100 posts
Turkey vs. Israel today: broken ties may be permanent says PM Erdoğan…
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‘Broken’ ties with Israel may become norm for Turkey: PM Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Sunday that his country’s “broken” relations with Israel can only be mended if the Jewish state stops b...
Is Obama Anti-Israel?
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In a poll days before the special election for the U.S. House seat vacated by Anthony Weiner, only 22% of Jewish voters said they approved of Barak Obama’s handling of Israel. Dan Senor points to the erosion of Obama’s Jewish fund-raising as anot...
Israel: Porcupine, iguana or caterpillar?
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Should Israel respond to the Arab Spring as a porcupine, an iguana or a caterpillar? An intriguing, if not perplexing, question that was posed this morning by Daniel Levy, ECFR’s newestRead more…...
Turkey vs. Israel today: “Turkey says flotilla raid was ’cause for war’ -but they intend to start a war…
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Turkish frigate TCG Giresun is seen near Turkey’s Aksaz naval base in this June 2009 file photo. (Photo: AA) Turkey says flotilla raid was ’cause for war’ by ANKARA – The Associated Press Turkey’s pr...
Turkey vs. Israel today: Erdoğan to go Egypt. Lieberman to make things worse for Israel…
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Lieberman May Become the New Qaddafi of the Middle East from The Istanbulian by Emre Kızılkaya If the Turkish government is acting irrationally nowadays, then the Israeli government -or at least a key part of it- is sheer crazy. Israel to ‘punis...
Why the crisis between Turkey and Israel is hurting everyone
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WASHINGTON — The United Nations’ recent report investigating the deaths of nine Turks when Israel stopped a flotilla trying to break a Gaza blockade has brought an end to a suspenseful episode in Turkish-Israeli relations. But with closure (o...
Turkey vs. Israel today. Naval diplomacy. Another roundup
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Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero review a guard of honour during a welcoming ceremony in Ankara September 6, 2011. REUTERS/Umit Bektas.. Turkey, Israel should keep...
Israel’s Balkan offensive
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Should the EU recognise Palestine? ECFR asked this question at a recent ‘Black Coffee Morning’ with John Bell from the Toledo Peace Institute*. It seems we may have been a little over-ambitious asRead more…...
McEwan’s speech vindicates his anti-boycott stance
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Accepting the Jerusalem prize for literature last night, novelist Ian McEwan attacked Israeli policies towards the Palestinians. His audience, which included President Shimon Peres, Culture Minister Limor Livnat and Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat, listen...
Protests against Polish-Israeli meeting in Jerusalem
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The Palestinian Solidarity organisation in Poland has initiated an international campaign against a high level governmental meeting between Poland and Israel to be held in Jerusalem. The meeting is planned to upgrade the countries' defence and econom...
Israel justifies herself with the Turkel Report….
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Israeli soldiers stand guard on a missile ship as the Israeli navy intercepts a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea on May 31, 2010. An Israeli probe ruled on Sunday that a May 2010 raid on Gaza-bound aid ships that killed nine Turks...
Where is our right to be outraged?
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Following strong reactions from the part of French Jewish organisations, the debate on the Middle East that was supposed to take place – Tuesday the 18th of January – at the French great school “l’Ecole Normale Supérieure” (ENS) wa...
Peace negotiations, Israel announced a postponement of the Paris Summit
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The summit which was to meet in Paris on Oct. 21 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been postponed, said Saturday the office of Israeli Prime Minister. “After cons...
Turkey still wants apology from Israel
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Turkey wants Israeli apology for fatal raid from Yahoo news TURKEY’S prime minister has again accused Israel of “state terrorism” and called on the Jewish state to apologise and compensate victims of a raid on a Gaza-bound aid floti...
The Morning Star: when “anti-Zionism” becomes anti-semitism
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The Morning Star newspaper likes to present itself as a non-factional paper of the broad left of the British labour movement. In reality, it is the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of Britain, the remnants of the old out-and-out Stalinist CP. True,...
That may be Israel but I am Gaza
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That may be Israel but this is GazaThe Israeli Foreign Ministry is hoping to use social media to brand Israel and the government is about to spend $25 million on influencing social media. In their first salvoThe campaign will focus on hosting figure...
Kristallnacht in Covent Garden
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”DEMONSTRATE OUTSIDE AHAVA – SATURDAY 28 AUGUST” From the PSC: “The next fortnightly demonstration outside the Ahava beauty shop in Covent Garden, London, takes place this Saturday (28 August) from 12 – 2pm. The c...
Israel: it’s apartheid – but not as we know it…
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That strange combination of people calling themselves the Palestine Solidariy Campaign (PSC), have long had a strategy of trying to delegitamise Israel in the eyes of decent, liberal people, by making out it’s essentially the same as apar...
Mavi Marmara is back.
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Israel finally sends back the Mavi Marmara. Mavi Marmara flotilla ship returns to Turkey from Hurriyet Dailynews The ferry at the center of the deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla has arrived back in Turkey as activists said more ships w...
Israel/Palestine: Avnery on why racists support “one state”
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Uri Avnery explains why the Israeli right’s interest in a “one-state” solution is thoroughly racist and reactionary: “Ethnic cleansing can be carried out dramatically (as in this country in 1948 and in Kosovo in 1998) or in a...
Something you couldn’t possibly have read here
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From the Catholic, anti-semitic blog ‘Splintered Sunrise‘ : Here’s something you won’t read on Shiraz Socialist July 22, 2010 at 12:11 am (Middle East) Remember when the apartheid entity and the Zionist entity were different enti...
Morning Brief (19-7)
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Ashton calls for opening of Gaza crossing. AFP reports: The European Union’s top diplomat Catherine Ashton called for the further easing of Israel’s four-year blockade of the Gaza Strip during a visit to the impoverished Hamas-run enclave...
FP roundup: ‘Secret’ talks with Israel, that everybody knows, New chapters opened in the EU negotiations etc
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Turkish Foreign Policy continues to surprise many as they are determined to think in old terms. Turkey does not aim to leave its place in “Western” world. She just diversifies and empowers its role. Thus, she can still continue to talk to...
Ashton on East Jerusalem: Settlements and demolitions of homes are illegal under international law
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It is not the first time that the EU’s High Representative has spoken candidly on the subject of Israeli settlement construction in East Jerusalem. Indeed, Ashton remarked in her maiden speech as the EU’s foreign policy chief that “East Jer...
No Apology, No Airspace: Turkey begins to bar Israeli military planes
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Turkey Barring Israeli Military Flights From Its Airspace from NYT > Turkey by By SEBNEM ARSU and JACK HEALY The new measures were part of the diplomatic fallout over Israel’s deadly raid last month on a Turkish ship. Israeli plane barred from...
Morning Brief (21-6)
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Israel to ease Gaza blockade. The New York Times reports: Bowing to worldwide pressure and condemnation, Israel on Sunday formally announced an eased blockade of Gaza that could significantly expand the flow of goods overland into the impoverished co...
Diversions and divisions in Israel
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I’ve never received such a shock from reaching into my pocket. Having just emerged from a relaxing float in the Dead Sea, I had snapped a few photos before starting to make my way to my rental car to continue my journey through the desert. But when...
Drone manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries in running for more EU funding
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Article by David Cronin from IPS news, reproduced in full here EU Considering Aid to Israeli Military BRUSSELS, Jun 18, 2010 (IPS) – A leading Israeli supplier of warplanes used to kill and maim civilians in Gaza is in the running for two new s...
FP roundup: Turkey to freeze Israeli ties
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Turkey to freeze Israeli ties from Yahoo news ISTANBUL (Turkey) – A TURKISH newspaper reported on Wednesday that Turkey would halt military cooperation with Israel and would not send back an envoy, withdrawn after an Israeli commando operation...
A newly released video: Israeli Attack on the Mavi Marmara, May 31st 2010
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Despite the Israeli government’s thorough efforts to confiscate all footage taken during the attack, Iara Lee was able to retain some of her recordings. Above is 15 minutes of footage from the moments leading up to and during the Israeli command...
Russia may exclude Israel from Blue Stream-2 gas pipeline project
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday Israel may be excluded from the Blue Stream-2 gas pipeline project as it has uncovered its own gas deposits. READ MORE...
Israel: in concept and in reality
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As Israel’s raid of a protest ship trying to break the blockade of Gaza unfolded last week, it was interesting to watch how the coverage differed between the United States and Europe. Monday morning I watched as the European headlines scrolled acro...
Istanbul Bilgi U. Faculty’s Statement on the Gaza Flotilla attack (in Turkish)
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BASINA VE KAMUOYUNA DUYURULUR (8 Haziran 2010) İSTANBUL BİLGİ ÜNİVERSİTESİ ÇALIŞANLARI İSRAİL’E ‘ARTIK YETER!’ DİYOR 31 Mayıs 2010 tarihinde, uzun zamandır İsrail’in ablukası nedeniyle trajik koşullarda yaşayan Gazze...
Preliminary Legal Analysis of the Freedom Flotilla Incident
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Introduction The events on the Freedom Flotilla a few days ago shook the world. A lot was said by all sides involved in the incident. Many of the claims were based on different notions of international law and international humanitarian law in partic...
Flotilla Diplomacy
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Following the Israeli raid on the flotilla of activists carrying aid to the blockaded Gaza strip there has been a massive international backlash, but will the EU be able to forge a common policy? In some ways, it's a more opportune time, given the un...
Zionists, flotilla, false flag, imperial ambitions, Alastair Campbell (Will this do?)
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Can anyone tell me what on earth John Pilger is trying to say here?
Prof. Finkelstein on the Gaza Flotilla attack and more videos
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Gaza activists return to UK.mov Report on return of British members of Gaza aid flotilla attacked in international waters by Israeli commandos on 31 May 2010. Osama Qashoo recounts his experience. ‘Israel is a Lunatic State’ – F...
Israel opposes international probe, Turkey says no normalization then…
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No Israel normalization without international probe, Turkish FM says from Hurriyet Dailynews Normalization of ties with Israel is out of the question if it rejects an international inquiry into the deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ships, Turkish Fo...
Karizmanın çizilmesi/ Charisma shattered: Scared Israeli commandos
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Hürriyet releases some photos from the flotilla ambush… Israel has been uploading videos to defend her murder but people began to make fun of first class Israeli commandos beaten by unarmed activists…. More photos here. Daily Hürriyet...
“Radical” art student loses eye “while supporting HAMAS”
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Emily Henochowicz is a promising art student from New York studying abroad when she lost her eye during a protest at a police checkpoint after why was described as deliberate targeting of a tear gas canister by Israeli police. We now know that Furk...
Aid ship Rachel Corrie peacefully taken over- Non-violence is Israel’s new terror
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The last ship was named after Rachel Corrie. Israeli troops take over Gaza aid ship Rachel Corrie finkelstein reports with arraf on the flotilla massacre finkelstein’ s report with huwaida arraf who is one of the organisers of the ship to gaza...
Zionism, Jews and Gaza: two letters to the ‘Morning Star’
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Boycott only way to force home the pressure Friday 04 June 2010 . Bernard Ogley (M Star June 2) is correct in advocating a total boycott of all Israeli goods and services – and not just the current fragmented efforts centring on those from ille...
Prof. Ronen Shamir: An open letter from Israel to friends and colleagues in Turkey
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June 4th 2010 [43 years of occupation] An open letter from Israel to friends and colleagues in Turkey It is with great worry and sadness that I am witnessing the deteriorating relationship between Turkey and Israel. It is with horror and pain that...
The Gaza flotilla and echoes of The Exodus
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Linda Grant, in today’s Graun, on why the Gaza flotilla should have jogged the memories of Israel’s political leaders and military: “Against the single image of a ship full of Holocaust survivors being beaten by squaddies, the Briti...
The Gaza Flotilla Tragedy was Predictable and Preventable
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ANKARA — The Gaza flotilla tragedy is a major blow to what remained of Turkey-Israel relations–not least because it was both predictable and preventable. Israel’s boarding of a Turkish civilian maritime vessel, which ended with the...
Fethullah Gülen does it again.
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Julie Platner for the Wall Street Journal Politics make strange bed fellows. Kemalists hate Fethullah Gülen. According to them he is behind every Islamic happening in Turkey. He had to leave Turkey and now he lives in US. Now they might actually lik...
The Democratic Deficit Flotilla
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Israel’s capture of the Turkish ship the Mavi Marmara and its accompanying flotilla bound for the beleaguered people of Gaza has generated great debate around the world. Much still remains to be understood what happened and why; much may remain o...
Morning Brief (4-6)
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Spotlight on Gaza. Haim Malka (CSIS) says that Washington will have to make a decision on Gaza: With Gaza in the headlines again, it is difficult to ignore the fact that no viable Israeli-Palestinian agreement can exclude Gaza. Moving forward, the Ob...
Cevdet abi is dead. He was one of the murdered activists…
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I met Cevdet Kılıçlar when I was in college. He was one of the most cordial Muslims I ever met. A positive man, who loved to help people around, altruistic for sure, and liked his job of photo-journalism (some of his photos can be found here).
Israel's reputation in tatters as EU, world powers review relations
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Israel's relations with the EU and other world powers have taken a battering in the wake of the Israeli attack on the Gaza aid flotilla. In spite of this, experts believe Israel will not buckle under growing pressure. READ MORE...
Heroes are back.
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Eight Turks, one US citizen shot dead in Israeli attack to aid ship, report says from Hurriyet Dailynews Eight Turks and a US national of Turkish origin were among the nine dead in an Israeli raid on Gaza-bound aid ships, Anatolia news agency re...
Gaza flotilla: the facts
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Israel has been widely condemned for its assault on a flotilla of humanitarian aid bound for Gaza. This was to be expected, but not some of the extreme statements coming from moderate countries. Even the EU response was biased. The EU condemned...
