 2010. Israeli soldiers attacked a Turkish-flagged aid convoy, killing nine Turkish activists and injuring many others.

At the time, the Israeli military claimed that its commandos opened fire only after being attacked with clubs and knives and acted in self-defense. But activists on board the Mavi Marmara said Israeli troops started shooting as soon as they boarded the ship.

A UN inquiry into the deadly incident also blamed Israeli troops for using excessive force after boarding the aid ship.

"Forensic evidence showing that most of the deceased were shot multiple times, including in the back, or at close range," the long awaited UN report also known as the Palmer report said.

Turkey vows legal action against Israel

Israeli commandos during attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197176.html

Turkey says it will seek legal action against the Israeli regime for its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound relief aid Flotilla last year after Ankara further downgraded its ties with Tel Aviv.

"Turkey will take legal actions against the Israeli soldiers and all other officials responsible for the crimes committed and pursue the matter resolutely," Turkey's embassy in Washington said in a statement, Reuters reported.

The threat came after a UN report said that Israel had used unreasonable force in its raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea in May 2010, during which nine Turkish activities were killed.

The report also described Israel's naval blockade on Gaza, which has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the impoverished territory, as 'legal.'

One day after the UN report was leaked to The New York Times, Ankara suspended all its military ties with Tel Aviv and has expelled Israel's envoy from Ankara over the regime's refusal to apologize for the attack on the Gaza-bound flotilla.

"Turkey also reaffirms that relations between Turkey and Israel will not normalize as long as Israel does not apologize and refuses to pay compensation for what it has done," said Ankara's embassy in Washington in a statement.

Turkey's President Abduallah Gul also said that expulsion of the Israeli envoy is just the first step in many possible measures taken against Israel if it persists in its refusal to apologize.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Saturday expressed his optimism that the two former allies could mend ties.

"I sincerely hope that Israel and Turkey will improve their relationship," Ban told reporters in the Australian capital, Canberra.

"Normal relationship will be very important in addressing all the situations in the Middle East, including the Middle East peace process," he said.

Observers believe Ban's statement and the recent UN report that legitimizes Israel's brutal siege of Gaza and its attack on a relief aid convoy reflect Tel Aviv's undue influence on the world body.

Report: Israel arming, training settlers

An armed Israeli settler (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/196519.html

The Israeli regime plans to arm and train settlers in the occupied West Bank to confront Palestinians as the Palestinian Authority (PA) intends to seek UN membership in September, reports say.

According to a document acquired by Israeli Haaretz newspaper, the army has distributed tear gas and stun grenades among settlers to disperse Palestinian demonstrators, the Israeli newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Israeli military has also been providing special training to settlement security chiefs and their teams at army bases and most settlers already have assault rifles and pistols, the report said.

The move is based on the army's assumption that a Palestinian declaration of independence will lead to public uprisings “which will mainly include mass disorder.”

According to an Israeli army spokesman, the army “is holding an ongoing professional dialogue with elements in the settlement leadership … for possible scenarios. "The Central Command has recently completed much training for the emergency response squads, and this training is ongoing.”

The spokesman, however, refused to go into the details on operational readiness.

The army has specified two “virtual lines,” for each of the settlements close to Palestinian villages.

If Palestinian demonstrators cross the first line, they will be met with tear gas and if they cross the second line they will be shot in the leg, the report says.

Israeli officials have warned that the stepped-up readiness will last for at least several weeks.

The Palestinian Authority has declared September 20 as the date when it would apply for the United Nations' recognition of Palestine as an independent state.

More than 100 countries have so far officially recognized Palestine as a sovereign state based on the 1967 borders, the boundaries that existed before Israel captured and annexed East al-Quds (Jerusalem), the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Foreign Ministry sources estimate that 130-140 countries will vote in favor of the Palestinians.

UN once again delays flotilla report

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos attacked the six-vessel Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters. (File photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195186.html

The United Nations has for the third time postponed the release of a report on Israel's deadly attack on the Gaza-bound international aid flotilla in 2010.

The UN's findings about the brutal incident, which left nine Turkish activists dead and dozens of others wounded, was expected out this week.

According to Turkish foreign ministry, Israel is behind the delay in the publication of the long-awaited UN report, also known as the Palmer report.

"The demand to postpone (the announcement) came from Israel, like the previous demands," Selcuk Unal, the spokesperson for the Turkish foreign ministry told Turkey's Anatolia news agency on Monday.

This is while Israeli media claimed that Ankara had demanded the delay.

Tel Aviv has been hard trying to mend its damaged relations with Ankara before the publication of the UN report.

Turkey has repeatedly said that relations between the two sides can only be restored if Tel Aviv apologizes for the attack, compensates the families of those killed and the injured, and lifts its crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Israel has reportedly agreed to a payout but is resisting calls to apologize, proposing instead to express regret.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Tel Aviv ''definitely will not apologize to Turkey'' over the flotilla attack.

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos attacked the six-vessel Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters to prevent the convoy from breaking the crippling Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.

In the assault, nine Turkish nationals, including a teenager with dual Turkish-US citizenship, were killed and dozens of others were left wounded.

Turkey said that some of the victims had been shot "execution-style" at point-blank.

Turkish post-mortem examinations also revealed that a total of 30 bullets were found in the bodies of the nine dead activists. One of the activists had been shot four times in the head.

'Palestinians agree on truce with Israel'

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli airstrike in the north of the Gaza Strip on August 19, 2011. The 'informal' agreement came after recent attacks by Israel killed at least 16 Palestinians.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195099.html

Palestinian resistance movements based in the Gaza Strip reach an 'informal' agreement to strike a ceasefire deal with Israel after Tel Aviv escalated its attacks against the enclave.

The unofficial accord was brokered by the Egyptian authorities on Sunday, AFP reported.

"We have reached an informal agreement to establish a ceasefire from tonight on condition that Israel halts its attacks," said an official with the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas on condition of anonymity.

The development followed Thursday attacks by the Israeli military, which killed at least 16 Palestinians and injured more than 45 others across Gaza.

The regional grouping of the Arab League has condemned the attacks and called for United Nations intervention to stop Israeli aggression.

Keeping up their crackdown on the Palestinians, Israeli military forces also arrested at least 120 Palestinians, including Hamas members, in the city of al-Khalil [Hebron] in the south of the Tel Aviv-occupied West Bank earlier in the day.

Spain encourages Palestinian state

The Palestinians are seeking to obtain recognition of their state when the UN General Assembly meets in September.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195075.html

Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs hopes that the European Union foreign ministers meeting in early September will bring progress along the road toward the recognition of a Palestinian state.

"There's the feeling that now is the time to do something, to give the Palestinians the hope that a state could become [a] reality," Trinidad Jimenez said, Reuters reported.

"We have to give them some signal, because if we don't it could generate great frustration for the Palestinian people," she added.

The meeting of EU foreign ministers in Sopot, Poland comes ahead of a United Nations General Assembly meeting later in September.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will attend a United Nations General Assembly meeting to upgrade the Palestinian status and gain full UN membership for his country.

Washington and Tel Aviv remain opposed to the move.

Palestinians have been campaigning to win UN recognition for a state that encompasses the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and illegally annexed East al-Quds (Jerusalem) -- the territories Israel captured in the Six-Day War of 1967.

Over 100 countries have endorsed the Palestinian 1988 declaration of independent statehood.

UN membership requires a recommendation from the Security Council and approval by two-thirds of the General Assembly, or 128 countries.

AL urges UN action on Israel Gaza raids

A view of an emergency meeting of the Arab League's permanent representatives to discuss the latest Israeli air attacks on the Gaza Strip, in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, August 21, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195047.html

The Arab League (AL) has condemned the continuous Israeli airstrikes on the impoverished Gaza Strip, calling on the United Nations to intervene in order for the raids to be stopped.

“We issued a statement condemning the Israeli offensive on Gaza,” AFP quoted AL Secretary General Nabil El-Araby as saying on Sunday.

“The United Nations has to take procedures to stop the Israeli offensive on Gaza,” he added.

The remarks come after the 22-member organization held an emergency meeting to examine the dire situation of the people of Gaza due to Israel's continuous airstrikes on the coastal sliver since late Thursday.

Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 16 Palestinians and injured nearly 50 others in the past nearly four days.

Israel claimed the attacks were launched in response to assaults that targeted two buses and a military vehicle near the Red Sea resort of Eilat in southern Israel, which left eight Israelis dead.

Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak quickly accused resistance groups in Gaza for the attacks and vowed a “full response.”

Hamas has said that it had nothing to do with the assault and warned against any act of aggression against the Gaza Strip.

Israel also imposed a blockade on Gaza since the Hamas government took control of the territory in 2007.

The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the impoverished territory.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

'Turkey still waiting for Israeli apology'

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194934.html

Turkey says its relations with Israel will be strained further if Tel Aviv does not make a formal apology for its deadly attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in 2010.

"There can be no normalization with Israel if Turkey's demands are not met," the Anatolia news agency quoted Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying during a visit to South Africa on Saturday, AFP reported.

On May 31, 2010, Israeli navy commandos attacked the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while it was in international waters, killing nine Turkish nationals and wounding at least 40 others on the Mavi Marmara, one of the six vessels of the convoy.

Israel has rejected repeated calls from Ankara calling for it to pay compensation to the families of the victims and to issue a formal apology.

Davutoglu's reiteration of Ankara's demand comes as a United Nations report on the flotilla incident is due to be released soon.

Publication of the report has been postponed at least twice this year to allow time for the two sides to reconcile their differences.

But the Turkish foreign minister said that relations between his country and Israel would only worsen if an apology did not come following the UN report.

"Relations will not remain as they are now, they will deteriorate even more… The current situation cannot be sustained," he stated.

According to Turkish diplomats, Ankara could further downgrade its representation in Tel Aviv. It has only maintained a charge d'affaires there since recalling its ambassador after the May 2010 attack.

16 Gazans killed in 2 days of airstrikes

Israel has launched another round of airstrikes targeting Gaza

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194758.html

Another round of Israeli airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip has killed three people, raising the death toll to 16 in two days of attacks.

In one airstrike, Israeli warplanes struck a target in the town of Khan Yunis, but no casualties have been reported from that attack yet.

Medical sources say a five-year-old was among the fatalities of the attacks carried out late on Friday.

The Israeli airstrikes began on Thursday, shortly after eight Israelis were killed near the Red Sea resort town of Eilat.

Dozens of Palestinians have also been injured in the attacks.

Israeli officials have blamed a Gaza-based militant group called the Popular Resistance Committee (PRC) for Thursday's attack and have vowed a “full force” response targeting Gaza.

Israel said the attackers had infiltrated from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, although the PRC, which is not affiliated with Hamas, denied involvement in the incident.

Hamas has said that it had nothing to do with the assault and has warned against any act of aggression against the Gaza Strip.

Israelis injure Palestinian worshipers

Palestinian women queue to cross an Israeli-controlled checkpoint in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on August 19, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194666.html

Several Palestinians have been injured after Israeli forces attacked a group of Palestinian youth as they tried to cross Israeli-controlled checkpoints into East al-Quds (Jerusalem.)

Palestinians were heading towards the al-Aqsa Mosque compound to attend the third Friday prayers in the holy month of Ramadan when they were attacked.

Israeli troops used water cannons to disperse the crowd and made several arrests, AP reported.

Since the beginning of Ramadan, Tel Aviv has restricted Palestinian access to the holy site for the Friday Prayers, allowing only Muslim men aged between 45 and 50 into the complex. Any Palestinian from the West Bank under the age of 35 has been denied entry.

This is not the first time that Israel has limited Palestinian access to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the Friday Prayers.

On several occasions, Israel has also attacked Palestinian worshippers inside the compound using tear gas, stun guns and rubber bullets.

Al-Aqsa is one of the holiest sites in Islam. It has been the scene of violent clashes between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli troops in the course of the occupation of Palestinian territories by the Tel Aviv regime.