Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, May 31, 2010

Video: Throwing soldier off deck, Molotov cocktails, stun grenades

The IDF released video showing what happened on the Mavi Marmara:

See how peaceful the pro-Hamas "activists" are?

Israel's legal right to blockade Gaza

From the MFA (via email):

1. A maritime blockade is in effect off the coast of Gaza. Such blockade has been imposed, as Israel is currently in a state of armed conflict with the Hamas regime that controls Gaza, which has repeatedly bombed civilian targets in Israel with weapons that have been smuggled into Gaza via the sea.

2. Maritime blockades are a legitimate and recognized measure under international law that may be implemented as part of an armed conflict at sea.

3. A blockade may be imposed at sea, including in international waters, so long as it does not bar access to the ports and coasts of neutral States.

4. The naval manuals of several western countries, including the US and England recognize the maritime blockade as an effective naval measure and set forth the various criteria that make a blockade valid, including the requirement of give due notice of the existence of the blockade.

5. In this vein, it should be noted that Israel publicized the existence of the blockade and the precise coordinates of such by means of the accepted international professional maritime channels. Israel also provided appropriate notification to the affected governments and to the organizers of the Gaza protest flotilla. Moreover, in real time, the ships participating in the protest flotilla were warned repeatedly that a maritime blockade is in effect.

6. Here, it should be noted that under customary law, knowledge of the blockade may be presumed once a blockade has been declared and appropriate notification has been granted, as above.

7. Under international maritime law, when a maritime blockade is in effect, no boats can enter the blockaded area. That includes both civilian and enemy vessels.

8. A State may take action to enforce a blockade. Any vessel that violates or attempts to violate a maritime blockade may be captured or even attacked under international law. The US Commander's Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations sets forth that a vessel is considered to be in attempt to breach a blockade from the time the vessel leaves its port with the intention of evading the blockade.

9. Here we should note that the protesters indicated their clear intention to violate the blockade by means of written and oral statements. Moreover, the route of these vessels indicated their clear intention to violate the blockade in violation of international law.

10. Given the protesters explicit intention to violate the naval blockade, Israel exercised its right under international law to enforce the blockade. It should be noted that prior to undertaking enforcement measures, explicit warnings were relayed directly to the captains of the vessels, expressing Israel's intent to exercise its right to enforce the blockade.

11. Israel had attempted to take control of the vessels participating in the flotilla by peaceful means and in an orderly fashion in order to enforce the blockade. Given the large number of vessels participating in the flotilla, an operational decision was made to undertake measures to enforce the blockade a certain distance from the area of the blockade.

12. Israeli personnel attempting to enforce the blockade were met with violence by the protesters and acted in self defense to fend off such attacks.

If the IDF intended to kill protesters... (open thread)

...then how come the only dead people were on the ship that attacked the IDF soldiers?

The other five ships surrendered and no one was hurt.

Just more proof of Free Gaza lies. News organizations must be careful not to trust a single word that they say. They know that their lies get broadcast as fact in real time, and FGM has a history of taking advantage of that, especially when the media is hungry for new details.

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I am not as available today to blog as I would like, so feel free to comment with any new stuff you find.

Muqata live-blogging

Jameel at the Muqata is live-blogging the events at sea. You can't do better than reading his blog right now.

2:54 PM News1 reports that the IDF soldiers were not prepared for the violence that errupted from the flotilla terrorist peace activists. The soldiers testified that Sheikh Raed Salakh was among the violent attackers. military correspondents who accompanied the soldiers said the soldiers were given paintball rifles. When they boarded the ship, they were attacked with slingshots, metal balls, chairs and live fire. The terrorists threw soldiers overboard and tried to capture soldiers. This wasn't a freedom flotilla but one of terror. It was all too reminiscent of the Ramallah Lynching of 2 IDF soldiers by a Palestinian mob.

Video of "peace activists" stabbing IDF soldier

From Channel 2 news, via Ma'ariv:

International law for armed conflicts at sea

The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea says in paragraph 67:

67. Merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral States may not be attacked unless they:

(a) are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture.

There is abundant evidence from both sides that there was prior warning, that the ships refused to stop, and that they resisted the visit and being searched. And the ships were very publicly breaching a blockade.

(h/t AB)

Video of "peace activists" ambushing, beating soldiers

It was an ambush.

"Peace activists" with guns - the IHH

Although the details are sketchy of what happened so far on the Mavi Marmara, it is clear that some of the "peace activists" who organized the flotilla were not very peaceful.

What is certain is that Free Gaza's characterization of the events is a lie:

Under darkness of night, Israeli commandoes dropped from a helicopter onto the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot the moment their feet hit the deck. They fired directly into the crowd of civilians asleep.

YNet's video shows a large crowd of these "peaceful people" with what appear to be metal bars waiting for the soldiers to arrive so they can beat them - which they proceed to do. If that is not life-threatening, I don't know what is.

Israel has announced that they found other weapons on board, including guns and knives.

The main Turkish "aid" organization, IHH, has clear ties to terror, as can be seen at Harry's Place. The CIA has documented links between that group and extremist groups in Iran and Algeria back in 1996.

A paper from Danish Institute for International Studies speaks about IHH:

[T]he phenomenon of charitable front groups that provide support to Al-Qaida is by no
means exclusively limited to the Arabian Peninsula. Indeed, elsewhere in the Muslim world,
other such entities have been established with near equal success – as in Turkey, with the so called Foundation for Human Rights, Liberties, and Humanitarian Relief (IHH). Turkish
authorities began their own domestic criminal investigation of IHH as early as December
1997, when sources revealed that leaders of IHH were purchasing automatic weapons from
other regional Islamic militant groups.43 IHH’s bureau in Istanbul was thoroughly searched,
and its local officers were arrested. Security forces uncovered an array of disturbing items,
including firearms, explosives, bomb-making instructions, and a “jihad flag.” After analyzing
seized IHH documents, Turkish authorities concluded that “detained members of IHH were
going to fight in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya."

According to a French intelligence report, the terrorist infiltration of IHH extended to its
most senior ranks. The report, written by famed counterterrorism magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere, revealed that IHH President Bulent Yildrim had directly conspired in the mid-1990s to “recruit veteran soldiers in anticipation of the coming holy war [jihad]. In particular, some
men were sent into war zones in Muslim countries in order to acquire combat experience.”45
Furthermore, in the hopes of “obtaining political support from these countries, financial aid
was transferred [on behalf of IHH], as well as caches of firearms, knives, and pre-fabricated
explosives.”46 An examination of IHH’s phone records in Istanbul showed repeated telephone
calls in 1996 to an Al-Qaida guesthouse in Milan and various Algerian terrorist operatives
active elsewhere in Europe – including the notorious Abu el-Ma`ali, who has been subsequently
termed by U.S. officials as a “junior Osama Bin Laden."

During the later Seattle trial of would-be Al-Qaida Millenium bomber Ahmed Ressam, federal
prosecutors called French magistrate Bruguiere to the stand as an expert witness. Bruguiere
testified that IHH had played “[a]n important role” in the Al-Qaida Millenium bomb plot
targeting LAX. Under repeated questioning, Bruguiere insisted that “[t]here’s a rather close
relation”:

The IHH is an NGO, but it was kind of a type of cover-up… in order to obtain
forged documents and also to obtain different forms of infiltration for Mujahideen
in combat. And also to go and gather[recruit] these Mujahideens. And
finally, one of the last responsibilities that they had was also to be implicated or
involved in weapons trafficking.48

This was one of the major groups behind the flotilla - a charity group that is a front of Islamic terrorism.

Carpetbombing Twitter

I've been Tweeting a ton of messages today, labeling them all #Flotilla of Fools, going over years of news about Gaza that people do not know. Getting lots of retweets, too.

Check them out: http://twitter.com/elderofziyon

"Collaborator" proud to have saved Israeli lives

From the BBC:

For a man who knows that he would face almost certain death if he ever returned home, Mohammad Saad appears remarkably at ease and sanguine about his predicament.

Mr Saad is among perhaps the most reviled class of person in Palestinian society - someone who has given or sold information to Israel.

In a frank and remarkably open interview, Mr Saad has told the BBC why he betrayed his own people and why, he thinks, he now deserves more protection and help from the Israeli state.

Mr Saad says that he infiltrated Palestinian militant groups and claims to have saved many lives.

Originally from the West Bank town of Hebron, he now sits in a cramped lawyer's office in Tel Aviv as he tries to forge a new life in Israel.
'Saved lives'

Mohammad says that for nine years in the 80s and 90s he infiltrated the Palestinian militant group, Tanzim, in Hebron.

Armed with a tape recorder, given to him by his Israeli handler, he says he helped stop attacks on Israeli civilian and military targets.

"I saved lives," says the 41-year-old father of three children.

"The Israeli agent didn't believe me at first but then I infiltrated the militants with a tape recorder on my body and recorded their plans to attack Jewish settlers. I didn't do it for money, I did it because we are all Israelis and it is wrong to kill."

Few Palestinians will have any sympathy with Mr Saad.

To them he is a traitor who took money to betray his own people.

And to them the terrorists who target Jewish children are heroes. Two sides of the same coin.

(h/t aparatchik)

Start-up Nation- Video

Something nice to look at, related to the book Start-Up Nation that I reviewed recently.

Many Lebanese Christians consider themselves "Phoenician," not Arab

An interesting article in Al Arabiya (Arabic) says that many Lebanese, especially Maronite Christians, do not consider themselves Arabs - but rather Phoenicians.

The Christians remain upset at a provision in the Taif Agreement that considers Lebanon to have an "Arab character," although on the other hand it also makes it clear that Lebanon is independent from the rest of the Arab world.

According to the article, a geneticist finds that some 30% of Lebanese have Phoenician genes, although they are generally mixed.

Abu Marzouk: "Unofficial contacts between US and Hamas"

Hamas deputy political chief Abu Marzouk was interviewed in the Algerian daily El Chourouk.

He claimed that Hamas has opened channels of communication with the US:

There are various channels of communication [between Hamas and the US], some official and some unofficial, but everyone asks permission from the State Department and the White House in this for authorization to communicate, but without fanfare. The official rhetoric in the media is that the US does not communicate with Hamas, but they do communicate with us for objective reasons. They know that Hamas was elected by the Palestinian people and lead the legitimate government. Although the U.S. administration believes that the movement does not serve its objectives in the region...it knows that Hamas is a fact.

He also claimed that the PA has spied on Algeria, and that he is pessimistic about Hamas/Fatah reconciliation.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards kill three Arabs

Al Arabiya (Arabic) reports that three Arabs were killed and seven injured, two seriously, by Iranian Revolutionary Guards as they were protesting a land dispute.

Which means that Iran killed more Arab civilians in May than the IDF did.

The Western media eats up Khaled Meshal's lies to them

Khaled Meshaal, Hamas' "political" leader in Damascus, was on the Charlie Rose show where he put on a moderate face for his credulous inteviewer:

"We don't have a problem whatsoever with the United States or with American interests," Khaled Meshaal told PBS television in an interview.

"America is a great state, a superpower," he continued.

"But its interest should not be at the expense of the interests of others and the peoples of in the region."

Rose, apparently, did not challenge Meshal on his newfound love of America. If he would have, he could have asked Meshal about something else he said a few years ago, in Arabic, that slightly contradicts his smiling statements to Americans:

AL-YARMOUK CAMP, Syria (Reuters) - Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal on Monday called for an Arab and Muslim alliance to defeat the United States and Israel.

"Our battle is with two sides, one of them is the strongest power in the world, the United States, and the second is the strongest power in the region (Israel)," he told hundreds of people at the al-Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus.

"That is the caliber of the battle. We will not be victorious unless the other side of the battle is Arab and Muslim. All of the Arabs and Muslims," he said at a memorial ceremony for Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, the group's Gaza leader assassinated by Israel on Saturday.

The Hamas politburo chief vowed Palestinians would "turn Earth on their heads, God willing."

The Israelis live "in horror...ahead of our response, during it and after it," he said. "Do not worry, there will be a response and resistance will continue, God willing."

"The problem is in us and not in the balance of power...if the (Islamic) nation would fight the same way (Palestinians and Iraqis) are fighting in Rafah, Jenin and Falluja then by God we will defeat both the United States and Israel," he said.

Arab and Muslim people "have a great duty and I do not want to tell them what to do... God will ask Arabs and Muslims what are they doing while the sons of Palestine are doing their duties," he said.

In the same Charlie Rose interview,

The Hamas leader said he did not support violence against civilians and said attacks on Israel would stop once it withdrew to the 1967 borders.

Again, Rose did not challenge Meshal on the obvious contradiction between Meshal's words and Hamas' history of targeting Jewish women and children with suicide bombs, or even between what he told Rose and what he tells others in Arabic:

"We talk to the world in a language it understands, but we won't pretend to be something we're not. Yes, suicide operations in the Green Line anger international public opinion, but you must observe the Palestinian popular mood. We live under occupation and we don't have the traditional tools of warfare.

So which should we believe?

That's a real tough one.

Especially considering that Hamas sent text messages warning Israeli civilians that they have no protection from the Qassams aimed at them, and that Hamas calls all Israeli towns in rocket range "military bases" even when there are no military bases there, and that Hamas loves to release posters showing specifically the civilian houses they are targeting with their rockets.