Political activism

As we continue the re-broadcast of our series “Mideast Troubled Waters”, Sandy Tolan brings us this journal from Gaza: a place where diminished and contaminated water supplies may spark a public health crisis, and make peace even harder to achieve in the Middle East. Our series concludes next week as we examine the politics of […]

International pressure on Israel to lift a military blockade of Gaza has intensified in the weeks since Israeli commandos stopped a flotilla carrying aid in international waters, killing nine activists. The BBC’s Jon Donnison reports from Gaza City.

Details of the confrontation on the flotilla headed for Gaza remain contentious and incomplete. Annette Groth, a German parliamentarian, gives her firsthand account, and Michael Slackman of The New York Times analyzes the incident from Jerusalem.

As calls for an international investigation of Israel’s fatal raid on a flotilla carrying aid to the Gaza stip ramp up, Takeaway listeners are divided. Was Israel justified in its reaction, or did Israeli commandos go too far?

Israel is on the defense, and recent developments beg the question, how will Israel respond after near universal criticism from the international community? We talk with the U.S., Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren.