Israellycool

We already knew the Free Gaza tools were in desperate need of money. Just how desperate has been made even clearer.

Just before arriving in the waters of Gaza, an Israeli naval gunboat approached, cutting across the bow of the boat, then falling back and tracking it for about an hour. Finally, the gunboat radioed the DIGNITY and asked who they were and where they were going.

After Huwaida Arraf responded, the gunboat asked for the passenger list. “Our passengers are listed on our Free Gaza website for everyone to see,” replied Ms. Arraf, “You’re welcome to visit it any time. And… while you’re there, feel free to make a donation.”

After a pause, then a laugh, the voice on the other end said, “Have a nice day” and left the DIGNITY to glide into the port of Gaza to cheering crowds and a packed agenda for the Parliamentarians.

The sad thing is, she probably wasn’t joking.

Incidentally, the Free Gaza mailing list put out a mail with a different version of the exchange.

At 8:000 am Gaza time, an Israeli patrol boat made contact with the DIGNITY. They had been following the boat for about an hour prior to contacting them

They requested a list of passengers on board.

DIGNITY answered “You’re welcome to go to our website, freegaza.org. We have the entire list and biographies of the passengers there.” Huwaida then added, “Once you are at our website, please make a donation.”

The answer from the the warship was “ha, ha, ha, ha.”

Not that we should be surprised by Free Gaza tools being loose with the facts.

Like a dog with a bone - rather than a group of morally bankrupt individuals with a huge debt - the Free Gaza tools are coming back for thirds, with a new bunch of terror-supporting friends.

Per their latest press release:

For Immediate Release
November 6, 2008

Larnaca: Tomorrow afternoon at 5:00 pm, the DIGNITY leaves for the third time for the shores of Gaza. This time, eleven past and current members of the European Parliament are on board, along with journalists from Al Jazeera English and The Independent.

These dignitaries were among the 53 Parliamentarians denied entrance by Egypt at the Rafah checkpoint.
“Egypt did not allow us to enter Gaza via the Rafah terminal, but this will not stop us from visiting the area,” Lord Nazir Ahmad, head of the European delegates stated, “We will sail to Gaza, we are determined to break the siege”.

Ms Clare Short MP emphasized, “The Egyptian refusal to grant us access through Rafah Crossing is insulting to all of us, and Egypt should open the crossing now.”

They will be on a three-day fact finding tour organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the European Campaign to End the Siege as well as several of the organizations in Gaza who have worked with the Free Gaza Movement on the past two voyages.

On the past two trips, Israel has threatened to stop the DIGNITY, arrest its passengers and tow the boat to Israel. The government has been silent on its plans this time, perhaps out of respect for the dignitaries on the voyage. Members of the two organizations stress that the DIGNITY has no intention of going anywhere near Israeli waters but will enter Gaza through its own coastal waters.

The port authorities have asked the media to come between 3:30 and 5:00 pm Friday at Larnaca Port to see the boat leave and to conduct interviews.

The passenger list is posted on the Free Gaza website, www.freegaza.org.

Yes, good old Clare Short, one of the most vehemently anti-Israel European MPs there is. Notice how when Israel limits access to Gaza (as a consequence of terrorism) it is a siege. When Egypt limits access, it is an insult.

The real insult here is the one suffered by our intelligence when this movement tells us their goal is to break the siege of Gaza.

As if this is a siege.

As if this is their real end goal.

The inclusion of the likes of Clare Short should make even clearer the fact that these people do not want a “free” Gaza as much as no Israel.

The Free Gaza freaks are so far in debt, they apparently charged their idiot passengers about $1000 for this latest trip!

Look at this graphic on their site (they apparently had a typo which I correct):

The FGMers have so far spent $740,000 and have raised $325,000 - but $300,000 came from “donations” and $25,000 from “passenger fees”.

There was no mention of “passenger fees” on their website when we previously looked at their bizarre thermometer graphic.

Since their latest trip to Gaza, where they were greeted by their Hamas terrorist pals and a tiny crowd, included 27 people, it appears that they are so broke that they are charging their “humanitarian” passengers about $1000 to get their publicity.

Comparing their numbers, they’ve spent $190,000 since September - and only raised $75,000, even including their passenger fees. And this was after the massive amount of publicity they received from their first trip.

Clearly their leftist pals aren’t willing to pony up the bucks for them to continue these public relations stunts, and nobody is buying the boats they are trying to sell (for quite inflated prices.)

What will they try next?

Note: I am trying to get this message to the Israeli government, as an important way to counter the Free Gaza movement’s war against Israel. If any of you have contacts with the Israeli government, please pass this on.

And if you are a blogger, feel free to help publicize this.

Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead McGuire, who arrived in Gaza on the “Free Gaza” boat, left, holds a gift from Gaza’s Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, right, at his office in Gaza City, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008. The boat carrying international protesters sailed into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday to bring attention to Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory. The 27 passengers include McGuire, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in Northern Ireland.

If this doesn’t already speak volumes, allow me to make things clearer for you.

Hamas Charter:

Preamble

Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it” (The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory).

Article Six

The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine..

Article Seven

…”The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.” (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).

Article Eleven

The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up…..

Article Thirteen

Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement…There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.

Free Gaza mission statement:

May 2008 marks the 60-year anniversary of the Nakba, “the catastrophe”, when the overwhelming majority of Palestinians were forcibly evicted from their ancestral homeland to create the state of Israel. In contravention of International law, human rights, and basic principles of morality, Israel continues to deny these refugees and their descendants their right to return home. Israel has neither acknowledged nor attempted to amend this historic injustice that gave birth to the Jewish state. Instead, more than 5 million Palestinian refugees languish in refugee camps, while their homes, farms, and properties are inhabited by Jewish immigrants who arrived in Palestine from around the globe.

The historic illegal appropriation of Palestinian land, home and heritage is at the heart of the Middle East conflict. It has given rise to the largest ongoing refugee population in the world. It paved the way for subsequent land theft in 1967, and the ongoing ethnic cleansing that has squeezed Palestinians in the West Bank into ghettos and bantustans surrounded by 27-foot walls, sniper towers, and military guards. It has created the open-air prison of Gaza with an impoverished and overcrowded population of 1.4 million inhabitants.

McGuire and her fellow Free Gaza tools are not peace activists. They are supporters of Hamas and their goals. They do not want a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict, but rather a one state solution - a palestinian state.

Update: Here’s a similar photo from two months ago.

A British activist gestures as she receives a Palestinian passport from senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (2nd R) in Gaza August 28, 2008. Two boats carrying foreign peace activists who had defied an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip left the Hamas-ruled territory on Thursday for Cyprus, taking with them seven Palestinians.

The gesture is a “V for Victory” sign, something arch terrorist Yasser Arafat was particularly prone to flashing.

In other words, not quite a symbol of peace.

Contrary to the Free Gaza tools’ claims that Israel backed down from threats to deny them entry to Gaza only after we realized we could not operate outside of Israel’s territorial waters, the real reason has emerged.

And in another flying pig moment, it looks like soon-not-to-be Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a correct decision.

A boat carrying 27 far-left protesters docked in Gaza Wednesday morning, after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reversed course and decided against barring the vessel’s entrance.

This was the third small boat chartered by the US-based Free Gaza movement that has sailed from Cyprus to Gaza to draw attention to the Israeli blockade of the Strip.

Two other boats that set sail together in August were also let in by the Israeli authorities, who wanted to deny the protesters publicity.

Government officials said that a decision was taken “at the highest governmental levels” a number of days ago to stop this new boat and arrest the protesters.

But Olmert - after consultations with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi - changed the decision at the last moment, apparently concerned about the negative publicity.

Representatives of the National Information Directorate, as well as the media specialists at the Foreign Ministry, who were preparing for the boat to be intercepted at sea, were not involved in the consultations.

One senior government official said Israel’s decision to let the boat pass was made after it became clear exactly who and what were on the boat.

He also said Israel “wants to keep these agitators guessing, and not play into their hands.”

The official said that the decision to let the boat in Wednesday was made on a one-time basis, and did not represent a blanket policy. He added that no decision has been made whether Israel would allow the boat to sail back, as it did in August.

Now if the government would only take my advice. Which they don’t seem to be doing at this stage.

Olmert’s spokesman Mark Regev, meanwhile, said that the protesters and organizers of the boat were not the only ones who wanted a “free Gaza.”

“We are also interested in freeing Gaza,” Regev said. “We want to free the civilian population of the Gaza Strip from the authoritative, totalitarian, Taliban-type regime that is oppressing it.”

Acknowledging that the protesters and organizers of the boat want a “free Gaza” makes it sound like this is really all they want. We should be mentioning that really what they want is a”free palestine”, meaning the end of the state of Israel.

Taken from their front page:

Peace activists, huh? At least the Post mentions they were greeted by “Hamas men”, which should indicate to you the “peaceful” nature of their real intentions.

Homework assignment: find a statement from Free Gaza directed at Hamas, asking that they repudiate violence.

The Free Gaza ship of fools and tools has reached Gaza, despite previous Israeli threats to stop them.

A boat loaded with international protesters has arrived in the Gaza Strip to bring attention to Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory.

The 27 passengers, coming together from 13 different countries include Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead McGuire, Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti, and Israeli leftist Gideon Spiro. Israeli MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad) who was reportedly supposed to join the voyage, was not present on the boat.

They are scheduled to remain in Gaza for four days.

The boat chartered by the US-based Free Gaza group sailed from the nearby island of Cyprus on Tuesday and arrived in Gaza in pouring rain early Wednesday. Israel said it would block the boat, but navy ships did not interfere.

Angela Godfrey Goldstein of the Free Gaza group told Ynet, “We are very pleased, and I believe people in Gaza are pleased as well and hope that Gaza’s sea border remains open from now on.”

Godfrey Goldstein said the passengers on the boat were surprised to find no resistance by the Israeli Navy and were able to anchor without any problems.

“I think the navy understands very well that they are not operating in Israel’s territorial water, and therefore cannot get involved,” Godfrey Goldstein said.

Whether or not this was the reason, or that the Israeli government changed its mind, I am not sure. But whatever it was, I sincerely hope the government now takes the advice I meted out yesterday, and demonstrates what this bunch of nitwits is really all about.

The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel plans to prevent the Free Gaza terror supporters from reaching Gaza.

Israel plans to interdict a boatfull of far-left wing protesters if it crosses into Israeli territorial waters on its way to Gaza to “break” Israel’s blockade, senior government officials said Monday.

The Free Gaza movement is planning to set sail Tuesday from Cyprus to Gaza, for the second such demonstration since August. Israel, eager to avoid a well-publicized incident on the high seas and believing the protesters were just seeking a provocation, allowed the protesters in two boats to make their way to Gaza then, but has no plans to tolerate a repeat performance this time, the officials said.

The officials said the decision to stop the boat was made last month at the “highest governmental levels,” just prior to plans by the protesters to set sail on what would have been their second protest voyage. That trip was scuttled at the last minute.

Among the 26 passengers expected on board the boat this time are five physicians, 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, who has been involved in the protests at Nil’in, MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad) and Palestinian Legislative Council member Mustafa Barghouti.

“This second trip is just one of many we intend to organize over the next year,” said American volunteer Greta Berlin. “We have lawyers, members of parliament and other professionals already on our passenger lists for upcoming voyages.” The group said it would be carrying medicines.

Israeli officials said the decision to interdict the ship was taken because in August the group “exploited” the fact it was not barred from Gaza and demonstrated in Gaza on behalf of Hamas and were used by Hamas for propaganda purposes.

The source said if the group was going to create a provocation against Israel regardless of whether they are stopped on the high seas or allowed into Gaza, Israel might as well stop them before they can reach shore.

Israel made clear in August, when it did allow in the first two boats, that this was not a blanket policy, but rather that it would evaluate each incident separately.

As I argued last time, Israel should allow them in. Clearly, the Free Gaza tools are trying to paint the narrative of palestinians under siege at the hands of the oppressive Zionist occupiers. While this is not the case, not allowing them in could appear to reinforce this idea to the casual observer.

In fact, I think the very reasons why Israel decided to prevent their entry into Gaza could be used as a rationale for allowing their entry.

The fact they “demonstrated in Gaza on behalf of Hamas and were used by Hamas for propaganda purposes” last time could be made to work in our favor. Instead of exerting so much effort preventing them from entering Gaza, we should be disseminating information about Hamas’ agenda (including the number of terror attacks they have planned or perpetrated, numbers of casualties, and names of victims), along with the photos and footage of these so-called “peace activists” meeting, eating and smiling with their Hamas hosts. At the same time, we should point out why Free Gaza and Hamas are such likely bedfellows: While the Free Gaza folk claim their mission is to end the so-called “siege” of Gaza, their mission statement gives away their real agenda:

May 2008 marks the 60-year anniversary of the Nakba, “the catastrophe”, when the overwhelming majority of Palestinians were forcibly evicted from their ancestral homeland to create the state of Israel. In contravention of International law, human rights, and basic principles of morality, Israel continues to deny these refugees and their descendants their right to return home. Israel has neither acknowledged nor attempted to amend this historic injustice that gave birth to the Jewish state. Instead, more than 5 million Palestinian refugees languish in refugee camps, while their homes, farms, and properties are inhabited by Jewish immigrants who arrived in Palestine from around the globe.

The historic illegal appropriation of Palestinian land, home and heritage is at the heart of the Middle East conflict. It has given rise to the largest ongoing refugee population in the world. It paved the way for subsequent land theft in 1967, and the ongoing ethnic cleansing that has squeezed Palestinians in the West Bank into ghettos and bantustans surrounded by 27-foot walls, sniper towers, and military guards. It has created the open-air prison of Gaza with an impoverished and overcrowded population of 1.4 million inhabitants.

This tragic event has dispossessed and disinherited Palestinians all over the world; and a destitute population of refugees with only their memories of Palestine, crumbling property deeds, and an undaunted will to return.

In other words, Free Gaza want an end to the Jewish state of Israel, whose establishment they see as a catastrophe. Which makes them aligned with Hamas.

Other measures we should take include disseminating photos and footage of these terror-supporters in well-stocked supermarkets and at lavish feasts (like we saw last time), which will also help counter the narrative these people are trying to force on the public.

Of course, everything I have said until now is predicated on the assumption that the people on board will not have weapons or anything else to compromise our security. And if they do, we should let the world know also about that.

Update: Another reason to allow them in - it will cost them even more money. Given their debt seems to be spiralling out of control (they seem to know be $380,000 out of pocket, compared to $300,000 a month ago).

As Elder posted yesterday, the Free Gaza fools are facing some financial hardship.

Being the giver that I am, I have decided to help them out with some suggestions:

• Have Anis threaten to sing unless people donate money.
• Sue people who make fun of you.
• Have people donate money for every kilo Lauren Booth loses gains.
• Borrow more money off Greek friends, and then move on to borrowing from some Italian ones.
• Have Yvonne Ridley kidnap herself and demand a ransom.
• Sell Gazan penpals to the highest bidder.

Anyone else have any ideas?

The Free Gaza tools announce their new “postal service to Gaza,” which includes their “Letters from the World Program.”

LETTERS FROM THE WORLD PROGRAM
If you do not know anyone in Gaza, but would like to get to know someone, we want to help you try and find a pen pal. This program is available to people of all ages and from all places in the world. We would especially like to encourage schools to participate in the Letters from the World Program.

Place your letter in an unsealed envelope, and address the envelope to the type of person you would like it to be delivered to (for example: “For an 8-year-old girl,” or “For a male high school student,” “For a teacher,” “For a fishermen,” etc…). Please include your email address if possible. Place the envelope in a larger envelope and mail it to:

Letters from the World
Free Gaza Movement
P.O. Box 5341
Beverly Hills, CA 90209-5341
USA

Homework for Israellycool readers: Send an envelope per the above instructions and address it to one of the following:

• “For a Hamas/Islamic Jihad terrorist”
• “For a terrorist masquerading as a UNRWA employee“
• “For a children’s television show celebrity“
• “For a Viagra smuggler“
• “For a Christian bookstore owner (if possible)”
• “For Gilad Shalit”

Anis is by far the most appropriately named of the Free Gaza tools.

But a new contender has emerged.

A Marin woman was making a triumphant voyage back to Cyprus this week after members of the Free Gaza movement sailed from Cyprus to Gaza to break an Israeli blockade.

Kathy Sheetz, 61, a retired nurse, was among 46 human rights workers aboard two small boats - the 70-foot SS Free Gaza and the 60-foot SS Liberty - who were greeted by thousands of joyous Palestinians when they reached Gaza on Aug. 23.

You may recall that the appropriately named Anis, of the Free Gaza tools, threatened to sue Israellycool contributor Elder of Ziyon for the latter’s satirical take on Anis’ song (if you can call it that).

Well, two can play that game. Look what I found on the Free Gaza site:

Look familiar?

I might be inclined to sue them, but even if I did win, I don’t see how I could get any money. You know, given that they are still $300,000 in debt.