Israel Matzav

Italian legislators, German NGO's call to ban IHH

A group of Italian legislators and the coordinating council for German non-governmental organizations have each urged their respective government to ban the IHH - which sponsored the violence aboard the Mavi Marmara two months ago - as a terror organization.

“The Islamic fundamentalist nature of IHH has been documented by numerous declarations praising martyrdom and Israel’s destruction,” said Nirenstein, a member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party who is spearheading the effort.

Citing the EU’s definition of terrorism as “participation in the activities of a terrorist group, including by funding its activities or supplying material resources,” Nirenstein said in a statement that the IHH sponsors terrorism, according to the EU’s criteria.

Nirenstein is vice president of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Chamber of Deputies and chairs its committee for inquiry into anti-Semitism.

“Several investigations and reports testify to the involvement of IHH in global terrorism, and many videos and documents attest to its jihadist attitude... the Turkish organization IHH (Insani Yardim Vafki) [is] one of the main promoters of the Mavi Marmara and responsible for its violent implications.”

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People of Freedom deputies Nirenstein, Enrico Pianetta, Guglielmo Picchi, Antonio Martino and Gennaro Malgieri last week submitted their parliamentary question to outlaw IHH within the EU to the Italian Foreign Ministry.

A sixth deputy, Massimo Polledri from the Northern League, also supported the parliamentary initiative. The Northern League is part of the governing coalition along with the People of Freedom party.

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Meanwhile, the Coordinating Council of German Nongovernmental Organizations against Anti-Semitism called on the Merkel government and Bundestag lawmakers to move to place IHH on the EU list of terrorist organizations, because “like Hamas the IHH is an anti- Semitic organization that promotes terrorism.”

In a separate statement earlier this month, the Coordinating Council slammed the Bundestag for its “one-sided motion” singling out Israel for blame because of its seizure of the Gaza flotilla on May 31, which “fails to mention Hamas anti-Semitic agitation, their anti-democratic rule in Gaza and the connections between Turkish entities and the Hamas terrorist organization.”

Good videos make a difference. Think about how condemnatory of Israel the initial reaction to the Mavi Marmara was until all those videos started getting out. There's a lesson there.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:36 PM