French judge: I knew Turkish group behind Gaza flotilla had terror ties in 1996

No country on the face of the planet except Israel lists IHH as a terrorist organisation, including USA and France. IHH has delivered aid to 120 countries within the past 15 years. They are a member of the UN Economic and Social council. All courts, governments, and agencies on one side; Israel and this old fool on another. I choose to trust the former.

what she was doing under the idf trucks which ran over her...

but IHH is legitimately operating in Turkey and associated with UN, so Jean-Louis is just telling us about his wet dreams.

Whenever Israel is confronted/criticized, we are all accused of being "anti-semitic" or, "try" to divert the subject to a different tangent (as we see here). These are "YET MORE SIGNS" of Israel's guilt!! We have to understand what is happening here. Israel is "IN DENIAL" and needs something, anything, (whether it has substance, or whether it is even relevant), in order to divert the attention and criticism... But this, this is low! This is VERY amateurish!!

Anything that goes against Christian world is terror.

This group was very active during the war in Bosnia and nobody said that there were terrorist. Hypocrisy.

So let's see, I bet if authorities raided the International Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders... and discovered weapons, explosives and forged documents. The Turks would call those legitimate aide groups... with specific materiel with which to preform their Humanitarian relief work... wouldn't they.

By definition TERRORIST is the killing of inocent civilians. These people planned to go to gaza with the goal to alert international community about the injustice of zionist. The mentioning that they are terrorist because they are helping moslems is not true as a proportion of Gazans and palestinians are christians. The definition doesn't apply. In contrast, it applied strongly to the masacre of Gazans and promoting the killing of palestinians civilians by Israeli authorities. It remains for you to ponder who are the TERRORIST! The term is clearly abused and misused..... depending on the intention.

IHH are allies of Hamas, Taliban, PLO, Al Queda and other terrorists groups and share the same ideology and methods.

Mr Bruguière testified at the US trial of Ahmed Ressam, dubbed the Millennium Bomber, that the IHH had played an important role in a failed plot to bomb Los Angeles airport. A 2006 report by the Danish Institute for International Studies described the group as a front for funding terrorist organisations and sending Mujahidin to fight in countries such as Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya. The IHH, which is not on US or European terrorist lists, denies accusations of ties to terrorist groups. The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre (ITIC) — an Israel-based NGO with close ties to the country’s military — does not dispute the IHH’s legitimate philanthropic activities, but it says it is an overt supporter of Hamas, branded by Israel, the EU and US as a terrorist organisation. The ITIC says it has evidence that the IHH has helped to provide weapons and funds for Islamic terrorist groups in the Middle East. The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that some security officials believed there was a link between the ship, which was purchased for the trip by the IHH, and Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK). The IHH had been unable to charter a ship for the risky voyage, and had resorted to buying the Mavi Marmara for €900,000 (£750,000); money it said it had raised from its members in Turkey. It also bought the 10,000 tonnes of aid intended for Gaza, including electric wheelchairs and pre-fabricated houses. General Richard Myers, former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Times yesterday that there was substantial evidence of some charitable organisations being exploited by extremist groups for their own ends. “A lot of wealthy benefactors providing donations for humanitarian relief don’t know what they’re funding. They think they’re doing something for welfare and education,” he said. As Israel began deporting hundreds of foreign activists detained when its commandos stormed the Gaza aid flotilla, fresh details emerged yesterday of the group’s preparations for the raid. According to reports in the Israeli press, some of the men who tackled the commandos were equipped with night-vision goggles, gas masks and life vests. Others had ceramic vests to stop bullets, security officials said. About a hundred of the passengers were carrying wads of $10,000 on them — a total of about $1 million; money the authorities say was bound for Hamas, which controls Gaza. Vahdettin Kaygan, a spokesman for IHH, denied accusations that it had links with militant Islamist groups and said that it operated as a charity in 120 countries around the world. It was set up in 1992 to help Bosnian Muslims and had carried out missions in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Indonesia and Iraq, as well as running previous aid ships to Gaza.

he's siding with France and hutu power who perpetrated a genocide in Rwanda, nice ally indeed... he's doing his best to make sure France honour is not compromised in the preparation of Rwanda's slaughtering of 800,000 tutsis...

Turkish "charity" with ties to terror groups. Insani Yardim Vakfi, or IHH, has aided Islamic Totalitarian organizations, including Hamas, and has fueled Islamic sectarian violence, most notably in Iraq during 1997 in which the group assisted a Sunni insurgency. Some of the passengers of the flotilla are also believed to have ties to global jihadist organizations. who is IHH??? The IHH has a radical Islamic orientation and is closely related to the extremist Islamic brotherhood. As part of this outlook, the IHH supports the Hamas terrorist organization and does not bother to hide its affiliation with Hamas. In recent years, primarily since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip, the IHH has organized public conferences in Turkey to demonstrate its support for Hamas, and senior Hamas officials have openly participated in these public displays. At these conferences, the heads of the IHH have expressed their uncompromising support for Hamas and its tactics, including its armed warfare on civilians and its defiance of the Palestinian Authority headed by Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad. As part of the “charity coalition,” the IHH is affiliated with Hamas fund raising organizations around the world, providing substantial amounts of money for joint projects to support the Hamas regime and its institutions in the Gaza Strip and on the West Bank. These are “charity” organizations that belong to the Hamas terrorist movement and are controlled by senior Hamas activists. They include the Islamic Charity Organization in Hebron, which is considered the largest Hamas organization on the West Bank, and the Al-tadamun Benevolent Society in Nablus, another one of the major Hamas “charity” organizations - both of which have been outlawed in Israel for the same reason. The IHH conducts many activities in Gaza and even established a branch in Gaza City to promote its operations there. In January 2008, an IHH delegation met with Ahmad Bahar, a senior Hamas activist who is chairman of the legislative council of the Hamas regime in Gaza. During the meeting, the delegation described the scope of assistance that the IHH had provided to the Gaza Strip during the previous year and said that in future it would double that amount. To promote its activities, in November 2009 the IHH sent one of its activists, Azat Shahin, to open another branch on the West Bank. Shahin began work on establishing the new branch and even transferred tens of thousands of dollars from the IHH to the Hamas organizations mentioned above. However, these activities were halted by his arrest for questioning in April 2010 on suspicion of financing terrorism and supporting the Hamas terrorist organization. At the request of Turkish officials, he was deported from Israel after conclusion of the investigation in Israel. In summary, the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (the IHH), which has been outlawed in Israel, is now considered a significant player in the Hamas global fund raising machine. It is a radical Islamic organization associated with the Islamic Brotherhood, and does not conceal its support of Hamas and its ideology of terrorism. The IHH maintains direct contacts with senior Hamas officials and even organizes and participates in various conferences that are identified with the Islamic Brotherhood and Hamas.

I cannot say if they are terrorist group or not, and have no tools accept or not the judge assumption however, it is not surprising if this is true. Most probably is one of these groups that financially assist all type of criminal groups terrorizing Israel. If the US did not include it in their list of terrorist organizations well it is time to start doing it.

turkish or islamic group that is not terrorist entity.

That's why they were "unarmed". The video clearly shows them using metal rods as weapons. Those were thrown overboard afterwards, as witnessed and testified by the captain of the ship.

were they armed, did they shoot some one, were they bringing weapons? were they killing children? what defines terorist? it is just an other blame it to some one else that is all was 19 year old kid was a terrorist? who was shot in the head 5 times?stop spining this around and admit the mistake and shake hands

In France, It was declared that all the ladies with veil were outlawed. (They may be illiterate, wrong oriented etc. but not a criminal because of their old style dress.) On the other hand, how can IHH or any other organization help the civilians in Gaza without contacting Hamas? So as the organizers have contact with Hamas, it is free to kill activists on board. Is it?

Seems that what this amounts to is ONE man's unsubstantiated 'opinion', which is probably based on personal distrust - stereotype, bias, hatred, bigotry - of anything "Islamic". There certainly isn't likely to be any credible evidence of his claims(at this point anyway), when in fact Israel is the ONLY country - and of the "experts" on the subject, only he and one or two others - who are making it.

Even if there are links between the IHH and Hamas, or the IHH and whomever, the Mavi Marmara was still a ship carrying humanitarian aid in international waters and manned entirely by unarmed civilians. Israel still boarded it in an attempt to enforce an illegal blockade and killed nine of those civilians -- at least six apparently in cold blood. It remains a crime. IHH might have ties to Satan-worship. It doesn't justify Israel's action.

After six weeks, you have found a creditable figure who supports your claim that the IHH has links to terrorism.

ihh "Has not been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States" and they "Cannot validate ties to Al-Qaida". try again, mon ami!

The US said just three days after the raid that there was no evidence linking the IHH to al Qaeda, after being asked during a press conference. I would hope that the country with the world's largest intelligence network knows more than a French ex-judge, but alas. Turkey says that the IHH is not a terrorist organisation, by the way, not sure why that was left out of the article.

There must be evidence, beyond reasonable doubt -- including the beating but sparing the life of a few of the Israeli soldiers -- that the members of that particular organization are terrorists. After the flotilla incident, several literature have been released which show their apparent charitable work in some countries, although most of which were predominantly Islamic. Exclusively in the context of the flotilla incident, it would be legally perverse to conclude that there were terrorists on that ship. That's why clear evidence -- which the above judge says he has -- linking that group to terror related activities must be produced to the public for there to be confidence in the accuracy of the allegations.

turkey says that no weapons were found in their raid, which is why turkey does not list them as a terrorist organization... and this judge's testimony about this very same group was thrown out of court for being unreliable. HMMMMM. but if some random french dude says it, it must be true!!!

The Greeks used to say that "the TRUTH LIVES IN THE BOTTOM OF A DEEP WELL,BUT SOONER OR LATER COMES TO THE SURFACE..." Mr Bruguiere is a rare man nowadays...In e.u. that bends over for the moslems and terror.is courage shines...It takes time,but the truth comes to the light of day

600 humanitarians from over 40 different nationalities were on board the Mavi Marmara, among them journalists, aged pensioners, grand mothers, grand fathers, even one survivor from the 1967 Israeli bombing of the USS Liberty. Israel Pirates illegally boarded the vessel in Int. Waters and summarily executed 9 and wounded 60 including a US teenager. Even if all 60 were terrorists or members of the IHH, then the remaining 540 peace activists were NOT terrorists. The illegal state of Israel was founded by terrorists ie Irgun and the Stern Gang etc

his name sounds familiar but i'm not sure, is this the same man who was derided by both the un and the usa for the "investigation" of habyarimana's assasination? it was a big deal in my family (we're rwandan) and if it IS the same guy then belive me--he has no credibility.

You come a tiny bit too late for the anti-Semites who posted here their halleluyahs to the "peaceful" and "humanitarian" IHH flotilla.

And his babbling fails the commonsense test i.e. if this dude had convinced the Turks back in 1996 that the IHH was a terrorist organization then, of course, the Turks would have the IHH on its list of "terrorist organizations". Yet it doesn't. And, of course, the rather pathetic effort by Melman to talk this dude up in the first four paragraphs, so that he sounds more important than he is..... which is a French penpusher doing liason work at the US Treasury.

Only those with interests in the matter refuse to (publicly) acknowledge.

M. Bruguière, with all due respect to your exalted position in France, you are known to harbor pro-Zionist sympathies, and that detracts seriously from your credibility.