Palestine Chronicle
Jan 17 2010

Provoking Turkey is Not a Good Idea

Erdogan attacked the Israeli policy in Gaza on several occasions.

By Uri Avnery ` Israel

I tried to resist the temptation to tell the same classical Jewish
joke a second time, but circumstances delivered a plausible excuse.

Almost every Jew knows the sentence `Kill a Turk and rest.’ The whole
story goes like this:

In Czarist Russia, a Jewish boy is called up for the war against the Turks.

His tearful mother takes leave of him at the railway station and
implores him: `Don’t overexert yourself! Kill a Turk and rest. Kill
another Turk and rest again¦’

`But mother!’ the boy interrupts her. `What if the Turk kills me?’

`Kills you?!’ the mother exclaims in sheer disbelief, `But why? What
have you done to him?’

Jewish jokes reflect Jewish reality. So this joke became true this week.

Unfortunately the joke is on us. It happened like this:

Turkish television aired a rather series, in which Mossad operatives
kidnap Turkish children and hide them in the Israeli embassy. Valiant
Turkish agents free the children and kill the evil ambassador.

One can ignore such a story altogether or protest mildly. But our
illustrious Foreign Minister thought that this was the right occasion
to demonstrate to all and sundry that we are no longer abject ghetto
Jews who take everything lying down, but proud, upright Jews of a new
breed.

So the Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, summoned the Turkish
ambassador to the Foreign Office in Jerusalem for a carefully staged
exhibition of national pride.

When the ambassador arrived, he was surprised to see the place
crawling with TV crews and journalists. He was left waiting for a
considerable time and then shown into a room where three solemn
officials, including Ayalon, were perched on high chairs. He was
seated on a low sofa without arms, and had no choice but sit in a
reclining position.

Not satisfied with this, Ayalon expressly requested the media people
(in Hebrew) to pay attention to the difference in height between the
chairs and the sofa, to the absence of the Turkish flag on the table,
as well as to the fact that the Israelis did not smile and did not
shake hands.

Perhaps Ayalon drew his inspiration from a memorable scene in Charlie
Chaplin’s movie The Great Dictator, in which Hitler and Mussolini sit
on barber’s chairs, each of them jacking his chair up so as to tower
above the other, until both chairs topple over.

Ayalon then delivered (again in Hebrew) a sharp rebuke ‘ all Israeli
media used this word rather than the diplomatic term `protest’.

Well satisfied with his work, Ayalon saw to it that it got maximum
exposure in the media, especially on television.

The Turkish reaction was, of course, violent. Turks are more sensitive
about their national dignity then most (witness their reactions to
allegations about the Armenian massacre almost a hundred years ago),
so they were foreseeably upset.

Ayalon got, of course, the unreserved backing of his minister, mentor
and party boss, Avigdor Lieberman, who was full of praise.

A few weeks before, Lieberman had assembled all the Israeli
ambassadors from around the world, some 150 of them, for a pep talk.
He rebuked them for not properly defending the honor of Israel and
announced a radical new policy: from now on, the main duty of an
Israeli ambassador is to stand up for the dignity of his country,
attack anyone who criticizes Israel and leave no insult unanswered, be
it big or small. This should take precedence over all other diplomatic
duties.

No one in the audience, which was mainly composed of long-standing
career diplomats, dared to get up and point out that there may be more
important Israeli interests, such as good relations with foreign
governments, military and intelligence ties and economic matters.
Except for one ambassador ‘ who smiled and was soundly rebuked ‘
nobody demurred.

In less that a year in office, Lieberman has already broken a lot of
diplomatic china. He has insulted several friendly governments. In one
noteworthy case, he publicly rebuked the Norwegians for celebrating
the anniversary of their national writer, Knut Hamsun, who had
sympathized with the Nazis. In another case, he attacked the Swedish
government for not protesting publicly against an article by a minor
scribbler in a Swedish newspaper, in which he made the accusation that
Israeli soldiers kill Palestinians in order to sell their organs for
transplants. Lieberman’s exaggerated reaction turned this into world
news.

His tendency to insult foreign governments ` a rather original trait
for a foreign minister ` may have been exacerbated by the refusal of
many of his foreign colleagues to meet with him, considering him a
racist or an outright fascist ` as, indeed, do most Israelis.

When Netanyahu set up his government and appointed Lieberman as his
foreign minister, the news was at first met with incredulity. A more
absurd appointment could hardly be imagined. But Netanyahu needed him,
and could offer him neither the Treasury, which he wanted to lead
himself by proxy, nor the defense ministry, which is the private
domain of Ehud Barak. The foreign ministry, which few people in Israel
take seriously, was the only viable alternative.

Therefore, Netanyahu could not criticize these two Neanderthals,
Lieberman and Ayalon, and their antics. But Barak was hopping mad.

As it so happens, Barak is due to visit Turkey tomorrow. The relations
between the Israeli and the Turkish defense establishments are as
close as can be. Not only is there a certain ideological affinity
between the two army commands ` both consider themselves as the
guardians of national values and look down with contempt on the
politicians ` but the generals of the two countries are real buddies.
Also, the Israeli defense industry depends very much on Turkish
orders, about a billion dollars annually.

Lately, some dispute has arisen about drones supplied by Israel, and
relations have deteriorated. Barak’s visit is therefore considered
very important. Some Israeli commentators believe that the whole
Ayalon affair was a not so subtle ploy by Lieberman to sabotage his
cabinet rival.

Be that as is may, the whole Israeli establishment realized that
Ayalon’s stupid charade has done great damage. He was obliged to
retract, and did so in a graceless, half-hearted manner, without first
finding out whether this would satisfy the Turks. It did not ` and the
Turks, becoming more and more furious, demanded a clear and abject
apology. This demand was presented as an ultimatum ` until midnight on
Wednesday, or else. Else meant the recall of the ambassador and the
downgrading of relations.

Netanyahu caved in. Ayalon apologized again, this time unequivocally,
and the Turks graciously accepted. Barak will be going to Turkey.

Behind this childish episode lurks the more serious problem of
Turkish-Israeli relations.

The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reminded Israel this
week that Turkey has always welcomed Jews. He was alluding to an
historic chapter that is never quite acknowledged here: When Catholic
Spain expelled hundreds of thousands of Jews in 1492 (some speak of as
many as 800,000), the vast majority of them settled in the Ottoman
Empire, from Marrakesh to Sarajevo. While Jews in Christian Europe
were tortured by the Spanish inquisition and suffered untold
persecutions, expulsions and pogroms, culminating in the Holocaust,
they flourished for centuries under the benevolent rule of the Muslim
Ottomans.

These historic memories were, alas, erased during the short period of
Zionist relations with the Turkish administration in Palestine in the
early 20th century. Every Israeli child learns about the lovely Sarah
Aharonson, a member of a pro-British spy ring in World War I, who
committed suicide after being tortured by the Terrible Turks.

Cordial relations were resumed only when masses of Israeli tourists
started to arrive at Turkish resorts and were surprised by the warmth
of their reception. The tourists love it.

So what is happening now? Turks, like all Muslims, were upset by last
year’s Gaza War and the horrifying pictures they saw on TV. Erdogan,
echoing these sentiments as a good politician would, attacked the
Israeli policy on several occasions, cancelled joint army maneuvers
and once left a public debate with President Shimon Peres in a huff.

After being shown the cold shoulder by the European Union, Turkey has
turned towards its Arab neighbors and Iran, seeking to act as a
mediator between East and West. It also began to mediate between
Israel and Syria, until it realized that the Israeli government had no
desire at all to make peace, which would compel it to dismantle
settlements and return territory.

The relationship between Turkey and Israel will probably return to
normal, if not to its former degree of warmth. Turkey needs the help
of the pro-Israel lobby in Washington. (Ayalon himself has in the past
been sent there to help repel efforts to recognize the Armenian
genocide). Israel needs Turkey as an ally and arms buyer.

So what about the joke? Well, it serves as a reminder that provoking
the Turks is not necessarily a good idea.

– Uri Avnery is a peace activist, journalist, and writer. He
contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

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