Free Republic

Judges at the International Criminal Court have ordered the court’s chief prosecutor to reopen for the third time her probe into the May 2010 flotilla incident, during which Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish citizens aboard a naval vessel that was aiming to break the Gaza blockade. Israel has reacted scornfully to the pre-trial chambers’s decision last week to require Fatou Bensouda to reconsider a case that she had repeatedly sought to close due to lack of gravity. One official in Jerusalem said that the court was wasting its limited resources on a frivolous suit in a manner that reflected poorly...

TEL AVIV, Israel, May 9 (UPI) -- Israel's rapprochement with onetime strategic ally Turkey is a vital element in Ankara's drive to become the intercontinental east-west energy hub in the Mediterranean and many expect it to produce an energy alliance that will transform the region. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan has, since taking power in 2002, transformed his country's economic prospects through a wide-ranging diplomatic drive aimed at restoring Turkish leadership in the region. He has long sought to transform Turkey, which has no energy resources of its own, into the unassailable central hub for transporting oil and gas...

Turkish and Israeli officials will meet on Monday in Israel for another round of talks over compensation for a deadly 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a diplomatic source told AFP. "The second round of negotiations will be held in Israel tomorrow," the source said on Sunday, without elaborating. An initial meeting was held in Ankara on April 22 to discuss the amount and the terms of the payment for the compensation by Israel, which Turkey has named as a precondition for normalisation of diplomatic ties. That meeting was the first stage of what Turkish officials have said would...

Nine people were killed aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara after IDF troops encountered violent resistance by “peace activists” when they boarded the ship. The so-called “peace activists” were armed with an assortment of weapons. They threw stun grenades and beat the Israeli soldiers with pipes and chains. The ship failed to comply to Israeli commands before it was boarded. The terrorists planned the surprise attack on the Israeli troops in advance. This weekend Secretary of State John Kerry compared the Boston Marathon victims to the dead Mavi Maramara terrorists. Israel National News reported, via Israel Matsav: Speaking at Istanbul, Turkey,...

A day after Israel apologized to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara incident, its Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday that he will visit Gaza. “I may eventually visit Gaza and the West Bank in April. This visit would take place in the context of a general effort to contribute to the resolution process,” Erdogan told reporters, according to a report in the Turkish daily Hurriyet. Hamas’s Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, had already announced on Friday that Erdogan would visit Gaza in the near future, the report said. Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu had confirmed that "Recep Tayyip...

National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror confirmed on Saturday night that the situation in Syria was the main reason for Israel’s apology to Turkey for the Mavi Marmara incident. “The Middle East has changed,” he told Channel 2 News. “Between us and Turkey there is a state with chemical stockpiles that may get into hostile hands and Turkey has an interest to prevent this from happening, as does Israel.” Amidror claimed that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s phone call to Turkey did not come as a result of U.S. pressure. "There was no American pressure,” he said. “It was our idea. We...

TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- An Israeli civil rights law firm Tuesday came out strongly against Turkey's decision to try former Israeli military chiefs for the deaths of nine activists. Shurat HaDin -- Israel Law Center said the Turkish government and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, not four former Israeli military chiefs, should be held responsible for the activists' deaths aboard the Turkish boat Mavi Marmara boat. In May 2010, Israeli commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara, which was part of a flotilla seeking to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, after the ship's crew ignored calls to re-route...

The Arab Ra’am party came under fire on Thursday over the State Comptroller’s report, which found that the faction used public taxpayer funding to pay for engraved plaques, which it awarded to six terrorists who took part in the assault on IDF soldiers on board the Mavi Marmara. The 5,000 shekel payment was placed under the item for "expenditures for maintaining contact with the party's supporters and voters," according to a State Comptroller report on Knesset members' expenditures which was released earlier on Thursday. The faction is represented by MKs Ibrahim Sarsour and Masoud Ghanayem, and constitutes half of the...

Talk about the enemy using our freedoms against us. This Muslim owned hotel is openly exploiting our 14Th Amendment. Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSAxAj2KIdU “Flotilla Passenger: “I Want to Be a Shahid (Martyr)”” Video description - quote: idfnadesk — June 03, 2010 — In footage captured on the Gaza flotilla a passenger describes how he has attempted in previous convoys to become a martyr and that “god willing” he will succeed on this flotilla. The Gaza flotilla passengers had presented themselves as peace activists who would not act violently against Israeli forces, however this provides further evidence to the contrary. In the early hours of the 31st of May 2010, IDF soldiers boarded the ships of the “Free Gaza” Flotilla, after the ships...

SNIPPET: "Free Palestine Movement, Reporters with Borders say plan to send ship carrying dozens of activists, European MPs to Gaza as early as next weekend" SNIPPET: "The Turkish-owned Mavi Marmara ship and the Irish-owned Rachel Corrie ship are not alone: Two non-governmental Lebanese organizations announced Saturday that the plan to send an aid vessel of their own to the Gaza Strip as early as next weekend. In a press conference in Beirut, the Free Palestine Movement and Reporters without Borders organization announced that the ship, which will be carrying humanitarian aid, will include passengers interested in expressing their solidarity, as...