The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

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1 The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center December 14, 2010 IHH publications describe the support the organization gives the Palestinians, especially the Gaza Strip. They illustrate IHH's worldview, hostile to Israel and supporting the Palestinians' maximalist demands. IHH support is motivated not only by humanitarian considerations, but also by political goals, including the reinforcement of the Hamas administration in Gaza. Three columns of children in a so-called "educational center" built with IHH support at a Hamas summer camp in They carry signs with the names of Hamas operatives who were killed in confrontations with the IDF (p. 16 in an Arabic booklet found aboard the Mavi Marmara, which deals with the propaganda support the organization gives the Palestinians). A display called Gaza-Taksim (Taksim is a square in the heart of Istanbul) which took place in March 2009 as part of an IHH campaign in support of the Palestinians. The Banner reads "Thousands [of] regar[d]s to [the] resistance [i.e., the terrorist organizations] from Istanbul to Gaza" (p. 32 in the Arabic booklet found aboard the Mavi Marmara)

2 2 Overview 1. This document examines the contents and political implications of a Turkish book and Arabic booklet found aboard the Mavi Marmara. Both publications were issued in 2009 by the Turkish IHH, the organization which led the recent flotilla. The book is entitled Palestine, from the Zionist Idea to the Actuality of the Occupation. It presents the history of the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation from a radical Islamic perspective which is one-sided and hostile to Israel. Israel is accused of a generations-long slaughter of Palestinians, begun even before its establishment. Palestinian terrorism is described briefly and favorably as "the Palestinian resistance movement" which is "fighting for independence." Israeli Arabs are represented as "Palestinians" living on "occupied Palestinian lands" [i.e., the State of Israel]. 2. The booklet describes IHH's support for the Palestinian cause, given primarily between the years 2004 and Most of the material support went to the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas. A small amount was earmarked for Judea and Samaria and Israeli Arabs. It also gives some information about IHH activity in the Palestinian refugee camps in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. 3. Some of the aid IHH gave the Palestinians was humanitarian, intended to ease the physical distress of the Palestinian population and improve its economic standing. However, some aspects of the aid, as described in the booklet, also clearly have political implications, such as the large amounts of money and equipment given to the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, donations of money to the families of shaheeds in the Gaza Strip and the construction of houses (possibly of terrorist operatives) to replace those destroyed by Israel in Judea and Samaria. The donations help Hamas' civilian network, which supports terrorism, and its educational system in the Gaza Strip, which indoctrinates the younger generation with radical Islam and sets them on the path of terrorism ("resistance"). In addition, IHH waged a propaganda campaign in Turkey during the years before Operation Cast Lead, contributing to Turkish hatred of Israel and sympathy for Hamas. 4. The nature of the support described in booklet suggests that IHH operates much the same way as other pro-hamas "charitable societies" abroad, most of them under the aegis of the Union of Good (of which IHH is a member). The various funds, foundations and organizations send most of the aid to Hamas' civilian infrastructure in the territories, the source of the movement's power. The funds help Hamas strengthen its grip on the population by promoting the movement as an alternative to the Palestinian Authority. The civilian infrastructure also supports terrorism, since Hamas exploits it to assist terrorists and their families and to inculcate Hamas' ideology in its educational system and through the mosques it controls. That was why many "charitable

3 3 societies" were outlawed by Israel, the United States and several European countries. IHH was outlawed by Israel in July 2008 and by Germany in The booklet indicates that IHH aid to the Gaza Strip grew during , the years preceding Operation Cast Lead, and even more so afterwards (2009). The steep increase, which is not described in the booklet (issued in 2009), took place during the first six months of 2010, when IHH participated in the project of sending flotillas to the Gaza Strip and became a leading force in the international coalition of anti- Israeli organizations. 6. The booklet does not explain how IHH sends assistance to the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria and Israeli Arabs. In our assessment that was an IHH politicalsecurity consideration, valid in 2009 when the booklet was printed, but weakened during According to our information, IHH operated as a member of the Union of Good through "charitable societies" affiliated with Hamas in the territories. It also worked directly with the de facto Hamas administration. To that end IHH opened a permanent branch office in Gaza headed by Muhammad Kaya, its contact with the Hamas administration. In Judea and Samaria the IHH contact was Izzat Shahin, who was sent there in November 2009 specifically to open an IHH branch. During his stay he channeled IHH funds to Hamas-affiliated "charitable societies" (tens of thousands of dollars to the Islamic Charity Association in Hebron and Al-Tadhamun in Nablus). The activity was prevented by the Israeli security forces. Shahin was detained for questioning in April 2010 on suspicion of terrorismfunding felonies and support for Hamas, and deported from Israel after his interrogation at the request of the Turkish authorities. 8. Why has IHH focused on investing most of its efforts in the Gaza Strip? In our assessment, there are several considerations shared by IHH and the Islamic Turkish government behind it: A. First, the humanitarian consideration, manifested, in IHH's view, by the increasing difficulties of daily life accompanied by the basic poverty of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip (difficulties which were made worse after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip because of its rocket attacks on Israel and international isolation). B. Second, the ideological consideration, mainly IHH's basic identification with Hamas' radial Islamist ideology originating with the Muslim Brotherhood, whose ideology is very close to IHH's. 1 For further information about the ideological dimension of transferring Islamic charity funds to finance terrorism, see Appendix II in the September 19, 2010 bulletin "The Iranian media publicized an interview with an Iranian expert on Palestine who visited Turkey and met with IHH operatives" at

4 4 C. Third, the security consideration, the result of the difficulties IHH faces in Judea, Samaria and Israel, and possibly in other Palestinian arenas. D. In addition, there is a political consideration, the result of the Islamic Turkish government's regional policies, whose goal is to establish Turkey's status in the regional arena at the expense of its relations with Israel. As a result, it regards supporting Hamas as a way of increasing its popularity in the Arab-Muslim world and in the "resistance" camp in the Middle East (Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas). 9. In the two publications issued before the deterioration of Israeli-Turkish relations, IHH did not openly support Hamas, but its sympathy for the movement and its radical Islamic ideology could be read between the lines. 10. However, during the first six months of 2010 IHH's support for the de facto Hamas administration became overt and its pro-hamas activities became more evident and aggressive: At the end of 2009 IHH joined the Viva Palestina aid convoy and its activists confronted the Egyptian security forces in January IHH leader Bülent Yildirim was eventually permitted to enter the Gaza Strip and met with Ismail Haniya, head of the Hamas administration on January 7, At the end of May IHH led an upgraded flotilla where its operatives waged a violent, premeditated battle with IDF soldiers aboard the Mavi Marmara. In the public sphere, on March 21, 2010, Bülent Yildirim gave a speech to supporters in one of Istanbul's suburbs, where he praised Hamas, which he represented as the innocent victim of Israel and world forces stronger than itself. 1 Bülent Yildirim meets in the Gaza Strip with Ismail Haniya and other important figures (January 7, 2010). 3 Bülent Yildirim and Ismail Haniya, head of the de facto Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip January 7, 2010). 2 1 For further information see the September 5, 2010 bulletin, "In a speech given by IHH leader Bülent Yildirim two months prior to the Marmara flotilla, he presented a radical Islamic ideology with anti-western and anti-israeli motifs" at and 3

5 5 11. The two appendices of this document analyze the contents of the booklet and book found aboard the Mavi Marmara: A. Appendix I The contents of the IHH Arabic booklet about its support for the Palestinians B. Appendix II Palestine, from the Zionist Idea to the Actuality of the Occupation, a book about the Palestinian cause published by IHH.

6 6 Appendix I The Contents of the IHH Arabic Booklet about Its Support for the Palestinians Overview 1. In 2009 IHH issued a booklet in Arabic detailing its activities for the Palestinians in various arenas. Meant to glorify IHH aid to the Palestinians, it was found aboard the Mavi Marmara, apparently the property of an IHH operative. It made no mention of sending flotillas to the Gaza Strip, IHH's new field of activity, begun at the end of 2009 (and after the booklet's publication date). 2. According to the booklet, most of IHH's support for the Palestinian cause in the past few years has been in the Gaza Strip. The reason it gives, which is distorted, is Israel's activity there, especially Operation Cast Lead. IHH is careful not to explicitly state that it supports Hamas, and instead refers in general terms to providing aid to the Palestinians, but by reading between the lines indicates that it supports Hamas and its political agenda. In addition, the booklet details the humanitarian assistance given to the Palestinians in Judea, Samaria, East Jerusalem and Israel (Israeli Arabs are represented as Palestinians living on "occupied lands") and in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. 3. Some of IHH's aid to the Palestinians described in the booklet is intended for humanitarian needs. In that way, IHH contributes to the welfare of the Palestinian population and helps it overcome daily difficulties, especially during times of crisis, such as the second intifada and Operation Cast Lead. However, some aspects of IHH aid are political, and their objectives are to strengthen the de facto Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, reinforce the social networks which support Hamas and terrorism (in the Gaza Strip and other concentrations of Palestinians) and help inculcate radical Islamic ideology in Hamas' various "educational" frameworks. 4. The IHH booklet gives specific examples of financial and material aid which cannot be classified as purely humanitarian assistance. They include transferring funds to the families of shaheeds killed during terrorist activities, help in rebuilding the houses of terrorists destroyed by the IDF (in most cases, houses of suicide bombers), providing funds and equipment directly to the Hamas administration in

7 7 the Gaza Strip, waging an anti-israeli pro-hamas campaign in Turkey, and supporting Hamas' "education" system (in which groups of students are named for operatives of the Izz al-din al-qassam Brigades killed during the Palestinian-Israeli conflict), which helps Hamas indoctrinate children and adolescents with terrorist and radical Islamist ideology. IHH Activity in the Gaza Strip Humanitarian Aid for the Gaza Strip 5. The booklet descries the aid given to the Gaza Strip for a variety of targets, including help for Palestinian families during the Eid al-adha fast, providing money for drugs and medical teams, help for orphans, distributing material help to poor students, distributing textbooks, establishing a library and learning center for women in Bethlehem, distributing food, etc. Those activities do in fact help ease the daily distress, mainly of Gaza Strip residents, which became worse during the period before Operation Cast Lead because of the closure of the Gaza Strip, the result of Hamas massive military buildup and the rocket attacks on Israel. However, the humanitarian assistance was accompanied by aid which was intended to reinforce the de facto Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip and Hamas' social infrastructure. IHH transports material aid to the Gaza Strip by sea and air, 2009 (p. 35) Support for Hamas' "Education" System in the Gaza Strip 6. IHH emphasized "educational" support for the Gaza Strip in , according to the booklet. Some of it was for the general population, and included help for 1,000 poor students, the distribution of textbooks, the establishment of a computer center in Jabaliya, scholarships for poor students, etc. However, IHH also supported educational institutions controlled by Hamas, where the students were indoctrinated with radical Islamic ideology. Thus IHH indirectly contributed to the strengthening of institutions which brainwashed the students, from kindergarten to university, with Hamas' terrorist ideology ("resistance").

8 8 7. According to the booklet, IHH helped found an "educational center" in Gaza in The picture (see the title page) on page 16 shows it was set up at a Hamas summer camp. It has three lines of children wearing green Hamas caps, each line holding a sign with the name of a shaheed, indicating the "company" to which the children belong. Our examination showed that two of the three shaheeds had belonged to the Izz al-din al- Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military-terrorist wing, and had been killed in confrontations with the IDF: A. The left-hand line was named for Muhammad al-hajj Ali, an Izz al-din al- Qassam Brigades operative, killed by the IDF on September 9, B. The middle line was named for Ahmed [Ibrahim Muhammad] Thari, an Izz al-din al-qassam Brigades operative from Jabaliya who was killed in a "work accident" while preparing a rocket or IED in June 5, C. The right-hand line was named for Osama [Muhammad] al-barash, an Izz al-din al-qassam Brigades operative from Jabaliya who was killed on September 30, 2004, when he infiltrated an IDF post east of Jabaliya. Muhammad al-hajj Ali, Izz al-din al-qassam Brigades operative who was killed by the IDF on September 9, A company at the IHH "educational center" was named after him. 2 Hamas operative Osama al-barash (left) reads his last will and testament before leaving on a mission. A company at the IHH "educational center" was named after him (Izz al-din al- Qassam Brigades website)

9 9 8. Naming the children's "companies" for Izz al-din al-qassam Brigades shaheeds is part of the indoctrination they receive at Hamas summer camps, instilling them with the movement's ideology, which includes the armed campaign against Israel. The children also undergo semi-military training as part of Hamas' effort to train a new generation of activists and operatives. 1 Extremist Islamic indoctrination and semi-military training are carried out at the summer camps every year. For example, this picture shows a Hamas summer camp, The children wear green Hamas caps during weapons training. Behind them are the Palestinian and Turkish flags (Turkey gained in popularity after the Mavi Marmara incident) (Safa News Agency, July 31, 2010). Building a Computer Laboratory at the Islamic University 9. IHH built a computer laboratory at the Islamic University in Gaza City and paid tuition for 51 university students between October 2006 and December 2008 (page 12) The Islamic University in the Gaza Strip was founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder and first leader of Hamas. Since its establishment it has been controlled by Hamas and is actually a power base in the Gaza Strip, politically, socially, culturally and militarily. The Izz al-din al-qassam Brigades, Hamas' military-terrorist wing, makes extensive use of the university's facilities to develop and manufacture weapons, including long-range rockets. On December 28, 2008, during Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Air Force attacked Hamas' research and development center in the Islamic University's operational laboratories. 11. On April 17, 2010, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan received an honorary doctorate from the Islamic University. The ceremony was held at his home in Ankara and attended by Jamal al-khudari, head of the university's board of trustees, and Kamalin Shaath, university president. At the ceremony Erdogan said that "the university in Gaza has 1 For further information about Hamas' summer camps, see the September 14, 2010 bulletin, This year Hamas' summer camps in the Gaza Strip again combined political Islamic indoctrination and paramilitary training with social activities at Such camps have been held in previous years as well. 2 In March 2010 IHH donated two more computer labs (according to the Islamic University website, March 2010).

10 10 operated under very difficult conditions, such as shelling and being shot at and the occupation for 32 years. In the name of my people I congratulate you on your academic struggle under such conditions" (Islamic University website, April 17, 2010). Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan receives an honorary doctorate from the Islamic University (Islamic University website) Help for the Families of Operation Cast Lead Shaheeds 12. Pages describe the support given to the Hamas administration by IHH after Operation Cast Lead. IDF activity is described in the terms of Hamas hate propaganda, as "a brutal attack" and the "largest massacre in history," and there is no mention of the existence of Hamas' military-terrorist networks and the terrorist attacks they carry out, especially the rocket attacks it has carried out against Israel from the Gaza Strip. The number of casualties and description of the destruction are completely distorted, reflecting Hamas propaganda (it wildly exaggerates numbers of dead civilians are given, there is no mention of terrorist operatives killed, and the extent and description of the damage done to the civilian and administrative infrastructure are greatly exaggerated). 13. The consequences of Operation Cast Lead as described in the booklet are given as the background for the support IHH gave the Hamas administration during and after the operation. It included sending drugs and medical teams to the Palestinian [i.e., the de facto Hamas administration] health ministry, transferring funds to the families of shaheeds, support for "thousands" of families whose houses were destroyed, sending a ship with equipment, spreading anti-israeli hate propaganda in Turkey (at conferences, demonstrations, displays, radio and television programs, etc.). The overall monetary value of the support, according to the statistics in the booklet, is more than ten million euros. 14. According to the booklet, an important component of IHH assistance given to Hamas after Operation Cast Lead was the support provided for the families of shaheeds (it can be assumed that they were mainly the families of operatives killed during the operation). According to pages 34-36, around the time of Operation Cast Lead $500,000 dollars was

11 11 transferred to families of shaheeds killed on the first day of the Israeli attack. 1 In addition, 1,350,000 euros were given to 1,350 shaheed families (the number of shaheeds given is similar to the total number of Palestinians killed in Operation Cast Lead, operatives and civilians included). 15. Channeling money from external funds and organizations which support Hamas to shaheed families is familiar from various periods of the Palestinian terrorist campaign. The external funds and foundations (most of them members of the Union of Good) are part of the vast network which supports terrorism, supports Hamas' terrorist and civilian infrastructures, and play an important (although not the exclusive) moral role in strengthening operatives' motivation, because they know their families will be taken care of after their death. Support for Hamas and its De Facto Administration in the Gaza Strip and in the Battle for Hearts and Minds P. 32: The title reads "The Battle for Hearts and Minds." The pictures illustrate a variety of IHH propaganda activities in Turkey. The center photo shows the anti-israeli "Jerusalem meeting" (see below). The right photo features a banner stating that "thousands regard [sic]" have been sent from Istanbul to the "resistance" [terrorist organizations] in the Gaza Strip (See above, title page). 16. According to page 32, IHH pursues an intensive battle for hearts and minds in Turkey, supporting the Palestinian side in every aspect and sullying Israel's image. While not specifically mentioned, by reading between the lines, it can be understood that IHH propaganda activity, like its political activity, supports Hamas. 17. According to the booklet, as part of its "information" activity, in June 2007 IHH established a center for Palestinian studies in Turkey, which foments anti-israeli sentiments and turns 1 Fathi Hamad, Hamas interior minister, recently said that on the first day of Operation Cast Lead 250 operatives were killed in the attack on police headquarters. He said that they belonged to Hamas and other [terrorist] organizations (Hamas daily Felesteen, November 1, 2010).

12 12 Turkish public opinion against Israeli. The booklet describes IHH's varied anti-israeli propaganda activities: it sends out press releases about Israel's so-called "human rights violations," organizes large demonstrations for Gaza and indirectly for Hamas, organized more than 50 demonstrations related to the Gaza Strip throughout Turkey between February and December 2008 [i.e., during the period before Operation Cast Lead, when Hamas waged an intensive rocket attack campaign against Israel], organized a petition for the release of senior Hamas officials (with the goal of a million signatures), produced a documentary film called "Palestine, land of revival" which purportedly "presented the truth about the occupation [from the IHH point of view]) and was burned on CDs and distributed to the public, started an Islamic website called Aksahaber.net (which posted a great deal of information about the Mavi Marmara affair), organizes displays (like the one in Taksim square in Istanbul; see the title page), etc. Signing an IHH petition for the release of Hamas-faction members of the Palestinian Legislative Council detained by Israel in It was hoped that a million people would sign (p. 33). 18. The Jerusalem Forum, pictured on page 32 of the booklet, was "an international Jerusalem forum" held in Istanbul in November It was attended by Islamic organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and several Christian clerics. Its objective was to authorize the so-called "right" of Muslims and Christians to Jerusalem, negating the rights of the Jews to the city. The forum's summary declaration stated that the so-called "right of return" [of the Palestinian refugees] could not be relinquished at any cost and it expressed its support for all forms of the "resistance" [i.e., terrorism] against Israel. 1 Ra ed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel can be seen on the forum's website wearing a shawl bearing the inscription "Jerusalem is in danger." The IHH activities are part of an extensive anti-israeli political hate propaganda campaign which Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood have been carrying out in Turkey since 1 Forum website, alquds-forum.com 2 Ibid.

13 During that time, according to the Turkish media, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood have held seven conferences and fund-raising events in Istanbul. The conferences supported Hamas' violent agenda and even signed the so-called "Istanbul declaration," which calls for carrying out the duties of jihad. After the Mavi Marmara incident, the Turkish opposition newspaper Hürriyet criticized the Turkish administration for permitting Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood activities, which shape Turkish public opinion and turn it against Israel and the West. IHH Support for Residents of Judea and Samaria 20. According to the booklet, the amount of IHH support for Judea and Samaria is far smaller than for the Gaza Strip. A short description of the organization's activities is given, and includes making contributions for Eid al-adha to symbolize Islamic solidarity (page 18) and help with rehabilitating the families of orphans. IHH also helped build the Al-Rahma mosque and open a school in Jenin (Note: Jenin, called "the suicide bombers' capital" during the second intifada, underwent an intensive rehabilitation afterwards). We have no information about the nature of the mosque or school, but it can be assumed that mosques and educational institutions support by IHH are influenced by Hamas' extreme Islamist ideology. 21. The booklet claims that IHH helped rebuild some of the buildings destroyed by the so-called "Israeli occupation" and transferred them to their owners in July It is apparently a reference to houses of families of suicide bombers which were razed by the Israeli security forces during the Palestinian terrorist campaign (the second intifada). Helping rebuild the houses of suicide bombers is often carried out by the Hamas-affiliated funds and "charitable societies" in both the territories and abroad. East Jerusalem 22. IHH helped finance a fast-breaking meal in the Temple Mount compound. Festive fast-breaking meal finance by IHH in Jerusalem, 2006 (p. 23)

14 14 Supporting Israeli Arabs According to the booklet, IHH assisted in projects for Israeli Arabs, whom it regards as residents of "Palestine" (they are referred to as "Palestinians whose land is occupied). A. Building the Al-Maali elementary school in Kafar Canna. The al-maali elementary school in Kafar Canna. The banner at the right testifies to IHH support in building the school. B. Building an elementary school in Umm al-fahem. The funds for the schools in Kafar Canna and Umm al-fahem were transferred between January 2007 and September 2008 (page 13). The school in Umm al-fahem (2008) (p.13) C. Building the Al-Rahma hospital: Examination showed that a geriatric hospital called Al-Rahma exists in the Arab city of Tamra in the Galilee. Photographs of it are identical with the one in the IHH booklet. 1 IHH is one of the 36 Islamic funds and foundations which make up the Union of Good, an umbrella organization which were outlawed by Israel in July For further information see the July 8, 2008 bulletin, The war on financing terrorism.

15 15 Al-Rahma hospital (2008) (p. 9). According to the hospital's Hebrew and Israeli-Arab websties, it is located in Tamra, an Arab city located in the Galilee. The same picture appears in the IHH booklet. 1 D. Building the Al-Nour hospital (page 8): The booklet does not mention the hospital's location. According to the IHH website, IHH helped build the Al-Nour hospital in Umm al-fahem; it is listed under the heading "Palestinian Activities." 2 The booklet and the IHH website do not give information about the hospital. Our examination of the Internet showed that there is a medical institution in Umm al-fahem called the Al-Nour Medical Center, legally registered as a non-profit organization, run by members of the Islamic Movement and operated as an Islamic institution, including having a mosque and separating men and women. 3 E. IHH help in implemeting "changes and improvements" 50 houses belonging to "Palestinian refugees in the Acre region" (January 2008) (page 16). According to our information, in 2008 a delegation of Turkish nationals visited Israel, among them a number of figures either belonging to IHH or affiliated with it. The delegation toured Acre. One of its objectives was to support initiatives of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement. We do not know if the improvements referred to in the booklet were actually carried out with funds transferred by IHH. 1 an Israeli Arab site, June 22, 2009; the hospital's website. 2 From the list of IHH health projects in "Occupied Palestine." From IHH's quarterly posting, issue No. 27, October- December 2006 (Insaniyardim.ihh.org.tr/29.-sayi/filistin-faaliyetleri-6.html). 3 The givingwisely.org.il/cgi-bin/xgwexpand.pl?language=e&amuta= website deals with non-profit organizations in Israel; and the umelfahemgallery.org/galleryhe/default.asp?catid=114&id=95 website.

16 16 Appendix II Palestine, from the Zionist Idea to the Actuality of the Occupation, a Book About the Palestinian Problem Published by IHH Overview The front cover of the book. Lower right corner: the IHH logo 1. Found aboard the Mavi Marmara was the sixth edition of a book called Palestine, from the Zionist Idea to the Occupation. It was published by IHH and its introduction was written by IHH leader Bülent Yildirim. First printed in February 2003, the edition found on the ship was printed in April It has three authors, 2 Fatma Tunç Yaşar, an Islamist author 1 It can be bought for six Turkish lira (a little less than $4) through the nadirkitap.com website. It has been posted in its entirety on the IHH website. 2 The names of the other two are listed in 2004 edition as Sevinç Alkan Özcan and Zahide Tube Kor.

17 17 from Istanbul's Bogazici University, and two whose names are not mentioned, probably research assistants. 2. The book describes the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from the beginning of the 20 th century to the present day in a matter that is one-sided and hostile to Israel. According to the jacket and Bülent Yildirim's introduction, the book's goal is to prepare Turkish public opinion to support the "rights of Muslims to Palestine" and to present the historical background and "protagonists" in the conflict. Thus the book is part of the ongoing battle for hearts and minds waged by IHH in Turkey for the Palestinians (see Appendix I). Its objective is to indoctrinate Turkish public opinion with the Palestinian narrative (from a radical Islamic viewpoint) and hostility to Israel. 3. The book's basic outlook is hostile to Israel and supports the actions of the Palestinians. Israel is represented as a so-called "occupying country" which has violated the Palestinians' human rights ("the Muslims in Palestine"), and massacred and deported them throughout the conflict, while the generations of Palestinian terrorism is almost never mentioned (and on the few occasions it is, it is downplayed and treated favorably) IHH leader Bülent Yildirim's introduction begins with the statement that "Palestine" has been under Israeli occupation for more than 50 years (i.e., pre-1967 Israel is also considered "occupied territory" 2 ). The solution to the Palestinian problem, he says, "depends on the occupiers [i.e., Israel] and their stubbornness" but does not note what the solution is. In both the introduction and throughout the book, there is no mention of a two-state solution or recognition of Israel and its right to exist as a Jewish national state. However, the book does blame Israel for the problem of the Palestinian refugees (with which it deals at length) and by implication supports the "right of return." 1 The conflict is represented as a series of Israeli "human rights violations" and Palestinian terrorism is ignored. That sort of representation is a propaganda tactic often used by other anti-israeli groups and organizations which take part in the international attack on Israel's legitimacy. 2 According to the IHH booklet (see Appendix I) Israeli Arabs are "Palestinians whose land is occupied."

18 18 Introduction to IHH leader Bülent Yildirim's book Examples of How the Book Represents the Conflict 5. The book represents the State of Israel as having been created by the United States and Britain and as oppressing the Palestinians. The biased, one-sided history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is represented as an unending series of so-called Israeli "human rights violations," massacres and deportations of Palestinians. 6. For example, Chapter Four, which deals with human rights violations, gives a long list of "Palestinian massacres" carried out by Israel, from the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946 to Operation Cast Lead. Jerusalem (called "Al-Quds") is called a holy city which cannot be relinquished. The intifada (the Palestinian terrorist campaign) is represented as "an act of resistance of Palestine, which as been bleeding for decades." 7. Chapter Four also deals with the problem of the "Palestinian refugees" who fled in the 1948 War of Independence. Israel is represented as responsible for creating the problem by "being stronger than the Arabs." It presents the Palestinian demand to realize the so-called "right of return" and adopts the Palestinian claim that UN General Assembly Resolution promises the Palestinians the "right of return" according to international law. While it does mention the Israeli fear that the return of the refugees would lead to the loss of the Jewish nature of the 1 The book mistakenly wrote that Resolution 194 was passed by the Security Council.

19 19 state, it quotes an unnamed "international legal figure" who claims that the Jewish nature of Israel violates human rights and serves as a basis for "racial segregation" (page 136). 8. Chapter Four has a sub-heading entitled "the second intifada and human rights violations." It describes the Palestinian terrorist campaign from the viewpoint of Israel's socalled "violations of Palestinian human rights," and is one-sided, biased and hostile to Israel. There is no mention of the fact that Palestinian terrorism caused the deaths of more than one thousand Israelis, about half of them victims of suicide bombing attacks. 9. Israel, on the other hand, is accused of a long list of "crimes" against the Palestinians: killing innocent victims, mainly Palestinian children; abusing Palestinian prisoners, especially those in the prison the book calls "the Israeli Guantánamo;" the security fence, erected to stem the wave of Palestinian suicide bombers, is called "the wall of shame of the 21 st century," "the racist wall" and "the colonialist wall." The book claims that Israel built the wall to turn the West Bank into three Palestinian cantons surrounded by walls and military camps, in gross violation of the "rights" of the Palestinians living there. 10. Chapter Five deals with the Palestinian terrorist organizations, referred to as "resistance organizations." Among the organizations mentioned is Hamas, called "an Islamic-Palestinian resistance organization" (page 187). It is described as being in favor of "armed resistance" to liberate "occupied lands," and as having established a military wing in 1992 to extend its "armed actions" against Israel. However, the actual mention of those "actions" is laconic (suicide bombing attacks, for example, are not mentioned), and there is no criticism of terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad is called "the third strongest organization fighting the occupation of Palestine." It is mentioned as "carrying out independent acts of fighting by means of suicide bombers and car bombs" (page 189). The "independent acts" are not mentioned in any negative or critical context. 11. The 2009 edition, written at the height of Hamas' rocket attacks against the residents of the western Negev, ignores its terrorist activities and claims that after 2006 Hamas focused on political activity within the Palestinian Authority. It also claims that after Hamas took over the Gaza Strip its top priority was "to achieve peace within the Palestinian Authority and to continue the struggle for Palestinian rights in the international arena." No mention is made of Hamas' military buildup, the terrorism which originates in the Gaza Strip and the fact that Hamas is an illegitimate entity which used military force to remove the Palestinian Authority from the Gaza Strip.