http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=161117Posted: June 01, 2010
11:13 pm Eastern
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Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND. Subscriptions are $99 a year or, for monthly trials, just $9.95 per month for credit card users, and provide instant access for the complete reports.
The flotilla fracas in the Middle East is a flashpoint of a larger conflict, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
"It is strange that human rights activists are acting as apologists for a regime that is brutally repressing human rights," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Hamas oppresses women, gays and Christians, has crushed independent media and destroyed all political opposition."
The conflict erupted over the weekend as Israel halted a Turkish flotilla including ships from various countries seeking to bring humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in violation of an embargo imposed by Israel and Egypt. Reports say as many as 15 people were killed, mostly Turks.
Israel had given prior warning to the flotilla that it would be intercepted if it attempted to breach the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
The confrontation is expected to have serious repercussions between Turkey and Israel in a relationship that already had begun to deteriorate following Turkey's objection to the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip earlier this year. Turkey already had suspended all military cooperation with Israel.
In response to the raid, Turkey has withdrawn its ambassador to Israel and has called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, where it holds a non-permanent seat.