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A boy waves a Turkish and a Palestinian flag in a protest against Israel. |
ISTANBUL -- Mourners hoisted coffins over their heads
Thursday to cheers of "God is great!" as they honored activists
slain during an Israeli commando raid, and the father of the lone
American killed praised his teenage son as being a martyr for a
just cause.
The joint funeral in Istanbul came as Israel rejected demands for an international panel to investigate its deadly takeover Monday of six aid ships trying to break Israel's three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hotly rejected calls to lift the blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza, insisting the ban prevents missile attacks on Israel.
Some 10,000 people prayed Thursday outside Istanbul's Fatih mosque before eight Turkish and Palestinian flag-draped coffins lined up in a row. Eight Turks and American-Turkish dual citizen were honored, ranging in age from 19 to over 60. A ninth victim, a Turkish man, was having a separate service on Friday.
"Our friends have been massacred," said Bulent Yildirim, the head of the Islamic charity group IHH that organized the Gaza flotilla, before mourners carried the coffins through the crowd to cars for the burial.
The body of Furkan Dogan, a 19-year-old with dual U.S.-Turkish citizenship, was to be flown to his family's hometown of Kayseri for burial Friday, the state-run Anatolia News Agency reported.
His father Ahmet told Anatolia he identified his son at the morgue and he had been shot in the forehead. Still, he said, the family was not sad because they believed Furkan had died with honor.
"I feel my son has been blessed with heaven," he said. "I am hoping to be a father worthy of my son."
Before dawn, thousands had flooded Istanbul's main Taksim Square to welcome home hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists from the aid boats who had expelled. Israel, which has faced strong international criticism for the botched military operation, decided not to prosecute the activists in an effort to limit diplomatic outrage.
One large banner read "Murderous Israelis: Take your hands off our ships" while others in the crowd held signs reading "From now on, nothing will be the same" and "Intifada is everywhere - at land and at sea" - in reference to the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
In all, 466 activists, including more than 50 foreigners, arrived in Istanbul early Thursday, along with Turkey's ambassador to Israel, Oguz Celikkol.
All of the nine slain activists died from gunshot wounds - some from close range - according to initial forensic examinations done in Turkey after the bodies were returned, NTV television reported, citing unidentified medical sources.
Israel maintains that the commandos only used their pistols as a last resort after they were attacked, and released a video showing soldiers in riot gear descending from a helicopter into a crowd of men with clubs. Three or four activists overpowered each soldier as he landed.
Israeli officials have insisted that their military already is investigating the raid and the country is capable of conducting a credible review.
"It is our standard practice after military operations, especially operations in which there have been fatalities, to conduct a prompt, professional, transparent and objective investigation in accordance with the highest international standards," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, however, suggested that international observers could possibly be attached to an internal Israeli probe.
Returning activists admitted fighting with the Israelis but insisted their actions were in self defense because the ships were being boarded in international waters by a military force.
"We first thought they were trying to scare us," Yildirim said, following his deportation from Israel. "When we started morning prayers, they began attacking from everywhere, from the boats, from the helicopters. Our friends only performed civil resistance."
Yildirim said the activists fought the Israeli commandos with chairs and sticks and that they seized weapons from some Israeli soldiers, but threw them into the sea.
Israel says two of the seven soldiers wounded were shot with guns that were wrested from them, while a third was stabbed.
The joint funeral in Istanbul came as Israel rejected demands for an international panel to investigate its deadly takeover Monday of six aid ships trying to break Israel's three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hotly rejected calls to lift the blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza, insisting the ban prevents missile attacks on Israel.
Some 10,000 people prayed Thursday outside Istanbul's Fatih mosque before eight Turkish and Palestinian flag-draped coffins lined up in a row. Eight Turks and American-Turkish dual citizen were honored, ranging in age from 19 to over 60. A ninth victim, a Turkish man, was having a separate service on Friday.
"Our friends have been massacred," said Bulent Yildirim, the head of the Islamic charity group IHH that organized the Gaza flotilla, before mourners carried the coffins through the crowd to cars for the burial.
The body of Furkan Dogan, a 19-year-old with dual U.S.-Turkish citizenship, was to be flown to his family's hometown of Kayseri for burial Friday, the state-run Anatolia News Agency reported.
His father Ahmet told Anatolia he identified his son at the morgue and he had been shot in the forehead. Still, he said, the family was not sad because they believed Furkan had died with honor.
"I feel my son has been blessed with heaven," he said. "I am hoping to be a father worthy of my son."
Before dawn, thousands had flooded Istanbul's main Taksim Square to welcome home hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists from the aid boats who had expelled. Israel, which has faced strong international criticism for the botched military operation, decided not to prosecute the activists in an effort to limit diplomatic outrage.
One large banner read "Murderous Israelis: Take your hands off our ships" while others in the crowd held signs reading "From now on, nothing will be the same" and "Intifada is everywhere - at land and at sea" - in reference to the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
In all, 466 activists, including more than 50 foreigners, arrived in Istanbul early Thursday, along with Turkey's ambassador to Israel, Oguz Celikkol.
All of the nine slain activists died from gunshot wounds - some from close range - according to initial forensic examinations done in Turkey after the bodies were returned, NTV television reported, citing unidentified medical sources.
Israel maintains that the commandos only used their pistols as a last resort after they were attacked, and released a video showing soldiers in riot gear descending from a helicopter into a crowd of men with clubs. Three or four activists overpowered each soldier as he landed.
Israeli officials have insisted that their military already is investigating the raid and the country is capable of conducting a credible review.
"It is our standard practice after military operations, especially operations in which there have been fatalities, to conduct a prompt, professional, transparent and objective investigation in accordance with the highest international standards," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, however, suggested that international observers could possibly be attached to an internal Israeli probe.
Returning activists admitted fighting with the Israelis but insisted their actions were in self defense because the ships were being boarded in international waters by a military force.
"We first thought they were trying to scare us," Yildirim said, following his deportation from Israel. "When we started morning prayers, they began attacking from everywhere, from the boats, from the helicopters. Our friends only performed civil resistance."
Yildirim said the activists fought the Israeli commandos with chairs and sticks and that they seized weapons from some Israeli soldiers, but threw them into the sea.
Israel says two of the seven soldiers wounded were shot with guns that were wrested from them, while a third was stabbed.
