Israel Attack Humanitarian Ship, 10 men killed

[pintsofguinness]

Irish Ship, Rachel Corrie, is now roughly 100 miles from Gaza.

It is expected to reach Gaza by early morning.

It is very very tense righht now, and it is anyones guess as to what the outcome will be.

I will be posting immediatley any news comes in.

Please do. Good luck to them!

[stew]

Irish Ship, Rachel Corrie, is now roughly 100 miles from Gaza.

It is expected to reach Gaza by early morning.

It is very very tense righht now, and it is anyones guess as to what the outcome will be.

I will be posting immediatley any news comes in.

This has disaster written all over it, the Israelis see that the governments of the world are hand wringing and I fear they will make an example of the people on Rachel Corrie, I hope to feck I am wrong.

[Minder]

Irish Ship, Rachel Corrie, is now roughly 100 miles from Gaza.

It is expected to reach Gaza by early morning.

It is very very tense righht now, and it is anyones guess as to what the outcome will be.

I will be posting immediatley any news comes in.

This has disaster written all over it, the Israelis see that the governments of the world are hand wringing and I fear they will make an example of the people on Rachel Corrie, I hope to feck I am wrong.

Plenty of that on here.

[seafoid]

You should have left the word murder in the title

I could not agree more, this was nothing but State Sanctioned Murder and it looks to me that they will get away with it, absolutely disgusting and the US and UN should be absolutely ashamed of themselves in the way they have handled this situation.

Obama is a disaster at this stage and I think McCain would have been much better equipped to deal with this situation.

McCain would be worse. He's addicted to Ziocaine. The thing about Obama is you never know what he is really up to. the health thing looked dead in the water and he pulled something out of the bag. It looked like Bibi  ran rings around him and then when Biden got ignored in Israel he really shafted Bibi in Washington. He made him wait for an hour while he went for something to eat. That just doesn't happen in global diplomacy. This latest charade is very very bad news strategically for Israel. There is an awful lot of political capital that has just disappeared. Israel has lot a lot of casual support. Trade flows from lesser  things. The BDS campaign couldn't have got a bigger boost this week.   People are going to think twice about brand Israel.

[give her dixie]

Speaking from Istanbul, Dr Fintan Lane, of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), spoke of his experiences on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla which was attacked by Israeli forces on Monday and his time in Israeli detention. He said he was assaulted in custody, while three other Irish received severe beatings and one – Isam Bin Ali – remains unaccounted for. Dr. Lane is due to return to Ireland tomorrow afternoon where he will address a press conference in the City Centre.

Meanwhile, the Irish ship the MV Rachel Corrie continues en route o Gaza and is currently 400 miles away and is expected to arrive on Saturday. Speaking from the aid carrying ship, Dennis Halliday said: "We want to emphasise that our aim is not provocation but getting our aid cargo into Gaza. We are calling on the UN to inspect the cargo and escort us into Gaza, and to send a UN representative to sail on board before they enter the exclusion zone. We all remain in good spirits, and we want to thank everyone all over the world for all their support." The boat is traveling at approximately 210 miles a day, and is being captain by Eric Harcis, a Scottish man from Orkney.





Tthe IPSC with the support of ICTU has called a mass demonstration at 2pm on Saturday against the killings and in support of the Rachel Corrie.



Speaking from a hotel room in Istanbul, Dr Lane gave an update on the status of the Irish passengers who had been kidnapped by Israel on Monday. Dr Lane said: "I am currently in a hotel with Fiachra O Luian, both of us arrived here late last night. Fiachra was beaten up at the airport and has to go into hospital today for tests. Al Mahdi Al Harati suffered a diabetes related seizure on the plane and this, coming on top of a severe attack he received on board the Mavi Marmara, meant he had to be brought to hospital in Ankara last night."



Dr Lane continued: "Ken O'Keefe, the Irish-American passenger, suffered a severe beating at the hands of security officials at Tel Aviv airport before boarding, and his injuries were so bad that he had to be hospitalised in Tel Aviv – the Israelis are claiming this delay in his repatriation is for 'technical reasons', yet another Israeli lie. Finally, a number of passengers are still unaccounted for, among them the Libyan-Irishman Isam Bin Ali, who was due to be deported at 10am yesterday. No one I've spoken to knows where these people are, it is very worrying."



Dr Lane also spoke about the Israeli attack and hijacking of his ship, and his time is captivity. He said: "When they boarded our boat, we resisted entirely peacefully. I sat on the floor and tried to reason with them, but the Israeli commandos physically attacked us. Fiachra was dragged around the ground and I had a gun pointed in my face by a screaming commando. His mania was so intense that I genuinely feared for my life. Others received beatings."



"When they finally took over our ship, and forced us to dock in Ashdod, we refused to disembark. We sat down, linked arms and said that we had been illegally kidnapped and brought against our will to Israel. We were all forcibly removed from the boat and brought to interrogation rooms in the port. At this point, I refused to hand over my passport, restating my position that I would not cooperate with my illegal detention and was under no obligation to do so. I was then physically assaulted, my arms were painfully twisted behind my back for prolonged periods and my passport taken."



"We were then transferred to the prison in Be'er Shevva – though were told we were in Tel Aviv by our captors – and held incommunicado until it was announced that we were all to be deported. It was only at that time that we finally met with the Irish Ambassador."

"In prison I was told about events on the Mavi Marmara, people being shot, left to bleed to death,  beaten and bitten by dogs. By all accounts it sounded like it was hell on that boat."



Dr Lane will arrive back in Ireland tomorrow afternoon – he will be on a plane from Istanbul that leaves at 10.45am (local time) and is scheduled to arrived in Dublin at 1.20pm. When he arrives back in Ireland, there will be a welcoming committee at the airport, and Dr Lane will address a press conference in the City Centre later tomorrow. Full details of this welcoming committee and press conference will be circulated in a further press release

[ardmhachaabu]

Dr Fintan Lane?  Is that the same Fintan Lane who was involved in the IRSP way back when?

[seafoid]

There will probably be more than 9 dead. A great week for Israeli PR.

[thejuice]

Israel delivers message to Rachel Corrie

Israel earlier proposed that the ship sail to the port of Ashdod, where it would 'ensure that no weapons and or war material were on board.'

Israel's Foreign Ministry Director General Yossi Gal said this 'clear message' had been delivered to the MV Rachel Corrie.

'If the ship decides to sail to the port of Ashdod in Israel then we will ensure its safe arrival and will not board it,' he said.

[Nally Stand]

Pass on our best wishes if you are in contact with the Ship John. Let them know they have a lot of people thinking about them and Praying for them.

[give her dixie]

Rachel Corrie now 3 hours from Gaza

[give her dixie]

They are all sitting together, and everyone is calm and in good sprirts.

In light of events this week, I would say that it will be ok.

Israel tried to broker a deal with Ireland and get them to sail into Asdod port with an escort.

The crew told them no thanks, we are sailing to Gaza......

[Baile an tuaigh]

Listening to the Bill Maher show. He is an Israeli apologist Mr know it all himself. Fair play to two of the guests for giving Israel a good wrap. Maher kept changing direction when great arguments were presented. He really is anti Muslim.

Pray the Irish ship makes it to under siege Gaza. Thanks John for updates.

[Baile an tuaigh]

Just heard Israeli navy ship approaching the Rachel Corrie they have jammed their communication system.

[give her dixie]

http://www.ipadio.com/phlogs/Gaza_TVNews/2010/06/05/Gaza-TVs-phlog-Rachel-Corrie-Ship-Now-Boarded-And-Under?displayMode=website

[Baile an tuaigh]

f**k Israel!!