Palestinian activists told Israel on Monday not to interfere in a planned aid flotilla to Gaza in late June, a little more than one year after Israeli commandoes boarded an aid ship killing eight Turks and one Turkish-American. Holding a news conference on the deck of the Mavi Marmara where the May 31 2010 confrontation occurred, a coalition of 22 activist groups called on governments to ensure there was no re-run of the incident. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has asked governments to discourage activists from sending a new convoy and Turkey has told them of the risks of trying to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, but said they are outside government control. Gaza is controlled by Hamas, which calls for the destruction of Israel and the group is regarded as terrorist by Western powers, including the United States and the European Union. Israel says it blockades Gaza to stop the importation of weapons.
