Jerusalem- Eyeing the diplomatic backlash against Israel in the wake of the bloody raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, several Islamic organizations and one state have begun planning follow-up flotillas to further test the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

 

Lebanese and Turkish groups, as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran, are planning forays into Gaza's coastal waters. While Iran in the end declined to send a military escort for its upcoming flotilla and Turkey has denied reports that it may send troops to accompany its ships, Israelis are still fearful of violent confrontations in enforcing the closure.

 

Israeli fears are being stoked by reports from the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (MALAM), an Israeli NGO with ties to the intelligence community, that the Lebanese flotilla is being organized by Syria and Hezbollah.

 

Yasser Qashlaq, the organizer of the flotilla, spoke harshly against both Jews and Zionists, in describing the reasons for the flotilla. Qashlaq was involved in organizing previous protest sea voyages to the Gaza Strip.

 

“A day will come when the ships will carry the remainder of the European garbage which came to my homeland [i.e., Israel] and return them to their homelands. Gilad Shalit will go back to Paris and those murderers [the leaders of Israel] will go back to Poland. And after they go back we will chase after them to the end of the world in order to bring them to justice for those massacres from Dir Yasin till today,” he stated in an interview on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television station.

 

Speaking on Hezbollah’s Radio Nur, he said that dispatching the ships “is a very important step, because it made the Zionist enemy afraid, and constant worry is an achievement in itself.”

 

The Lebanese operation is being run by Journalists without Bounds and the Free Palestine Movement. According to MALAM "purchasing the ships and organizing the flotilla were carried out with Syrian and Hezbollah involvement and support. Neither of them wants to expose its true identity."

 

The two Lebanese ships are the Nagi al-Ali, which is expected to carry 100 passengers, 25 of them Europeans, and the Maryam, a cargo ship that is expected to carry between 50 and 60 passengers from various countries, including a number of nuns.

 

While none of the organizers are particularly important in internal Lebanese politics, several are affiliated with the March 8 Alliance, a Lebanese political group which supports Hezbollah and Syria.

 

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has shown support for such efforts and called for greater Lebanese participation in efforts to break the Israeli blockade.

 

“Today the European delegation announced a call to join flotilla number two, and so far it has received hundreds of requests from Europe. Where are the Arabs? Where are the Muslims? Where are the Arab and Islamic people?.." Nasrallah asked during a televised speech.

 

"Israel, as it will be accountable to Turkey, and as it will be accountable to the red flag [i.e., Turkey], so will it be accountable to the yellow flag [i.e., Hezbollah]…Those Lebanese who participate in flotilla number two should know well that they belong to the country, the people, the resistance [i.e., Hezbollah]… We Lebanese are also part of this human, ethic, national, Arab, faithful participation. And we will not leave the issue to those who come from across the sea.”