Arab League Chief Lays Into Israel

JERUSALEM (June 10) -- Arab League chief Amr Moussa today accused Israel of "atrocity and assault" during last month's deadly attack on a flotilla trying to break the blockade of Gaza.

Speaking at an economic forum in Istanbul between Turkey and Arab nations, Moussa said that the nine dead Turks, one of whom also had U.S. citizenship, "are our martyrs as well." The comments were the latest indication of Turkey's new prominence in the Arab world in the wake of the attack.

Participants at the Istanbul event also called for an international investigation into the raid on the ship.

Amid international outcry, Israeli officials have insisted that the soldiers fired upon the activists in self-defense after being attacked with clubs and knives. A new poll by the Israeli newspaper Yisrael Hayom found that 92 percent of Israelis believe the state acted properly when it stopped the Gaza-bound flotilla, and 91 percent believe future flotillas must be stopped.

The poll also found that 78 percent of Israelis now believe Turkey is a hostile state. Until the current crisis, Israelis saw the non-Arab but mostly Muslim Turkey as one of Israel's most important allies. Tens of thousands of Israelis took relatively inexpensive package holidays in Turkey each year. But since the May 31 confrontation on the high seas, the Israeli government has issued a travel advisory for Turkey, and travel agents say almost no Israeli tourists are there now.

Israel has launched its own probe into the events but continues to be under heavy international pressure to agree to an international commission of inquiry. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said negotiations with the U.S. are continuing, and Israel has offered to allow U.S. observers access to its governmental inquiry.

The raid on the flotilla has also led to increased pressure on Israel to lift its 3-year-old blockade of Gaza. On Wednesday, Israel eased the blockade, allowing snack foods, spices and cookies to enter the strip, but refuses to allow industrial goods like cement, fearing the Islamist Hamas, which controls Gaza, could use it for bunkers or weapons. Egypt has also opened its border with Gaza, easing Gaza's feeling of isolation.

The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz today reported that the Foreign Ministry warned the army against attacking the flotilla in international waters, urging the army to wait until the ship reached Israeli waters, some 20 miles from the coast. According to Ha'aretz, even though taking over a ship in international waters is legal, "such an action would hamper Israel on the diplomatic and public relations front worldwide."

The incident has also strengthened Hamas and its control over Gaza. In an editorial titled "Hamas 1, Netanyahu 0," Ha'aretz writes that "the Gaza-bound aid flotilla has achieved its goal, albeit at the bloody price of nine dead and dozens wounded. A week after the Israel Navy intercepted the ships, the hermetic blockade of Gaza has been ripped wide open, while Israel has been the target of massive international criticism and demands for an investigation."