[ 03/06/2010 - 09:21 AM ]

NICOSIA, (PIC)– The Irish ship named Rachel Corrie, which fell behind the Freedom Flotilla convoy, is ploughing ahead with its attempt to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip despite Monday’s attack by the Israeli navy and due to arrive tomorrow or the day after.

The organizers said that Rachel Corrie, which was named after the American activist who was killed in 2003 by an Israeli military bulldozer, sailed from Malta on Monday.

Derek Graham, one of the crew members aboard the ship, told the Irish radio that there are 15 passengers on board the ship including a Nobel peace prize laureate.

He said that he and the others aboard the ship had a meeting after what happened on Monday morning and decided to continue their mission, noting that the ship is carrying medical appliances, school supplies and cement bags.

Meanwhile, the European campaign to end the siege announced that it was able to secure funding for three other aid ships after it received earlier funds for three ships of the new Freedom Flotilla convoy.

The campaign added that it managed within the past 24 hours through intensive worldwide contacts to obtain funds for six ships that will be among a huge fleet scheduled to sail for Gaza in the next few days.

In Israel, war minister Ehud Barak visited the Shayetet 13 military base on Wednesday and praised the commandos who participated in the deadly raid on the Gaza-bound aid Freedom Flotilla on Monday for carrying out their mission as they were told, the army radio reported.

“You carried out the mission and prevented the flotilla from reaching Gaza,” Barak said.

“We always need to remember that we aren’t in North America or Western Europe, we live in the Middle East, in a place where there is no mercy for the weak and there are no second chances for those who do not defend themselves,” he added.

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[ 03/06/2010 - 09:25 AM ]

NEW YORK, (PIC)– The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged Israel to lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip immediately, describing the siege as an “unbearable mistake”.

Moon, speaking to reporters in New York on Wednesday night after returning from a tour of Brazil, Malawi and Uganda, said that Israel should explain in detail the raid on the ships that were trying to break the siege on Gaza while carrying 10,000 tons of aid material.

The UN top official said that he would need some time before taking a decision to form an independent investigation committee into the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla.

He added, “We must do whatever is necessary to avoid an accident of this kind, the parties concerned must act responsibly and in accordance with international law.”

“Had the Israeli government heeded to international calls and my own strong and urgent and persistent call to lift the blockade of Gaza, this would not have happened,” Moon told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday in Kampala.

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[ 03/06/2010 - 09:28 AM ]

RIYADH, (PIC)– 108 Muslim scholars from around the world called for withdrawing the Arab peace initiative, severing all kinds of covert or overt relations with Israel and investing the Arab and Muslim capabilities to serve the Palestinian cause.

In a join statement signed by them, the scholars strongly denounced the Israeli massacre committed against Freedom Flotilla activists and called for supporting Palestine, the Aqsa Mosque, and the resistance financially, spiritually and in the media.

Their statement stressed the need for holding an urgent Arab-Islamic conference that set the political, economic, informational and military steps that should be followed to curb Israel’s thirst for committing crimes.

“Why we respect the international agreements and laws when dealing with the Zionist entity, while they do not give any consideration to any values, morals, norms, or international conventions,” the scholars said addressing the Egyptian leadership.

The statement also demanded the Palestinian Authority to stop its campaign against the Palestinian resistance fighters and declare the cessation of its frivolous negotiations and meetings with Israelis.

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