Since Israel imposed a naval blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2007, numerous initiatives have attempted to deliver humanitarian aid by sea. While the first attempt may have been improvised, all subsequent attempts have been organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian branch, Hamas.

In essence, this blockade is illegal under international law and the Muslim Brotherhood is therefore right to break it, since Israel is a member of the United Nations and has undertaken to abide by its decisions, which it has not done. The United Nations Security Council has described this blockade as “collective punishment.”

The Mavi Marmara affair in 2010-2011-2012 should have opened everyone’s eyes to the political manipulation of these flotillas’ humanitarian operations. When the flotilla was boarded by Israeli Special Forces and the passengers arrested, several of them were hospitalized in Türkiye, including the Irish-Turkish El-Mehdi El-Hamid, who was photographed kissing Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the forehead. Later, it turned out that El-Mehdi El-Hamid was both a Muslim Brother and a CIA agent. In 2011, he was put in power in Tripoli by NATO during the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, then in 2012 he became the second-in-command of the Free Syrian Army, i.e. the so-called "Syrian rebels," even though he had never before set foot in Syria.

According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of the organizers of the numerous flotillas to Gaza over the past 15 years is listed as an agent of the PCPA, the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad. This organization would be "subordinate to Hamas and would serve as a wing of the movement." Another agent on the PCPA list is Saif Abu Kashik, who is the CEO of a company that "owns dozens of vessels participating in the ’Sumud’ flotilla." Therefore, according to the ministry, "these ships are secretly owned by Hamas." It added that in a 2021 letter, the late head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, "publicly endorsed the PCPA organization."

The accusations against Muslim Brother Zahier Birawi began in June with an article in The Telegraph.

He was the one who organized and launched the "Sumud" (Resilience) flotilla. He is a journalist with Muslim Brother Azzam Tamimi’s satellite TV channel Al-Hiwar (Dialogue), which advertises the Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian branch, Hamas.

The goodwill of the volunteers in these flotillas is being manipulated by the Anglo-Saxon intelligence services to maintain and reinforce animosity between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. The interception on 2 October of thirteen boats of the "Sumud" flotilla by the Israeli army is part of this charade. The arrest of more than 200 passengers, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, guarantees the publicity of this sinister operation of hate communication. The joint involvement of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Israeli army guarantees the success of this "strategy of tension".

This is the editorial from our paywalled "Voltaire, international newsletter", n°145. For more information, do not hesitate to subscribe: 500€ per year.

Translation
Gregor Fröhlich