UPDATED Gaza Latest & Video: The "Freedom Flotilla" Sails

UPDATE 2025 GMT: Confrontation looms as the flotilla is 75 miles off the Gazan coast. Three Israeli warships are moving to intercept the six ships of the flotilla; passengers and crew have put on lifejackets.

We will now carry LiveFeed from the flotilla. More updates are at WitnessGaza.

Gaza LiveFeed: Israel Warships Approach “Freedom Flotilla”
Gaza Latest: Israel Prepares Confrontation with “Freedom Flotilla”

UPDATE 1523 GMT: The flotilla can be followed by live stream video.


UPDATE 1252 GMT: A participant on one of the ships has just sent the message, "We have just started moving. On our way to Gaza as a flotilla of 6 vessels."

UPDATE 0845 GMT: Organisers say five ships left Cyprus at 0200 GMT and are expected to reach Gazan waters late on Sunday afternoon.

The Humanitarian Relief Foundation says the "Freedom Flotilla" ships carrying aid will arrive in Israeli territorial waters on Sunday morning. However, due to technical problems, only five of them are still sailing.



On Saturday morning, the Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, put out a message to  Israeli officials:

The meaning of the flotilla is that the entire world opposes the siege on the Gaza Strip, and if Israel behaves like pirates and sea-terrorists – --we will win.

It was reported that the Cypriot members of Parliament, the ones who had worked so hard to get activists permission to leave, were outraged. The Greek Cypriot members finally told them to go to the north of the island.



In Cyprus, organizers were trying to get two dozen would-be passengers, including 19 European legislators and an elderly Holocaust survivor, on the ships anchored in international waters off the island. Organizers then appealed to the Turkish government to get the group out via a Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus port. Turkish Cypriot officials have said they want to help the group as much as they can.

Elize Ernshire of the Free Gaza Movement said two of the seven boats in the humanitarian aid operation had been “tampered with”, forcing one to drop out and another to pull into port in Turkish-held northern Cyprus for repairs.

Haniyeh,joining the confrontation, He said:

This fleet indicates that Turkey ... is leading strategic changes in the region based on disconnecting itself from the Zionist enterprise and joining the Muslim nations.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces set out the four-stage plan “Operation Sky Wind":

1. Warning stage: the navy will try to stop the ships from reaching a “line” dubbed as a red line, should the ships reach the designated line, they will be warned and informed that they “violate the law”.

2. Boarding and controlling the ships: should the ships fail to adhere to the demands of the navy, the navy will attack and control the ships carrying nearly 800 activists. The ships will then be taken to the port of Ashdod, and the activists will be detained in a huge tent.

3. Deportation by air: Israeli soldiers and policemen would order the detained activists to sign statements accepting to be deported to their countries, and will be deported by air via the Ben Gurion Airport.

4. Arrest before deportation: those who refuse to sign deportation statements, will be arrested, sent to medical examination, then transferred to the Nahshon Brigade which belongs to the Israeli Prison Administration before being sent to Be’er Sheva Prison and likely other prisons.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon reiterated that the military will not allow the ships to reach the Palestinian territory. He called the aid mission a provocation. Ayalon also wrote on his Facebook page:

There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. If the flotilla had a genuine humanitarian goal, then its organizers should have transferred something for the abducted soldier Gilad Shalit as well. Their refusal to do so clearly indicates that humanitarian issues were not their goal.

The parents of Shalit had asked the organizers of the “human rights” flotilla to take letters and packages for Gilad. The answer was no.

Away from the controversy over the Freedom Flotilla, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said during Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas's visit that they will build a hospital worth 20 billion rupiah (2.16 million dollars) in Gaza.

Gaza Latest: Israel Prepares Confrontation with "Freedom Flotilla"

On Saturday, seven ships from a "Freedom Flotilla", bringing aid, will try and reach Gaza. It will be met by at least 12 Israeli naval boats, helicopters, and a "counter-flotilla".

On Friday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman denounced the flotilla:

The aid convoy is violent propaganda against Israel, and Israel will not allow its sovereignty to be threatened in any way, in any place - land, air or sea.

There is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Despite Hamas' war crimes against Israeli citizens and the thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns, Israel continues to respond in the most humane way possible.

Israel: “The Ideal State: A Dream-Country Without Criticism” (Levy)

Israeli gunships were ordered to take position to stop the convoy, and West Jerusalem made clear that it would overtake the ships as soon as they enter a 20-mile Israeli-controlled zone off Gaza. If the ships do not stop, Israel will attempt to connect the flotilla to naval boats and tow them to the Israeli port of Ashdod where the Israelis have prepared a detention centre. Those who do not want to take a flight back home will be taken to jail.


On Friday, Greta Berlin, one of the organizers of the effort, said a total of seven ships were headed to Gaza after an eighth vessel suffered a malfunction and had to turn back. Halting during darkness, they are expected to reach Israeli waters on Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces responded that they will not hesitate to use limited force. The Turkish daily Hurriyet reports that the IDF will use a special technology to blackout media coverage in case of an operation.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Ministry Director General Yossi Gal held a round of explanatory calls with foreign ministers from countries whose citizens are participating in the flotilla. The Israeli message is that the activists are welcome to bring the humanitarian aid to the port of Ashdod, where it will be examined and, if found suitable, will be permitted to enter the Gaza Strip through land crossings. If the activists try to break the siege, they will be arrested.

The spokesman of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, Umit Sonmez, said that the organisation does not trust Israeli officials who took the members of an earlier convoy into custody for 21 days for no reason. The HRF had written to Israeli officials regarding the planned journey to Gaza but had not received any reply.

Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, writing in Haaretz, assess:

The flotilla is not expected to alter in any substantial way the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. It is mostly a battle of public relations that is meant to strike a blow at Israel. Perhaps if Israel was less eager to confront the activists, some of the media attention would have dissipated. Had the flotilla been allowed in, Hamas would have its day, and the entire affair would evaporate quickly.

Haaretz's editors urged the Israeli Government to resume indirect talks with Hamas, to be more flexible about releasing prisoners and to lift the siege on Gaza. They argue  that blockade, siege, and military operations, with the hope that Gazans would topple Hamas, has failed: "The suffering that Israel is causing 1.5 million people for this purpose is not only inhuman, but extremely detrimental to Israel's status around the world".

The editors warn, "Even if Israel manages to prevent the flotilla from reaching Gaza, it will still have to contend with other demonstrations of support."

Israel: "The Ideal State: A Dream-Country Without Criticism" (Levy)

Haaretz's Gideon Levy addresses Israeli officials: "One half of the country undermines the fragile fabric of the government, while the other half remains silent. And who is considered the enemy of the people? Those who dare to criticize this state of affairs."

Let us imagine the dream-country of most Israelis - without criticism, neither from within nor from without. It speaks in one voice and is eternally united, with devotion and cohesion; all-Jewish, that goes without saying. It stands unanimously behind its government, every government, and also, of course, behind its army, the Shin Bet security service and the Mossad espionage agency --- Israel's heroes.

Middle East Inside Line: Israeli Military Drills & Gestures, Palestinian Boycott of Goods, Syria’s Assad v. US Congress

There is not even a single "snitch," no human rights organizations or peace movements, no nonprofit associations and no critical reports that are published here, or, heaven forbid, abroad. Its press never criticizes, never exposes, never investigates, publishing nothing but praise and admiration for the government and the state. It recites official statements and quotes from government and security briefings.


Every war that this dream-country wages is met immediately by nothing but cheers of approval. Any atrocity it commits in the occupied territories automatically earns across-the-board support - the most moral, the most just, the most security-oriented, in harmony. All residents must swear their allegiance, all those who wish to visit, too. Those who are faithful to Israel are welcome. All the rest must take the first plane (or truck ) out. In short, the country of one's dreams.

But now let's answer truthfully. Is that really the country we wound want to live in? Moreover, would the world that is always-against-us appreciate and like Israel better if that was how we looked and spoke, uniform and devoid of all self-criticism?

The growing campaign of incitement in Israeli society against anyone who dares to voice criticism within on the grounds that will cause damage without is a campaign of mudslinging and lies. The shreds of Israel's image of decency abroad is based solely on the fact that there is still a degree of freedom and criticism here. The apathy and public silence in response to this slander campaign reinforce the apprehension that this is truly how the state of dreams appears to most Israelis.

Not just the extreme right, for whom this is a matter of doctrine, but the mainstream. Kadima [Israel's "centre" political party] Knesset members introduce fascist, anti-democratic bills, university faculty members are silent when their colleagues are thrown out, most of the media outlets are busy instilling fear and stirring up base instincts, or with trivial nonsense. The Supreme Court has been weakened and is silent, like the president, who in any event takes care not to comment on such situations in order to avoid annoying anyone.

Until now, the world admired Israel first and foremost because it was different from this land of dreams. From the day the state was founded the world applauded "the only democracy in the Middle East" as such. The kibbutz became an object of worldwide admiration, perhaps Israel's greatest ever, simply by dint of its egalitarian, democratic nature. Israel's technological, scientific, economic, cultural, agricultural and military achievements would be insignificant were they those of a dictatorship. Were Israel not a democracy, 100 brilliant military victories and 1,000 global technological inventions would not be considered great achievements.

Now the false patriots, who speak of nationalism and believe in loyalty, seek to destroy their state's greatest, most important achievements. They are fed up with democracy. The damage they are causing the country and its image is incomparably greater than the supposed damage caused by all those critics who still remain. One day of phosphorus bombs on Gaza caused more damage to Israel's image than all the reports by Breaking the Silence, B'Tselem and the Goldstone committee together, and the current campaign to undermine democracy is the most pernicious of all.

To our great misfortune, almost no one remains who will stop them. They seek to create the dream-country of the majority, and have gone a considerable distance toward advancing it. Pay attention to recent events - Not a day goes by without some dangerous draft law, threatening declaration, deportation from Ben-Gurion National Airport, political arrest, police violence, persecution of foreigners, judicial discrimination or incitement against any would-be critics.

To expel, destroy, punish, arrest, silence and make illegal: One half of the country undermines the fragile fabric of the government, while the other half remains silent. And who is considered the enemy of the people? Those who dare to criticize this state of affairs.

Middle East Inside Line: Israeli Military Drills & Gestures, Palestinian Boycott of Goods, Syria's Assad v. US Congress

Israel's "Turning Point 4" Military Operation: The Israeli Defense Forces have released a video about their drill, allegedly designed as preparation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsVe7Dg9h8c[/youtube]

Middle East/Iran Analysis: How the US Has Lost (Narwani)
Middle East Inside Line: Israel’s Settlements; Syria’s Defiance

Israel's "Goodwill Measures": The Jewish Telegraphic Agency gave more details on the Israeli gestures towards Palestine that we noted on Sunday. The measures include allowing Israeli tour guides to enter the Palestinian city of Bethlehem and allowing tourists to enter the city via all crossings; removing 60 roadblocks throughout the West Bank; easing restrictions on senior Palestinian businessmen going through security checkpoints; and permitting Israeli-Arab civilians to travel through all security crossings located on the West Bank security fence.


Palestinian Authority's Boycott of Israeli Goods: With proximity talks, discussion has arisen over the Palestinian boycott of Israeli goods produced in the West Bank and the Golan Heights. Jeff Barak, a former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, said that "Palestinians' boycott is a political act that does not contribute to the positive atmosphere needed to help the recently launched proximity talks". He continued:

Palestinian traders selling Israeli-made goods produced in the West Bank reportedly face fines of up to $14,000 or even prison which, while not a “hostile act” as the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip would have us believe, is still a serious violation of the spirit of the economic agreements made between Israel and the Palestinians during the Oslo period.

However, Barak also pointed out another economic reality:

The manufacturers’ claim that they are providing jobs for the around 20,000 Palestinians who would otherwise be unemployed might have some factual basis, but ignores the real reason for their basing their factories there: the winning combination of cheap land and cheap labor. Were labor costs and rents the same in the territories as they are in Israel, these manufacturers’ concern for Palestinian employment figures would soon disappear.

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a Likud Party meeting that the boycott of Israeli products from the West Bank cost 2,000 Palestinians their livelihoods and added:

Israel strives for peace, we removed checkpoints in the West Bank, improved the [Palestinians'] quality of life, and are constantly working to help the development of the Palestinian economy, yet the Palestinians oppose economic improvements and takes step that in the end hurt themselves.

Syria's Assad vs. the US Congress & Lobbies: On Monday, in an interview with the Italian daily newspaper La Republica, Syrian President Bashar Assad made four assertions. First, it is not necessary to break Syria's strong ties with Iran to make peace with Israel. Secondly, Syria, did not give Scud missiles to Hezbollah. Thirdly, the US has lost its influence in the Middle East. Lastly, the reason for this failure is not President Barack Obama, who brought hope to the region, but the actions of Congress and American lobbies.

Israel Still Denies Nuke Offer to South Africa: Responding to the report that Israel had offered nuclear warheads to South Africa, a statement from President Shimon Peres' office said:

Israel has never negotiated the exchange of nuclear weapons with South Africa. There exists no Israeli document or Israeli signature on a document that such negotiations took place.

Israel Says 'No' to Aid Ships: A flotilla of humanitarian aid ships sent from Ireland, Greece and Turkey to help people in Gaza will not be allowed into the Gaza Strip. Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor said:

If the people who rule Gaza let [detained Israeli soldier] Gilad Shalit go then everything will look different. They're causing damage to their own people.

Hamas Warns Fatah ahead of Elections: Hamas officials said on Monday that the Islamist movement will boycott the municipal elections that the Palestinian Authority is planning to hold in the West Bank in July. Hamas said that the elections were designed to help Fatah and supporters of the Oslo Accords.

Middle East/Iran Analysis: How the US Has Lost (Narwani)

Sharmine Narwani writes in The Huffington Post:

It's official. There is no longer any serious "cost" for defying the United States in the global arena. Unable to win wars or deliver diplomatic coups - and struggling to maintain our economic equilibrium --- Washington has lost the fundamental tools for global leadership. And no place does this impotence manifest more vividly than the modern Middle East.

Our pointless and protracted wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will be the last time we will launch a major battle in the region. That massive show of flexing brawn over brain burst a global perception bubble about our intentions, capabilities and reason.



This credibility was compromised further with our irrational support of Israel's attacks on Lebanon and Gaza in 2006 and 2008/9 respectively. And it has eroded with the double standards employed over Israel's violations of international law and its illegal nuclear weapons stash, particularly when viewed against the backdrop of our startling rhetoric over Iran's nuclear program.

But nothing highlights our irrelevance more than two recent developments:

1) The US's inability today to convene even perfunctory peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, let alone push through a negotiated solution --- and this after 19 years of a "US-sponsored" peace process.

2) The US's inability to achieve a resolution with Iran over its nuclear program. The only breakthrough in this long-winded effort to tame Iran's nuclear aspirations was struck by Turkey and Brazil last week.

In short, the US seems incapable of resolving even a traffic dispute in the Middle East. It is Qatar that stepped in to broker a deal between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government in 2008, and is knee deep in negotiating a solution to the conflict in Darfur. Syria helped gain the release of prisoners in Iran and Gaza. And now Turkey and Brazil have cajoled Iran into accepting an agreement that the US, France, England, Germany, Russia and China could not.

We have been rendered irrelevant, despite our insistence on involving ourselves with every peep heard in the Mideast.

The Iran Nuclear Fiasco

After pushing for the nuclear swap deal with Iran since last October, we did an about turn and scorned the very same "confidence building" measure we had touted while simultaneously accusing Iran of bad intentions and negotiations trickery.

And we openly sneered at the valiant effort of two important UN Security Council member states --- one a NATO-member and the other the largest economy in our Latin American backyard --- to troubleshoot on behalf of the global community. The very next day, we childishly chose to undermine this important breakthrough by announcing an agreement on UN Security Council draft sanctions against Iran.

The fact is that no one other than England, France, Germany and Israel seems to want us to win this fight anymore. This is increasingly being viewed as a David vs. Goliath standoff, with Iran as the David, and its nuclear energy program a sacrificial lamb that is meant to appease our substantial ego as the world's remaining superpower.

Pundits and analysts, such as Pierre Tristam, James Lindsay and Ray Takeyh,  are even starting to argue for making room for a nuclear Iran --- all thanks to our unwavering scrutiny of this issue.

Indian External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna said in Tehran two days after the nuclear swap deal was struck, "India praises Iran for fighting for its interests... We are both developing nations and we should make use of each other's capabilities and experiences in order to make progress."

These so-called "Middle States" like Brazil, India, and Turkey are regional economic and political hegemons with collective clout --- certainly more so than the waning authority of our European partners who are dealing with weak economies and uninspired geopolitical thinking, much like our own.

Who needs us when all we seem to bring to the table is bluster, threats and our dubious "hard power?" The "regional hegemons" have demonstrated that the cleverly-wielded soft power of diplomacy goes a lot further in easing tensions globally and creating vibrant trade and economic conditions across borders.

No Consequence to Defying the US

In a very significant perception shift, many of these countries are beginning to realize that there is no longer a "cost" to ignoring US threats.

This reality is swiftly becoming apparent in the Middle East. What have several rounds of Security Council sanctions done to harm Iran thus far? Iran has just learned to be more self-sufficient and our constant bullying has earned it a permanent global podium from which it has rallied impressive developing nation alliances from countries that admire its struggle and resolve.

And the Arab world, once hostile to Iran and its brand of Islamic government, has also warmed to the idea of a new regional worldview that rejects an aggressive American role and embraces a homegrown narrative that more honestly addresses their problems. Hence the growing influence of the Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas mindset, bolstered by their good relations with rising regional stars like Turkey and Qatar and the widespread support of the Arab and Muslim Street.

But more importantly, traditional US allies like Saudi Arabia and Lebanon are slowly shifting strategies. Both have sought rapprochement with Syria and appeasement of Iran in some form this past year. Lebanon has defended Hezbollah's right to maintain its weapons so long as a belligerent Israel exists down south. Saudi Arabia and Syria worked together to ensure a smooth, crisis-free election in Lebanon last June, and helped broker the formation of a government in its aftermath - with Iran giving its blessings along the way. And there is increased disunity amongst the six pro-US Arab nations of the Persian Gulf on whether Iran poses a serious threat in the region.

Perceptions Altered --- Can We Adapt Fast Enough?

A recent article in Foreign Policy magazine by Aaron David Miller argues that the Mideast climate has changed and therefore the US should examine its participation in regional affairs, specifically the peace process. Miller also warns:

The broader Middle East is littered with the remains of great powers that wrongly believed they could impose their will on small tribes. Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran...need I continue? Small tribes will always be meaner, tougher, and longer-winded than U.S. diplomats because it's their neighborhood and their survival; they will always have a greater stake in the outcome of their struggle than the great power thousands of miles away with many other things to do.

As we contract economically and our appetite for waging wars shrinks, those who resist our policies in the Middle East can flex their influence with fair certainty that we will not and can not retaliate effectively.

With no real cost to bear, the sympathy of the larger international community, and now a genuine compromise to wave in front of detractors, Iran is sitting pretty, leaving us to look like a churlish, patronizing bully that chooses to lead with club in hand.

In a rapidly changing Middle East, this fight with Iran is just churning up trouble for us and underlining our own shrinking relevance on the world stage. Iran's deal with Turkey and Brazil and our subsequent sanctions threat has demonstrated conclusively that the US is not necessary for brokering deals and may in fact be an impediment to conflict resolution.

And this perception makes our regional allies uncomfortable enough to investigate their options, specifically, dealing with those we call our foes. Regional state and non-state actors will be taking note of the against-all-odds success of the tripartite deal and wondering if they should look more locally for Arab-Israeli peacebrokering too.

The US needs to take a page out of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's foreign policy playbook before taking another false step in the Mideast. This is geopolitical thought leadership the likes of which we haven't seen in more than half a century.

You could call it Diplomacy 101. I'd like to call it our "last chance to practice what we preach".