flotilla ship
flotilla shipIDF

While organizers of the Gaza flotilla have claimed that they have no connection to terror and that their only objective in sponsoring the flotilla is to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza, IDF military intelligence has uncovered evidence that shows that flotilla organizers have received significant amounts of funding from a groups that support Hamas and other terrorist groups.

The flotilla is being funded in large part by three Islamic charity funds from the Hamas-affiliated Charity Coalition, which directly fund Hamas and other terror groups.

Among the funds is the European Campaign to End the Siege (ECESG), a UK-based umbrella organization of more than thirty Europe-based organizations; it openly supports Hamas. Most of its organizations ― founded as Muslim Brotherhood branches in Europe ― are participating in the 2011 Gaza flotilla. Israeli military sources found that some of these umbrella organizations are sponsors of Hamas terror activity in Gaza.

ECESG Chairman Dr. Arafat Madi Mahmoud Shukri also serves as chairman of the Palestinian Return Center (PRC), which advocates the mass settling of descendants of Arabs who fled Israeli in 1948 in all parts of Israel as a means of destroying the country's Jewish majority, in addition to supporting terror campaigns to frighten Jews into leaving the land. Due to PRC’s flagrant links to Hamas, it was declared illegal in Israel.

In addition to ECESG, the Switzerland-based Droit Pour Tous (“Rjghts for All”) organization and the Italy-based group ABSPP are openly and intimately involved in Hamas charity efforts as well as efforts to illegally break the lawfully enforced naval blockade on Gaza. Droit Pour Tous has, among other things filed a case for the arrest of President Shimon Peres when he visited Switzerland in March on the grounds that he is accused of committing "war crimes and crimes against humanity,” and has sponsored several Swiss members of parliament who are sailing on one of the flotilla ships.

An IDF raid several years ago on Hamas offices in PA controlled cities yielded letters, memos, bank records, receipts, and other materials showing ABSPP financial support to Hamas front organizations in Italy. The funds ended up being distributed in monthly payments to families of suicide bombers, prisoners and Hamas terrorists as a means of rewarding them for their terrorist efforts and as a "social security" program to the families.