Defense officials: Iran smuggling arms into Gaza by sea
The Jerusalem Post
April 17, 2008
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208422633228&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Summary: Iran has been stepping up their efforts to sneak in deadly weapons by using boats. They are floating boats into the Gaza Strait and hoping that Palestinian fishermen are taking the weapons out of the boat. According to some people they are now sending over rockets and missiles (some have already been used to attack Israel). The Navy is trying the best they can to stop there floating boats and intercept the weapons, but some are still getting through. In recent months, the IDF has noticed an increase in Iran’s weapon making. The defense on this case has told us that thousands of mortars have been smuggled in from underground paths, but now they are making weaponry that is far too large to be hauled underground. There has to be another route. Iran is now also training terrorists against Israel, and there have been numerous attacks on different states in the Middle-East.

A. This article relates to the AP world theme of impact of interaction among or within major societies because it has to do with one country attacking another by smuggling weapons into their country.
B. Israel and many of the other countries in the Middle East have been fighting for a long time because of many different reasons but mostly land borders. The encounter many problems with Lebanon and Iran. The IDF which is the Israel Defense Forces is trying to cut down on the attacks and trying to find where they come from.
C. The point of view of the article is from two men that are writing from the perspective of an Israeli and are pretty much on Israel’s side from the looks of the article.
D. I do not think it is impacting the issue that much because everyone knows that smuggling illegal things into countries is a bad thing to do. Although they are against it and say that the Iran terrorists are using them against Israel, many people would be against it even if they did not read this article.
E. I would want to hear from a person on the Navy that tracks down these weapons and tell us more about what they are actually finding in these boats and more a description on what weapons are present.
F. I feel that this is an issue to take caution with. I think that the defense forces in Israel should find out how the Iranians are still smuggling in certain weapons when the waters are being patrolled and some of the weapons are too big to fit underground.