Doc's Talk: The Aid Flotilla for the Gaza Strip

Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Aid Flotilla for the Gaza Strip - Update 1

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

Update (as of May 25)

1. On May 14 the Rachel Corrie set sail from the Irish port of Dundalk, the first ship of the aid flotilla for the Gaza Strip organized by a coalition of pro-Palestinian organizations in Europe and Turkey. On May 22 the passenger ship Mavi Marmaris set sail from the port of Sarayburnu (Seraglio Point) in Istanbul. It is the first of three Turkish ships planned for the flotilla (the other two are cargo ships). The plan is for all the participating ships to meet in Cyprus and from there to sail to the Gaza Strip. There will be at least nine ships, possibly more according to some reports.

2. As of this writing, the following is known:

A. Timetable: The ships are expected to meet off the coast of Cyprus and to reach the Gaza Strip on the morning of May 29 (the exact time is not yet known).

1) The Irish ship Rachel Corrie, which left Ireland on May 14 (Free Gaza website, May 22, 2010) has passed Portugal.

2) The first IHH Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmaris, set sail from Istanbul on May 22. After 40 hours at sea it was expected to dock at the port in Antalya, where 500 passengers would get on board, and where it would be joined by two Turkish cargo ships. The three vessels will set said from Antalya on May 25 and should reach the Gaza Strip 24 hours later (IHH website, May 23, 2010).

3) Four ships, two Greek and two Cretan, are expected to set sail from Greece on May 24 or 25. Three are passenger ships and the fourth will carry cargo. According to one report, they have encountered problems, including strikes, government intervention and pressure exerted on the organizers (Al-Jazeera TV, May 22, 2010). According to another, a Greek-Swedish cargo ship set sail from Athens on May 24 with equipment and media personnel on board (Safa News Agency, May 24, 2010).

4) An Algerian ship carrying more than 4,000 tons of equipment set sail on May 22 en route to Istanbul to join the convoy. On board is a delegation of 22 people, among them ten members of the Algerian parliament representing various parties. There are also journalists and pro-Palestinian activists. The convoy coordinator in Algeria said that the passengers were determined to reach the Gaza Strip and that Israel’s threats did not scare them (Kuwaiti News Agency, May 22, 2010).

B. The ships and passenger lists: At least nine ships are expected to reach the Gaza Strip, carrying between 800 and 1,000 passengers from 40 countries. The Turkish ship is expected to carry 600 passengers (most of whom were supposed to board in Antalya). They include members of parliament, human rights activists and media personnel, etc. A group of Israeli Arabs was also expected to join, among them Muhammad Zaydan, head of the Israeli Arab Monitoring Committee, Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, head of the northern faction of the Islamic Movement, Hamad Abu Daa’bas, head of the southern faction of the Islamic Movement, and Israeli Parliament member Hanin Zoabi, from Balad, a nationalist Arab political party. Rami Abdo, a member of Hamas’ Popular Committee to Lift the Siege, said that some international activists had canceled their participation in the flotilla (Ma’an News Agency, May 20, 2010).

C. Media coverage:

1) According to reports, the places vacated by activists who canceled their participation will be taken by foreign correspondents and media correspondents in order to broaden coverage of the event. The media covering the event from the decks of the ships include Al-Jazeera TV, Reuters, BBC Radio, Euro News, representatives from Bulgarian and Czech TV and a large number of correspondents from international newspapers and news agencies (Ma’an News Agency, May 20, 2010).

2) Jamal al-Khudari, head of Hamas’ so-called “Popular Committee for the Struggle against the Siege” said that it planned to send 100 small Palestinian boats to receive the flotilla when it arrived off the coast of the Gaza Strip as part of the media pressure Hamas plans to exert on Israel. The boats will fly Palestinian flags and those of the countries participating in the flotilla, and their passengers will include the heads of the Committee, jurists and groups of observers. Some of the boats will be allocated to journalists, media representatives and photographers.

D. Diplomacy statements from important figures: The spokesman for the Irish Green Party, who also personally supervised loading the equipment in the port in Ireland, said that holders of Irish passports were to be treated fairly and allowed to complete their mission. He said it was the least Israel could do after it recently unfair use made of Irish passports. Breifne O’Reilly, the Irish ambassador to Israel, met with Israel’s foreign minister to receive Israeli assurance that it would allow the unloading of the equipment to proceed quietly and securely (Free Gaza website, May 21, 2010).

3. Preparations in the Gaza Strip and statements from Hamas activists: Osama al-Isawi, transportation minister in the de facto Hamas administration, said that the transportation ministry and the labor and housing ministry were making the necessary preparations to receive the ships. He said that his ministry was coordinating with all the others. Yussef al-Munsi, public works minister, said that intensive work was being carried out to deepen the port (Hamas’ Palestine-info website, May 17, 2010).

4. Hamas activists made various statements regarding the flotilla and Israel’s expected objection to it:

A. Ahmed Yussef, who was appointed head of the “Government Committee to List the Siege and Receive the Delegations,” has often been interviewed by the media. According to his claims, the flotilla is legal and that any Israeli attack on it would be a violation of international law. He said Israel would continue to threaten the flotilla but would not prevent it from reaching the Gaza Strip because such a step would have [a negative] influence on its security and strategic relations with Turkey. He added that the flotilla had purchased two ships which could transport money, aid and building materials to the Gaza Strip (Al-Aqsa TV, May 22, 2010). In another interview he said that the flotilla would cause an international storm and that it would receive wide media and political coverage. He said that it would clearly show that Israel was imposing collective punishment on the residents of the Gaza Strip (Hamas’ daily Felesteen, May 16, 2010).

B. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that Israel’s stated intention of attacking the flotilla was “thuggism.” He called on the organizers to carry out the mission as planned without taking its consequences into consideration. He said it was a historic event which would “expose Israel’s crimes against the Gazans.” He also said that it would reflect the fact that the Gaza Strip had become a “Mecca for various activists because of its firm stance and courage” (Hamas’ Palestine-info website, May 19, 2010).

C. Jamal al-Khudari, head of the Popular Committee to Lift the Siege, said that the ships were a problem for Israel, which was debating what to do about them. He said that preventing them from reaching their goal would be “piracy and a violation of international law” (Da’wah website, May 18, 2010).

The Turkish Aspect: Launching the Flotilla from
Turkey and Statements from IHH Activists

Rally in Istanbul held before the ship’s departure
Rally in Istanbul held before the ship’s departure (IHH website, May 23, 2010).

5. The departure of the Turkish ship was accompanied by a well-attended rally in the Istanbul port. Thousands of people came, among them senior Turkish political figures. Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, chairman of the northern faction of the Islamic Movement in Israel was also in attendance. Speeches were given by members of various organizations and money was contributed for the flotilla.

Sheikh Ra’ed Salah at the launching ceremony.
Sheikh Ra’ed Salah (second from right) at the launching ceremony.
Fourth from left in light suit: Kazem Sawalha (IHH website, May 23 2010).

6. Bülent Yildirim, IHH chairman, the moving spirit behind the flotilla, gave a fiery speech praising those who had come to the rally, saying, “We are determined to go, and will not retreat.” He added that “Israel is acting the way Hitler acted toward the Jews. Hitler built concentration camps in Germany, today Zionism builds concentration camps in Palestine.” To Israel he said, “Handle this crisis well. If you prevent [the flotilla from reaching the Gaza Strip] you will remain isolated in the world and harm yourselves.” Sheikh Ra’ed Salah gave a speech praising the position taken by the Turkish prime minister and the country’s firm stance. He said all the leaders of the Western world should behave like him (IHH website in Turkish, May 23, 2010).
Sheikh Ra’ed Salah
Sheikh Ra’ed Salah at the demonstration aboard the ship in Istanbul (IHH website, May 23, 2010).

IHH head Bülent Yildirim
IHH head Bülent Yildirim
(Name, May 23, 2010).

7. According to ITIC information, the ceremony in Istanbul was also attended by radical Islamic figures affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood who participated in the previous aid convoys. Also in attendance were Muhammad Kazem Sawalha and Zaher Khaled Hassan al-Birawi, both former Hamas activists who today reside and are active in Britain,2 and Hamam Sayid, Muslim Brotherhood leader in Jordan.

8. On May 12, Muhammad Kaya, head of the IHH branch in the Gaza Strip, said there was a plan to send monthly flotillas to the Gaza Strip to show the Gazans’ suffering to the world (Al-Jazeera-Info website, May 21, 2010).

The Egyptian Aspect

9. The director of the port at El-Arish, Gamal Abdel Maqsoud, said that preparations were being made at the port to receive the nine ships should Israel refuse to allow them to reach the Gaza Strip. He said that the reception depended on getting approval from Egyptian security and diplomatic factors, and coordination between the flotilla’s organizers and senior Egyptian figures, a situation which did not currently exist. Should such a situation occur, the cargo could be unloaded and sent overland to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing. He added that if the ships were too large for the harbor at El-Arish, the cargo could be unloaded to smaller boats in order to bring it ashore (Interview in Al-Yawm Al-Saba’a, May 23, 2010).
10. “Egyptian diplomatic sources” confirmed the deliberations in the Egyptian foreign ministry about the ships, but said that Egypt had not yet made a decision about allowing the convoy into Egypt. They also said that should Israel prevent the aid flotilla from entering the Gaza Strip by sea, Egypt might delay their entrance into its territory because no previous coordination with the Egyptians had been conducted effected (Hamas’ Palestine-info website, May 23, 2010).

1 Update of the May 10, 2010 bulletin “The flotilla of aid to the Gaza Strip is in its final preparations before setting sail to the Gaza Strip,” at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/hamas_e103.pdf .

2 For Muhammad Sawalha’s role in organizing the previous aid flotilla see the January 29, 2010 bulletin “Hamas continues initiating anti-Israeli activities in Europe: Muhammad Kazem Sawalha is a Hamas activist living in Britain who in the past was involved in operational activities in Judea and Samaria. He is personally involved in preparations to dispatch another aid convoy to the Gaza Strip by sea to confront Israel” at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/hamas_e095.pdf.

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

Doc's Talk