– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Activists on board a flotilla of boats

flying trying to deliver aid to Gaza say

they've been intercepted by Israeli

warships as they were approaching the

territory. They provided this footage

from on board one of the vessels saying

passengers were sprayed with water

cannon. Israel's foreign ministry

confirmed several vessels have been

stopped and posted this video of the

Swedish climate activist Greta Tunberg.

It said that she and other passengers

are safe and being taken to an Israeli

port. Let us speak to our Middle East

correspondent Yoland Nell about this

latest development. It set off some

weeks ago, didn't it, Yoland? This

flotilla, where was it intercepted?

So the first boats in the flutella

because there are about 45 of them

involved were intercepted about 70

nautical miles um off the coast of Gaza.

That's in international waters and

they're challenging the legality of

that. Um more of the boats then have

been able to continue um on their way.

The last update on the telegram account

floor the flatillaa was saying that some

were within about 46 nautical miles of

the Gazen coast. This is where um for

several hours now, Israeli naval

commandos, we've seen them one by one

boarding these different vessels on some

of the live feeds. Um in one of the most

recent um videos that was put out by the

flutilla team, you can see that they

have their arms up, their hands up

rather, and the soldiers um pull

alongside the vessel um with their guns

raised and take control of it. We just

had a statement from the Israeli

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is

handling all the communications on this,

the Israeli military has told me. Um,

and it says that passengers in the

flatillaa are making their way to safely

and peacefully to Israel, where their

deportation procedures to Europe will

begin. Uh, this is all having to be

handled very carefully. This is a very

international flatillaa with people from

all around the world involved and

already there has been a lot of

criticism. Um Turkey came out with a

very strong statement calling um

Israel's um interception to these boats

an attack and saying that it was an act

of terror endangering civilian lives. Uh

Colombia has ordered the expulsion of

the Israeli diplomatic team that's there

in the absence of ambassador at the

moment because of the um detention of

some Colombian citizens who are on this

flatillaa. So you can see that this is

already having a lot of ramifications.

they had really become over the past

month with these boats sailing across

the Mediterranean very highprofile. You

had um Spain and Italy sending boats,

their own government sending boats to

protect their citizens who are in this

flatillaa um because of attacks that had

taken place. Um there had been drones

frequently seen overhead and at some

points incendury devices um dropped on

some of the boats taking part in the

flatillaa.

Just very briefly, Yoland, you mentioned

that there are other vessels still uh

heading towards Gaza. I mean, what's the

likelihood of them actually being able

to reach the territory?

Well, the Israeli military made clear

that it was going to uh intercept these

vessels um because they say that this is

a a zone that they police off the coast

of Gaza, that this is an active war

zone. Um the Israelis have been calling

the flatillaa a provocation but they

said that their mission was

humanitarian. They wanted to open a new

humanitarian corridor and they were

carrying food and medicines for the

people in Gaza who desperately need it.

Yoland for the moment. Thank you very

much. Yoland Nelly's correspondent.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
deliver /dɪˈlɪvər/ B1	verb - to take [something] to a person or place
intercept /ˌɪntərˈsept/ C1	verb - to stop [someone or something] from reaching their intended destination
warship /ˈwɔːrʃɪp/ B2	noun - a naval vessel armed for combat
vessel /ˈvesəl/ B2	noun - a ship or large boat
footage /ˈfʊtɪdʒ/ B2	noun - a length of film made for television or cinema
ministry /ˈmɪnɪstri/ B2	noun - a government department
safe /seɪf/ A1	adjective - protected from or not exposed to danger or risk
development /dɪˈveləpmənt/ B2	noun - an event or occurrence
challenge /ˈtʃælɪndʒ/ B2	verb - to dispute the truth or validity of
board /bɔːrd/ A2	verb - to get on or into a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle
commandos /kəˈmændoʊz/ C1	noun - a soldier specially trained for making raids
statement /ˈsteɪtmənt/ B1	noun - a definite or clear expression of something in speech or writing
deportation /ˌdiːpɔːrˈteɪʃən/ C1	noun - the action of expelling a foreigner from a country
criticism /ˈkrɪtɪsɪzəm/ B2	noun - the expression of disapproval of someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes
attack /əˈtæk/ A2	noun - an aggressive or violent act verb - take aggressive military action against [a place or enemy forces] with weapons or armed force
detention /dɪˈtenʃn/ B2	noun - the action of detaining someone or the state of being detained in official custody
ramification /ˌræməfɪˈkeɪʃn/ C2	noun - a consequence of an action or event, especially when complex or unwelcome
provocation /ˌprɒvəˈkeɪʃn/ C1	noun - action or speech that makes someone angry, especially deliberately
humanitarian /hjuːˌmænɪˈteəriən/ B2	adjective - concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare