Israel asked the United Nations to stop a Swedish-owned ship carrying human rights activists from attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, called the ship Estelle a “provocation” that “raises tensions and could easily spark a serious escalation of the conflict.” “I want to stress that…
A Swedish ship carrying human rights activists has left from Italy to attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. The Estelle, carrying 17 activists from countries including Canada, Norway, Sweden, Israel and the United States, left from the port at Naples, Italy on Saturday. The vessel, which measures 173 feet long, reportedly is carrying…
Relatives of nine Turkish citizens killed in a raid by Israeli commandos on an activist ship attempting to break the naval blockade of Gaza have filed a lawsuit against Israel, according to Turkish media. The lawsuit was filed Oct. 5 in a Turkish court by more than 30 relatives of Turkish citizens killed in the…
Chrisopher Hitchens, in a July 4 piece on Slate linked to on Tuesday by J.J. Goldberg, almost got it almost right. “It seems safe and fair to say that the flotilla and its leadership work in reasonably close harmony with Hamas, which constitutes the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood,” he wrote. It’s unclear if…
Never thought I would say this, but Benjamin Netanyahu just saved me from banging my head against the wall in desperate frustration. This morning brought news that Israel’s Government Press Office had warned media outlets that any foreign correspondent found aboard the flotilla about to set sail for Gaza would be “denied entry into the…
Must reading on Barak’s resignation from Labor: Haaretz military correspondent Amir Oren writes today about the very complicated relationship between Barak’s defection, the retirement of Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and his replacement by Yoav Galant, and the Turkish flotilla. Barak defected to save his own skin, of course. Avi Braverman and Buzhi Herzog were…
Isaac Zablocki is the director of film programs at The JCC in Manhattan. “Five Hours From Paris” is an Israeli film, inspired by classic French New Wave cinema, that tells the story of a taxi driver with a fear of flying and a Russian immigrant who is planning to move to Toronto. When “Five Hours…
The sexism endemic to Israeli corridors of power has finally made it to front-page news. The all-male commission investigating the May 31 Gaza flotilla incident, headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Yaakov Turkel, has been ordered by the Supreme Court to add a woman to its ranks. Turkel, however, has thus far responded by refusing…
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