June 10, 2010 10:06 am
Ynetnews (AFP), “Hezbollah stands by disgraced US reporter Helen Thomas”
Hezbollah on Wednesday saluted veteran US reporter Helen Thomas’s “courage” for her controversial comments against Israel, which sparked a furor and forced her to retire.
“Respected American journalist Helen Thomas’s answer shows … a courageous, bold, honest and free opinion which expresses what people across the globe believe: that Israel is a racist state of murderers and thugs,” Hezbollah MP Hussein Moussawi said in a statement.
Ynetnews (AFP) article continues here.
June 8, 2010 10:14 pm
The Jerusalem Post, “Ideas for ‘reverse flotillas’ gain steam”
Although most of the recent talk regarding flotillas has revolved around ships sailing toward Gaza, at least two plans have emerged for “reverse flotillas” – from Israel toward Turkey – to highlight what organizers have labeled the Turks’ “shameless hypocrisy” in their criticisms of the Jewish state.
The most ambitious of the two plans has been devised by members of Israel’s National Student Union, who this week announced their intention to set sail toward Turkey, in an effort to bring humanitarian aid to the “oppressed people of Turkish Kurdistan” and to members of the “Turkish Armenian minority.”
The Jerusalem Post article continues here.
June 8, 2010 12:30 am
Fox News, “Helen Thomas to Retire ‘Effective Immediately’ Following Uproar Over ‘Palestine’ Comments”
Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas announced her retirement Monday following an uproar over comments she made last month about Jews in Israel.
Hearst Corporation, which employed Thomas as a columnist, put out a brief story via Hearst News Service announcing the retirement “effective immediately.”
The announcement came after the White House Correspondents Association decried her remarks as “indefensible” and began to consider whether Thomas should continue to have the privilege of a front-row seat in the briefing room. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called her remarks “offensive and reprehensible” on Monday, as other former White House spokesmen called for Thomas to be fired.
Fox News article continues here.
June 8, 2010 12:29 am
The Guardian, “Gaza blockade: Iran offers escort to next aid convoy”
by Ian Black
Iran has warned that it could send Revolutionary Guard naval units to escort humanitarian aid convoys seeking to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza – a move that would certainly be challenged by Israel.
Any such Iranian involvement, raised today by an aide to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would constitute a serious escalation of already high tensions with Israel, which accuses Tehran of seeking to build a nuclear weapon and of backing Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls Gaza.
“Iran’s Revolutionary Guard naval forces are prepared to escort the peace and freedom convoys that carry humanitarian assistance for the defenceless and oppressed people of Gaza with all their strength,” pledged Hojjatoleslam Ali Shirazi, Khamenei’s personal representative to the guards corps.
The Guardian article continues here.
June 5, 2010 6:08 pm
Forbes, “U.S. Interferes With Israel’s Gaza Blockade”
by Anne Bayefsky
The Obama administration is pushing for an internationalized investigation of Israel’s recent effort to preserve its naval blockade of Hamas-run Gaza. In an extraordinary interference with the sovereignty of a democratic society and its right of self-defense, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said Wednesday that the United States wants “a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation. … We are open to different ways of assuring a credible investigation, including international participation … ”
Assistant Secretary of State Philip J. Crowley elaborated that the administration was demanding Israel produce “an investigation that is broadly viewed as credible by the international community.” That would be the same international community which has condemned Israel without the facts, and which has refused to walk back their spontaneous reactions, though the video evidence of armed “civilian” attackers and martyr-seeking “humanitarians” now stares them in the face.
Forbes article continues here.
June 5, 2010 6:06 pm
Fox News, “Israeli Forces Board Gaza-Bound Vessel”
Israeli forces seized a Gaza-bound vessel swiftly and without meeting resistance on Saturday, preventing it from breaking a naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory days after a similar effort turned bloody.
Israel has faced mounting international pressure to lift the blockade since Monday’s deadly confrontation aboard a Turkish vessel headed for Gaza. But it stood by the embargo — which it says is needed to prevent the Islamic militant group from getting weapons — even as the Obama administration called the current restrictions “unsustainable.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the blockade in remarks following the takeover, saying it was meant to keep weapons out of the hands of the Iranian-backed Hamas and he would “not allow the establishment of an Iranian port in Gaza.”
Fox News article continues here.
