Israel Debates No. 4 25. August 2010 The Raid on the Gaza Flotilla – Controversial Debates in Israel and Increasing International Isolation On June 3, 2010, a convoy of the“Free Gaza“ organization consisting of seven vessels was raided by elite soldiers of the Israeli navy at approximately 120 nautical miles off the Israeli shore and prevented from continuing its journey. The ships were carrying about 12,000 tons of relief supplies for the population of the Gaza Strip under naval blockade by Israel, as well as 600 activists from 42 countries. Nine pro-Palestine activists were killed and more than 40 injured during the military intervention on the Turkish-flagged“Mavi Marmara”, the largest vessel of the convoy. There were no people killed or injured on the other five ships. In June 2007, Israel put the Gaza Strip under complete blockade when the radical Islamist Hamas took power after a sanguinary coup against the secular Fatah led by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Israel’s main argument for the blockade is the prevention of arms and missiles smuggling to the Gaza Strip. Particularly since Hamas’ takeover, Israel has been shelled with thousands of missiles and mortar shells. Furthermore, the blockade also aims at forcing Hamas to release Gilad Shalit, a soldier kidnapped by Hamas in 2006. The goal of the Free Gaza organization that organized the convoy is to support Gaza’s population with relief supplies. The organization’s representatives, however, leave no doubt in wanting to denounce and break through Israel’s blockade on the territory. Israel blames the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief(IHH) to maintain relations to Hamas, al-Qaeda, and other terrorist networks. However, no convincing evidence could be presented by Israel yet. Moreover, Turkish newspapers reported that some of the activists aboard the ship were known to be members of Islamist organizations who had said goodbye to their families in order to die as shahid, that is as a martyr, in this action. The public’s reaction the event was protests, harsh criticism and consternation. In an emergency meeting, the UN Security Council condemned the events leading to the death of civilians and demanded unbiased investigations. German Chancellor Angela Merkel questioned the proportionality of the military action, called on Israel to abandon the blockade and argued for international participation in the investigation. Turkey leveled particularly harsh criticism. Prime Minister Erdogan referred to the action as state terrorism and foreign minister Davutoglu said to the UN Security Council, Israel had violated international law by raiding the aid convoy thus losing any international legitimacy. US president Barack Obama called it a tragedy and demanded a thorough clarification. He described the situation in the Gaza Strip as untenable and promised an aid of 400 million dollars. As a result of the fierce international reactions, Egypt loosened its blockade on the Gaza Strip. Israeli prime minister Netanyahu said:“Responsibility lies with the organizers of the ship convoy” and 1