Sunday, June 6, 2010

Israel deports activists challenging Gaza blockade

Malaysian activists pose with their national flag upon arrival in  Amman
The activists say they will not give up

Israel has deported seven activists who tried to sail an aid ship to Gaza in defiance of Israel's blockade.

They were among 11 campaigners and eight crew who signed deportation papers on Saturday, after troops boarded their ship the Rachel Corrie.

On Monday, Israeli forces killed nine activists in clashes as they tried to break the blockade.

Post-mortems in Turkey said 30 bullets had been found in their bodies - one activist had four in the head.

The examinations were carried out in Turkey because eight of those killed were Turkish, and the ninth had joint US-Turkish nationality.

The BBC's Jonathan Head, in Istanbul, says some of the details seem to contradict the Israeli assertion that their commandos used minimum lethal force during the violent confrontation with those on board the Turkish Mavi Marmara.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday the soldiers had been attacked by a group of people - separate from the peace activists - who had boarded the ship "in a way that allowed them to avoid a security check", intending "to initiate a violent confrontation with IDF soldiers".

Israel has faced an international outcry over the incident, which has also soured relations with Turkey.

Israeli officials say UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has telephoned Mr Netanyahu to propose setting up an international commission to investigate what went wrong.

It would include representatives from the US, Turkey and Israel, and could be headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer.

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