An anti-Israel Turkish film about the Gaza aid flotilla in May is being filmed on none other than the ship on which the IDF’s deadly raid took place on May 31.
AFP reported on Tuesday that Istanbul-based Pana Film has been using the Mavi Marmara since October 1 to film scenes from the movie “The Valley of the Wolves: Palestine”. The ship is now docking at the southern Turkish port of Iskenderun. It was returned to Turkey last August after being seized by IDF troops when it tried to break the naval blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip and enter the Strip under the guise of providing humanitarian aid to Gaza’s citizens.
As IDF soldiers took over the Marmara, they were attacked by its passengers. It was later revealed that there was no humanitarian aid onboard the ship.
The film “The Valley of the Wolves: Palestine” will be released in January, and is the latest installment of a long-running Turkish television series which has aired since 2003 and has included scenes depicting Israeli intelligence agents kidnapping babies and taking civilians hostage.
The latest installment depicts agent Polat Alemdar and his friends, who travel to PA controlled territories with the task of capturing the Israeli commander who planned and led the raid on the Marmara, a fictional character named Moshe Ben Eliezer, reported AFP based on the film’s official website.
The film’s synopsis reads: “As Polat strives to get to Moshe, he witnesses the killing of innocent Palestinian people. Moshe destroys villages, kills children and imprisons anyone who helps Polat.”
In January, the “Valley of the Wolves” series was the cause of a diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey, after Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol to complain about the series. During the meeting, Celikkol was made to sit on a low couch opposite Ayalon who was seated on a higher chair. Ayalon explained to press cameramen present at the start of the meeting – in Hebrew – that this arrangement was intentional. He did not shake Celikkol’s hand in front of the cameras, and only the Israeli flag was represented on the table between them.
Ayalon later apologized for the incident after a diplomatic standoff.