Free Gaza: We've done it again: SS Dignity arrives in Gaza

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Written by Greta Berlin Greta Berlin

Published: 29 October 2008 29 October 2008

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For Immediate Release
October 29, 2008

For More Information, Please Contact:
Greta Berlin (Cyprus) +357 99 081 767 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Osama Qashoo (Cyprus) +44 (0)78 3338 1660 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Angela Godfrey Goldstein (Jerusalem)  +972 (0)54 736 6393 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

LARNACA - The Free Gaza Movement is delighted to announce that their third boat, the SS Dignity carrying 27 crew and passengers arrived in Gaza at 8:10 Gaza time, in spite of Israeli threats to stop them. In the pouring rain, the boat pulled into port amid cheers from the people of Gaza and tears from the passengers.

David Schermerhorn, one of the crew members called an hour before the boat entered the waters of Gaza and said, "There is a rainbow stretching across the Mediterranean from where we are right now."

Yesterday, The Israel Navy said they would stop the stop our vessel once it reached Israel's territorial waters. Apparently to save face, they said they would harm our boat, arrest us and tow us IF we entered Israeli waters. The problem for Israel is that the SS Dignity had no intention of getting anywhere near those waters.

One of the organizers, Huwaida Arraf cheered, "Once again we've been able to defy an unjust and illegal policy while the rest of the world is too intimidated to do anything. Our small boat is a huge cry to the international community to follow in our footsteps and open a lifeline to the people of Gaza."

For the second time, the Free Gaza Movement has demonstrated that the might of the Israeli navy is no match for a small boat of human rights activists determined to call to the attention of the world the occupation of the people of Gaza.

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council added, "Despite the injustice against the Palestinian people, we believe in justice and will keep on trying to break Israel's siege. The occupation has divided the Palestinians, but our nonviolent resistance has united us."

Osama Qashoo, one of the organizers of the Free Gaza Movement, overjoyed for the second time in three months, "We are all capable of leading a nonviolent and effective movement to end the Israeli Apartheid and expose the injustice that has been meted out to the Palestinians. We in the FG movement have provided the new dictionary, it's up to the Palestinians and the Israelis and the Internationals to add the words."

--
Greta Berlin
Media Team
Free Gaza Movement
357 99 08 17 67
www.freegaza.org
www.anis-online.de/office/events/FreeGazaSong.htm
www.flickr.com/photos/29205195@N02/

Senders of Islam movie 'Obsession' tied to Jewish charity

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Written by Meg Laughlin, Times Staff Writer Meg Laughlin, Times Staff Writer

Published: 28 October 2008 28 October 2008

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A nonprofit group that has shipped out 28-million copies of a controversial film on radical Islam refuses to reveal the source of its funding, but numerous ties connect it to a well-known Jewish education group that vehemently denies any involvement with the film.

The backing for Obsession: Radical Islam's War with the West and the intent of its distributor, the Clarion Fund, has been the subject of speculation since the DVDs were distributed beginning Sept. 14.

Clarion Fund, which was incorporated in 2006, distributed Obsession in 14 states, including the key presidential battlegrounds of Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The DVDs were distributed by mail and as an advertising supplement in 58 Sunday newspapers, including the St. Petersburg Times.

"We don't have to say who its directors are or give financial information until Nov. 6, 2008," said Clarion spokesperson Gregory Ross.

Not good enough, says the Council on American Islamic Relations, which filed a complaint Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.

"American voters deserve to know whether they are targets of a multimillion-dollar campaign funded and directed by a foreign group seeking to whip up anti-Muslim hysteria as a way to influence the outcome of our presidential election," Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, said in a statement.

There are a number of connections between the Clarion Fund and a well-known organization called Aish HaTorah, an international charity founded in Israel in the 1970s.

Ronn Torossian, spokesman for Aish HaTorah, said that his group would in "no way be involved with Clarion Fund or Obsession because Aish HaTorah is a charity and must remain apolitical."

Ross, the Clarion spokesman, was listed as an Aish HaTorah international fundraiser on a federal election donation form in June 2007.

Elke Bronstein is the name written on the mail permit for the bulk mailing of Obsession DVDs in mid September from Freeport, N.Y. Reached on her cell phone, Bronstein said she worked for Clarion, but would not provide more information.

The receptionist at Aish HaTorah in New York said Bronstein worked for Aish Discovery, which produces high-tech programs and films for Aish HaTorah. Torossian said Bronstein could easily have separate jobs.

"What? You're going to find four, five or six people who work for Clarion and Aish and claim a worldwide conspiracy? I don't think so," he said.

Clarion's address, according to Manhattan directory assistance, is the same address as Aish HaTorah International, a fundraising arm of Aish HaTorah. The Clarion Fund and Aish HaTorah International are also connected to a group called HonestReporting, which produced Obsession. Honest­Reporting's 2006 tax return uses the same address.

"It's news to me," Torossian said.

Two of the three Clarion Fund directors at the time of its incorporation in November 2006 appeared as Aish employees on Aish Web sites at the same time. The third appeared on the Aish executive committee. Torossian said the overlap meant nothing.

Aish HaTorah's main purpose is to "broaden the knowledge of individuals to their Jewish heritage." Barbara Walters, Steven Spielberg and Bill Clinton have praised the charity.

A June 15, 2001, article in the Jerusalem Post said that Aish HaTorah provided $150,000 in "seed money" to create an organization called Media Watch International that took over HonestReporting, the group that made Obsession four years later.

"This is true," said Torossian, "but that association ended" before Obsession was made.

The Aish Web site offers information on Jewish heritage and religious issues, as well as links to numerous videos on Mideast politics. One of the links is to Obsession.

"Aish also tells about a woman meeting Paul McCartney. Does that mean we're connected to him?" Torossian asked.

Washington tax attorney Marc Owens, who was IRS director of the Exempt Organizations Division for 10 years, says that if IRS investigates and finds a link between the film and Aish, it will ask: Was the film designed or distributed to have an impact on the election? Is this film an inflammatory hate message instead of a charitable, educational message?

"If the answer is 'yes' to either question," said Owens, "the involved charities could lose their tax-exempt status."

Despite a disclaimer by the filmmakers that Obsession does not represent all Muslims, the 2005 film has been criticized for unfairly portraying the religion as violent.

In the film, men in traditional Middle Eastern dress burn an American flag. The planes fly into the twin towers. Peaceful scenes of Muslims at market and prayer are interspersed with violent scenes and commentators critical of Islam.

Clarion disputes there is any political motivation for distributing the film now. However, about a week ago, a Clarion Web site linked the film to the presidential candidates.

"McCain's policies seek to confront radical Islamic extremism and terrorism and roll it back while Obama's, although intending to do the same, could make it worse," said the site. This statement was later removed.

"We are not telling people who to vote for," Ross, the Clarion spokesman, said in an Associated Press story. "We're just saying no matter who gets in office, the American people should know radical Islam is a real threat to America."

It is not clear who paid for the extensive mailing of the DVD from Freeport, N.Y. The permit number belongs to Clarion Fund, but Clarion Fund had no money in its bulk-mail account, according to postal administrators.

"The bulk mailing of this was made possible by a third party, other than Clarion," said U.S. Postal Inspector Debbie Waller. "We're looking into it."

Contact Meg Laughlin at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Israel "will stop" Gaza activist boat

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Written by Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA)

Published: 28 October 2008 28 October 2008

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Israel plans to stop a boat of activists planning to set sail for Gaza.

The Free Gaza movement is scheduled to leave from Cyprus for Gaza Tuesday, the second time it will attempt to break Israel's blockade of the Hamas-run strip. The first trip in August, comprised of two boats full of activists, was not blocked by Israel's Navy.

Israeli officials said a decision was made last month at the "highest governmental levels," to stop the boat, when it was originally scheduled to make the second trip, the Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday.

The 26 activists, including an Arab-Israel lawmaker, 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, and Palestinian Legislative Council member Mustafa Barghouti, will bring medicines to Gaza.

The Free Gaza Movement used August's demonstration to gain publicity against Israel's blockade of Gaza, despite the fact that Israel let the boats pass without stopping them.

The blockade was instituted after the terrorist group Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006.

An American diplomat decries Israeli settlers' attacks on Palestinian farmers

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Written by IMEMC Staff - IMEMC & Agencies IMEMC Staff - IMEMC & Agencies

Published: 28 October 2008 28 October 2008

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 A high-ranking American diplomat, Jacob Walles, confirmed that the Israeli settlers' attacks on Palestinian farmers in the West Bank are unacceptable.

The American general consul in Jerusalem maintained that the settlers attacks have been unacceptable, making clear that the American administration has contacted the Israeli authorities to stop such attacks.

During his participation in olives picking in the Tarmisa village, to the east of Ramallah, Walles said ," I have been invited to visit this place long time ago, yet I wanted to come at this particular time".

The American diplomat asserted on what he described ' deep' American-Palestinian relations, adding that he has repeatedly visited various areas of the West Bank, where he used to be welcomed warmly by the Palestinian residents.

Over the past several weeks, Palestinian farmers in various parts of the West Bank have been reportedly exposed to a series of attacks by armed Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory.