Hamas says now in open war with Israel promises gates of hell

Source: Russia Today

Hamas says that it is now in a state of "open war" indefinitely with Israel after the killing of the Hamas commander Ahmed Jabari by an Israeli airstrike.

The assassination has "opened the gates of hell," the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, were quoted by AFP as saying.

"The occupation committed a dangerous crime and crossed all the red lines, which is considered a declaration of war," he said in a statement. Hamas vowed to "continue the path of resistance."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an immediate Arab League meeting in response to Wednesday's attack.

Mosques across Gaza were packed with mourners vowing revenge. The streets outside the hospital where Jabari's body was taken were filled with thousands of angry Palestinians chanting "retaliation" and "We want you to hit Tel Aviv tonight." Among the mourners outside the Shifa hospital in Gaza City were armed men firing into the air.

Gaza's Health Minister Dr. Mufeed Mkhallalati said a total of 10 people were killed, including Jabari. Fourty five people are reported injured, 10 of them are in critical condition. An 11-month-old and a 6-year-old girl were among the dead.

Six rockets were fired from Gaza toward Beersheba following the airstrike on Wednesday evening, Israel’s Army Radio reported. One rocket hit a shopping center in the city, while there were other media reports that a vehicle was struck in the attack. No casualties were reported.

The Israeli Press Office said“The Iron Dome missile defense system has thus far intercepted 15 rockets fired at Israel.”

Hamas said no tactic would be left off of the table following the strike.

"The resistance's options are now open and they include suicide attacks and quality attacks in Israel cities," Ynet cites top Hammas commander Ismail al-Ashkar as saying.

Hamas spokesman Khalil Al Haya vowed its Zionist enemy would "pay a price for this cowardly assassination.”

“The assassination of this great leader Amhed Al-Jaabary clearly confirms that we are still in the heart of resistance with the Israeli enemy; the Zionist enemy knows nothing but the language of killing and blood; our battle with the enemy is an open battle; God willing, this battle will end with Palestine and Jerusalem liberated. They should wait for our action, not words,” RT Arabic cites him as saying.

Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said the assassination will not "break the will of our people, nor weaken our resistance," Al-Rishq wrote on his Facebook page, Al Ahram reported.

He added that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is using the "war crime" to appear tough on national security as part of his reelection bid, though his plan could backfire.

Israel will hold a general election on January 22. Residents in southern Israel have been severely critical of his conservative government’s handling of rocket strikes in recent weeks. On Wednesday night Netanyahu said that no country in the world would accept a situation in which rockets were being fired at its citizens, and neither would Israel.

Fatah’s former chief negotiator Saeb Erekat disagreed with the Israeli PM's justification for the operation, saying “this exposes that Israel has an agenda for war but not for peace” on Twitter.

"We hold Israel responsible for the consequences that this new act of aggression would bring to the region,” he continued.

Washington said it is closely watching developments in Gaza, a Pentagon spokesman said.

"We're monitoring the situation closely. We stand by our Israeli partners in their right to defend themselves against terrorism," Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Warren said.

Egypt's foreign ministry released a statement calling on Israel to stop its strikes on Gaza Strip immediately.

The Muslim Brotherhood controlled government says it "will not allow the Palestinians to be subjected to Israeli aggression," the Jerusalem Post cites him as saying.

Egypt has reportedly recalled its ambassador in Tel-Aviv back to Cairo in response to the start of Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi also summoned Israel’s ambassador in Cairo to protest the attacks.

Morsi also ordered Egypt’s UN representative to call for an emergency meeting over Israel’s intensifying military campaign in Gaza.

Egypt had been working to broker a truce between the Israeli and Palestinian sides after five days of sporadic attacks between the two sides, and was believed to be close to a breakthrough.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) killed Jabari in an airstrike on his car in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Israel's TV Channel 2 says his son also died in the missile attack. There are also reports that Raed al-Atar, the commander of Hamas's southern division, was also killed.

The attack comes as the first step in the expanding Israeli operation which could see IDF troops on the ground in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Air Force strikes reportedly hit at least 20 rocket-launching pads belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, “seriously damaging their long-range missile capabilities,” an Israeli military spokesman said. IDF tank fire also struck targets in Gaza. The IDF said it was willing to initiate a ground operation in Gaza to eliminate any further sources of rocket fire.

"All options are on the table. If necessary, the IDF (army) is ready to initiate a ground operation in Gaza," the IDF said on its official Twitter account.

Jabari, who was deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing, is the most senior Hamas official to be assassinated since Israel’s sweeping 2008 military operation in Gaza which resulted in the death of some 1,800 Palestinians. In reponse to the targeted assassination, the IDF characterized Jabari as a "man with a lot of blood on his hands."

In the run up to the operation on Wednesday, seven Palestinians had been killed in retaliatory Israel strikes to missile strikes originating in Gaza.

"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

Israel threatens to cut Gaza water, power

Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/212323.html

Israel has threatened to cut the supply of water and electricity to the Gaza Strip if rival Palestinian movements, Fatah and Hamas, establish a unity government.

"The foreign ministry is examining the possibility of Israel pulling out of the Gaza Strip in terms of infrastructure," AFP quoted Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon as telling the daily Yediot Aharonot's website on Saturday.

Ayalon, a Knesset (Israeli parliament) deputy for the leftist Yisrael Beitenu party, said a Palestinian unity government “would put an end to any hope for a peace agreement" with Tel Aviv.

On Thursday, acting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief Mahmoud Abbas (leader of Fatah party) held talks with Hamas Political Bureau Chief , Khaled Meshaal, in the Egyptian capital Cairo, where they announced a new era of partnership between the rival Palestinian factions.

The talks seriously irked Israeli leaders who decided to maintain a freeze on the transfer of tens of millions of dollars in tax monies to the PA, to further increase the strain on Ramallah-based authority.

The transfer of funds, which make up a large percentage of the PA's monthly budget, was frozen in November by Tel Aviv, after the Palestine won full membership of the UN cultural organization, UNESCO.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had in January threatened to cut off water and power to the long-blockaded Gaza Strip.

Israel continues to control the supply of water to Gaza and 70 percent of the territory's electrical power. The rest of Gaza's electricity needs are supplied by neighboring Egypt and local power plants, which rarely receive enough fuel to operate under Israel's blockade.

Israel has tightened its crippling closure on the Gaza Strip since 2007, defying international calls to lift the blockade.

Spain's pro-Palestine hint irks Israel

Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195273.html

The Israeli regime expresses shock and despair over the Spanish foreign minister's call for a pan-European push towards the UN's recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

Tel Aviv formally protested on Monday Trinidad Jimenez's recent expression of optimism that the next month's meeting of EU foreign ministers in Poland would yield progress towards the issue, Reuters reported.

Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry, announced Monday that the Spanish ambassador to Tel Aviv, Alvaro Iranzo, was summoned to the foreign ministry and that the Israeli regime was in a state of 'amazement and disappointment' over the remarks.

Israel has expressed its serious concerns to Iranzo over the possibility of UN recognition of Palestine as an independent state.

The Spanish ambassador has reportedly responded by alleging that Jimenez's comments were 'misunderstood.'

Jimenez stated in an interview with El Pais newspaper on Sunday that "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."

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

The Palestinian Authority is to formally submit a request to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for membership in the world body on September 20, when the UN General Assembly will commence its 66th session.

Israel's ministry of military affairs has reportedly paid nearly USD 22 million to purchase what has been described as 'crowd dispersal' weaponry to confront protest rallies that are expected to erupt in support of Palestine's UN recognition around the time the formal plea is submitted at the world body.

'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.

PA calls for UN meeting on Gaza

Acting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief Mahmoud Abbas

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194877.html

Acting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief Mahmoud Abbas has called for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to discuss the ongoing Israeli air attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Abbas has instructed the Palestinian representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, to call for the meeting, Ma'an News Agency reported on Saturday.

The developments come as continuous Israeli air raids targeting the impoverished Gaza Strip in the past three days have killed at least 16 Palestinians and injured a further 45 others so far.

Earlier, Abbas also called on the Arab League (AL) to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza.

The AL Deputy Secretary General Ahmad Bin Helli announced on Saturday that the 22-member organization would hold an urgent meeting on the level of the permanent delegates on Sunday to discuss the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Israel began launching its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip late Thursday.

Moreover, Israel has claimed it launched the attacks 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 has 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.

PA sets date for UN statehood bid

Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193742.html

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

"[Acting PA Chief] Mahmud Abbas will personally present the request to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon... at the opening of the 66th session [on September 20]," PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told reporters on Saturday in his office in Ramallah, AFP reported.

Abbas "will insist on this historic initiative and Ban Ki-moon will present the request to the Security Council," he added.

Maliki further added that the leadership of the PA had chosen September to submit their bid as it coincides with Lebanon's presidency of the UN Security Council.

"We chose to submit it in September because the Lebanese envoy will be president of the Security Council and plays a pivotal role," Maliki said.

Ban will pass it on to the president of the Council after the bid has been handed to him.

The Palestinian resistance movements of Hamas and Fatah agreed to make the application after signing a unity deal in May.

However, the plan has been opposed by the United States, Israel and some of their Western allies. Washington has promised to veto any vote for the recognition.

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.

Hamas raps Greece for barring Gaza aid

The Gaza-bound aid boat "Audacity of Hope" is escorted by the Greek coastguard ship in the town of Peramat, near Athens, Greece, July 1, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/187158.html

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has condemned Greece after the coastguard of the European country blocked the departure of aid ships carrying supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip.

In a statement released on Friday, the group described the move by the Greek authorities as "inhumane," saying Greece had played into Israeli hands, AFP reported.

Greek security forces returned Canadian and US vessels -- part of the "Freedom Flotilla Two" -- to the port shortly after their departure. The mission is named after the first such convoy, which lost nine of its Turkish activists in a violent attack by Israeli forces on May 31, 2010.

"This is inhumane action, [it] is contrary to international regulations and norms," Hamas said.

"Barring this aid from reaching the Gaza Strip is done as a result of pressure imposed by the Zionist (Israeli) occupiers," it added.

Greece's Civil Protection Ministry said on Friday that the coastguard had been ordered to take “all appropriate measures” to bar Gaza-bound Greek and international ships from leaving Greece's ports.

The ban comes as organizers of the humanitarian aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip say the Tel Aviv regime is making Greece halt the convoy.

The Palestinian resistance group also urged the European Parliament and human rights organizations "to put pressure on the Greek government" to allow the flotilla to sail for Gaza to break Israel's blockade of the Palestinian coastal strip.

It added that the Israeli-imposed blockade "is unjust... and a mark of disgrace on the forehead of humanity."

Israel has ordered its navy to use all possible means to prevent the incoming international aid flotilla from reaching the Gaza Strip.

Some 1.5 million people in Gaza have been denied their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and the right to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education since June 2007 after Hamas took control of the enclave.

Gaza-bound aid convoy to depart Greece

The Israeli military attacked the Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea on May 31, 2010. (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186428.html

Hundreds of activists at Greek ports prepare to board Gaza-bound ships, carrying humanitarian aid to the besieged coastal enclave in defiance of the Israeli blockade.

Around 350 pro-Palestinian activists from 22 countries are set to join the Freedom Flotilla II, seeking to break the Israeli naval siege, AFP reported on Sunday.

Vaggelis Pissias, head organizer of the Ship to Gaza mission, said the boats will leave from various ports in Greece or meet off the coast.

Greece is being used as a departure point due to its geographic position and its “historical, cultural relations with Arab countries,” said Pissias.

In a recent development, the Israeli Navy announced that it would confront the Freedom Flotilla II convoy, which is scheduled to set sail towards Gaza on Tuesday. The convoy will comprise of 15 ships, 22 organizations and around 1,500 activists.

Two cargo boats of the flotilla will carry medicines, a fully-equipped ambulance car and cement to the impoverished Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military attacked the Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea on May 31, 2010, killing nine Turkish nationals aboard the Turkish-flagged MV Mavi Marmara and injuring about 50 other activists that were part of the team on the six-ship convoy.

“What happened last year caused us grave concern ... but we are determined to go to Gaza,” Pissias further explained.

Ankara said the Mavi Marmara had been withdrawn this year. There would be no Turkish vessels involved in the operation as boats from several countries, including Greece, France, Italy and Spain, will join the Freedom Flotilla II.

The Israeli regime laid an economic siege on Gaza in June 2007 after an elected Hamas government took control of the strip.

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

Israel, US declare war on flotilla

File photo shows a relative reacting during the funeral of a victim of the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla on May 31, 2010

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186351.html

Israel and the United States have threatened journalists and human rights campaigners against taking part in a Gaza Strip-bound aid mission.

On Sunday, Oren Helman, director of Israel's Government Press Office, said joining the Freedom Flotilla II convoy could "lead to participants being denied entry into…Israel for ten years, to the impoundment of their equipment and to additional sanctions,” Reuters reported.

The fleet, which includes some 500 activists on board of 10 vessels, would depart for the impoverished enclave on Tuesday.

Tel Aviv claims the fleet would be violating its 2007-present siege of Gaza. The blockade has been depriving the enclave's 1.5-million Palestinians of food, fuel and other necessities.

Helman called the mission a "provocative and dangerous event, the purpose of which is to undermine Israel's right to defend itself and to knowingly violate Israeli law."

The activists are accompanied by at least one reporter for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz named Amira Hass, who is to arrive in Gaza onboard a Canadian vessel known as Tahrir (Liberation).

The Foreign Press Association responded to Tel Aviv's warning, saying, "The government's threat to punish journalists covering the Gaza flotilla sends a chilling message to the international media and raises serious questions about Israel's commitment to freedom of the press.”

The United Nations and a number of governments have also warned the flotilla not to set sail.

Washington has called on its nationals to not take part in the protest move.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has branded the move as a 'provoking act.' "We do not believe that the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza," she has said.

Israel military ordered to stop flotilla

Israeli naval commandos

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186343.html

Israel reportedly orders its military to prevent an incoming convoy of vessels known as Freedom Flotilla II from taking humanitarian aid to the Tel Aviv-blockaded Gaza Strip.

The Israeli regime has instructed its forces “to stop a Gaza-bound flotilla from reaching its goal,” Xinhua reported on Sunday, citing official sources.

The fleet, which includes some 500 activists on board of 10 vessels, would depart for the impoverished enclave on Tuesday.

The mission is named after the Freedom Flotilla convoy, which lost nine of its Turkish activists to a violent Israeli attack on May 31, 2010.

Tel Aviv has also warned foreign journalists against joining the cause in an apparent attempt to cover up potential bloodshed by the forces.

The stubborn attitude comes while the siege has been depriving the 1.5-million Palestinians in Gaza of food, fuel and other necessities since its imposition in June 2007.

French ship sets sail to join Flotilla 2

A ship, Dignité, flying the French flag with six people onboard sails off the coast of the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on June 25, 2011 to join the new pro-Palestinian aid flotilla

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186300.html

A French ship carrying humanitarian aid and six people on board has set sail from the port city of Corsica to join a Gaza-bound flotilla.

The ship flying the French flag named Dignité (Dignity) headed for the coastal waters of Greece on Saturday to join up with the rest of the participants in the flotilla.

The entire fleet will sail for Gaza next week from various Mediterranean ports, French coordinator Julien Rivoire told AFP.

Ships, including two freighters carrying medical supplies "should reach the port of Gaza at the end of next week," he added.

Activists from more than 30 countries plan to sail aboard the ships to the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian assistance to the besieged people of Gaza in the near future.

The Israeli Navy has already declared that it will not allow the new flotilla to break the blockade on the impoverished Gaza Strip.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed her strong opposition to the second Freedom Flotilla, claiming that it is both a 'provoking act' and 'unnecessary.'

"We do not believe that the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza," Clinton said.

Israeli Navy head Vice Admiral Eliezer Marom had earlier called on world leaders to "impose all their authority to prevent the departure of this needless, provocative flotilla."

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos attacked the first Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, killing nine Turkish citizens on board the Turkish-flagged M.V. Mavi Marmara and injuring about 50 other people who were part of the team on the six-ship convoy.

Erdogan supports Palestinian statehood

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) and the Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas attend a news briefing after their meeting in Ankara June 24, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186206.html

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the only solution for lasting peace in the Middle East is the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Erdogan made the remarks after meeting with acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, AFP reported.

"The founding of an independent and viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital is the basic condition for the solution to the (Israeli-Palestinian) issue," Erdogan said.

Abbas travelled to Turkey on Tuesday, on a four-day visit, in a bid to rally support for a possible yes-vote at the United Nations.

Hamas and Fatah have agreed, after signing a unity deal in May, to seek UN recognition as an independent state in the next General Assembly meeting in September.

More than 100 countries have so far officially recognized Palestine as a 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.

Earlier this month, leaked cables revealed that Israel's Foreign Ministry had launched a global campaign to thwart the Palestinian move to seek statehood recognition.

Israeli diplomats have been instructed to lobby the highest possible officials in their respective countries and muster their support to vote against the recognition of a Palestinian state.

Moreover, Israel's closest ally, the United States, has promised to veto any vote for the recognition of the Palestinian statehood.

Hamas calls on UN to protect Flotilla II

Last year's Turkish-flagged ship, MV Mavi Marmara, that Israeli forces attacked

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186176.html

Hamas has called on the UN to provide protection for the second Freedom Flotilla, carrying humanitarian aid to the impoverished Gaza Strip.

"The United Nations and all international law organizations should provide protection to the second flotilla that is preparing to sail to the Gaza Strip. The world must stop Israel from intercepting the ships," democratically-elected Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said on Friday.

He said the Israeli regime was preparing to commit another crime against the international activists, Xinhua reported.

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos attacked the first Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, killing nine Turkish citizens on board the Turkish-flagged M.V. Mavi Marmara and injuring about 50 other people who were part of the team on the six-ship convoy.

This year's flotilla, however, is expected to be nearly twice as large, with some 1,000 activists from over 30 countries.

Israeli officials have already stressed that no boats would be permitted to enter the Gaza coast.

Israeli Navy head Vice Admiral Eliezer Marom had earlier called on world leaders to "impose all their authority to prevent the departure of this needless, provocative flotilla."

Israel's closest ally, the United States, has sided with Tel Aviv claiming that sending a new aid flotilla to the blockaded Gaza Strip would be "irresponsible" and "provocative."

In a statement on Friday, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland warned international activists against trying to break the Israeli-imposed blockade on the coastal enclave.

'West must support Palestinian unity'

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/184107.html

Twenty-four former heads of government, foreign ministers, and peace negotiators have written an open letter calling on the international community to support Palestinian unity.

“In particular, we urge the United States and the European Union to constructively engage with the transitional government as well as with the Palestinian leadership that results from the elections next year,” the 24 high-profile figures said in the letter, Der Spiegel reported on Friday.

In early May, the Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas signed a deal in Cairo to establish a unity government and agreed to form an interim cabinet of technocrats and non-partisan figures to lay the ground for national elections to be held within a year.

“Asking Fatah to choose between making peace with Hamas and making peace with Israel presents a false choice: a lasting peace with Israel is only possible if Hamas is on board,” the letter added.

The writers of the letter described the establishment of political and institutional unity between Gaza and the West Bank as “an obvious pre-condition for the establishment of a unified and viable Palestinian state.”

In conclusion, they said, “By supporting Palestinian unity at this vital juncture, the US and the EU have an opportunity to show their commitment to the two-state solution as well as to the democratic aspirations currently being voiced throughout the broader Middle East. The alternative is hard to contemplate. If Palestinian reconciliation is undermined, it will throw the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into an even deeper impasse, with dramatic consequences for all parties and the international community at large.”

Former French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine, former Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt, and former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami were among the signatories.

Peace activists have hailed the reconciliation deal between the two Palestinian groups as essential for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and have condemned the Zionist regime's efforts to undermine the initiative.

Rafah crossing reopened to Palestinians

Palestinians wait to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing, June 5, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183817.html

The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip has been reopened after a four-day closure, Hamas officials announce.

The gateway, which is the only point of access to the outside world for Palestinians living in Gaza, was reopened on Wednesday after the Egyptian and Hamas officials resolved their differences, Hamas manager of the border crossing, Ayub Abu Shaar said without referring to the cause of dispute between the two sides.

The Egyptian side halted operations on their side of the border on June fourth amid disagreements with Hamas officials. Cairo had earlier announced that the crossing would be reopened permanently.

"The crossing is operating normally today for both departures and arrivals," Ayoub Abu Shaar said.

The border crossing is an essential entry and exit point for the 1.6 million Palestinians living in Gaza, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade that restricts the movement of both people and goods, for almost four years.

Enforcing the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, the regime of the ousted, US-backed ruler, Hosni Mubarak, had refused to open the Rafah crossing since June 2007 despite its full sovereignty over the area.

The former Egyptian regime was under pressure from the public and some Arab countries for refusing to open the crossing even during the Israeli deadly offensive into Gaza in 2008, in which nearly 1,400 people lost their lives.

Gazans have since faced harsh conditions with minimal supply of food, water, fuel, and electricity.

The reopening of Rafah has angered the Israeli regime, which had earlier expressed its concerns about Egypt's plans to reopen the crossing.

The UN has called the Israeli siege illegal and repeatedly demanded it being lifted.

The new Egyptian government has been keen to review its policy on Gaza since Mubarak was overthrown in February.

Pro-Palestine song hits ethersphere

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/182818.html

Freedom for Palestine – Song & Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V28HnPTYz-I

The British band Coldplay has endorsed promotion of the song "Freedom for Palestine" released jointly by the pro-Palestinian organizations OneWorld and War on Want.

"Some of our friends are involved in One World's new 'Freedom for Palestine' single - find out more at www.waronwant.org a statement on the band's Facebook page said, Ynet reported.

The single, which has been supported as a collaboration by pro-Palestine groups including Jews for Justice for Palestine, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Just Peace for Palestine, features famous British musicians such as Dave Randall and Maxi Jazz of Faithless and Jamie Catto of 1 Giant Leap.

The Coldplay invitation has attracted thousands of fans to the song and is expected to boost the popular welcome it will potentially receive after official release in early July.

"Freedom for Palestine" calls, among other things, for Israel to tear down the apartheid wall in the West Bank and to begin respecting the fundamental human rights of the Palestinians.

Over the past few months, a heated international debate over the imposition of academic and cultural sanctions on Israel has raged on. Elvis Costello, the Pixies, Leftfield, Santana, the Klaxons, and a number of other artists and art groups have refused to perform in Israel, and the boycott is gaining steam day by day.

Flotilla II to sail for Gaza in June

The Mavi Marmara led the first Freedom Flotilla to Gaza in 2010

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/182477.html

International activists say the second Freedom Flotilla will set sail for Gaza in late June, challenging Israel's deadly blockade of the Palestinian enclave.

In a news conference held in Istanbul on the deck of the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship in the first flotilla, a coalition of 22 activist groups said on Monday that 15 ships with some 1,500 activists from about 100 countries onboard will leave for Gaza from various Mediterranean ports around June 20.

"While we wholeheartedly welcome the decision of the Egyptian government to regularly operate the Rafah crossing... Israel's unlawful blockade remains in effect," Vangelis Pisias, the Greek coordinator of the initiative, told reporters.

"Israel still prevents Palestinians from using their sea, and controls and severely restricts all goods entering and exiting Gaza. As such, we must continue to challenge this blockade," he added.

The vessels will carry humanitarian aid, medical equipment, school supplies and construction materials, including up to 700 tons of cement, said Hussein Oruc, a senior member of the Turkish Islamist charity the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), adding that the ships would meet in international waters south of Cyprus before heading to Gaza.

The activists made the remarks during a gathering on board the Turkish ferry Mavi Marmara to mark the first anniversary of the deadly ending to the ship's first mission to break Gaza's blockade.

At least nine Turkish activists were killed and many others wounded after Israeli commandos attacked the aid flotilla in international waters on May 31 last year.

Hundreds of Palestinians also gathered at the port in Gaza city on Monday to commemorate the anniversary of the attack on the Freedom Flotilla.

The activists have also called on government to ensure that the deadly incident would not happen again.

IHH has said it expects the convoy to be at least twice as big as the previous one.

Israeli military officials, however, have confirmed that preparations are under way to stop any new flotilla.

Abbas to push for UN recognition

Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/182252.html

Acting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief Mahmoud Abbas has told the Arab League (AL) that he seeks the UN recognition of an independent Palestine as his only option.

Addressing an AL meeting in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Saturday, Abbas said there were “no shared foundations” for negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine's “only option” was to go to the United Nations, Reuters reported on Saturday.

“We see from the conditions that Netanyahu laid out that there are no shared foundations ... for negotiations. Our fundamental option is to go to the United Nations,” Abbas said in his opening remarks.

“This is no secret, we have said it to the Americans and the Europeans and the Israelis, our only option is to go to the United Nations,” he emphasized.

Abbas' comments referred to Netanyahu's last week speech at US Congress, during which he refused to accept US President Barack Obama's proposal that Israel return to borders set before 1967 Israeli-Arab war.

Netanyahu pledged to keep under control key parts of the occupied West Bank, including East al-Quds (Jerusalem) -- which is widely regarded as the future capital of an independent Palestinian state.

Abbas touched upon a recently sealed reconciliation treaty between his Fatah party and rival Hamas, expressing fear that the recent diplomatic step could lead to financial sanctions on Fatah, which is already dependent on international donors, including the United States and the European Union.

The Fatah movement came under severe attack in the wake of signing the unity deal with Hamas. The US threatened to cut aid to the party and Israel said Fatah must choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas.

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