Peres: "Your actions showed good judgment"

03 June 2010 , 17:20

The President of Israel visited injured naval soldiers who participated in the interception of the Gaza flotilla, to thank them for their personal sacrifice

Jonathan Urich

On Thursday morning (June 3), the Israeli President, Shimon Peres, visited the injured Shayetet Naval Special Forces soldiers in Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel-Aviv. The President had a lengthy conversation with one of the moderately injured soldiers by his hospital bed. The President also spent time speaking to the other less seriously injured soldiers, one of which was released from Tel Hashomer today.

Mr. Peres stated that he is visiting “in behalf of the country of Israel, to thank and salute the brave soldiers”. He also described how much the country appreciates the “personal sacrifice the soldiers made upon boarding the Marmara. You [the soldiers] exhibited great courage and ethics. The Marmara protesters are no freedom fighters,” said Peres. “They are terrorists. And even under these difficult circumstances, Israel still reaches its hand out for peace. If you want to lift the Gaza blockade, then abandon your way of terror. Recognize Israel, and let’s begin a peace treaty.”

“Israel acts upon a moral mission. And I am sure that feeling of being just will accompany it with every decision it makes” said the President. “You [the Shayetet soldiers] did not act like robots. Your actions showed good judgment. Although your own lives were at risk, you approached the situation with great care. The Shayetet soldiers did things that can not be taught in basic training. As individuals and as a unit, they put the country ahead of themselves. From all across the country I hear constant love and admiration to the Shayetet soldiers and IDF,” concluded President Peres.

source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/06/0303.htm

Humanitarian aid continues being transferred to Gaza

03 June 2010 , 22:33

The goods carried by the Gaza flotilla are still being transferred to the Gaza Strip, where Hamas refuses to accept them

The humanitarian aid cargo of the Gaza flotilla continues being transferred to the Gaza Strip. So far, 30 trucks have been loaded with clothing, blankets, school bags, mattresses, baby safety seats, cupboards, and medical equipment such as motorized carts, wheel chairs, x-ray glasses, bandages, hospital beds and medications, as well as other goods.

Some of the medication brought by the flotilla has passed its expiration date by more than a year. In addition to that, fabric in splotched camouflage colors that was meant for Hamas terror operatives, was found on the ships.

Hamas continues to prevent the transfer of the humanitarian aid which has been unloaded at the Kerem Shalom security crossing. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) will continue to work closely with international bodies and the Palestinian Authority in order to organize the transfer of the goods into the Gaza Strip.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/06/0304.htm

Video of Flotilla passenger: “I want to be a shahid (martyr)”

03 June 2010 , 12:21

Elana Kieffer

A passenger on board one of the vessels participating in the Gaza flotilla is interviewed by PressTV before IDF soldiers intercepted. He speaks in English, explaining how he has tried twice in the past to be a shahid (martyr). He refers to a previous convoy that he joined in hopes of being killed for a cause, but to no avail, and expresses his wish that on board this flotilla, he will succeed. The Arabic term “shahid” literally means “witness”, but is a religious term in Islam used to honor Muslims who lay down their lives to wage war for Islam.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/06/0302.htm

Hamas Scores Deadly PR Victory - a blog record from Mosab Hassan Yousef

Hamas is no stranger to drama. In its early days, the organization waged an effective public relations war against Israel. The global media was fed a limitless supply of film and photos showing Palestinian children throwing stones at 65-ton Israeli battle tanks. Gut-wrenching pictures of Jewish soldiers firing live ammunition at unarmed Arab demonstrators. Bloody Palestinian bodies carried by wailing crowds to hospitals and cemeteries.

After the First Intifada, a frustrated and impatient Hamas armed itself and abandoned its founding policy of nonviolence.

Soon, suicide bombers slaughtered Israeli civilians in pizza parlors, at checkpoints, on buses and college campuses, on the Sabbath and during Passover. No one was safe.

It wasn’t long before the public image of Hamas changed from freedom fighters to terrorists. Everything the organization did, including participation in the election process, seemed to result in bad press.

To the amazement of the global community, Hamas won the elections. But it immediately demonstrated that it was not fit to govern. Armed clashes with Fatah, its opposition party and the largest faction within the Palestinian Authority (PA), ran up an ever-increasing death toll, finally giving Hamas absolute control of Gaza—1.5 million people crammed into a strip of land 25 miles long and 8 miles wide.

It was not fit to govern because its agenda has never been to serve and protect the Palestinian people. It always has been the destruction of Israel, using any means, any people at its disposal, whether it was the use of human shields against tanks and heavily-armed troops during the al-Aqsa Intifada or using Palestinian suffering as photo ops to destroy Israel’s reputation and economy. The agenda of Hamas is the Qur’an, which defines Jews as sons of pigs and monkeys and mandates the death or oppression through excessive taxation of all non-Muslims.

It was not fit to govern because it is led by men like Ismail Haniyeh. Though he was elected to serve as PA Prime Minister, his only leadership experience was as head of the maj’d, the security wing of Hamas, that fabricated evidence against its own members and tortured suspected collaborators in Israeli prisons.

Another important reason that Hamas was unfit to govern is that it refused to respect or honor international agreements made with the PA. Hamas continues to reject any negotiation, compromise or agreement with Israel. At best, it may agree to a truce. But to Hamas, a truce is nothing more than an opportunity to stockpile weapons and expand operations.

A truce also gives Hamas the opportunity to script another public relations campaign.

In 2008, for example, Hamas continually violated its truce with Israel by firing hundreds of rockets across the border at civilian targets. All the while, its leaders knew from decades of experience that this would eventually force Jerusalem’s hand. Hamas taunted Israel with threats that, should Israeli Defense Forces enter Gaza, their troops, like Gilad Shalit, would be abducted. It boasted of projected Israeli death tolls. It sent messages in Hebrew to the mobile phones of Israeli citizens warning, “Rockets on all cities, shelters will not protect you.”

The result was Operation Cast Lead, which left 1,400 Palestinians dead, hundreds of businesses and factories destroyed, and tens of thousands homeless. But that mattered less to Hamas leaders than their huge PR victory. By September 2009, hundreds of complaints had been filed in the Hague calling for investigations into alleged war crimes committed by Israel during what was now being referred to as the Gaza War.

Last week, Hamas launched another clever PR campaign.

The so-called Freedom Fleet, with 10,000 tons of humanitarian cargo and 700 pro-Palestinian/anti-Israeli activists was warned repeatedly that it would not be permitted to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza harbor. But Hamas’s media machine was already running at full speed.

While the ships were being loaded, Hamas provided reporters with photo ops showing hard-working, hopeful Palestinians laboring night and day to prepare the harbor, moving sand, paving roads, erecting light poles. The hope and the sweat were very real, but my people were only being used by Hamas leaders who knew that no ship would ever pull in to those waters.

Prime Minister Haniyeh tipped his hand when he told reporters, “The flotilla’s message is clear. The meaning of the flotilla is that the entire world opposes the siege on the Gaza Strip, and if Israel behaves like pirates and sea-terrorists—we will win.”

And they did—at the cost of nine innocent lives, pawns in a deadly media game.

What did it win? Arab streets throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Indonesia ablaze with hatred. Global condemnation of Israel and sympathy for Hamas and its suffering people. The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, sealed since it seized power in 2007, reopened like a pressure release valve by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The Reality behind the Hype

I am sorry, my Palestinian brothers and sisters, but Israel has the right, like every other country in the world, to protect its borders. Every time they were open, weapons and enemies poured in, just as Iraq’s enemies poured in before its borders were secured after Saddam’s fall.

Israel had every right to inspect the flotilla’s cargo before letting it into Gaza. What government would do otherwise? What guarantee did Jerusalem have that the ships did not carry long-range missiles from Iran like the ones sold to Hezbollah, even warheads with biological weapons?

And even if Israel could trust Hamas, which it cannot, there are now tens of thousands of al-Qaeda-like Salafi terrorists in Gaza who see Hamas as too wishy-washy and tame and who would not hesitate to detonate a nuclear device, even if it meant their own destruction along with Israel.

No, Israel cannot open its borders or lift the blockade. If Israel removes the naval blockade, we will see what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “an Iranian port on the Mediterranean,” and, given the close relationship between Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran, al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, within five years you would see a war break out that would devastate the entire Middle East. Hundreds of thousands would die.

But the deeper issues in Gaza go far beyond humanitarian needs, military strength and national security.

The members of Hamas can never be free as long as their minds and hearts are prisoners to Islamic ideology. And non-Muslim Palestinians can never be free as long as they define freedom in terms of borders and self-determination. At best, they would be prisoners in an independent state. Still driven by anger, hatred, and revenge. Still controlled by an angry, intolerant, vengeful god or believing in no god at all.

If it does nothing else, I pray that the Hamas would at least have the courage, compassion and wisdom to set aside its ideology and begin to care about their brothers and sisters, instead manipulating and abusing them as its means to an end.

If they were no longer determined to destroy Israel, they would be able to apply their time, efforts and resources to providing the Palestinian people with food, medicine, and education, strengthening their society, rebuilding their infrastructure.

If they would do this, talk with Israel and the international community, and respect former agreements, at some time in the future there might no longer be a need for naval blockades and closed borders.
source:http://sonofhamas.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/hamas-scores-deadly-pr-victory/

Homeland In-Security - a blog record from Mosab Hassan Yousef

I have worn many hats in 32 years—Muslim, Christian, son of Hamas, Prisoner 823, spy, traitor, USAID administrator, businessman, best-selling author.

Now I am Homeland Security File# A 088 271 051.

And, according to these “highly trained” civil servants, I am a threat to America’s national security and must be deported.

On June 30, at 8 a.m., I have a hearing before Immigration Judge Rico J. Bartolomei at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration Court in San Diego.

But I am not worried about this. I am outraged! My only concern is about a security system that is so primitive and naive that it endangers the lives of countless Americans. Honestly, Judge Bartolomei’s verdict really does not matter. If he rules to deport me, I will appeal. And Homeland Security has assured me that, if he rules in my favor, they will appeal. And this insane merry-go-round can go on like that for decades.

My concern is not about being deported. It is that I am being forced to stand and defend myself as a terrorist! This is ridiculous. And as long as this case is in the courts, I cannot leave the United States. If I do, I will never be able to return. For what? For risking my life fighting terrorism in the Middle East for ten years? For saving the lives of Israelis, Palestinians and Americans?

I should never be put through this in the first place. It’s crazy.

Don’t think that I am writing this post to get you to feel sorry for me or even to write your congressman or senator on my behalf. I believe that God is using this situation to expose the weaknesses of Homeland Security and to put pressure on it to make changes that can save lives and preserve freedom. But first, you need to understand everything that led up to File# A 088 271 051.

It began when I arrived in America January 2, 2007. I walked into the airport like anyone else on a tourist visa. Seven months later, I went to the Homeland Security office, knocked on their door and told them, “Hey, guys, I am the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, my father is involved in a terrorist organization, and I would like political asylum in your country.”

They were shocked. They didn’t expect it. I told them, hey, you didn’t discover me. You didn’t catch me. I came to you and told you who I am to wake you up. I wanted them to see that they have huge gaps in their security and their understanding of terrorism and make changes before it’s too late.

I filed an application for political asylum. Not surprisingly, on February 23, 2009, they told me that I was “barred from a grant of asylum because there were reasonable grounds for believing [I] was a danger to the security of the United States and because [I] engaged in terrorist activity.”

More hearings followed. When they demanded evidence to support my claim that I was not a terrorist or a security threat, I filed a draft of my book, Son of Hamas. Surely this would make everything perfectly clear. They would discover that I was an intelligence agent, not a terrorist. That I tracked down terrorists and put them in prison. That I was an asset, not a threat.

But they didn’t get it.

Recently, I received a document in which Homeland Security senior attorney Kerri Calcador claimed that, “In the book, the respondent discusses his extensive involvement with Hamas in great detail. For example, in one portion of the book, a member of Shin Bet shows the respondent a list of suspects implicated in a March 2001 suicide bombing and asks the respondent whether he knows the individuals. The respondent indicates that he does know five of the people on the list and states that he previously drove them to safe houses.”

On page 5, Ms. Calcador concluded that, “At a bare minimum, evidence of the respondent’s transport of Hamas members to safe houses—discussed above in the Statement of the Case as but one example of the respondent’s involvement with Hamas—indicates that the respondent provided material support to a [Tier I] terrorist organization.

Is she kidding? Either Homeland Security’s chief attorney has zero reading comprehension, or else she intentionally took the passage out of context. And I am not sure which is worse.

Even a child reading the book can see that, during that time, I was working as a secret agent for the Shin Bet (Israeli’s internal security service, comparable to our FBI). My job required me to do anything I could to be involved with my father’s activities. So when he asked me to go with him to pick up these guys when they were released from the Palestinian Authority prison, I went.

First of all, no one—not me, not my father, not even Israel—knew at the time that these men were involved with suicide bombings. With all of its assets, the Shin Bet did not put the pieces together for three more years.

Second, I was the one who connected these men with the bombing at the Hebrew University cafeteria in July 2002. And Homeland Security would do well to remember that there were five American citizens among the dead. Apparently the agency needs also to be reminded that I was the one who located the terrorists and led to their arrest or death.

Did the American government launch a special investigation to find their killers? No. Even the Israeli government had no idea who or where they were. I am not boasting, but the record is clear that I was pivotal to bringing them all to justice. And Homeland Security today tells me “thank you” by trying to deport me!

Yes, while working for Israeli intelligence, I posed as a terrorist. Yes, I carried a gun. Yes, I was in terrorist meetings with Yassir Arafat, my father and other Hamas leaders. It was part of my job. And I passed on to the Shin Bet all the information I gathered during those meetings and saved the lives of many people—including many Americans.

Maybe Homeland Security only read a few chapters of my book. If they would have bothered to read all 251 pages, they would know that I also worked with 40 Americans on the USAID water project in the West Bank for five years. Who took care of their security? Who warned them not to come to Ramallah if there was going to be an Israeli military incursion or if there would be shooting? Who protected their offices? I wasn’t being paid to do that. I did it because of a Christian morality that taught me to love, not hate. I protected my manager. I protected everybody. Nobody hurt them.

Is this the behavior of someone who is a threat to Americans?

If Homeland Security cannot tell the difference between a terrorist and a man who spent his life fighting terrorism, how can they protect their own people? Why is Homeland Security wasting its time investigating a former Israeli intelligence operative, instead of looking for the real terrorists out there? Is it personal? Racial? Political? Or just stupidity?

I don’t doubt that they are embarrassed, and they should be. Maybe they feel a little insecure because someone with my background got into this country and moved around for seven months, and they were clueless.

One thing I have learned, they are definitely arrogant, acting as though they are something special and know everything there is to know about fighting terrorism.

The FBI, on the other hand, has a much better understanding of terrorism and recognizes me as a valuable asset. They told Homeland Security that I am not a threat and advised them to drop the case. But Homeland Security shut its eyes and stopped up its ears and told the FBI, “You have nothing to do with this. It is our job.”

They worry me, and they should worry the American people. If Homeland Security cannot understand a simple story like mine, how can they be trusted with bigger issues? They seem to know only how to blindly follow rules and procedures. But to work intelligence, you have to be very creative. You have to accept exceptions. You need to be able to think beyond facts and circumstances.

Homeland Security has absolutely no idea of the dangers that lie ahead. For nearly 30 years, I watched from the inside as Hamas dug its claws deeper and deeper into Israel. They started awkwardly, clumsily, but they got good at it. And al-Qaeda is becoming more like Hamas.

The strategy of Hamas has always been to bleed Israel. A slow bleeding war to destroy Israel in the long term. They don’t have nuclear bombs, so they send a suicide bomber here, another one there. And over the years, they severely damaged the economy and gave Israel a bad reputation all over the world.

Al-Qaeda started with huge attacks like September 11. But bin Laden has learned from Hamas’s war against Israel how to bleed its enemy. Al-Qaeda understands how effective the Hamas strategy will be on American soil.

Americans have never experienced anything like this. This country is not ready. Try to imagine attacks by suicide bombers and car bombers, attacks on schools, in shopping malls, in the gridlock of rush-hour traffic, week after week, month after month, year after year, here and there, in big cities and rural towns. No one feels safe anywhere. There seems to be no reason behind the attacks, no pattern. Everyone is a target. Men, women, children, office buildings, private homes, town halls, schools and hospitals. The government is powerless to stop them. Every car and truck you see is suspect. Every suitcase and package is suspect. Someone standing in line in a bank points to a briefcase on the floor and asks the person in front of him, “Is this yours?”

“No,” the man says, wide-eyed.

Seconds later, the bank is empty.

I was born and raised in this kind of environment. More than that, I was on the inside of both sides. I am not asking Homeland Security or anybody else for a job or a salary. I am asking them to be humble and listen, so they can learn.

Exposing terrorist secrets and warning the world in my first book cost me everything. I am a traitor to my people, disowned by my family, a man without a country. And now the country I came to for sanctuary is turning its back.

Kerri Calcador warned in Homeland Security’s pre-hearing statement that, when I appear at my hearing in June, “the respondent bears the burden of proving his eligibility for relief.” In other words, I am guilty unless I can prove to their satisfaction that I am not a threat to U.S. security. And Homeland Security has been embarrassed. They want me out. They don’t want to change. But there are too many lives at stake to worry about the personal sensitivities of the civil servants at Homeland Security.

That’s why I am asking you to share this blog post with as many people as you can.

Write letters to:

Kerri Calcador

Senior Attorney

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

880 Front Street, Suite 224

San Diego, California 92101

or call her at 619.557.5578.

And if you live in the San Diego area, come to my hearing at 8 a.m. on June 30 and see for yourself Homeland Security in action.
source:http://sonofhamas.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/homeland-in-security/

Afghan parliamentarian calls for execution of Christians

by ASSIST News ServicePosted: Thursday, June 3, 2010, 10:12 (BST)

An Afghan parliamentary secretary has called for the public execution of Christian converts from the parliament floor, according to International Christian Concern.

On Tuesday, the Associated Free Press reported that Abdul Sattar Khawasi, deputy secretary of the Afghan lower house in parliament, called for the execution of Christian converts from Islam.

Speaking in regards to a video broadcast by the Afghan television network Noorin TV showing footage of Christian men being baptized and praying in Farsi, Khawasi said, "Those Afghans that appeared in this video film should be executed in public. The house should order the attorney general and the NDS (intelligence agency) to arrest these Afghans and execute them."

An ICC spokesperson told ASSIST News Service that the broadcast triggered a protest by hundreds of Kabul University students on Monday, who shouted death threats and demanded the expulsion of Christian foreigners accused of proselytising.

As a result, the operations of Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and US-based Church World Service (CWS) have been suspended over allegations of proselytising.

The ICC spokesperson said the Afghan government was currently undertaking an intensive investigation into the matter.

"According to Afghan law, proselytising is illegal and conversion from Islam is punishable by death," the spokesperson said.

ICC sources within Afghanistan have reported that many national Christians are in hiding, fearful of execution. Under government pressure during investigations, some Afghans have reportedly revealed names and locations of Christian converts.

Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, "It is absolutely appalling that the execution of Christians would be promoted on the floor of the Afghan parliament.

"Khawasi's statement sounded a whole lot like the tyrannical manifesto of the Taliban not that of a US ally. American lives are being lost fighting terrorism and defending freedom in Afghanistan - yet Christians are being oppressed within Afghan borders.

"This comes after billions of US dollars have been invested in the war effort, and millions more have been given in aid. The US government must intervene to protect the religious freedoms and human rights of all Afghans. The US is not a mere outside bystander - but, is closely intertwined within Afghan policy."

Clay added, "Intervention is not a choice, but a responsibility, as Afghan policies reflect the US government's ability and commitment to secure a stable government in Afghanistan."
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/afghan.parliamentarian.calls.for.execution.of.christians/26025.htm

Breaking Footage from Mavi Marmara interception

02 June 2010 , 14:53

Elana Kieffer

Video footage shows Shayetet Naval Special Forces attempting to intercept the Mavi Marmara ship which is part of the Gaza flotilla. Passengers on board are seen throwing chains, metal pipes and a stun grenade at the soldiers while attacking them with water hoses. The passengers later use the same metal pipes to beat the soldiers who boarded the Marmara. The soldiers can be seen armed with paintball guns, to be used as a means of riot dispersal.

Five other ships arrived to the area with the flotilla, however IDF interception took place with no incident. The passengers on board these other ships cooperated nonviolently with IDF soldiers and there were no injuries.

In a special meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet held on Tuesday (June 1), it was disclosed that approximately 40 people on the upper deck of the ship with no identification wearing bullet proof vests and using weapons against the IDF soldiers are considered mercenaries of the Al Qaeda terror organization. During this special meeting it became clear that while the civillian protestors were sent to the lower deck of the ship, this group of mercenaries split into organized cells in order to combat the IDF soldiers. The cabinet places full responsibility for the incident on those who started the violence which clearly placed the soldiers' lives in danger.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/06/0202.htm

Hamas Refuses to Allow Flotilla Aid into Gaza Strip

02 June 2010 , 20:42

CoGAT reports that Hamas did not allow today the transfer of the cargo brought on the flotilla to Gaza’s residents

As of right now, the State of Israel has loaded 25 trucks with various types of aid found onboard the flotilla. Expired medication, clothing, blankets, some medical equipment and toys were among the aid found on the ships. Some humanitarian aid is still waiting at the port of Ashdod. The CoGAT is acting in coordination with international aid organizations operating in the Gaza Strip which are waiting for the transfer of the cargo on the other side of the border.

Unfortunately, the Hamas terror organization is unwilling to accept the cargo and the trucks filled with humanitarian aid have not been allowed to enter the Gaza Strip. It appears that Hamas is in fact stopping the transfer of the humanitarian aid. Hamas did not explain his opposition to the transfer of the aid.

The Ministry of Defense and the IDF allow the crossing of goods and equipment in a routine and frequent manner, and enable the transfer of people for medical, religious, welfare, business or diplomatic reasons. About a hundred of trucks containing aid are delivered everyday by the IDF. In the first quarter of the year 2010, 95,000 tons of supplies and 1068 tons of medicines and medical equipment were transferred in about 4,000 trucks. Also, at the time of swine flu epidemic fear, three Israelis hospitals were designated to treat patients from Gaza and 44,500 vaccinations were delivered into the Gaza Strip.

The State of Israel seeks to achieve regional stability and protection of her citizens. It is not in the interest of Israel to harm the people of Gaza and the state does its utmost to assist aid efforts, so as not to harm the quality of life for the residents of Gaza. Hamas, in its continued efforts to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip, harms the people of Gaza and undermines further development. Despite these ever-present security threats, the IDF continues to allow the transfer of commercial goods, building materials, and medical equipment into Gaza.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/06/0302.htm

‘We face international hypocrisy’

By JPOST.COM STAFF
06/02/2010 20:20

PM: "This was not a 'Love Boat', it was a hate boat."

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night, made his first public statement to the nation after the IDF raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, which left nine activists dead and has wreaked havoc in the international media.

Speaking live to the nation, Netanyahu said, "The State of Israel faces an attack of international hypocrisy. This is not the first time we have faced this, two years ago we faced a massive attack of missiles fired by Hamas who hid behind civilians. Israel went to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties but who did the UN condemn? It condemned Israel."

"Hamas continues to arm. Iran continues to send weapons to Gaza. Iran's rockets are intended to hit Israeli communities, not just in the vicinity of Gaza, but in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem."

"It is our right according to International law to prevent arms smuggling to Gaza and that is why the naval blockade was put in place. The flotilla intended to break the blockade, not to bring in emergency supplies which we allow to reach Gaza"

"If the blockade had been broken, hundreds of ships would have followed, with a scale of smuggling far greater than that possible in the tunnels. Two ships stopped in the last years -Francop and Karine-A - had hundreds of tons of weapons."

"It is our duty to examine any ship going to Gaza - If we don't do this, the result would be an Iranian port in Gaza, only a few dozen kilometers from Tel Aviv, which would also threaten other countries in the region. We offered to take the cargo to Ashdod and examine it, an offer which Egypt seconded. The flotilla leaders rejected this."

"The takeover of five of the ships passed quietly. In the sixth ship, our soldiers encountered an extreme group that supports Hamas terror. This wasn't the "love boat" this was a flotilla of terror supporters."

"I talked to our soldiers, they were shot at. There was an attempt to lynch them.
These are pacifists? The soldiers defended their lives with incomparable restraint.
What would any other country do? At best, they would act in the same way, or much worse."

"Of course we regret the loss of life, but I ask the international community what would you do instead? We'll continue to defend our citizens and assert our right for self defense, which is my first duty as Prime Minister."

"It is important that we stay united on this issue, which is a matter of life and death."

The Karine-A was an Iranian ship carrying arms to Gaza which Israeli troops boarded eight years ago in the Red Sea. The MV Francop was an Iranian arms ship that was boarded off the coast of Cyprus. and was carrying arms to Hizbullah. Another Iranian ship, the Monchegorsk was seized by Cypriot authorities in 2009.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided on Tuesday that Israel would not prosecute or continue to hold the participants it captured from the Gaza protest flotilla, despite earlier plans to put on trial those who had attacked the soldiers boarding the ships.

How Obama is using flotilla raid to distance US from Israel

Public condemnation of Israel over its seizure of a terrorist-supported aid flotilla to Gaza has been led by Turkey, where the ships embarked from, and has been loudest in the halls of the UN. But US President Barack Obama, too, has used the incident as a means of further distancing his administration from the Jewish state.

In his public rhetoric, Obama has refrained from condemning Israel outright, though he has leveled veiled criticism, but his actions speak far louder than his words.

The first action that demonstrated whose side Obama was taking in the matter was the canceling of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the White House scheduled for the day after the flotilla raid took place.

As the news of the raid broke, Netanyahu at first announced that he would remain in the US and finish his North America diplomatic tour, including his meeting with Obama. But just hours later, the Israeli leader abruptly changed his plans and said he would be returning home to "deal with the crisis."

There was no reasonable explanation for canceling the meeting, though Obama and Netanyahu tried to offer some, except for that Obama didn't want Netanyahu to use the White House as a podium from which to explain Israel's position, as that would upset those of Israel's enemies the Obama Administration is trying to make nice with.

Diplomatic sources in Washington and Jerusalem acknowledged as much to the Israeli financial newspaper Globes when they revealed that the Obama team told Netanyahu, "Don't come."

The second way in which Obama discreetly used the flotilla incident to move the US away from its traditional support of Israel was in his handling of the emergency UN Security Council session called in the wake of the confrontation.

Displaying its double standard toward Israel, the UN moved with lightning speed to set up the session and draft a resolution condemning the Jewish state. The UN's Muslim states wanted to get the session underway while Lebanon was still the acting president of the Security Council. Lebanon was scheduled to be replaced by Mexico at 12 PM on the day of the flotilla incident.

In that short space of time, the Security Council met, discussed the matter and unanimously approved a resolution that laid the blame for the almost solely on Israel. In the past, Washington has used various methods to block the Security Council from fast-tracking hostile resolutions against Israel in the aftermath of such incidents.

The Obama Administration also raised no objections when the UN Human Rights Council decided to suddenly amend its procedural rules and hold its first-ever "urgent debate," which naturally concluded with a strong condemnation of Israel.

Israeli observers and the Jewish state's true friends in America noted that while Obama did not produce any direct condemnations himself, it was his actions that enabled the international media and the UN to really skewer Israel. It is difficult to believe Obama didn't know what he was doing.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21214

Report: Gaza aid ship had Al Qaeda crew

Wednesday, June 02, 2010 Israel Today Staff

Israeli intelligence revealed during a security cabinet meeting on Wednesday that most of those who attacked the Israeli boarding party on the Miva Marmara aid ship on Monday were Al Qaeda mercenaries.

Israeli officials said that a group of 40 of the more violent passengers were found to have no identification papers when they were arrested upon arrival in Israel. Nearly all members of that particular group were equipped with bullet-proof vests, night-vision goggles and various light weapons. Each also carried the same exact amount of money as the others in his pockets.

Intelligence officials were able to determine, either through previous intelligence or through interrogation, that the 40-man group was either aligned with or was an active part of Osama bin Laden's global terrorist network.

That did not surprise the Israeli cabinet much, since it had already been discovered that one of the organizations behind the so-called "aid" flotilla was the Turkish IHH, a movement that for years has supported anti-Western and anti-Israel terrorist organizations. At certain points in the past, the IHH has aided Al Qaeda.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21215

Israel expected protestors, but found terrorists aboard aid ship

A flood of information and contradicting reports have been hitting the media since Israel forcefully halted a flotilla of ships attempting to break the maritime blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Monday. Israel Today will try to break down that information and rebut any false claims so as to paint a clearer picture of what really happened for our readers.


Israel intercepts the ships

Israeli warships made contact with the six ships making up the first wave of the flotilla organized by the Free Gaza Movement late Sunday night. Israeli officers contacted the ships' captains by radio and ordered them to follow the Israeli ships back to port. The aid ship captains refused.

The Israeli army said that it expected the ships to refuse to return to port, and were ready with commando teams to board and seize control of the aid ships.

Israeli army officials later acknowledged that they had underestimated what they would face and had equipped their commandoes with only paintball guns for crowd dispersal and sidearms for self-defense as a last resort. The Israelis expected to face protestors, not armed and violent fighters.


Battle on the high seas

In a news brief published just after Israeli troops started boarding the ships, the Free Gaza Movement claimed that the crew of the Miva Marmara, the only ship that saw violence, was peacefully sleeping when the Israelis touched down on deck and opened fire indiscriminately.

The following video released by the IDF clearly shows that the crew of the Marmara was not sleeping, but rather was eagerly waiting and ready for a fight:

In the video, the Israeli commandoes are shown sliding onto the upper deck of the Marmara one-by-one, each soldier being grabbed and lynched as he reached the ship. The first soldier was severely beaten and then thrown over the side to a lower deck. He sustained serious injuries.

Knives, metal poles, baseball bats, firebombs, stun grenades and even firearms were also used against the commandoes in a clearly premeditated ambush.

This video shows a more close-up view of the violence:

In this video, one of the "peace" activists is seen stabbing an Israeli soldier in the back:

An Israeli soldier who took part in the raid gave this video testimony noting that he and his comrades were taken totally by surprise by the level of violence:

Only after the Israeli troops realized they were under life-threatening attack did they request authorization to use their sidearms in self-defense.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi debunked claims that Israel was the one bent on violence by pointing out that the other five ships were seized without a shot being fired.


Why was the Marmara different?

So, why did a violent confrontation take place only on one of the ships, the Miva Marmara?

The answer was made clear later in the day when it was revealed that the Marmara was controlled by and carrying most of the activists belonging to the IHH, a violent Turkish organization that supports Islamic terrorism.

The IHH, it turns out, had co-sponsored and organized the flotilla along with the Free Gaza Movement. This video shows IHH activists and their supporters chanting violent anti-Jewish slogans prior to the flotilla's launch from Turkey:

These guys were looking for a fight before ever setting off. As evidenced by this behavior and the presence of so many weapons onboard the Marmara, the IHH activists never intended to reach Gaza. Their goal was to pick a very public fight with Israel, and use the outcome to further besmirch the Jewish state in the media.

In that way, the tactics of the IHH mirror those of Hamas, which also publicly supported the flotilla and sent representatives to Turkey to bless its embarkation.


The legitimacy of the Israeli blockade

With details of Monday's battle cleared up, it is instructive to take a look at the legitimacy of Israel's maritime blockade.

The Free Gaza Movement insists that the blockade is illegal and oppressive, thus necessitating efforts such as its own to bring essential goods to the residents of Gaza.

But Israeli Foreign Ministry legal advisor Sarah Weiss Maudi explained why Israel has every right to impose a maritime blockade on Gaza under international law:

Maritime blockades are a legitimate and recognized measure under international law, and may be implemented as part of an armed conflict at sea [which presently exists between Israel and Hamas].

Under international maritime law, when a maritime blockade is in effect, no vessels can enter the blockaded area. That includes both civilian vessels and enemy vessels. Any vessel that violates or attempts to violate the maritime blockade may be captured or even attacked.

Various naval manuals, including the naval manuals of the US and UK, recognize the maritime blockade as an effective naval measure that can be implemented in times of armed conflict. And those manuals give various criteria for making a blockade valid, including the requirement to give due notice of the blockade. Israel, in accordance with the requirements of international law, has publicized the existence of the blockade currently in effect, and has published the exact coordinates of the blockade via the accepted international professional maritime channels.

Furthermore, just days before the Free Gaza flotilla set off from Turkey, Israel published details of ongoing humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza via southern Israel. The residents of Gaza receive enormous amounts of essential goods, much more than the flotilla could have hoped to deliver.

In fact, enough goods have been delivered over the past 18 months to provide every man, woman and child in Gaza with one ton of humanitarian aid each.

What the media and Free Gaza don't say is that Israel's blockade of Gaza is really a very limited embargo targeting only those items that could and have been used by Hamas and its terrorist allies to prepare rockets and bunkers.

Israel tried to explain this to the Free Gaza Movement, and offered to add the permitted goods they had collected to the daily aid truck convoys. But the activists refused, because actually getting supplies to the residents of Gaza was not their primary objective.


The aftermath

Unfortunately, none of these facts will ultimately make an impact on world leaders, who have already begun to play to Muslim sensitivities and their own anti-Israel biases by demanding commissions of inquiry into the Israeli raid.

The last commission of inquiry ordered against Israel was the UN's Goldstone Commission sent to investigate the month-long Gaza war that ended in January 2009. The commission's conclusions were enormously influenced by unsubstantiated Hamas claims that the investigators failed or refused to demand proof of. And while many of the report's points have since been refuted, the damage to Israel has already been done.

Any commission of inquiry into the raid on the aid flotilla can be expected to reach similar biased conclusions that will lead to demands that Israel unconditionally end its limited embargo of the Gaza Strip, enabling Hamas to once again stockpile weapons that will eventually result in another war.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21197

IDF Forces Met With Pre-Planned Violence When Attempting to Board Flotilla

31 May 2010 , 09:59

Early this morning (May 31) the Israel Navy intercepted the flotilla after the protesters on board ignored Israeli warnings. IDF forces met with severe pre-planned violence from the demonstrators, including use of live fire and light weaponry.

Early this morning, IDF Naval Forces intercepted six ships attempting to break the maritime closure of the Gaza Strip. This happened after numerous warnings from Israel and the Israeli Navy that were issued prior to the event. The Israeli Navy requested the ships to redirect toward Ashdod where they would be able to unload their aid supplies which would then be transferred over to the Gaza Strip after undergoing security inspections.

During the boarding of the ships, demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF Naval personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs. Additionally, one of the weapons used was grabbed from an IDF soldier. The demonstrators had clearly prepared their weapons in advance for this specific purpose.

As a result of this life-threatening and violent activity, naval forces first employed riot dispersal means, followed by live fire.

According to initial reports, these events resulted in over ten deaths among the demonstrators and numerous injuries. In addition, five naval personnel were injured, some from gunfire and some from various other weapons. Two of the soldiers were seriously wounded and the remainder sustained moderate injuries. All of the injured parties, Israelis and foreigners, are currently being evacuated by helicopter to hospitals in Israel.

Reports from IDF forces at the scene indicate that some of the participants onboard the ships were planning to lynch the forces
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The events are ongoing, and information will be updated as soon as possible. Israeli Naval commander, Vice Admiral Eliezer Marom is overseeing the events.

In the coming hours, the ships will be directed to the Ashdod port, while IDF naval forces perform security checks in order to identify the people on the ships and the cargo brought on board. The IDF Spokesman emphasizes that this event is currently unfolding and further details will be provided as soon as possible.

This IDF naval operation was carried out under orders from the political leadership to prevent the flotilla from reaching the Gaza Strip and breaching the maritime closure.

The boarding of ships in the flotilla followed numerous warnings given to the organizers of the flotilla before leaving their ports as well as while sailing towards the Gaza Strip. In these warnings, it was made clear to the organizers that they could dock in the Ashdod Sea Port and unload the equipment they are carrying in order to deliver it to the Gaza Strip in an orderly manner, following the appropriate security checks. Upon expressing their unwillingness to cooperate and arrive at the port, it was decided upon to board the ships and lead them to Ashdod.

IDF naval personnel encountered severe violence, including use of weaponry prepared in advance in order to attack them, as well as having their weapons stolen by protesters and used against them. The forces operated in adherence with operational commands and took all necessary actions in order to avoid violence, but to no avail.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/05/3101.htm