Botswana mum on Israeli attack

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Friday June 4, 2010 00:00

In the violent attacks, 19 civilians were killed, while Israel sources put the number at nine. The attack was condemned by Russia and the European Union who said Israel used deadly force in the storming of an aid flotilla.Three days after the incident happened, Botswana is quiet. The acting director of public relations at the ministry of foreign affairs, Pula Kenosi, said yesterday that Botswana couldn't issue a statement because government is not sure about what actually happened. Since President Ian Khama took over in 2008, Botswana has condemned injustices in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Madagascar, and lately, he criticised the Confederation of African football (CAF)'s decision to ban Togo from continental events after the team pulled out of the Angola CAF tournament following terror attacks that killed several members of the team.

Botswana has also supported the International Court of Justice's decision to have Sudan's leader, Al Bashir, captured and handed to the International Criminal Court.

Asked to explain Botswana's silence in the aftermath of the Israeli attacks, the foreign affairs spokesman said Botswana is still in the process of getting more information.

According to Kenosi, there are two sides to the story. One version says the ships were on aid mission while other reports say the targets carried weapons of war. ' We also read sources saying the ships were warned against taking the route which they continued on, so we are still collecting information before we can release any statement regarding the Gaza incident,' Kenosi said.

While Botswana is still figuring out what to say neighbours South Africa on Tuesday prompted the Israeli ambassador to South Africa, Segev-Steinberg, to issue a Demarche, registering the South African government's strongest possible protest for Israel's 'unjustified' military action and resultant loss of life inflicted by that country on a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian relief supplies to Gaza.

South Africa's deputy minister of foreign affairs, Van de Merwe described the military attack against civilian activists as totally unacceptable and 'clearly a case of disproportionate use of force'.

She further stated that such a military attack was an aberration from acceptable behaviour on the part of a State party in dealing with civilians and that Israel must be held accountable for its actions under international law. 

South Africa also called for a full investigation into the matter. The Government also requested the immediate release of the ships, as well as civilians held by Israel, including one South African citizen and for Israel to allow the countries concerned to retrieve their deceased and wounded and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance from the convoy to its destination.

Botswana is a close ally of Israel, with the Jewish state providing agriculture research work for the government of Botswana for decades as Botswana seeks to find self-sufficiency in food production. It is also believed that Israel's intelligence agency, Mosaad, is among the institutions that provide Botswana with security training. Mosaad is considered one of the finest in intelligence work.

Meanwhile, the EU, UN, US as well as Russia have also condemned the Israel attacks, while Britain has issued a mild condemnation of the terror attacks.