Israel passed a law punishing people who advocate for a boycott of the settlements. The law is definitely not only a blow to freedom of speech in Israel but also another act of repression against Palestinian solidarity activism in Israel.

Eight ships have been gathered in Greek ports preparing to sail to Gaza carrying humanitarian supplies and, in the case of the American ship, letters. Two have been sabotaged – the Irish and Swedish ships – and two have now been seized by Greece upon making attempts to leave port.

The Prime Minister’s Office issued a press release in English following the meeting, which was also sent to foreign diplomats, was substantially different than the Hebrew announcement – according to the English text, a decision was made to ease the blockade, but in the Hebrew text there was no mention of any such decision.

Ok, so I feel really dumb. When looking at the announcement of the Israeli “investigation” which attempts to bypass standard international law to coverup the attack on the Freedom Flotilla, I noted there was an Irishman and a Canadian on the panel – though without voting rights. I was distracted by the White House’s wholehearted [...]

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon given free rein to spin on Fareed Zakaria’s show while Irish journalists blocked from reporting the real story in Gaza – and Gazan women come under Israeli fire when trying to harvest wheat.

One of those killed by the Israeli assault on the anti-blockade flotilla was an American citizen. But killing Americans without cause is okay with our and Israeli government officials.

The Israeli flotilla massacre has put the United States and its leaders in a tough position, for a variety of reasons. The entire world has united in condemnation of the incident in international waters, and in the larger view, the blockade of Gaza, an unacceptable, poorly crafted, and possibly illegal action taken by the Israelis to basically starve out 1.5 million people. American pols don’t want to talk about the blockade, but it sits at the crux of the entire matter.

Last night, Israeli commandos attacked a flotilla of humanitarian aid ships headed to Gaza. They killed at least 15 civilians on these boats during their attack according to numerous media outlets. We are now waiting for a response from the Obama administration, while emergency demonstrations protesting this attack are being organized around the world.

Israel is threatening to use force to block an international humanitarian aid shipment to Gaza.