Ein Gedi Botanic Garden

Ein Gedi Botanic Garden
Seek the serenity of a Judean Desert sky in Autumn at the Ein Gedi Botanic Garden

Monday, May 31, 2010

Close-Up Footage of Mavi Marmara Passengers Attacking IDF Soldiers

Israel Navy Drills Prior to Flotilla Confrontation

It’s Starting: Israeli Gov’t Issues Travel Warning to Turkey

The Israeli government today issued a travel warning to Turkey in response to demonstrations taking place around the Israeli Consultate in Istanbul and the Israeli Embassy in Ankara.

“This delicate state of affairs is liable to deteriorate into violent outbreaks against Israelis in Turkey,” warned the National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau (NSCCTB) in a statement released Monday to the media. “Israelis due to leave for Turkey should — at this stage — refrain from traveling until the situation becomes clear. Israelis currently in Turkey should remain in their places of residence, avoid city centers and sites in which demonstrations are being held, and monitor developments out of concern that the situation could worsen,” the agency warned.

The protests were apparently ignited in response to the confrontation that ensued when a flotilla sponsored by so-called “peace activists” tried to challenge Israel’s sovereignty over Gaza’s coastal waters late Sunday night. 

In actuality, radical Muslim extremists were among those behind the attempt, as became obvious when Israeli Navy personnel attempted to redirect the vessels to the Ashdod port, where their "humanitarian aid" would have been off-loaded for legal delivery through the land crossings into Gaza.

The ships refused to stop, and a confrontation ensued, with Israeli soldiers being forced to board the vessels to take control -- a situation the organizers clearly had hoped for in order to provoke a conflict for media consumption. The so-called “peace activists” had stockpiled a cache of weapons, including guns, daggers, clubs and knives. At least one IDF soldiers was shot and critically wounded. A second was stabbed in the stomach.

Turkey provided material support to the organizers of the flotilla, a move that follows its recent tightening of relations with Iran and Syria in an apparent new alliance that builds on the already-firm axis between Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas.

This latest development forms an updated version of that military axis, which could signal a new threat to the Jewish State -- especially in light of the fact that up to this point Israel shared much of its military information and operations as well as other technological information with Turkey, formerly a close ally.

What Really Happened...

So-called "peace activists" -- actually provocateurs dressed in anarchists' clothing -- have tried once again to challenge Israel's sovereignty over the coastal waters of Gaza, determined by the Oslo Accords decades ago.

It is true that the Palestinian Authority and its supporters have chosen to respect little in connection with that agreement, other than the clauses which the Arab world finds favorable. However, that does not mean the document is any the less legal for all of that, much as some in Israel would also have preferred it never to have been signed.

Since it remains so, it must be respected by all -- including the international bodies that allowed their representatives to act as proxies in challenging Israel's sovereignty.

It does raise the question, however, of whether a burgeoning new axis is forming on the horizon to supplement that of the already cemented alliance between Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Hizbullah and Hamas. Do we now see the emergence of a new one between Turkey, Brazil, Venezuela and Iran as well? And are Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Greece and Cyprus contemplating joining them?

When then should we expect the advent of World War III, and with whom will Britain and France ally themselves this time? Germany, at present friendly to Israel, nonetheless saw its largest bank divest itself from Elbit Systems at the first hint of criticism from a couple of "humanitarian" nongovernmental organizations, one of which is associated with the Catholic Church. Elbit, an Israeli defense firm, provides electronics systems and technical support in the construction of the security barrier in Judea and Samaria -- a project that has saved countless civilian lives (yes, Catholic ones too!), but which the "peace activists" oppose because it upsets the Palestinian Authority.

Good thing the IDF continues to train -- and Home Front Command continues to drill the civilian population each year...