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Turkish Funds Helped Group Test Blockade of Gaza

(New York Times) Sabrina Tavernise and Michael Slackman - Since 2007, a small group of hard-core activists has repeatedly tried to sail cargo-laden ships into Gaza in an effort to thwart Israel's blockade. But when the Free Gaza Movement teamed up with the much wealthier Turkish IHH to assemble a flotilla, it became more than a nuisance, supercharged by the group's money, manpower and symbolic resonance into what Israel sees as a serious and growing threat. IHH bought three boats, including the Mavi Marmara, from a company owned by the Istanbul city government for $1.8 million. "This is an Islamist charity, quite fundamentalist, quite close to Hamas," said Henri J. Barkey, a professor of international relations at Lehigh University. "They say they do charity work, but they've been accused of gunrunning and other things, and their rhetoric has been inflammatory against Israel and sometimes against Jews."
2010-06-02 09:02:22
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