By Hakim Joe
So, what really did happen aboard the MV Mavi Marmara?
At the present moment, there exists two versions to this botched attempt by Israeli marines to hijack this vessel on high seas – the Israeli version and of course the MV Mavi Marmara version. The Israeli version comes in the form of recorded events at the time the marine rappelled into the boat. The MVMM version is testimonies from the people on board the boat.
Which version should you choose to believe? The pertinent question should however be, “what and who is exactly behind this humanitarian effort and what were their intentions?”
The MVMM flotilla is sponsored by Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH - The Foundation of Humanitarian Relief or Islan Haklary Ve Hurriyetleri Vakfi in Turkish) of Turkey, which is an organization under the direction of Saudi-based Ittilaf al-Kheir (Union of Good). The former is NOT listed on the United States State Department's list of terrorist organizations but the latter is identified as having amongst its hierarchy a major financier who is also a known terrorist. Union of Good is chaired by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who is best known for his religious ruling that encourages suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. Another leader in Union of Good is Yemeni national Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, an Al-Qaeda supporter. The MM flotilla consists of 6 ships and Ittilaf al-Kheir is a known terrorist organization.
The Union of Good has direct links to Hamas and uses another organization (al-Salah Society) under their tutelage to sponsor Hamas. The al-Salah Society is an organization that compensates the family of all suicide bombers. The Turkish government has in fact banned IHH a decade ago from contributing to the earthquake relief because of its terrorist ties, but that was 10 years ago and the central government has long since changed. How is it then that an organization that was labelled as having ties to terrorism is now exempt from that fact even though the hierarchy has never changed?
Another organization under the Union of Good is the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) that is known to be one of the major financiers for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Others include the Al-Aqsa Islamic Charitable Society of Yemen headed by Mohammed Ali Hassan Al-Moayad, who was also the spiritual adviser for Osama bin Laden, but was arrested in Germany for providing monetary aid to Hamas. Mohammed Ali Hassan Al-Moayad later confessed that he had funded US$20 million to Osama prior to the 9/11 attacks. Yet another organization under the Union of Good is the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, whose leaders Adel Hassan Hamed and Mammar Ameur are now incarcerated in a Pakistani jail for having direct ties with the Taliban.
Now let us look at the blockade. By reading the local papers, one would only get a general view and that the Israelis are singularly involved in this blockade. What was never revealed was that the Egyptians are also involved directly and the US Navy to a lesser extent.
In 2009, the Russian owned merchant ship, Monchegorsk was boarded by the US Navy and later seized by the Cypriot authorities. A thorough search of the ship revealed that they were carrying armaments and missiles bound for Gaza. The initial information was relayed from the Americans to the Egyptians and to the Cypriots. The ship was tracked by satellites once it left the Iranian Port of Bandar Abbas and shadowed by a US warship (Task Force 151) when it was in the Gulf of Aden. The 98 containers are thus confiscated and are safeguarded by Cyprus.
Coming back to the flotilla, was it ever reported that before the boarding, the Israelis offered to allow the flotilla to land at the Israeli port of Ashdod and ship its cargo of humanitarian aid to Gaza overland after appropriate security inspection? Was it also ever reported that the flotilla rejected the proposal outright and tried to run the gauntlet?
Alternately, the storming of the ship was never a legal action even when the Israeli Marines were initially armed with paintball rifles. That the passengers were defending themselves was never a question. That the usage of kitchen knives and clubs were intended to intimidate was also never a question. These are people who have been sent aboard by an organization that has ties with a terrorist organization whose leader encourages suicide attacks on all Israelis. It cannot be said that all the passengers were from such organizations but it only takes a few to start the provocation and that is all the excuse the Israeli marines required.
Oh, by the way, according to the United Nations Middle East envoy Robert Perry, “…there is no humanitarian problem in Gaza... there might be occasional shortages of construction materials and other goods…”
If the words of Robert Perry can be trusted and that the flotilla did not mean to stop, it could only indicate that it was a transparent provocation but yet the IDF fell for the trap. In short, the Israelis underestimated the response from the people on board MV MM and the results are for all to see. What was exactly the goal?
If one were to look at the facts, why use IHH to organize the flotilla? The one and only target was to split the Israel-Turkey-US alliance. For those uninformed, Islamic-Turkey is Jew-Israel’s ally as much as it is America’s. Together, these three nations held back Iran’s ambitions. Nowadays, Obama is shying away from the Middle East problems and this latest fiasco splits the remaining two alliance partners. Iran has just been handed free rein to do as it please and the Saudis and Egyptians will not be too pleased with that fact. Is this a prelude to war?
Who benefited the most from this debacle? Hamas has now achieved a major propaganda coup against Israel without lifting a finger and Iran benefited as the vote for a new UN Iran sanctions resolution was postponed.
So, what really did happen aboard the MV Mavi Marmara?
At the present moment, there exists two versions to this botched attempt by Israeli marines to hijack this vessel on high seas – the Israeli version and of course the MV Mavi Marmara version. The Israeli version comes in the form of recorded events at the time the marine rappelled into the boat. The MVMM version is testimonies from the people on board the boat.
Which version should you choose to believe? The pertinent question should however be, “what and who is exactly behind this humanitarian effort and what were their intentions?”
The MVMM flotilla is sponsored by Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH - The Foundation of Humanitarian Relief or Islan Haklary Ve Hurriyetleri Vakfi in Turkish) of Turkey, which is an organization under the direction of Saudi-based Ittilaf al-Kheir (Union of Good). The former is NOT listed on the United States State Department's list of terrorist organizations but the latter is identified as having amongst its hierarchy a major financier who is also a known terrorist. Union of Good is chaired by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who is best known for his religious ruling that encourages suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. Another leader in Union of Good is Yemeni national Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, an Al-Qaeda supporter. The MM flotilla consists of 6 ships and Ittilaf al-Kheir is a known terrorist organization.
The Union of Good has direct links to Hamas and uses another organization (al-Salah Society) under their tutelage to sponsor Hamas. The al-Salah Society is an organization that compensates the family of all suicide bombers. The Turkish government has in fact banned IHH a decade ago from contributing to the earthquake relief because of its terrorist ties, but that was 10 years ago and the central government has long since changed. How is it then that an organization that was labelled as having ties to terrorism is now exempt from that fact even though the hierarchy has never changed?
Another organization under the Union of Good is the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) that is known to be one of the major financiers for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Others include the Al-Aqsa Islamic Charitable Society of Yemen headed by Mohammed Ali Hassan Al-Moayad, who was also the spiritual adviser for Osama bin Laden, but was arrested in Germany for providing monetary aid to Hamas. Mohammed Ali Hassan Al-Moayad later confessed that he had funded US$20 million to Osama prior to the 9/11 attacks. Yet another organization under the Union of Good is the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, whose leaders Adel Hassan Hamed and Mammar Ameur are now incarcerated in a Pakistani jail for having direct ties with the Taliban.
Now let us look at the blockade. By reading the local papers, one would only get a general view and that the Israelis are singularly involved in this blockade. What was never revealed was that the Egyptians are also involved directly and the US Navy to a lesser extent.
In 2009, the Russian owned merchant ship, Monchegorsk was boarded by the US Navy and later seized by the Cypriot authorities. A thorough search of the ship revealed that they were carrying armaments and missiles bound for Gaza. The initial information was relayed from the Americans to the Egyptians and to the Cypriots. The ship was tracked by satellites once it left the Iranian Port of Bandar Abbas and shadowed by a US warship (Task Force 151) when it was in the Gulf of Aden. The 98 containers are thus confiscated and are safeguarded by Cyprus.
Coming back to the flotilla, was it ever reported that before the boarding, the Israelis offered to allow the flotilla to land at the Israeli port of Ashdod and ship its cargo of humanitarian aid to Gaza overland after appropriate security inspection? Was it also ever reported that the flotilla rejected the proposal outright and tried to run the gauntlet?
Alternately, the storming of the ship was never a legal action even when the Israeli Marines were initially armed with paintball rifles. That the passengers were defending themselves was never a question. That the usage of kitchen knives and clubs were intended to intimidate was also never a question. These are people who have been sent aboard by an organization that has ties with a terrorist organization whose leader encourages suicide attacks on all Israelis. It cannot be said that all the passengers were from such organizations but it only takes a few to start the provocation and that is all the excuse the Israeli marines required.
Oh, by the way, according to the United Nations Middle East envoy Robert Perry, “…there is no humanitarian problem in Gaza... there might be occasional shortages of construction materials and other goods…”
If the words of Robert Perry can be trusted and that the flotilla did not mean to stop, it could only indicate that it was a transparent provocation but yet the IDF fell for the trap. In short, the Israelis underestimated the response from the people on board MV MM and the results are for all to see. What was exactly the goal?
If one were to look at the facts, why use IHH to organize the flotilla? The one and only target was to split the Israel-Turkey-US alliance. For those uninformed, Islamic-Turkey is Jew-Israel’s ally as much as it is America’s. Together, these three nations held back Iran’s ambitions. Nowadays, Obama is shying away from the Middle East problems and this latest fiasco splits the remaining two alliance partners. Iran has just been handed free rein to do as it please and the Saudis and Egyptians will not be too pleased with that fact. Is this a prelude to war?
Who benefited the most from this debacle? Hamas has now achieved a major propaganda coup against Israel without lifting a finger and Iran benefited as the vote for a new UN Iran sanctions resolution was postponed.
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