http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgddT_i9260
An Israeli patrol boat struck a boat carrying medical volunteers and
supplies to Gaza early Tuesday as it attempted to intercept the vessel
in the Mediterranean Sea, witnesses and Israeli officials said.
The Dignity arrives in Tyre, Lebanon, after it was reportedly rammed
by an Israeli military vessel Tuesday.
1 of 3 CNN correspondent Karl Penhaul was aboard the 60-foot pleasure
boat Dignity when the contact occurred. When the boat later docked in
the Lebanese port city of Tyre, severe damage was visible to the
forward port side of the boat, and the front left window and part of
the roof had collapsed. It was flying the flag of Gibraltar.
The Dignity was carrying crew and 16 passengers -- physicians from
Britain, Germany and Cyprus and human rights activists from the Free
Gaza Solidarity Movement -- who were trying to reach Gaza through an
Israeli blockade of the territory.
Also on board was former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney.
Penhaul said an Israeli patrol boat shined its spotlight on the
Dignity, and then it and another patrol boat shadowed the Dignity for
about a half hour before the collision.
One patrol boat "very severely rammed" the Dignity, Penhaul said.
The captain of the Dignity told Penhaul he received no warning. Only
after the collision did the Israelis come on the radio to say they
struck the boat because they believed it was involved in terrorist
activities, the captain said.
But Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor denied that and
said the patrol boat had warned the vessel not to proceed to Gaza
because it is a closed military area.
Palmor said there was no response to the radio message, and the vessel
then tried to out-maneuver the Israeli patrol boat, leading to the
collision.
The captain and crew said their vessel was struck intentionally,
Penhaul said, but Palmor called those allegations "absurd."
"There is no intention on the part of the Israeli navy to ram
anybody," Palmor said.
"I would call it ramming. Let's just call it as it is," McKinney said
after the boat docked in Lebanon. "Our boat was rammed three times,
twice in the front and one on the side. Watch Cynthia McKinney discuss
the collision ยป
"Our mission was a peaceful mission to deliver medical supplies and
our mission was thwarted by the Israelis -- the aggressiveness of the
Israeli military," she said.
The incident occurred in international waters about 90 miles off Gaza.
Israel controls the waters off Gaza's coast and routinely blocks ships
from coming into the Palestinian territory as part of an ongoing
blockade that also applies to the Israel-Gaza border. Human rights
groups have expressed concern about the blockade on Gaza, which has
restricted the delivery of emergency aid and fuel supplies.
Tuesday's collision was so severe, Penhaul said, that the passengers
were ordered to put on their life vests and be ready to get in
lifeboats. The Dignity began taking on water, but the crew managed to
pump it out of the hull long enough for the boat to reach shore.
"It could have ended with people drowning if they hit us more square
on," Dignity's captain, Denis Healey, said. "It could have gone down
in minutes."
Palmor said the vessel refused assistance after the incident.
The boat was carrying boxes of relief supplies, volunteers and
journalists to Gaza, the Palestinian territory that has been subject
to an intense Israeli bombing campaign since Saturday.
Israel Tuesday lambasted McKinney -- the Green Party's 2008 candidate
for the U.S. presidency and a former Democratic congresswoman from
Georgia -- for taking part in the maritime mission.
In a written statement, the Consulate General of Israel to the
Southeast, based in Atlanta, Georgia, said McKinney "has taken it upon
herself to commit an act of provocation," endangering herself and the
crew.
"We regret that during this time of crisis, while Israel is battling
with the terrorist organization of Hamas and defending its citizens,
that we are forced to deal with Ms. McKinney's irresponsible
behavior," the statement read._______________________________________________
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