WAR 07/11: Aid ship heading for Gaza, not el-Arish "The Perfect Storm"

[The Flying Dutchman]

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Aid ship heading for Gaza, not el-Arish, voyage promoter says

Jul 11, 2010, 13:02 GMT
www.monstersandcritics.com[/b]​

Tel Aviv - A ship which left Greece Saturday afternoon carrying aid for the Gaza Strip will head for the Israeli-blockaded territory and not to the Egyptian port of el-Arish, as reports have said, the director of the foundation behind the voyage said Sunday.

'Our intention, as stated, is to sail to Gaza and we hope that everyone does want to allow the ship to get there,' Youssef Sawani, Executive Director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Association, told Israel Army Radio.

Reports Saturday said the Moldovan-flagged, Greek owned ship, the Amalthia, would sail to el-Arish, on the coast of the Sinai peninsula, after Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman discussed the matter with his Moldovan and Greek counterparts.

Although Israel has relaxed its four-year-old siege of the Gaza Strip and now allows in most civilian goods and products, the enclave is still under naval blockade as Israel attempts to ensure no weapons, or materials used in weapon-production, reach the Islamist Hamas movement.

On Saturday night, Israeli officials said the ship, whose voyage was commissioned by the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Association, headed by Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the second- born son of the Libyan leader, would not be allowed to dock in Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who called the voyage 'an unnecessary provocation,' said the ship should sail for el-Arish, or for the Israeli port of Ashdod, where its merchandise would be checked before being sent to the Strip.

Sawani denied to Army Radio that the voyage was a 'provocation against anyone, or a public relations exercise with a political motive, but 'a humanitarian mission' undertaken by a charity organization with peaceful aims.'

The Amalthia is expected to arrive off Gaza or el-Arish early Wednesday morning. Aid aboard the ship includes cartons and sacks of wheat, flour, maize, rice, sugar, olives, tomato paste, milk and vegetable oil, all of which has been donated by Greek companies and charities.

Also on board the 92-metre vessel are a crew of of 12 from Haiti, India and Syria, under the command of a Cuban-born captain. Nine supporters and activists are also on board, all from Libya except for one Nigerian, one Algerian and one Moroccan.

The voyage comes six weeks after Israeli intercepted a six-ship flotilla bound for the Strip. While five of the ships were boarded peacefully, nine activists were killed by Israeli commandos on the sixth, the Turkish Mavi Marmara.

The Israeli seizure of the ship caused an international outcry, and led to increased calls to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip, which Israel imposed after Palestinian militants staged a cross-border raid and snatched an Israeli soldier, who is still being held in the enclave.




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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Sunday, July 11, 2010, 13:38

Israel pledges to stop aid ship

www.irishtimes.com​

Israel will not allow an aid ship sent by a Libyan group to reach Gaza, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said today, just over a month after Israeli commandos killed nine activists in a raid at sea.

"I say very clearly, no ship will arrive in Gaza. We will not permit our sovereignty to be harmed," Mr Lieberman said on Army Radio, referring to Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas Islamists.

The Moldovan-flagged Amalthea, renamed Hope , left Greece on Saturday bound for Gaza on a trip organised by a charity chaired by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. The group said the ship was carrying some 2,000 tons of food and medicine and complied with international rules.

Organisers said the vessel, with 12 crew and up to 10 activists on board, would head for Gaza but go to Egypt's port of El-Arish instead if banned from reaching its destination in a voyage expected to take between 70 and 80 hours.

"I hope very much that common sense will prevail and the ship will go to El-Arish, or that it will obey the Israel Defence Forces and eventually go to [Israel's port of] Ashdod," Mr Lieberman said.

Israel's blockade of the coastal strip has been under closer international scrutiny since it sent commandos to raid an aid flotilla on May 31st, killing nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists. Israel said those troops acted in self-defence after passengers attacked them with metal rods and knives.

Israel said yesterday it had contacted Greek, Egyptian and Moldovan authorities to make sure the latest ship, chartered by the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, would not attempt to reach Gaza.

The United Nations says the blockade has led to a humanitarian crisis for the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million people, of whom about one million depend to some extent on regular supplies of UN and other foreign aid.

Following the international outrage caused by its raid on the aid flotilla, Israel eased the land blockade of the enclave and set up an inquiry into the incident.




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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Israel says won't let Libyan aid ship reach Gaza

Sun Jul 11, 2010 11:40am GMT
af.reuters.com​

JERUSALEM July 11 (Reuters) - Israel will not allow an aid ship sent by a Libyan group to reach Gaza, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday, just over a month after Israeli commandos killed nine activists in a raid at sea.
"I say very clearly, no ship will arrive in Gaza. We will not permit our sovereignty to be harmed," Lieberman said on Army Radio, referring to Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas Islamists.

The Moldovan-flagged Amalthea, renamed Hope, left Greece on Saturday bound for Gaza on a trip organised by a charity chaired by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. The group said the ship was carrying some 2,000 tons of food and medicine and complied with international rules.

Organisers said the vessel, with 12 crew and up to 10 activists on board, would head for Gaza but go to Egypt's port of El-Arish instead if banned from reaching its destination in a voyage expected to take between 70 and 80 hours.

"I hope very much that common sense will prevail and the ship will go to El-Arish, or that it will obey the Israel Defence Forces and eventually go to (Israel's port of) Ashdod," Lieberman said.

Israel's blockade of the coastal strip has been under closer international scrutiny since it sent commandos to raid an aid flotilla on May 31, killing nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists. Israel said those troops acted in self-defence after passengers attacked them with metal rods and knives.

Israel said on Saturday it had contacted Greek, Egyptian and Moldovan authorities to make sure the lastest ship, chartered by the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, would not attempt to reach Gaza.

Youssef Sawani, executive director of the Libyan charity, said before the Moldovan ship left Greece that its mission was peaceful and its sole goal was have its humanitarian cargo delivered to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"It's not to make an event or a show in high seas or somewhere else," Sawani said.


Israel says the blockade is needed to keep arms from Hamas.

The United Nations says the blockade has led to a humanitarian crisis for the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million people, of whom about 1 million depend to some extent on regular supplies of U.N. and other foreign aid.

Following the international outrage caused by its raid on the aid flotilla, Israel eased the land blockade of the enclave and set up an inquiry into the incident.

(Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Additional reporting by Reuters TV in Lavrio and Lefteris Papadimas in Athens; Editing by Peter Graff)




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[The Flying Dutchman]

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reference: Channelnewsasia


Libya aid boat eyes Gaza landing as Israel issues warning

AFP July 11, 2010 8:57 AM
www.canada.com​

JERUSALEM, July 11, 2010 (AFP) - Israel on Sunday vowed to prevent a Libyan aid ship from running the Gaza blockade after it appeared to be heading for the besieged enclave despite a flurry of diplomatic efforts to divert it to Egypt.

"Israel will not let the boat reach Gaza," minister without portfolio Yossi Peled told Israel’s public radio a day after the 92-metre (302-foot) freighter Amalthea set sail from the Greek port of Lavrio, south of Athens.

Allowing vessels to reach the Hamas-run Gaza Strip without being checked would have "very serious consequences" for Israel’s security, he said.

There was confusion over the ship’s destination on Sunday — with organisers saying it was staying the course for Gaza, despite diplomatic reassurances from Greece that it was headed for the Egyptian port of El-Arish.

"We are heading for Gaza. We will not change direction," Mashallah Zwei, a representative of the Kadhafi Foundation, a Libyan charity, told AFP by satellite phone from on board the Amalthea.

He insisted the foundation was not seeking "a confrontation or a provocation," when asked about the risks of a repeat of an Israeli naval raid on an aid flotilla on May 31 that killed nine Turks.

Zwei said the ship was currently "close to Crete" and would likely reach Gaza in about two days.

Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the attempt to reach Gaza, which has been subjected to an Israeli naval blockade for the past four years, was an "unnecessary provocation."

"The goods can be transferred to the Gaza Strip through Ashdod port after being checked," a statement from his office said late on Saturday.

"However, we will not allow the entry of arms, weapons or anything which will support fighting into Gaza. We recommend that the organisers either let the ship be escorted by navy vessels to Ashdod port (in southern Israel) or that is sails directly to the port of El-Arish" in Egypt.

Barak’s office had earlier said the defence minister spoke with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and asked "if Egypt would agree to accept the boat at the port of El-Arish."

It was not immediately clear if Egypt had acceded to Barak’s request but the ship’s agent and the Greek foreign ministry had on Saturday assured Israel that the Moldova-flagged vessel, chartered by a charity linked to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, was heading for El-Arish.

The Kadhafi Foundation, headed by Seif al-Islam Kadhafi, the son of the Libyan leader, insisted however that the ship, loaded with 2,000 tonnes of foodstuff and medications and a crew comprising six Libyans, a Moroccan, a Nigerian and an Algerian, had not changed its course.

"The ship is heading toward Gaza as planned," executive director Youssef Sawan told AFP by telephone from Tripoli, saying the mission was "purely humane."

His comments were backed up by Arab Israeli parliamentarian Ahmed Tibi. "The ship is heading into Gaza as originally planned," said the MP who is in touch with the charity.

Israel’s top diplomat Avigdor Lieberman has been talking with his counterparts in Greece and Moldova in a bid to encourage the Amalthea to call off its mission, a statement from his office said.

"The foreign ministry believes that due to these talks, the ship will not reach Gaza," it said.

Last month’s disastrous Israeli naval assault provoked a major diplomatic crisis with Ankara and unleashed a torrent of international criticism.

Global pressure over the incident has since forced Israel to significantly change its policy on Gaza, and now it only prevents the import of arms and goods that could be used to build weapons or fortifications.

Israel had even approached UN chief Ban Ki-moon with a request asking the international community "to exert its influence on the government of Libya" to prevent the ship from going to Gaza, media reports said.

Jordanian activists and trade unionists, meanwhile, said they plan to head to Gaza overland on Tuesday through the Egyptian border carrying aid relief and medical supplies.

Last month, Egypt banned a group of Jordanian trade unionists from Gaza through its Rafah crossing, saying they had failed to give prior notice of their arrival.




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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Libyan Vessel to Defy Israel Over Gaza Aid Shipment

July 11, 2010, 6:59 AM EDT
By Henry Meyer and Gwen Ackerman
www.businessweek.com​

July 11 (Bloomberg) -- A Libyan ship carrying humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip is heading to the coastal territory, an organizer of the aid shipment said, as Israel vowed to stop the vessel from reaching its destination.

“It’s definitely heading for Gaza,” Youssef Sawani, the executive director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, which is mounting the operation, said in a telephone interview from Greece today. The charity is headed by Saif Al-Islam Qaddafi, son of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.

Nine pro-Palestinian activists from Turkey were shot dead May 31 after Israeli commandos raided a flotilla of aid ships trying to breach the embargo of Gaza. Israel loosened its restrictions on the shipment of goods into Gaza by road in the face of international criticism over the operation in international waters. Israel maintains a naval blockade of Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that the Libyan aid ship will not be allowed to reach the Hamas- controlled Gaza Strip. Lieberman spoke on Army Radio today.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who yesterday called the Libyan ship “an unnecessary provocation,” said there was no need to breach the embargo. “Goods can be transferred to the Gaza Strip through the Ashdod port and that is after going through a check,” he said today in an e-mailed statement. “We will not allow arms, weapons or materials that can be used for military purposes to enter Gaza.”

Contradictory Reports

The Associated Press reported yesterday that the Moldovan- flagged cargo ship Amalthea was bound for the Egyptian port of El-Arish and not Gaza as originally planned. The agency cited Greek authorities.

“This is part of the disinformation campaign,” Sawani said, referring to the report. The vessel departed at around 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) yesterday from the Greek port of Lavrio, southeast of Athens, and will take about 70 to 80 hours to reach Gaza, he said.

“We hope that the international community and all parties concerned will make every effort to support us,” said Sawani. “This is not an attempt to provoke aggression; this is not a propaganda attempt. This is purely humanitarian.”

The ship is carrying about 2,000 tons of food and medicine, along with a number of people who “decided to participate in display of their support and solidarity with the people of Gaza and their plight under siege,” said the charity, which is based in Tripoli.

International Crew

In addition to 15 volunteers -- all from Libya except for a Nigerian and one Moroccan -- the ship has a crew of 12 from Cuba, Haiti, India, and Syria, according to AP.

Israel’s Cabinet agreed June 20 to ease the blockade and on July 5 the government announced its guidelines for imports into Gaza, allowing in all foods and limiting the shipment of construction materials to goods used in internationally monitored projects. Materials that may have a military application such as weapons, diving equipment, parachutes and lasers are restricted.

Palestinians, backed by the UN and human-rights groups, say restrictions on food imports and construction materials have created a humanitarian crisis. Israel denies that such a crisis exists, saying it restricts imports of building materials to Gaza because they can be used to build rockets, bunkers or bombs.

Israel said it issued numerous warnings to the Gaza-bound flotilla on May 31 to change course for the port of Ashdod and unload there. It said its soldiers were attacked with knives and clubs and seven were wounded, including by gunfire, after people aboard one of the ships managed to grab Israeli firearms. Activists said they threw the firearms into the sea and that the Israelis instigated the violence. The Cabinet on June 14 approved a public probe into the raid.

Gaza Offensive

Israel launched a three-week military offensive in Gaza in December 2008 that it said was meant to stop the firing of rockets by Hamas and other Palestinian militants into its territory. More than 1,000 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the conflict.

More than 400 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza into Israel since the end of the 2008 military operation, killing one foreign worker in March, the Israeli army said.

Israel has been blockading Gaza since Hamas seized full control there in 2007 after winning Palestinian parliamentary elections the previous year. The Islamic group is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union and Israel.

Israel says the blockade is necessary to prevent arms smuggling into a territory ruled by Hamas, which refuses to recognize the Jewish state or any agreements signed with it.

Hamas leaders say they will renounce violence when Israel withdraws from territory occupied in 1967 and allows Palestinians to return to areas in Israel from which they fled in 1948.



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[The Flying Dutchman]

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reference:
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=181067
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/07/11/gaza.gadhafi.flotilla/index.html?hpt=T2

Aid organizer says ship still trying to reach Gaza

The Associated Press
Date: Sunday Jul. 11, 2010 8:47 AM ET
www.ctv.ca​

CAIRO, Egypt — The organizer of a Libyan charity ship bound for Gaza says it's still en route to the Palestinian territory despite reports it would divert to a nearby Egyptian port.

Youssef Sawani, executive director of Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, which mounted the aid operation, says the ship has 70 hours to reach Gaza.

He says the Mouldovan-flagged Amalthea is currently near the Greek island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea. He spoke to The Associated Press from aboard the vessel on Sunday.

Sawani says they don't "want to cause any provocation" with Israel and only wants to reach Gaza to deliver 2,000 tons of food and medical supplies.

The ship sailed from mainland Greece on Saturday evening. The Greek foreign ministry said it would head to Egypt.



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[BoatGuy]

Well, Dutch... It would appear that things have changed again, since last night.

I still think they're going to peel off at the last second. Maybe they'll let themselves be boarded and turned around. But, I doubt that... Too much chance of getting killed. If they DO let the Israeli's board them, I wonder if they will take paintball guns, this time. I doubt it...

Thanks, again.

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

Well, Dutch... It would appear that things have changed again, since last night.

I still think they're going to peel off at the last second. Maybe they'll let themselves be boarded and turned around. But, I doubt that... Too much chance of getting killed. If they DO let the Israeli's board them, I wonder if they will take paintball guns, this time. I doubt it...

Thanks, again.

Boatguy;

The "Brinksmanship!" Will... IMHO. Be the match which sets that whole region ablaze! Will it be this time? - Or will it be the next one, which will cause the coming war to erupt?

Boatguy, all I do is report the news that I am finding.

But I gotta tells ya pard! This stuff sure doesn't do my pucker/anxity factor any good.


Dutch


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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Sanctions for Iran must be backed by a military threat

By CHARLES S. ROBB and CHARLES WALD
July 11, 2010​

When President Barack Obama signed into law tough, new legislative sanctions against Iran last week, he capped a month of new measures against that country's nuclear program.

Earlier in June, the Obama administration achieved a new round of U.N. Security Council sanctions, and the European Union declared plans to adopt additional sanctions in July. This activity, the culmination of months of political and diplomatic negotiations, is welcome. Absent a broader and more robust strategy, however, sanctions alone will prove inadequate to halt Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Congress' Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act targets companies that sell, transport and insure gasoline to Iran, as well as financial institutions with ties to Iran's nuclear program. We agree that ratcheting up pressure on Iran through all means available is essential.

And yet, as CIA Director Leon Panetta recently conceded, these measures alone "probably" won't be enough to thwart Iranian nuclear ambitions.

Similarly, even many supporters of the new U.S. law acknowledge that without multilateral participation and enforcement, Iran will continue to evade many of these new U.S. restrictions and acquire gasoline, albeit at higher cost, from suppliers and middlemen beyond the reach of U.S. law. Indeed, the U.N. sanctions do not prohibit selling Iran gasoline.

Even if they could put enough pressure on Iran to force a policy change, sanctions require time to have an effect. Yet as Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium grows, the time for stopping its nuclear program rapidly dwindles. As we wrote in our just-released Bipartisan Policy Center report on Iran, two scenarios become increasingly likely in the coming months:

First, current trends suggest that Iran could achieve nuclear weapons capability before the end of this year, posing a strategically untenable threat to the United States. Contrary to a growing number of voices in Washington, we do not believe a nuclear weapons-capable Iran could be contained.

Instead, it would set off a proliferation cascade across the Middle East, and Iran would gain the ability to transfer nuclear materials to its terrorist allies.



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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Turkey hits north Iraq

Published Date: July 11, 2010​

ARBIL: Turkish warplanes yesterday bombed sites in northern Iraq, wounding one civilian and damaging property, Iraqi officials said. A man was wounded in the remote village of Sidakan in Arbil province located near the borders with Turkey and Iran, Mayor Ahmed Qader said. The bombing occurred at 3 am and hit five sites, according to PUKMedia, the website of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

Turkish jetfighters violated Kurdistan region airspace ... and bombed border villages and hills," it said. "The bombardment caused panic among the residents of the area and big material damage to citizens' farms and livestock." Turkey has conducted a number of aerial raids on what it suspects are PKK sites in recent weeks after the rebels called off a 14-month one-sided truce on June 1 and stepped up attacks on army targets.

The strikes could not be immediately confirmed with the Turkish military. Witnesses in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir said they heard military planes take off about 2 am. Separately, two PKK fighters were killed in the Turkish province of Van late on Friday after they refused to surrender to security forces, Turkish officials said on condition of anonymity.

The PKK took up arms against Turkey in 1984 in a bid for an independent Kurdish homeland. They have since scaled back their demands to greater political and cultural rights for Turkey's estimated 14 million Kurds. More than 40,000 people, mainly guerrilla fighters, have died in the conflict. Most PKK fighters are based in northern Iraq, which is run by the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The central government in Baghdad and the KRG have both protested the bombings as a violation of Iraqi s
overeignty.

Meanwhile, Turkey has asked Iraq, the United States and Iraq's Kurdish administration to hand over nearly 250 Kurdish rebels operating from rear bases in Iraq, the Hurriyet daily reported yesterday. The list of 248 includes rebel commanders such as Murat Karayilan, Cemil Bayik and Duran Kalkan, and Ankara wants the handover to be "as soon as possible," the newspaper said, quoting unnamed senior Turkish officials.

Turkey has also mooted a joint military operation "if necessary," Hurriyet said. "The net is tightening," an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. According to experts, there are some 2,000 Kurdish rebels holed up in northern Iraq from where they stage attacks on Turkish territory. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - considered a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community-has been waging a 25-year-old campaign for Kurdish self-rule that has claimed some 45,000
lives. - Agencies



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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Iranian politician says military group is corrupt

Opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi says Revolutionary Guards making profits from sanctions against Iran

AFP
Published: 13:59 July 11, 2010
gulfnews.com
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The Revolutionary Guards regularly shrug off international sanctions imposed on Iran for its defiant nuclear programme.Image Credit: APTehran: Opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi said that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards backs sanctions against Tehran as they make "astronomical profits" from the punitive measures.

"I believe that part of the Iranian rule, as well as the Revolutionary Guards, are in favour of sanctions as they make gigantic and astronomical profits from them," Karroubi was quoted as saying on opposition website Rahesabz.net.

The Guards regularly shrug off international sanctions imposed on Iran for its defiant nuclear programme, with some top commanders expressing a willingness to take on projects abandoned by Western companies, including in the energy sector.

Karroubi, who steadfastly opposes the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, again blamed the hardliner for the latest sets of sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union and the United States.

"Imprudence in (Iran's) foreign policy and the lack of political sanity in the actions and political and diplomatic words of the man in charge of the government have imposed high costs on the country," the reformist cleric said in a direct attack on Ahmadinejad.

"We should not give an excuse through shallow words and bungling actions and allow others to easily impose sanctions against Iran," the website quoted Karroubi as saying on Saturday at a meeting with families of detained opposition members.

Iran is under four sets of UN sanctions for its sustained pursuit of a nuclear programme, which has been imposed since Ahmadinejad first became president in 2005.

Western governments however suspect Iran's nuclear programme is a cover for a weapons drive, something Tehran has repeatedly denied, maintaining it is aimed solely at power generation and medical research.

Karroubi, along with Iran's other main opposition leader Mir Hussain Mousavi, continues to level accusations that Ahmadinejad's re-election last year was the result of a massive vote-rigging.




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[SNOWSQUAW]

holy cow. these posts deserve the beacon icon! this is how wars start IIRC.... too much military on opposite sides in close proximity... then one mistake and oops! we have a war...

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

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Now! an 'Beacon' is required:




Israeli navy on alert as Libyan aid ship heads for Gaza

Foreign minister warns that vessel carrying activists and supplies will not be permitted to break Gaza blockade

Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 11 July 2010 16.11 BST​

A Libyan ship carrying aid and activists is heading for Gaza in a mission that Israel has described as an "unnecessary provocation".

The Israeli navy is monitoring the vessel's progress and preparing to intervene if it continues on a course to Gaza.

"I say very clearly, no ship will arrive in Gaza. We will not permit our sovereignty to be harmed," the foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said in a radio broadcast.

The ship, Amalthea, sailed from Greece at the weekend. It is carrying up to 15 activists and 2,000 tonnes of food and medicine, according to the organisers, a charity chaired by a son of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

The new attempt to break the naval blockade of Gaza comes six weeks after the Israeli navy's lethal interception of a flotilla, in which nine Turkish activists were killed. The assault prompted a wave of international condemnation and resulted in Israel agreeing to ease its blockade of Gaza.

However, it is strictly maintaining its sea blockade, saying it fears that any relaxation could lead to arms being shipped to militants in Gaza.

The Amalthea's captain was quoted as saying: "I haven't received any instructions to change the ship's original course. I am sailing to Gaza." The crew were expecting to reach Gaza on Wednesday.

"We hope the Israelis will not ban the ship from entering the port of Gaza," Youssef Sawani, director of the Libyan charity organising the trip, told Reuters.

"If they decide to do so we have no means to object to that. This is a peaceful mission. Our sole goal and intention is to have the goods delivered to those who need it. It is not to make an event or a show in high seas."

Israel has made intense diplomatic efforts to ensure the Amalthea does not approach Gaza.

Greece, from where the boat sailed, Moldova, under whose flag the boat is operating, and Egypt all agreed the Amalthea should be directed to El-Arish in Egypt, where its cargo would be unloaded, inspected and transferred to Gaza, Israeli officials said.

Gabriela Shalev, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, wrote to the secretary general Ban Ki-moon, saying: "This mission is completely unwarranted ... We are deeply concerned that the true nature of its actions remains dubious."

She urged the international community to exert influence on Libya "to prevent the ship from departing to the Gaza Strip".

A spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry said: "We are concerned about another political provocation. Libya is not a country that is heading efforts to protect human rights."

Israel claims it has the right under international law to prevent ships violating its naval blockade on Gaza.

The Israeli military is keen to avoid another confrontation at sea. "Everyone hopes this will be dealt with diplomatically," a spokesman said.

An investigation into the 31 May assault on the flotilla, commissioned by the Israeli military, has been completed and non-classified excerpts are expected to be made public this week.

The inquiry, which was restricted to examining the military preparations for dealing with the flotilla, is expected to be critical of intelligence, planning and co-ordination.

A broader investigation, the Turkel commission – instigated by the Israeli government – has begun examining the circumstances surrounding the flotilla's interception, although it is not expected to report for several months.

Postmortems into the nine activists killed on board the Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, may be published this week. Initial reports suggested that some of the dead had multiple gunshot wounds.

The assault on the Mavi Marmara led to a serious breach in diplomatic relations between Israel and it regional ally, Turkey. The Ankara government has insisted on an apology and an international investigation, without which it has threatened to sever ties.



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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Ahmed Qureia: Situation in Jerusalem is a time bomb


Published: 07.11.10, 17:48 / Israel News
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3918201,00.html ​

Former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Sunday that "the situation in Jerusalem is a time bomb."


Speaking at a conference on the political process in Jerusalem Qureia added, "If things go on this way no one will accept Israel's unilateral activities: Expansion of settlements, razing of homes, release of prisoners and their arrest and deporation from Jerusalem. All of this affects the mentality and trust between the sides." (Ronen Medzini)




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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Hizbullah claims list of Israeli targets to hit in next war

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
07/11/2010 17:41
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=181087 ​

BEIRUT — A senior official with the militant Hizbullah group stated on Sunday that they have a list of military targets inside Israel to hit in any future war.

Hizbullah commander in South Lebanon, Sheik Nabil Kaouk, made his comments in response to this week's release by Israel's military of maps and aerial photographs of what it described as a network of Hizbullah weapons depots and command centers in South Lebanon.

Kaouk told the state news agency that Israel's release of the information came on the anniversary of "Israel's defeat" in the 2006 war in which Hezbollah battled Israel to a stalemate.



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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Netanyahu: Only US military threats can stop Iran from making nukes

By David Edwards
Sunday, July 11th, 2010 -- 10:44 am
rawstory.com​

Diplomacy and sanctions won't stop Iran from building a nuclear warhead, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"There has only been one time that Iran actually stopped the program," Netanyahu told Fox News' Chris Wallace Sunday. "That was when it feared US military action."

The prime minister agreed with CIA Director Leon Panetta that sanctions would "probably not" stop the Iranians.

But Netanyahu wouldn't say whether he had discussed military action with President Barack Obama.

"I'm not going to get into the confidential discussions, and I'm not confirming anything of the sort but I am saying that the president's position that all options are on the table might actually have the only real effect on Iran if they think it's true," he said.



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[TerryK]

Turks bomb Kurds in Iraq

What are we doin about it since we basically control the airspace over Iraq? Are we just stepping aside and letting the Turks in to bomb the Kurds? That was one of the big PR moves that we originally seen over and over on the MSM when they were trying to show us how bad Sadam was.

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

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19:23 16.03.10

Israel's Titanic moment: Does Obama want Bibi's head?

With Hamas at the gates of J'lem, the U.S. has begun to treat the Netanyahu gov't as if it were Hamas.

By Bradley Burston
www.haaretz.com​

JERUSALEM - Hamas has designated this day, in this place, its Day of Rage. Why, then, the smiles on the faces of Mahmoud Zahar and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

Perhaps it's because after more than 22 years of costly trial and error, Hamas has finally come upon the secret of how to bring down the Jewish state:

Let the ship sink itself.

This month, down here in the engine room of the Titanic, a single coherent order continues to sound from the officers shrouded in fog on the bridge: "More power!"

To the delight of Mahmoud Zahar and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Israel's homemade weapons of mass destruction - pro-settlement bureaucrats with conflicts of financial and ideological interest - have done in one meeting what Israel's foes have sought for generations: driving a stake through the heart of Israel's relationship with the White House. We should have known. But in the swamp of anomaly and impossibility that is Jerusalem, you can easily lose sight of, and belief in, the basics:

One of the curses of endless war, is the tendency to become one's own worst enemy - in every sense.

Forget, for the moment, the parallels with Iran. Forget, also, that Ahmadinejad would like nothing more in life than to focus Muslim anger and Western displeasure on Israel's policies in Jerusalem.

Consider, instead, that with Hamas literally at the gates, Israel is not only doing the Islamic Resistance Movement's bidding - Washington is beginning to relate to the Netanyahu government as if it were Hamas.

Israelis woke on Tuesday to an Army Radio report that George Mitchell had abruptly cancelled his scheduled visit to Israel, and that the U.S. Mideast envoy would not resume his discussions with Jerusalem until Israeli leaders agreed to three conditions set by Washington - an uncomfortably familiar echo of the U.S. position on contacts with Hamas.

One focus of debate in Israel was the question of how an insulted and incensed Obama administration preferred to see the imbroglio turn out. Specifically, is the president after Benjamin Netanyahu's head?

Judging from the administration's responses thus far, it appears far more likely that what the president would like to see laid low is not the Netanyahu government's head, but rather the part that often verbally functions as its butt end - specifically Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party and Interior Minister Eli Yishai's Shas.

In the current Israeli political constellation, these two men, and these two parties - a volatile alliance of ultra-secular Russian-born immigrants and ultra-Orthodox sabras with roots in the Muslim world and the Mediterranean - are the effective veto both to the peace process as a whole and to a settlement freeze of any substance.

They represent a total of 26 of the 61 Knesset seats needed for a Netanyahu majority. More crucially, they are the primary roadblock to the entry of the centrist Kadima party, which at 28 seats is larger even than Netanyahu's ruling Likud.

Obama, whose math and history skills are as good as anyone's, knows both that Israeli government concessions are a near-monopoly of the center-right Likud. It is thus reasonable to assume that the president would like to see a Netanyahu-led coalition anchored by Kadima and Labor, whose 68-seat cushion could allow for the inevitable resignations of "rebel" Likud backbenchers.

For the time being, however, Lieberman and Yishai are enjoying the kind of shadenfreude that Hamas, for its part, has been trying not to make obvious. All three are the beneficiaries of a campaign by rightist Israeli activists which has seen trouble-making become a goal in its own right.

The Holy City, meanwhile, has the held-breath wariness of a fuse whose end had been lit, but whose other end was not in sight. For some on the right, there was evident relish in the situation, and not a little pride.

In one of the more remarkable, and ill-advised, editorials in its 77-year history, the Jerusalem Post poured oil on the smolder this week, rewriting Jewish history and tradition to declare that the newly dedicated Hurva synagogue in the Old City, "symbolizes, perhaps more than any other site, the Jewish people's yearnings to return to its homeland."

The piece is an extraordinary example of internal logic, and an indirect confirmation of fundamentalist Islamic fears of hopes to encroach on the Muslim shrine of Al Aqsa for the ultimate purpose of building a third Jewish Temple. Referring to the literal meaning of the Hurva, the editorial goes on to state that "To name something that is built a 'ruin' reveals a stubborn unwillingness to accept the present reality as unassailable."




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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Ben-Porat: Iranian missile, ammo convoy headed to Syria

By JPOST.COM STAFF
07/11/2010 18:44
www.jpost.com​

Mordechai Ben-Porat the former minister and chairman of the Center for the Heritage of Babylonian Jewry announced on Sunday that he had received reports that a convoy of heavy trucks carrying ammunition and missiles were headed from Iran to Syria by way of Iraq.

Ben-Porat said that he had received the information from personal contacts located in the city of Irbil in northern Iraq. According to his sources, 75 trucks were in the convoy heading from Iran to Syria.

"All the while, the authorities in Iraq are turning a blind-eye and sitting on their hands," Ben-Porat said in a statement.




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[denfoote]

Note to Israel.

Sink 'em.
Sink 'em all.
Sink 'em now!!

 

[Jeffrey Thomason]

What are we doin about it since we basically control the airspace over Iraq? Are we just stepping aside and letting the Turks in to bomb the Kurds? That was one of the big PR moves that we originally seen over and over on the MSM when they were trying to show us how bad Sadam was.

The Turks are not indiscriminatly bombing Kurds, they are attacking the PKK, which is internationally (and by the US) recognized as a terrorist organization.

 

[Caplock50]

If that Libyan 'aid' ship really is on a peaceful mission; then why aren't they doing it peacefully?

I am going from, 'locked and loaded' to ' locked and cocked'...and looking for a good barber shop...

 

[Housecarl]

Posted for fair use....
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jGEWsx1oiN_Auq_jIRpz10B4zPGA

Angry residents trap police in Golan Heights building

(AFP) – 3 hours ago

JERUSALEM — Hundreds of Druze residents of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights surrounded a building in the main town of Majdel Shams on Sunday, trapping inside policemen for several hours, police said.

The 10 policemen were searching for "criminals" inside the building, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, adding that reinforcements were called in who negotiated with the crowd and community elders to end the standoff.

Rosenfeld said he was unaware of any injuries, but Israeli media said several of the residents were hurt when police used tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd.

"Tear gas was used only in the beginning to calm down the crowd," said Rosenfeld.

Rosenfeld said the operation was not political.

Israel captured the strategic Golan Heights plateau from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and unilaterally annexed it in 1981. Damascus has repeatedly demanded its return as a non-negotiable condition for peace.

More than 18,000 Syrians, mostly Druze, are left from the Golan's original population of 150,000. The vast majority of the Druze in the Golan have refused to take Israeli citizenship.

Followers of a breakaway sect of Islam concentrated in Israel, Syria, and Lebanon, the Druze are not considered Muslims by most of the Islamic world.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

[Housecarl]

Syrian TV was claiming that 3 IDF soldiers were captured....

Posted for fair use....
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/138539

Police Freed in Majdal Shams

by Maayana Miskin
Follow Israel news on Twitter and Facebook.

Police who entered the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan on Sunday evening found themselves surrounded by a hostile mob. Several officers were holed up in a local building at about 8:00 P.M. as additional troops worked to control the mob and free them.

The officers were rescued after a lengthy struggle. Rioters dispersed at 9:20 P.M. Police attributed their dispersal to officers' determination, but others said the standoff's sudden end may also have reflected villagers' desire to see the final game in the World Cup soccer series, which began at 9:30 P.M. The officers were escorted out of the building by respected members of the community.

The standoff began when thousands of local residents attacked the officers with stones and other objects as they searched a building.

Fearing for their lives, the officers made contact with their superiors, who told them to enter a home in the village and shut themselves in. The officers did as they were told, and for more than two hours were trapped inside a room with weapons drawn as the mob laid siege to the building.

Large police forces were rushed to the area, and began working to quell the riot. Ambulances were ordered not to enter the village while riots continue, due to safety concerns. Instead, they waited on a main road as police worked to restore order.


(IsraelNationalNews.com)

 

[Woolly]

Thanks, Dutch. Things ARE getting interesting!

Woolly

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

If that Libyan 'aid' ship really is on a peaceful mission; then why aren't they doing it peacefully?

I am going from, 'locked and loaded' to ' locked and cocked'...and looking for a good barber shop...

Heh! Cappy, I went to "Max pucker factor" aleady. With the reported 75 trucks loaded w/munitions and rockets going into Syria (IMO) the stage is now set.

As for the hair cutt?

LOL I have been cutting mine for many years now. Do as good a job as the barber - and the cost is right to.

Now the "pregnant" silence is almost breath taking, as we wait and watch things develope. Kind of reminds me of one of those "ole time westerns" this waiting does.

Dutch


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[Amberglass]

were headed from Iran to Syria by way of Iraq.

According to his sources, 75 trucks were in the convoy heading from Iran to Syria.

"All the while, the authorities in Iraq are turning a blind-eye and sitting on their hands," Ben-Porat said in a statement.

I have to wonder why the US military in Iraq didn't do anything to stop this?

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

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Libyan aid boat stays on course for Gaza

By Middle East correspondent Anne Barker

Updated 15 minutes ago​

Israeli forces could be set for another ugly confrontation on the high seas as another aid ship tries to break the blockade in Gaza.

The cargo ship Amalthea set sail from Greece with 2,000 tonnes of food and medical aid destined for Gaza.

Its voyage has been sponsored by a charity run by the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

But Israel is demanding the crew divert to its southern port of Ashdod, or even Egypt.

As well as a small group of activists on board there are 12 crew who had hoped to arrive in Gaza within days.

Israeli minister Daniel Hershkovitz has made it clear it will not be allowed in.

"Israel hasn't changed its policy and its policy is very clear. No ships will allow to arrive at Gaza," he said.

Instead, Israel has offered to transfer the aid itself after inspection at the Israeli port of Ashdod, just north of Gaza.

It has sought the help of Greek authorities, who say they believe the ship is now heading to Egypt.

But Youssef Sawani, the executive director of Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, says they are not changing course.

"I think the Israelis need to understand that we are not provoking any kind of action, we are not in military action; we are a peaceful organisation, humanitarian organisation," he said.

Since the deadly flotilla raids in May which killed nine Turkish activists, Israel has relaxed its blockade on Gaza.

It has now agreed to allow most foods and consumer goods in for the first time in three years.

But a naval blockade on unauthorised shipping remains in force.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says this will prevent weapons making it into Gaza.

"We are doing what is needed to prevent weapons, missiles and rockets entering Gaza out of concern for the security of Israeli citizens."

There are two separate inquiries into the fatal flotilla incident under way in Israel.

One, being carried out by the Israeli Defence Force, is due to publish its findings today.

But despite the overwhelming criticism of Israel, it is not expected to lay any blame on the soldiers who took part.

Tags: relief-and-aid-organisations, world-politics, israel, libya, palestinian-territories



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[The Flying Dutchman]

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12 Syrians wounded in fierce clashes with Israelis in Golan -- Israel Radio

Military and Security 7/11/2010 9:05:00 PM
www.kuna.net.kw​

DAMASCUS, July 11 (KUNA) -- Violent clashes broke out on Sunday in the Golan town of Majdal Shams and the local residents held three Israeli soldiers, the State-run Syrian Television reported.

The television said the troops surrounded the town and tried to free the three soldiers who were held inside a house in the town.

The violence flared up when the troops tried to levy fees. They burst into the house of a local resident, Mohammad Al-Shaer, but three of the soldiers were captured and held by angry Syrian residents.

Earlier, the Syrian television said the town, one of four mainly-Durze towns dotting the mountainuous region, was under siege by the Israeli forces, backed by gunship helicopters roaring across the skies over the hill-top town.

In a broadcast monitored in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Israel Radio said 12 Syrians were wounded in the violence in the Golan today. They were injured when the angry Arabs attacked an Israeli security force in Majdal Shams.

The radio station said the Arab residents attacked the Israeli troops who were raiding a location in the town, showering the troops with stones.
The Israelis called in reinforcements and hurled tear gas in the director of the protesting Syrians, the radio said.

Israel captured the Syrian heights in the 1967 war.

Natives of the town, who hold Syrian citizenship, had engaged in violent clashes with the Israeli forces several times in the past.

(pickup previous) tk.rk KUNA 112105 Jul 10NNNN



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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Dare I say it?


Israeli troops besiege Golan town -- Syrian TV

Military and Security 7/11/2010 8:48:00 PM
www.kuna.net.kw​

DAMASCUS, July 11 (KUNA) -- Hundreds of Israeli troops are surrounding the Syrian Golan town of Majdal Shams with gunship helicopters hovering overhead, the state-run Syrian Television said on Sunday.

The television reported earlier that natives of the town clashed with the troops and took three of them "as prisoners." Israel captured the Syrian heights in the 1967 war.

Natives of the town, who hold Syrian citizenship, had engaged in violent clashes with the Israeli forces several times in the past.

(pickup previous) tk.rk KUNA 112048 Jul 10NNNN




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[blueridge]

Clearly, the agenda is NOT merely to deliver 'aid' to the Palis, but to seek active confrontation with Israel.

They may well have their wish granted...something to put in the be careful what you wish for bin.

 

[Housecarl]

7/11/10 Blasts at 2 sites in Uganda kill at least 30-Somalia's al-Shabab(AQAM) blamed
Housecarl

 

[Be Well]

Very hard - painful - to read. Wow.

Things would not be at this pass if it were not of 0thugga, IMO. The Muslims are emboldened.

(Cap - why the haircut? BTW, DH cuts his own with a buzzer and two mirrors, outside, usually pretty even!)

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

Very hard - painful - to read. Wow.

Things would not be at this pass if it were not of 0thugga, IMO. The Muslims are emboldened.

(Cap - why the haircut? BTW, DH cuts his own with a buzzer and two mirrors, outside, usually pretty even!)

I don't know about Cappy; but I keep mine short enough to not hang down in my face. I learned long ago and far, far away. That one doesn't 'need' long hair interfering with their eye sight. (BTDT) sudden flickering of one's hand to get the hair out of their face is an 'insitintive reflex'

And SUDDEN movements are a NO NO! If one wishes not to attract attention to themselves.


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[Caplock50]

My cutting of my hair is a signal. I promised everyone here years ago that if and when I felt that the time for shooting had arrived, I'd post a picture of myself clean shaven and closely cropped. You see I'm on a fix income and I've been using the hair cut money for other things...and my hair and beard have grown quite long, as you can see by my avatar. And when the time for shooting gets here, I'll 'clean up' for the exact reason Dutch said, and because short hair collects a lot fewer 'bugs'.

My word is my bond; I'll keep my promise if at all possible. If I come on here and say I'm getting a hair cut, you'll know I'm also squeezing down on Marlene's trigger.

 

[Be Well]

Thank you for the explanation, Caplock. DH is always a short hair guy, about an inch and a half, and he cuts it. (Of course in the winter he has to wear a neckwarmer and hat!)

 

[Caplock50]

Heh, I *have* to wear a hat all the time...I'm going bald on top....