Muskogee Phoenix
Nation/World
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Section A, Page 5
Obama concerned about Gaza incident
AP
An Israeli Navy soldier stands guard on a missile ship as Israeli Navy soldiers intercept several boats headed towards the Gaza Strip on Monday. AP
Nine dead in clash with pro-Palestinian activists President expresses ‘deep regret’ over deadly Israeli raids Lana Dajani, and others, protest outside of the Israeli Embassy in Washington on Monday.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli commandos rappelled down to an aid flotilla sailing to thwart a Gaza blockade on Monday, clashing with pro-Palestinian activists on the lead ship in a botched raid that left at least nine passengers dead. Bloodied passengers sprawled on the deck and troops dived into the sea to save themselves during several hours of hand-tohand fighting that injured dozens of activists and six soldiers. Hundreds of activists were towed from the international waters to Israeli detention centers and hospitals. International condemnation was swift and harsh as Israel scrambled to explain how what was meant to be a simple takeover of a civilian vessel went so badly awry. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly canceled a planned meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington to rush home. The global reaction appeared likely to increase pressure to end the embargo that has plunged Gaza’s 1.5 million residents deeper into poverty. Most of the information about what happened on the single ship where violence broke out came from Israel, which cut off all communication to and from the activists and pro-
vided testimony and video evidence that its soldiers came under attack by activists armed with metal rods, knives, slingshots and two pistols snatched from the troops. Passengers reached at an Israeli hospital and journalists aboard the ship accused the soldiers of using excessive force. One passenger, who identified himself as American, spoke briefly with reporters. “I’m not violent. What I can tell you is that there are bruises all over my body. They won’t let me show them to you,” he said before he was pushed away by a security escort. A soldier identified only as a sergeant told reporters at a military briefing that the activists on board “were armed with knives, scissors, pepper spray and guns.” He said he was armed only with a paintball rifle. “It was a civilian paintball gun that any 12-year-old can play with,” he said. “I saw my friends on the deck spitting blood.” The high-seas confrontation was a nightmare scenario for Israel, which insisted its soldiers were simply unprepared for what awaited them on the Mavi Marmara, the ship carrying 600 of the 700 activists headed for Gaza.
Detained immigrants may help bring in census money Appointed Officials, an organization that has pushed Latinos to participate in the census. This census brings a twist, though. For the first time, states have the option of counting people in detention centers and prisons as residents of their last address before they’re detained, worrying some local lawmakers who say cities and counties that host detention centers could lose money. “Detention centers and prisons should probably count where they are located, that’s where resources would be required,” Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, D-Georgia wrote in a May letter to the chairman of the subcommittee that oversees the census. Bishop represents Stewart County, Georgia, population 4,600, where the nation’s largest detention center housed a total of 14,000 people between April 2007 and March 2008. ICE operates 22 immigrant detention centers and also houses people in hundreds of other jails or prisons. Most of the largest centers are in small towns in Texas, Arizona and Georgia. Texas is home to six detention centers, and Arizona has three. The payout can be hefty for small towns. Federal money being distributed from the census averaged about $1,469 per person in fiscal year 2008, according to the Brookings Institute.
The United States has been trying to restart direct peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, but progress toward this achievement has lagged severely in recent months. At least nine people were killed and dozens wounded in the incident Monday. The raid brought Obama heightened attention to Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, imposed after the Palestinian militant group Hamas seized control of the tiny Mediterranean territory in 2007. The blockade — along with Israel’s fierce offensive against Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009 to stop Hamas rocket fire — has fueled anti-Israeli sentiment around the Muslim world. Obama, who has been pushing to reinvigorate the peace process, also has a meeting scheduled June 9 with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington. In a statement last week, the White House said that Obama and Abbas planned to discuss
the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks and ways the U.S. can work with both parties to move into direct talks. They also will discuss U.S. efforts to support the establishment of a Palestinian state. Obama and fellow Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel discussed the need for a renewed Middle East peace process earlier this month during a private lunch at the White House. Speaking to reporters afterward, Wiesel said the meeting was a “good kosher lunch” between friends. But he said the conversation did turn serious, as the two Nobel Peace Prize winners discussed the administration’s attempts to break the deadlock in the IsraelPalestinian peace talks. Obama’s meeting with Wiesel, a strong supporter of Israel, comes during a period of strained relations between the U.S. and Israel. The author said he believes tensions between the two countries are lessening. Wiesel survived the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Last June, when Obama visited Germany,
Wiesel accompanied the president on a tour of Buchenwald. Relations between the two countries were tested when Israel announced plans for additional settlements in a part of Jerusalem that Palestinians consider as the likely capital of a new Palestinian state. The announcement came as Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, were preparing to have dinner with Netanyahu, in an incident that turned out to be an embarrassment for the Israeli leader. In Washington on Monday, protesters outside the Israeli Embassy displayed large Palestinian flags and called for the embassy’s shutdown. They held a moment of silence for those who died. Basil Bakir, 50, of Rockville, Md., attended the event with his wife and teenage son. Bakir, a native of the West Bank city of Nablus, said he has friends and relatives in Gaza. “We are here to show the world that we support Gaza,” Bakir said, holding a small Palestinian flag. “They are suffering over there,” he said.
South Korea steps up campaign over ship sinking SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea broadened efforts Monday to convince the world and its own public that North Korea sank one of its warships, sharing evidence with Russian torpedo experts and preparing a special briefing for influential bloggers and Twitter personalities. The persuasion campaign coincided with military exercises in which thousands of South Korean troops practiced fending off an attack from the North near the rivals’ tense border. The drill, which the army said was routine and unrelated to the ship attack, involved building and defending pontoon bridges that scores of tanks used to cross a river as helicopters buzzed overhead. The South is lobbying for support for U.N. action against the North, blamed for torpedoing the Cheonan warship and killing 46 sailors in March. Winning Moscow’s backing would be vital because Russia is a veto-holding permanent Security Council member and a traditional ally of North Korea, which denies attacking the ship.
The Russian team — including torpedo and submarine experts — arrived Monday and received a briefing on the Cheonan probe, conducted by a multinational group of investigators. They were scheduled to examine the wreckage and visit the site of the alleged attack before finishing their report June 7, said a Defense Ministry official on condition of anonymity, citing department policy. Konstantin Vnukov, Russia’s ambassador to South Korea, said, “We are sending the experts to find out what exactly happened, who has to take responsibility and who did it.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun told reporters, “We are expecting to see a frank and deep exchange of views between our group of experts about our investigation results.” If the Russians endorse the findings, it could be key to getting Beijing to support South Korea’s bid for sanctions. China is another longtime North Korean ally and permanent council member.
ROTATE TIRES AND FOUR WHEEL ALIGNMENT
$69.95
Parts and Shims Extra.
By Appointment
JAMES HODGE HYUNDAI 1330 N. MAIN • MUSKOGEE, OK 74401 918-687-3646
51612
The South Koreans shared the investigation’s findings with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao last weekend before a summit, but Beijing has yet to blame North Korea or support any potential U.N. action against its longtime ally. On Monday, Wen met with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who said Tokyo strongly supports Seoul’s plans to bring North Korea before the U.N. Security Council for sanctions or condemnation. South Korea was also trying to convince skeptics at home that its Cheonan investigation was correct. The Defense Ministry said Monday that it will invite 70 Twitter users, bloggers
and university students to view the wreckage for themselves — the first time ordinary citizens will be allowed to inspect the ship’s remains. In South Korea’s hightech society, the new media users have developed an influential voice. A small group of proNorth Korean protesters gathered in central Seoul to protest the Cheonan probe. They held a large sign said, “We want the truth of the investigation report.” Protester Cho Joon-gyu, 32, social activist, said the government hasn’t shown enough evidence. “Nothing they say is clear enough,” Cho said. “And they are creating this anti-North Korea sentiment.”
HEARING HEALTH WORKSHOP
FREE HEARING TESTS (All Ages)
Mon., Tues. & Weds. - This Week! Those who have difficulty hearing clearly or suspect a possible hearing impairment are invited to attend this special event. A Nationally Board Certified Hearing Instrument Specialist licensed by the Oklahoma State Department of Health will be on hand to evaluate your hearing using the latest Electronic Hearing Test Equipment. During his more than thirty-years experience in this field, this specialist has personally helped thousands of hearing impaired persons who suffer with sensori-neural (Nerve) hearing loss, through the use of Prosthetic Hearing Instrumentation. If you presently wear a hearing aid or have been told nothing can be done to help your particular hearing loss, you should find out whether the newest methods of hearing correction can help you hear better. To avoid waiting, please call ahead for a convenient appointment!
This special event sponsored by
Muskogee Regional Hearing Aid Lab 2019 West Broadway - Muskogee
682-6251 or 1-800-833-6251
49886
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Paulo Sergio AlfaroSanchez, an illegal immigrant being held at a detention center in Washington state, had no idea that the federal government would count him in the census. No one gave him a census form. No one told him his information would be culled from the center’s records. But counted he was, along with other illegal immigrants facing deportation in detention centers across the country — about 30,000 people on any given day, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement. By the time the census delivers the total tallies to the state and federal government, most of the immigrants will be long gone. But because the population snapshot determines the allocation of federal dollars, those in custody could help bring money to the towns, cities and counties in Texas, Arizona, Washington and Georgia where the country’s biggest and newest facilities are located. “I think the irony, if there’s any irony, is that the locality is what’s going to benefit, because you have a detention center in a particular city where people have been brought from different parts of the region, and that community will benefit,” said Arturo Vargas, executive director of National Association of Latino Elected and
CHICAGO (AP) — President Barack Obama voiced “deep regret” over Monday’s deadly Israeli commando raids, and the White House said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed by phone to reschedule White House talks “at the first opportunity.” In a statement issued by presidential aides in Chicago, where Obama and his family have been spending the Memorial Day weekend, the president was said to have “expressed the importance of learning all the facts and circumstances” surrounding the incident involving aid ships seeking access to the blockaded Gaza Strip. “He said he understood the prime minister’s decision to return immediately to Israel to deal with today’s events,” the statement said. Netanyahu had been scheduled to meet with Obama Tuesday at the White House. At the State Department, spokesman P.J. Crowley said, “We support expanding the flow of goods to the people of Gaza. But this must be done in a spirit of cooperation, not confrontation.”