Currently viewing the tag: “Ship”
The Union of Ontario Indians will battle a plan to ship 1,600 tons of radioactive waste from the Bruce nuclear power complex to Sweden via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, the group announced this week.
UOI, a political advocacy organization that represents 39 First Nation communities in Ontario, said that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Bruce Power Corporation failed to properly consult with First Nation communities before approving the plant to ship 16 contaminated steam generators from the Bruce Power complex in Kincardine.
“[M]ost of the Chiefs and Councils who are signatories to treaties all along the Great Lakes were never consulted,“ Southwest Regional Anishinabek Nation Chief Chris Plain said in a statement. “The duty to consult and accommodate must be done with the rights holders and we were never consulted.”
“We will do everything in our power to prevent the Ontario and Federal governments and the nuclear power industry from using our precious waterways as a garbage disposal route,” Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee said. “It is contrary to Supreme Court decisions, our aboriginal and treaty rights, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the laws of Nature.”
Mayors from more than 70 communities along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway have warned that the proposed shipment has not received adequate environmental review and threatens the water supply for millions people.
The ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan shows that accidents can result in radioactive contamination of water supplies.This week officials in Tokyo warned residents not to let infants drink the tap water because it contains elevated levels of radioactive iodine.
U.S. Dept. of Transportation approval is required for the Bruce shipment to pass through U.S. waters.
Irfan Husain describes how the Arab League's hedging could backfire:
In all probability, the Arab League's more conservative members thought that by throwing Qadhafi to the wolves, they could move the spotlight away from their own repression of their rebellious youth. However, it would seem that finally, retribution is catching up with them. Yemen is on the brink, with many government supporters deserting, much like rats jumping off a sinking ship. Bahrain continues to face violent unrest, despite Saudi Arabia`s crude intervention. Syria and Morocco are being shaken by demonstrations. Egypt and Tunisia seem to be moving towards achieving functioning democracies.
(Image from The Daily Show via The Bryman)
Here is a handy summary of why the MSA is not your average campus group, as you may have suspected by now. “Muslim Student Group a Gateway to Jihad?,” by Erick Stakelbeck for CBN News, March 21 (thanks to all who sent this in):
…The MSA bills itself as a resource and support group, a place where Muslim students can network and help grow the association.
Terrorism expert Patrick Poole, however, told CBN News his investigation of the organization shows it’s being used for another purpose.
“The Muslim Students Association has been a virtual terror factory,” said Poole. “Time after time after time again, we see these terrorists — and not just fringe members: these are MSA leaders, MSA presidents, MSA national presidents — who’ve been implicated, charged and convicted in terrorist plots.”
The roll call includes Anwar al-Awlaki, the al Qaeda cleric linked to terror plots from Fort Hood to Times Square and beyond.
Awlaki, now a target for assasination by the U.S. government, was president of the MSA at Colorado State University in the mid-1990s.
Then there is Ramy Zamzam. Before his conviction in Pakistan last year for attempting to join the Taliban and kill American troops, Zamzam was president of the MSA’s Washington, D.C., council.
Omar Hammami, a leader of the al-Shabaab terrorist group in Somalia, is another MSA alum. He was once president of the group’s chapter at the University of South Alabama.
And the list goes on.
Abdurahman Alamoudi, who was national president of the MSA during the 1980s, was al Qaeda’s top fundraiser in America and is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence.
Radical Islam Incubator
The MSA is a supposedly “mainstream” group that has long operated on college campuses from coast to coast. Yet a 2007 New York Police Department report identified the organization as an “incubator” for Islamic radicalism.
Former FBI Special Agent John Guandolo told CBN News that the problem can be traced back to the group’s roots in the Muslim Brotherhood — a jihadist movement that seeks to establish Islamic Sharia law worldwide.
“The MSA serves as a recruitment tool to bring Muslims into the Brotherhood,” Guandolo said. “Which was its original purpose: to evaluate Muslims and to bring them into the Brotherhood and to recruit non-Muslims into Islam as a dawa entity, giving them the call to Islam.”
Guandolo worked on several major terrorism cases for the FBI. He calls the MSA the “focal point” for the Muslim Brotherhood in America.
“Their goal, both from their senior leaders, presidents of MSA’s around the country, national leadership, is to implement Islamic government here in the United States,” he explained. “And they say that.”
Founded in 1963 at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, the MSA quickly spread to other campuses in the Midwest.
“There were really three leaders, three Iraqi guys: Jamal Barzinji, Ahmed Totonji, and Hisam Altalib, who really set it up, who are known, identified Muslim Brotherhood leaders,” said Poole. “And from there, MSA became the mother ship of all the Muslim Brotherhood front groups.”
Rabidly Anti-Israel
In 2004, the FBI uncovered an internal Muslim Brotherhood document in which a Brotherhood leader identified the MSA as one of “our organizations and the organizations of our friends.”
Part of the MSA’s on-campus strategy is to aggressively confront pro-Israel speakers.
The Muslim Students Union at the University of California-Irvine, an MSA affiliate, was suspended by the school after members repeatedly heckled Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren during a speech in 2010.
That video and recent coverage can be found here.
Another MSA member endorsed genocide against Jews in May 2010 during an exchange with conservative commentator David Horowitz at the University of California-Davis.
“I am a Jew,” Horowitz said. “The head of Hezbollah has said that he hopes that we will gather in Israel so he doesn’t have to hunt us down globally. For or against it?”
“For it,” the MSA member answered firmly, in front of a stunned crowd….
The IDF’s Shayetet 13 Naval commando unit intercepted a shipload of Iranian weapons headed from Turkey to Gaza on this morning.
It was carrying Iranian weapons that originated in Syria. and while I’m speculating here, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if this was the cargo that was unloaded in the Syrian port of Latakia from the Iranian ships that were allowed through the Suez Canal last month.
The ship, The Victoria, is owned by a German company and flies the Liberian flag. It was en route from the Syrian port of Latakia and made a stop in Mersin, Turkey, before heading toward El Arish. From there, the goods were to be offloaded and travel by land to Hamas in Gaza. It was seized by the navy off the coast of El-Arish in Egypt, 200 miles off of Israel’s coast.
The ship was boarded by commandos from the Israel Navy’s Flotilla 13, the Shayetet,( who were also the unit used to board the Turkish ship Mavi Mamara) and was taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
The IDF’s belief at this point is that neither Egypt nor Turkey has any connection to the ship’s cargo. Their evidence indicates that Syria and Iran were the main actors.
The full details of the Hamas-bound goodies aboard wil likely be revealed later,but there is speculation that they may have included anti-ship missiles aimed at crippling Israel’s navy.
More details as they emerge.
The international media is uninterested in this story, busy as they are with Japan and Libya. And besides, the last thing they want to know about is an Iranian arms shipment en route to Hamas intercepted by Israel that justifies the ‘siege’ of Gaza.
The IDF spokesperson reported on Tuesday night that the ship was carrying 50 tons of weapons – about the equivalent of the Karin A, which was caught bringing weapons from Iran to the ‘Palestinian Authority’ in 2002.
And what concerns the IDF more than anything else is not the quantity but the quality of the arms they found.
Just for the record, here’s a partial list of what was found aboard the Victoria:
- 230 mortar shells, 120 mm
- 2,270 mortar shells, 60 mm
- 6 C-704 anti-ship missiles
- 2 radar systems manufactured in England
- 2 launchers
- 2 hydraulic mounting cranes for radar system
- 66,960 bullets for the Kalashnikov, 7.62 millimeter
The C-704′s, pictured above are of particular concern. They’re ‘silkworm ‘ type missiles that have an effective range of 21 miles (35 kilometers). Fired from the Gaza Strip, they’re a danger not only to Israeli shipping but to Israeli ports in close proximity like Ashkelon.
Not only is Iran known to have these weapons,but identifying documents and manuals in Farsi were found aboard the Victoria as well. Just imagine what would be coming in if Israel wasn’t monitoring this situation?
In other encouraging news, the Egyptians intercepted a convoy of Iranian arms headed towards Gaza via Egypt’s southern border with Sudan. The 5 vehicle convoy carried large quantities of mortars, rocket propelled grenades, rifles and explosives.
Sudan, you’ll remember, is an Iranian ally that has a mutual defense pact with Iran.
I’d absolutely love for the cretins who keep whining about the ‘siege of Gaza’ to put their money where their fetid mouths are and to move themselves and their families into Israeli territory within rocket and mortar range for a few weeks.
I guarantee you’d see them change their attitudes quite quickly.
(h/t Carl)
The Muqata has a summary of a Special IDF press conference for bloggers just half an hour ago that the IDF intercepted the Victoria bound from Gaza to Syria and found weapons originating from Iran.
According to Muqata’s summary:
Early this morning IDF Naval Commandos from boarded a cargo ship, “Victoria” — a German owned ship, operating by a French Company, flying under a Liberian flag. We had advance intelligence information that this vessel was carrying weapons.
We boarded the ship and the crew complied without any violence. A preliminary search revealed weapons in shipping containers. The Israeli navy is now escorting the boat to Israel where a further, detailed examination of the cargo and the ship will take place.
The ship originated from the Syrian port of Latkia, and also docked in Turkey’s Mersin Port on its way to Alexandria in Egypt. The IDF believes the weapons found on board were destined for Hamas in Gaza.
The ship’s crew apparently had no idea there were weapons in the shipping containers, and the IDF doesn’t believe that Egypt or Turkey were connected.
The current operating analysis is that Syria and Iran are the major actors, cooperating to send weapons to Hamas.
It has not yet been revealed what kinds of weapons were found on the ship.
Israel Matzav was at the conference also, and suggests a possible connection between the weapons and the Iranian ships that recently passed through the Suez Canal:
Lt. Col. Leibovich did not know whether the weapons were connected to the Iranian warships that passed through the Suez Canal three weeks ago. But given that those ships sailed to Latakia – and then went right back through the Canal – this is a distinct possibility.
More details will be forthcoming.
Anyone who recalls the incident of the Karin A, knows that this is not the first attempt to smuggle weapons to terrorists. In addition to the Karine A, there have been a number of previous instances-including incidents involving the Santorini, Abu Hassan, the Hansa India, the Monchegorsk, the Francop and Everest cargo vessels. These were involved in what were otherwise innocent transnational commercial shipping which was abused by States that sponsor terrorism, including Iran, Syria and Lebanon, all done in order to facilitate the illegal trafficking of arms to terrorist organizations in the region. Check out: Israel’s interception of arms ships – Background
If nothing else, today’s incident demonstrates the necessity for Israel’s legal blockade of Gaza, to prevent weapons being delivered to the Hamas terrorist group.
UPDATE: Here are some photos of what the IDF found aboard the Victoria:
Technorati Tag: Victoria and Gaza and Hamas and Syria and Iran.
Here are 3 videos illustrating the process of stopping and searching the cargo of the Victoria.
Normal procedure, unlike the premeditated attack by those aboard the Mavi Marmara.
Today, the Israeli Navy intercepted the cargo vessel “Victoria” loaded with various weaponry. According to assessments, the weaponry on-board the vessel was intended for the use of terror organizations operating in the Gaza Strip. The vessel, flying under a Liberian flag, was intercepted some 200 miles west of Israel’s coast. This incident was part of the Navy’s routine activity to maintain security and prevent arms smuggling, in light of IDF security assessments.
The ship’s crew complied with the Navy’s request, and was boarded without incident. The “Victoria” is now sailing towards the Ashdod Port in Israel where its contents will be examined.
Israeli Navy Addresses “Victoria” Cargo Ship
IDF Navy Soldiers Board the “Victoria”
Israeli Navy Soldiers Board the “Victoria”
Technorati Tag: Victoria.
This post was written by Barry Rubin and is reposted here with his permission.
By Barry Rubin
The story of the Liberian-flag ship Victoria is dramatic enough but few will understand, at least immediately, that it opens a new era in the region’s history. It is a period when, for the first time more than thirty years that Egypt will not be a reliable force for regional peace and stability.
The Victoria was loaded with a large shipment of weapons in Latakia, Syria. Note that Syria is a dictatorship where nothing happens without government approval. Thus, the Syrian regime decided to provide arms (very possibly paid for by Iran) to the terrorist group Hamas. It did so fairly openly because the Asad dictatorship has no fair of individual punishment, censor, or even bad publicity.
The Syrian government also supplies arms to Iraqi insurgents who murder Americans as well as Iraqi civilians. Nevertheless, the current U.S. government has engaged Syria diplomatically and has made a series of concessions to it. The Syrians have made clear that they view these thing as concessions showing that they are strong, America is weak, and that Syria can get away with whatever it wants to do.
Question: Will the U.S. government and European governments change their policies when presented evidence of open Syrian sponsorship of terrorism and destabilizing the region? Will the U.S. engagement end? Will the European Union censure Syria the way it has so frequently treated Israel? Will the media spend anywhere near as much time criticizing Syria, exposing its human rights’ violations, and international misbehavior as it does in finding reasons to vilify Israel?
Answer: You know the answers are all “No.”
The Victoria then proceeded to Turkey as a way to launder the true purpose of its voyage. Next, it headed for Alexandria, Egypt, where the arms were to be unloaded and shipped to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
This operation would not have happened three months ago, before the Egyptian revolution because Syria and Hamas would have faced two problems:
First, under the Mubarak government the ship would have been checked and the cargo confiscated. Israel would have informed Egypt about the cargo and purpose. But even if that had not happened, for its own interests the then-government of Egypt would not have wanted a large-scale arms shipment to Hamas.
Second, under the Mubarak government even if the weapons had been unloaded there is a good chance they would have been seized at the Egypt-Gaza border. Even though many weapons are smuggled across, the chance of being caught has kept the level of smuggling below a certain point. Now, emboldened, Iran, Syria, Hizballah (there are now Hizballah advisors in Gaza), and Hamas itself believe that either the Egyptian forces don’t care, are ideologically supportive, or can be even more easily bribed.
Events in Egypt teach us once again that while countries pursue their national interests it is up to governments to define those interests. The previous sentence is the key to international affairs. It provides all the international relations and political science theory you will ever need. A new regime-as we saw with the overthrow of the shah and his replacement by Islamists in Iran-has a new view of national interests.
The old Egyptian government knew Hamas wanted to destabilize it and help replace it with an Islamist regime. That Egyptian government also understood that an escalation of Hamas-Israel war could draw in Egypt as well and destabilize the region. The old Egyptian government was angry at Hizballah, which tried to carry out terrorist operations on its own soil. That regime viewed its interests as diametrically opposed to those of the Iran-Syria axis that wishes to seize hegemony in the Middle East and drive out Western interests.
Egypt is in the process of redefining its national interests.
Ladies and gentlemen, everything you have been told by most Western governments and virtually all the world’s media was wrong. Egypt has gone from being a force for stability in the region and the strengthening of Western interests to—at best—a neutralist state that is indifferent on the key issues. The next step could well be into the negative category.
With the U.S. government unreliable and the Europeans even more so, Israel is going to look after its own defense. Israel’s government is going to be very polite about all of this. It will make protests that it knows will go unheeded. It will prepare detailed dossiers of its assertions that it knows will go unpublished. It will offer potential compromises that it knows will go unmet by counterparts.
And at the same time it will go about the business of protecting itself and its people.
As everyone is watching the results of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, there is a manmade earthquake and tsunami in the Middle East.
Note: It is interesting to compare the Victoria to the ship Karina-B, carrying weapons from Iran to Fatah with the deal being arranged by Hizballah. This showed that Yasir Arafat wanted to escalate the fighting into a major Israel-Palestinian war. Under a previous president, U.S. policymakers reacted strongly, though only very temporarily, against the Palestinian Authority.
For details on the Victoria ship affair see video on boarding of ship, Past Attempts of Weapons Smuggling by Sea; and Israel’s interception of arms ships – Background.
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader
(seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East
(Wiley), and The Truth About Syria
(Palgrave-Macmillan). His latest book is Israel: An Introduction, to be published by Yale University Press later this year. You can read more of Barry Rubin’s posts at Rubin Reports.
Technorati Tag: Victoria and Gaza and Hamas and Syria and Iran.
Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, Head of the Foreign Press Branch, had a bloggers conference call at around 7:30 EST this morning and confirmed early Tuesday morning (Israel Time), IDF fighters boarded the cargo ship Victoria at sea, then 200 miles out from Israel. (Pictures below are from the seizure).
The Victoria is a German-owned vessel, operated by a French operating company, and flying the Liberian flag. Although Lt. Col. Leibovich did not say which IDF units were involved, YNET is reporting that Shayetet 13, the Naval commando unit executed this raid. Shayetet 13 is the commando unit that was involved in the Mavi Marmara raid last year (AKA the Guerilla Floatilla),
The boarding was based upon confirmed reports that the vessel was carrying illicit arms destined for terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip. The ship was off the coast of Israel, in the open waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
The ship had sailed Monday night from the Syrian port of Lattakai bound for Turkey. There, it was supposed to unload the weapons, which would be conveyed by land to Gaza. Lattakai is the same port where two Iranian war ships docked in February after traversing the Suez Canal. At the time, IDF officials raised concerns of the possibility that they were carrying weapons intended for terrorists organizations, but there was no confirmation.
“The operation was approved as necessary in accordance with government directives in light of Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz’s recommendations,” an IDF statement read. Gantz updated Defense Minister Ehud Barak about the findings on-board the vessel Tuesday morning. “The IDF and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alerted German authorities about the interception of the “Victoria” due to the German ownership of the ship,” the statement said.
In addition, the government of Liberia, whose flag it was flying under, was notified, as well as France, due to the French shipping company. The Israeli Navy has conducted numerous operations over the years against Iranian smuggling to Hamas and Hezbollah.
The IDF believes that that neither Egypt nor Turkey has any connection to the ship’s cargo. The evidence it has indicates that Syria and Iran were the main actors.
The IDF will not say yet what types of weapons they found on the ship. But the type of weapons is not important . According to Lt. Col. Leibovich, the most important fact here is that the IDF can draw direct line from Syria to the attempt to smuggle weapons into Gaza. The weapons are Iranian.
Lt. Col. Leibovich did not know whether the weapons were connected to the Iranian warships that passed through the Suez Canal three weeks ago. But this is a distinct possibility.
Lt. Col. Leibovich did not know whether the crew knew what they were carrying. But, it should be noted that nothing in the freight manifest of the Victoria revealed the true nature of the content of the ship’s containers, in violation of the relevant provisions of the International Maritime Organization’s Conventions and professional standards, including the Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Cod
The IDF did not notify anyone in advance that it was going to board the ship. The IDF informed the Germans, the French, the Liberians and the Americans only after it had opened the three containers mentioned above. Intriguingly, Lt. Col. Leibovich did not answer when asked whether the Germans and French knew what was on the ships when they were contacted.
This raises some concerns for the world community. The need to prevent arms smuggling: This attempt at smuggling large amounts of weaponry aboard the Victoria provides additional proof of Israel’s imperative need to examine all goods entering the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Israel cannot allow weapons and military equipment to reach the hands of terrorists, who will use them against its civilian population. If the world community doesn’t want to act, Israel will.
Syria and Iran will complain, but the key is that Israel acted in self-defense: The illegal smuggling of arms to the Gaza Strip poses a direct and imminent threat to the safety and security of the State of Israel and its citizens, who continue to find themselves under the unceasing attack of rocket and mortar fire originating from Gaza.
This is more evidence of Iran’s state sponsorship of terrorism. Preliminary evidence indicates that the weapons aboard the ship originated in Iran, which strives to arm the Gaza Strip. Under Hamas rule, the Gaza Strip has become part of the Iranian-Syrian-Hamas axis. Keep in mind that smuggling arms to terrorists is illegal: Such transfer of weaponry to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip constitutes a blatant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1860(2009), which calls upon Member States to intensify efforts to “prevent illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition” to the Gaza Strip (para. 6), as well as a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1373(2001), which, inter alia, calls upon all States to refrain from the provision of any form of support to terrorist organizations and to eliminate the supply of weapons to such groups. Israel will proabably try and get a UN Resolution about this violation which has very little chance of passing the anti-Israel UN Security Council.
There is more information coming out…we will update you as it comes.
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Made in Iran.
Not for the first time, the IDF intercepted a ship attempting to run the Gaza blockade, this time apparently without getting attacked after boarding the vessel. Unlike last May, this ship was flagged as Liberian rather than Turkish, but the ship last sailed from Mercen in Turkey. The ship contained “dozens of tons” of arms, […]
From JPost:
The IDF seized a freighter ship with dozens of tons of weaponry from Iran headed for Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
The ship, known as Victoria, was flying a Liberian flag, and was seized by the navy in the Meditteranean Sea, 200 miles off of Israel’s coast.
The Victoria was boarded by commandos from the Israely Navy’s Flotilla 13, also known as the Shayetet, and is expected to arrive in the Ashdod port on Tuesday evening.
An initial inspection of the cargo revealed the ship was carrying weapons. The exact amount is to be determined.
The crew, questioned by the Navy Commando, was not aware that the cargo contained weaponry.
The ship set sail last night from Turkey, and was expected to dock in Alexandria. There, it was supposed to unload the weapons, which would travel by land to Gaza. The IDF’s assessment is that the weapons did not originate in Turkey, but that the containers were unloaded there and transferred onto the Victoria.
“The operation was approved as necessary in accordance with government directives in light of Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz’s recommendations,” an IDF statement read.
Gantz updated Defense Minister Ehud Barak about the findings on-board the vessel earlier in the morning.
“The IDF and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alerted German authorities about the interception of the “Victoria” due to the German ownership of the ship,” the statement said.
In addition, the government of Liberia, whose flag it was flying under, was notified, as well as France, due to the French shipping company.
In November 2009, the Israeli Navy seized the Francop cargo ship, which was carrying 500 tons of weaponry from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon, including Katyusha rockets and grenades. At the time, IDF officers said the amount was enough to sustain Hezbollah for several weeks of war.
This means that Turkey was at least somewhat complicit as the weapons were reloaded there and allowed to ship from there.
And that the assumption in this episode is that was that the new Egyptian authorities would not be checking shipments going through Rafah for weapons, the way that Mubarak’s regime did. Whether they would actively assist Hamas is unclear.
Welcome to the new, democratic Middle East.
UPDATE: YNet says:
A preliminary probe suggests the ship’s crew was not aware of the weapons concealed on board the vessel.
On its way from Syria to Alexandria, Egypt the ship docked at Turkey’s Mersin Port. It is estimated that the weapons on board were intended for terror groups operating in the Gaza Strip.
Turkey was in no way connected to the ship as far as the IDF is aware. The seizure of the vessel was authorized by the government.
Turkey’s reaction will speak volumes.
From JPost:
The IDF seized a freighter ship with dozens of tons of weaponry from Iran headed for Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
The ship, known as Victoria, was flying a Liberian flag, and was seized by the navy in the Meditteranean Sea, 200 miles off of Israel’s coast.
The Victoria was boarded by commandos from the Israely Navy’s Flotilla 13, also known as the Shayetet, and is expected to arrive in the Ashdod port on Tuesday evening.
An initial inspection of the cargo revealed the ship was carrying weapons. The exact amount is to be determined.
The crew, questioned by the Navy Commando, was not aware that the cargo contained weaponry.
The ship set sail last night from Turkey, and was expected to dock in Alexandria. There, it was supposed to unload the weapons, which would travel by land to Gaza. The IDF’s assessment is that the weapons did not originate in Turkey, but that the containers were unloaded there and transferred onto the Victoria.
“The operation was approved as necessary in accordance with government directives in light of Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz’s recommendations,” an IDF statement read.
Gantz updated Defense Minister Ehud Barak about the findings on-board the vessel earlier in the morning.
“The IDF and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alerted German authorities about the interception of the “Victoria” due to the German ownership of the ship,” the statement said.
In addition, the government of Liberia, whose flag it was flying under, was notified, as well as France, due to the French shipping company.
In November 2009, the Israeli Navy seized the Francop cargo ship, which was carrying 500 tons of weaponry from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon, including Katyusha rockets and grenades. At the time, IDF officers said the amount was enough to sustain Hezbollah for several weeks of war.
This means that Turkey was at least somewhat complicit as the weapons were reloaded there and allowed to ship from there.
And that the assumption in this episode is that was that the new Egyptian authorities would not be checking shipments going through Rafah for weapons, the way that Mubarak’s regime did. Whether they would actively assist Hamas is unclear.
Welcome to the new, democratic Middle East.
UPDATE: YNet says:
A preliminary probe suggests the ship’s crew was not aware of the weapons concealed on board the vessel.
On its way from Syria to Alexandria, Egypt the ship docked at Turkey’s Mersin Port. It is estimated that the weapons on board were intended for terror groups operating in the Gaza Strip.
Turkey was in no way connected to the ship as far as the IDF is aware. The seizure of the vessel was authorized by the government.
Turkey’s reaction will speak volumes.
This from AFL-CIO Political Communications Director Eddie Vale.
Just one day after a media stunt that blew up in his face, further uniting Senate Democrats and Wisconsin’s working families against him, Scott Walker is facing the prospect of mass defections as Senate Republicans are no longer willing to tolerate his extreme power grab and bear the albatross of a Walker disapproval number-which threatening to crack 60 percent. One former Senate Republican aide even penned a memo advising Republicans “to wake up before their own districts disappear in the rear-view” and get off Walker’s rapidly-sinking ship.
Meanwhile, evidence mounts that Walker’s control over the Senate Republican Caucus is slipping away and that individual senators are fed up with his refusal to negotiate with Democrats. In addition to Sen. Dale Schultz, who has already announced he’s with the 74% of Wisconsinites opposed to Walker’s bill, Republicans Bob Cowles, Luther Olsen and Dan Kapanke—all facing aggressive recall efforts in their home districts—have indicated they want Walker come to the table to negotiate a deal that gets Wisconsin moving forward again.
Republican Bob Cowles told the Green Bay Press-Gazette that he believes Walker and Republicans should stick to issues with an actual fiscal impact and negotiate a deal. The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent succinctly summarizes Cowles’ remarks:
Cowles is endorsing the three core union arguments: that unions have already made the fiscal concessions Walker has asked for; that the rollback of bargaining rights won’t have any meaningful fiscal impact; and that Republicans should compromise with labor and Dems.
Republican Luther Olsen, who originally called the concept of stripping collective bargaining rights from workers “radical,” has also encouraged Walker to stop stonewalling and finally negotiate a deal with Senate Democrats. Olsen, who in addition to the recall has also faced substantial, in-district pressure including dozens of constituents showing up at his house in the snow to demand answers, did not disclose the details of his demands, but clearly seemed frustrated by the impasse Scott Walker refuses to break by negotiating a deal.
Even Republican Steve Kapanke, who publicly still backs Walker and says he’ll vote for the budget repair bill, said today that the collective bargaining provisions that Scott Walker insists he will never compromise on are actually, indeed, very much on the table. Perhaps Scott Walker is no longer party to some of the discussions even his most ardent supporters are now having as they try to find a way out of Walker’s self-inflicted political implosion.
