Daybreak: U.S. Extracts Measured Condemnation
Plus two more ships, and more in the Flotilla news
June 01, 2010
President Obama yesterday.(Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)
• The U.N. Security Council condemned “acts” resulting in the nine “Freedom Flotilla” deaths, in a statement watered down at U.S. insistence from the Turkish original. [NYT]
• Two more ships affiliated with the flotilla—including an Irish vessel called the “Rachel Corrie”—are apparently still out there. “This is not the end,” the flotilla organizer pledged. [Ynet]
• “We’re the only ones who believe them,” a U.S. official says regarding the Israelis’ insistence that their soldiers were attacked. “And what they’re saying is true.” [Politico]
• Israel is still detaining hundreds of activists. And with Israeli border security on high alert, two infiltrators from Gaza were shot and killed Tuesday morning. [NYT]
• A general Arab Israeli strike was called for today, with some warning of a “new intifada.” [JPost]
• A helpful round-up of international reaction shows Arab countries, China, Britain, and more condemning Israel’s violence and demanding an end to the blockade. The U.S. statement is by far the least harsh. [WSJ]
• Yet the fallout is widely seen as likely to increase the U.S.-Israeli strain. [NYT]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.
