Tick… Tick... Tick…

The attempt this week by nine Turkish-flagged cargo ships to run the Israeli blockade off the coast of Gaza has become the focus of international attention and may rapidly become the “incident” which will be used to justify the next war on Israel. If you only listened to the so-called “news-reports“ spun out by the main-stream media wire services and networks, you would come to the intended conclusion that Israel is the aggressor, bullying and violently confronting the peace-loving “activists” who were only trying to bring humanitarian aid to the poor downtrodden Palestinians in Gaza. But what really happened here? Why is there a blockade of Gaza in the first place? Why did Israel board those ships? And what is the real agenda behind this incident?
Gaza, one of two Palestinian-run territories within Israel itself, is under the control of Hamas, a terrorist organization whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel. From Gaza, over 7000 katusha rockets have been launched into Israel. (Chew on that for a moment!) Imagine if terrorists within Cuba and under their government’s protection had launched over 7000 buzz bombs on Florida. Would we not place a blockade around Cuba to prevent missiles and other deadly arms from arriving there? (I seem to remember something like that in the history books?) The Israeli blockade of Gaza has been in effect for three years! Everybody knows that if you are on a ship headed for Gaza, you must stop and be inspected by the Israeli navy for weapons. This was no secret to the IHH-funded ships. IHH, the “Islamic charity” based in Turkey that sponsored this maritime operation, has been branded by the US government as a “front” for terror. This nice sounding “relief” organization even has a “dove of peace” displayed in their logo, but they are, in fact, channeling contributions to terrorists. Read about them here:
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_e105.htm .

What happened last week is not the “ugly-Israel” picture being painted by the media - an image which is now being used to lather up hatred of Israel in the UN and around the globe -it was a very calculated provocation by IHH. The “relief” ships would not stop when ordered so they were boarded by Israeli navy seals armed primarily with PAINT BALL GUNS. (You can verify this by watching the video!) As soon as the Israelis boarded the ship they were attacked with iron pipes and knives. Several of the Israelis were seriously beaten and stabbed, one was thrown overboard. Eventually a gun battle ensued in which nine “activists” were killed and three Israeli commandos were seriously wounded. What is not being reported, is that prior to this action both Israel and Egypt offered to take the cargo from these ships directly to Gaza. If the sole intention of the IHH was humanitarian relief it certainly would have accepted these offers -if not from the hand of the hated Jew at least from an Islamic brother!

So what is really behind this and why is it happening now? In the fall of 2007 I wrote three columns about the rise of Islamic radicals to power in Turkey through the election of AKP party candidates to the offices of President and Prime Minster and an AKP majority to parliament. Turkey, once considered a “moderate” Islamic nation, a NATO ally and a nation whose secular government was aligned more closely with Europe and the west, has undergone a dramatic transformation which is now almost complete. Turkey has abandoned a century of secular democratic rule to become in practice an Islamic state, even though its constitution still says otherwise – America take note! Turkey has moved away from the west and become aligned with Iran and Syria, two of its radical Islamic neighbors. This blockade running operation, while not done with Turkish navy ships, was done with at the very least, tacit approval by the Turkish government. And what about the timing? I believe this provocation has been planned for a long time, but they were waiting for one big thing….Iranian nuclear capability! We have allowed Iran to get the bomb and now we will have to pay the piper. Or should I say, Israel will.

This is not going to quietly go away. In fact, at this writing, IHH has another six ships waiting to try it again, only this time the whole world will be watching. Time will tell if this is the next big thing on the prophetic horizon. But one thing is sure, the clock is ticking….and midnight is very close.