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The World


Mistakes were made at high levels, but live fire was justified, panel says


by Janine Zacharia


jerusalem — An internal Is- raeli review of a navy raid on a Turkish aid ship headed to the Ga- za Strip faults planners for not having alternative procedures in place and concludes that the agencies involved should have shared intelligence more effi- ciently before the operation, ac- cording to excerpts released Mon- day. “The operation relied exces- sively on a single course of action, albeit a probable one, while no al- ternative courses of action were prepared for the event of more dangerous scenarios,” the report said.


An eight-person review panel was established by Israel’s mili- tary chief of staff after the May 31 incident, in which Israeli naval commandos killed eight Turks and one Turkish American after meeting resistance from activists. The operation led to broad criti- cism of Israel internationally and to modifications of Israel’s block- ade of Gaza, which is meant to iso- late the Hamas-led leadership there. “There were mistakes that were made in various decisions, includ- ing in relatively high echelons, that led to the unexpected result,” said retired Maj. Gen. Giora Ei- land, a former head of Israel’s Na-


tional Security Council, who led the inquiry. In the short excerpts released from the 100-page report, the panel did not single out specific commanders for censure. Rather, it found that the presence of an Is- raeli navy commander at sea dur- ing the operation “proved effec- tive in terms of the decision- making process” and “saved lives.” Naval commandos operated “properly, with professionalism, bravery and resourcefulness,” the report said. “The use of live fire was justified,” and “the entire op-


eration is estimable.” The report concluded that four


to six Israeli soldiers were fired on and that one of the wounded was shot in the knee by a non-Israeli- issued firearm, suggesting that the activists had brought at least one gun on board. The inquiry also found that passengers had cut off banisters from the ship to use as weapons against the sol- diers. A separate, broader inquiry is


underway, led by a retired Israeli Supreme Court justice. Turkey and other countries have de-


S


KLMNO Israel cites poor planning in ship raid


TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2010


Israel may put limits on citizenship for converts


The bill “delegitimizes most of by Janine Zacharia


jerusalem — An Israeli parlia- mentary committee on Monday advanced a bill that could lead to lack of recognition for conver- sions to Judaism performed by rabbis from the Reform and Con- servative movements. The bill could give the chief


JACK GUEZ/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES


Retired Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, center, who led the military inquiry, said mistakes “in relatively high echelons led . . . to the unexpected result” in the raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship. Nine activists died.


manded an impartial interna- tional investigation, a request that Israel has denied. The release of the military in-


quiry came as a Libyan aid ship continued to make its way to the Gaza coast. Israeli Defense Min- ister Ehud Barak called the Liby- an ship a “provocation” and urged the ship to reroute to Israel’s port in Ashdod or to Egypt’s port of al- Arish.


zachariaj@washpost.com


Special correspondent Samuel Sockol contributed to this report.


rabbinate, the religious authority in Israel run by ultra-Orthodox Jews, the power to decide which conversions are accepted, over- turning an Israeli Supreme Court decision that ensures eligibility for Israeli citizenship for Jews converted by rabbis from all branches of Judaism. Representatives of the Reform and Conservative movements, which have been battling for years for more rights in Israel, saw the committee vote as a threat to their efforts to strength- en their legitimacy in Israel. The chief rabbinate already holds a monopoly on such rituals as mar- riage and divorce. “It sets us back 20 years in terms of the advances that were made,” said Rabbi Steven Wer- nick, executive vice president of the United Synagogue of Conser- vative Judaism, an umbrella or- ganization of Conservative Jew- ish congregations in the United States, who spoke by telephone during a visit to Jerusalem. “The practical implication of this bill is one that we are very, very con- cerned about and angry about.”


North American Jewry” and brings back the question of “who has the authority to determine someone’s Jewish identity,” Wer- nick added, noting that 85 per- cent of American Jewry is affiliat- ed with non-Orthodox branches of Judaism. Also on Monday, police de- tained for several hours a woman who carried a Torah scroll to the women’s prayer section of the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism. Police said that Anat Hoffman, a leader of Women of the Wall, a group that challenges the limita- tions put on women’s prayer at the Western Wall, had violated a Supreme Court ruling that says women cannot read from the To- rah in the area. People who witnessed the con-


frontation said Hoffman was not reading from the Torah in the prayer area and had only brought it with her. Hoffman was ordered not to pray at the wall for 30 days. “I’ve sort of been following it over the years,” Mark Greenspan, a Conservative rabbi from Ocean- side, N.Y., said of the efforts to scuttle women’s prayer at the Western Wall, after watching the confrontation Monday.


“I


couldn’t anticipate how disheart- ening this was to see this in per- son.”


zachariaj@washpost.com


Special correspondent Samuel Sockol contributed to this report.


Bombings may indicate new role for al-Qaeda affiliates uganda from A1


backed by the United States and European nations. Troops from Uganda and Burundi make up a U.S.- and Western-backed African Union peacekeeping force in the Somali capital of Mogadishu that protects the fragile government. Atop spokesman for al-Shabab, speaking from Mogadishu, said the militia carried out the bomb- ings, and he alluded to the group’s aspiration to use Somalia as a launching pad for international attacks. Ali Mohamud Raghe, the spokesman, threatened further attacks if Uganda and Burundi continue to supply troops to the African Union force. AUgandan military spokesman vowed that his nation’s soldiers will not leave Somalia. “It in- creases our resolve to make sure Somalia is pacified. These crimi- nals cannot have room to expand and grow because they are a threat to regional and interna- tional peace,” said Felix Kulayige, the spokesman. “If they have hoped this cowardly act will make us leave Somalia, they are totally mistaken.”


Importing violent tactics


Al-Shabab’s new boldness comes as foreign fighters trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan are gaining influence inside the movementand importing their vi- olent tactics. Suicide bombers, in- cluding foreigners of Somali de- scent, have in recent months staged several attacks in Mogadi- shu. The militia also continues to attract Americans to the Somali conflict, including two New Jer- sey men arrested last month by U.S. authorities and charged with intending to join al-Shabab. The United States has deemed al-Sha- bab a terrorist organization. Sunday’s attacks come seven months after al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen —al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — showed its global as- pirations with its failed Christmas Day attack on a Detroit-bound airliner. Another group with al- Qaeda links, the Pakistani Tali- ban, helped orchestrate the botched attempt to bomb Times Square in May. Top al-Shabab leader Mukhtar


Abdurahman Abu Zubeyr last week accused the African Union forces of committing “massacres” against Somalis. He warned that his forces would take revenge against the people of Uganda and Burundi.


Banning soccer The militia, which seeks to cre-


ate an Islamic emirate and has imposed Taliban-like dictates, has banned soccer in many areas and prohibited broadcasts of the World Cup, describing the sport as “a satanic act” that corrupts Muslims. The explosions in Kampala tore through the Kyadondo Rugby Club and the Ethiopian Village restaurant, where boisterous soc- cer fans, including clusters of for- eigners, had gathered to watch Spain beat the Netherlands in the World Cup final. Among the dead at the rugby club was Nate Henn, 25, of Wil- mington, Del., a worker for In- visible Children, a California- based aid group that helps child soldiers, the organization said on its Web site. Emily Kerstetter, 16, of Ellicott City was injured, ac- cording to WMAR-TV in Balti- more. She was in Kampala with her grandmother’s church group from Pennsylvania. Joanne Lockard, a U.S. Embas-


sy spokeswoman, said there were no directives for embassy staff members or other U.S. citizens to leave Kampala, which is widely considered one of the safest cap-


Al-Shabab spokesman Ali Mohamud Raghe said the Somali group was responsible for the deadly bombings and warned of more attacks. “I was picking up bodies until 7


itals on the continent. Unlike neighbors Kenya and Tanzania, where al-Qaeda bombed U.S. em- bassies in 1998, Uganda had never been a target of international ter- rorism.


During a visit to the rugby club


Monday, Ugandan President Yow- eri Museveni vowed to pursue those responsible. “If you want to fight, go and look for soldiers. Don’t bomb people watching foot- ball,” he told reporters. President Obama and Secretary


of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned the attacks and of- fered their condolences. “The United States stands with


Uganda,” Clinton said. “We have a long-standing, close friendship with the people and government of Uganda and will work with them to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice.”


At the rugby club, witnesses and police said two explosions killed at least 43 people who had gathered on the rugby field to watch the soccer final on a large- screen television. As people went to help the victims of the first blast, a second, more powerful bomb detonated, witnesses said.


Ellicott City teen injured in Uganda bombings by Stephanie Lee


A teenage girl from Maryland was among those injured Sunday by a pair of terrorist bombings in Uganda that killed at least 74 people watching the World Cup final on television. Emily Kerstetter, 16, of Ellicott


City was at a restaurant in Kam- pala with her grandmother’s Pennsylvania church group when the bombings occurred.


Kerstetter was flown to a hospi- tal in Johannesburg, where she was in stable condition Monday, family friend Nicola Liskovec said. Kerstetter, a rising junior at


Mount de Sales Academy in Ca- tonsville, Md., was on a mis- sionary trip with her grandmoth- er, whose arm was broken, and four others. The extent of Ker- stetter’s injuries was unclear, but she had an injured leg, Liskovec said.


The teenager’s parents flew to South Africa on Monday night, Liskovec said. Those in the church group had been in Uganda since June 15 and were planning to return to the United States a week ago but decided to extend their stay to work in a hospital, Liskovec said. On Monday, an al-Qaeda-


linked Somali militia claimed re- sponsibility for the back-to-back bombings.


lees@washpost.com TREVOR SNAPP/AFP/GETTY IMAGES


A man is treated at a hospital after bomb blasts tore through crowds of soccer fans watching the World Cup final at a rugby club and a restaurant in Kampala, Uganda’s capital. At least 74 people were killed.


“It sounded like a massive tire blowout. There was dust and smoke everywhere,” said Simon Peter Lubagasa, 28, who operates a motorcycle taxi and was at the club. “People were on the ground crying. Some had cracks on their heads. I saw one person with his ear blown off.” Police said they suspect that a suicide bomber set off the second blast. A police official said investi- gators found the head of a man who appeared to have Somali fea- tures. As of Monday afternoon, cars belonging to the victims were still parked on the field, where organ- izers had set out rows of white plastic chairs.


a.m.,” said Alphonse Motebasi, a police commander whose pants were splattered with blood. At the Ethiopian Village restau-


rant, crowds of Ugandans gath- ered Monday, peering over the walls at the carnage inside as po- lice stood guard and investigators combed through debris that looked like the aftermath of a tor- nado. Onlookers shook their heads at the overturned tables on the restaurant’s patio, the shat- tered glass and shreds of clothing. “How can someone kill inno-


cent Ugandans?” demanded God- frey Ivimba, 34, the owner of a printing business. Residents said the restaurant was popular with


0 MILES CONGO


Lake Albert


Kampala KENYA Edward Lake Victoria Lake RWANDA BURUNDI TANZANIA GENE THORP/ THE WASHINGTON POST Europe Asia A f rica UGANDA


Bombs kill dozens of people


100


UGANDA SUDAN


on washingtonpost.com


A deadly night in Uganda


At least 74 people in Uganda were killed when two bombs went off during a screening of soccer’s World Cup final. For photo coverage, go to washingtonpost.com/foreign.


REUTERS


Ethiopians and Eritreans, as well as other foreigners. At Mulago Hospital, Betty Nba-


gire, 37, lay on a bed, eyes closed, tubes attached to her body, strug- gling to survive. She was at the rugby club. Her sister Salome sat next to her. She said Uganda’s sol- diers should pull out of Somalia. “If that was the cause of this at- tack, our soldiers should come home,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. “They should be here to protect us and not to protect those people in Somalia.” raghavans@washpost.com


Special correspondent Yusuf Hagi Hussein in Mogadishu contributed to this report.


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