Israel Pirates Boards Leb. Brotherhood Ship, Takes It to Ashdod

almanar

Hussein Assi

05/02/2009 Once again, the Zionist entity violates all rules and norms amid a complete silence of the international community…

Thus, Israeli soldiers can simply open fire on an aid ship headed to Gaza, board it, attack its passengers from journalists and rights' activists, seize them in order to "question" them… and the world remains "silent."




This is what happened on Thursday with the Lebanese Brotherhood ship which was trying to deliver aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, following an inhumane war that claimed the lives of more than 1,400 innocent Palestinians, injured thousands others and displaced even more people.

Yet, the Zionist entity has its "clarifications" for the violations it commits. Indeed, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak claimed the navy seized control of the ship, which had ignored an Israeli attempt to direct it to Egypt and made a break for the Gaza coast.

Speaking in Tel Aviv, Barak said that the navy "prevented the ship from entering Gaza waters. The ship was directed to Al-Arish in Egypt, but the crew decided to turn and try again to reach Gaza." He said that "the navy stopped the ship, and it was being transported to Ashdod port."

Earlier, reporters on board said Israeli gunboats opened fire on the vessel. Reporters from Al-Jadeed and Al-Jazeera TVs said the Israeli navy fired three times on the ship. The shooting caused no casualties. The local Al-Jadeed TV station says Israeli troops then boarded the ship and threatened the crew. It said the ship was surrounded by 18 Israeli gunboats demanding the crew turn back.

The journalists said that the Navy had contacted the ship's captain over the radio and warned him not to continue towards Gaza. The captain said that the Israel troops damaged the radios and other technical apparatus.

"They are opening fire towards the vessel ... there are Israeli soldiers who have actually boarded the vessel," said Salam Khoder, an Al Jazeera correspondent on board the ship. "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 telephone interview was terminated. Jazeera said attempts to re-establish contact with Khoder had failed.

The organizer of the Lebanese delivery, Maan Bashour, earlier told reporters that the Israeli army had opened fire on the boat close to the Gaza shore. "The Brotherhood Ship was fired on by an Israeli military boat 32 kilometers off the coast of Gaza and they were asked to divert course," he said. The ship remained in the water near the coast of Gaza, he added.

The Togo-flagged "Tali," with about 60 tons of aid and eight activists and journalists, left Lebanon Tuesday. After an overnight stop in Cyprus, it sailed on to Gaza Wednesday morning trying to reach the strip in defiance of an Israeli blockade. The supplies were donated by Lebanese citizens and organizations.

On board the "Brotherhood Ship" were eight people including the former Greek-Catholic archbishop of Jerusalem, Monsignor Hilarion Capucci, who left occupied Jerusalem in the 1970s after serving time in an Israeli jail for membership of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

LEBANON HOLDS ISRAEL RESPONSIBLE OF PASSENGERS' SAFETY

Meanwhile, Lebanese officials held the Zionist entity responsible of the passengers' safety and called the international community to pressure Israel to let the ship continue its mission.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri issued a statement in which its put the Israeli blockade of the aid ship in the framework of the "Israeli terrorist practices," noting that it was a continuation of the war on Gaza through all inhumane aspects "by land, sea, and air."

For his part, Prime Minister Fouad Saniora called Arab and Western officials calling on them to exert pressure on Israel to let the ship pass because it carries humane aids. He held the Zionist entity responsible of all the passengers' safety.

Lebanese aid ship seized by Israel

BBC, here