The Latest from Iran (29 June): Grading the Supreme Leader

2000 GMT: The Burning of Baha'i Houses. Radio Farda and BBC Persian Service report that the houses of dozens of Bahais were demolished and/or set ablaze in Mazandaran Province in northern Iran.

Radio Farda has an interview with an eyewitness, and the Baha'i spokeswoman in Geneva, Diane Allai, confirmed the story in a live interview with BBC Persian.

NEW Latest Iran Video: Harassment of Karroubi in Mosque (29 June)
NEW Iran: Can the Green Movement Ally with Workers? (Maljoo)
NEW Iran Snap Analysis: Waiting for the Crumbling?
Thinking Human Rights: Citizens, Technology, and the “Right to Protect” (Mazzucelli)
The Latest from Iran (28 June): Remembering 7 Tir?

1945 GMT: Threat of the Day. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says Britain has a “thick file of biased action” against Iran, so the Foreign Ministry is in agreement with complete severing of all cultural and educational relations with Britain.

Surprisingly, the news has not caused a mass outbreak of fainting and gnashing of teeth in the United Kingdom.

1930 GMT: Today's All is Well Alert. It comes from the head of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, Farid Ameri, who says Iran sees no risks to its gasoline imports.

Up to 10 foreign oil companies have cut shipments to Iran, but Ameri insisted, "Under any conditions we are able to supply the country's gasoline needs and there is no problem in producing or importing gasoline."

1900 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Amir Kabir University student activist Behzad Heydari, detained on 22 Khordaad (12 June), has been freed after 15 days in solitary confinement.

Mahboubeh Karami, a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign, will appear in Revolutionary Court on 28 June , 120 days after her arrest. Association for Women's Rights in Development has further information.

1800 GMT: The Battle over "Neda". The Los Angeles Times picks up on last week's story, noted on EA, of the "official" Iranian state media documentary on the death of Neda Agha-Soltan. The Times summary of Tehran's approach is complemented by Green Correspondents' dissection, in Persian, of the claims (Neda killed by mystery woman, Neda killed by "terrorist" Mujahedin-e-Khalq, Neda killed as part of "Western" plot, and so on).

1730 GMT: We have posted claimed video of Basiji harassment of Mehdi Karroubi --- and Karroubi's reaction --- at a mosque in Tehran today.

1400 GMT: Ahmadinejad  to Rafsanjani "Go". Curious story of the day comes out of the President's latest news conference: he allegedly said, when asked his reaction to Hashemi Rafsanjani's declaration that he was ready to retire, Ahmadinejad replied, "Very grateful".

1210 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. RAHANA reports that journalist Mahboubeh Khansari has been released on bail after four weeks in detention.

Mokhtar Asadi, a teacher’s union activist, was detained yesterday in Karaj.

1200 GMT: Labour Front. We've posted an assessment by Mohammad Maljoo of the relationship between the Green Movement and workers.

Rah-e-Sabz, via Peyke Iran, claims that about 10o oil refinery workers in Abadan held a protest; two were arrested.

0815 GMT: Watching the Diplomats. An important line buried in a Wall Street Journal article on former nuclear negotiator Hossein Mousavian, who is now a visiting scholar at Princeton University....

"Javad Zarif, a pro-engagement former ambassador to the U.N., is under virtual house arrest in Tehran, said Western officials."

Zarif was the key Iranian diplomat in talks, broken off by the Bush Administration in spring 2003, between Tehran and Washington. At one point, he was supposed to join the staff of Tehran University's Institute of North American and European Studies --- now headed by Dr Seyed Mohammad Marandi --- but the post never materialised.

0805 GMT: Regime Spinning. Iranian state media has used comments of Iran's Ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, to declare that the "terrorist" Mujahedin-e-Khalq "is at the end of its line".

But the better entertainment value comes out of the Revolutionary Guard's Javan, which warns, "3000 corrupt tourists from East Asian states heading for Iran".

0745 GMT: The International Front. Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has again drawn Washington's lines on Iran and its nuclear programme.

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, Mullen said he believes Iran will continue to pursue nuclear weapons, despite sanctions, and that its achievement of that goal would be "incredibly dangerous". However, he asserted that a military strike against Iran would be "incredibly destabilizing" to the region.

0740 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Ali Tabi, a member of Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign, has been released from detention.

0730 GMT: Labour Front. Rah-e-Sabz reports on a rally of dismissed and unpaid workers of Tehran's Pars Metal in front of the President's office.

0710 GMT: The Oil Squeeze. Khabar Online takes note of the 10 foreign companies who have halted gasoline exports to Iran.

0655 GMT: Execution Watch. Zahra Rahnavard has issued a statement expressing her hope that reports of the imminent execution of Zeinab Jalalian, a Kurdish woman sentenced to death for membership of the separatist PKK, are just rumours.

0645 GMT: Budget Front. Reports indicate that a Parliamentary commission will finally approve the details of the President's 5th Budget Plan.

So will that stop the sniping against Ahmadinejad by a number of high-profile MPs?

0530 GMT: We start this morning with a quick analysis of signs of stagnation and even crumbling in the Iranian regime.

Meanwhile, more signs....

Secularism and the Supreme Leader

Two articles to note from the opposition Rah-e-Sabz. The website ventures into new ground with a commentary from Arash Naraghi, on the question, "Is it possible to be a secular Muslim?" The reply: "Yes, secularism is an appropriate condition for a good Muslim in a civil society."

And, in a rare English article, Rah-e-Sabz turns from secularism to Iran's top religious figure. It reports that a poll of readers shows 82% marked the Supreme Leader's performance as "very bad" (77.56%) or "bad" (4.52%) while only 4% thought he had been "good".

Keyhan and the CIA v. The Green Movement

Rah-e-Sabz also features a notable and "cheeky", as the British would call it, intervention by Ataollah Mohajerani, a minister in the Khatami Government and ally of Mehdi Karroubi.

Turning the regime's standard argument of foreign support for regime change,Mohajerani links the "hard-line" Keyhan to none other than the Central Intelligence Agency. He notes a provocative editorial by former CIA operative Reuel Marc Gerecht in The New York Times and claims, "Gerecht and those like him [including former Presidential candidate John McCain] support the Green Movement in order to hurt it."

Parliament v. President

The fallout from the dispute over control of Islamic Azad University, complete with demonstrations in front of Parliament, continues. MP Akbar Aalami asserts that the retreat of the Majlis retreat in front of uproars "is a novelty".

The Government Warns Its Own Officials

An advisor in the President's office has declared that officials who are challenging the Government, by creating blogs and not working enough, will be identified.

Earlier this spring, Government outlets said a special unit would be established to monitor officials for inappropriate behaviour.

Khabar Online adds that the main sites for Ahmadinejad supporters are www.valatarin.net and www.nasrclub.com.

Iran Overview: Striking Poses from Sanctions to Cyber-War to "Terrorism"

We closed last night by noting a couple of postures from the Iranian Government over its nuclear programme and supposed economic strength.

So while we look towards analysis of the significant developments in the political situation, we catch up this morning by noting some other poses and threats, beginning outside Iran.

US and Europe: We're Going to Get You

Following the UN resolution for tougher sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme, the Obama Administration has made the first public play of what it supposedly means. It has expanded US sanctions on Iran, imposing penalties on more than three dozen additional companies and individuals.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the new penalties were aimed at those who were helping Iran develop its nuclear and missile porgrammes and evade international sanctions.



"In the coming weeks we will continue to increase the financial pressure on Iran," Geithner said. "We will continuee to target Iran's support for terrorist organizations."

European Union governments have joined in with a draft statement, to be discussed at a summit today, that would not only enforce the UN sanctions by restricting "dual use” goods with potential military applications and imposing additional curbs on Iranian banks and shipping but also go further, targeting Iran’s oil and gas industries.

European penalties would affect “key sectors of the gas and oil industry with prohibition of new investment, technical assistance and transfers of technologies, equipment and services.”

Iran: We're Coming to Get You (on the Web)

Meanwhile in Tehran, Iranian officials were issuing yet another warning that they would most definitely catch anyone who dared use the Internet to oppose the regime.

Iran police chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam said a new "internet police" force was being created to "identify threats and remove them". The agency would be up and running "within the next couple of months," the security chief said, to deal with the "unique and serious threats are felt by users and the society" from the "relatively new" Internet. Ahmadi-Moghaddam continued, "Identifying these threats and removing them and passing new laws applicable in this space is part of an effort to prevent any harm."

The police chief's statement followed repeated declarations by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps of its Internet surveillance and sabotage operations to crush dissent.

"Don't Try and Get Us" --- Foreigners and Terrorists, Chapter 83

Iran, amidst more arrests before and after the first anniversary of the election, played up the allegation of foreign support of those seeking "regime change" by calling in the British Ambassador. The Islamic Republic News Agency reported that the message was, "The Islamic Republic of Iran demands a serious inquiry by the British government into this issue and a report of its findings."

The summoning of the Ambassador followed a Tuesday proclamation by Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi that Iranian forces had broken up a plot to bomb Tehran squares on 12 June: ""Two terrorist teams of hypocrites [the People's Mojahedin of Iran] were identified and their key members were arrested."

Gaza Flotilla LiveBlog (5 June): Israel Forces Board the Rachel Corrie

1930 GMT: The Israeli military has released an audio of its communications with the "7th flotilla ship" (no mention of the name "Rachel Corrie") to accompany its video of the boarding.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pU5HPudACE[/youtube]

NEW Turkey Inside Line: Erdogan Roars at Israel, Extends His Hand to Iraqi Kurdistan
Gaza Flotilla: Haaretz’s Gideon Levy “Netanyahu Was Right”
Gaza Flotilla LiveBlog (4 June): “One Passenger Shot Every Minute”

1920 GMT: Ha'aretz reports on demonstrations in Paris, Dublin, London, and Sydney. Swedish dockworkers will launch a week-long blockade of Israeli ships and goods.


1550 GMT: The Israel Defense Forces have issued a press release on the docking of the Rachel Corrie at Ashdod. The IDF is still omitting the name of the ship in the announcement (see 1000 GMT).

1445 GMT: The Rachel Corrie has entered the port of Ashdod in Israel.

1420 GMT: Pressing Israel. British Foreign Secretary William Hague has used today's events to reiterate a firm stance towards Israel on both Monday's attack and on the blockade of Gaza:

I am glad that the interception of the Rachel Corrie has been resolved peacefully....We want to see a full, credible, impartial and independent investigation into the events surrounding last week's interception of the Gaza flotilla, which resulted in the tragic deaths of nine people. We continue to stress to the Israeli government the importance of an investigation that ensures accountability and commands the confidence of the international community, and includes international participation.

We urgently need to see unfettered access to Gaza to meet the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza and to enable the reconstruction of homes, livelihoods and trade. That is why we continue to press the Government of Israel to lift Gaza's closure.

1305 GMT: Eyewitness Testimony from Monday. Two accounts from passengers on the Mavi Marmara, the lead Flotilla ship where nine people died: journalist Abbas Al Lawati offers a detailedrecollection for Gulf News (Part 1 and Part 2), and filmmaker Iara Lee c9mments in the San Francisco Chronicle.

1240 GMT: The Israeli military has posted aerial video of the boarding of the Rachel Corrie:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl_hXkYOy1c[/youtube]

1045 GMT: The Israeli military is already putting out its line: "The difference between today and Monday:on Monday Israel Defense Force was facing radicals with ties to terrorism who had prepared attack."

1000 GMT: An interesting side note: in its press release, the Israeli military refuse to mention the name of the ship: Rachel Corrie.

Corrie, a member of the International Solidarity Movement, was crushed to death when she stood in the path of an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003.

0940 GMT: The Israeli military reports, "The crew of the Rachel Corrie has permitted IDF [Israel Defense Force] soldiers to board....The Rachel Corrie will be brought to the Ashdod Port where goods will be inspected and transferred to Gaza via land crossings."

Israel Defense Forces have followed this with a press release on their website.

0905 GMT: The Israeli military has just released this video of their contact with the Rachel Corrie:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDkqYrwuDP0[/youtube]

0840 GMT: Israeli military reports that the Rachel Corrie has rejected a fourth command to divert to Ashdod.

0830 GMT: The US Position. A White House statement had urged the Rachel Corrie to accept the Israeli demand to go to the port of Ashdod in Israel. National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said the ship should do so "in the interest of the safety of all involved".

0800 GMT: With the only on-the-spot news coming from Israel's military --- communications with the Rachel Corrie are jammed --- little update in the last 90 minutes. The ship, having defied a third Israeli call to divert to Israel's port of Ashdod, is about 30 miles from the coast.

An eyewitness in Gaza claims that six Israeli gunships have appeared on the horizon.

0630 GMT: Israel military says Rachel Corrie has now ignored second call to divert to Israel.

0625 GMT: Israel Defense Forces update:

[An Israeli ship signalled, “This is the Israeli Navy. You are approaching an area of hostilities which is under a naval blockade. The Gaza area, coastal region and Gaza Harbor are closed to all maritime traffic. The Israeli government supports delivery of humanitarian supplies to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and invites you to enter the Ashdod port. Delivery of the supplies in accordance with the authorities’ regulations will be done via the formal land crossings and under your observation, after which you can return to your home ports aboard the vessels on which you arrived.”

The ship organizers chose to ignore the invitation to dock at the Ashdod port where the cargo could be unloaded and transferred to the Gaza Strip upon inspection.

0615 GMT: Israel Defense Forces write, "IDF Navy began transmission to crew of Rachel Corrie telling them to dock at Ashdod [in Israel]; aid will be transferred via land crossings to Gaza."

0610 GMT: Monday's Attack. Yalcin Buyuk, the vice-chairman of the Turkish Council of Forensic Medicine, has said the nine slain passengers from the Mavi Marmara were shot a total of 30 times.

0605 GMT: An Israeli army officer tells Ma'an News Agency that the Rachel Corrie will not be allowed to dock in the Gaza Strip: "This has been our policy all along, and does not represent a change."

0525 GMT: We wait this morning to uncertainty over the situation with the MV Rachel Corrie, the merchant ship trying to deliver aid to Gaza. It is reported that the vessel is 50 miles off the coast, but Flotilla organisers, trying every two minutes, have been unable to establish communication.

The Israel Defense Forces say that an Israeli ship has made initial contact with the Rachel Corrie requesting under customary naval protocal, that they identify themselves. They deny denied that the ship has been boarded.

Meanwhile, the propaganda battle over the initial Israeli attack on Monday continues. Flotilla supporters have posted evidence that an audio circulated by Israel Defense Forces (see yesterday's updates), ostensibly claiming that passengers replied to commands to halt with insults like "Shut up, go back to Auschwitz", has been fabricated.

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

2100 GMT: British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking in Parliament, has strongly denounced both the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla and the blockade of Gaza:

What has happened is completely unacceptable. We should be clear about that and we should also deplore the loss of life....We should do everything we can to make sure this doesn't happen again - and I stressed this point in a conversation with President Netanyahu of Israel....



Friends of Israel - and I count myself a friend of Israel - should be saying to the Israelis that the blockade actually strengthens Hamas's grip on the economy and on Gaza, and it's in their own interests to lift it and allow these vital supplies to get through.

NEW Gaza Flotilla: A Legal Opinion “The Occupying Power Had to Facilitate the Passage”
NEW Gaza Flotilla Video & Transcript: Hillary Clinton’s Statement (1 June)
Gaza Flotilla: The Text of the UN Security Council Statement
Gaza Flotilla: A Short Note on Why Our “New Media” Are Essential
Blaming the Gaza Flotilla: Text of US Remarks in Security Council
The Flotilla: Has Israel Lost Its Second Gaza War? (Burston)
Gaza Flotilla LiveBlog: The Politics After the Attack (1 June)

1720 GMT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the middle of a press conference defending Monday's attack. Calling the Freedom Flotilla a "hate boat", he said, "The State of Israel will continue to practice its right to defend itself. It's important for all of us to be united."


1715 GMT: The Israeli Line. The Israeli military is now realising selective clips from cameras on the Mavi Marmara to establish that "rioters" initiated the confrontation with the commandos.

I'll leave it to readers to critique the footage, but ask this question: if this is an effort at establishing the "truth" about the attack, rather than propaganda to justify it, why not release all the film from the cameras, rather than this edited, partial clip?

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

1640 GMT: Hamas has refused Israel's delivery of wheelchairs that were amongst the aid on the Freedom Flotilla. "We refuse to receive the humanitarian aid until all those who were detained aboard the ships are released," said Ahmed Kurd, Minister for Social Welfare. "We also insist that the equipment be delivered in its entirety."

Kurd said that the passage of the wheelchairs was a "deception," claiming that the batteries that operate them had been removed, and was designed to divert attention from Monday's "massacre".

Kurd also welcomed Egypt's decision to reopen the Rafah border crossing.

1635 GMT: The "You Don't Say" Headline of Day. Reuters makes a surprising discovery, "Experts say Gaza convoy raid may boost militancy".

1625 GMT: Haneen Zoubi, an Arab member of the Israeli Parliament who was on the lead ship of the Freedom Flotilla, said Israeli naval vessels had surrounded the Mavi Marmara and fired on it a few minutes before commandos abseiled onto the deck.

Zoubi said passengers were forced off the deck when water was sprayed at them and she was not aware of any provocation or resistance. She added that within minutes of the raid, three bodies were brought to the main room on the upper deck, two with gunshot wounds to the head.

1330 GMT: In a separate entry, we have posted a legal opinion that the Israeli military was obligated to escort the Freedom Flotilla to a Gaza port.

1325 GMT: Israel's Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i has told the Israeli Parlimaent, the Knesset that all nine passengers killed were involved in violent clashes, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i said on Wednesday.

Vilna'i praised Israel's commando unit, Shayetet 13, as "unique in the world....While their friends are being lynched....[they were] calling on each other to hold fire."

Vilna'i was heckled by Arab members of the Knesset, six of whom were ejected, and right-wing members, one of whom was removed from the chamber.

1320 GMT: CNN reports that Turkey has informally told the US it will pull out of a trilateral military exercise planned for August with the US and Israel.

1225 GMT: MV Rachel Corrie Halts Journey. The merchant ship MV Rachel Corrie is now going to stop in Crete while the Free Gaza Movement meets tonight to review its journey.

The Movement is reportedly reluctant for the ship to proceed because it does not want the Rachel Corrie to attract all media attention when there are still activists, including Free Gaza board member Lubna Masarwa, who are still in an Israeli prison.

1210 GMT: More Pressure on Israel. Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said, "[The blockade] is an absolute humanitarian catastrophe, and we should acknowledge it as such, but it is also not in Israel's own long-term self-interest....The blockade on Gaza is neither sustainable nor tenable in its present form."

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says Ankara is ready to normalise ties with Israel if the blockade is lifted.

1200 GMT: Britain's Channel 4 reports that Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Martin has called on Israel to allow the aid ship MV Rachel Corrie to reach Gaza.

As the MV Rachel Corrie sails, the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza announced that they received funding for three more ships as part of a new flotilla "Freedom 2".

1140 GMT: Jack Shenker of The Guardian of London reports from the Gaza-Egypt border, "A total of three buses are believed to have made it across from Gaza to Egypt today. An estimated 3000+ people are still waiting."

1130 GMT: Israeli Defense Forces have released a new video, claiming that it shows passengers opened fire at soldiers first.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFGuwUGaI9o&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

1120 GMT: Limits of Criticism Continue. Turkish political parties have failed to agree on a Human Rights Commission declaration condemning Israel.  The opposition party, the Republican Peoples' Party, wanted to add "Parliament expects economic and military measures against Israel", but the Justice and Development Party rejected the change.

1110 GMT: The Human Rights Commission of the Turkish Parliament, TBMM, has condemned Israel's raid in a strongly-worded resolution.

Several hundred Turkish demonstrators, amidst tight security, gathered outside the Israeli Ambassador's residence in Ankara.

1100 GMT: Speaking at the opening of an economic conference in Beersheba, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has asked the UN Security Council to the lift the blockade on Gaza and to endorse an international investigation of the blockade and Monday's raid on the Flotilla raid. He said that the Palestinian people are encountering daily occurrences of Israeli terror.

1045 GMT: Defense Minister Ehud Barak welcomed Shayetet 13, the commando unit carried out the operation. He told them that "they did exactly what [they] were supposed to do" and added: "We are not in Western Europe: here there is no reward for the weak, there is no second chance for those who do not know how to defend themselves."

1030 GMT: Speaking to Army Radio, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said: "The government needs to make a big effort to rehabilitate the political situation with friendly nations that are angry at us and to avoid sinking into isolation. We need to return the situation to what it was not too long ago when we were a friend of the world."

1010 GMT: The UN Human Rights Council is expected to vote on a draft resolution this afternoon. The resolution harshly condemns Israel and says Israel violated international law when it took over the ships in the middle of the ocean. The resolution also calls on Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza and to supply immediate humanitarian aid to Gaza, in the forms of food, gas, and medications. Similar to the Goldstone Report, it calls for an independent fact-finding mission to investigate international law violations.

1000 GMT: During yesterday's meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the latter targeted Israel: "Psychologically, this attack is like 9/11 for Turkey. Turkish citizens were attacked not by terrorists but by a political decision of a state".

0945 GMT: Sherine Tadros of Al Jazeera reports that 77 women, the last female passengers in detention, will soon be freed. She says about 100 men remain in the Israeli prison.

0907 GMT: Israel has ordered the families of its diplomats to leave Turkey.

0904 GMT: Journalist Rachel Shabi says there is still no information on the number of passengers remaining in the Israeli prison, with no access for lawyers. Israel has still not released the names of the dead and injured.

0900 GMT: The BBC has posted the account of Hasan Nowarah, the first British passenger to return from the Freedom Flotilla. Nowarah had been on the attacked lead ship, the Mavi Marmara, but was moved to another craft before the assault:

As we finished our prayers all we could hear were people screaming, we looked at the Marmara ship and saw the Israeli helicopters dropping soldiers. We heard more screaming and shouting before bullets were fired all over the place.

On our ship we could hear 'tick, tick, tick, tick' around the body of the ship, but they were not real bullets, it turns out it was paintballing guns they were shooting at us.

0700 GMT: Donald Macintyre of The Independent of London makes a powerful case, "It's Up to Us to Lift the Blockade":

But blaming Israel – and Egypt, which repeatedly enforces closures on Gaza's southern border – for the blockade is too easy. For just as the international ban on talking to Hamas isolated its more pragmatic elements, so the West's tolerance of the siege has strengthened the Islamic faction's more repressive ones, turning Gaza in on itself. A lawful naval relief operation – or even a threat of it that might produce a real easing of what the UN sees as an unlawful blockade – might help to restore international influence over a territory which remains crucial to any settlement in the Middle East. And it would certainly would go a long way to redeeming the West's woeful inaction over the last three years.

0655 GMT: Israel freed 124 of the Flotilla's passengers before sunrise this morning, sending them to Jordan.

0630 GMT: More than 48 hours after the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla, and the battle to open up both the enquiry into the incident and the economic blockade of Gaza continues.

We've posted the video and transcript of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement as the US Government tries to defend an Israeli --- rather than an "independent" --- investigation of the attack. At the same time, Washington's language on the Israeli blockade has shifted, even if it is set against the perpetual of Israel's security: "The situation in Gaza is unsustainable and unacceptable."

The challenge to Israel may have escalated with Egypt's decision to open its border with Gaza for the first time in more than a year, as thousands immediately made the crossing. West Jerusalem is trying to hold the line with the statement of an "ongoing dialogue" with the international community over the blockade.

And around the politics circulates the clash of statements and videos over what happened on Monday aboard the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship of the Flotilla, as nine passengers were killed. A series of survivors, deported from Israel, gave vivid testimony of an Israeli attack on unarmed civilians. The Israelis countered by putting forth its video version of the clash and the Israeli commando officer who was supposedly thrown over a railing.