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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israeli navy escorts Lebanese ship from Gaza waters |
| 2009-02-06 |
| A Lebanese ship bound for the Gaza Strip was boarded by the Israeli navy and was being escorted to the Mediterranean port of Ashdod, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday. "The navy boarded the vessel, stopped it and it is now bringing it to Ashdod," Barak said in broadcast remarks. Doha-based Al-Jazeera television said earlier one of its correspondents was aboard the vessel carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza and quoted him as saying Israeli sailors had boarded it. "They (the Israeli navy) are opening fire towards the vessel ... there are Israeli soldiers who have actually boarded the vessel," said correspondent Salam Khoder. "Three of them are pointing their weapons at us ... They are beating those on the vessel, they are beating and kicking us," Khoder said in a frantic voice before the line dropped. It did not say how many people were on board the boat but reported that it was carrying humanitarian aid from mainly Lebanese and Arab charities, destined for those made homeless by Israel's offensive. The shipment was organised by the Palestinian National Committee Against the Siege in cooperation with the US-based Free Gaza Movement. Two gunboats were visible about a mile (two kms) offshore from Gaza city, escorting the ship northwards. It appeared to be the first attempt to reach Gaza by a foreign vessel since the 22-day war with Israel ended on Jan. 18 when Israel and Hamas declared separate ceasefires. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 RIAN > RUSSIA DENIES THAT ITS BLACK SEA FLEET IS READYING/POISED FOR "EMERGENCY ACTION" [fleet sail], as due to alleged rise in regional tensions. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-02-06 23:52 |
| #2 TOPIX > NASRALLAH: ISRAEL STILL HOLDS FOUR IRANIAN DIPLOMATS [since 1982]; + NO GAZA PEACE PLAN [or Middle East Plan]WILL WORK WITHOUT IRAN'S BLESSING??? * WAFF > VIDEO - SYRIANS SOCIAL NATIONALIST PARTY Ideology > Dedicated Pro-Islamist TALIBANISM had sex wid FASCIST NAZISM + SECUL SOCIALISM to procue Baby ISLAMIST SECULAR NATIONALIST SOCIALISTS = TURBANNED/BURQUA'ed SECULAR SOCIALISTS??? HMMMMMMMM ........ |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-02-06 23:42 |
| #1 More, from the Jerusalem Post: The eighteen crew members from a Lebanese cargo ship that was intercepted and commandeered by the navy on Thursday after the vessel tried to break the Gaza sea blockade were deported from Israel on Friday morning. Three of them - two Indian nationals and one Briton - were taken to Ben Gurion Airport, while the remainder of the crew, from Lebanon and Syria, were transferred to their countries via the Kuneitra border terminal. On Thursday night, the IDF coordinator of military activities in the Palestinian territories ordered the transfer to Gaza of some 1,000 units of donated blood that was carried on the ship in order to ease the humanitarian situation in the Strip. The blood was transferred via the Erez border crossing. IDF spokesman Peter Lerner said that the rest of the supplies on board were being examined and would also be sent to Gaza. Oh, those evil Israelis! Such war criminals they are!! The Togo-flagged Tali left Lebanon on Tuesday, carrying some 60 tons of water, food and medicine, as well as 18 people, including Syrian and Lebanese nationals. On Wednesday, the navy contacted the ship and told the captain that it would not be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip. The captain told the navy that the vessel would sail to El-Arish in Egypt. On Thursday morning, though, after the ship was already in Egyptian waters, it tried to break the blockade and sail into Gaza. The navy again contacted the ship and warned it to turn around. "They told us that they're determined to get to Gaza and that they do not plan to stop," explained a senior naval officer involved in the operation. "We told them that we plan to stop them if they break the blockade. They explained that they don't plan to stop. They continued, and we stopped them." Naval commandos took control of the vessel and ordered the captain to sail into the Ashdod Port. The passengers were transferred to police custody. During the takeover, the officer said, the soldiers encountered light resistance, and shots were fired in the air during the operation. No weaponry was discovered on the vessel. Reporters from Arab TV stations Al-Jadeed and Al-Jazeera who were aboard the Tali claimed the soldiers had fired at the ship before boarding it and beaten those on board. Among the passengers was 86-year-old Greek Catholic priest Hillarion Capucci, who, while serving as an archbishop in Jerusalem, was convicted in 1974 by an Israeli court for using his diplomatic status to smuggle arms to Palestinian terrorists. The Syrian-born Capucci was jailed but released three years later at the intervention of the Vatican and deported. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-02-06 13:32 |