Crowds march in Turkey and Jordan. Angry reaction from Arab states is joined by harsh criticism and calls for an explanation or investigation from the U.N. and the European Union.
Los Angeles Times, May 31, 2010
About 10,000 Turkish demonstrators marched from Israel’s Consulate in Istanbul toward the city’s main square Monday after Israeli forces killed at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists and wounded dozens aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla.
The protesters earlier Monday tried storm the Consulate building but were blocked by police. They set Israeli flags on fire as television stations broadcast the protest live.
In Jordan, hundreds demonstrated in the capital, Amman, to protest the Israeli action and demand that their government breaks diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
The Israeli ambassadors in Sweden, Spain, Denmark and Greece were summoned for meetings, and the French foreign minister called for an investigation. Activists from all of those European countries were on board the flotilla.
Besides swift, angry reaction from the Palestinians, strong condemnation came from the United Nations and the European Union.
Greece suspended a military exercise with Israel, and the Arab League called an emergency meeting.
The United Nations expressed “shock” and condemned the killings.
“We are in contact with the Israeli authorities to express our deep concern and to seek a full explanation,” said a statement from the highest-ranking U.N. official in the region, Robert Serry.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Israeli “aggression,” declared three days of mourning across the West Bank and called on the U.N. Security Council and Arab League to hold emergency sessions on the incident
“What Israel has committed on board the Freedom Flotilla was a massacre,” Abbas was quoted as saying by the official Wafa news agency.
Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the rival Hamas government in Gaza, condemned the “brutal” Israeli attack and called on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to intervene.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, already a harsh critic of Israel, called the military action “inhuman.”
A spokesperson for Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief said the official “expresses her deep regret at the news of loss of life and violence and extends her sympathies to families of the dead and wounded. On behalf of the European Union she demands a full inquiry about the circumstances in which this happened. … She calls for an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of the crossing for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza.”
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