On May 31, 2010 a flotilla of ships supplied with humanitarian supplies was sailing to Gaza in a bid to break the State of Israel's blockade against the Gaza Strip that has been in force since 2006 and which continues to be maintained to this day. One of the main organizers of this humanitarian flotilla was IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH İnsani Yardım Vakfı).
In the night Israeli personnel boarded the ships. Nine Turkish men were killed on board the Mavi Marmara. One of them was a US citizen. A tenth man was beaten into a coma and died four years later never regaining consciousness.
PCG responded to this mass lose of life by condemning the organizers of this humanitarian convoy as "terrorists" who "got exactly what they were aiming for". It was asserted that the humanitarian convoy had "nothing that constituted real humanitarian aid." It is asserted that the charity organization that organized the convoy "had ties to terrorist networks" and "invited dozens of terrorists with ties to Iran, Hamas and al Qaeda to participate."
The terrorists who sponsored the Gaza-bound “humanitarian” mission in early June got exactly what they were aiming for: a lethal retaliation from Israel’s navy, followed by a tidal wave of international outrage against Israel. It doesn’t matter that 50 passengers on board the Mavi Marmara were linked to terror groups, or that the “peace activists” attacked Israeli commandos with metal rods, broken bottles, knives and stun grenades, or that three of the Turks killed by Israeli commandos actually wanted to die as martyrs, or that investigators discovered bulletproof vests, night vision goggles and gas masks on board the ship, while finding nothing that constituted real humanitarian aid. (Stephen Flurry, "Israel The Outcast," June 4, 2010.)Are these serious accusations directed at IHH justified? Reading these words it is clear that these men had no idea about the nature of IHH from their perch in Edmond, Oklahoma.
The folks who organized it knew what they were doing. The Turkish group that staged the “humanitarian” mission to Gaza had ties to terrorist networks. It invited dozens of terrorists with ties to Iran, Hamas and al Qaeda to participate. It specifically sought to bust a naval blockade solely intended to limit Hamas’s ability to turn the Gaza Strip into a military bunker. It forced a confrontation, banking on the ability to turn it into a public relations disaster for the Jews. (Joel Hilliker, A Good Excuse to End a Bad Relationship, June 9, 2010.)
This post is not about endorsing or condemning a charity organization. This is to correct misinformation. We do not deserve to be misinformed that so and so are "terrorists" without good evidence. We do not deserve to be told that this charity organization had "nothing that constituted real humanitarian aid" on the Mavi Marmara when in fact it is a charity and has done many acts of charity all over the world. There have been controversies but in regards to the Mavi Marmara there is nothing to justify such vicious slurs that PCG directed at IHH.
Turns out IHH was founded in response to the horrors of the Bosnian War of 1992-5.
Did you know that our logo comes from a school sign riddled with bullets in Bosnia during the war? #Srebrenica pic.twitter.com/uljy2VeRPi
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) July 11, 2015
Did you know that IHH was established to provide humanitarian relief to the people of Bosnia in 1992? #Srebrenica pic.twitter.com/05iKSV8reG
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) July 11, 2015
12 years ago, we lost one of the greatest leaders in the history of humanity. Paying tribute to #Alija Izetbegović! pic.twitter.com/d5UkKlbTUD
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) October 19, 2015
IHH has provided aid to Syrians suffering because of the cataclysmic war.
Together with 12 partner organizations from 7 countries, we are sending an aid convoy of 49 trucks to Syria. pic.twitter.com/TIKccv6JjS
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) December 5, 2015
A bakery runned by IHH and @qcharity was destroyed by Russian airstrikes in Syria's Idlib province yesterday. pic.twitter.com/V85VyDXSa3
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) November 30, 2015
Construction work is ongoing to build the world's biggest orphan village in the Turkish border city of Hatay. pic.twitter.com/HusYAFGroR
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) November 19, 2015
IHH along with its partner @qcharity is building a camp of a thousand containers in Shammarin region of Syria. pic.twitter.com/4rcfCxFaFq
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) November 6, 2015
IHH's Sanliurfa office is providing 15,000 loaves of bread on a daily basis to Syrian refugees living in the city. pic.twitter.com/OVShYdktZM
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) October 19, 2015
IHH has distributed food packages, mattresses, diapers and gauze to hospitals in the Serakib region of Idlib, Syria. pic.twitter.com/PqnQYAiCJj
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) September 8, 2015
IHH has begun construction of a new container camp that will accommodate up to 1,000 #Syrian refugee families. pic.twitter.com/WH5DEuVchn
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) August 5, 2015
IHH has sent 9 trucks of humanitarian aid to #Turkmen villages in Syria. pic.twitter.com/DlzrCR888I
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) July 28, 2015
The Palestinian Consul General in Istanbul has attended our food distribution for Palestinian refugees in Turkey. pic.twitter.com/WWmyxSoUly
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) July 13, 2015
IHH has provided aid to Yemen, a country undergoing civil war at present.
Within the last week, IHH has delivered emergency food assistance to one thousand families in #Yemen's Aden city. pic.twitter.com/afOOAeIRAm
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) September 18, 2015
We continue our humanitarian efforts to help ease the suffering of the #Yemeni people. pic.twitter.com/xGtIUo8hip
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) September 2, 2015
IHH has built wells in Africa and Asia.
Since 2002, IHH has been building clean water wells in Africa and Asia.
| https://t.co/8VHsggM5KF pic.twitter.com/zAxNJ2O0DP
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) December 17, 2015
Like him, hundreds of thousands of people now have access to safe drinking water in #Bangladesh. pic.twitter.com/ed7MWMVuN9
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) August 26, 2015
In #Chad, over 850,000 people are benefiting from the water wells built across the country. #WaterWellsSaveLives pic.twitter.com/wOjJXh9Fkb
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) August 21, 2015
With 112 wells built in 2015, thousands of #Somalis no longer have to walk miles every day for water. pic.twitter.com/U4ibHpdZSL
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) August 13, 2015
IHH has built homes in Darfur. Since 2003 Darfur has been the scene of intense violence as the Khartoum regime has sought to suppress a secessionist movement there. Some have described the depredations of pro-Khartoum militias as genocide.
IHH has constructed 74 more houses to find a solution to the housing problem of Darfur refugees. pic.twitter.com/gOm0BzwXt1
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) December 1, 2015
IHH has provided aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Since 2013, the number of Gazan students who have attended free classes at our center have reached 3 thousand 949. pic.twitter.com/rcqiNJtTRy
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) December 1, 2015
Orphan families receive their sponsorship payments at IHH headquarters in Gaza, #Palestine. pic.twitter.com/X9cBkFllol
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) August 13, 2015
The repair work on the Fatimah al-Zahra School, which was damaged during the 50-day war in #Gaza, is almost finished. pic.twitter.com/6e4wNbdVzb
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) July 6, 2015
IHH sent aid to Pakistan after the earthquake there in October.
Our team in Pakistan is walking for 50 mins to deliver aid to 13 families who lost their homes after the earthquake. pic.twitter.com/u2z0qxu6Up
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) October 28, 2015
Our first team has arrived in the earthquake-affected regions on the Afghan-Pakistan border. pic.twitter.com/zXC03hIrsU
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) October 27, 2015
IHH has provided negotiation to release hostages.
Since 2013, IHH's diplomacy team has rescued 2,201 people held captive in Syria, Egypt, Iran, Libya and Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/VAh6x3uULk
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) December 3, 2015
There is more charity work done by IHH.
Faruk Aktas School, opened by IHH in 2010, provides free education to hundreds of children in #Zanzibar, Tanzania. pic.twitter.com/yYYMDOzB3v
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) November 26, 2015
Did you know that the largest orphanage in #Somalia was established by IHH in 2013? pic.twitter.com/SW0QBUreSf
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) November 6, 2015
Rohingyas, the victims of sustained genocidal persecution
Intvw with Dr. Maung Zarni - http://t.co/U3yxNCPG6S pic.twitter.com/1GE1T0PeuO
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) July 24, 2015
The number of sponsored orphans has almost reached 70 thousand. No rest until every orphan has a family. pic.twitter.com/a4jNIhRjO6
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) July 4, 2015
So it is clear that IHH is fully capable of providing aid as was their stated purpose in sending the Mavi Marmara to Gaza to try and break the Israeli blockade against Gaza.
How dare PCG's leaders slur this organization as "terrorists" when PCG's leaders clearly knew so little about it.
I wonder what thoughts go through the minds of the PCG insiders as they read their own Trumpet articles. Just reading the Wikipedia articles on this topic gives one a sense of the complexity of this event, and the controversial nature of many of the smaller component activities which made up the event. Normally, one would think that an analyst would consider the two or more sides involved, boil it all down, and then come out with something really incisive as opposed to wholly embracing one of the sides.
ReplyDeleteWhen genetic science disproved British Israelism, some in the Armstrong "think tank" came up with the preposterous rebuttal that the Jews of today are not even the "real" Jews of antiquity, that they are gentiles who converted to Judaism. Armstrongism is in such a state today, that its teachers and believers will say anything to prop up the failed prophecy mold which is based on B.I.
If charities from Western democracies are permitted to mount relief efforts to the suffering around the world, and expect "hands off" policies, allowing them to render their aid, doesn't fair play mandate that people of different belief systems and ethnicities be allowed the same privileges and hands off treatment for their charities? Actually, Armstrongism has never really advocated broad-based charity except amongst their own. Ministers have often preached "Brethren, it is wrong for us to help and comfort the people whom God is punishing!" And, of course, to the ACOG purist, there is no such thing as a random natural disaster. In their world, every bad event is punishment directly from God calculated to push people towards Armstrongism.
I hope that just some of the PCG members use their computer resources to fact check some of these lop-sided articles. The research these days is even sloppier than HWA's!
BB
If is terrible that PCG have this simplistic script. A tragic event such as what happened on the Mavi Marmara does not fit their script so they enter into denial in order to keep their script intact in the eyes of their followers.
DeletePCG is talking about human lives but PCG dehumanizes them just to make them fit their dogmatic script.
Incidentally this approach also dehumanizes Israeli Jews. Instead of viewing Israeli Jews as follow human beings as beautiful, talented and flawed as anyone else PCG stereotypes them by simplistically portraying them as "the good guys" in PCG's dogmatic interpretation of world affairs. Although this may seem friendly it is in fact dehumanizing as Israeli Jews are stereotyped in an unrealistic manner instead of being viewed as they really are: follow human beings as beautiful, talented and flawed as anyone else.
Teaching people to view various peoples in simplisitc, stereotypical ways such as this might make people who end up leaving or getting kicked out of PCG vulnerable to being tricked into adopting racist, anti-Semitic ideologies.
I suspect PCG's simplistic and stereotypical view of Israeli Jews might actually unintentionally fuel anti-Semitism among their followers and ex-followers.
We need overcome the dogmas of Armstrongism and learn to appreciate and judge people of whatever nationality and religion as human beings instead of being this or that people fated to do this or that.