English Wall

“A useless tragedy that might have been avoided”. This is how father Pierbattista Pizzaballa stigmatises the attack from the Israeli Navy against the Turkish ship “Mavi Marmara”, which was part of the Freedom Flotilla, carrying volunteers from NGos of several countries to the Gaza Strip to bring humanitarian aids. The attack, even if the figures have not been confirmed yet, killed at least 19 people, including activists, and injured lots. “A tragedy that will not help the so-called peace process and that does not contribute to creating the atmosphere required for prospective negotiations to be minimally feasible – the Custodian states to SIR –. What happened is a clear sign that, despite the proclamations and announcements of negotiations, the intentions of both parties are withdrawn into themselves and have a poor outlook. The international community seems to be almost giving in to the situation nor to be too willing or prepared to get itself into a fix, where every thing, every word, every gesture stirs up a response, as we have seen today. It is a paralysed situation”. There are different versions of what happened: the Israeli servicemen state that “people from the ship shot at the commandoes who were boarding”. The activists speak of “an illegal attack in international waters”. The Italian Foreign Ministry stated that there seem to be no victims among the Italians, five of whom were on board the sea convoy.

© SIR - 31 may 2010