"Aid" flotilla - supported by terrorist organizations

A documented conclusion and report - here.

Inside the Mavi Marmara

The Standard Weekly published a very intersting investigation inside the Islamist organization IHH, who masterminded the Mavi Marmara flotilla plans. Many details about the current political connections from Turkey, in the electoral but as well as geopolitical perspective.

The extensive footage of the interviews is here.

And a couple of information about Neturei Karta.

Flotillas and the war on public opinion

a Stratfor analysis about the situation in the Middle East. I watched carefully the news and footages during the events, as well as the reports from the international media.

There are still many events on the run - including the Arab League meeting from today, with impressive pressures against Egypt to give up being part of the blockade against Hamas.

The distance between the facts and their interpretation is huge. And, from many point of view, the communication plan was a failure. There are military regulations and not all the information could be released instantly to the public. Meanwhile, the volume and frequence of communication from the other side of the story was amazing. Millions of people - including with fake IDs and accounts - were involved with actions of supports all over the web - on Facebook, Twitter, comments to foreign media. In this case, despite the facts, the result is an increased condemnation of the state of Israel. And, in Sderot, the missiles continued.

Was it an intelligence failure or of an evaluation failure? I am asking why the negative perception of Israel in the media, increased significantly in the last years, is not still considered a fact you have to work on. Maybe hasbara should be redesigned according to the realities and not relying on situations no longer available.

Answering or not?

I agree it was a deliberate acte of provocation. But, once they were let in, there were possible repetition of the action and so on and so forth. They acted aiming for exactly the results they were expecting. It is no surprise or wonder. As it is not a wonder that by this, the possibilities for a peace discussion is again very very far away. Otherwise, with peace in the Middle East, dictatorial countries from the Middle East will not have any other arguments to deliver for their lack of coherence and arbitrary.

And, the rules are the rules. In democracy. Not in tribal arrangements.

This idea expressed in Jewlicious reminded me of the movie I saw yesterday night - Checkpoint, by Yoav Shamir. A movie I consider biased and unequal. Many people of Arab origin who wanted to cross, but lacking proper documents, were tempted to bargain with the soldiers, waiting for small / not legal arrangements. With such a behavior you will never be able to get anything but corruption and the lack of any rule of law.

Destination Gaza

Here is the conversation between the "peace" navy and the Israeli authorities. There are procedures already in place - as the aid was usually delivered via Ashdod. Everybody was aware and warned about the situation. The answer: "Destination Gaza".

Israel MFA Legal Expert on Gaza

It is a regular procedure and there are rules to be respected. "Gaza is no more under Israeli control" - so, what do they want to "free"? But, it is a state of conflict and attacks against civilians. Blockade is a legitimate tool used in the international law. Under international humanitarian law, Israel is having the obligation to supply the humanitarian good and medicine.

The warning was made at the beginning of the last week.

Israeli Forces Attack Aid Flotilla, 10 Killed

Forces board Gaza-bound ship from helicopter

Voice of America

31 May 2010

Photo: AP

Palestinian fishermen prepare their boat ahead of the expected arrival of a flotilla of hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists trying to sail into the Gaza Strip, in Gaza city, 28 May 2010

Organizers from the Free Gaza Movement and a Turkish human rights group say the convoy, which includes three cargo ships and three passenger boats, is carrying medical supplies as well as cement and other building materials, which Israel has banned from entering Gaza due to security concerns.Israeli media say Israel's navy has attacked a six-ship aid convoy carrying pro-Palestinian activists to the Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 people.

A private Israeli television station said Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla early Monday and fired on at least one of the vessels.

Turkey's NTV television aired images from the ships of several people who were said to be wounded.

Israel has warned it will not allow the flotilla to reach Gaza, which has been under a blockade by Israel and Egypt since 2007 when Palestinian militant group Hamas seized control of the territory.

Three Israeli missile boats left their base in Haifa late Sunday to prevent the ships from entering the 32-kilometer exclusion zone Israel enforces along Gaza's Mediterranean Sea coast.

The aid ships, carrying more than 600 pro-Palestinian activists and 10,000 tons of supplies, left for Gaza on Sunday and defied a radio warning from the Israeli navy not to approach the region. An Israeli official said the navy told them they were approaching a blockaded area and asked them to go to the Israeli port of Ashdod or turn back.

The activists say the construction supplies are intended to help Gazans rebuild homes destroyed during Israel's military offensive in the Islamist-controlled territory early last year.

U.N. officials and international aid groups say Israel's three-year blockade on Gaza has devastated the local economy and failed to weaken Hamas grip on power.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

For the moment, only the news. And a very short comment:

Israel is a sovereign country. Entering its space when the permission denied is provocation. Will it change somehow the situation from the area, eventually leading to the end of the blockade?

A simple question: What Turkey will do if a Kurdish illegal party will win - democratically - the elections?