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.
The Black Sea hostage crisis took place January 16–19, 1996 on the Black Sea during the First Chechen War. The Panamanian-registered ferry Avrasaya with 177 passengers and 55 crew members on board was hijacked in a Turkish port of Trabzon by an international armed group, which threatened to kill the more than 100 Russian passengers unless the Russian forces ceased its attack against the Chechen separatists in the Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis.
Moustafa Bayoumi is an American writer, journalist, and professor. Of Egyptian descent, Bayoumi is based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a professor of English at Brooklyn College, City University of New York.
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.
Cevdet Kılıçlar was a Turkish journalist and photographer from Kayseri. He had been a correspondent of the daily newspaper Anadolu'da Vakit. He was an aid worker and responsible for website of The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief. He was married to Derya Kılıçlar and had two children, Gülhan and Ali Erdem. He was killed in the Gaza flotilla raid.
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.
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.
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.
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).
Media reactions to the Gaza flotilla raid on 31 May 2010 ranged from strong support to strong condemnation of Israel. Criticism included the deaths of civilians, the execution of the raid, increased sympathy toward Israel's opponents or enemies, and increased isolation of Israel.
Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom is a book about the Gaza Strip by the American political scientist and activist Norman Finkelstein. It was published in 2018 by the University of California Press.
Comoros–Palestine relations refer to foreign relations between the Comoros and the State of Palestine.
