| EoZ getting some serious blog-lovin' Posted: 15 Mar 2013 01:40 PM PDT I just posted the video of Yossi Kuperwasser of Israel's Strategic Affairs Ministry telling me that the ability to take dry facts and make them appealing to my audience is "some sort of a gift you were given." The Algemeiner, in discussing the UN/BBC story I reported on last week, describes me as "eagle eyed anonymous super-blogger Elder of Ziyon." Ben Dror Yemini, writing in Maariv and also discussing that story, says In the last campaign of "Pillar of Defense," it was a Palestinian toddler, Omar, the son of BBC journalist Jihad al-Mishrawi, allegedly killed in an "Israeli bombing", who became a symbol of Israeli aggression against the Palestinian victimhood. And again "rights organizations" stood up to point their finger against Israel. Human Rights Watch (HRW) quickly wrote this up, supposedly after examination and collection of evidence, accusing Israel. There was only one website, Elder Of Ziyon, who mentioned that it's not only Israel bombing [Gaza.]. The site's claims were rejected outright, even by the BBC.
Now, a few months passed, and the UN report said this week that the baby and others who were killed in the same incident were hit by a rocket fired from Gaza itself. This was not the first time that the Elder Of Ziyon site revealed distortions. [As one of] those who debunk of lies, I take my hat off to this site. Now and then he leaves me out of a job. If you agree that EoZ is doing valuable work, you can still send me donations... Have a Shabbat Shalom!  |
| EoZNews: Yossi Kuperwasser, part 2: Getting Israel's message out (video) Posted: 15 Mar 2013 12:15 PM PDT This is part 2 of my video interview with Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs in the Prime Miister's office. In part 1, Kuperwasser gave a passionate defense of the building of Jewish communities on the territories reclaimed in 1967. Here. he discusses the bizarre conclusions of the Goldstone Report and the victory of Goldstone's recanting it. Kuperwasser states that he would like to get other Jews who hold the wrong opinions about Israel, like Walt/Mearsheimer and Thomas Friedman, to admit that they have been wrong as well. He then goes on to talk about what bloggers can do to help, and he says that if any of us are not getting the proper information from the government of Israel then we should contact him. He also notes that I specifically have the ability to take the dry facts that Israel releases and put it into historical or emotional context, and that is something that the government cannot do.  |
| Friday Links Part 2 Posted: 15 Mar 2013 11:00 AM PDT From Ian:
Latma: The Tribal Updates presents Bibi anticipating Obama's visit UN Chutzpah and the Refugee Racket That is, as long as the Arab states in the region mistreat them, the Palestinians will remain eligible for American "refugee" cash, which will be distributed by agencies who work with the regimes responsible for this racket. As you can see, it isn't easy to justify making exceptions to American budget cuts to preserve cash that incentivizes and rewards Arab states' abuse of Palestinian migrants and is distributed to and by Hamas and its allies. But I suppose you can't blame UNRWA for trying. Italian FM Giulio Terzi Why we can't allow Iran to go nuclear During my tenure as foreign minister, I have made it a point to place the Mediterranean and the Middle East at the forefront of Italy's agenda.
Nuclear proliferation, and particularly Iran's nuclear ambition, is the most pressing of these challenges. Rivers of ink have been spilled on how to tackle Iran's nuclear aspirations. The debate seems to have polarized into two main positions. According to the first one, a nuclear Iran cannot be reliably contained because there is no guarantee that it will behave rationally; therefore, it must be prevented at all costs. The second is that Iran is a rational actor, and can be deterred and contained; hence, the risks of preventing it are not warranted for. CIF Watch: The antisemitic reflex: A Jew-baiting Tweet by the Guardian's Michael White A reporter for The Times expressed surprise that news of a Labour Party investigation into racism against a member of Parliament was not in BBC radio news summaries.
A Guardian journalist, noting that Finkelstein was Jewish, immediately engaged in an ad hominem and completely irrelevant attack, raising the topic of settlements in the state of Israel.
The Guardian reporter's ugly response to Finkelstein's Tweet represents the classic antisemitic "reflex" of holding Jews collectively responsible for the perceived sins of the state of Israel – a bigoted association he's made on at least one other occasion in a column at the Guardian. PMW: Crossword puzzles in official PA daily - Safed and Haifa are Palestinian cities In its weekly crossword puzzle, the Palestinian Authority daily presented the Israeli city of Safed as a "city in Northern Palestine." Another recent crossword puzzle defined the Israeli city of Haifa as a "Palestinian city." ZOA Praises Walk-Out After Israel Accused of 'Genocide' ZOA praises Obama Administration for walking out of meeting with Iranian diplomats after one accused Israel of "genocide." "We applaud U.S. Ambassador McManus's principled walk-out from this meeting with the Iran ambassador," said ZOA National President Morton A. Klein. "It is not a small matter when any country, let alone a rogue state like Iran, describes a fellow democracy and ally of the U.S. as guilty of 'genocide.' There is a fundamental breach of truth and morality in this claim that cannot be passed over." Chavez and the Jews: a Sorry Tale Before Chavez came to power there were 30,000 Jews in Venezuela. The community has now dwindled to fewer than 9,000. Yet there is another factor. The main ideological influence on Chavez was a relatively obscure Argentinian sociologist, Norberto Ceresole. A Holocaust denier and all-round conspiracy theorist, Ceresole's theories became the basis for what Venezuelans know as chavismo, the matrix of social institutions and values created by the Chavez regime. The first chapter of a book in which Ceresole extolled the virtues of such a system, under which the relationship between the "leader" and the "people" is privileged, was titled "The Jewish Problem." Thessaloniki Jews to mark anniversary of deportations Greek prime minister expected to participate in Holocaust commemorations The Jewish community of Thessaloniki in northern Greece will hold a series of events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the first deportations of the city's Jews to Auschwitz.
On March 15, 1943, the Nazis sent the first convoy of some 4,000 Jews from Thessaloniki to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. By August, 49,000 out of the city's pre-war population of 55,000 Jews had been deported. Fewer than 2,000 survived. Concern over Ed Miliband's Zionist credentials Mr Miliband's remarks were met with immediate angry responses from anti-Zionist Labour supporters. Critics took to social networking sites to claim it was "disgraceful" for the party leader to support an "extreme and nasty ideology".
The following day his office issued a supposed clarification in an attempt to distance him from his own comments. The Labour leader's team said he had "not used the word Zionist to describe himself", but said he had "made absolutely clear that he is a strong supporter of Israel". Peres to New Pope: Come to Israel Peres invited the new Pope to visit Israel and said, "I would like to take this opportunity to invite the newly elected Pope to pay a visit to the Holy Land at the earliest possibility. He'll be a welcome guest in the Holy Land, as a man of inspiration that can add to the attempt to bring peace in a stormy area. All people here, without exception, without difference of religion or nationality will welcome the newly elected Pope."  |
| Last week, Turkey sent aid to Gaza - through Israel Posted: 15 Mar 2013 09:00 AM PDT Not sure how I - and almost everyone else - missed this last week: Today (Wednesday March 6) a Turkish food donation including three trucks that crossed through Kerem Shalom into the Gaza Strip took place.
...As part of the crossing's operation, the arrival of more than 400 trucks into Gaza from Israel was coordinated, out of which three trucks were accompanied by the head of the Turkish Red Crescent. The 3 trucks included 60 tons of food and food in closed packages.
This is the first time since the Turkish flotilla to the Gaza coast, that the Turkish government sends aid to citizens of the Gaza Strip with Israeli recognition and coordination, through the port of Ashdod and Kerem Shalom.
The Turkish donation was made possible to transfer with hard staff work in the COGAT headquarters and coordination by the Gaza CLA. Isn't it remarkable that no Turks were killed by the bloodthirsty Israelis when trying to bring aid to Gaza? Look - they are even smiling!  |
| Friday Links Part 1 Posted: 15 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PDT From Ian:
Israeli lawyer goes after Abbas, Hamas in ICC Files request to prosecute "Palestine," as a state; allege crimes by Palestinians against Israelis and Palestinians alike. An Israeli law firm on Thursday formally announced its request to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensada, to open a criminal investigation into violations by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and nine members of Hamas for war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression.
The allegations include alleged war crimes against Israeli civilians and by the Palestinians against rival Palestinian groups, such as Fatah's forces against Hamas's sympathizers during rounds of in-fighting. Israeli Director of Military Intelligence warns Iran and Hezbollah have established 50,000 strong army operating in Syria Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the Israeli Director of Military Intelligence, today gave his analysis of the deteriorating situation in Syria, saying that "the damages of the imminent fall of Syria are very high for both Iran and Hezbollah." Speaking at the annual Herzliya security conference held in Israel, he highlighted that Iran is losing its sole ally in the region surrounding Israel, and thus also the ability to transfer weaponry through Syria to Hezbollah. UN says it's worried about arms flow from Syria to Lebanon Security Council 'encouraged' by calm along Israeli-Lebanese Blue Line, but says attempts being made to undermine Lebanese stability The UN Security Council underscored its grave concern Thursday at the arms trafficking and repeated weapons fire across the Lebanon-Syria border, but said it was happy that arms had not been used against Israel. IDF Blog: Two Years On: The "Victoria" Weapon-Smuggling Interception Two years ago today, the Victoria set sail from a port in Syria, loaded with Iranian-made weapons bound for Gaza and the terrorist group Hamas. Stone Throwing Arabs Cause Car Crash, Critically Injuring 3 Year Old Girl, 3 Others Palestinian Arab stone throwing at a road near the Jewish community of Ariel in Judea and Samaria led to a car crash that critically injured a 3-year-old girl and moderately injured her mother and her two other daughters, ages 4 and 6. Soldiers Shoot Terrorist, Discover Huge Cache of Firebombs IDF soldiers shot a Palestinian Authority Arab terrorist on Thursday evening, after he threw a firebomb at them near Nitzanei Oz in the Sharon region.
The terrorist sustained moderate to severe wounds and was taken by a Red Crescent ambulance to a hospital in the PA city of Tulkarm.
After the terrorist was shot, the soldiers searched the area and discovered a huge cache of ready-to-use firebombs. It is believed that the terrorist had been planning to throw more firebombs at the soldiers, but his plan was foiled when he was shot by them. CAMERA: Human Rights Watch Goes to Bat for Hamas's Al Aqsa TV Are the activities of Al Aqsa TV as innocuous Whitson claims? And who is responsible for blurring the distinction between civilian and combatant, Israel or Hamas? Whitson blames Israel, relieving Hamas of accountability. HRW criticized the Israelis for failing to produce evidence of the station's direct support of Hamas's violent activities. However, Al Aqsa programs are well documented. Hamas accuses Egyptian media of anti-Palestinian incitement Press had reported that seven Palestinians detained in Cairo were planning to target local installations Hamas leaders on Thursday attacked the Egyptian press for attempting "to sow strife between Egypt and Gaza" by reporting that seven Palestinians detained at the Cairo airport were planning to target vital infrastructures in the country.
Egyptian media reported the arrest of the seven, who arrived in Cairo on a flight from Damascus early Wednesday morning, after they were found carrying maps of installations and documents specifying ways of manufacturing explosives. Saudi Arabia may stop beheading due to swordsmen shortages Oil-rich kingdom mulls abolition of beheading in favour of firing squads for capital punishments due to reported shortages of government swordsmen, Saudi daily reports University College London bans hard-line Islamic group which tried to segregate men and women at a debate held on university premises A Muslim group has been banned from a university after segregating men and women during a debate.
Visitors to the event at University College London were told to use men's or women's entrances.
Organisers Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA) told women to sit at the back, while men and couples were sent to the front. Three people who objected were ordered to leave. Jewish group lodges complaint against South African minister Deputy FM in hot water over 'inflammatory remarks' alleging foul play in awarding of building contracts to Jewish developers The South African Jewish Board of Deputies lodged a complaint with the country's Human Rights Commission over "inflammatory remarks" made by Deputy Foreign Minister Marius Fransman.
In a radio interview last month, Fransman claimed that Jewish businessmen in the Western Cape region have benefited from contracts previously held by members of the local Muslim community. "We saw that the DA [Democratic Alliance party] had given over building contracts… that historically were in the hands of Muslim participants and now they have given it to people from the Jewish community," Fransman said.  |
| Obama's itinerary in Israel Posted: 15 Mar 2013 06:30 AM PDT I saw this in an email but here is the only place I could find it online: THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________
For Immediate Release
March 14, 2013
PRESS BRIEFING
BY DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS BEN RHODES
AND U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL DAN SHAPIRO
ON THE PRESIDENT'S TRAVEL TO ISRAEL, THE WEST BANK, AND JORDAN
Via Conference Call
4:08 P.M. EDT
MR. RHODES: Thanks, everybody, for joining this call to preview the President's trip to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. I'm joined on the call today by our U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, who is known to you all, as well. I'll make some opening comments and go through the President's schedule. Then Dan may add a few comments and then we'll take your questions.
First of all, let me just say that this is a very important trip for the President. It's his first trip to Israel since becoming President, and the first foreign trip of his second term in office. We felt like this was an important opportunity for the President to go to the region. In Israel, we felt that with a new Israeli government coming into place and a new U.S. term here, this is an important opportunity for the President to consult with the Israeli government on the broad range of issues where we cooperate.
We obviously cooperate very closely with Israel on security, intelligence and economic issues. And there will be a broad agenda for our governments to address while the President is in Israel, including our efforts to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, the ongoing situation in Syria, the developments in the wider region that pose both opportunities and security challenges, and efforts to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace among the agenda.
More important than that, in some respects, this is an opportunity for the President to speak directly to the Israeli people. The President has a very strong record of support for Israel and its security, but we also understand that there is no substitute for the President of the United States going to Israel and delivering that message directly to the Israeli people. And so, he is particularly looking forward to the opportunity to spend some time with the people of Israel and to tell them directly about what guides his approach to this relationship.
Beyond that, it's a very important time for him to also reinforce U.S. support for the Palestinian Authority -- and I'll get to that in the schedule, but of course, the United States has made a significant investment in the Palestinian Authority as the legitimate leadership of the Palestinian people. And we're very supportive of efforts, for instance, on the West Bank to develop Palestinian institutions and broaden opportunity for the Palestinian people, even as we continue to work for advancements in the peace process.
And then, of course, King Abdullah is a very close ally and partner of the United States and Jordan. We cooperate with Jordan on a broad range of security issues. That includes, of course, the peace process. It also includes addressing the very grave humanitarian crisis in Syria, including the significant refugee population within Jordan. And the U.S. is providing substantial assistance to Jordan and other international partners to help allay that refugee crisis.
We're also very supportive of the political reform efforts within Jordan. Recently, of course, there were parliamentary elections. We'd like to see continued momentum on the political reform agenda that the King has supported, so we will have an opportunity to address those issues.
Let me just go through the schedule now.
The President will arrive in Israel on Wednesday of next week. He will begin his program with an arrival ceremony at the airport with both President Peres and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Following that arrival ceremony, where each of the leaders will speak, the President will view an Iron Dome battery. The U.S. investments in support for the Iron Dome System has been one of the clearest manifestations of our support for Israel and its security. We're very proud that the Iron Dome System has saved numerous Israeli lives in helping to deal with the threat from rocket fire. The President's visit to the Iron Dome battery, again, is a signal of that continued support for Israel and its security, and the close relationship and partnership that we have on the security issues.
Following that, the President will have meetings throughout the afternoon with both President Peres and Prime Minister Netanyahu. First, he will meet with President Peres at his residence. The two Presidents will have a chance to spend some time together and make statements as well. Following that, the President will go to Prime Minister Netanyahu's residence, where he'll have a chance to have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, followed by a press conference, and then followed by a working dinner.
The President and Prime Minister Netanyahu, as you've heard us say, have spent more time together one-on-one than, frankly, any other leader that the President has spent some time with since he came into office. They'll have an opportunity to have a very wide-ranging discussion on the various issues -- security, political, and economic -- that I referenced earlier. And that will conclude the President's first day there.
The next day, Thursday, the President will begin by going to the Israel Museum. At the Israel Museum, he will view the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are a testament, of course, to the ancient Jewish connection to Israel and, frankly, a marvel that the Israelis have restored within the Israel Museum in a very substantial, impressive way. So the President very much looks forward to the opportunity to see the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Following that, he'll be visiting a technology exposition, also at the museum, in which he'll be able to see some of the remarkable signs and technological progress that's been made within Israel, some of the remarkable innovation that is helping to fuel the Israeli economy and, frankly, the global economy. And it's also the foundation of significant U.S. and Israeli economic cooperation. And I think, again, seeing the ancient connection through the Dead Sea Scrolls and then the future that is being forged in Israel through the technology exposition I think will be a very powerful experience.
Following that, the President will travel to Ramallah. In Ramallah, he will have a bilateral meeting with President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. And then the two leaders will have a press conference and then they'll have a working lunch together. Again, the United States has supported the significant institution-building that the Palestinian Authority has undertaken in the West Bank. It's a chance to discuss our continued support for the PA, as well as to discuss ways to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace going forward.
Following the working lunch, the President will join Prime Minister Fayyad at the Al-Bireh Youth Center, also in Ramallah. Again, this is an opportunity for the President to see firsthand some of the work that's being done to develop institutions on the West Bank, and also to meet with a range of Palestinian young people and hear directly from them as well. So that will complete that portion of his time in Ramallah.
Then he will go to the Jerusalem International Convention Center later that afternoon, where he will deliver a speech to the Israeli people. The speech -- frankly, the President very much wanted to have the opportunity to speak not just to Israelis, but to Israeli young people, so we've worked to help build a crowd that will bring in a significant number of Israeli university students from the many universities that our embassy partners with within Israel.
The President's speech I think will focus on the nature of the ties between the United States and Israel, the broad agenda that we work on together on security, on peace, on economic prosperity. And I think he'll have a chance to speak to the future of that relationship, so discussing not just the nature of the challenges that we face today, but where the United States and Israel are working to move together as we head into the future of the 21st century.
Following that speech, later that night, the President will be hosted at a dinner by President Peres. And President Obama was honored to present President Peres with the Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian honor, last year at the White House. Now he is very much looking forward to having a dinner with President Peres and a broad range of prominent Israeli leaders at the state dinner at the President's residence. And then, that will conclude the program on Thursday.
On Friday, the President will begin his day by going to Mt. Herzl, where he will lay a wreath at both the graves of Herzl and Rabin, speaking, of course, to the significant contributions that both of those huge figures in Israeli history and Jewish history -- to their contribution.
Following those wreath-layings, he will visit Yad Vashem and tour Yad Vashem, and have a chance to lay a wreath and make remarks there, of course, marking the very somber and powerful history of the Holocaust. The President was able to travel there previously in 2008 as a senator and was very deeply moved by that experience, and it's an important opportunity to once again mark that particular tragic element of our shared history.
Following the visit to Yad Vashem, the President will travel to Bethlehem where he will tour the Church of the Nativity. Both Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity are obviously very important sights in the West Bank -- important to the Palestinian people, also important to Christians in the region and around the world. And so it will be a very powerful experience for the President to be able to have the experience of touring the Church of the Nativity and observing firsthand that history and experience.
That will conclude the President's time in Israel and the West Bank.
He will then travel to Jordan. And that afternoon, after he arrives in Jordan, there will be an arrival ceremony. Then he will have a bilateral meeting with King Abdullah. The two leaders will have a joint press conference. Then that night, the President will be hosted at a dinner by King Abdullah. And he will be spending the night there in Amman.
Then the next morning, the President will travel to Petra, which is obviously a sight that the Jordanian people are very justly proud of. And so he'll have an opportunity to see something that is of great value to people all across the region and particularly in Jordan.
And I anticipate an agenda that will cover regional security issues, the situation in Syria, the very significant refugee challenge within Jordan, the Israeli-Palestinian issue and our ongoing support for political and economic reform in Jordan.
One interesting question: Q: I understand that the President was invited to speak before the Israeli Knesset, but instead you guys chose to have the speech at the Convention Center. Can you explain the logic of that decision? I know that Clinton spoke in the Knesset in '94; George W. Bush in 2008. Was this a conscious decision to avoid the Knesset, or was there another explanation?
MR. RHODES: Sure, Josh, thanks for the question. We had discussions with the Israeli government about where the President would speak and they discussed a range of options with us. So, first of all, they were open to a range of options and did not express a strong preference in that regard.
What we told the Israeli government is that the President was very interested in speaking to the Israeli people, and that, in particular, he wanted to speak to young people. We obviously have a deep respect for the Knesset as the seat of Israeli democracy, and in the past, the President, again, has made clear the very significant attachment that we place on the fact that both Israel and the United States are democracy. But you also know that the President, around the world, has often spoken to young people. He spoke to young people, for instance, when he traveled to Cairo. And in this instance, we felt like bringing together an audience of university students from a broad range of partners that our embassy has in Israel would allow him to speak, again, not just to political leadership, who he'll be meeting with on the trip, but to the Israeli public and Israeli young people.
So as we put together the schedule, what you see is a significant amount of time that the President will be spending with Israel's political leadership, a significant amount of time that he'll be investing in some very iconic cultural sites with the Israeli people. But the speech is a moment where he'll be in a room with the Israeli public, and that really was our priority as we thought through what would make the best venue for the speech.
So we're very excited about the crowd that is being put together. We know that it will represent a very broad range of views within Israel. We welcome the fact that Israel has a very broad spectrum of views that's a testament to the democracy and diversity of opinion that exists within Israel. And it will be a very important event on the President's trip.  |
| Meanwhile, in Syria... Posted: 15 Mar 2013 04:45 AM PDT From AP: Last week, the U.N. announced that the number of registered refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq and North Africa had reached 1 million.
On Thursday, Reem Alsalem of the U.N. refugee agency said more than 121,000 refugees registered since then, a jump of more than 10 percent.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres noted that the average number of Syrians fleeing their country every day rose from 3,000 in December to 8,000 in February.
"This represents a staggering escalation," he said in a visit to Lebanon on Thursday. But Syria is claiming that the rebels have - Israeli weapons! Syria's Ikhbariyah TV on Thursday showed pictures of a truck full of weapons and reported that it was captured by the Syrian army.
The weapons included Israeli rockets and pictures were shown of weaponry, military jackets and binoculars.
The truck was reportedly headed to Sbeineh in southern Damascus, when the Syrian army captured it and seized the weapons on board. I couldn't find any photos of "Israeli rockets," and while the article in A lArabiya is sourced to Reuters, I couldn't find it at Reuters either. Meanwhile: Syrian rebels released more elaborate documentation of a Damascus synagogue that was allegedly bombed some two weeks ago by Bashar Assad's forces. The opposition uploaded to Youtube videos showing the damaged synagogue's interior, filming the rubble on the floors and the damage to the rooms. The previous video only showed the exterior of the synagogue. In addition, six more Palestinian Arabs in Syria were killed yesterday, adding to a similar number Wednesday.  |
| "Marmara 2" land convoy stopped - by Arabs Posted: 15 Mar 2013 02:59 AM PDT A convoy of buses going across North Africa to Gaza has been stopped - by Libyan authorities. For three days, the convoy has been halted at the Tunisia/Libya border because the activists do not have visas to travel through Libya. From Anadolou Agency: "Mavi Marmara convoy" carrying medical aid to the Palestinians suffering from Israel's latest attack on Gaza, was blocked at Libyan border gate, Ras Jdir, on Wednesday for activists' lack of visa.
"Mavi Marmara convoy" comprising 11 vehicles, loaded with medical aid for Gaza, faced a visa barrier at Tunisia-Libya border gate, after passing through France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Libyan customs officers told the British, US and Irish citizens in the convoy to return to Tunisia as they couldn't enter the country without visa.
Ihsan Semruh, one of the organizers of the aid convoy, spoke to the accompanying Anadolu Agency correspondent.
"We were totally disappointed with the attitude of Libyan officials. We expected a lot from Libya. We thought Libya would be the easiest stop en route. Aftermath of the revolution, it is really puzzling to witness such a day," said Semruh.
"Coming a long way through Britain, France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia with lots of difficulties, hunger and tiredness, we expect Libyan officials to allow the convoy to pass, loaded with medical equipment collected with several months' efforts, and we hope the aid would reach our Palestinian brothers and sisters safe and sound. This convoy carries a message for lifting of the embargo imposed on Gaza," Semruh also added.
The "Mavi Marmara aid convoy", named after the "Mavi Marmara ship", had departed from Britain on February 25 to breach the Israeli embargo on Gaza. Accompanied by 25 activists in total, the aid convoy consists of 11 vehicles carrying medical aid, toys and computer materials. I found the webpage of the organizers from this photo:
The webpage, however, is riddled with dangerous viruses, so don't go there!
It describes itself this way: We are ordinary every day people that want to do something for the besieged people of Gaza. The team leaders and convoy organisers have participated in many aid convoys so we have plenty of experience in the planning and successful operation of this type of mission. Um, apparently not. The virus webpage is sponsored by the Wightman Road Mosque.  |
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