Irish fury over Israeli raid

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Prime Minister Brian Cowen told Parliament on Tuesday that there will be “serious consequences” if harm comes to Irish citizens detained in Israel for their part in the Gaza-bound aid flotilla that was attacked by Israeli soldiers.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin has accused Israel of “kidnapping” Irish citizens who were aboard the flotilla attacked by the soldiers on Monday.

And Irish former President Mary Robinson said she and other former world leaders were “absolutely outraged” by the raid.

Martin, who summoned Israeli Ambassador Zion Evrony to his office within hours of the attack, said the Irish government wants an independent, international inquiry into the incident, a view shared by Cowen and several EU countries which condemned Israel’s storming of the six-ship flotilla with 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid.

Robinson was in Johannesburg with a group of 10 senior international leaders known as The Elders, among them Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan.

She said the ex-leaders were appalled by the attack in international waters but also by the treatment of Gaza. She said, “It’s one of the greatest human violations and the blockade is illegal and is counter-productive. We believe that out of this event must come the wider justice. There must be an end to that blockade on Gaza.”

Seven Irish passport-holders, including Monaghan-born reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia Paul McGeough, were in the flotilla and were captured in the raid and were being deported or faced deportation from Israel.

Three Irish politicians were refused access by the Cypriot authorities to the flotilla before it sailed towards Gaza. They were TDs (members of Parliament) Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Chris Andrews and Senator Mark Daly.

Another five Irish people are on board the ship the “Rachel Corrie,” an Irish vessel which became separated from the main flotilla for 48 hours through logistical reasons in Cyprus. It set sail after the other ships and was due in Gazan waters mid-week, but Israeli authorities claimed they would also block it.

Maireád Corrigan-Maguire, Irish winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976, was one of the Irish aboard the Rachel Corrie which was carrying construction materials, education equipment and some toys. “None of our ships carry arms. They are purely humanitarian,” she said.

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