John Ward June 7, 2010 Derek Graham, Gaza blockade, Greta Berlin., Marvi Marmara owned by Turk Islamists, more hard-left links to Rachel Corrie, Richard Boyd Barret

GAZA FLOTILLAS: Some fellow-travellers supporting the Rachel Corrie

Not all the activists involved in Gaza blockade-running

are entirely humanitarian.

Terrorists and extremists long ago learned that when you have an image problem, rebranding can help enormously. Such examples abound among the supporters of the Rachel Corrie aid voyage.

Leading the fifty-person blockade of Dublin’s Israeli embassy last Friday was Richard Boyd Barret. He is the Chairman of the entirely laudable-sounding Irish Anti-War Movement, and told the Irish media that the demonstration was designed to persuade the Irish Government to expel the Israeli ambassador, break off diplomatic relations with Israel, and order sanctions against the brutalist Netanyahu regime. Nobody thought to ask Richard why the demo wasn’t therefore taking place outside the Irish Parliament, but the press did take down his every word as just a concerned humanitarian keen to see justice done.

Mr Boyd Barret is also a leading light in the Socialist Workers Party, a hard-left organisation dedicated to the overthrow of the multi-Party capitalist system.

Derek Graham has been described as ‘an electrician from North Mayo’ in Ireland. He too is presented as motivated entirely by humanitarian aid. But he is also a director of FG Human Rights Ltd of Northern Cyprus, home of the Free Gaza movement. This is the same FG that bought the Rachel Corrie at auction in Dundalk – and which Graham boarded a week ago for a very good reason: he is an experienced sailor and a dedicated leader of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. He told the media after Israelis intercepted the Rachel that

“We are putting Netanyahu and his militaristic gang on notice that within two months there will be more flotillas, organised and funded by ordinary people energised by Israeli violence”.

I must confess he doesn’t sound anything like any sparks I’ve ever employed, but there you go: Derek’s just another heroic volunteer.

As indeed is Huwaida Arraf, a US citizen born in Michigan. Except that Huwaida is also the founder of the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian activist movement. Huwaidi is a director of Free Gaza too….along with the American Greta Berlin, an activist often thought because of her name to be Jewish, but in reality the daughter of a Palestinian raised in Safad – and the other of two Palestinian children.

Ms Berlin dismissed as “propagandist character assassination” the allegation that The Foundation for Human Rights, Freedom and Humanitarian Relief (now this outfit ticks all the nice-guy boxes) has ties to Hamas. Greta was one of the innocent accusers on board the originally boarded flotilla vessel Marvi Marmara. Its owners are revealed to be…..The Foundation for (see above). Its name disguises the fact that it is a Turkish-founded Islamic organisation (whose Turkish acronym is IHH) founded in 1992 to supply any Muslims it deems to ‘need help’.

See tomorrow’s final episode for the lowdown on humanitarian relief IHH-style….and an interesting insight into ‘propagandist character assassination’. <!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Sec

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Silly Kuffar on June 7, 2010 at 4:49 pm

The SWP. Seems to be getting around and making itself heard through violence. The leaders of the SWP here are also leaders of the UAF, which is the UNITE union in the UAF. Hmm.

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John Ward on June 7, 2010 at 3:34 pm

And boy, are they right….

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Anonymous on June 7, 2010 at 3:17 pm

State of Israel Ministry of Public Diplomacy & DiasporaJerusalem, 1 June 2010Dear friends around the world,In the wake of yesterday’s interception of a flotilla of ships and activists bent on lifting Israel’s blockade of the Hamas regime, a regime whose charter, rhetoric and behavior are all aimed at Israel’s destruction, we find ourselves yet again in the center of a perfect media storm.We are sure that you, like us, are frustrated with the situation. The simplistic images and narratives that appear in the media do not reflect the complex facts on the ground in Israel or in Gaza. Few media outlets discuss Israel’s position that the blockade is based on the Hamas regime’s refusal to end its state of war against our country, and fewer still have shown the chilling footage available on the Internet of the Gaza-bound activists on one of the flotilla’s ships beating, stabbing, lobbing firebombs toward and even throwing overboard IDF troops sent to enforce the blockade on Hamas. Nor do these outlets note the fact that Israel sends 15,000 tons of goods and supplies into Gaza each week, a figure that makes the flotilla’s cargo a mere drop in the ocean. For all the discussion of a terrible “humanitarian crisis,” there is no hunger in Gaza, no starved children and no famine deaths. There is only tyranny, extremism and endless war sustained by the brutal rule of Hamas.Some important talking points:1. The Palestinian people are not under blockade. In the West Bank, Israel has worked hard in the past year to bring prosperity and lay the foundations for peace. Most of the roadblocks are down and the West Bank’s economy is now one of the fastest-growing in the world. There is only one reason that the blockade was instituted: to prevent the rearming of the brutal tyrants of Hamas, who would use those arms against Israeli civilians and their own people.2. Civilians on the flotilla were cynically exploited by extremist organizations. Five ships did not act with violence toward the soldiers, and were peacefully brought to port. Only the ship that had planned in advance to brutally attack the soldiers and endanger their lives were, in turn met with deadly force.3. There are ways to help the residents of Gaza that do not also help the Iran-backed Hamas regime and terror organizations in the Gaza Strip. Supplies can be donated to UN agencies, for example. But Israel cannot allow open supply routes for war materials into Gaza.We urge you to share videos, photographs and articles about Israel’s complex situation with your friends and family around the world. Write letters to your local newspapers, comment on blogs and news websites, call in to radio programs and post links to social networking sites, to help spread the real version of events. The more knowledge people acquire, the more accurately Israel’s position is represented.Let us be clear. We are not asking for blind support for the government’s position. Even within Israel there is criticism over the handling of the flotilla operation and the policy that led to it. We are a country that cherishes as our highest ideal the freedom to speak one’s mind and criticize. We are however, asking for help against the effort to delegitimize and dehumanize our country, an effort led by those who would deny us our very right to exist. The flotilla was a political act, not a humanitarian one and the ultimate goal of those who choose violence is not peace, but our destruction.Thank you for your help,Sincerely,____________________________________________________________________3 Kaplan St. Jerusalem, Israel Tel: 972-2-6587120 Fax: 972-2-6587125Ronen Plot Director General

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