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MV Mavi Marmara
MV ''Mavi Marmara'' is a Comoros-flagged passenger ship, which was formerly owned and operated by İDO Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc. on the line Sarayburnu, Istanbul-Marmara Island- Avşa Island in the Sea of Marmara. Built at the Golden Gate Shipyard by Turkish Shipbuilding Co. in 1994, the ship has a capacity of 1,080 passengers. It is best known for its participation in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and the deadly confrontation that took place on it during the Gaza flotilla raid. History Gaza Freedom Flotilla The MV ' was purchased in 2010 by the IHH, a Turkish NGO active as a charity organization in more than 115 countries. The group has represented its Turkish language name in English in various ways, "IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation" among them. It has held Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2004, and is endorsed by international figures that include South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nobel Peace Prize lau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flag Of The Comoros
The national flag of the Union of the Comoros (officially french: Union des Comores, Comorian: ''Udzima wa Komori'', ar, الاتّحاد القمريّ, ') was designed in 2001 and officially adopted on 23 December 2001.FOTW It continues to display the crescent and four stars, which is a motif that has been in use in slightly various forms since 1975 during the independence movement. In its constitution, the government of the Comoros refers to the insignia as ', or the "national emblem", though it is understood to actually represent a flag. Colours The colours are defined in the constitution as simply yellow, white, red, blue, and green. Nowhere does the government document any specific colour shades. For lack of any official standard, the colours used at the 2012 Olympics are shown in the table below. Design The design consists of a white crescent with four white five-pointed stars inside of a green triangle. The flag has four stripes, representing the four main islands of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Union Of Good
The Union of Good (UG; ar, ائتلاف الخير, Itilaf al-Khayr or Ittilaf al-Kheir), also known as the Charity Coalition, is an umbrella organization consisting of over 50 Islamic charities and funds which funnel money to organizations belonging to Hamas, which currently rules the territory of the Gaza Strip. Hamas, which characterizes itself as an "Islamic resistance movement against Israeli occupation" is also on the US State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The Union of Good was founded in May 2001 and is based in Saudi Arabia.The Union of Good – Analysis and Mapping of Terror Funds Network Shabak It was blocked by Israel from operating in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera Media Network. The flagship of the network, its station identification, is ''Al Jazeera.'' The patent holding is a " private foundation for public benefit" under Qatari law. Under this organizational structure, the parent receives funding from the government of Qatar but maintains its editorial independence. In June 2017, the Saudi, Emirati, Bahraini, and Egyptian governments insisted on the closure of the entire conglomerate as one of thirteen demands made to the Government of Qatar during the Qatar diplomatic crisis. The channel has been criticised by some organisations as well as nations such as Saudi Arabia for being "Qatari propaganda". Etymology In Arabic, ' literally means "the island". However, it refers here to the Arabian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. The headquarters of the Council are at the United Nations Office at Geneva in Switzerland. The Council investigates allegations of breaches of human rights in United Nations member states and addresses thematic human rights issues like freedom of association and assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of belief and religion, women's rights, LGBT rights, and the rights of racial and ethnic minorities. The Council was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006 to replace the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR, herein CHR). The Council works closely with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and engages the United Nations ''special procedures''. The Council has been strongl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited, Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashdod Port
The Port of Ashdod ( he, נמל אשדוד) is one of Israel's three main cargo ports. The port is located in Ashdod, about 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, adjoining the mouth of the Lachish River. Its establishment significantly enhanced the country's port capacity. It handles the largest volume of cargo containers annually (1.525 million TEU in 2017) of all Israeli ports. Ships carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip also unload their cargo at Ashdod. History The need to open another deep water port arose in Israel's early years, when it became clear that the expansion of the existing ports of Haifa and Eilat could not ensure efficient handling of the increasing volume of export and import cargoes. The decision to start the new port was based on a number of considerations: * The port meshes with the concern for population dispersal and the establishment of urban centers in the southern part of the country. * The port substantially shortens the overland transport of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Waters
The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems (aquifers), and wetlands. "International waters" is not a defined term in international law. It is an informal term, which sometimes refers to waters beyond the "territorial sea" of any country. In other words, "international waters" is sometimes used as an informal synonym for the more formal term high seas or, in Latin, ''mare liberum'' (meaning ''free sea''). International waters (high seas) do not belong to any state's jurisdiction, known under the doctrine of 'mare liberum'. States have the right to fishing, navigation, overflight, laying cables and pipelines, as well as scientific research. The Convention on the High Seas, signed in 1958, which has 63 signatories, defined " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaza Blockade
The blockade of the Gaza Strip is the ongoing land, air, and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel and Egypt temporarily in 2005–2006 and permanently from 2007 onwards, following the Israeli disengagement from Gaza. The blockade was made permanent after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip during the Battle of Gaza, seizing government institutions and replacing Fatah and other Palestinian Authority (PA) officials with Hamas members. Earlier, after Hamas won elections and formed the PA government in March 2006, led by Ismail Haniya, Israel and the Quartet on the Middle East set conditions before they would continue to provide aid to the PA or have any dialogue with any member of a Hamas-led PA government. These conditions were: recognition of Israel, disavowal of violent actions, and acceptance of previous agreements between Israel and the PA, including the Oslo Accords. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım
Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım (born 1966 in Erzurum, Turkey) is a Turkish lawyer and the current president of Turkish NGO, İHH (İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri, İnsani Yardım Vakfı) which provided humanitarian relief in Libya, Pakistan, Russia, China, Kashmir, Darfur, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Somalia, Mauritania, Chile, the Philippines, Aceh, Myanmar, Greece, Crimea, and Haiti. Education He received a bachelor's degree in law, at University of Istanbul. Gaza Flotilla Raid He participated in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla as the leader of İHH. He was on board the MV Mavi Marmara ship which was stormed by Israeli troops. In the Gaza flotilla raid, 9 activists were killed by the IDF gunfire. Israel accuses him of giving orders to İHH members to throw Israeli soldiers to sea. He was captured by the IDF, but later deported to Turkey. He is banned from returning to Israel for ten years. When he returned home, he said: "Then they asked us, ‘Didn’t you attack us with iron bars and axe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States. The publication has won more than 40 Pulitzer Prizes. It is owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong and published by the Times Mirror Company. The newspaper’s coverage emphasizes California and especially Southern California stories. In the 19th century, the paper developed a reputation for civic boosterism and opposition to labor unions, the latter of which led to the bombing of its headquarters in 1910. The paper's profile grew substantially in the 1960s under publisher Otis Chandler, who adopted a more national focus. In recent decades the paper's readership has declined, and it has been beset by a series of ownership changes, staff reductions, and other controversies. In January 2018, the paper's staff voted to unionize and fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers politics, business, entertainment, environment, technology, popular media, lifestyle, culture, comedy, healthy living, women's interests, and local news featuring columnists. It was created to provide a progressive alternative to the conservative news websites such as the Drudge Report. The site offers content posted directly on the site as well as user-generated content via video blogging, audio, and photo. In 2012, the website became the first commercially run United States digital media enterprise to win a Pulitzer Prize. Founded by Andrew Breitbart, Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, the site was launched on May 9, 2005 as a counterpart to the Drudge Report. In March 2011, it was acquired by AOL for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Gaza Movement
The Free Gaza Movement (FGM) is a coalition of human rights activists and pro-Palestinian groups formed to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and publicise the situation of the Palestinians there. FGM has challenged the Israeli–Egyptian blockade by sailing humanitarian aid ships to Gaza. The group has more than 70 endorsers, including Desmond Tutu and Noam Chomsky. The organizations participating in the Free Gaza Movement include the International Solidarity Movement. The activists participating in the effort include Jeff Halper, Hedy Epstein, Lauren Booth, and members of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious organizations. Israeli intelligence agencies say that it also includes Islamist organizations that pose a security threat to Israel.Navy orders aid boat to Gaza to retreat December 30, 2008 The Cypriot foreign minister told public radio his country would lodge a formal protest over the incident. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman called the allegation of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
