Turks turned out in their thousands yesterday for the funeral of eight of the nine pro-Palestinian activists killed when Israeli commandos stormed a "freedom flotilla" attempting to bring aid to besieged Gaza, as Arab states vowed to use "all means" to break the blockade by Israel.
"Israel is the angel of death," angry crowds chanted as the coffins, draped in Turkish and Palestinian flags, were borne aloft outside Istanbul's Fatih mosque. "We are all soldiers of Hamas," they shouted, referring to the Palestinian Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip.
All nine dead men – eight Turkish nationals and a Turk with a US passport – were aboard the Mavi Marmara when armed commandos boarded it in international waters on Monday. The subsequent shootings by commandos triggered fury at Israel and an international chorus of calls to lift Israel's three-year closure of the coastal territory.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/03/gaza-flotilla-attack-turkey-funeral
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