Free Republic

Here they are, the people the MSM has been calling “peace activists” since the IDF raid on the Gaza flotilla…

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey rallied behind Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his blistering condemnation of Israel after its commando raid on an aid ship to Gaza. But as dust settles from the May 31 attack, Turkey's resurgent opposition seems to be gaining traction by articulating fears that Erdogan is steering NATO's only Muslim member away from the West, jeopardizing EU membership efforts, and even undermining a long-running battle against separatist Kurds. The views of the Republican People's Party — which considers itself a guarantor of secular values and enjoys a power base among Western-leaning urban elites — are increasingly...

Column One: Weathering the approaching storm By CAROLINE B. GLICK 18/06/2010 Israel is endangered today as it has never been before. Israel is endangered today as it has never been before. The Turkish-Hamas flotilla two weeks ago precipitated a number of dangerous developments. Rather than attend to all of them, Israel’s leadership is devoting itself almost exclusively to contending with the least dangerous among them while ignoring the emerging threats with the potential to lead us to great calamities. Since the Navy’s lethal takeover of the Mavi Marmara, Israel has been stood before an international diplomatic firing squad led by...

VIDEO / IHH leader tells Gaza flotilla activists to 'throw IDF soldiers into the sea' New footage released by the Foreign Ministry shows IHH leader Bulent Yildirim rallying dozens of passengers on board the Mavi Marmara as they chant 'millions of martyrs marching to Gaza!' The Foreign Ministry released a new video on Friday in which IHH leader Bulent Yildirim is seen on board the Gaza flotilla's ship the Mavi Marmara, telling dozens of activists to throw Israeli commandos overboard if they attempt to board the ship. "If they board our ship, we will throw them into the sea, Allah...

SNIPPET: "The navy will operate under the assumption that groups of provocateurs are aboard any future ships that try to break the Israel-imposed sea blockade on the Gaza Strip, Deputy Commander of the Navy Rear-Admiral Rani Ben-Yehuda told The Jerusalem Post on Monday."

TEHRAN, June 14 - Iran is sending aid ships to blockaded Gaza, state radio said on Monday -- a move likely to be considered provocative by Israel which accuses Tehran of arming the Palestinian enclave's Islamist rulers, Hamas. One ship left port on Sunday and another will depart by Friday, loaded with food, construction material and toys, the report said. The boats would be part of international efforts to break Israel's isolation of the Gaza Strip. "Until the end of the Gaza blockade, Iran will continue to ship aid," said an official at Iran's Society for the Defence of the...

"What did the President know, and when did he know it?" asked Howard Baker about President Nixon during the Watergate hearings. The carefully planned May 31 ambush of Israeli naval commandos by armed Turkish martyrdom fanatics, in collusion with Jodie Evans of the radical leftist group Code Pink and along with Obama friends Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, raises precisely the same question. Most conspiracy theories are hogwash, but not all of them. Stalinism really was a conspiracy to infiltrate, sabotage, and ultimately conquer the West. It had some spectacular successes, like stealing nuclear secrets from the Manhattan Project, a feat...

The Israeli government is blaming IHH extremists for the violence that erupted onboard the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara when troops boarded it at sea on Monday. In this photo of the ship before setting sail, a white and green IHH banner is draped on the hull, between Turkish and Palestinian flags. (Photo: IHH) The Turkish organization responsible for the ill-fated attempt to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip is part of an Islamic “charitable” network that was designated by the U.S. government in 2008 for funding Hamas, the terrorist group that controls Gaza. Although the State Department points out...

PM Netanyahu: Investigation must include whole picture (Turkey) The world needs to know the whole picture and we will ensure that the whole picture is made public. Address by PM Netanyahu at The Marker Financial Conference Translation (Excerpt) PMO 09/06/2010 www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speechfinancial090610.htm We meet here every year to talk about Israel's economic policies, and I intend to do so today as well. However, before I speak about the economic policies, I would like to briefly touch on a topic on the international agenda. We are consulting with several figures within the international community regarding the appropriate procedure of inquiry that will...

In the aftermath of the Gaza flotilla incident, we have witnessed a tsunami of virulent, over-the-top criticism of the state of Israel for its actions in interdicting the so-called “peace activists” before they could dock at the port of Gaza. Reasonable people can argue whether the decision on the methods used to stop the ships was the correct course for the Israeli government to take. Indeed, there is a healthy debate within Israel itself over this very issue, including questions about intelligence, tactics, and whether the propaganda victory handed to pro-Palestinian activists could have been avoided while still maintaining the...