One of the central themes of Israel's defence of its intervention in Gaza is that if other countries, especially those in Europe or North America, were in its position then, they too would be forced to take similar measures to ensure their security. Let's take their argument and test its logic. Imagine that during The Troubles the UK government had responded to the the bombing campaign carried out by the Provisional IRA in both Northern Ireland and the British mainland in a manner akin to than being employed by the Israeli Defense Force now in Gaza. (See full size image here). Just to remember that the often brutal conflict in Northern Ireland cost the lives of 3,530 and left more than 47,500 injured in a campaign that lasted from the late 60's to the Clinton brokered Good Friday peace deal in 1998. The current death toll for The Gaza Strip is 1032 dead after just 19 days of IDF operations.
"On the night of Sunday, May 30, showing a terrifying disregard for human life, Israeli naval forces surrounded and boarded ships sailing to bring humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip. On the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara, Israeli commandos opened fire on civilian passengers, killing at least 9 passengers and wounding dozens more. Others are still missing. The final death toll is yet to be determined. Cultures of Resistance director Iara Lee was aboard the besieged ship and has since returned home safely."
The Freedom Flotilla was, according to Israeli deputy foreign minister Daniel Ayalon, "an armada of hate and violence", full of vengeful terroristsympathisers with connections to al Qaida. The video released by the IDF purported to show Israeli soldiers comming under attack from so - called peace activists armed with knives, metal bars and even guns. In addition Israeli TV aired footage of defence forces uncovering caches of weapons hidden amongst the "humanitarian aid" that the turkish cruise ship Mavi Marmara was carrying to Gaza.
However, Tel Aviv's propaganda machine did not take into account the fact that some footage, no matter how brief would escape their hands and spill out into the world and so spoil their neatly honed version of events. Images of passengers fighting machine gun wielding special forces commandos with little more than deck chairs and poles and paying for their defiance with their lives brought to the world's attention the brutality of the military operation which took place in international waters, far from Israeli territory.
As more and more members of the Flotilla return to their home countries, including Greece eye witness accounts contradicting official Israeli accounts are starting to come out. According to Greek activists deported two days ago passengers aboard the Greek sponsored Free Mediterranean were beaten and attacked with tasor - like weapons and that shots were fired even before special forces boarded the ship. According to the Greek language Ship to Gaza website violence against those held continued even after their transfer to Israeli jails.
The news the deaths of those onboard has provoked a storm of reaction here in Greece as in many other parts of the world. Just hours after the story broke protest marches were organised in 21 cities across. Here in Thessaloniki thousands took part in marches condemning the killings and the demonstrations are set to continue in the forseeable future with many groups vowing to not let the deaths be in vain.
Twice in the last year I have covered events by groups who wanted to send aid to Gaza. In December the Viva Palestina aid convoy passed through the city with dozens of ambulances filled with medical supplies for Palestinian hospitals and during their two day stay here I had the chance to talk with those taking part. These were not the terrorists or fanatics that the Israelis would have us believe but rather ordinary people moved to help in what they see is a noble cause. I was moved by their passion and commitment which was not feigned or forced, the participants deeply impressed me with their moral strength and courage.
More recently I was asked if I could photograph a benefit concert which was held here to raise money for the ship that was stopped on its way to Gaza. Once again I was struck by the fact that so many were willing to donate time and money to the effort and that the atmosphere was one of friendship and solidaity rather than hate and mistrust.
Unlike so many tragedies we witness on our TV screens or read about on the internet this one touched a chord within me as I had, albeit slightly been involved with some of those present and had the chance to judge for myself the intentions and character of those taking part. This made me hate the claims made in defence of the killings all the more vile, a crime committed to hide even more heinous crimes. Yet as we have seen in so many other situations in which states use violence to deal with political questions the first reaction after the bullets have been fired and the bodies collected is the vilifcation of the victim, a concerted attempt by the authorities to "prove" that their use of murderous force was, as always, justified.
Once again thanks to Asteris for lending me his camera and o allowing me to carry on photographing what is happeneing here.
With just over half their journey completed the Viva Palestina humanitarian aid covoy reached the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki en route from the UK to Gaza. The collection of 80 plus ambulances and other vehicles carrying medical supplies stopped in the Greek city to raise awareness of the situation in the Gaza Strip which has been subject to a strictly enforced Isreali blockade since 2007.
After this evening's stopover the convoy's itinerary will take it through Turkey, Syria, Egypt and eventually to Gaza. If permitted to enter, the group which comprises of volunteers from over a dozen countries intends to donate the vehicles and supplies to Palestinian aid organisations.
The Egyptian government in conjunction with the US army engineers of has recently begun erecting a 11km steel wall aimed at cutting supply lines into Gaza. For latest updates check out their Twitter page here.
Saturday see protesters across the globe demonstrate against the Israeli invasion of Gaza. I happened to be in the Bristol when I came across a "die-in" outside various shops in the Broadmead shopping centre.
The idea of those involved was to bring to wider public attention to the fact that some stores have strong economic ties with Israel and are, according to anti - war organisations helping the war effort.
"Israeli ground troops have started to enter the Gaza Strip, Israeli military officials have confirmed, a week after the offensive against Hamas began.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the intention was to "take control" of areas from which Palestinian militants have been firing rockets into Israel" BBC just now
