In the immediate aftermath of the massacre aboard the Mavi Marmara on May 31st, 2010, while journalists and activists were detained and isolated from the world, the Israeli government was quick to unleash their own version of events. Like the physical assault on the boat, the Israeli media assault was also reckless, clumsy, malicious, and dangerous. They were cynical enough to understand that first impressions in the mainstream American media are what count, and with this in mind they began to frantically hurl the word "terrorist" in reference to both the victims of their attack, as well as one of the main organizers of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, the Turkish NGO IHH. It is a curious thing that few people asked the Israeli government why they would release "terrorists" that they had in their custody, and even fewer asked for (or received) solid evidence to support this claim. Despite the fact that several courageous journalists both in the US and abroad thoroughly debunked the Israeli account of what happened (this includes deliberately doctored footage along with the libelous accusations of links to terrorism), the damage was done.
Before speakers from the Mavi Marmara were scheduled to speak in New York about what happened on May 31st, local politicians began to put forth the rhetoric of their Israeli handlers, using slanderous language to demonize the victims of Israel's illegal act of war. And most recently, 87 US senators have urged President Obama to launch an investigation of whether or not IHH should be added to the US list of foreign terrorist organizations.
I am a firm believer that actions speak louder than words, and in this spirit I thought it might help to take a closer look at IHH, and judge this group based on their actions, rather than empty words.
IHH began in 1992 as a humanitarian mission to offer relief to victims injured and displaced during the Bosnian war. They have held Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2004, and since becoming a fully-registered NGO in 1995, IHH -- The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief -- has accumulated more than 60,000 volunteers for their grassroots humanitarian efforts in 120 countries all over the world. Since May 31st, the number of volunteers has skyrocketed.
After the attack on the Mavi Marmara, I had an opportunity to ask the vice president of IHH, Huseyin Oruc, about accusations of IHH terror links. While he was not interested in dignifying such claims, he was very emphatic about the transparency of IHH's work over the years, and hoped people would look at their large-scale sanitation and medical missions around the African continent -- including 40,000 cataract surgeries in Sudan alone, clean water projects in Ethiopia- and IHH's extensive work dealing with orphans in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Gaza. While they are an Islamic organization, Oruc told me that IHH refuses to differentiate who receives attention based on religion, race, or political affiliation, and has noted their various projects in South America where Muslim populations are slight.
Their modus operandi is simple and direct. Given the neutrality of their humanitarian mission, IHH has been able to access some of the most inaccessible and dangerous regions of the world to help those most in need. Like most NGOs, this means they must coordinate with local governments in order to reach these populations. So while they must communicate with the Hamas government of Gaza to help civilians there, they must likewise do so with Fatah in the West Bank, Al Shabab in Somalia, the military junta in Myanmar and so on. Oruc was adamant that this did not mean IHH endorses any of those governments, and said that anyone who cared to investigate their work would find nothing other than great successes in helping ordinary people in situations of war, poverty, and natural disasters in places such as Haiti, Indonesia, and even the US in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He also told me people were free to investigate their funding, most of which comes from lower and middle class donors, while the rest is raised through food fairs, auctions for Turkish artifacts, and other cultural events. By its own mandate, IHH is not beholden to any government or business interests.
We must remember that an attack on IHH is an attack on all humanitarian groups around the world. Given that IHH is among the most courageous humanitarian NGOs in the world -- risking their lives to work in places like Somalia, cleaning up American messes in Iraq and Afghanistan -- our politicians should perhaps be thanking them, rather than trying to tarnish their stellar reputation. Thankfully, IHH's track record speaks for itself, as do the actions of their accusers -- a comparison which does not calculate favorably for the Israeli government when asking just who, exactly, the terrorists are.
WATCH a short film by Cultures of Resistance:
Love Boat or Hate Boat? An Interview with IHH from Cultures of Resistance on Vimeo.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/06/08/gaza-blockade-legal-hardly/
I totally agree with you. These videos show the actions better than any words ever could.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwoqGJJltPU&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpPvs3YSE4g&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZlSSaPT_OU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LulDJh4fWI&feature=related
'The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has described Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip as a violation of the Geneva Conventions and called on the Israeli government to lift it.
In a statement released on Monday, the organisation called the blockade "collective punishment", a crime under international law. It described Gaza as a territory plagued by frequent power cuts, a ruined economy, and a collapsed health care system.'
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/201061452646659588.html
And yes there is a humanitarian crisis in gasa,,.,.your effort at Holocaust denial is wasted here.
'To some Israeli observers, it was impossible to miss the parallels between Monday’s killing of pro-Palestinian activists by Israel’s military in international waters, as commandos intercepted a flotilla of ships trying to break the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza, and a seminal event in the Jewish struggle for an independent homeland.'
etc
http://middleeastrealitycheck.blogspot.com/2010/06/israeli-pr-puppetry.html
'. He slowly told an incredible tale.... He looked at Major Leibovich, she said something under her breath*, and he continued. Two friends were shot with live ammunition, he said. 'I saw my friends were on the floor spitting blood'. A buzz went through the auditorium when the audience saw a gun tucked in his back. Television reporters gestured to their cameramen to film the gun. A question that later became the subject of mirth among the audience: Why would he wear a gun to a news conference but not on a commando mission?Were journalists and diplomats more dangerous than six boat-loads of terrorists? But attempts to ask questions were shut down quickly.
etc
My name is Mustafa Abutaha form Khan Younis.
I tell you that Hamas is not deprivng women from riding motorbikes behind men. The is new thing for the people of Gaza. When the government of Gaza does somthing, it does it for the sake of the public. Hamas is not an extremists, it allows girls and women to wear up to their desire. there is no law in the world can force people to wear cetain clothes. The christains are happy with their life in Gaza. They have never and ever comaplin that hamas is restricting them in the way they wear clothes in the streets. Honesly, you are biulind peopole, because we are conservative people. Since fateh was in power women and girls have not chanded theri clothes, but now they are given more freedom, they can wear very tight clothes and tight balck dresses.
You just hate Gaza. I hope you look inot things well.
Life will go on and never can be stopped.
Bye.
I also heard a nice new mall was opening in Gaza as well. Have you gone there yet?
"The IHH was recognized by US federal court papers in its role in a failed bomb plot of Los Angeles International Airport 10 years ago. A CIA report in 1996 classifies the group as having ties to terrorist groups."
"We are deeply concerned about the IHH's role in this incident and have additional questions about Turkey and any connections to Hamas," the letter read. "The IHH is a member of a group of Muslim charities, the Union of Good, which was designated by the US Treasury Department as a terrorist organization. The Union of Good was created by, and strongly supports Hamas, which has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department. We recommend that your administration consider whether the IHH should be put on the list of foreign terrorist organizations, after an examination by the intelligence community, the State Department, and the Treasury Department."
Once designating IHH as a terror group, the Turkish government "will be between a rock and a hard place," Dr. Soner Cagaptay, senior fellow and director of the Turkish research program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington, told Fox News.
"Will it ban IHH, to which it has close ties? Or will it choose to ignore the US designation, doing something quite unfitting a NATO ally, therefore creating a serious rift in bilateral ties?" speculated Cagaptay.
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=181502
Those CIA reports are politically motivated and were manufactured to discredit the IHH. The Israeli government has terrorists in its midst, but the US does not label Israel a terrorist organization. The same can be said about the US. Since most nations won't recognize its designation as terrorist, what will be the point?
Perhaps AIPAC should be designated a terrorist group? Or the Global Warming crowd, eh? Or any two people whose opinions differ from official Israeli policy?
If you were to get your news from credible sources, you would see that the IHH mentioned in the CIA document is a German organisation with the same initials. It has a different name, and was founded by totally different people in a totally different location. Turkish IHH has sued them for trademark infringment, and even published ads in Turkish newspapers in Europe to deny any direct or indirect connections. All this was all years before the flotilla attack.
The German IHH being a member of the Union of Good is also a baseless claim. It is Israel who has put this claim forward, but they do not have a single shred of evidence to support it.
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/Hebrew/heb_n/html/hamas_105.htm
English readers can enjoy pages 10 to 14 in this report:
http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Publications/WP2006/DIIS%20WP%202006-7.web.pdf
etc
http://www.fair.org/blog/2010/07/16/nyt-ties-turkish-group-to-%E2%80%98terrorism%E2%80%99-by-mixing-it-up-with-a-different-group/
NY Times once again slaughters professional journalism when it comes reporting news about Israeli conflict. Cries of outrage are emerging from media groups who have severely criticized NY Times report (Sponsors of Flotilla Tied to Elite of Turkey, July 15, 2010) falsely accusing Turkish charity IHH, which organized the Gaza freedom flotilla, for having links with terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and for being banned in Germany. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR.org) has accused NY Times of poor reporting by confusing the Turkish charity IHH with a separate German entity banned in Germany. This distinction between the Turkish IHH and the German IHH is recognized by Germany and other major media organizations like The Financial Times and Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Even the Israeli Defense Forces acknowledged that Turkish IHH has no links to al-Qaeda after being challenged by independent journalist Max Blumenthal. Yet, this irresponsible and unprofessional journalism will be music to the ears of pro-Israeli groups eager to demonize Turkish IHH and the Free Gaza movement.
Read more about the FAIR report at:
http://www.fair.org/blog/2010/07/16/nyt-ties-turkish-group-to-‘terrorism’-by-mixing-it-up-with-a-different-group/
Write to NY Times condemning their shabby journalism.
Link to NYT report:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/world/middleeast/16turkey.html
Have you ever read their correspondent, Isabel Kerchner? She can't even begin to hide her pro-Palestinian bias.
I wrote protesting her reporting on one particularly egregious article, it was so bad the NYT actually revised the online version within an hour.
Talk about missing the forest for the trees - the association with the German IHH is less than 10% of the article. The rest is talking about the Turkish IHH - and you would do well to read it with an open mind:
"When leaders of the charity returned home after nine Turks died in the Israeli raid, they were warmly embraced by top Turkish officials."
.
"But critics say such statements belie the close connections between the party and the charity, as well as the extent to which Turkish officials were closely attuned to the details of the flotilla’s mission before its departure.
“How can such a large country as Turkey, with interests in four continents, and with an export- and investment-driven economy requiring extra caution all around the globe, be dragged to the brink of war by a nongovernmental organization?” asked Semih Idiz, a columnist for the Hurriyet Daily News in Turkey, in a June 7 editorial. The answer, he added, is that the charity is a “GNGO” — a “governmental-nongovernmental-organization.”
Many of the 21 people listed on the charity’s board have or had close links to the AK Party. In January, Murat Mercan, chairman of Parliament’s foreign affairs committee and a senior party official, joined an overland aid convoy to Gaza organized by the charity that tried to force its way through the Rafah crossing from Egypt to Gaza."
Hamas, the Islamic militant group that overran Gaza three years ago, has banned women from riding motorbikes — mostly impoverished women riding behind their husbands on cheaply bought Vespas. Teenage girls are pressured by their Hamas-loyal school teachers to cover up in loose robes and headscarves.
Deliberately breaching blockade is an act of aggression that put the ship, crew, and passengers in danger.
"This is silly," said Haya Ahmed, a 29-year-old accountant who said she has smoked water pipes for 10 years. "We are not smoking in the streets but in restaurants, where only a few people can enter."
She predicted the ban would actually make water pipes more tempting for rebellious young women. "Everything forbidden becomes desirable. The decision will lead to more smokers," Ahmed said.
Plainclothes officers frequently stop couples walking in the streets, demanding to see marriage licenses. Some residents say they have been interrogated, even beaten, on suspicion they are gay or had extramarital sex.
Six young men told The Associated Press that they were all harassed by plainclothes agents who demanded they move away from women they were walking with, because they weren't married. One man said he was detained and slapped around.
Human rights activist Subhiya Juma said she is aware of hundreds of similar cases.
An Internet cafe owner said he was ordered to ban women from his establishment last year after another plainclothes agent saw women smoking inside. Two other Gaza cafe owners said they asked men and women to sit at separate tables to avoid harassment by Hamas police.
Furthermore, I do not understand your conclusion: "We must remember that an attack on IHH is an attack on all humanitarian groups around the world." Why? Why is it an attack on all NGOs who don't have any controversy surrounding them to point out the controversies with the IHH? If any of the accusations against the IHH are true, they, in fact, are the ones who harm all humanitarian groups around the world.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/blackjack12/slandering-the-good-guys_b_649604_54090205.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/blackjack12/slandering-the-good-guys_b_649604_54090136.html
"A 2006 report by the Danish Institute for International Studies described the group as a front for funding terrorist organisations and sending Mujahidin to fight in countries such as Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya.
The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre (ITIC) — an Israel-based NGO with close ties to the country’s military — does not dispute the IHH’s legitimate philanthropic activities, but it says it is an overt supporter of Hamas, branded by Israel, the EU and US as a terrorist organisation. The ITIC says it has evidence that the IHH has helped to provide weapons and funds for Islamic terrorist groups in the Middle East."
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that some security officials believed there was a link between the ship, which was purchased for the trip by the IHH, and Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK).
The IHH had been unable to charter a ship for the risky voyage, and had resorted to buying the Mavi Marmara for €900,000 (£750,000); money it said it had raised from its members in Turkey. It also bought the 10,000 tonnes of aid intended for Gaza, including electric wheelchairs and pre-fabricated houses."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article7142977.ece
'The Times also relays the Israeli talking point that "the group has links to Al-Qaeda," despite the fact that independent journalist Max Blumenthal (MaxBlumenthal.com, 6/3/10) forced the Israeli Defense Forces to retract that false claim.'
By far the largest part of the claims against IHH stand.