Cameron: Sychophant Or Just Ignorant?

Last week on his trip to Turkey, British Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron said in his specch:

"The Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla was completely unacceptable... the situation in Gaza has to change. Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp."

Whilst this may just be a severe case of sucking-up to his Islamist hosts, it is deeply disturbing that Cameron would even go to these lengths to delegitimise Israel in the Arab world.

First he portrays Israel as the "attackers" in the flotilla incident, completely ignoring the fact that the activists attacked first, and the soldiers had to fight back in self-defence only once their lives were in danger. Worse, Cameron condemns Israel's actions in the flotilla, whilst not addressing the links between the Turkish PM Erdogan and his government, and the radical Islamic Turkish "charity", the IHH, whose members were the main cause of violence on the Mavi Marmara. Nor did he mention the links between the activists and terrorism. Or question the "moderate"* Erdogan's support for a flotilla of terrorists whose sole aim was to breach Israel's security blockade and lynch Israeli soldiers or die trying. (*Erdogan has also praised the Sudanese President and war-criminal Omar al-Bashir, which the Guardian seems to like).

Cameron also did not address why Israel needs a security blockade in the first place, why they would want to prevent the smuggling of weaopns into Gaza, and prevent would-be suicide bombers waltzing into Israel at will. How even though over 10,000 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza over recent years, Israel still transfers over 15,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid into the strip every week, with the amount and variety of goods increasing all the time. Despite the fact that Gilad Shalit has been held in Gaza for over four years, denied Red Cross visits, his condition unknown.

Worst of all, whether Cameron actually believes that Gaza is a "prison camp", or whether he was just saying it to appease the Turks, the assertion smacks of antisemitism and is an insult to the people who died in the camps during the Holocaust, to the survivors of the camps, and to the millions of people globally who really are suffering unjustly in prison camps or under similar conditions.

Do prison camps receive 15,000 tonnes of aid a week? Do prison camps have swimming pools, shopping malls, luxury hotels and restaurants, markets?

If anyone is making Gaza a prison camp, it's Hamas, but Cameron does not acknowledge this. How they demolish Palestinians' houses, burn down the childrens' summer camps, bomb internet cafes, ban shops from displaying mannequins or pyjamas, ban women from anything from riding motorcycles to smoking nargila, and murder anyone they see as a "collaborator" or rival.

Cameron now has some major damage control, and it will be interesting to see when he deigns to visit Israel, how he will combine the sucking-up thing with his ignorant Israel-bashing.

Meanwhile, Just Journalism's Executive Director Michael Weiss has written an extensive article examining the links between the Turkish government and the radical Islamic IHH organisation.

Turkey And Islamism

In an interview with the Times today, Turkey's President Abdullah Gul says:

"I consider it very wrong to interpret Turkey's interests with other geographic regions as it breaking from the West, turning it's back on the West or seeking alternatives to the West. Turkey is part of Europe."

However, the Times points out that Turkey's "interests with other geographic regions" includes welcoming Iran's President Ahmadinejad, who both denies the Holocaust and wants to create a Holocaust, by "wiping Israel off the map"; congratulating him on his fraudulent election victory; voting against UN sanctions to try and halt the Iranian nuclear programme; supporting the terrorist organisation Hamas - as "respecting the choice of the Palestinian people in Gaza", and preparing to host Sudan's war criminal President al-Bashir at an Islamic conference until the EU objected. 

On the flotilla incident, for which Turkey is demanding an apology, compensation, and for Israel to agree to an international inquiry into the incident, Gul asks:

"If an army of a state kills your people in international waters, how would you react?" 

The Times though refers to those killed as 'civilians' (at least not 'peace activists') and fails to mention the Turkish government's support for the flotilla and for the IHH, the radical Islamic "charity" that sent the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara - on which there was no humanitarian aid, and many of the activists, with links to terrorism, brutally attacked the IDF soldiers before they even landed on the ship.

So really, the question should be, "If a government-supported flotilla of terrorists and terrorist supporters was going to break your country's security blockade, how would you react? And if they ignored your warnings not to approach, and then stood ready wielding knives and batons, and then attacked and overcame you and your fellow soldiers when you boarded, how would you react?"

The Turkish politicians are not speaking or acting for the secular majority of their population. And if they are, many of those will have been manipulated in their thinking by their government. But there will be many Turks who are opposed to their Islamist government; most will probably be anti-Israel too, but at least opposed to the terror regimes that their government supports.

In an open letter to Turkey's PM Erdogan (on Harry's Place), a Turkish-American Muslim citizen asks:

"Mr Erdogan, do you even care about the ordinary, normal Muslims of your own country and the world? If you do, then why have you successfully established such frightening friendships and contacts with some of the most dangerous and brutal dictators of the so-called Islamic world?"

"These countries need genuine democracies, freedoms, and liberation from Islamism... how do you sleep at night, Mr Erdogan, when you officially invite the genocidal maniac Omar al-Bashir to Turkey... responsible for butchering hundreds of thousands of Muslims. Did it ever occur to you to send some 'humanitarian ships' to Sudan?"

Read the whole letter, it really paints a picture of what Erdogan and his government are doing in Turkey and how it effects the Muslims who yearn for a peaceful, moderate existence in their country.

Gaza News And Latest Flotilla Backlash

Elder of Ziyon highlights that as Israel has increased the amount and variety of aid going in to Gaza, rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel have also increased.

In other news from Gaza, terrorists have, for the second time in two months, burnt down an UNRWA childrens' summer camp, both times handcuffing the camp's guards. Last time they also left behind a note threatening to kill John Ging, UNRWA's Gaza director, and other UN officials.

Ging's reaction was to praise Hamas for their response to the incident, and to seemingly blame Israel for extremism in Gaza, indicating that it is because of the blockade. Melanie Phillips points out that 

"It is Hamas that has to be isolated and defeated if a start is to be made in slowing down the rate of extremism". 

She observes that the view of the UN, Britain, US and EU is that 

"the way to stop more extremism being generated in Gaza is to provide more aid, encouragement and legitimacy to the extremists". 

What they're doing is "supporting the extremism which makes the lives of Gaza's Arabs such a misery" - and then placing the blame on Israel.

One thing Israel can, for once, be rightly blamed for, is Turkey's $400 million loss in the tourism industry due to the holiday cancellations of about 100,000 Israelis. (*thanks to Elder of Ziyon for the link). One Turkish tourism company which expected to bring 17,000 Israelis to Turkey this year, has so far only had 200 Israeli clients, having to pay $1.1 million to hotels for cancelled reservations, and incurring a total loss of almost $2.5 million due to all the cancellations.

Well, what did they expect when their Prime Minister openly supported a ship of extremists who attacked Israeli soldiers, and then accused Israel of war crimes when the soldiers defended themselves - completely ignoring the IDF's video evidence that refutes that.

In a new Just Journalism study, they highlight just how much Israel's footage was ignored by the UK media. They discovered that the Times, Telegraph, and Financial Times gave the footage the attention and detail it merited - and through that, countering the activists' claims that the IDF attacked first. Just Journalism conclude that the Guardian and Independent "severely under-reported" the footage, and when it was mentioned, it was dismissed as Israeli propaganda. But then the Guardian and Independent usually do leave out Israel's side of the story so this comes as no surprise.

Guest Post: Flotilla - A Puppet Pulled By Many Strings

One of the main points in the flotilla incident that is causing such widespread outrage is that it was an aid ship where the battle took place. If it had been a ship of self-proclaimed terrorists the reaction probably would have been the same – although this scenario is unlikely, as terrorists usually like to hide among civilians in civilian clothing... how many of the “civilians” and “peace activists” on the ship were actually terrorists? Apart from the attackers who attempted to lynch and murder Israeli soldiers, we know the name of one – Raed Salach, head of the Islamic Movement in Israel.

But no one talks about that; instead, the running line is that Israel attacked an innocent humanitarian aid ship. Yet they completely ignored Israel's warning against breaching the maritime blockade, knowing that this would result in confrontation. A confrontation started by themselves, as Israel was not prepared for, and did not want to engage in a battle.

Israel allows over 15,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid into Gaza on a weekly basis. Yes, there are restrictions on certain materials such as metal which can be used for Kassam rockets, and concrete to build bunkers for Hamas terrorists. Israel had clearly stated that they were wiling to transfer all of the permitted aid if the flotilla were to simply dock at the Ashdod port without incident. 

So this was not just about the delivery of humanitarian aid. This was about making a political statement. Each organisation with links to the flotilla had plenty to gain from provoking an Israeli reaction. 

It is on the largest ship, the ‘Mavi Marmara’ which had 600 people on board and was sent by the Turkish humanitarian relief fund, where the main clashes occurred. The IHH is a radical Islamic organisation and although it runs legitimate aid programmes across the world, it also provides logistical, economical and moral support to the Global Jihad, Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. It should be noted that the Turkish Prime Minister has been very vocal in his support for the flotilla and there have been indications that Turkey’s ruling party may be jumping on the bandwagon with its loud support for the Gaza flotilla and its huge outcry afterwards in an attempt to boost its standings within the Islamic world, and especially in Turkey where its ratings have taken a slump in the polls. 

Hamas, of course will be milking this political stunt for all its worth and will be very encouraged by the international condemnation which have already started with the call for a lifting of the blockade.  

Foreign Secretary of the UK William Hague:

"The closure (of access to Gaza) is unacceptable and counter-productive. There can be no better response from the international community to this tragedy than to achieve urgently a durable resolution to the Gaza crisis.

"I call on the Government of Israel to open the crossings to allow unfettered access for aid to Gaza, and address the serious concerns about the deterioration in the humanitarian and economic situation and about the effect on a generation of young Palestinians."

And then we of course have the nasty left wing “peace” organization, Free Gaza.

Free Gaza spokesperson Audrey Bomse, has admitted that the main purpose of the Flotilla was to make a political statement and break the blockade – not about delivering humanitarian aid. She claimed that she gave “legal training to everybody on nonviolent resistance” and then plays dumb and claims not to “know anything about the knives and axes or anything”. When pressed on the claims of live fire she says there is “absolutely no evidence of live fire” and that “you see the Israelis coming out of the helicopters shooting”. That’s kind of contradicted by the video footage that is being broadcast by the media worldwide that seems to show Israeli soldiers because beaten with iron bars the second they set down on the boat.

And this video released by the IDF spokesperson show in detail that the weaponry even included stun grenades and fire bombs. 

It is quite evident from this bloody mess that the Palestinian cause has been hijacked by so- called aid organisations and hostile parties in certain Governments to further their own political or ideological agendas. Even the international media are questioning the naivety and stubbornness of these aid organisations' unnecessary and fatal actions. They had only one intention in ignoring Israel’s warning – to initiate the battle – and knew there would be only one outcome – casualties of people who sought martyrdom anyway, resulting in international condemnation of Israel once more daring to act in self-defence, and a PR win for the Palestinian and Arab world.