Turkey in Cyprus vs. Israel in Gaza

Delingen af Cypern siden 1974.

Tyrkiet har kritiseret Israel for deres adfærd i Gaza, men hvad har Tyrkiet i bagagen fra besættelsen af det nordlige Cypern?

 

• Tyrkiets invasion af juli-August 1974 indebar brug af napalm og frygt blandt cypriotiske græske landsbyboere, ifølge Minority Rights Group International.
• Den efterfølgende besættelse af 37 procent af øen udgjorde en “tvungen etnisk udrensning” i henhold til William Mallinson i en netop offentliggjort monografi fra University of Minnesota. I modsætning hertil ønsker man at beskylde de israelske myndigheder for etnisk udrensning i Gaza.
• Den tyrkiske regering har sponsoreret hvad Mallinson kalder “en systematisk politik for kolonisering” på tidligere græske land i det nordlige Cypern. Tyrkiske cyprioter udgjorde  i 1973 omkring 120.000 personer. Siden da har mere end 160.000 borgere i Republikken Tyrkiet afviklet i deres land. Ikke et eneste israelsk bisættelse forblev i Gaza.
• Ankara kører sine besatte zone så stramt, at Bülent Akarcalı, en senior Tyrkiet politiker siger, “Det nordlige  Cypern reguleres som en provins i Tyrkiet.” Mens det er Israels fjende, Hamas, der styrer i Gaza.
• Tyrkerne har oprettet en autonom zone kaldet “Den Tyrkiske Republik Nordcypern”, mens indbyggere i Gaza reelt har selvstændighed.
• En mur gennem øen holder de fredelige grækerne ud af det nordlige Cypern. Israels mur udelukker kun palæstinensiske terrorister.

kilde: Turkey in Cyprus vs. Israel in Gaza.

Lækkede spionchefer angrebsplan mod Iran?

Israels premierminister, Benjamin Netanyahu, har givet ordre til en undersøgelse af påstået lækkede oplysninger af planer om et israelsk angreb på Irans omstridte atomfaciliteter, skriver den britiske avis The Guardian.

Iran er en seriøs trussel mod Israel, da Iran ikke anerkender Israel som zionistisk stat. Altså en stat med et jødisk grundlag. Men har Iran ikke et muslimsk grundlag? Og hvad er der er vejen med et stat med muslimsk grundlag? Intet. Danmark og de europæiske lande har et kristent grundlag og hvad er der i vejen  med det ? Intet. Men når et land har et jødisk grundlag, så er det et problem for Iran og enkelte andre grupper, fx mange marxister, PFLP, DFLP.

kilde: JP & Information

Jennifer Lopez aflyser koncert i NordCypern

På det seneste har flere musikere været under pres og aflyst koncerter i Israel herunder Elvis Costello og the Gorillaz, mens andre musikere spiller deres musik med en besked om, at de ikke er politiske, herunder Missy Elliot, Metallica, Ozzy Ozbourne, Elton John og Rod Stewert.

Baggrunden for aflysninger er pres fra politiske grupper, der kritiserer Israels politik især efter Tyrkiets kritik på det seneste. Men det kan også virke den modsatte vej. Nu viser det sig, Jennifer Lopez aflyser en koncert på det tyrkisk besatte NordCypern efter pres fra grækkerne i det sydlige Cypern. Nordcypern har været besat af Tyrkiet i 36 år.

“Around 200,000 people, Greek and Turkish Cypriots, were displaced in the 1974 war and ethnic conflict which started in 1963”
“Lopez ‘would never knowingly support any state, country, institution or regime that was associated with any form of human rights abuse,’ a statement on Lopez’s website says”

kilde: csmonitor & Haaretz

Flotilla facts

Ligesom der er negativ kritik af Israels Flotilla-aktion, er der også de, der mener, at det internationale svar er overdrevent og derfor er der opstået flere hjemmesider, der borer i Israels respons, da det er den, der er under anklage. Klippe/klistre fra flotillafacts siger

• Israel transfers about 15,000 tons of supplies and humanitarian aid every week to the people of Gaza.
• Lawyers representing the family of Gilad Shalit, the kidnapped Israeli soldier held in isolation, had asked the protestors to take aid for him, they refused.
• Israel offered the ship to dock in Ashdod port and they would transfer the aid to Gaza. This offer was made again and again – they refused.
• Israel has said that it will deliver any humanitarian aid that was in the boats to Gaza, as it does daily.
• Israel left Gaza in hopes of peace in 2005 and in return received more than 10,000 rockets and terrorist attacks. Israel has sought peace and compromise with its neighbors for all of its 62 years and it will continue to do so.
• Israel maintains a maritime blockade to ensure that weapons are not brought in by Hamas to use in attacks against Israel.
• “We fully intend to go to Gaza regardless of any intimidation or threats of violence against us, they are going to have to forcefully stop us,” said one of the flotilla’s organizers.
• In the past, terrorist sympathizers have used aid deliveries to smuggle items like potassium nitrate in sugar sacks and used it to make bombs. Israel cannot afford to let goods get to Hamas unchecked.
• Five boats were boarded, the protestors complied and they were safely let to shore.
• One boat – the Mavi Marmara – did not comply. That is the boat where the violence took place.
• This was meant to provoke – it was funded and organized by a Turkish Islamist organization (IHH) that has links to fundamentalist jihadi groups. The ship was flying under the Turkish flag.
• Those on board carried out pre-planned violence, armed with knives and metal bars, each soldier being attacked by a mob of a dozen extremists. They threw one soldier off the top deck of the ship.
• The Israeli government maintains that allowing the illegal flotilla to reach Hamas would have opened a corridor of smuggling of weapons to Gaza and resulting in civilian deaths.
• Using the Arabic term ‘intifada,’ Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said “We call on all Arabs and Muslims to rise up in front of Zionist embassies across the whole world.
• As the flotilla made its way to meet him in Gaza, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said this week: “If the ships reach Gaza it is a victory; if they are intercepted, it will be a victory too”.
• Turkey permitted the Marmara to fly under its flag. Turkey knew that the IHH (Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation) had organized the Flotilla, and supports the genocidal terrorist organization Hamas, several Jihadist organizations in Bosnia, Syria, Iraq, Libya, and elsewhere, and has ties with Al Qaeda. But Turkey did not prevent the Flotilla from disembarking and attacking Israel’s sovereign right to protect itself from terrorists attempting to enter Gaza. Now Turkey is condemning Israel for the unfortunate casualties, and is leading the charge to condemn Israel at the U.N. It is Turkey that should be condemned by the United Nations for its role in this brutal trap set for Israelis.
• Hamas is responsible for the suffering of both Palestinians and Israelis. Their racist charter calls for Islamic domination; their stance is unchanged and they repress any Palestinians that try and counter their regime.
• Any police force in the world would respond to aggression; the provocation is the reason for this regrettable outcome. No country would allow illegal entry of any vessel into their waters without a security check.

Is the blockade lawful?

The usual nonsense about International Law is being posted all over the internet in relation to Israel’s enforcement of the naval blockade of Gaza.

Here are a few points of Law to give you some background (it’s all taken from “The Commander’s Handbook on the Law Of Naval Operations” (US Department of Defense, 1 Jul 2007).

BLOCKADES ARE LEGAL

“The belligerent right of blockade is intended to prevent vessels and aircraft, regardless of their cargo, from crossing an established and publicized cordon separating the enemy from international waters and/or airspace.” (Section 7.7.1.)

ISRAEL CAN ENFORCE THE BLOCKADE IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS

“Attempted breach of blockade occurs from the time a vessel or aircraft leaves a port or airfield with the intention of evading the blockade, and for vessels exiting the blockaded area, continues until the voyage is completed.” (Section 7.7.4.)

IT DOESN’T MATTER THAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE “HUMANITARIAN AID”

“Neutral vessels and aircraft engaged in the carriage of qualifying relief supplies for the civilian population and the sick and wounded should be authorized to pass through the blockade cordon, subject to the right of the blockading force to prescribe the technical arrangements, including search, under which passage is permitted.” (Section 7.7.3.)

ISRAEL HAS EVERY RIGHT TO BOARD AND EVEN CAPTURE THE BLOCKADE RUNNERS

“Neutral merchant vessels and civil aircraft are liable to capture by belligerent warships and military aircraft if engaged in any of the following activities:

– Resisting visit and search

– Carrying contraband

– Breaching or attempting to breach blockade

– Violating regulations established by a belligerent within the immediate area of naval operations…

Neutral vessels or aircraft attempting to resist proper capture lay themselves open to forcible measures by belligerent warships and military aircraft and assume all risk of resulting damage.” (Section 7.10)