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Ken O'Keefe

Kenneth Nichols O'Keefe (born Kenneth Roy Nichols July 21, 1969) is an Irish-American activist and former US Marine. He lead the human shield action to Iraq and was a passenger on the MV Mavi Marmara during the Gaza flotilla raid. He said that he participated in defending the ship and claimed that he disarmed two Israeli Commandos.[1][2]

Human Shield Action to Iraq

In December 2002, O'Keefe started the human shield action to Iraq group. Intended to "make it politically impossible for them to bomb" Iraq by placing western civilians as "shields" at non-military locations, about 75 activists traveled over land from London to Bahgdad in two double-decker buses.[3][4] Critics of the human shields argued that their mission would only protect Saddam Hussein. O'Keefe argued that the "people of Iraq" would suffer the most from a war and publicly acknowledged Hussein as a "violent dictator".[5] At its height about 300 human shields were in Baghdad, but due to challenges internally, with the Iraqi dictatorship and O'Keefe's deportation from Iraq, the numbers dwindled.[3][6] Failing to achieve the primary objective of preventing the invasion, volunteers attempted to protect seven sites (Al Daura Electrical Plant, Baghdad South Electrical Plant, 7 April Water Treatment Plant, Al Daura Water Treatment Plant, Tejio Food Silo, Al Daura Oil Refinery and Al Mamun Telecommunications Facility). The communications site was destroyed the day after the volunteers pulled out.Template:Citation needed

Gaza Flotilla involvement

In June 2010, O'Keefe was on board the MV Mavi Marmara. During the Gaza flotilla raid, O'Keefe was among the passengers who clashed with the Israeli military. In the course of the clash, O'Keefe claims to have been involved in providing initial first aid to a seriously wounded passenger and disarming two Israeli Commandos. He says he helped to disarm one commando of his assault rifle gun and aided in subduing another, personally taking possession of a 9mm pistol from the second commando, removing the "real bullets" or live ammunition from the pistol and giving the bullets to others while hiding the weapon. He explained that it was his hope that the weapon could be used as evidence in any subsequent trial. O'Keefe said of the experience that it was like "combat but without combat weapons" and that "We had in our full possession, three completely disarmed and helpless commandos" who were "surrounded by at least 100 men"; "we could have done anything with them." He said that "woman provided basic first aid, and ultimately they were released, battered and bruised for sure, but alive. Able to live another day."[7][8] O'Keefe was among those arrested and detained in Israel.

O'Keefe and another activist say he was beaten at the Tel Aviv airport when he resisted deportation, while still in Israeli custody. He claims that a policeman hit him on the head with a truncheon and that he was choked until he almost blacked out. He said he spent two more days in a detention facility in the airport after the incident. O'Keefe said the Irish consul general tried to convince him to agree to leave and asked him to wash the blood off his face but he refused.[9][10] A video showing his bloodied face was released upon his arrival in Istanbul.

On 6 June, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) charged that O'Keefe is an "anti-Israel extremist" and "operative of the Hamas Terror organization". According to the IDF he was entering the Gaza Strip in order to "form and train a commando unit for the Palestinian terror organization."[11] O'Keefe said "If they had a supposed terrorist in their possession, why the hell did they let me go?" He confirmed that he had held meetings with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and other senior Hamas officials.[7]

Road to Hope

In October 2010 O'Keefe joined the Road to Hope humanitarian aid convoy to Gaza. Organizers were attempting to transport the convoy from the port of Darnah, Libya to el-Arish, Egypt on board the Strofades IV. The ship left port unexpectedly without any of the aid and only a fraction of the activists after the ship's captain and activists got into an argument over payment.[12] Organizers of the convoy claim that despite paying for the ship, O'Keefe, nine fellow convoy members and seven Libyan police officials were "kidnapped" from the port of Dernah, by the captain of the ship who "went nuts".[13] The ship owners claim that the activists had boarded the ship without any contract or charter. Due to a "tense atmosphere" aboard the ship, and receiving no response from the Libyan authorities, the captain feared for the safety of the ship and decided to sail for international waters.[12]

The ship eventually docked at Piraeus, Greece after being boarded by Greek commandos. All the activists were allowed to disembark after they were found to have committed no crime.[14][15]


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References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gaza activist 'beaten in Israeli jail'. Channel 4 News UK. URL accessed on 2010-06-20.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 HARDtalk - Kenneth O'Keefe - Gaza flotilla activist. BBC HARDtalk. URL accessed on 2010-07-03.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Body blow as human shields ordered out - theage.com.au. www.theage.com.au. URL accessed on 2010-12-29.
  4. ↑ BBC NEWS. news.bbc.co.uk. URL accessed on 2010-12-29.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Back to Iraq as a human shield". London: The Guardian UK. 2002-11-29. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/dec/29/iraq1. Retrieved 2010-06-14. </li>
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "'Human Shields' Booted After Criticizing Iraq's Instructions". Fox News. 2003-03-13. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,80955,00.html. Retrieved 2010-06-20. </li>
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Al Jazeera talks to US activist named by Israel as a 'terrorist'. Al Jazeera. URL accessed on 2010-07-01.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Ken O'Keefe. Press TV. URL accessed on 2010-06-04.
  9. ↑ Rough Passage, Haaretz
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Activists claim Israeli officials beat them". Irish Times. 2010-06-03. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0603/breaking16.html. Retrieved 2010-06-07. </li>
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 http://idfspokesperson.com/2010/06/06/intel-specific-flotilla-passangers-linked-to-al-qaeda-hamas-and-other-terror-organizations-6-june-2010/
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Gaza-bound ship in limbo in Greece - CNN.com. cnn.com. URL accessed on 2010-12-29.
  13. ↑ Gaza aid convoy Britons held on Greek captain's ship. guardian.co.uk. URL accessed on 2010-12-29.
  14. ↑ Greece allows Gaza activists to disembark from ship - Haaretz Daily Newspaper. www.haaretz.com. URL accessed on 2010-12-29.
  15. ↑ Greek commandos board Gaza-bound ship - CNN. cnn.com. URL accessed on 2010-12-29.

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External links

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