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Turkey says it will challenge Gaza blockade

AP

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey is preparing to challenge Israel's blockade on Gaza at the International Court of Justice, the foreign minister said Saturday, ratcheting up tensions between the once close allies.

Ahmet Davutoglu's comments came a day after Turkey expelled the Israel's ambassador and severed military ties with the country, angered over its refusal to apologize for last year's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that killed nine pro-Palestinian activists.

In an interview with Turkey's state-run TRT television, Davutoglu dismissed a U.N. report into the raid that said Israel's naval blockade of Gaza was a legal security measure. Davutoglu said the report — prepared by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, and presented to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon — was not endorsed by the United Nations and was therefore not binding.

"What is binding is the International Court of Justice," Davutoglu said. "This is what we are saying: let the International Court of Justice decide."

"We are starting the necessary legal procedures this coming week," he said.

But Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said his country has nothing to apologize for and that it has done all it could to avoid a crisis with Turkey. He said the Turks apparently intended to raise tensions with Israel for its own reasons.

"The problem here is on the Turkish side. ... They were not ready for a compromise and kept raising the threshold," Ayalon said on Israeli TV Saturday. "I think we need to say to the Turks: as far as we are concerned, this saga is behind us. Now we need to cooperate. Lack of cooperation harms not only us, but Turkey as well."

Davutoglu said the U.N. report released Friday contradicted an earlier report on the Gaza flotilla incident which found that Israeli forces violated international law when they raided the flotilla. That report was prepared in September by three human rights experts appointed by the U.N.'s top human rights body.

He also warned Israel that it risks alienation among Arab nations by resisting an apology.

"If Israel persists with its current position, the Arab spring will give rise to a strong Israel opposition as well as the debate on the authoritarian regimes," Davutoglu said.

On Friday, Turkey downgraded its diplomatic ties with Israel to the level of second secretary and gave the ambassador and other high-level diplomats until Wednesday to leave the country. In other measures against Israel, Turkey suspended military agreements, promised to back legal actions against Israel by the raid victims' families, and vowed to take steps to ensure freedom to navigate in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkish officials refused to elaborate on their government's latest move, but some analysts suggested Turkey could send navy vessels to escort aid ships in the future.

Turkey's main opposition party on Friday warned that such a step could lead to confrontation between Turkish and Israeli forces. "The probability that (Turkey's ruling) party has carried Turkey to the brink of a hot conflict is saddening and unacceptable," said Faruk Logoglu, a deputy chairman of the opposition Republican People's Party.

On Saturday, Ban urged Turkey and Israel to mend ties for the good of the Middle East peace process. "I sincerely hope that Israel and Turkey will improve their relationship," Ban told reporters during a visit to Australia.

"Both countries are very important countries in the region and their improved relationship — normal relationship — will be very important in addressing all the situations in the Middle East, including the Middle East peace process," he said, referring to a negotiated Palestinian-Israeli peace pact.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman said the U.N. committee's report concluded that Israel had acted within its rights and said he hoped it would help "put the relationship between Jerusalem and Ankara back on the right track."

"The U.N. commission clearly states that Israel acted legally in imposing the naval blockade to protect our people from the smuggling of rockets and weapons that are fired at our civilians," the spokesman, Mark Regev, said.

The U.N. report released Friday called the May 31, 2010 Israeli raid "excessive and unreasonable." The U.N. panel also blamed Turkey and flotilla organizers for contributing to the deaths.

Israel insists its forces acted in self-defense and says there will be no apology. Israeli officials pointed out that the report does not demand an apology. Rather, it says "an appropriate statement of regret should be made by Israel in respect of the incident in light of its consequences."

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Mass rallies revive Israel protest movement

Despite largest turnout to date for Israel's two-month-old protest movement, organisers are unclear about the future.
Gregg Carlstrom Last Modified: 04 Sep 2011


The rally was by far the summer's largest, with Tel Aviv's main square overflowing with demonstrators [Reuters]

An estimated 500,000 people took to the streets of coastal Tel Aviv on Saturday night, by far the largest demonstration in the social protest movement that has swept the country for two months.

Protesters marched down Rothschild Boulevard, a fashionable street which has been the site of a tent city for the last two months. The first tents were a protest against Israel's high housing prices, but the weekly demonstrations have grown to focus more broadly on Israel's socio-economic problems.

Many carried signs complaining about privatisation - Israel's once heavily state-run economy has been heavily privatised - and official corruption.

Some targeted specific businessmen believed to have benefited from their political connections, like the Ofer brothers, who have extensive holdings in Israel's oil and gas industry.

Tens of thousands also marched in other Israeli cities, according to local media reports. At least 50,000 people rallied in Jerusalem and 40,000 in the northern city of Haifa; more than 50,000 turned out in a half-dozen other cities.

In Tel Aviv, many streets were closed to traffic, and Kikar HaMedina (State Square), the largest plaza in the city, was filled to capacity with demonstrators.

Organisers were unsure how many people would show up for Saturday night's rally. It was billed as the "million man march", and was widely advertised around the city; groups of volunteers, some with signs and drums, walked around Tel Aviv on Saturday afternoon urging people to attend.

But the attacks in Eilat last month, and the looming Palestinian bid for statehood, distracted attention from the movement. Only about 10,000 people marched in Tel Aviv last week. Organisers feared a small turnout this week would have killed the movement.

'It's going to break apart'

Saturday's turnout erased any doubts that Israelis are still enthusiastic about the movement.

A few protesters held signs about the Israeli occupation, but most avoided the issue [Al Jazeera]But the rally did little to answer another question - what comes next? Many Israelis seemed nervous about the movement's future. Saturday's rally, announced more than a month ago, could be the movement's climax, and protest leaders have not outlined a strategy for keeping pressure on the government.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appointed a committee to study Israel's socioeconomic problems and propose a set of solutions. The committee, led by professor Manuel Trajtenberg, is due to present its recommendations later this month.

Trajtenberg has said the government will listen - but his committee's recommendations are non-binding, and many protesters fear Netanyahu will simply ignore them. His right-wing coalition is tenuous, but few analysts think the protesters - and Israel's moribund left-leaning parties - could actually force its demise.

"Sometimes you go for the path and not the end objective," said Ben, an environmental protester whose sign said, "Social justice is environmental justice".

"I doubt we'll see any changes in the next three months," he said. "Maybe over the next few years."

One problem is that few protesters seem to agree on what changes they want. The rallies have grown to include a wide range of movements from across Israeli society. Animal rights campaigners, dairy farmers, gay rights activists.

All of them marched on Saturday night and all have different demands. Dairy farmers would be happy with a reasonable price for their products; Hadash, the Israeli Communist party, wants a more fundamental overhaul of the economy.

"What's scary is that some of the groups are going to get what they want and go home," said Doron Yaakov, a protester. "People have been talking about how this movement is united. But now it's going to break apart."

Talking about occupation

Dozens of protesters held signs and chanted slogans about the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. "Justice is exiting the territories", one said. Another banner read: "The occupiers demand social justice / The occupied demand justice".

But the vast majority of protesters avoided the issue. The movement's organisers, too, have been reluctant to discuss the occupation, partly out of fear that it will divide what has been a unified movement.

"It's not a mainstream subject," said Gali Erez, sitting on a railing just outside the square. "Most people have a very aggressive reaction when you talk to them about the occupation. It would take time for people to start understanding."

Several protesters did make a connection between the settlements, which cost billions of shekels to maintain, and Israel's socioeconomic problems. One sign bore a photo of Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's right-wing foreign minister and a settler himself, with the slogan, "Where is the justice? Where is the money?".

A few groups of Israeli Arabs marched at the rally, including one from Jaffa that walked with protesters from Hatikva, a poor Jewish neighbourhood in South Tel Aviv. But Arabs, who make up more than 20 per cent of Israel's population, have generally been underrepresented at the demonstrations.

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FM

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