MEDIA CHUTZPAH AND PROPAGANDA
by Kim Petersen
Dissident Voice, CA
Jews Fear Islamic Republic
ia-chutzpah-and-propaganda/
July 20 2007
The article published by the Jewish Telegraph Agency was brazen
in its headline: Fears of an Islamic Turkey push Jews to vote for
secularists.¡(1)
Parliamentary elections are scheduled for 22 July in Turkey. The JTA
writes of no good options at the ballot box¡because the incumbent
liberal-Islamic¡(2) Justice and Development Party (AKP) might form a
second successive government. The JTA notes that the AKP has improved
the economy and positioned Turkey for inclusion within the European
Union, but the AKP is suspected of Islamic tendencies that, ostensibly,
threaten Turkey¡¯s state secularism.
The opposition right-wing Republican People’s Party (CHP), while
secular, is portrayed by JTA as increasingly hostile to the United
States and the European Union with a poor track record on minority
rights and economic liberalization. Given the choices, many Jews,
according to JTA, will opt for CHP on Election Day.
I don’t like them, but I don’t have a choice, Nisim Cohen, a textile
manufacturer in Turkey, is quoted as saying. The AKP shows a nice
face, but in their hearts I fear they want to make this an Islamic
country. They will not keep the republic as it is.¡±
Jews hope their vote will help create a stronger opposition to check
the government’s powers.
Viktor Kuzu, an advertising executive, expressed a fear that an
unbridled AKP could change Turkey in ways to interrupt the way we live.
The Jewish stance toward the AKP must be regarded with much
bemusement. By aligning themselves against the AKP, Jews are aligning
themselves with the Kemalist military, which, although secularist, was
behind the Armenian Holocaust. (3) Since the World War 2 Holocaust is
the focal point of Jewish historiography, any alignment with Kemalist
forces is, on its face, deeply paradoxical.
JTA acknowledges that there is little substance to fears of Islamism
springing from AKP, but at the same time it paints a dire picture of
creeping Islamism.
Denis Ojalvo, an Istanbul businessman involved in Jewish communal
affairs complained about small changes: They [AKP] appoint people
of the wrong ilk to key positions, and then one day you wake up and
everything has changed.¡±
People of the wrong ilk!? One wonders how AKP politicians stack up
against the ilk of Jewish Israeli politicians such as Avigdor Lieberman
(4) and Ariel Sharon (5)?
JTA creates a scenario whereby Jews in Turkey appear caught in the
proverbial pinch between a rock and hard place: between Islamists and
xenophobic secularists with their°anti-European, anti-American and,
lately, anti-Israel¡rhetoric. Nearly lost in all the JTA caterwauling
is that the thrust of the article could easily be dismissed as
anti-Islamic. Imagine Israel being criticized for becoming a Jewish
republic where other ethnic minorities suffer second class status or
worse but, then, this is already a fact-of life in Israel.
I want a strong opposition that will block the insertion of
fundamentalist cadres into government,¡said Ojalvo. This would de
facto change Turkey.¡±
The JTA finds:
Jews who support the secularist CHP find themselves at odds with
Turkey’s two other visible religious minorities, the Greeks and the
Armenians. They appear to be backing AKP, which portrays itself as
the party of human rights and democracy.
This is mendacious. First, Greeks and Armenians are not a religious
minority, but rather a national or ethnic minority. Second, JTA feigns
concern for minority rights, but it’s coverage of human rights for
national minorities morally fails when it comes to the indigenous
Palestinians within Israel and elsewhere. Thus, the recalcitrance
at acknowledging the nationals in Turkey mirrors that of denying the
existence of Palestinian nationals.
1. Yigal Schleifer, Fears of an Islamic Turkey push Jews to vote for
secularists,¡JTA, 17 July 2007.
2. While the JTA sees the AKP as liberal-Islamic,¡Wikipedia describes
it as a right-wing, conservative Turkish political party,¡often
referred to as being moderate¡Ca term preferred by the AKP.
3. The Armenian National Institute: dedicated to the study, research,
and affirmation of the Armenian Genocide describes Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk as the consummator of the Armenian Genocide¡committed by
his forces.
4. Justin Raimondo, A Jewish Hitler? The rise of Avigdor Lieberman¡±
Anti-war.com, 27 October 2006.
5. Return of the Terrorist: The Crimes of Ariel Sharon,¡± Counterpunch,
7 February 2001.
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