By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

NEW YORK, New York – The United Nations Security Council convened for an emergency session in New York on Monday after an Israeli attack on a flotilla carrying aid to Palestinians in Gaza resulted in the deaths of as many as ten people, many of whom were Turkish.

Dozens more were injured in the attack that took place Monday on the Freedom Flotilla –  six ships carrying over ten thousand tons of aid and six hundred passengers from more than twenty countries. Organized by the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement, Sunday’s trip to Gaza was to be the final leg of the journey. Even after repeated warnings from Israel not to enter the hostile area, the flotilla entered the Gaza shore. At that point, reports as to who instigated the attack are conflicting.

Israel claims that commandos on board attacked Israelis with clubs, metal rods and knives as soon as they entered the ship. The flotilla’s organizers claim that the Israelis opened fire “on sleeping civilians” upon boarding the ship.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the attack and said that Israel regretted the loss of life. He cancelled a Tuesday meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama to return to Israel.

The attack has not only strained tensions between Israel and Turkey, close allies in the Muslim world, but has caused international outrage and worldwide protests.

At the U.N., Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Israel’s acts were tantamount to “murder conducted by a state.”

The United States expressed concern at the U.N. meeting but also expressed that the facts of the attack were still unclear. Namik Tan, the Turkish ambassador to the United States, called the U.S.’s response, “sort of weak.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for a three-day mourning period across the West Bank.

Turkey, Indonesia, Syria, Russia, Egypt, Britain, Italy, France, Greece, and Sweden, among other countries, have spoken out against the attacks. Said Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minster Bulent Arinc, “this operation will leave a bloody stain on the history of humanity.”

In New York, more than 500 people gathered in Times Square and walked to the Israeli consulate in protest.

The trip was Free Gaza’s ninth attempt at shipping humanitarian aid to Gaza since August 2008. The convoy included items that Israel bars from reaching Gaza.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Deadly Israel raid on aid fleet – 1 June 2010

BBC – UN members decry Israeli raid on Gaza aid flotilla – 31 May 2010

CNN – Israeli raid met with global protests – 31 May 2010

New York Times – Deadly Israeli Raid Draws Condemnation – 31 May 2010

NPR – Condemnation Follows Israeli Raid on Gaza Flotilla – 31 May 2010

The Jerusalem Post – Turkey demands int’l inquiry c’tee – 1 June 2010

By Dallas Steele,
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

The ruined summer camp is one of the largest of the several UNRWA camps across the occupied Palestinian territory. After destroying the camp, the masked militants left behind three bullets and a letter addressed to the United Nations warning them to stop sponsoring the summer camps.

Ging has reportedly remained defiant and vowed to not allow such acts to intimidate UNRWA. Furthermore, he pledged to not only continue all other camps in Gaza as planned, but to also repair the damaged camp.

The attack comes as a major loss for children in the area as nearly 250,000 campers are known to attend every summer. Additionally, many parents now fear for the safety of their children from similar attacks in the future.

It is speculated that the recent attack is another in a handful of attacks executed by small, radical groups looking to impose Islamic law in Gaza, something Hamas has yet to do since its takeover of the territory in June 2007.

For more information, please see:

CNN — Gaza summer camp burned, witnesses say — 23 May 2010

Al Jazeera — Gaza children’s camp destroyed — 23 May 2010

Yahoo! News — Hamas makes arrest over torching of UN summer camp — 25 May 2010

By Warren Popp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain — On May 18, Bahrain banned Qatari-based Al Jazeera from operating within Bahrain for an indefinite period of time, and barred a broadcast crew from traveling to Bahrain to interview former UN Climate Chief Yvo De Boer. According to the official Bahrain News Agency, the ban was imposed for “breaching the professional media norms and flouting the laws regulating the press and publishing.”

In response to the ban, Al Jazeera claims it was “surprised and puzzeled” by the decision. They also expressed regret that the decision was never officially conveyed to them, and said its editorial line and professional policy in reporting on the news and on issues has not changed. Al Jazeera reiterated that it continues to adhere to its motto, “Equal opportunity for opinions and counter opinions.”

It is still unclear what precipitated this sudden ban, especially given that Al Jazeera does not even have a bureau office in Bahrain. According to Tunisian journalist Habib Toumi, the Information Minister claimed the ban was imposed because Al Jazeera was deliberately attempting to harm Bahrain and that it was demonstrating a bias towards Israel. Claims of bias towards Israel have caused the banning of Al Jazeera’s broadcasts in several Arab countries in the past.

Israel also had a major clash with Al Jazeera last year, imposing sanctions on the broadcaster after Qatar closed the Israeli trade office in opposition to Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Israel responded by calling the station a hostile entity and to sought to close its offices in Israel. However, Isreal’s High Court of Justice prevented this action, and instead chose chose to limit the network’s activity in Israel and Palestine.

The Bahraini ban may also have been the result of Al Jazeera’s recent programs on poverty and the treatment of Asian laborers, which are purportedly sensitive matters in Bahrain. Other observers believe that it is simply a reflection of persistent tensions between Bahrain and Qatar since the settlement of a dispute over the Hawar Islands in 2001.

In the statement announcing the ban, Bahrain’s Culture and Information Ministry said, “The decision to freeze the activities of the office will be maintained until the ministry and the channel agree on a memorandum of understanding protecting the rights of both sides on the basis of reciprocity in exercising press and media work in both countries.”

According to Gulf Daily News, Bahrain Journalists Association deputy chairman Faisal Abdulla Shaikh said that he believes it is in everyone’s best interests that the dispute be resolved immediately. Watchdog groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists have also condemned the decision. Reporters Without Borders stated its concern regarding the ban, and they “urge the culture and information ministry to rescind this decision.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Bahrain Blocks Al Jazeera Team – 19 May 2010

Bahrain New Agency – Bahrain-based Al Jazeera Office Temporarily Frozen s Age – 18 May 2010

Gulf Daily News – Call to Resolve Al Jazeera Row – 25 May 2010

GlobalVoices – Bahrain: Why was Al Jazeera’s Office Shut Down? – 19 May 2010

Guardian News – Bahrain Suspends Al-Jazeera Operations and Bars TV Crew – 19 May 2010

Haaretz.com – Bahrain Suspends Al-Jazeera for ‘Flouting Press Laws’ – 19 May 2010

Habib Toumi – Bahrain Defends Decision to Freeze Al Jazeera’s Activities as Reporters Without Borders Urges Manama to Reconsider its Move – 20 May 2010

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – Two American tourists have been kidnapped by armed tribesmen near Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, officials say.

Their Yemeni driver, who was also seized, later reportedly made a call to the AFP news agency, saying the attackers were demanding the release of a jailed fellow tribesman.

The US said the kidnapping of the US nationals – a man and a woman – was “not believed to be terrorism related”. Yemen’s tribes frequently kidnap people to gain leverage in rows with Sa’na.

The Americans were seized by armed men in the Bani Mansour district 70km (45 miles) west of the capital, their driver told AFP. The driver, who identified himself as Ali al-Arashi, said the kidnappers were “calling for the release of a fellow tribesman held by authorities in Sa’na.”

This is the latest kidnapping before this took place last week when two Chinese workers were taken in the Shawba governorate in the South of Yemen, then released two days later.

There has been unfortunately a bit of a side business in what are called ‘tourist kidnappings’ where, for whatever reason, a certain tribe has a particular grievance with the Yemeni government and uses the presence of foreigners for leverage,” he said.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in recent years; most are released unharmed. Two Chinese oil workers were freed this month after being kidnapped in the south-east of the country. In another region, however, a German married couple, their infant son and a British man are still missing after being kidnapped almost a year ago.

Last week the family’s two young daughters were located in a disputed border region by the Saudi Arabian armed forces.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Two American Tourists Kidnapped By Tribesman In Yemen – 24 May 2010

The New York Times – Two Americans Kidnapped In Yemen – 24 May 2010

AP – Gunmen Kidnap 2 American Tourists In Yemen – 24 May 2010

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East