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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] and The Independent , [5] [6] Aljazeera English , [7] and Arabian Business . [8]
Patel joined the Gaza flotilla, [9] and was on board the MV Mavi Marmara .
He was held by Israel for just under 48 hours and then deported to Turkey. [10] [11] He flew back to London Heathrow, and gave a press conference with Alex Harrison and Daniel Machover. [12] [13] 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. [14]
He is the brother of Shockat Adam, the pro-Palestine independent MP for Leicester South since the 2024 United Kingdom general election. [15] [16]
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.
Hilarion Capucci was a Syrian Catholic bishop who served as the titular archbishop of Caesarea in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.
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 the youngest person killed by the IDF on the MV Mavi Marmara, in the Gaza flotilla 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.
"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.
Ali Hasan Abunimah is a Palestinian-American journalist who has been described as "the leading American proponent of a one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict". A resident of Chicago who contributes regularly to publications such as the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, he has served as the vice-president on the board of directors of the Arab American Action Network, is a fellow at the Palestine Center, and is a co-founder of The Electronic Intifada website. He has appeared on many television discussion programs on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and other networks, and in a number of documentaries about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, including Collecting Stories from Exile: Chicago Palestinians Remember 1948 (1999).
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is an activist organisation in England and Wales. It was founded in the UK in 2004 and incorporated that year as Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ltd. In 2023, The Guardian described it as "Europe’s largest Palestinian rights organisation".
Comoros–Palestine relations refer to foreign relations between the Comoros and the State of Palestine.
Shockat Hussain Adam Patel is a British businessman, optometrist, and independent politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Leicester South since 2024.