Ships from Turkey with humanitarian aid for Gaza denied right to sail, flags removed

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

04/27/24 1:32 PM ET


Ships with an aim to sail from Turkey to Gaza with humanitarian aid have been denied the right to sail, according to The Associated Press. “On Thursday afternoon, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition was contacted by the Guinea Bissau International Ships Registry (GBISR), requesting an inspection of our lead ship – Akdenez,” the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group behind the ships, said in a Saturday press release.

“This was a highly unusual request as our ship had already passed all required inspections; nevertheless, we agreed,” the release continues. “The inspector arrived on Thursday evening. On Friday afternoon, before the inspection was completed, the GBISR, in a blatantly political move, informed the Freedom Flotilla Coalition that it had withdrawn the Guinea Bissau flag from two of the Freedom Flotilla’s ships, one of which is our cargo ship, already loaded with over 5000 tons of life-saving aid for the Palestinians of Gaza.”

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition also said in the release that “without a flag, we cannot sail” and accused Guinea-Bissau of being “complicit in Israel’s deliberate starvation, illegal siege and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.”

Last week, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) confirmed to The Hill that it will work with the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) to get humanitarian aid to Gaza by way of the sea.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/international/4626240-gaza-humanitarian-aid-ships-turkey-denied-right-sail-flags-removed/

[LauraInLA]

1. Does anyone know anything about the Guinea Bissau International Ships Registry?

https://gbisr.com/about-gbisr/

They’re headquartered in Greece.

I’m guessing the fact that the ships were in Turkey caused problems.

[LeftInTX]

2. This group is a bit more than humanitarian aid group. Part of Free Gaza Movement with history of stirring up provocation

They have been there numerous times and it always ends up in trouble.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_Freedom_Flotilla

The AP was quoted on MSNBC: "The Turkish Islamic charity behind a flotilla of aid ships that was raided by Israeli forces on its way to Gaza had ties to terrorism networks, including a 1999 al-Qaida plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport, France's former top anti-terrorism judge said Wednesday."[33]

In June 2012 it was reported that the IHH director Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım is reportedly being investigated by Turkish authorities for allegedly creating a financial partnership with al-Qaeda.[34]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Gaza_Movement

The Free Gaza Movement (FGM) is a coalition of human rights activists and pro-Palestinian groups formed to break Egypt and Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and publicise the situation of the Palestinians there.[1] FGM has challenged the Israeli–Egyptian blockade by sailing humanitarian aid ships to Gaza.[2][3] The group has more than 70 endorsers, including the late Desmond Tutu and Noam Chomsky.

Jeffrey Goldberg wrote that the Free Gaza Movement is "the leading edge of the international campaign to delegitimize Israel and bring about its end as the national home of the Jewish people," and that they are "a hypocritical organization" he argues since they protest Israel's part of the blockade but not the Egyptian blockade of Gaza.[67]

[LauraInLA]

3. Thank you for the context!

[AloeVera]

6. Here is more context. From the other side.

GENEVA (26 April 2024) – UN experts today demanded safe passage for the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, whose ships departing Türkiye will be carrying 5,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid and hundreds of international humanitarian observers to the besieged Gaza Strip. “As the Freedom Flotilla approaches Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza, Israel must adhere to international law, including recent orders from the International Court of Justice to ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian aid,” the experts said.

They issued the following statement:

“Two hundred days into Israel’s siege and genocidal violence, including an unprecedented starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the situation continues to deteriorate. After a 17-year blockade against Gaza, Israel has now created a famine by cutting off the regular supply of water, food and critical goods into Gaza, destroying livelihoods, the food system and civilian infrastructure. Failing to comply with its humanitarian obligations as the occupying power, Israel is also restricting aid, intentionally bombarding humanitarian convoys, and targeting both aid workers and civilians seeking aid.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is a civilian peaceful initiative whose ships departing Türkiye will be carrying 5,500 tons of humanitarian aid and hundreds of international humanitarian observers to the besieged Gaza Strip. Comprising a diverse coalition of human rights activists, including lawyers, doctors, nurses, journalists, parliamentarians and politicians, the convoy aims to deliver life-saving aid directly to the besieged people of Gaza, legitimately challenging Israel's control over the entry of humanitarian assistance. Besieging a civilian population is unlawful.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s demands include an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire, unrestricted access to humanitarian aid, and an end to the illegal blockade of the Gaza strip. The convoy is scheduled for imminent departure.

The Flotilla is a material manifestation of international support for the ongoing Palestinian struggle for freedom and self-determination, and the internationally recognised right to receive humanitarian aid without interference or hindrance. Support for the Palestinian people’s human rights is acute under the current conditions of genocide, domicide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. We are witnessing purposefully induced famine amid the wholesale destruction of homes and hospitals. Disease is quickly spreading because millions of people were forced out of their homes, targeted, maimed or wounded, and left unable to be treated in highly unsanitary conditions, and are now living in makeshift and overcrowded shelters. The level of trauma and distress will impact Palestinians for generations.

Think about how Palestinians are living. And dying.

They deserve all the help the world can give. To deny them even this aid is just further proof that this is genocide.

[iemanja]

9. So they engage in thought crime while delivering humanitarian aid?

and for you that means it's good that people should be denied access to their food? Was there anything on the ship that was dangerous? I don't think so.

[LeftInTX]

11. They have been over there numerous times and it has not gone well. They know Israel will attack it.

They are going with the purpose of provoking an attack and they know it. The flotilla refused to divert to Ashdod and Israel attacked them. They went in with the pretense of "liberating Gazans". Sorry you just don't show up in a war zone like this.

The govt of Turkey has sent aid via the sea. But it has been through the government of Turkey, not this particular group. They're going there to create trouble. This aid could have been sent via the government.

In May 2010, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla tried to breach the maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip but was intercepted by the Israeli Navy. After the convoy refused Israeli Navy orders to reroute to Ashdod, Israeli commandos boarded one of the ships, the Mavi Marmara, which was carrying over 600 passengers. After being met with violent resistance, the commandos opened fire and killed 10 Turkish activists. Ten Israeli soldiers were wounded during the attack.

I remember when this happened.

This is from 2010:

&ab_channel=AssociatedPress

[iemanja]

14. Israel attached the ship in international waters, opened fire

and are surprised some of their soldiers were hurt in the process? What is your view? The IDF should be able to seize any ship and kill anyone they please with no resistance?

[LiberalArkie]

17. It worked when it involved the U.S.S. Liberty

[LeftInTX]

20. Are you familiar with Code Pink? They're behind it. They are not a humanitarian organization.

They're gonna be on the boat. They're rabble rousers. I don't consider vandalizing Nancy Pelosi's house to be "humanitarian"

Two ships are designated for activists, while a third, currently docked in Turkey’s Iskenderun, will carry 5.5 tonnes
Ship is not going to take the maritime corridor that other humanitarian aid groups take

Watch the video with the captain here:
https://www.tiktok.com/@medeabenjamin/video/7361560525366611246

They have been doing this for years and their ship always gets diverted and then they get arrested. The diversion is the PR . But by all means don't look beyond the headlines....

I'm not defending Israel, but do you think it's smart to go into a military zone is a good form of protest? Turkey refused to let them sail under their flag, so they tried to sail under Guinea-Bissou's flag. However, Guinea-Bissou dropped their flag.

Maybe they will get another flag and try again.

Here is Code Pink at Nancy Pelosi's house

&ab_channel=CODEPINK

Code Pink activist arrested over ‘bloody handprints’ protest at Nancy Pelosi’s home
The activist cited in February for smearing red handprints on Nancy Pelosi’s garage in protest of her support for Israel’s war in Gaza has been arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism.
https://sfstandard.com/2024/03/22/code-pink-activist-arrested-over-bloody-handprints-protest-nancy-pelosis-home/

Two ships are designated for activists, while a third, currently docked in Turkey’s Iskenderun, will carry 5.5 tonnes of humanitarian aid.
The sources told MEE that Turkish officials are wary of the flotilla entering Israeli maritime waters, fearing further complications in bilateral relations.

The Turkish government believes it has made significant efforts to end the conflict, including imposing limitations on exports to Israel that could support its defence industry during the ongoing war, the sources pointed out.

The Turkish foreign ministry has not responded to MEE’s questions regarding the planned flotilla
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-freedom-flotilla-determined-sail-istanbul-gaza-break-israel-siege

Gaza aid flotilla plans to challenge Israeli blockade, organizers say
The United States had warned its citizens not to participate in the missions, and offered “very little assistance” when American activists on the flotillas were detained and then deported by Israel, she said
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/21/gaza-aid-flotilla-turkey-israel/

Flotilla Activists Hope to Bring Aid to Gaza — Or Spark a ‘Political Crisis’

ACTIVISTS ARE PLANNING to lead a flotilla of ships to Gaza, amid Israel’s ongoing siege. They’ll transport 5,500 tons of desperately needed food and supplies from Istanbul to the Palestinian territory, where famine looms.

The activists don’t necessarily expect to make it there. They hope they do. But in the event that Israel blocks them, boards them, and detains them — or worse — they hope their efforts will inspire international outcry and put more pressure on Israel to end its war in Gaza and blockade around the territory.

“Obviously, first and foremost, the objective is to get the aid in, but as a secondary matter, this could really provoke a diplomatic or political crisis,” Dylan Saba, an attorney at Palestine Legal participating with the Freedom Flotilla, tells Rolling Stone. “We have hundreds of internationals [who could be] either subjected to violent assault or unlawfully kidnapped in international waters and detained by the Israelis.”
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/gaza-flotilla-aid-crisis-1235010724/

They're risking their lives sailing to Gaza. CNN went aboard one of the ship
It's about sending a political message
From the captain: It's about sending a message
"If someone dies, it's a gain for us"
Ship is not going to take the maritime corridor that other humanitarian aid groups take
Flotilla will not allow Israel on any western country to inspect the cargo.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/world/video/gaza-flotilla-mclean-pkg-intl-ldn-digvid

________________

This event is noise: The ship is being denied. It will be denied. They already won. That's the goal. It makes Joe Biden look bad. It makes Code Pink and Jill Stein (Code Pink's candidate) look good. It gets people on SM worked up. That's what billionaire financed Code Pink does.

[iemanja]

29. I disagree with these excuses for blocking humanitarian aid

that they are related to code pink is irrelevant. As one of your own quotes says, the main point is to deliver humanitarian aid. There already exists a war. How can they provoke a humanitarian crisis? As I said in my original point, they care being accused of thought crime.

[TomDaisy]

4. starving children to death is genocide

[elleng]

5. Yes it IS.

[paleotn]

7. Hamas could also end this. But they won't.

[SharonAnn]

8. Absolutely. That's what I keep pointing out. Both ides are at fault but if Hamas accepted a cease-fire we could

pressure Israel to accept a cease-fire. But Hamas won't accept a cease-fire, or a surrender, or give up the commitment to annihilate Israel.

By the way, that doesn't make Netanyahu a good guy. He's not, and Israel deserves better. It's just that Hamas "poked the bear" and the result was pretty predictable.

[moniss]

13. Even if every hostage was released tomorrow

Netanyahu is not going to stop. He now has enough aid approved to see him through to at least our November election. We don't have leverage other than our veto at the UN. Netanyahu knows that we can't do much politically at the UN before the election. He also knows that if he is pulling radical moves right around the Chicago Convention it is going to be bad politically for the US. The leverage is with Netanyahu right now. We don't want things worse than they are now and he can make them that way if he wants. I will be surprised if, for example, we don't "take several more months to review our proposed restricting of aid to the rogue IDF battalion in the West Bank" or wording to that effect.

[Steven Maurer]

21. Biden pressured Netanyahu into accepting several deals already...

Hamas rejected them all.

I detest Netanyahu, but this one isn't on him.

[moniss]

22. We don't reliably know what

was in the deals beyond what someone wanted to be made public and we don't know if someone says "we accept" when in fact what they did was add some things/conditions and send it heading back toward the other party. I remember the first ceasefire and how the media reported it was supposed to be x,y and z as far as how, when, why, where etc. but then people started saying this or that was also a part or wasn't a part etc. The parties are the only ones who really know.

But I still feel we have no usable leverage right now politically. We can talk but that's about it and Netanyahu knows it. Like I said he got the aid package to tide him over and he knows that moves by him that make things worse in Gaza/West Bank are going to ratchet up pressure on Joe. Joe is in the middle of this election campaign and the fewer things rocking the boat or creating pressure form opposing sides is a major goal in a political campaign.

I think if we can be successful in November then Netanyahu knows things are going to be different for him after that.

[Steven Maurer]

23. I trust Biden and Secretary Blinken...

...to have made reasonable proposals. Further, if the proposals were egregiously offensive, Hamas certainly could have publicized details about how bad they were for their side, to justify their rejection. We know they haven't done that.

I'm no fan of the settlers, but you're not going to get very far with me (and most Democrats) taking the side of a known terrorist group like Hamas.

[moniss]

24. I'm a bit confused that

you think I am somehow taking the side of Hamas. I have been unequivocal in my condemnation of all sides and their supporters. I stated objectively my analysis of our current situation in the US relative to the domestic politics here. It has nothing to do with Hamas or trust in Blinken etc. It may come as a shock to people around the world but the US is not the one in control of what proposals get made or get accepted. They may suggest some things but the two sides and states like Egypt and Qatar have more input regarding formulation than some might think. They aren't just there making coffee and providing conference rooms. Furthermore whether a proposal gets an additional item added by Netanyahu or Hamas has nothing to do with whether it is "egregiously offensive". Sometimes negotiators add something in order to give it up later in anticipation of a counterproposal for example. Sometimes that counter doesn't come or it comes after more time or formulation of a counter going back the other way. Meanwhile various parties or media might say the "proposal" has been accepted or rejected when in fact it is a matter still in flux. None of that changes our domestic election politics unless we were to see some sort of actual long term cease-fire and even then the presence of one may be less of a positive boost politically for Joe than the negative impact of the lack of one and a heavy handed finish by Israel might be.

[Steven Maurer]

25. When Hamas is the one opposed to cease fire...

...blaming anyone other than them for the war continuing, is effectively taking their side.

And we are the one who are making the proposals. That's just a fact.

Nor is this a negotiation over buying a car, or fishing rights. People are dying every day due to Hamas's intransigence. The politics of the thing should be the least of considerations.

[moniss]

26. There are proposals of items by Qatar and

by Egypt as well. Again you seem unable to understand that I am analyzing our domestic political situation relative to this matter just like others covering our domestic politics and it is not "taking their side". Furthermore the "other side" makes claims all the time that Israel has rejected their proposals so by your logic Israel would be "continuing" also. You need to climb down from making an unfounded personal attack at me claiming I somehow "support Hamas". I've told you before my position on all of the parties and their supporters.

[Steven Maurer]

27. Hamas's proposals have been absurd

And I can tell you because we know what they are, including things like being able to flood Israel with people hostile to its existence.
And once again, the reason we know these things are because Israel isn't losing any points for rejecting them.
It's funny you bring up Egypt, because one of the peace plans they brought up was accepted-by-Israel/rejected-by-Hamas too.

I'm not saying that Israelis are all 100% perfect little angels, but I do bridle at the idea that Israel is to blame for this war. Hell, we wouldn't even have Likud and Netanyahu in power at all, if Palestinians hadn't completely rejected anything other than complete demographic conquest of the nation in the '90s.

[moniss]

28. I don't care for your hostility and attack

towards me any further. Take it somewhere else.

[iemanja]

30. You mean if Palestinians hadn't agreed to ceding most of the water rights?

That was totally unreasonable of them. They should have realized that Muslims are biologically inferior and therefore don't deserve water.

[Steven Maurer]

32. Ceding the water rights?

This was a trivial issue. Even during the second Intifada in 2000, Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to separate water issues from violence and continue cooperation on water.

Arafat never made a counter-offer not because of water rights, but because his proposal to destroy the Israeli half of the proposed Israel/Palestine two-state solution, by flooding it with people hostile to its existence, was a deal-breaker from the get go. It was at that point the Israelis realized that triumphalist Palestinian Arab Muslims had never been interested in peace -- only conquest.

Please don't try to place the blame for this conflict on any group other than the majority-culture of Palestinians. The facts don't support any other conclusion.

[iemanja]

33. Water is far from a trivial issue

It's about survival. If it was so trivial, why did Israel insist on asserting control over them? Your comment is frankly bizarre. How do you imagine a people survive in the desert?

[Steven Maurer]

34. Water wasn't really a serious point of contention

...it could have been negotiated, if Arafat had even proposed a counter-offer.

He didn't.

[iemanja]

35. You go without water

for a month and then tell us how it isn't serious.

[Steven Maurer]

36. Palestinians are not going without water

...not even Hamas. Please try to not be disingenuous.

[iemanja]

38. Your assertion that water rights are trivial

is what is ridiculous.

[Steven Maurer]

39. Compared to the demand that Jews let themselves be genocided...

...it certainly is.

Again, water rights isn't what sunk the Middle East peace agreement. The Israelis could have easily bent on that. What sunk it was the idea that the Israel side of a "two-state solution" would be forced to accept millions of people - including terrorists - hostile to its own existence. Obviously, no one would accept that.

Arafat decided that if he wasn't going to get Israel to negotiate away its own existence, he wasn't going to make any offer at all. And turned to violence.

This is well known to those of us who watched it play out back then.

[iemanja]

10. How?

By accepting Bibi's offer to remove all Palestinians to Africa?

[LiberalArkie]

18. Iran could end it if it told Hamas to end it. Russia could end it if it told Iran to end it.

[TomDaisy]

31. no excuse for genocide

[moniss]

12. Completely misplayed by the ones

stopping them. Stopping them in this manner makes it a media black eye for the ones doing the stopping. Similarly the universities make the mistake with aggressive arrests of protesters. The protesters get the win by the media showing the protesters being roughed up and thrown to the ground.

A better solution for the flotilla situation would have been for Turkey, Israel or whoever to be brought in to "escort" those ships so that nobody is doing things other than delivering the promised aid. That should have been the resolution proposed rather than just grab the flags, flip the middle finger and leave them in the harbor. The ones grabbing the flags etc. just make themselves look unnecessarily worse. Stupid to do that. If the flotilla rejected the "escort" proposal then the "bad look" is on the flotilla people. Why automatically walk yourself into being easily portrayed as the "bad guys"? Perceptions are a battleground right now being fought by all sides and along comes this bunch of stumble bums shooting themselves in the foot. Good heavens don't any of these international regulatory folks have any PR knowledge or personnel? Even the phrase "ham handed" is too mild for these GBISR folks.

[malthaussen]

15. My impression is that authoritarians all over are tired of trying to look good.

They want to do their thing in the full light of day, and not have to waste time and energy trying to look like they're not so bad. It just seems like overt brutality is the thing today, and the victims can't do much but get toothless "resolutions" and lip-service from the UN or any State actor.

-- Mal

[TeamProg]

16. Let me get this straight. Over a million people have been forced from their homes to move to a "safe" zone while

their former homes, schools, hospitals get bombed to smithereens. Then, they can expect to be bombed while in those safe zones?

33,000 dead Palestinians, while 12,300 of those were kids.

History will not be kind.

[LiberalArkie]

19. Netanyahu said all Gazans are Hamas early in the war. Said he would eliminate all of Hamas.

I do not believe he ever intended to stop until all Gazans are eliminated and then to the West Bank.

US evangelicals have always believed that the Palestinans are the invaders although most have family history there for thousands of years. And now most of the Israelis living there now history goes back to Europe. It seems that a lot of the "settlers" now in the West Bank are from the U.S. (new converts?).

I started questioning my support for Israel when I watched and read about a man and his family who were removed from his olive farm that had been in his family for 5,000 years.

Made me start reading a little more.

[Mosby]

37. Palestinian nationalism is about 100 years old, their ancestors came from the Arabian Peninsula via Syria, Egypt, etc.

The largest group of Jews in Israel are Mizrahi, who are indigenous to the Levant, and were expelled from countries the Arab Muslims took over like Morocco, Egypt, Iraq and Iran. Their families and communities have been living in Israel and the rest of the Middle East for thousands of years.

I don't know where your getting your information from, but Jews have been living in Israel for more that 3500 years. The Arab/Muslim conquests didn't even start until 638 AD. Arabs are not indigenous to the Levant, they spread though out the region via conquest, killing and enslaving people. The Arabs led the largest slave trade in human history, spanning 11 centuries and costing the lives of 20-40 million Africans.

There is no farmer's family in "Palestine" who has been growing olives for 5000 years, because there were no arabic speaking Arabs 5000 years ago, or 2000 years ago, what there is a an olive tree in Bethlehem (Al Walaja) that people think might be 4000-5000 years old. Obviosly its not part of anyone's farm.

[LiberalArkie]

40. There is a problem with that. Originally the people of Palestine were in fact Jewish. Some converted to Islam.

Palestine existed a long time before Islam did. And continued to exist even through all the times that the large Jewish population fled.

Might I suggest an article on the Jewish Diasporas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_diaspora

[Mosby]

41. There was never a country called Palestine

It was a place name given to the area by foreigners. It harkens back to the Philistines who were of Greek origin who invaded Israel in 604 BCE. They were obviously not indigenous.

Very few Palestinians thought of themselves as a distinct group until Yasser Arafat started to include nationalistic themes in his speeches and comments to the media, he created a heuristic that made it easy for the Arabs of the WB and Gaza to develop and in some cases invent a connection to Israel and J'lem. So Palestinians nationalism didn't really take off until after the 1967 war. There are signs however that Palestinian nationalism started earlier, even though it was in its nascent stages I have to acknowledge them.