See:
AlJazeeraEnglish — 18 June 2010 — Turkey’s popularity in the Middle East has soared following its denunciation of Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last month. Turkish flags and posters of Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, have been prominent in demonstrations around the world protesting the Israeli attack. In the Gaza Strip, a growing number of newborn babies have been named after Erdogan. Meanwhile Turkey says it will not send its ambassador back to Israel unless it receives a formal apology for the attack, that left nine people, mostly Turks, dead.
Al Jazeera’s Rula Amin reports on Turkey’s rising popularity in the region.
Al Jazeera reconstructs the events surrounding the Israeli assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.
AlJazeeraEnglish — 14 June 2010 — In the early hours of Monday, May 31, the Israeli navy intercepted a flotilla of boats carrying thousands of tonnes of aid to Gaza. Nine passengers on the Mavi Marmara – the flotilla’s largest boat – were killed. This much we know. In the aftermath of the event, accounts from both sides have diverged wildly. Israel claims that it acted in self-defence against a group of “violent extremists” linked to al-Qaeda and Hamas, intent on breaching the military blockade of Gaza. The activists say they were frightened for their lives after being shot at from helicopters in the dark of night, their raised white flag ignored. They say Israel’s attack on their ship in international waters was unexpected and disproportionate. Examining claim and counter claim, A Vourney of Life and Death includes an exclusive interview with the captain of the Mavi Marmara, those on board the ships and previously unseen footage.
RussiaToday — 14 June 2010 — Israel has launched its own investigation into the deadly raid on an aid ship flotilla bound for Gaza that occured two weeks ago. The probe has been set up after the Jewish state rejected an international inquiry proposed by the UN.
RTAmerica — 14 June 2010 — RT’s Anastasia Churkina sits down for an exclusive interview with award-winning journalist, TV/radio host and author Amy Goodman to talk about all the latest stories the mainstream media has not been too truthful about.
Good analysis from Link TV’s Mosaic Intelligence Report. Also see this excellent analysis of Erdogan’s rise by Patrick Cockburn.
linktv — 11 June 2010 — (Mosaic Intelligence Report: June 11, 2010) Turkey votes against UN sanctions on Iran. Erdogan is a hero in the Arab world. Did Turkey abandon its EU dreams? And why is it looking towards the East?
Cultures of Resistance has released Iara Lee’s hour-long video of the attack on Mavi Marmara. You see events leading up to the attack, the attack itself (beginning at about 36:00), and its aftermath. (via Juan Cole, whose coverage of the massacre and its aftermath has been stellar)
Continue reading “The assault on the Mavi Marmara (hour-long video)”
The great Ralph Nader. He calls the attacks on Helen Thomas a ‘political execution’.
TheRealNews — 12 June 2010 — Nader: Helen Thomas apologized – she was attacked with such ferocity because she always asked ‘why’
by Cynthia Dewi Oka
another morning burns
under growl of tanks their hunger
flattens rock and bone alike
sun’s scrutiny ruptured my body
chosen. fingers
too old for their length
pull and prod and manoeuvre
me into sweat misted palm
smaller than a grown maple leaf
invisible my mission
begins in garbled pitch
wailing flaps like dying fish
i knew my turn would come
soon the days of watching
blood crust to earth would end
in the seconds waiting i plot
another life
in the dim of olive trees
P U L S E 