 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for biographies .(May 2021) |
Ismail Patel (born 1962) [1] is a British optician, and founder of Friends of Al-Aqsa, an NGO based in Leicester. [2]
He is an advisory board member of the Conflicts Forum, [3] director of IslamExpo, and a member of the Special Advisory Board of Clear Conscience.
He writes commentary for The Guardian , [4] The Independent , [5] Aljazeera English [6] and Arabian Business . [7]
Patel joined the Gaza flotilla [8] and was on board the MV Mavi Marmara .
He was held by Israel for just under 48 hours and then deported to Turkey. [9] [10] He flew back to London Heathrow, and gave a press conference with Alex Harrison and Daniel Machover. [11] [12] Patel states he witnessed at extremely close range the shooting of two of the ten killed by the Israel Defense Forces in their raid at sea on the MV Mavi Marmara. [13]
He is the brother of Shockat Adam, the pro-Palestine independent MP for Leicester South since the 2024 United Kingdom general election. [14] [15]
Kenneth Nichols O'Keefe is an American-Irish-Palestinian citizen and activist and former United States marine and Gulf War veteran. In 2001, he set fire to his United States passport. Subsequently, he led the human shield action to Iraq and was a passenger on the MV Mavi Marmara during the Gaza flotilla raid, where he disarmed two of the Israeli commandos who boarded the ship, initiating a confrontation in which ten Turkish activists were killed.
Sheikh Raed Salah Abu Shakra is a Palestinian religious leader from Umm al-Fahm, Israel. He is the leader of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel. Salah was elected mayor of his town Umm al-Falm, an Israeli-Arab city bordering the Green Line, three times. As a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, he came to prominence for his defense of the holy sites and his participation on the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish boat that was stormed by Israeli navy as it attempted to break the siege of Gaza in May 2010.
Hilarion Capucci, BA was a Syrian Catholic prelate who served as the titular Archbishop of Caesarea in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. He was a member of the Basilian Aleppian Order.
IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation or İHH is a conservative Turkish GONGO, active in more than 120 countries.
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six civilian ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine of the flotilla passengers were killed during the raid, with thirty wounded. Ten Israeli soldiers were wounded, one seriously. The exact sequence of events is contested, in part due to the IDF's confiscation of the passengers' photographic evidence. The flotilla, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), was carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials, intending to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
MV Mavi Marmara is a Comoros-flagged passenger ship, which was formerly owned and operated by İDO Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc. on the line Sarayburnu, Istanbul-Marmara Island-Avşa Island in the Sea of Marmara. Built at the Golden Gate Shipyard by Turkish Shipbuilding Co. in 1994, the ship has a capacity of 1,080 passengers. It is best known for its participation in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and the deadly confrontation that took place on it during the Gaza flotilla raid.
İbrahim Bilgen was a Turkish politician, electrical engineer and activist. He was born in Batman, Turkey and killed by the Israel armed forces in the Gaza flotilla raid.
Furkan Doğan was a Turkish American who was residing in Turkey permanently. He was shot to death by the Israeli Defense Forces on the MV Mavi Marmara, in the Gaza flotilla raid. Doğan was the youngest person killed in the raid, and became a political symbol after his death.
Jamal Elshayyal is a British journalist, senior correspondent, and producer for Al Jazeera English. His focus is on countries within the MENA and Gulf Cooperation Council.
We Con the World is a 2010 video clip that satirizes the purportedly peaceful intentions of the political activists aboard the Turkish-owned flagship, MV Mavi Marmara, which led the Free Gaza flotilla. The video uses the tune and style of the 1985 video "We Are the World", with actors portraying the ship's captain and passengers while waving fake weapons as they sing in criticism of the activists' attempts to "make the world abandon reason" and ignore facts about Hamas as they try to breach the Gaza blockade.
The Gaza Freedom Flotilla was a small fleet of ships organized in 2010 by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials with the intention of breaking the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. In typical circumstances, aid is first brought to Israel to be inspected and then transferred to Gaza.
Kevin Ovenden is a British, left-wing, political activist who was a member of the Respect Party's leadership. He is an organiser of Viva Palestina.
The Turkel Commission was an inquiry set up by Israeli Government to investigate the Gaza flotilla raid, and the Blockade of Gaza. It was led by Israeli retired Supreme Court Judge Jacob Turkel. The other initial members of the commission were former president of the Technion and military expert, Amos Horev, and professor of international law, Shabtai Rosenne, who died in September 2010. The probe was overseen by two International observers: William David Trimble, former Leader of the Northern Irish Ulster Unionist Party and Northern Irish First Minister, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Canadian former military judge Ken Watkin.
Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım is a Turkish lawyer and the current president of Turkish NGO, İHH which provided humanitarian relief in Libya, Pakistan, Russia, China, Kashmir, Darfur, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Somalia, Mauritania, Chile, the Philippines, Aceh, Myanmar, Greece, Crimea, and Haiti.
Erdinç Tekir is a Turkish member of the IHH of Abkhaz origin. He was previously convicted for his participation at the Black Sea hostage crisis. He worked for the IHH since he was released from prison and joined the Gaza Flotilla.
"Freedom Flotilla II – Stay Human" was a flotilla that planned to break the maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip by Israel by sailing to Gaza on 5 July 2011. Ultimately, the sailing did not take place.
Haneen Zoabi, is a Palestinian-Israeli politician. The first Arab woman to be elected to the legislature on an Arab party's list, she served as a member of the Knesset for the Balad party between 2009 and 2019. In 2021, she was convicted of forgery and fraud after pleading guilty.
Comoros–Palestine relations refer to foreign relations between the Comoros and the State of Palestine.