Hamas, Israel, and the Gaza flotilla: seven

facts you need to know

The Christian Science Monitor criticised the
Ruckus Turkey had been racking up in its
editorial -
Even considering the shock and sorrow over the tragic deaths
of eight Turks and a Turkish-American aboard the Gaza-

bound flotilla of Turkish vessels, the rhetorical response from

Turkish officials has been over the top. The response fails to
take into account the confusion on board the main aid ship
Marmara and violence from both sides. It overlooks advance
diplomatic attempts by Israel to head off the blockade-running
flotilla. It forgets the existential threat to Israel by Hamas, and
Turkey’s own struggle with Kurdish terrorists. It makes light
of the word “massacre,” which is the polite way in Turkey to
describe the killing of Armenians at the breakup of the
Ottoman Empire.
This issue of Aronite thinking looks into both.
The Monitor published the very pertinent facts
regarding the brouhaha by Nadav Tamir-
Amid a barrage of criticism of Israel, fair-minded
observers should consider these seven facts before judging
the flotilla raid.
By Nadav Tamir / June 3, 2010
Boston
In the torrent of rage and confusion generated by the loss of
life when the Israeli Navy enforced the embargo on the
Gaza Strip this week, there has been a regrettable overlooking
of certain fundamental facts. As is so frequently the case,
these facts have gotten buried in the rubble of political
rhetoric. In order to prevent this incident from having a
deleterious effect on the peace process going forward, the
following must be understood:
Mourners pray by the coffins of victims of the Israeli raid of
the Gaza flotilla, as they are carried at the end of the religious
funeral service at the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey,
Thursday.
Ibrahim Usta/AP
Fact 1: The Gaza Strip is an armed camp, ruled with an iron
fist by a repressive Hamas regime that has not only repeatedly
pledged itself to the annihilation of Israel and the torpedoing
of any prospects for Middle East peace, but has made good on
its pledges by firing approximately 10,000 missiles, rockets,
and mortar bombs at Israeli civilians over the past several
years for the express purpose of killing or wounding those
civilians or, at a minimum, terrifying them.
Fact 2: The United States, the European Union, and the
international community have recognized that Hamas is a
terrorist enterprise, which surely is beyond dispute.
Fact 3: When faced with an armed enemy committed to its
destruction, which has done its very best to make war against
Israeli civilians, Israel has two choices: to try to protect its
civilians from those attacks, or to simply shrug its shoulders
and hope that the attacks stop. There is, quite simply, no
nation on earth that would choose the latter course, and no
reasonable and fair-minded person who would expect it to.
Fact 4: In an effort to stop the missiles from being
manufactured and used against it, and only for that reason,
Israel has been forced to try to keep the materials used for that
purpose out of the Gaza Strip. This is an obvious step needed
to prevent the kind of war that caused so much destruction in
2008, when the increase in attacks by Hamas and its allies
against Israeli civilians eventually triggered an Israeli
response to stop them. There can be no real doubt that Israel is
entitled to keep weapons of war from being used against it.
Fact 5: Israel repeatedly, and expressly, made clear to those
who organized the effort to break the embargo that it would
willingly take all of the humanitarian aid that was on their
boats and transfer it to Gaza, without delay. All that Israel
wanted was to be able to ensure that materials were, in fact,
humanitarian aid, rather than the sorts of materials used for
launching attacks that are supplied to Hamas by the Iranians
and others. The organizers of the flotilla refused – because, of
course, getting humanitarian aid to Gaza was not what their
gambit was really about

Fact 6: Israel regularly provides humanitarian aid to Gaza,

and volunteering to get the humanitarian aid from the ships to
Gaza was consistent with Israeli policy all along.
And Fact 7, which is now coming to light several days after
the initial and predictable barrage of criticism of Israel: Those
on at least one of the ships planned all along to attack Israelis
when they sought to enforce the embargo, and indeed, their
attack on the Israelis was brutal.
This fact has been starkly captured in video widely circulating
around the Internet, showing the vicious beatings initiated by
those on board one of the ships against Israelis, who for their
part had been instructed to refrain from using any force if at
all possible. Indeed, in Israel the military is being criticized
for failing to adequately prepare its naval personnel to
anticipate the attacks on them from the boats, and for being
too passive, and too trusting, in its approach to the flotilla.
As for the evidence that certain individuals of those
responsible for orchestrating this tragedy are linked to Al
Qaeda and other representatives of the worst forces on the
planet, the next days will likely yield more information.
But the larger issue is this: Has the desire to blame Israel in
certain quarters reached such an irrational frenzy that the
fundamental facts of any issue relating to the Middle East
conflict will reliably be overlooked? Are those who are
committed to a fair-minded and reasonable analysis of that
conflict prepared to insist that others, who like nothing more
than jumping to conclusions stop, pause, think, and consider
the actual evidence?
There will always be those who don’t let facts to get in the
way of their biases. But fair-minded people examine the
evidence before forming conclusions, especially when
emotions run high. Israel – and the cause of peace in the
Middle East – is counting on them to do just that.
Nadav Tamir is the consul general at the consulate general of
Israel to New England.
(COURTESY-THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR)
In its Editorial that was profoundly serene and timely, the
Christian Science Monitor has this to say-

Turkey’s government leaders have called the Israeli raid on

the flotilla a “massacre,” likened it to 9/11, and branded it
“state terrorism.” President Abdullah Gul said Israel
committed “one of the biggest mistakes ever in its history”
and said that relations between the two countries – once close
allies – “will never be the same again.”
The response fails to take into account the confusion on board
the main aid ship Marmara and violence from both sides. It
overlooks advance diplomatic attempts by Israel to head off
the blockade-running flotilla. It forgets the existential threat to
Israel by Hamas, and Turkey’s own struggle with Kurdish
terrorists. It makes light of the word “massacre,” which is the
polite way in Turkey to describe the killing of Armenians at
the breakup of the Ottoman Empire.
The rhetoric matters less in diplomatic circles, where back
channels and ceremony have a way of repairing things. It
matters much more on the street, where it can fuel public
opinion and stir mindless emotionalism. And the street in
Turkey this week saw angry mourners shouting “death to
Israel” while the head of the Turkish Muslim charity that
organized the flotilla gloated over the martyrdom of the
victims.
Indeed, Turkey’s ambassador to Washington said high
emotions at home might force Turkey to break relations with
Israel if it does not acquiesce to Turkey’s demands of an
apology, an independent investigation, and an end to the Gaza
blockade.
The Middle East does not need another country of fist-
shakers, and that’s why the tone in Turkey is of such concern.
Not just this incident, but others have increased anti-Semitism
in this mostly Muslim country of about 80 million people – a
democracy anchored in NATO and working on membership
in the European Union.
The rhetoric, if unchecked, runs the risk of further
undermining Turkey’s credibility and goal of being a regional
problem solver, and of the West’s interest in Turkey as a
bridge between the Muslim and Christian worlds.
Since winning power in 2002, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and his Muslim party, the AKP, have pursued a
policy of “zero problems” on Turkey’s extensive border. It’s
an attempt to better balance East and West, to solve
longstanding conflicts, and to build economic, energy, and
political ties with neglected neighbours such as Iran and Syria.
The balancing act is understandable, if ambitious, and much
of it has been in a positive direction: fence building with
Armenia and Greece, mediating between Israel and Syria and
between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and reaching out to Iran –
which even President Obama attempted.
But Turkey is now starting to create problems for itself and
the region because of overreach. It’s become too cozy with an
Iranian government driving toward nuclear arms and gunning
down peaceful demonstrators who contested last year’s
election.
Turkey’s recent nuclear agreement with Iran, worked out with
Brazil, was ill-timed and ill-crafted. Ankara is now at odds
with the five permanent members of the United Nations
Security Council who are finally on board for a new round of
sanctions against Iran.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s utter spurning of Israel may make for
good television at home but it does nothing to solve the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Others are not blameless in Turkey’s overreach. The EU’s
hesitancy over membership is pushing Turkey out of the
Western nest. Israel is losing the public relations war with its
excessiveness. But when behaviour needs to change, you start
with yourself, not your neighbour.
Turkey’s leaders can start by dialling down their provocative
rhetoric. Or they may find it’s too late to put that genie back
in the bottle.