Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Egyptian resorts suffering from fleeing Israelis

Al Masry al-Youm reports that as soon as news of the flotilla raid reached Egypt, the many Israelis vacationing there fled - and those who had reservations to visit Egypt canceled their plans.

Flights between Tel Aviv and Cairo that had been filled only last week are flying empty. The newspaper reports that not a single Israeli has entered Egypt in the past 48 hours, either from the air or through the Taba crossing.

Hotels and tourist villages that depended on Israeli tourism are bracing for the loss of revenue expected in the next few days.

Israelis feared reprisal terror attacks against them, and this fear is quite justified - Egypt just arrested 3 Palestinian Arabs in Egypt for planning terror attacks.Also, as Am Masry mentions, Egypt had in recent months discovered Hezbollah cells that intended to kidnap Israelis in Egypt.

Al Masry reports that Israelis have also abandoned travel to Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia.

AP now says "tens of thousands of tons of aid"

AP's Rizek Abdel Jawad writes, as factual background information:

The pro-Palestinian flotilla had been headed to Gaza with tens of thousands of tons of aid that Israel bans from Gaza.

Not even the Free Gaza liars claimed "tens of thousands of tons of aid"- they first claimed 5000 tons, then 10,000 tons, and then we discovered yesterday that the actual figure was probably closer to 1000 tons - in what can only be characterized as a knowing lie on the part of the flotilla fraudsters.

Not only that, but AP's claim that all this aid was of items that Israel bans from Gaza is equally false, as all the items besides cement are materials that Gaza has plenty of.

(h/t CAMERA blog)

Hamas raids, closes charities in Gaza

The PCHR condemned Hamas for closing four separate charity organizations, and two political organizations, in Gaza over the past two days.

Although it is not yet on their website, PalPress published their statement.

On May 31, Hamas raided four organizations: The Association of Builders for the Future; the South Society for Women's Health; the Society for Women and Children; and the Sharek Youth Forum.

They seized computers and cameras and confiscated the keys to the charities.

Yesterday they closed down the "Small Palestinian Parliament" and the Committee of National Reform.

No word from the Free Gaza movement yet condemning Hamas. (There never is.)

Newest video of "peace activists" attacking - BEFORE IDF boards ship

From the IDF YouTube channel:

In footage taken from the Mavi Marmara activists are seen attacking the soldiers with a stun grenade, a box of plates, and water hoses as the soldiers attempt to board the ship. the activists are also waiving around metal rods and chains later used to attack the soldiers with. The IDF soldiers were armed with paint ball guns (used for riot dispersal) and pistols which they were ordered to use only as a last resort.

Danish report from Gaza: "Where's the humanitarian crisis?"

Danish reporter Steffen Jensen visits Gaza to see how bad things are, given that the entire world is in an uproar over the humanitarian crisis there (translated):

Judging from the media, the situation in Gaza is desperate, everything is about to collapse, and the community is on the brink or at the level of a third world country.

The Palestinian community's immediate downfall has been prophesied numerous times in the media. People have nothing to eat, we sometimes know. The UN must from time to time to stop food distribution, either because their stocks are running low, or because they can not get diesel for their trucks, and therefore can not carry food in. And so on.

Yesterday I drove into the Gaza Strip. I don't do this as often as before [because it takes much longer to get through the checkpoints now.]

This time, I had expected to see real suffering, because with all the fuss in recent days about bringing tons of humanitarian relief in - so much that people actually sacrificed their lives for it - there certainly had to really be a deep, desperate situation in the Gaza Strip. No food. Long queues in front of UN food stocks. Hungry children with food bowls.

But this was not the picture that greeted me.

When I yesterday morning drove through Gaza City, I was immediately surprised that there are almost as many traffic jams as there always has been. Is there not a shortage of fuel? Apparently not. Gasoline is not even rationed.

Many shops were closed yesterday, Hamas has declared a general strike in protest against Israel's brutal and deadly attack on the Turkish flotilla with pro-Palestinian activists on board. So it was difficult to estimate how many products were on the shelves. Therefore I went over to the Shati refugee camp, also known as Beach Camp. Here is one of Gaza's many vegetable markets that sell much more than just fruits and vegetables.

I will not say whether, in better times has been a larger product range than there was yesterday. But there was certainly no shortage of vegetables, fruits or any other ordinary, basic foods. Tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, watermelons, potatoes - mountains of these items in the many stalls.

I must admit I was a little surprised. Because when I call down here to my Palestinian friends, they tell me about all the problems and deficiencies, so I expected that the crisis was a little more clear.

And the first woman we interviewed in the market confirms this strange, contradictory, negative mindset:

"We have nothing," she said. We need everything! Food, drinks ... everything! "

It disturbed her not at least that she stood between the mountains of vegetables, fruit, eggs, poultry and fish, while she spun this doomsday scenario.

Yousuf al-Assad Yazgy owns a fruit and vegetable outlet here in the market. All his fruit is imported from Israel.

"Not all fruit and all vegetables come from Israel. Ours does. They come from Israel. But in the Gaza Strip there is not very much fruit cultivated. Mostly tomatoes, potatoes and vegetables. So here with me are the vegetables and watermelon were from Gaza. All the fruit comes across the border from Israel," he explains, but also says that there can be long periods when the border is closed, and which therefore fruit does not come in.

On the way out of the Shati camp we stop at a small grocery store. Not any fancy, expensive business. Just a small, humble local store. The proprietor Sun Mohammed Abu Nada says they would not be able to do business if it were not for contraband goods from Egypt.

He takes us on a brief tour of the shelves and shows everything that comes from Egypt. It turns out to be much more than half of the goods. 75-80 per cent. I would estimate. Several other products - including long-life UHT milk - comes from Israel, but is also smuggled through tunnels from Egypt.

The products are more expensive, he says. Many people cannot afford to buy them, or only to buy certain things sometimes. But all the while that even such a small, poor-looking grocery store on the outskirts of a refugee camp still has so many relatively expensive smuggled goods on the shelves shows nevertheless that many of the customers at least be able to afford to buy them. Otherwise, the merchant of course could not even afford to invest in unsold inventory.

This story I have written to postulate that there are problems in the Gaza Strip, because that would be untrue. There are problems. Many problems indeed. But it is not lack of food, which primarily concern people down here. The biggest problem is the lack of jobs and a sustainable domestic economy.

(Again, h/t Suzanne.)

British analysis of the operation

I saw this from multiple sources, but Suzanne linked to the best video version:

Here are more "peace activists!"

MEMRI finds out more about many of the so-called "peace activists" on the anti-Israel flotilla:

In Friday sermons, Muslim Brotherhood General Guide Muhammad Badi' expressed support for Hamas, frequently reiterating harsh statements in favor of jihad and of the armed struggle in Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The Egyptian flotilla delegation included two members of the Muslim Brotherhood bloc in the Egyptian parliament: Muhammad Al-Baltaji and Hazem Farouq.

Al-Baltaji, who is deputy secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc in Egypt, said at a March 2010 conference, "A nation that excels at dying will be blessed by Allah with a life of dignity and with eternal paradise." He also said that his movement "will never recognize Israel and will never abandon the resistance," and that "resistance is the only road map that can save Jerusalem, restore the Arab honor, and prevent Palestine from becoming a second Andalusia.

The Lebanese flotilla delegation, with six members, was headed by attorney Dr. Hani Suleiman, who also participated in a February 2009 Gaza flotilla. He was pro-bono attorney to Japanese terrorist Kozo Okamoto. In 2006, he signed a communiqué supporting armed resistance in Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq.

The Jordanian flotilla delegation included Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan activists such as delegation head Wael Al-Saka, a veteran Muslim Brotherhood member, and Salam Al-Falahat, who was general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan from 2006 to 2008. In an interview last year, Al-Falahat said: "We in the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan see Palestine as part of the Islamic and Arab land that must not be relinquished – on the contrary, defending it is a national and jurisprudential obligation... We see Hamas movement in Palestine as standing at the head of the project of the Arab and Islamic liberation for which the Muslim Brotherhood calls... The Muslim Brotherhood supports Hamas and every Arab resistance movement in the region that works for liberation."

Also in the delegation was Jordanian publicist and journalist Muhammad Abu Ghanima, a former head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan's information bureau and a member of the movement's political bureau. Abu Ghanima writes frequent articles praising Hamas and condemning the Palestinian Authority. In one, he vehemently attacked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, calling on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to topple his regime even at the cost of thousands of martyrs.

Sound peaceful so far?

Prominent activists in the Yemeni flotilla delegation were three MPs from the Al-Islah party, an Islamist party that is close to the Muslim Brotherhood. One, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hazmi, was photographed on the deck of the Mavi Marmara brandishing his large curved dagger.

Another Yemeni MP in the flotilla, Hazza' Al-Maswari, also from the Al-Islah party, previously expressed vehement anti-American sentiment. In 2004, he objected to a Yemeni program for dialogue with prisoners from Al-Qaeda aimed at tempering their views, declaring recently at Friday prayers: "We cannot tell militants 'don't terrorize Americans' or 'don't attack their interests.'

Among the prominent flotilla activists from Kuwait were Salafist MP Walid Al-Tabtabai, who is known to support armed resistance in Palestine and in Iraq. He said: "We think that the armed resistance in Iraq is legitimate resistance. Every resistance directed against anyone who occupies it is legitimate..."

Another prominent Kuwaiti activist in the flotilla was Dr. Osama Al-Kandari, a Hadith lecturer at the College of Basic Education. In February 2009, he signed a communiqué expressing support for Hamas and for jihad in Palestine against the "Jewish enemies."

Another passenger on the Mavi Marmara was Bishop Hilarion Capucci, who in the 1970s was convicted and imprisoned in Israel for smuggling weapons from Lebanon to the PLO, but afterwards was freed at the request of the Vatican.

There's more. Read the whole thing.

Dutch "peace activist" was Hamas leader

The Dutch newspaper "De Telegraaf" notes that one of the Dutch members on board the anti-Israel flotilla, Amin Abou Rashed was associated with Hamas:

"Rashed is the leader of Hamas in the Netherlands," said one intelligence source. "He went under an alias, Amin Abou Ibrahim, in several intelligence reports. He worked for the notorious Dutch al-Aqsa Foundation, which was suspected of fundraising for the terrorist organization Hamas....[He was also connected to the] Holy Land Foundation, a charitable organization notorious in America for funding Hamas.

For how long will the world press refer to these people as "humanitarians?"

(h/t Suzanne)

HS kid stands up for Israel against a screaming mob (video)

Amazing:

Freaks of Gaza:"Israel told UK, US that flotilla had nukes"

The Free Gaza movement is reeling a bit from Israel's effective use of video to counter their absurd lies (that there was no violent resistance on the ship, for example.) The fact that their own people took the most damning video has got to hurt.

Their co-founder, Greta Berlin, just sent out a mailing to the list where she makes a really bizarre claim to the long list of FG lies:

As Israel's hysteria mounts, "they now claim “self defense” in attacking ships in international waters today, killing 9. Israel informed the US and Britain that the convoy was ferrying stolen nuclear weapons that would be used for a terrorist attack on Israel.

Really? Israel told its two closest allies that the ships contained nuclear weapons, a conjecture so absurd that it would lose its credibility forever if it turns out not to be true?

What journalist or diplomat broke this story?

Why, it was from the rabidly anti-Israel website "Veterans Today," written by Gordon Duff. Duff,a card-carrying conspiracy theorist, spins a rambling, bizarre tail of lost nuclear weapons. Anyway, he claims, without citing any sources, that Netanyahu informed UK and US officials that the flotilla was carrying nuclear weapons stolen from South Africa. But the kicker is that he says Israel stole the nukes themselves! (I guess Israel doesn't have the ability to build its own.)

The head of Free Gaza is so livid in her hate for Israel that she believes Duff's story completely - and is using it as proof to shore up her defense of the fact that Free Gaza was associated with the IHH terror network during this flotilla.

Greta Berlin, by the way, may have a real problem with Jews herself. While I cannot confirm the authenticity of this email, someone claiming to be her ex-stepdaughter wrote to Daniel Pipes a few years back:

Having read about the incident at UCLA I must admit that I was appalled by Ms. Berlin's behavior, but not at all surprised. I should know, she is after all my ex-stepmother...

After reading your article, I went on to research some of the links that your site provided and found it rather difficult to comprehend some of the titles that are now associated with Ms. Berlin's name. The title of "Peace Activist" is the one I find particularly hypocritical.

On numerous occasions I heard Greta launch the insults "the god damned Israelis, and those F****** Jews" at the dinner table in front of my father (a Jew) and the few Israeli friends and relatives who ventured to visit. Additionally, any rational debate attempted by anyone with an opposing view to Greta's, was immediately terminated with the responses: "Shut up" or "You don't know what the hell you're talking about." The rebuttal usually presented in screaming form.

These comments in juxtaposition to her role as "Peace Activist" I find hard to rectify. It prompts me to ask what should be an obvious question; "At what point did terms of hate and bigotry become synonymous with Peace?"

I was always under the strange impression that the road to peace laid in the arms of those who were tolerant, compassionate, and vehement in their will to understand and to promote understanding. God help us all if this is the role model that we hold up as an embodiment of those ideals!

Sincerely,
Ava E. Berlin

Flotilla fraudsters lied about their cargo

I don't have all the details yet, but the IDF has described the goods that were on the ships:

Twenty-four hours after the last ship of the Gaza aid flotilla entered the Ashdod Port under the watchful eye of the Israeli Navy, all of the equipment on board was examined Tuesday and the majority of it was loaded onto trucks headed to the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

In a statement to reporters at the port on Tuesday, Colonel Moshe Levi, commander of the IDF’s Gaza Strip Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), said that none of the equipment found on board the three cargo ships was in shortage in Gaza.

“We have been working non-stop for the last twenty-four hours examining the cargo holds of the three large cargo ships and I can say with great assurance, that none of the equipment on board is needed in Gaza. The equipment that we found is all equipment that we have regularly allowed into the strip over the past year,” said Levi. “This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the whole premise of the voyage was for propaganda and provocation and not for humanitarian purposes.”

Among the equipment that the IDF agreed to show reporters were medical supplies, including electric vehicles for handicapped people, wheelchairs, stretchers, hospital beds and boxes of medicine. They also showed crates full of dry food products and children’s toys.

And how much cargo was on board?

Levi said that eight trucks full of equipment had already crossed into Gaza and that 20 additional trucks would be transferred throughout the night and the following day.

This didn't include the concrete, though:

According to Levi, the soldiers also found construction equipment, including sacks of concrete and metal rods. He said that Israel did not allow those products to enter into the Gaza strip for fear that they would be used to construct fortifications for terrorists and for weapons manufacture.

Assuming that the article is accurate and the majority of the cargo is being transported on 28 trucks, we can calculate roughly how much cargo was on board.

On the average week, Israel has been sending some 600 truckloads of goods to Gaza, with about 14,000 tons. That means that each truck holds roughly 25 tons or so.

Multiply that by 28and we get a grand total of 700 tons of goods. This 700 tons is the majority of the cargo. meaning that we know that there is less than 1500 tons of cargo, probably closer to 1000.

(The "Rachel Corrie" ship from Free Gaza is still en route to break the blockade, and it is said to have some 500 tons of cement.)

So, as I confidently predicted, the "human rights" frauds have lied about the amount of goods that they were bringing, by an order of magnitude.

What if Israel went on the offensive? (Noah Pollak)

Noah Pollak at Commentary makes a very good point:

What would it look like if the Israeli government played offense? First and foremost, this would require some serious criticism of the Islamist government of Turkey, which masterfully created this crisis and is now denouncing Israel for it. Turkey’s thuggish prime minister certainly understands the benefits of being on offense. He says that Israel committed a “massacre” and is guilty of “state terrorism,” “piracy,” has struck “a blow to world peace and against international law,” threatens that “if Israel does not immediately free all the detainees and wounded, the rift in relations with it will widen,” and thunders that “Israel will not be able to show itself in the world until it apologizes for what happened and undergoes self-criticism.”

Quite a performance! Wouldn’t it be remarkable if the Israelis had gotten ahead of the story by making their own accusations and demands? Here are a few ideas of the kind of concrete action the Israelis could take — if they had the stones to really take a stand.

1. Expel the Turkish ambassador and declare his return contingent on a full, credible, and public Turkish investigation of the terrorist organization that planned and funded the “aid flotilla.”

2. Publicly demand reparations from Turkey for the costs of the operation, including the medical bills of the thugs and Jew-haters who have been given such lovely medical care in Israeli hospitals.

3. Demand a UN investigation of why Turkey is funding terrorist organizations that are involved in attacks on Israel.

4. Fund a Kurdish human-rights NGO in Israel — there are lots of Kurdish Jews who I’m sure would be happy to help — that raises awareness of the plight of Kurds in Turkey. (Short answer: they are treated horribly.) This organization must publicize the apartheid conditions of Kurdish life in Turkey and churn out op-eds, studies, videos, and press releases denouncing Turkey’s brutal and racist treatment of its own minorities.

5. Fund a Turkish-language documentary on the Armenian genocide, upload it to YouTube, and promote it heavily in Turkey. If Erdogan wants to call Israel a criminal and a murderer, there’s no reason why Israel shouldn’t return the favor on this most sensitive of issues.

Read the whole thing.

Expert reitrates IHH's clear ties to terror

From Evan Kohlmann at the Counterterrorism Blog:

When I first published a research paper four years ago with the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) on the Turkish Muslim charitable group Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), I didn't imagine it would get much of a response outside the academic conference in which it was presented in Copenhagen. However, as a result of this weekend's tragic Israeli raid on an IHH-sponsored flotilla of vessels attempting to break the ongoing blockade on Gaza, the group has suddenly jumped into the headlines, and has become a focus of intense debate over the intentions of the flotilla organizers and the controversial killing of at least 9 would-be participants by Israeli commandos.

Though my DIIS paper made no mention of IHH's activities in Gaza or in support of suffering Palestinian refugees, some of those angered by the Israeli flotilla raid have instead turned their emotional animus on past critics of IHH, such as myself. While I certainly can't speak with any authority on what took place on the Gaza flotilla boats, I'm rather mystified why the flotilla killings--whether right or wrong--would have any bearing on the factual question of whether the IHH has engaged in illicit financing and episodic support to extremist groups. The evidence in this regard is fairly weighty, and much of it comes directly from the Turkish government -- not the United States, nor the Israelis.

On December 5, 1997, Turkish police raided the IHH headquarters office in Istanbul and arrested its principal leaders. Following their preliminary inquiry, on April 27, 1998, Turkish investigators launched a formal legal case against the IHH. According to a report produced by French counterterrorism magistrates, the inquiry was spurred by the sale of an AK-47 assault rifle to an IHH leader by "a member of the illegal organization VASAT." Turkish police reported seizing a series of disturbing items from the IHH in Turkey, including an explosive device, two sticks of dynamite, bomb making instructions, and a "jihad flag." The French magistrates report noted that:

"It appears that the detained members of IHH were going to fight in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya... The essential goal of this Association was to illegally arm its membership for overthrowing democratic, secular, and constitutional order present in Turkey and replacing it with an Islamic state founded on the Shariah. Under the cover of this organization known under the name of IHH, [IHH leaders] acted to recruit veteran soldiers in anticipation of the coming holy war. In particular, some men were sent into war zones in Muslim countries in order to acquire combat experience. On the spot, the formation of a military unit was assured. In addition, towards the purpose of obtaining political support from these countries, financial aid was transferred [from IHH], as well as caches of firearms, knives, and pre-fabricated explosives."
An official review of the phone records from the IHH's office in Istanbul revealed two calls to the Bosnian Mujahideen Brigade unit headquarters in Zenica, five phone calls to a member of the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) based in London, and at least one call to Anwar Shaaban's notorious Islamic Cultural Institute in Milan, Italy. The IHH's connections to international terrorism have even surfaced in sworn witness testimony in the U.S. federal court system. During the trial of attempted Millenium bomber Ahmed Ressam, noted French counterterrorism magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere took the stand and testified that IHH had played “[a]n important role” in Ressam's 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."

None of this information is considered sensitive or secret, nor is it particularly difficult to come by. Turkish government officials have openly acknowledged as much in major Western media outlets. In August 1999, the governor of Istanbul was interviewed in the Washington Post after he personally ordered local IHH bank accounts frozen because of suspected criminal activity. He explained at the time, "All legal institutions may have some illegal connections. This might be the case here. If they don't like it, they can appeal in court."

To his credit, the former Istanbul governor here underscores another critical point. Contemporary terror finance networks are most effectively curtailed using accepted legal sanctions and transnational cooperation between regional allies. Incidents such as the deadly Gaza flotilla raid ultimately undermine the battle against illicit financing, and weaken shared international resolve to punish those who manipulate humanitarian relief as a cover to fund terrorism. The Israeli government must be more mindful in the future of the wider political repercussions its attempts at punitive actions can have, whether technically justified or not. Those repercussions impact not only the state of Israel, but also carry implicit costs for the United States and its European allies.

(h/t Barry Simon)

Latest videos about the flotilla

New stuff that came out recently:

The IDF released (almost unusable) video and audio from during the operation where the soldiers hear and react to gunshots from the "peace activists." I'm still trying to find out more details on their arsenal (no pictures have been released) but at at least one soldier was injured from a gunshot.

UPDATE: It appears that two guns were taken from soldiers as they were being beaten, and their clips were emptied in the course of the fighting (from the IDF spokesperson via email)

Free Gaza, whenever they were asked why they do not cooperate with Israel to get the aid to Gaza, would answer that they "knew" that the IDF would not allow their aid to get there.

Here is at least some of the aid from the ships heading to Gaza:

Here is an Israeli sailor describing first hand what occurred:

Suzanne notices an Al Jazeera video where an Egyptian "legal expert" explains why the world is legally obligated to provide Hamas with weapons:

Egypt opens Rafah border.So where are the aid convoys?

From the Telegraph (UK):

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has ordered the opening of the Rafah border crossing to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

"Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has given orders to open the Rafah border crossing to allow humanitarian and medical aid into the Gaza Strip, as well as to receive medical cases which require access to Egyptian territory," said Egyptian news agency MENA.

"This comes as part of Egypt's moves to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip."

The move, urged by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against whom the embargo has been directed, prompted dozens of people to race to the crossing point in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, though the gates appeared still to be closed.

According to Egyptian security sources in Rafah, the border opened on Tuesday at 1.30pm (1030 GMT). No date has been set for it to close again.

This happened a few hours ago.

Yet I cannot find a single Gaza aid group that is quickly organizing to send supplies to Gazans.

Here is an unprecedented opportunity to help Gazans get the medical supplies, paper, toys and chocolate that we are told Israel is cruelly withholding from them. (Not electric scooters, though.)

No one knows for how long Egypt will keep the border open. So now would be the time to organize an emergency airlift of supplies to Cairo, right?

Where is Free Gaza? Where is IHH? Where is Viva Palestina? Where is the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza? Where is Tikkun? Where are all the European NGOs dedicated to helping poor Gazans? Where are the Facebook groups and Twitter topics that should be popping up to organize the golden opportunity to show the world how much they care about actual, real Gazan residents?

Hmmm. I guess that if vilifying Israel isn't part of the "aid," it is not worth giving.