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At least nine
pro-Palestine activists were killed when Israeli marines stormed a
Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza on Monday, triggering a diplomatic
crisis and an emergency session of the UN Security Council.

European nations,
as well as the United Nations and Turkey, voiced shock and outrage at
the incident. Boarding from dinghies and rappelling from helicopters,
naval commandos stopped six ships, 700 people and 10,000 tons of
supplies from reaching the Islamist-run Palestinian enclave; but a
bloody miscalculation left Israel isolated and condemned.

Once-close Muslim
ally Turkey accused it of “terrorism” in international waters. The UN
Security Council met for an emergency session. The European Union, a
key aid donor to Palestinians, demanded an independent inquiry and an
end to the Gaza embargo.

Israel’s most
powerful friend, the United States, was more cautious; but President
Barack Obama said he wanted the full facts soon and regretted the loss
of life. However, New York rights group, Human Rights Watch noted that
the incident, in which dozens of activists and several Israeli
commandos were also reportedly wounded, raises grave concerns about
possible unlawful and excessive use of lethal force.

Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu voiced regret as he cut short a visit to Canada and
rang President Obama to call off a White House meeting that had been
planned for Tuesday. “They were mobbed, they were clubbed, they were
beaten, stabbed, there was even a report of gunfire. And our soldiers
had to defend themselves,” he said.

“What Israel has committed on board the Freedom Flotilla was a massacre,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.

Paintball attack

Military
night-vision video showed commandos being winched down, only to be
surrounded. Some Israeli commentators asked why commanders put troops
into a position where they were cornered. An Israeli minister admitted
plans to maintain the blockade on Hamas while avoiding an international
incident had backfired in spectacular fashion.

One marine told
reporters his squad went in with anti-riot paintball guns but, fearing
for their lives, resorted to using normal pistols or leapt overboard.
In military footage, a commando fired a paintball at a man who seemed
to be clubbing an Israeli. Other video showed a commando fire a pistol,
two-handed.

“We were prepared to face human rights activists and we found people who came for war,” the marine told reporters.

Turkish anger

The bloodshed
sparked street protests and government ire in Turkey, long Israel’s
lone Muslim ally in the region. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, whose
Islamist views and outreach to Iran and other Israeli enemies are
blamed by many in Israel for souring relations, said before cutting
short a trip to Chile: “This action, totally contrary to the principles
of international law, is inhumane state terrorism.”

Ankara also
cancelled joint military exercises and recalled its ambassador. Israel
told tourists in Turkey to stay indoors and dismissed any accusations
that it had broken international law by boarding foreign ships far
beyond its territorial waters. Israeli forces were on high alert but
aside from scattered scuffles, there was little trouble with
Palestinian protesters.

Demonstrations in Europe included Paris, Stockholm, Rome, and
Athens. The Arab League condemned what it called a “terrorist act.”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called it “inhuman.” A senior UN
official responsible for the aid on which Gaza depends said: “Such
tragedies are entirely avoidable if Israel heeds the repeated calls of
the international community to end its counterproductive and
unacceptable blockade of Gaza.”

REUTERS