WHAT DOES ISRAEL’S ATTACK ON AID SHIPS MEAN?
Guner Ozkan
Journal of Turkish Weekly
May 31 2010
This morning Israeli military forces attacked the aid ships
carrying relief materials to Gaza that led to the killing of up to 18
civilians. The use of military force in such a brutal way is not just
stopping the ships to reach Gaza that has been under siege for years
and endured 1500 death and thousands more wounded in the last war. But
more than that, Israel’s act carries a political/military response to
Turkey’s latest effort to bring peace in the Middle East and especially
to Ankara’s hard work on nuclear exchange deal regarding Iran.
War on Gaza and Worsening Turkish-Israeli Relations
For many ordinary people around the world including in the west,
Israel’s war on Gaza was carnage. But it was the only Turkish
Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who could dare to say ‘hold
on a minute’ against the Israeli atrocities in Palestine and Gaza in
particular. In fact Erdogan’s reaction to the Israeli President, Simon
Peres, in Davos was the beginning of the trend that the relationships
between the two countries have followed a downward direction.
A number of developments followed the Davos row. In last January,
disrespecting the Turkish Ambassador to Tel Aviv by having him sit
on a lower chair during a meeting with the Israeli Deputy Foreign
Minister, Danny Ayalon, was the one by which Israeli Minister openly
said that they aimed at humiliating Turkey. Israel seemed to have
been taking revenge of Davos from Turkey. Late regret, but no way a
sufficient apology, come from the Israeli side have managed to cool
down restrained relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv.
Turkey’s exclusion of Israel in a joint military exercise among
Turkey, US and NATO in October 2009 had raised the views that Turkey
and Israel were no longer a strategic partner. More than that Turkey
opted for doing a similar military exercise with Syria- a state now
Turkey’s friend but a long time enemy of Israel.
With his freakish attitude and statements against Turkish government,
Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, an incurable racist and
anti-Arab figure of the Yisrael Beiteinu Party (Israel is Our Home)
did not any form or shape help improve the Turkish-Israeli relations.
Perhaps the role of the American Jewish representatives in the US
congress in the acceptance of so called Armenian Genocide at the
Foreign Relations Committee and the possibility that the Israeli
Parliament, the Knesset, appeared to discuss and recognise the so
called Armenian genocide were the other developments that they pushed
the relationship of the two further deep into a bin.
Apart from these insecure and shaky relationships, what really
emboldened Israel so much that it attacked the unarmed aid ships
carrying humanitarian assistance to Gaza that it set off from Turkey
with over 550 civilians made up of Turkish and foreign citizens
on board?
Hypocrisy of International Community
The simple answer of this question is the apathy of international
community towards, or western overt and covert support for,
whatever Israel does in Palestine and international arena. Of course,
fragmentation and weakness of the Arab and Muslim worlds in developing
a strong and united stance against Israel are other main reasons to
blame for instability, insecurity and state terrorism in the Middle
East that were instigated and conducted by Israel.
So, a fair and just solution is out of reach in the Middle East while
having two world communities, the west and Arab/Muslim, have their
own respective agendas and lack of developing new and strong policies.
Israel knew well that if it killed no matter how many people on
board it would not get any serious and harmful punishment from the
western world. During the last war in Gaza, Israel massacred over
1500 people under siege and left thousands of people injured. Still
Israel has kept blockading all supply lines of basic human needs to
Gaza. Neither did Israel hesitate to use banned weapons in the war
over Gaza. Since then, what happened to Israel? Did any international
body or actor go further than just condemning Israel? Were they able
to produce any kind of sanctions against Israel? The US, the main
actor in international affairs and the Middle East, did even justify
the Israeli actions against Gaza.
The South African Judge Richard Goldstone’s Report openly stated that
Israel committed war crimes in the war against Palestinians in Gaza.
Further, in the same Report, among others the Israeli Defence Minister,
Ehud Barak, was found responsible figure the crimes committed during
the war on Gaza. Many people around the world asked the British
government to arrest Ehud Barak when he visited London after the
Goldstone’s Report was released and wanted him to be put before the
International Criminal Court or War Crimes Tribunal.
Remember what happened? The British government refused to do so
and announced that Barak would use full immunity from arrest or
prosecution during his stay in the UK. While those governments in
the west accused Turkey of not arresting President Omar Al Basir of
Sudan in line with the decision of the International Criminal Court
on Darfur, it was interesting that they all kept very silent on the
case of Israel over the Gaza war.
Simply, nobody dared to do anything against Israel.
Just recently Mossad killed one of the Hamas leaders, Mahmoud
al-Mabhouh, in Dubai by forgering passports belonged to western
European citizens. Of course governments of those people whose
passports were used condemned Israel and showed their reaction by
expelling some Israeli representatives in their countries. Are such
reactions sufficient to deter Israel to commit similar or much worse
crimes? Absolutely not as the killing of aid workers off coast of
Israel today have shown once again. Same reactions began being voiced
by the western capitals, saying that Israel used excessive force
against the aid ship. No more no less, they were all the similar
reactions mentioned by the western states during the Gaza war.
Turkey has now called the UN Security Council for an emergency meeting
to discuss the situation in the region. It would be very surprising if
any condemnation comes out of that meeting because the US government,
and possibly the British and French sides, will especially in the
current environment veto the Turkish or any other proposal condemning
Israeli massacre. Why not now?
Israeli Response to Turkey’s Nuclear Swap Deal with Iran
By attacking and killing innocent people trying to take relief aids
to Gaza, Israel seems to try to further break the already fragile
relationships between Turkey and the US and western Europe in general.
By doing that Israel is trying to prevent any chances of success for
the Turkish-Brazilian-Iranian nuclear deal.
Just imagine what happens if Turkey with its latest deal with Teheran
becomes successful in establishing a trust between Iran and the US on
the nuclear issue. Israel will continue living in suspicion towards
Iran but fail to convince its strong ally, the US, of getting rid of
any nuclear effort and capability Teheran is trying to develop. Attack
on aid ships will follow the same pattern of Israeli stress on its
security concerns. By this, Israel continues to justify its right of
military attack to the aid ships before the eyes of western community
and governments.
Today Israel’s first security worry and foreign policy priority is
to stop Iran having any kind of nuclear technology no matter whether
it is for medical/scientific reason or for weapon development. It
was this that without carrying much about the details of the nuclear
swap deal with Iran Israel first declared that Turkey and Brazil were
deceived by Iran. Following this statement, the US did announce its
disapproval of Turkish-Brazilian effort on Iranian nuclear issue. Soon
after all permanent Security Council members plus Germany quickly
expressed continuation of their distrust to Iran and got ready to
produce another round of sanctions in the Council against Iran.
Previously Russia and China, the two permanent members of the UNSC,
were not willing to approve new sanctions against Teheran, but now
they are also ready to do so. This means that all permanent members
of the UNSC are now behind the US in the Iranian nuclear case. For
the US it is now much easier to squeeze Iran in the UNSC and does not
seem to be in need of Turkey. Thus there would be no better time for
Israel to increase tension in its relations with Turkey over the Gaza
or Palestinian problem as it carries the opportunity for Tel Aviv to
isolate Turkey on the Iranian nuclear issue further away from the US
and western world in general.
*Dr. Guner Ozkan, Eurasia Department, Ankara-Based International
Strategic Research Organization (ISRO/USAK)
From: A. Papazian