UPDATED Turkey Inside Line: Parliament, President, and People Condemn Israel

UPDATE 1755 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan joins in: "Erdogan has told U.S. President Barack Obama that Israel is on the verge of losing its best friend in the Middle East due to its deadly raid on a humanitarian aid headed to the Gaza Strip earlier this week, according to a statement from Erdogan's office."

UPDATE 1635 GMT: Turkish President Abdullah Gul has said in a televised speech, "From now on, Turkish-Israeli ties will never be the same. This incident has left an irreparable and deep scar....[The raid] is not an issue that can be forgotten...or be covered up....Turkey will never forgive this attack."

Gul spoke as thousands gathered in the streets of Istanbul to pay their respects to the eight Turks and one Turkish-American killed in the Israeli assault.

Gaza Flotilla LiveBlog (3 June): Pressure on Israel Grows

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), released a joint declaration on Wednesday condemning Israel and calling on the government to reconsider its relations with West Jerusalem:

TBMM condemns fiercely and vehemently Israeli Defense Forces’ inhumane assault, on 31 May 2010, on the flotilla carrying humanitarian aid with citizens of 32 nations many of whom were Turkish; which led to the death and wounding of many innocent people. It offers its condolences to relatives of the ones who lost their lives and quick recovery wishes to the wounded people.

This attack is an explicit violation of international law.

TBMM expects UNSC to accept a resolution condemning Israel and considering sanctions against it. An independent international investigation committee should be formed in order to ascertain the full dimensions of this reprehensible attack.

Israeli government should officially apologize, make sure that the ones who are responsible are judged and pay compensation to the victims of this attack.

Turkey should apply to national and international judicial remedies. TBMM expects from the Turkish government to reconsider our political, military and economic relations with Israel and to take the necessary measures.

TBMM welcomes the righteous reactions of our people with respect against this attack.

TBMM believes that these reactions will not turn into a violence that can hurt our Jewish citizens.

TBMM, as always, is in solidarity with the Palestinian people and expects the inhumane blockade against Gaza to be lifted.

Gaza Flotilla Analysis: US Official Position "My Israel, Right or Wrong" (Yenidunya)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that "the situation in Gaza is unsustainable and unacceptable". However, when she turned from the "humanitarian side" of the issue, she emphasised: "Israel’s legitimate security needs must be met."

Translated: We are sorry for some Gazans who are suffering from the blockade but Israel needs to continue its struggle against Hamas and we do support this cause.

Gaza Flotilla LiveBlog (3 June): Pressure on Israel Grows

(Clinton also did not emphasize the need of an international investigation. On Tuesday, Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, was offered an investigation led by an "international" judge as a chair with a US representative as an observer. West Jerusalem has not responded.)


On Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden, appearing on the US Public Broadcasting Service, put all the blame on Hamas and said, "I think Israel has an absolute right to deal with its security interest". As for the enquiry, he opened the door for West Jerusalem, "Well, an investigation run by the Israelis, but we're open to international participation..."

Here is a part of the transcript of Biden's interview:

Charlie Rose: Prime Minister Netanyahu was scheduled to come to Washington. He did not. He went back to Israel. There is a blockade. Should they end the blockade in lieu of what's happened here?

Joe Biden: I think Israel has an absolute right to deal with its security interest. I put all this back on two things: one, Hamas, and, two, Israel's need to be more generous relative to the Palestinian people who are in trouble in Gaza. Let me explain that very briefly. Sometimes, because we deal so much at least which you know so much about, we have to remember how we got here. Remember, it was Ehud Barak who decided to pull all Iraqi troops --- I mean, excuse me, all Iraqi --- all Israeli troops out of Gaza. He did that back in '06.

Then there was an election, an election for their Parliament with a president named Mahmoud Abbas who in fact was the successor of [Yasser] Arafat in the Fatah [Party]. That produced a majority of members of the Parliament, which was the West Bank and Gaza, of Hamas.

The international community, the so-called Quartet; the United States, Europe, Russia, and the U.N., said, "Look, in order for you to be part of that government, you have to agree to four conditions. One, you'll abide by previous agreements that have been made by the government of --- by the Palestinians. Two, you are going to renounce terror. Three, you're going to recognize Israel, and basically that you have to accept” --- and here's what happened. They then got in a fight among themselves. They physically took over by force of arms, killed members of the existing government, exile them, took over and started firing rockets into Israel. Over 3,000 went in last year.

And as we put pressure, and the world put pressure on Israel to let material go into Gaza to help those people who are suffering, the ordinary Palestinians there, what happened? Hamas would confiscate it, put it in a warehouse, sell it, they were -- so the problem is this would end tomorrow if Hamas agreed to form a government with the Palestinian Authority on the conditions the international community has set up.

And so I mean again, look, you can argue whether Israel should have dropped people onto that ship or not and the -- but the truth of the matter is, Israel has a right to know --- they're at war with Hamas --- has a right to know whether or not arms are being smuggled in. And up to now,

Charlie, what's happened? They've said, "Here you go. You're in the Mediterranean. This ship --- if you divert slightly north you can unload it and we'll get the stuff into Gaza." So what's the big deal here? What's the big deal of insisting it go straight to Gaza? Well, it's legitimate for Israel to say, "I don't know what's on that ship. These guys are dropping eight --- 3,000 rockets on my people." Now, the one thing we have to do is not forget the plight of these Palestinians there, not Hamas, the --- they're in bad shape. So we have put as much pressure and as much cajoling on Israel as we can to allow them to get building materials in, glass....

Charlie Rose: That's what they're trying to bring in, building materials.

Joe Biden: Yes, we know that, but they could have easily brought it in here and we'd get it through. And so now the question is what do we do? Well, we had made it clear, the President of the United States has spoken three times, yesterday with Bibi, or the day before yesterday, he's spoken once yesterday with a guy that I have spent a fair amount of time with, with Prime Minister Erdogan in Turkey; the Turks, we passed a resolution in the U.N. saying we need a transparent and open investigation of what happened. It looks like things are ---

Charlie Rose: International investigation ---

Joe Biden: Well, an investigation run by the Israelis, but we're open to international participation, just like the investigation run on the sunken sub in -- off the coast of Korea. That was run by South Korea, but the international community joined in that investigation. And so that is very possible here as well. I might add by the way for all those who say the Israelis, you know, you know, you can't trust them, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled today that every one of the people on those ships had to be released immediately, immediately.

Charlie Rose: So what's the ---

Joe Biden: It's a rule of law. It works.

Charlie Rose: I said it was my last question, so I'll make it my last question then. So are you saying that the relationship between Israel and the United States is okay, that there are ---

Joe Biden: It's more than okay. Look, we always have had disagreements tactically with the Israeli government, but when I was in Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I held a press conference before all the flap about a new settlement, etc, and ---

Charlie Rose: Right, yeah, yeah. Exactly, oh, the President got very upset about that because of what he did while you were in the country. I mean, that was the ---

Joe Biden: That's true but here's the point. We stood there at that press conference I'm making a major speech at the University of Tel Aviv, major meaning laying out U.S. policy, and Bibi pointed out that no administration in history has been as up-front and supportive of Israel's security as this administration. We've done everything from provide missile defense. We've made sure they've maintained their qualitative edge. There's a new program they call Iron Dome that we're helping fund for them to be able to protect themselves. We have joint maneuvers. They've never been closer on the strategic side with Israel than today.

Gaza Flotilla Video: Member of Israel Parliament Accused of Supporting "Terrorists"

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1HEFXcRThA[/youtube]

A follow-up to EA's report on the statement of Haneen Zoabi of the Balad Party, who was on the Mavi Marmara and said that Israeli commandos fired on the Freedom Flotilla before boarding the ship....

During the Israeli Parliamentary session on Wednesday, she accused the Government of treating the Israel Navy’s bloody raid as a “pirate military operation". She asked why the soldiers had been ordered to confiscate reporters’ cameras and why the government had refused to allow the media to publish pictures of the nine people who were killed.



Zoabi called on the Government to open a national panel of inquiry and asked why it was so opposed to international calls for an impartial and external probe.

In response, Miri Regev of the LikudParty accused Zoabi of being “responsible for a double crime: joining terrorists, and a moral crime against the state of Israel”. Regev called at her in Arabic, “Go to Gaza, you traitor" and added:

She sat here over a year ago and pledged allegiance to the state of Israel and its laws. I have no intention of stifling free speech, but in the case of MK[member of Knesset] Zoabi --- it is not freedom of speech. The Gaza flotilla was a terrorist flotilla and MK Zoabi needs to be punished. We don’t need Trojan horses in the Knesset.

Regev may have been talking about this video in which the "terrorists" were using their "deadly weapons" against fully-equipped Israeli commandos.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6sAEYpHF24[/youtube]

Gaza Flotilla: A Legal Opinion "The Occupying Power Had to Facilitate the Passage"

Amidst the discussion of whether Israel had a right under international law to intervene against ships sailing in international waters, one of my colleagues, lawyer Dina Biygishieva argues that Israel, as an occupying power in Gaza,  had to facilitate the passage of the six ships of the Freedom Flotilla:

On 31 May the Israeli navy attacked humanitarian ships bringing aid to Gaza in international waters in the middle of the night. According to different reports approximately 10-16 humanitarian activists were killed and 50-60 were injured. The ships were seized by the Israeli navy. What could be a verdict on the Israeli actions under international humanitarian law?

Gaza Flotilla LiveBlog: Limiting an Enquiry, Maintaining a Blockade? (2 June)

The whole situation on humanitarian ships in international waters falls into scope of the regulation of different international sources of law. According to article 188 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, high seas shall be reserved for peaceful purposes, and Article 110 provides that a warship that encounters a foreign ship on the high seas can only board the ship if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that it is participating in unlawful activities such as piracy or the slave trade.


The Gaza flotilla was made up of civilian ships carrying humanitarian aid. There were no reasonable grounds for boarding the ships, much less for killing civilians on board.
 With respect to international maritime customary law. In the case of genuine security concerns, the action of Israeli navy should have been contacted by expressing concern with the flotilla to flag-bearing states and insisting on the boats’ retreat.

Regarding the use of force, the extent of Israel's actions should have been to divert the flotilla once it had reached [Israel's] territorial waters. Even then, once ensuring that the flotilla contained only humanitarian goods, Israel, as the Occupying Power in Gaza, would have been duty-bound to facilitate its passage.

By intercepting and boarding the ship in the high seas, Israel has acted in egregious violation of customary international law.

What follows next? Israel is bound by so-called Fourth Geneva Convention (Convention IV relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949). Provisions of the Convention clearly impose the obligation of meeting humanitarian needs of the people of occupied territories to the fullest possible extent. The welfare of Gaza ’s inhabitants is a precise duty of Israel duty under the Convention, and it includes their rights to health, education, food and adequate housing. The assault on the flotilla, widely publicized to be carrying essential humanitarian aid to Gaza, contravenes Israel's duty to facilitate the passage to humanitarian aid to territory it occupies.

Furthermore, the use of live ammunition to kill and injure civilians on board, even in circumstances in which there may have been some resistance to the take-ver of the ship, was a disproportionate response to the situation and a violation of the civilians' right to life, as set out in Article 6(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Gaza Flotilla Video & Transcript: Hillary Clinton's Statement (1 June)

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Gaza Flotilla LiveBlog: The Politics After the Attack (1 June)

Question: Madam Secretary, I’d like to ask you a couple things about the Israeli situation which, as you know, is getting more and more serious by the day. I know there are many unknowns at this point, but do you accept Israel’s argument of self-defense? And do you think that the investigation should be done by Israel or by a third independent party, as other Security Council members have said?

And more broadly, we all know there are so many moving pieces to this. There’s Turkey, there’s Israel and in the Palestinians, there’s Iran, there’s Syria. What are the implications in your mind of this situation to the peace process and in the larger issues in the Middle East? Thanks.


SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Nick, on your last day, you’ve asked a very complicated set of interrelated questions. And let me put it into context as I respond. First, let me say how deeply we regret the tragic loss of life and injuries suffered among those involved in the incident aboard the Gaza-bound ships, and we offer our condolences to the families of the deceased and the wounded.

Turkey and Israel are both good friends of the United States, and we are working with both to deal with the aftermath of this tragic incident.

The United States supports the Security Council’s condemnation of the acts leading to this tragedy. And we urge Israel to permit full consular access to the individuals involved and to allow the countries concerned to retrieve their deceased and wounded immediately. We urge all concerned countries to work together to resolve the status of those who were part of this incident as soon as possible.

We support in the strongest terms the Security Council’s call for a prompt, impartial, credible, and transparent investigation. We support an Israeli investigation that meets those criteria. We are open to different ways of assuring a credible investigation, including international participation, and we will continue to discuss these ideas with the Israelis and our international partners in the days ahead.

The situation in Gaza is unsustainable and unacceptable. Israel’s legitimate security needs must be met, just as the Palestinians’ legitimate needs for sustained humanitarian assistance and regular access for reconstruction materials must also be assured.

We will continue to work closely with the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority along with international NGOs and the United Nations to ensure adequate access for humanitarian goods, including reconstruction and building supplies. And we welcome efforts to promote the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank under the legitimate and internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

Ultimately, the solution to this conflict must be found through an agreement based on a two-state solution negotiated between the parties. This incident underscores the urgency of reaching this goal and we remain committed to working with both sides to move forward these negotiations.

I think the situation from our perspective is very difficult and requires careful, thoughtful responses from all concerned. But we fully support the Security Council’s action last night in issuing a presidential statement and we will work to implement the intention that this presidential statement represents.