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<H2 style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><A href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JVP-Chgo-BB/message/26773;_ylc=X3oDMTJyOWtwdm1jBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzk0Mzc4MTgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MjM5NjM3BG1zZ0lkAzI2NzczBHNlYwNkbXNnBHNsawN2bXNnBHN0aW1lAzEyNzU5MDI4NjY-" name=16 rel=nofollow target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>Kidnapped by Israel, forsaken by Britain - By Jamal Elshayyal [6/6/1 </FONT></A></H2>
<H3 style="MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 100% Arial">Posted by: "Burton Steck" <A href="mailto:brtn@comcast.net?Subject= Re%3AKidnapped%20by%20Israel%2C%20forsaken%20by%20Britain%20-%20By%20Jamal%20Elshayyal%20%5B6%2F6%2F1" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:brtn@comcast.net?Subject= Re%3AKidnapped%20by%20Israel%2C%20forsaken%20by%20Britain%20-%20By%20Jamal%20Elshayyal%20%5B6%2F6%2F1"><FONT color=#0000ff>brtn@comcast.net </FONT></A> <A href="http://profiles.yahoo.com/burtonsteck" rel=nofollow target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>burtonsteck </FONT></A></H3>
<H4 style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 20px; FONT: 77% verdana">Sun Jun 6, 2010 9:52 pm (PDT) </H4>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: 122%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia; FONT-SIZE: 100%" class=ygrp-content><BR><BR><A href="http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2010/06/06/kidnapped-israel-" rel=nofollow target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>http://blogs. aljazeera. net/middle- east/2010/ 06/06/kidnapped- israel-</FONT></A> <BR>forsaken-britain<BR><BR>Kidnapped by Israel, forsaken by Britain<BR>By Jamal Elshayyal<BR><BR>on June 6th, 2010<BR>Jamal Elshayyal is a news producer with a focus on Arab politics and <BR>Western/Arab relations.<BR><BR>Firstly I must apologise for taking so long to update my blog. The <BR>events of the past few days have been hectic to say the least, and I <BR>am still trying to come to grips with many of the things that have <BR>happened.<BR><BR>It was this time last week that I was on the top deck of the Mavi <BR>Marmara, and first spotted Israeli war ships in the distance, as they <BR>approached the humanitarian flotilla. Little did I know how
deadly <BR>and bloody were the events that soon began to unfold.<BR><BR>What I will write in this entry is fact, every letter of it, none of <BR>it is opinion, none of it is analysis, and I will leave that to you, <BR>the reader.<BR><BR>After spotting the warships at a distance, (at roughly 11pm) the <BR>organisers called for passengers to wear their life vests and remain <BR>indoors as they monitored the situation. The naval war ships together <BR>with helicopters remained in the distance for several hours.<BR><BR>At 2am local time the organisers informed me that they had re-routed <BR>the ship, as far away from Israel as possible, as deep into <BR>international waters as they could. They did not want a confrontation <BR>with the Israeli military, at least not by night.<BR><BR>Just after 4am local time, the Israeli military attacked the ship, in <BR>international waters, and totally unprovoked. Tear gas was used, <BR>sound grenades were launched, and
rubber coated steel bullets were <BR>fired from almost every direction.<BR><BR>Dozens of speed boats carrying on average of 15-20 masked Israeli <BR>soldiers, armed to the teeth surrounded the Mavi Marmara which was <BR>carrying 600 or so unarmed civilians. Two helicopters at a time <BR>hovered above the vessel. Commandos on board the choppers joined the <BR>firing, using live ammunition, before any of the soldiers had <BR>descended onto the ship.<BR><BR>Two unarmed civilians were killed just meters away from me. Dozens of <BR>unarmed civilians were injured right before my eyes.<BR><BR>One Israeli soldier, armed with a large automatic gun and a side <BR>pistol, was overpowered by several passengers. They disarmed him. <BR>They did not use his weapons or fire them; instead they threw his <BR>weapons over board and into the sea.<BR><BR>After what seemed at the time as roughly 30 minutes, passengers on <BR>board the ship raised a white flag. The Israeli
army continued to <BR>fire live ammunition. The ships organisers made a loud speaker <BR>announcement saying they have surrendered the ship. The Israeli army <BR>continued to fire live ammunition.<BR><BR>I was the last person to leave the top deck.<BR><BR>Below, inside the sleeping quarters, all the passengers had gathered. <BR>There was shock, anger, fear, hurt, chaos.<BR><BR>Doctors ran in all directions trying to treat the wounded, blood was <BR>on the floor, tears ran down people€ ’²s faces, cries of pain and <BR>mourning could be heard everywhere. Death was in the air.<BR><BR>Three critically injured civilians were being treated on the ground <BR>in the reception area of the ship. Their clothes soaked in blood. <BR>Passengers stood by watching in shock, some read out verses of the <BR>Qur€ ’²an to calm them, doctors worked in despair to save them.<BR><BR>Several announcements were made on the load speakers in Hebrew,
<BR>Arabic and English - "This is a message to the Israeli army, we have <BR>surrendered. We are unarmed. We have critically injured people. <BR>Please come and take them. We will not attack."<BR><BR>There was no response.<BR><BR>One of the passengers, a member of the Israeli Parliament wrote a <BR>sign in Hebrew, reading the exact same thing; she held it together <BR>with a white flag and approached the windows where the Israeli <BR>soldiers were standing outside. The pointed their laser guided guns <BR>to her head, ushered her to go away.<BR><BR>A British citizen tried the same sign only this time holding a <BR>British Flag and taking the sign to a different set of windows and <BR>different set of soldiers. They responded in the same manner.<BR><BR>Three hours later, all three of the injured were pronounced dead. The <BR>Israeli soldiers who refused to allow them treatment succeeded where <BR>their colleagues had earlier failed when they targeted
these three <BR>men with bullets.<BR><BR>At around 8am the Israeli army entered the sleeping quarters. They <BR>handcuffed the passengers. I was thrown onto the ground, my hands <BR>tied behind my back, I couldn€ ’²t move an inch.<BR><BR>I was taken to the top deck where the other passengers were, forced <BR>to sit on my knees under the burning sun.<BR><BR>One passenger had his hands tied so tight his wrists were all sorts <BR>of colours. When he requested that the cuffs be loosened, an Israeli <BR>soldier tightened them even more. He let out a scream that sent <BR>chills down my body.<BR><BR>I requested to go to the bathroom, I was prevented, instead the <BR>Israeli soldier told me to urinate where I was and in my own clothes. <BR>Three or four hours later I was allowed to go.<BR><BR>I was then marched, together with the other passengers, back to the <BR>sleeping quarters. The place was ransacked, its image like that of <BR>the
aftermath of an earthquake.<BR><BR>I remained on the ship, seated, without any food or drink bar three <BR>sips of water for more than 24 hours. Throughout this time, Israeli <BR>soldiers had their guns pointed at us. Their hands on the trigger. <BR>For more than 24 hours.<BR><BR>I was then taken off the ship at Ashdod where I was asked to sign a <BR>deportation order, it claimed that I had entered Israel illegally and <BR>agreed to be deported. I told the officer that I, in fact, had not <BR>entered Israel but that the Israeli army had kidnapped me from <BR>international waters and brought me to Israel against my will; <BR>therefore I could not sign this document.<BR><BR>My passport was taken from me. I was told that I would go to jail.<BR><BR>Only then were my hands freed, I spent more than 24 hours with my <BR>hands cuffed behind my back, with nothing to eat, and barely anything <BR>to drink.<BR><BR>Upon arrival at the prison I was put in a cell with
three other <BR>passengers. The cell was roughly 12ft by 9ft.<BR><BR>I spent more than 24 hours in jail. I was not allowed to make a <BR>single phone call.<BR><BR>The British consulate did not come and see me. I did not see a lawyer.<BR><BR>There was no hot water for a shower.<BR><BR>The only meal was frozen bread and some potatoes.<BR><BR>The only reason I believe I was released was because the Turkish <BR>prisoners refused to leave until and unless the other nationalities <BR>(those whose consulates had not come and released them) were set free.<BR><BR>I was taken to Ben Gurion airport. When I asked for my passport, the <BR>Israeli official presented me with a piece of paper and said <BR>"congratulations this is your new passport". I replied "you must be <BR>joking, you have my passport". The Israeli official's response: "sue <BR>me".<BR><BR>There I was asked again to sign a deportation order. Again I refused.<BR><BR>I was put on a plane headed to
Istanbul.<BR><BR>Masked Israeli soldiers and commandos took me from international waters.<BR><BR>Uniformed Israeli officials locked me behind bars.<BR><BR>The British government did not lift a finger to help me, till this <BR>day I have not seen or heard from a British official.<BR><BR>The Israeli government stole my passport.<BR><BR>The Israeli government stole my lap top, two cameras, 3 phones, $1500 <BR>and all my possessions.<BR><BR>My government, the British government has not even acknowledged my <BR>existence.<BR><BR>I was kidnapped by Israel. I was forsaken by my country. </DIV></DIV></div><br>
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