As part of the agreement, Israel has agreed to pay $20 million in
compensation to the bereaved and injured, and in return Turkey will pass
legislation banning legal proceedings against the Israeli soldiers in
its courts. Turkey also dropped a demand for Israel to lift the blockade
on Gaza, and will only be permitted to send aid to the territory after
it passes security checks at Israel’s Ashdod port. Ankara will also be
allowed to build a hospital as well as a power and desalinization plant
in Gaza.
In addressing these terms, Netanyahu stressed that the deal will
secure the “continuation of the maritime security blockade off the Gaza
Strip coast.”
“This is a supreme security interest for us. I was not prepared to compromise on it,” Netanyahu continued.
Turkey in return has committed to thwart the plotting and financing
of Hamas terrorist acts against Israel from its soil. It will also not
stand in the way of Israeli involvement in international forums to which
it belongs, mostly notably NATO.
Jerusalem and Ankara will also restore full diplomatic relations,
appointing ambassadors and lifting restrictions on military and
intelligence cooperation. Netanyahu added that the deal will open
Turkey to Israeli natural gas exports, and that the country could
possibly serve as a gateway to European markets. “[The deal has] immense
implications for the Israeli economy, and I use that word advisedly,”
the prime minister told reporters.
While not a formal part of the deal, Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan also personally pledged in a letter to help return the bodies of
two Israeli soldiers killed during the 2014 Gaza war, which are thought
to be held by Hamas, and free two Israelis reportedly being held by the
terrorist group. One of the captives is an Ethiopian Jew — described as
mentally-ill by his family — who wandered into Gaza accidentally in
2014; the second man, a resident of a Bedouin town in Israel’s Negev
desert, also apparently crossed into Gaza of his own volition. He has
been described as mentally disabled.
The agreement is expected to be approved by Israel’s security cabinet on Wednesday.
Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated Netanyahu on the
agreement when the two met in Rome on Monday, calling it a “positive
step.”
Who wins from this deal?
“Israel comes out on top here,” Louis Fishman, an assistant professor
at Brooklyn College who focuses on Turkish and Israeli affairs, told
Reuters. “From the start it believed that a deal could be worked out
where Turkish aid was able to enter the Gaza Strip under Israeli
supervision. It seems this is what was struck.”
“Restoring relations with Ankara is a linchpin in Israel’s strategy
to unlock its natural gas wealth,” Reuters added, noting that Israeli
energy stocks and shares in Turkey’s Zorlu Energy rose in reaction
to the agreement.
A senior Turkish official has also called the deal a “diplomatic victory.”
Israel apparently has agreed to the presence of Hamas in Turkey as
long as it does not involve itself directly in terrorist attacks against
Israel, but limits itself to political and other supposedly nonviolent
activity.
However, the sanction of the presence and “political”
activity of Hamas in a country with diplomatic ties with Israel
undermines years of Israeli public relations against the terrorist
group, which sought to identify Hamas with other Sunni groups such as
al-Qaida and Islamic State.
...
Would Israel or any other Western country allow the leader of a
friendly state with which it has diplomatic relations meet with Islamic
State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and allow the organization to operate
within its territory? Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research
at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, told The Jerusalem Post the upcoming deal is “a win for the status quo as nothing really changes.”
Besides
Hamas not being able to carry out military activity from Turkish soil,
everything else stays the same: Hamas maintains its Turkish
headquarters; Turkey continues assisting Hamas-ruled Gaza; and Israel
facilitates this.
...
Schanzer pointed out that from Israel’s perspective, the government
would like to have normalized ties with Muslim countries in general.
“But
there is no way to have true normalized relations with Erdogan’s
government. It is virtually impossible to imagine, given that Turkey
remains an Islamist-ruled state with close ties to Hamas and other
anti-Israel organizations.”
Perhaps the deal can be best
described as an agreement “to stop publicly fighting, while quietly
continuing to disagree on virtually everything.”
All in all, it's not a great deal for Israel, principally because it leaves Hamas in place in Turkey. It remains to be seen how Israel will react if Hamas continues to use its Turkish headquarters to orchestrate terror attacks in Judea and Samaria.
Israel and Turkey agree to restore diplomatic ties
More than five and a half years after nine Turkish terrorists were killed in a battle with Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara, Israel and Turkey have agreed to restore diplomatic ties.
Israel has agreed to set up a compensation fund - unconfirmed reports put it at $20 million - and Turkey will bar Hamas representatives (or at least one Hamas representative) from its borders. The two countries will also exchange ambassadors.
I guess Erdogan is desperate. Really, really desperate.
A new flotilla of fools may be heading toward Gaza at the end of the month, threatening a repeat of the Mavi Marmara incident three years ago in which IDF soldiers were attacked with deadlyweapons and killed ten Turkish IHH terrorists in response. This is from the first link.
"Freedom Flotilla 3,"
a maritime challenge to Israel's legal naval blockade on the coastal
enclave of Gaza which is controlled by the Hamas terrorist organization,
is preparing to embark in the final week of June and threatens to
potentially cause a flare-up like the infamous 2010 Mavi Marmara.
Mazen Kahil, head of the European Campaign to Break the Siege on Gaza, told the Hamas journal Palestine on Saturday that the flotilla ships are currently in the Mediterranean Sea.
The ships are waiting to join the Swedish ship Marianne, which
recently anchored in Italy, on the open sea and from there continue as a
unified group towards Gaza, where they intend to confront the Israeli
Navy - potentially with lethal force as was seen in the Marmara.
Kahil detailed that senior public figures,including former Tunisian PresidentMuncef
Marzouki, members of the European Parliament, journalists, athletes,
artists, as well as radical leftist Israelis will be on board.
He claimed that symbolic humanitarian materials will be loaded on
board the ships to demand Gaza's naval entry be opened - despite the
fact that Israel is allowing hundreds of truckloads of humanitarian and
construction materials to enter Gaza border crossings every day, even as
Hamas rebuilds its terror tunnels for the next round of fighting.
The equipment to be loaded on the ships include solar receptors, children's medicines and medical equipment.
Leaders of the flotilla estimate that Israel will once again block
the naval breach and defend its maritime blockade, but they expressed
optimism that they would be able to eventually reach Gaza and open a
water route for Hamas that Israel has warned would serve as a port for
Iran on the Mediterranean.
In the Mavi Marmara incident, the IDF waited way too long to get the word out on what happened, but when they did get the word out, they did it well. If this happens again, we can only hope they will get the word out faster (hint, hint).
'Peaceful' Mavi Marmara activist killed fighting for al-Qaeda in Syria
One of the 'peaceful' passengers on the Mavi Marmara, who tried to murder Israeli soldiers in May 2010, was killed in a US airstrike in Syria last week, while fighting for al-Qaeda's local affiliate against the Islamist State.
40-year-old Bulent Alniak was killed in a US airstrike in Idlib,
northwestern Syria, on a target identified as belonging to the "Islamic
State" terrorist group (IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL), according to
the Turkish World Bulletin website.
According to that report, Alniak was carrying out "aid work" ahead of the upcoming Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.
But other sources have suggested a somewhat less peaceful motive. Another Turkish outlet, T24,
claimed Alniak was in Syria fighting alongside the Nusra Front - Al
Qaeda's official branch in Syria. It said he had arrived in Syria over
the past summer, on the second day of Ramadan, and also claimed he was
killed in Idlib.
Significantly, the Turkish Islamist group behind the Mavi Marmara
flotilla which Alniak was an active member of - the Humanitarian Relief
Foundation (IHH) - is suspected of having close ties to Al Qaeda.
And in case you're trying to keep score at home....
Nusra and Islamic State have been at loggerheads since the latter broke
away from Al Qaeda earlier this year, but both share a vehemently
anti-western ideology, and western security analysts fear a terror plot
by returning foreign fighters from either group could be just a matter
of time.
A curse on both their houses. I hope someone wraps his body in pig lard.
IHH sending another terror flotilla, this time accompanied by the Turkish military
The IHH terror organization - the same group that organized the 2010 'freedom flotilla' that ended in nine dead during an Israeli navy raid on the Mavi Marmara - says it is organizing another flotilla designed to break Israel's 'blockade' on Gaza, but this one will be protected by the Turkish military.
IHH chairman Bulent Yildrim was quoted by The Middle East Monitor as
telling Gulf Online last week that the activists would set sail as soon
as they receive the necessary permit from the authorities in Ankara
and that the Turkish military would provide protection to the ship.
Diplomatic officials said Jerusalem was following the reports
carefully, but stressed that it was not clear whether the flotilla would
ultimately set sail.
So far there has only been a declaration of intent, with no firm date set, one official said.
Harold Rhode, a senior fellow at the New-York-based Gatestone Institute
and a former adviser at the in the office of the American defense
secretary on Islamic affairs, told The Jerusalem Post in an interview
on Sunday that the real issue in the ongoing conflict is that Turkey
and Qatar are supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas in their
goals.
“[Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan has been associated with
the Muslim Brotherhood long before he was prime minister,” Rhode said.
It should now be clear to all that Erdogan “is now out of the bag,”
Rhode said, adding that US President Barack Obama does not speak to the
Turkish leader anymore despite previously describing him as one of his
closest friends among the world’s leaders.
“Erdogan is doing whatever he can to help Hamas,” he said, asserting that it will only hurt the Palestinian people in the end.
Sorry but I'm nowhere near as optimistic as Rhode. I don't know whether Obama still talks to Erdogan or not, but the bottom line is that the United States has been serving Turkish interests in the 'cease fire' negotiations. As far as I'm concerned that's all that counts.
Erdogan vows Turkish-Israeli relations will never improve so long as he is in power
I have blocked three people on Twitter in the last two days because they threatened me. All three came from Turkey. Given the behavior of that country's leadership, it's not surprising that the population is behaving like brownshirts as well.
I get the anger and frustration, and I see it personally from Turkish
friends on my Facebook feed and my Twitter stream, who are furious with
Israel not because they are Jew-hating anti-Semites but because they
deplore the mounting civilian death toll in Gaza, which they see as
disproportionate and excessive. And it isn’t just the AKP; anger at
Israel is widespread among all segments of the population, as evidenced
by the multiple leftist Gaza solidarity rallies taking place in Turkey
today and by joint CHP/MHP presidential candidate Ekmeleddin Ihsanoğlu bashing Israel’s actions in Gaza
and the CHP generally trying to score points over the last few days by
absurdly trying to paint the AKP as in bed with Israel and complicit
with its actions. Israel isn’t exactly popular in Turkey, to make the
understatement of the decade, and to expect Turkish politicians to hold
their tongues completely or to support Israel’s actions in Gaza is
unreasonably naive.
But there is a world of difference between criticizing Israel out of a
deeply held difference of opinion versus comparing Israelis to Hitler,
equating Israel with Nazi Germany, throwing around the term genocide,
openly advocating violence against Israeli nationals and property, and
threatening Jews over Israel’s behavior. It is completely beyond the
pale, and anyone who cares a lick about liberal values should be
denouncing it loud and clear without qualification.
Erdoğan is appealing to the darkest forces imaginable in order to win
a presidential election and bolster his laughably pathetic standing in
the Arab world, and let’s not forget that he said straight out today
that he will never normalize or even improve relations with Israel while
he is in office. He has dropped the charade that this has anything to
do with the Mavi Marmara or even a set of fulfillable demands that
Israel is not meeting, so let’s all remember that the next time someone
blames Israel for the impasse in the bilateral relationship. Erdoğan is
anti-Israel because he does not like Israel, full stop.
If Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza, stopped responding to Hamas
rockets with missiles, ended the blockade, and awarded Khaled Meshaal
the Israel Prize, Erdoğan and Davutoğlu would just find some other
reason not to normalize relations. Yes, the situation in Gaza
undoubtedly plays a big role in all of this – just look at
Israeli-Turkish relations under the Erdoğan government between 2002 and
2008, which were cordial and cooperative – but it’s about more than that
at this point. Erdoğan and the AKP have gone too far down the garden
path of anti-Israel rhetoric at this point to ever turn back.
A violent demonstration targeted the Israeli embassy in Ankara on Thursday night, as the IHH terror organization - the group behind the Mavi Marmara terror ship - threatened to exact revenge for what is going on in Gaza from Turkish Jewry (Hat Tip: Joshua I).
The head of the IHH terror-tied humanitarian NGO behind the infamous
Mavi Marmara Flotilla, Bulent Yildirim, told local television station
Haber Turk that “Turkish Jews will pay dearly” for Israel’s actions.
“Israel is acting like a spoiled child,” Yildirim said. “Jewish
tourists, don’t dare come to Turkey. Tonight and tomorrow we are going
to hold a different kind of protest, we do not have patience anymore.”
“The Zionists are putting the future of the Jews in danger, we can not hold back our youngsters anymore,” he said.
At the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul and the Israeli Embassy in
Ankara crowds of protesters gathered and shouted anti-Israel slogans.
“Fight! Martyrdom!” they were heard saying in Istanbul. Protesters
attempted to enter the building where the Consulate is located three
times and lit a fire nearby. Haber Turk described the scene as a
“battlefield environment” and rioters were seen throwing stones and
bottles at police.
The protesters include members of the Turkish government.
In Ankara an Israeli flag was removed by rioters and replaced by
Palestinian and Turkish flags.
Police were able to push the crowd back
at times. Among the rioters were some of the ruling Justice and
Development Party’s (AKP) parliament members, according to local
reports. After some time, police used tear gas to confront the
protesters.
Ankara’s mayor, Melih Gökçek was quick to add fuel to the flames,
tweeting about the Embassy, “It will be taken… The despicable murderers’
Consulate has to be kicked out of Turkey. We do not want an Embassy in
Turkey of the murderers!”
A Turkish Jewish activist who is familiar with the situation on the ground told The Algemeiner that the environment is not safe for Turkish Jews.
“The Turkish Jewish Community which has been living in Turkey
peacefully for over 500 years, is in grave danger for their lives after
the escalation of the events in the Middle East,” he said.
I've been to the States twice in the past two months. People there kept telling me how they're getting cheap fares to Israel by flying Turkish Air via Istanbul. I have to wonder why. I'd rather pay a little extra money to be safe and not take the risk of being stuck in Istanbul in this environment.
Maybe they think we harvested their kidneys or something
You might recall that five years ago, the Swedish daily Aftonbladet accused Israel of harvesting 'Palestinians' organs as part of questioning. For those who have forgotten, let's go to the videotape.
Now, Sweden is investigating the fate of Swedes on the Mavi Marmara terror ship, which sailed a bit more than four years ago. Oh yes, the anti-Semitic, Israel-obsessed Swedes have had an awakening.
Sweden launched a preliminary investigation on Thursday to determine
whether Israel acted illegally against its nationals who were involved
in 2010 and 2012 flotilla efforts to break the blockade of Gaza.
A
complaint alleging aggravated assault, illegal threats and theft in
international waters was filed in Sweden in 2013 by the Ship to Gaza
group on behalf of some 20 Swedish nationals who were either on ships
that joined the Mavi Marmara in the 2010 flotilla, or another ship that
set sail in 2012.
Israel arrested and deported participants in the flotillas.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel had no comment on the matter.
I've written before about Mohammed Zoabi, who is related to 'Israeli Arab' MK Hanin Zoabi, the traitor who was a passenger on the Mavi Marmara. Mohammed, who is a Muslim Zionist, has put out a video in which he calls the 'Palestinian Authority' the biggest terrorist.
“I am happy to see that Israeli hasbara [public diplomacy] is in such a
dire state that it needs a stupid boy with a twisted identity who
feels a continuous need to apologize to his strong masters,” Haneen
Zoabi told Ynet.
“The Israeli desire to highlight this delusional case shows the state’s
need for legitimacy, even if it comes from a questionable direction.”
Citing an incitement campaign being waged against Mohammad Zoabi in the
wake of the video – including by his lawmaker relative – coalition
chairman MK Yariv Levin (Likud) wrote a letter to Public Security
Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch (Likud Beytenu) demanding that he
guarantee the teen’s safety.
Police have arrested three relatives of young Zoabi for threatening him.
MK Hanin Zoabi (United Arab List) argued that the three kidnappers
responsible for the abduction of three teenage yeshiva students are "not
terrorists" on Radio Tel Aviv Tuesday morning, in an inflammatory interview which also saw her denigrate Arab Zionist and distant relative Mohammed Zoabi.
...
MK Zoabi initially denied that she knew the brave teenager well
during Tuesday's radio interview, but then proceeded to insult him based
on what she did know.
"He's from a divorced family," she sniffed. "His mother now lives in Nazareth Illit, where he studies at a Jewish school."
"He's sleazy," she continued. "He's distorted his identity."
Zoabi then claimed that, in her "humble opinion," the kidnappers are not terrorists.
"It is strange that people who are under the Occupation and living
the high life ignore the reality that Israel kidnaps Palestinian Arabs
and jails them every day," she fired.
"They are not terrorists, I do not agree with you! They have seen no
other way to change their reality and they have to resort to these
measures until Israel sobers up a bit and feels the suffering of
others."
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) slammed MK Hanin
Zoabi in a Facebook post Tuesday, after the Israeli Arab MK justified the kidnapping of three yeshiva students by Hamas terrorists.
"Not only are the kidnappers terrorists; Hanin Zoabi is a terrorist," Liberman said.
He called for harsh judgement to be meted upon the MK. "The fate of the kidnappers and the fate of Zoabi, an inciter, should be the same."
...
"Expel her to Gaza and remove her diplomatic immunity," MK Miri Regev
(Likud) stated Tuesday. "This is a betrayal. She identified herself
with terrorists on the Mavi Marmara and now she identifies herself with the Hamas terrorists who kidnapped our three boys."
"I was not surprised to hear this," Regev added, "How can a traitor
like her blame them? She does not belong to us, but to Gaza."
MK Moti Yogev (Jewish Home) argued that Zoabi's statement breaks all
boundaries, and vowed to work diligently to see Zoabi expelled from the
Knesset permanently.
"Her position on the terrorists is closer to them than to us, she
should be with them instead of in the Israeli Knesset," Yogev said.
Don't hold your breath waiting for her to be expelled. It won't happen.
Mordechai Kedar writes that Israel's approach to Turkey has been all wrong since the Mavi Marmara incident four years ago this weekend.
To my mind, there is no bigger mistake than the way in which Israel
dealt with the Marmara affair. From day one, Israel should have said
loudly: "The Marmara was a terror ship that wanted to break a legal
siege on a terrorist entity, and everyone on the ship is a terrorist.
The nation that sent the ship is terror-supporting and its prime
minister encourages terror. Israel acted as would any normal nation when
attacked by terrorists. Therefore, Israel's actions were justified.
There is no obligation to compensate families of terrorists, no other
nation in the world does that."
At the same time, Israel could
have ceased – and still can cease - acting like a wimp and start giving
as good as she gets. Israel has to raise world consciousness as to the
many terrible events in which Turkey's present and past governments have
been involved: illegal occupation of North Cyprus since 1974; ethnic
cleansing of the Greek minority from northern Cyprus; persecution of the
Kurds in Turkey and wholesale abrogation of that minority's human
rights; an illegal and illegitimate war against the Kurdish population
of northern Iraq; abrogation of rights of Christians in Turkey;
legitimization of one-sided turning of churches into mosques; killing of
Turkish citizens taking part in protests; aid to Jihadist organizations
like al Qaeda who are fighting in Syria – and many more crimes in which
the Turkish government is involved up to its neck.
And in case
anyone has forgotten, in WWI the Turkish army committed genocide against
the Christian Armenians who had lived in the Ottoman Empire for
hundreds of years.
Several weeks ago, Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmed Davutoglu announced that Turkey will not reimburse the Greek
refugees that she expelled from northern Cyprus to the south of the
island after her illegal occupation of the area, despite the decision of
the EU Court of Human Rights that Turkey must grant them reparations.
Israel can use that as a precedent and say clearly: "Turkey is not
paying reparations to peaceful, decent citizens. And we should pay
reparations to families of terrorists?" Israel can also turn to Interpol
with a complaint against Erdogan and his forces for the murder of
citizens in last year's demonstrations in Istanbul's Gezi Park.
Israel,
however, does nothing to embarrass the Turks, because we behave like
softies and try to pacify them, even though every thinking person knows
that when one gives in to blackmail, that does not lower the
blackmailer's demands. The opposite is true: the more the blackmailer
succeeds in squeezing his victim, the larger his appetite becomes and
with it, the level of his blackmail.
"We are hearing that an agreement will soon be announced on the
compensation Israeli state will pay as an outcome of talks ... One of
Israel's conditions is to drop the court cases," said Ugur Yildirim, a
lawyer for IHH.
"We are warning the authorities against this clear violation of global law principles," he told reporters.
Israel
is facing public and private prosecutions in Turkey over the killings.
Israel has previously dismissed the cases as "political theater".
...
The son of one activist killed aboard the Mavi Marmara told the news conference the families would accept neither apology nor compensation.
"We
do not accept any agreements unless the blockade on Gaza is lifted.
Israel will have to take a step back if we stand tall," Ismail Bilgen
told reporters.
Actually, lawsuits are dropped every day all over the world as part of settlements (and if the term 'with prejudice' is used they may not be reintroduced) and if the Turks 'stand tall' there will be no deal.
Turkey considered going to war with Israel BEFORE Mavi Marmara incident
The Turkish newspaper Haberturk reports that the Turkish government considered sending a naval escort to Gaza with the Mavi Marmara in 2010 - which would have been considered an act of war.
According to Turkish paper Haberturk, at 7.30 a.m. an emergency
meeting was held with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister Bulent
Arinc, Interior Minister Besir Atalay, several army generals and navy
chief Admiral Nusret Guner.
...
At the meeting, the idea of sending warships to escort the Mavi Marmara had come into question.
The government asked the Navy if they were ready to do this. Admiral Guner confirmed
that it was ready to send warships to escort the anti-Israel flotilla,
but stated that this would likely trigger a hot war with Israel and
added that "In that case, (since a) state of conflict with Israel is
imminent, the Navy should have the authorization to enforce rules of
engagement."
...
But after mulling the possibility of an armed conflict with Israel,
the government abandoned the idea of escorting the Mavi Marmara with
warships.
Instead, ministers proposed the idea of telling the media that the
Turkish navy was escorting the vessel, even though it was not.
Admirals and generals strongly opposed the idea of staging a "fake show".
Ministers decided to wait for Prime Minister Erdogan to return to Turkey; hours later, the Gaza Flotilla raid took place.
Another emergency meeting was held this time with Prime Minister
Erdogan to discuss the government's reaction. It is not known whether or
not the option of military force was considered at that later meeting.
IHH preparing to send Mavi Marmara back to break Israeli 'blockade' of Gaza
Yes, this one is for real and from a verified account (Hat Tip: MFS - The Other News).
Bülent Yıldırım: Mavi Marmara yola çıkmak için hazır bekliyor. Abluka ve ambargo kalkana kadar mücadele edeceğiz pic.twitter.com/lAAUg3djPY
— İHH (@ihhinsaniyardim) March 27, 2014
And you thought that Israel and Turkey were going to reconcile this week?
Ken O'Keefe claims IDF fired on Mavi Marmara from helicopter, 2 years ago admitted initiating violence
Irish-'Palestinian' terrorist Ken O'Keefe has told a Turkish court that the IDF fired upon the Mavi Marmara before commandos were lowered onto the ship's deck from a helicopter.
Kenneth O'Keefe, an Irish-Palestinian former US marine turned
anti-war activist who was on board the aid ship, told the court that
Israeli soldiers had started shooting from the helicopter, killing
several people.
"Within 5 to 10 minutes after the Israeli
helicopter approached the ship, I ran into Cevdet Kiliclar's dead body
on the deck, before any Israeli commando had boarded the vessel,"
O'Keefe said, referring to one of the Turkish activists.
"He must
have been shot from the air. After seeing Kiliclar's dead body, I went
upstairs to the top of the deck and saw several people lying on the
ground, wounded or dead."
O'Keefe's testimony is contradicted by the findings of a UN Commission of Inquiry in 2011.
A September 2011 UN report
into the incident cited an Israeli commission of inquiry as saying that
three stun grenades were thrown from the helicopter but no shots were
fired as the Israeli soldiers descended onto the vessel.
"The
soldiers from the first helicopter were met with an extreme level of
violence from a group of passengers on the vessel. They were shot at and
attacked with clubs, iron rods, slingshots and knives," the report
said, summarizing Israel's own investigation.
It said the Israeli soldiers resorted to lethal weapons "in response to the violent resistance faced".
O'Keefe's testimony also contradicted what he told the BBC's Hardtalk show a few weeks after the incident, when he admitted to initiating violence.
Let's go to the videotape. This is the first of three.
Here's Part 2 of the three-part interview. Let's go to the videotape.
And here's the third part. Let's go to the videotape.
The Jerusalem Post interviewed dozens of Syrian refugees at the
Kilis refugee camp in Turkey, at another border crossing roughly a 90-minute
drive from Jarabulus.
“All of the international community is working
against us. Are we all wild animals?” asked a middle-aged Syrian man.
More
than 200 Syrians, most of them families with young children, live in a
trash-infested lot across from the refugee camp. Their names cannot be disclosed
because of fear of retribution against family members still in
Syria.
Converted shipping containers, enough to hold up to 12,000
refugees, provide crammed living quarters.
The real number of refugees in
the camp, which is run by the Turkish government and the UN high commissioner
for refugees, is thought to be between 15,000 and 17,000.
The Turkish
authorities are slated to open a second camp in Kilis to provide shelter to
refugees living outside the existing one. The newly arrived refugees, who
arrived between six weeks and 10 days ago, have endured a grueling existence
outside the camp. One asked that a “message be sent to the Turkish government to
find a way to help us.”
Of course, if they were 'Palestinian refugees' being cared for by UNRWA, they would be able to be refugees for the next four generations or more, and get millions of dollars in international assistance. Alas, no one gives a damn when Muslims kill or displace Muslims.
The world may yet live to regret this. I would bet that eventually some Islamic 'charitable' organization (along the lines of Hezbullah - the IHH would be perfect for this in Turkey) will eventually assist these people outside of the international and government NGO frameworks - and turn them into radical Islamists if they are not such already.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is whining again that Israel has not done enough to deserve to have full diplomatic relations with his country restored (Hat Tip: Joshua I).
Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly's 68th meeting in New York, where he travelled with President
Abdullah Gül and a high-level delegation, Davutoğlu noted that out of
the three important conditions Turkey set, only one of them has been met
by Israel.
...
In order to end a major crisis in ties
between the two former allies, as part of a US-brokered rapprochement,
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March offered an apology to
Turkey for the [Mavi Marmara] incident.
An apology was one of three demands Ankara made of Tel Aviv. The
other two were compensation for the families of the passengers killed on
the ship and the lifting of the blockade on Gaza.
Davutoğlu said Turkey's demand for an Israeli apology had been
fulfilled, that there had been progress on the second condition of
compensation and that the negotiations were still going on over the
issue.
"We hope this will be concluded," said Davutoğlu.
Referring to the third condition of the ending of the Israeli
blockade of Gaza, Davutoğlu said that Turkey is very concerned about the
humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories, especially in
Gaza, following recent developments in Egypt.
As I have reported before, what is holding up the compensation issue is a Turkish insistence on an Israeli admission of guilt, which was not part of the deal brokered by President Obama when he was here last March. There is no way Israel would agree to admit guilt for the Mavi Marmara incident.
As to the third condition, it too was not part of the deal brokered by President Obama between Israel and Turkey, and frankly, it's none of Turkey's business.
Israel should stop prostrating itself in front of Turkey. Enough is enough.
Reconciliation talks between Israel and Turkey have reached an
impasse over the sum Israel is to pay in compensation to the families of
the Turkish nationals killed and wounded in the May 2010 raid on a
Gaza-bound flotilla, a senior official in Jerusalem said Monday.
Despite three rounds of talks, the gaps remain very wide, he said.
After
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 22 for the killing of nine Turkish
nationals by Israel Defense Forces soldiers during the raid on the Mavi
Marmara, the two countries began talks to come to a compensation
arrangement and to normalize ties. The first round of talks took place
in Ankara on April 22, while the second took place in Jerusalem on May
6.
At
the end of the Jerusalem meeting, the parties issued a communiqué,
saying that there was a draft agreement but that “several clarifications
regarding a few issues,” were still needed. The clarifications, it
emerged, related to the central issue of how much compensation Israel
would pay.
...
The official refused to cite specific sums each party had discussed
during the talks. Haaretz, however, has learned that while Israel is
prepared to pay $100,000 to each family, the Turks are demanding
$1,000,000 per family.
And if Israel had been willing to pay $1 million, the Turks would have demanded $10 million.
Kerry poses for photo-op with father of Mavi Marmara terrorist
This is the photo Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu tweeted
showing Secretary of State John Kerry, himself and according to Hurriyet
Daily News, Ahmet Doğan in the center (Photo via Twitter, May 17, 2013)
Last week, TheBlaze reported
that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan invited the father of
one of the radical Islamist activists killed on the 2010 Gaza flotilla
to join the official entourage on his visit to the U.S. last week. And
while sources familiar with lat week’s visit told TheBlaze that the
father did not enter the White House or meet President Obama to deliver a
personal letter about his son, according to the Turkish foreign
minister’s Twitter account Secretary of State John Kerry did meet with the father and even posed for a photo with him.
The Turkish news site Hurriyet Daily News reports
that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu arranged the breakfast
meeting Friday where he, the father (Ahmet Doğan) and Kerry were
present. Doğan reportedly updated Kerry on the “pending trial of Israeli
soldiers involved in the” flotilla incident.
According to Davutoglu, Kerry promised to give the letter to Obama.
Who says that the Obama administration isn't accommodating to terrorists?
Jamal al-Dura challenges Israel to an international commission
Jamal al-Dura, the father of fake martyr Muhammad al-Dura, has challenged Israel to agree to an 'international commission' to investigate his son's 'death.'
Jamal al-Dura, the father of 12-year-old Gazan Muhammad al-Dura who
became a symbol of the second intifada, is willing to exhume his son's
body to prove that Muhammad was killed, and that he was killed from
bullets fired by IDF soldiers.
...
"Are they willing to do an international investigation? Is Israel
willing? I'm not saying the people of Israel, I mean the government, and
IDF soldiers," Jamal told Army Radio.
Dura claimed he had
contacted Israel asking for such an investigation, but he has yet to
receive an answer, leading him to accuse Israel of being afraid of such
an inquiry.
"Israel now has a black stain on it in the eyes of the
world," Dura said, claiming the Israeli government is now lying in
order to clear itself of all blame.
A little bit late to try to clear that stain, don't you think?
When asked by Army Radio when did Muhammad die, Jamal insisted his son
died on the spot. "In my opinion, he died on the spot. Yes, yes, he died
next to me. If Muhammad didn't die, who injured me?" he asked.
Actually, we do know who injured Jamal al-Dura. It wasn't Israel and it happened long before the incident at Netzarim in September 2000. He lost a libel lawsuit on that one... in France. Are they impartial enough for him?
When presented with the findings of an Israeli doctor that operated on
him and determined his scars predated the incident, Jamal dismissed it
as lies. When pressed further, he avoided answering the question. "You
can ask my lawyer in France. He'll tell you. Me, I'm not allowed to talk
about this. At court, he will talk about it," he said.
Yeah.... Sure....
Dura further said he never received compensation - not from Israel nor
from the Palestinian Authority - for the death of his son, that he
claims is buried in al-Bureiz refugee camp.
Sure, let's dig him up... if they can find him. The problem is that even if an international commission finds that Muhammad al-Dura's death was a fake, it won't change the 'Palestinian' claim.... Ask the Turks.
So they lied... Turkey to take Israel to ICC over Mavi Marmara
Armed with Prime Minister Netanyahu's foolish confession of guilt, Turkey is breaking its word and taking Israel to the International Criminal Court over the Mavi Marmara incident. Okay, technically the Marmara 'victims' are taking Israel to court through the proxy of the Union of Comoros, but really this is a Turkish action. This is from the first link.
The lawyers of the victims of the Mavi Marmara raid, Dr.
Ramadan Ariturk and Gokdemir Jihad, have been filed a case for the
prosecution of Israeli officials in the International Criminal Court
(ICC) on behalf of the Union of the Comoros.
On May 31, 2010, Israel committed “war crimes” by attacking the
Mavi Marmara, which carried the flag of the Union of Comoros, and other
ships in the Gaza Freedom Fleet and killing 9 civilian aid volunteers
including 8 Turkish citizens and 1 American citizen.
The Union of Comoros is one of the signatories of the
ICC's founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court, and is thus eligible to apply to the court seeking prosecution
for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Comoros is not exactly coming with clean hands. The Mavi Marmara was flagged by Comoros 8 days before the incident off Gaza(May 22, 2010). This was after IHH bought the Mavi Marmara from a Turkish owner,
apparently in early May 2010. (Mavi Marmara was previously MS Beydagi and
flagged in Turkey. She was not used as an ocean-going vessel at that time,
but as a ferry, wholly within Turkish waters. That’s why there’s no
international record of her flag or callsign before 2010.)
In August 2011, Mavi Marmara became Turkish flagged again. Apparently, Turkey did not want responsibility for the IHH taking a ship to Gaza. Now, they get the additional bonus of being able to use a proxy to haul Israel to the ICC.
Ankara is about as trustworthy when it comes to its negotiators’ word as
Pyongyang, Khartoum, or Tehran. It seeks not justice, but Israel’s
eradication. The fact that this occurs just two days before President
Obama hosts Erdoğan at the White House is nothing but one more attempt
by the Turkish leader to fake friendship at the White House, all the
while signaling to his constituents that he has restored Turkish pride
not only by targeting Israel, but by humiliating the United States as
well.
Will we see another lovefest at the White House on Thursday?
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
