| The laws of blockades (JPost) Posted: 29 Jun 2011 06:12 PM PDT 
The Jerusalem Post put together a nice summary of the laws of blockades. It destroys a lot of the nonsense that the flotidiots like to spout. A maritime blockade is a tool countries can employ during an armed conflict to stop the passage of weapons and other goods to a country or entity. Israel has imposed one on Gaza since January 3, 2009, during Operation Cast Lead.
One of the main arguments raised against the boarding of the six ships associated with May 2010's flotilla was that the action reportedly took place 70 nautical miles (130 kilometers) from the coast, inside international waters.
Immediately following the raid, in which nine activists on the Mavi Marmara were killed, Turkey drafted a resolution at the UN Security Council that described the boarding of the ship as a violation of international maritime law.
Under the San Remo Manual, a 1994 legally recognized but nonbinding document from the International Institute of Humanitarian Law dealing with blockades and armed conflicts – widely held to be the international standard for blockades – countries can intercept a vessel that is trying to breach the blockade as soon as it leaves its port of origin if the vessel is clear in its purpose to illegally enter waters, a legal adviser to the Foreign Ministry who is an expert in maritime law explained.
The official added that blockades are always imposed in international waters, and ships trying to breach the blockade are intercepted even further out, to give the military enough time to intercept it before it reaches land.
There are a number of conditions that a blockade must satisfy to be a "legal blockade" under the San Remo Manual. Countries imposing a blockade must give prior notice, and inform shipping companies and other countries where and when the blockade is being enacted, with ample time for vessels to alter their routes. Countries must also enforce the blockade in a nondiscriminatory manner, meaning that no ship, peaceful, commercial or otherwise, can enter the area of the blockade for any reason.
...[C]ountries cannot use a blockade to deny the civilian population items essential to their survival.
Flotilla organizers seized on this last point to explain their reasons for trying to breach the blockade.
Gaza has no territorial waters, as it is not a country. Israel has sovereignty over the area up to 12 nautical miles from its coast. The Gaza blockade extends 20 nautical miles from the coast, or approximately 37 km. A set of NGOs, including Amnesty, declared the blockade "illegal" in a report issued last year, but at no point do they describe why. Given that Gazans somehow manage to build water parks, shopping malls, amusement parks, museums, luxury hotels and restaurants, it seems that the argument that the blockade is denying the population essential goods is baseless. |
| So why is Israel afraid of little old ladies? Posted: 29 Jun 2011 12:37 PM PDT 
"Journalist" Mya Guernieri, who has been cheerleading the flotilla in various publications, sent out a Twitpic showing ladies of the flotilla with the caption yes, these #freedomflotilla2 people really look like they're baying for blood, don't they? #sarcasm So since people think that this is a convincing argument, I created a little graphic: The Free Gaza article I am referring to is here. The entire paragraph, in context, says: Even immoral and self-defeating acts of violence against Israeli civilians (such as some suicide bombings are) cannot be equated with the daily humiliations, terror, and death that Israel inflicts on Palestinians by deliberate policy. Contrary to its presentation in the mainstream media, this conflict is neither a righteous war against evil Arab terrorists, nor a religious or ethnic dispute between two opposing and equally self-justified groups of people. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is the struggle of two irreconcilable and unequal causes: the struggle of an oppressed people for freedom, justice, and self-determination against their oppressors' struggle to maintain (and even expand) their domination. Under these circumstances resistance is not only a right - it's a moral imperative. The author is not talking about "non-violent resistance" in this segment. The second photo is part of the cargo captured from the Francop ship which contained 320 tons of Iranian weapons. (h/t Margie for the pic) |
| "Millions of naked tourists visiting mosques in Turkey" Posted: 29 Jun 2011 11:48 AM PDT 
Saudi Arabia's MBC channel quotes a Turkish sheikh as complaining about the fact that large Turkish mosques are now tourist attractions, and millions of half-naked women (the headline says "naked") are now descending to the holy places. The sheikh of the mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent said that some mosques are starting to enforce dress codes, including veils, to stop this problem. He also says that Turkish women are eager to wear the veil in the streets, even as they are banned from wearing it in parliament. The sheikh, who is a member of Erdogan's political party, also said that Turkey under Erdogan has regained its prestige and standing in the Arab and Muslim world. He said that its leadership was behind the Mavi Marmara, and made martyrs for the Palestinian cause, and for Islamic Jerusalem. |
| Flotidiots already planning rally in New York for any "emergencies" Posted: 29 Jun 2011 10:53 AM PDT 
The people behind the "Audacity of Hope" boat have already set up a Facebook event page anticipating a violent confrontation at sea. IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ: Time still TBD, dates above are *not* definite.
** Depending on the time we hear about the emergency, we have developed the following schedule for everyone to turn out **
If there is an emergency with the U.S. Boat to Gaza and/or the Freedom Flotilla, we call on people of conscience to gather at 47th Street in Times Square.
At 5:00 pm if word goes out before 12 noon.
At 5:00 pm the next day if word goes out after 12 noon.
At 1:00 pm on Saturday if word goes out after noon on Friday or in the morning of Saturday.
At 1:00 pm on Sunday if word goes out after noon on Saturday or in the morning of Sunday.
From Times Square, we will march to the Israeli Consulate at 42nd Street and Second Avenue. Depending on particular events, we may make stops at consulates or UN missions of other countries involved in the flotilla, as well as the offices of our congressional representatives and theU.S. State Department. Anticipating violence - or planning to provoke it? |
| New "Day of Rage" in Egypt Posted: 29 Jun 2011 10:06 AM PDT 
From Al Ahram: Clashes erupted in front of the Ministry of Interior last night, as well as the Balloon Theatre in Agouza, between the martyrs' families and police forces. The clashes soon turned violent as police forces assaulted the protestors with tear gas in front of the ministry.
Police forces continued their tear gas salvo in a bid to break the demonstrations up until 7:30 in the morning, when they withdrew from Mohamed Mahmoud Street, where most of last night's and today's violence occurred.
Egypt's ministry of interior had issued an official statement earlier yesterday denying any violence in their crackdown on the demonstration.
Though there are no confirmed reports of any fatalities at this stage, there are dozens injured, including Amr Osama, who was treated in one of the many ambulances made available in Tahrir Square and has now been released.
According to official medical sources, one hospital has 52 injured, 46 of which are police, and another hospital has 8 injured.
It all started Tuesday night, with clashes between families of martyrs and state security forces, some say at the Balloon Theatre. Hundreds of demonstrators also threw stones at the interior ministry of Egypt today in downtown Cairo and accused the police of "killing their sons."
Security forces cordoned the area and according to eyewitnesses fired tear gas bombs and shots into the air to disperse protesters.
Police chased protesters towards Tahrir square and fired tear gas bombs at thousands of protesters.
A statement released by the interior ministry of Egypt denied that police attacked protesters and claimed they were thugs.
However, Egyptian TV channels Al Hayat and On TV aired live footage of the clashes. Tahrir Square and surrounding downtown streets looked like a battlefield covered with a smoky cloud of tear gas all night through.
Ambulances could be seen rushing into Tahrir Square, as well as volunteer doctors to support the injured in the square.
Thousands of demonstrators rushed in solidarity with protesters in Tahrir Square as violence escalated and chants could be heard "People want the regime to fall," "People want Field Marshal Tantawi out," and "Down with the interior ministry."
The famous, central square, which had witnessed Egypt's 18-day historic revolution, is currently not open for traffic. Some 2,000 angry demonstrations shouting slogans against the regime, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and brigadier Tantawi himself are in the square. "People want the brigadier to step down," is the most heard chant in Tahrir Square this morning. Meanwhile, a prominent Egyptian cleric has declared that the people killed in the Egyptian protests earlier this year are not martyrs. Sheikh Osman said the rebels were demanding democratic rule and that this is not a religious issue. They were against injustice and deprivation, but that has nothing to do with Islam. "We ask God to forgive them." This may be the same Sheikh Osman who declared two years ago that Egypt can slaughter millions of pigs to head off a swine flu scare - because all pigs were just Jews cursed by Allah. |
| Bibi starts Arabic-subtitled YouTube channel to answer questions Posted: 29 Jun 2011 08:56 AM PDT 
From the Israeli Prime Minister YouTube channel: I especially invite people from the Arab countries to send questions. I'd like to hear what you have to say, and I'd like to hear what you have to say in response. I can't wait for Erdogan, Gaddafi, Nasrallah and Assad to follow suit. |
| " 'Right-wing EoZ' has co-opted 'Nothing' " Posted: 29 Jun 2011 08:46 AM PDT 
A site called Lavie Tidhar issued a "press release" because of my post about Nothing: A WAR OVER NOTHING? FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 28 June 2011 TEL AVIV – An Android phone application continues to cause fierce debate in the Middle East. "How many times have you paid nothing and got something back? Now we offer you a unique opportunity: pay something and get Nothing back! This application does absolutely Nothing. By purchasing it you will help us prove that Nothing is indeed worth Something!" Nothing – which retails for $0.99 – was developed by Israeli programmer, musician and author Nir Yaniv. In the few days still its release it has already sold in the double figures and was featured on prominent Israeli news site Ynet. One customer described it as "the best App I ever got. It does exactly what it promised to do! Nothing!" Nothing Pro, retailing for $9.00 and described as "lighter in size, easier on both the memory and the CPU, and it does Nothing way more smoothly and efficiently than the regular consumer version," has since been released. Now the tongue-in-cheek application – described by Ynet readers as, variously, "the stupidest thing I have ever seen" and "pure genius" – and resembling British artist Martin Creed's controversial, Turner Prize-winning piece Work 227: The lights going on and off – has been co-opted in the Middle East's always-bitter political conflict. Right-wing blog The Elder of Ziyon has used the application to attack Palestinian politics, writing, in part, "I think that we can expand on this concept. for example, a deluxe edition of Nothing that shows: Every Palestinian Arab concession since 1988; Every example of Mahmoud Abbas' "moderation"; Every Palestinian Arab "human rights group" that calls for an unconditional release of Gilad Shalit; Every benefit that a Palestinian Arab state would bring to the world," and continuing further in that vein. When reached for comment, a bemused Mr. Yaniv said, "I never dreamed that anyone would use the app for political purposes. In retrospect, given the nature of the internet, I should have known better."
The developer himself wrote about my post: Nothing serves, somehow, to deliver right-wing propaganda. This, was not of my doing! LOL! |
| Report: Jordan opposed to unilateral declaration of "Palestine" (updated) Posted: 29 Jun 2011 08:15 AM PDT 
Palestine Today and many other Arab media are reporting that Jordan has announced that it is against the PLO going to the UN in September to be declared a state. A government source confirmed that Jordan will oppose the Palestinian decision to go to the General Assembly of the United Nations to declare a Palestinian state unilaterally in September.
The source added that Jordan's national interest would be hurt if the Palestinian National Authority declared a state, particularly with regard to issues of refugees, water, Jerusalem and borders.
The source said that the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state is in the Israeli interest because Israel is interested in the establishment of a Palestinian state "within the boundaries of the separation wall" and this means there is a limit to the Palestinian state with Jordan, which was rejected by Jordan in the final. I think that the last paragraph means that if Israel closes off the border with "Palestine" then it will become Jordan's problem to give them jobs, currency and so forth, a responsibility that Jordan does not want. UPDATE: YNet has it in English with more details. |
| Egyptian security looking for Palestinian Arab terrorists Posted: 29 Jun 2011 07:27 AM PDT 
Palestine Press Agency quotes Egyptian newspaper "Seventh Day" as saying that Egyptian security forces are on the lookout for four Palestinian Arabs who sneaked into Egypt. The four are members of the "Soldiers of Allah" group. An Egyptian security official said "The Palestinians who entered Egypt photographed natural ga plants, the pyramids and tourist areas in the provinces of Giza, Luxor, Aswan and Hurghada They also threatened to execute a number of prominent politicians and businessmen who are perceived as being anti-Islam." |
| The Guardian's bias in covering Sheikh Raed Salah Posted: 29 Jun 2011 06:36 AM PDT 
From The Guardian: Sheikh Raed Salah, a leading Palestinian activist, has been detained in London after he entered the UK while banned from the country.
Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was detained on Tuesday night by police.
The home secretary, Theresa May, said officials from the UK Border Agency were taking steps to remove Salah from the country. She said an investigation had been launched into how he managed to get into the UK.
...Sarah Colborne, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), insisted that Salah was the leader of a legitimate political organisation. He rejected all forms of racism, including anti-semitism, she said.
"Sheikh Raed Salah is the leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, the largest movement for Palestinians in Israel," Colborne said.
"This is a legitimate organisation which Israel has never moved to ban.
"Raed Saleh regularly speaks at venues across Israel where he has considerable support amongst the Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up a fifth of the population.
"Sheikh Raed has been elected as mayor of his home town, Um al-Fahm, three times. He has never been convicted of anti-semitism in Israel.
"Before coming to Britain, he faced horrific allegations of anti-semitism, which he completely refuted." This article is a perfect example of media bias. The entire article is 13 paragraphs long - and of those 13, fully 6 are given to someone defending Raed Salah. There is nothing in the article that mentions any possible reason why Salah might be considered undesirable. It doesn't mention why he has been arrested and imprisoned in Israel, or his ties to Hamas, or his regular incitement against Jews (every week or so he confidently declares that Israel plans to demolish the Al Aqsa Mosque, trying as hard as he can to inflame Muslim passions and start a new intifada.) To the Guardian, he is simply a "Palestinian activist." Even worse, the Guardian allows an apologist for Salah to assert that he is not anti-semitic. Just one problem:
He is. And it doesn't take too much effort to prove that. From Ha'aretz, January 29, 2008: The head of the Islamic Movement in Israel's Northern Branch, Ra'ad Salah, was charged Tuesday in Jerusalem Magistrate's Court with incitement to violence and racism, over a fiery speech he gave a year ago in which he invoked the blood libel.
During the speech at the February 16, 2007 protest in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Joz, Salah accused Jews of using children's blood to bake bread.
"We have never allowed ourselves to knead [the dough for] the bread that breaks the fast in the holy month of Ramadan with children's blood," he said. "Whoever wants a more thorough explanation, let him ask what used to happen to some children in Europe, whose blood was mixed in with the dough of the [Jewish] holy bread."
"Great God, is this a religion?" he asked. "Is this what God would want? God will deal with you yet for what you are doing."
The rally was called to protest the planned Mughrabi bridge construction in Jerusalem's Old City. Addressing the 1,000-strong crowd and assembled press, Salah accused Israel of attempting to rebuild the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount while drenched in Arab blood.
"Whoever wants to build a house of God should not do so while our blood is still on his clothes, on his doorposts, in his food, in his drink, being passed along from one terrorist general to the next terrorist general," he said.
Following the speech and Friday prayers, the crowd began rioting and throwing stones at police. According to the prosecution, Salah's speech constituted a "call to commit acts of violence and encouragement of acts of violence, which given the content and context, there was a real possibility that it could lead to acts of violence."
The prosecution said Salah made the remarks "with the objective of inciting racism."
In an interview with Ashams radio, Salah said in response that, "I am willing to repeat before the court all the things I said at the Friday sermon in Wadi Joz or any other meeting with journalists."
"Our statements are the products of conviction, and I will not recant," he continued.
Salah was released from prison in 2005 after serving some two years for having contact with a foreign agent, as well as financial crimes related to the Islamic Movement. This is not only a problem with the Guardian. No other newspaper coverage of Salah regularly mentions his blood libel, which is a piece of information that should be attached to his name every single time it is mentioned in a news report. But The Guardian deserves to be singled out here for an article that is completely void of context and that is nearly 50% apologetics for a terrorist supporter, regular inciter to violence and an unabashed anti-semite. |
| Flotilla Facts website Posted: 29 Jun 2011 06:10 AM PDT 
EoZ partner Stand With Us has put together a very good website, called Flotilla Facts, that explains all of the issues with the flotilla. It also includes videos and suggestions for what you can do. Check it out! By the way, StandWithUs turned my " This is Zionism" posters into a video: |
| Muslim Brotherhood militants flying to Greece to join flotilla? Posted: 29 Jun 2011 05:44 AM PDT 
Palestine Today quotes Israeli TV as saying that the flotilla participants in Greece have checked out of their hotels and are on their way to the ships to start their trip. The last paragraph of the story says: According to other sources, 70 activists affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Jordan are flying from Jordan to Greece to join the fleet of the ships of freedom. I don't know the source of that story but somehow I don't think that any Muslim Brotherhood members of the delegation are engaging in the "non-violence" training that the Flotidiots like to brag about. |
| Unbiased reporters in flotilla? Posted: 29 Jun 2011 03:24 AM PDT 
YNet has an op-ed by Yosef Federman, the chairman of the Foreign Press Association in Israel: The Foreign Press Association in Israel was happy to see the Israeli government rescinding its threat to expel and even boycott journalists who cover the Gaza flotilla. It's important to understand that the decision was illogical to begin with. For some reason, the government attempted to apply the same attitude to journalists doing their job and to pro-Palestinian activists on board the ships. Yet that was never the case.
Journalists from different countries wish to cover the flotilla because it is a legitimate news story. Following the bloodshed in last year's flotilla, people worldwide want to know what will happen this time around. An attempt to prevent journalists from joining the current flotilla would not have prevented coverage of this event.
Instead, it would have simply forced legitimate news organizations to violate the law and risk grave punishment, or rely on the activists on board the vessels for information.
It is fully in the public's interest to allow professional and objective journalists – who are not a party to the affair and therefore are not biased – to present the story to the whole world. The coverage of a news event, legitimate or not, does not turn the journalist into an active side in the story. I am glad that the government changed its mind about reporters covering the flotilla, but for him to characterize them as objective is a joke. One of the prominent Israeli reporters covering the flotilla is Mya Guarnieri, who is churning out a series of fawning pieces on the flotilla participants. She also put together this " backgrounder" about how Israel has been oppressing Gazans since 1991. Here's part of her "reporting": Sari Bashi is the founder and director of Gisha, an Israeli NGO that advocates for Palestinian freedom of movement. She says that the gradual closure of Gaza began in 1991, when Israel canceled the general exit permit that allowed most Palestinians to move freely through Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Non-Jewish residents of Gaza and the West Bank were required to obtain individual permits.
This was during the First Intifada. While the mere mention of the word invokes the image of suicide bombers in the Western imagination, it's important to bear in mind that the First Intifada was, by and large, a non-violent uprising comprised of civil disobedience, strikes, and boycotts of Israeli goods. During the first intifada some 100 Israeli civilians were murdered and 60 IDF soldiers were killed. Yet to Guarnieri, this is the definition of non-violence, and Israeli moves to protect itself is by definition illegitimate. Of course, Gaza was not free under Egyptian rule at all - Gazans were heavily restricted in their movement and ability to get jobs in Egypt. Israel poured tens of millions of dollars into Gaza, successfully improving its infrastructure and the health and well-being of its citizens that were ignored and abused by Egypt. But why mention that in a backgrounder on Gaza? 1967 is irrelevant ancient history, but 1991 is current events. Another "objective" reporter covering the flotilla is the execrable Amira Hass for Ha'aretz, who is also publishing her special brand of uncritical journalism when the subject is her pet anti-Israel activists. Other reporters who are there are no better. So, yes, reporters should be free to cover the flotilla - but they need to be at least as critical of the anti-Israel activists as they are of Israel. That's what reporters do. And it is possible, as we saw yesterday with the report from the clearly sympathetic Radio Netherlands reporter who nonetheless exposed the lies of the Dutch flotilla leaders. |
| Videos of Syrian atrocities Posted: 29 Jun 2011 02:42 AM PDT 
Syrians troops brutally beating protesters in Damascus: Another video that shows a child who was tortured and killed is too horrific to show here. Despite the massacres, there are still daily protests in dozens of Syrian towns, many quite large like this one in Hama yesterday rejecting dialogue with the government: (h/t Israel Muse) |
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