Friday, 4 June 2010

Ankara threatens to break relations unless Israel apologizes


DEBKAfile Special Report June 4, 2010     http://www.debka.com/article/8836/

Turkish prime minster Recep Erdogan said Friday, June 4: "I do not think Hamas is a terrorist organization. They are Palestinians in resistance, fighting for their own land," whereas he regarded Israelis as no better than Somali pirates.  The Netanyahu government had no reason to expect thanks from Ankara for its newfound willingness in response to international demands  to soften its determination to maintain Israel's sea and land blockade against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip - even though the great majority of Israelis believe the blockade is vital to national security and acclaim the naval commandos' raid on the Turkish-led flotilla.

debkafile's military and political sources report that in public, the prime minister and defense and foreign ministers avow their resolve to keep Gaza sealed under tight Israeli control to prevent Iranian arms ships from docking there - for as long as Hamas is at war with the Jewish state.

In practice, however, Israel has opened the door for international, even pro-Palestinian Hamas elements, to monitor foreign freights bound for the Gaza Strip.
This was revealed Friday morning, June 4, in a statement by Foreign Ministry Director-General Yossie Gal about the message he relayed to the Rachel Corrie, the last remaining vessel of the Turkish-led flotilla vessel now on its way to Gaza.

He said: "I would like to transfer a message once more that has already been conveyed through public and private channels to the ship: We have no interest in boarding the ship. If it sails directly to Ashdod port, we will secure its crew and refrain from boarding it. Israel is prepared to receive the ship and unload its cargo. After it is checked to makes sure it contains no weapons, we will be prepared to transfer all of the goods to Gaza."

But then the Israeli official invited the activists on board the Rachel Corrie to accompany the shipment to the Gaza border.

"We will cooperate with the UN and international organizations in order to ensure that all of the cargo is put to the use of Gaza's citizens," he said.
He refrained from mentioning that the activists he had invited to accompany the shipment include members of the violently anti-Israel Free Gaza Organization, partners of the Turkish IHH terrorist group, known for its ties with Hamas and al Qaeda.

The Rachel Corrie responded by denying any message or warning had come from Israel. They were determined to reach Gaza, not Ashkelon. If the ship is diverted to Ashdod, they said, they would not resist Israeli soldiers but sit on the decks and refuse to cooperate.

Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman declared firmly Friday night: No ships will reach Gaza. "There is nothing simpler than getting us to open the Gaza crossings: Let the Red Cross visit Gilead Shalit," he said.

debkafile's counter-terror sources report: The Turkish government and radical Palestinian and non-Palestinian organizations are working closely together on their next moves, using the first flotilla boarded by Israeli commandos this week as the vanguard of a broader challenge to Israel. They see its Gaza blockade as the outer rampart to be knocked over first. Erdogan has earmarked millions of dollars for the IHH to purchase eight or ten ships bigger than the Mavi Marmara for their next assault, packed with the same "peace activists" as before. 

Any sign of Israeli weakness in response to international censure on encourages them to redouble their efforts on behalf of Hamas. In his latest brickbat for Israel, Erdogan saw no contradiction between quoting the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not kill" - while solidly backing the murderous Palestinian organization dedicated to Israel's destruction.

The "peace activists" aboard the Mavi Marmara were recorded on video as telling each other: "Remember September 11th."  Their pockets were found stuffed with thousands of dollars.

In Jerusalem, police were out in force to quell Palestinian riots in support of Turkey. Hurling rocks at passing Israeli cars on the streets of East Jerusalem, the demonstrators shouted: "Erdogan, come and destroy Tel Aviv!" Turkish flags were seen on city streets for the first time since the Ottoman Empire was defeated.
 
 
 
Erdogan tells Israel in Hebrew: Thou shalt not kill

Turkish PM defends Hamas, calling them 'resistance fighters'; Turkey mulls cutting Israel ties to 'minimum' 

over Gaza flotilla.

 
 
Turkey accused Israel on Friday of breaking biblical commandments against killing and said it could cut ties with its one-time ally to a minimum after nine Turkish activists died in a raid on a ship bound for Gaza.
 
"I am speaking to them in their own language. The sixth commandment says 'thou shalt not kill'. Did you not understand?" Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said in his harshest words yet since Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara on Monday.
 
"I'll say [it] again. I say in English 'you shall not kill'. Did you still not understand? So I'll say to you in your own language. I say in Hebrew 'Lo Tirtzakh'," he said in a televised speech to supporters of his Islamist-leaning AK Party.
 
Erdogan also compared the Israeli actions to those of Kurdish militants in Turkey and stood up for Hamas, calling them "resistance fighters fighting for their land"
"The fate of Jerusalem is not different from the fate of Istanbul," he said, in language reflecting the significance of the holy city to Muslims throughout the world. "The fate of Gaza is not different from the fate of Ankara."

Earlier on Friday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said that Turkey may reduce its relations with Israel to "a minimum" over the Israel Navy's deadly raid of a Turkish-flagged humanitarian aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip.
 
Arinc told NTV broadcaster that Turkey was "assessing deals with Israel" in the clearest sign yet that Muslim Turkey may significantly reduce its ties with once close ally Israel after nine of its nationals were killed in clashes with the Israeli commandos who stormed their ship.

"We may plan to reduce our relations with Israel to a minimum, but to assume everything involving another country is stopped in an instant, to say we have crossed you out of our address book, is not the custom of our state," he told NTV broadcaster.

The incident has brought their relationship to the brink and Turkey has already recalled its ambassador to Israel. Speaking on television Wednesday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said relations between the two countries "will never be as they were before."

"Israel has made one of the biggest mistakes in its history," he added.

Also Friday, Turkish media reported that a prosecutor in Istanbul has started collecting evidence for a possible case against Israeli officials in the wake of Israel's commando raid.

The reports said the prosecutor has been gathering testimony and evidence from Turks who returned from Israel in order to determine whether Turkey should open a case demanding compensation from Israel or even pursue criminal charges against Israeli leaders.

Eight of the victims were laid to rest Thursday in a highly- charged joint ceremony at an Istanbul mosque.
 


Erdogan: Hamas not a terrorist group

 
Hamas is not a terrorist organization, it is a resistance movement, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on Friday at a rally in the Turkish province of Konya, according to local daily Hurriyet.

Erdogan reportedly said Hamas, the legitimate winner of the Palestinian elections, was fighting for its land. "You are always talking about democracy. You’ll never let Hamas rule. What kind of democracy is this?” he reportedly said, apparently addressing the Israeli leadership.
 
“I do not think that Hamas is a terrorist organization," Erdogan was quoted as saying. "They are Palestinians in resistance, fighting for their own land."

The Turkish leader went on to echo the Tuesday speech in which he called Israel's boarding of the Gaza flotilla "a massacre." In his address Friday, he said the Ten Commandments should have deterred the soldiers from killing the nine passengers who died on board the ship. “If you do not understand it in Turkish I will say it in English: You shall not kill,” he reportedly said - repeating the phrase in Hebrew.

“They even slaughtered 19-year-old Furkan. They did not even care for the babies in the cradle,” Erdogan was quoted as saying.

Nineteen-year-old Furkan Dogan was the youngest of the nine activists killed in the raid. His funeral Friday in his family's hometown in Kayseri in central Turkey drew 10,000 people, some chanting, "Down with Israel."

"Neither I nor his mother or brother have any grief," his father, Ahmet Dogan, told the Associated Press as he arranged flowers on his son's coffin before prayers started. "We believe he became a martyr and God accepts martyrs to paradise."

In his speech, Erdogan also slammed Turkish media reports which were critical of his party's support of Hamas, saying the "columnists" had a slanted view of the events.

Earlier on Friday, Turkey's deputy prime minister said his country would work to reduce its military and economic cooperation with Israel. Existing contracts, he said, would be reviewed and reworked or canceled.
 
AP contributed to this report.


 


June 4, 2010     http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/06/reporters-need-to-ask-follow-up.html

From Gulf News:

"We were witnesses to premeditated murders," said historian Mattias Gardell, who was on the Mavi Marmar.
 From DN.se (translated):
The Israelis committed premeditated murder. Two people were killed by shots in the forehead, one was shot in the back of the head and chest, said Gardell.
 
He did not see the killings with his own eyes. His information is based instead on what he asked others in prison.

Reporters are treating these "witnesses" with kid gloves. From the excellent site Just Journalism:

The most widely quoted British activist, who was on board the Mavi Marmara, is Sarah Colborne, director of campaigns at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. She has been quoted in four of today’s broadsheets, the BBC News website and also featured on last night’s Channel 4 News.

She was generally presented as horrified and dismayed over the Israeli army’s deployment of lethal force. The Times reported her as saying, ‘Everyone’s just in shock. It was a massacre that took place there.’ The BBC’s Peter Jackson’s website article, ‘UK Gaza activist Sarah Colborne - ship raid 'surreal'’ described Colborne’s account as one of ‘stunned surprise’ and quoted her at her press conference, insisting: ‘It felt surreal, I couldn't quite believe they were doing what they were doing - none of us anticipated it’....

The only journalist to challenge the PSC director’s claims that she was surprised that the Israelis boarded the boat and to press her on who initiated the violence was BBC Today programme anchor Sarah Montague. The journalist repeatedly tried to glean from Colborne, who had started the violence and what she had actually seen. In the following exchange, Colborne revealingly avoids the BBC journalist’s question about whether or not the passengers attacked the soldiers and implies that she did not actually see Israeli commandos open fire:

Sarah Montague:    Are you saying that Israeli soldiers who boarded that ship opened fire and there was no provocation for it?

Sarah Colborne:    That’s what I am saying, yes.

SM:    You saw that. You saw them fire when there was no attack on them.

SC:    I saw them, well, I saw them, what I saw was them coming down from a helicopter onto the roof, I saw them trying to board the boat via dinghies.

SM:    Were they attacked by those on board?

SC:    They – the people on board, as you can see, were trying to stop…

SM:    Hitting them with metal bars.

SC:    Well, we need to see the entire footage. I believe to give a perspective on what was happening. They were shooting, they were shooting civilians, they were using gas bombs on the ship. The truth is we were in international waters, Israel committed a piracy offence.

Sarah Montague also challenged Colborne’s contention she had ‘heard no warnings whatsoever’ that the Israelis were going to raid the ship, saying, ‘How can you not have known or how can those on board the ship… because we know from what the Israeli side is saying that there were plenty of warnings?

The BBC journalist finally broached the subject of the professed desire for martyrdom on the part of some of the participants who had died:

‘Let me, let me put something to you. The Turkish newspapers yesterday quoted family members of two of the dead men as saying that they had wanted to be martyrs.’

Sarah Colborne, once again, flatly denied being aware of any such aspirations of her co-travellers:

‘Well, I – I have no idea. I didn’t speak to anyone who wanted to be a martyr.’
The fact that Israel got the footage out on YouTube so quickly has allowed journalists to ask real questions - when they have a desire to find out the truth, that is.

Posted by Britannia Radio at 20:34