The Israelis, the Turks and the activists were all at fault

When I was invited by the United Nations to address a UN crime conference being held in Cairo in 1995, I and my wife visited Israel first. While we were there, we visited Nazareth and Bethlehem and traveled to some degree in the West Bank and found the Palestinians living there to be very friendly. Nowadays, it would be difficult for foreigners to travel extensively in those areas because of Israelis security. We didn’t visit Gaza as we only went as far south as Masada and the Dead Sea.

However, years after our visit, the Palestinian population living in the Gaza Strip has been a thorn in Israel’s butt. Some of the pain the Israelis are suffering from has partially been Israel’s fault with its overkill response to the Hamas’s foolish denunciation of Israel’s right to exist and the Gazian terrorist’s occasional lobbing of rockets over the border into Israelis towns north of them.

There just doesn’t seem to be an end to the ongoing drama at the Eastern part of the Mediterranean, to wit; Israel and the Gaza Strip. I am looking forward to the day when the final curtain comes down, as is no doubt everyone else in that troubled area of the world.

The word, ‘Hamas’ means ‘Islamic Resistance Movement’ and its is a Palestinian Islamic organization with a socio-political wing and a paramilitary force, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. They won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Parliament in the January 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, and defeating rival Palestinian party Fatah in a series of violent clashes. Since June 2007 Hamas has governed the Gazian portion of the Palestinian Territories.

In June 2008, Hamas ceased rocket attacks on Israel following an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire, but attacks by Islamic terrorist organizations in Gaza continued despite Hamas efforts to prevent them. Two months before the end of the six-month ceasefire the conflict escalated, after a November 4th Israeli incursion into Gaza killed seven Hamas militants. This led to a renewal of Hamas rocket attacks.

In late December 2008, Israel attacked Gaza, causing enormous damage and more than 1,400 deaths of Gazians. Israel withdrew its forces from the territory in mid-January 2009. Despite ceasing military hostilities, Israel has continued to maintain a blockade of Gaza's border, airspace and at sea which began in June 2007. Both Israelis and Egyptian soldiers at the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip and the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip only permit humanitarian to get into the Gaza Strip. There is no doubt that this blockade is causing a great deal of suffering to the people of the Gaza Strip.

Israel wants to weaken Hamas, end its rockets attacks against Israeli towns and get back captured soldier Gilad Shalit who has been a Hamas’ hostage in Gaza for many years.

For much of the three years since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, its 1.5 million people have relied on less than a quarter of the volume of imported supplies they received in December 2005. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees list of household items that have been refused entry at various times includes light bulbs, candles, matches, books, musical instruments, crayons, stationary, school supplies, clothing, shoes, mattresses, sheets, blankets, pasta, tea, coffee, chocolate, nuts, shampoo and conditioner. Many other items - ranging from cars to fridges to computers are generally refused entry. Building materials such as cement, concrete and wood were nearly always refused entry until early 2010, when some glass, wood, cement and aluminium were allowed in.

Aid agencies operating in Gaza say they have largely been able to continue to transport basic supplies such as flour and cooking oil into the territory. But the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization says 61% of Gazians are ‘food insecure’. According to UNRWA 80% of Gazian households rely on some kind of food aid. UNRWA provides food aid for 750,000 people, which is only half the population.

But with the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics estimating unemployment at 38.6% in early 2010, some Gazians cannot afford the basics, even if they are physically available. UNRWA says the number of Gazian that it helps who are unable to buy basic items such as soap, stationary and safe drinking water has tripled since 2007. A UN survey in 2008 found more than half Gaza's households had sold their disposable assets and were relying on credit to buy food, three-quarters of Gazians were buying less food than in the past, and almost all were eating less fresh fruit, vegetables and animal protein to save money. The Israeli military operation in December and January 2009 disrupted food aid transfer and distributions significantly, as well as causing what the ‘United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’ (UNFAO) estimates at $180 million in damages to the agricultural sector.

If the blockade was originally brought about by the Israelis to prevent Hamas from building up a stockpile of guns, ammunition, explosives and rockets (which is understandable) the blockade has now come down to simply being a way of punishing the people of Gaza for voting overwhelmingly for Hamas to rule the Gaza Strip. That purpose is wrong and deserving of condemnation which Israel is now getting from all over the world.

If Israel wishes to be in the good graces of the world’s nations, they have to permit the regular flow of these goods into the Gaza Strip. There are only three ways that this can be done. Two of them are by land and the other way is by sea. The Yasser Arafat International Airport, located in the southern corner of the Gaza Strip, is currently inoperable. The Egyptians control their border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip and the Israelis control their borders that are north and east of the Gaza Strip. They also control the sea immediately west of the Gaza strip.

The municipal jurisdiction of the city of Gaza constitutes about 45 square kilometers. The city is a relatively modern city. The coastline of the Gaza Strip is 40 kilometres. The Gaza Strip comprises of 360 square kilometres.

The suffering of the people of Gaza Strip has not gone unnoticed and in the past, some boats have tried to sail past the blockade. The Israeli government has prevented this from happening and for this reason it has been accused of committing "crimes" on the high seas for its raids on a blockade-running flotillas. But charges of piracy, among other accusations, may not be justified with some experts arguing there may be no case for Israel to answer.

The Mavi Marama, (a Comoros-flagged passenger ship, which was formerly owned and operated by İDO Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc. on the line Sarayburnu, Istanbul-Marmara Island-Ava Island in the Sea of Marmara. The ship has a capacity of 1,080 passengers) on May 31, 2010, sailed into the waters adjacent to Israel and the Gaza Strip with about 600 passengers on board. They were part of a flotilla of six boats that had 700 pro Palestinian passengers all told on the ships along with 10,000 tonnes of aid which was organized by an Istanbul-based human rights group. There were no guns, ammunition, explosives or rockets on board the ships in the flotilla.

I can understand and appreciate why these people wanted to bring that much aid to Gaza but why did they feel that 700 pro Palestinians from Turkey and elsewhere had to got to Gaza? It concerns me that so many people would go to Gaza. What would they do in Gaza? Would they join the terrorists or would they live off of the people in Gaza that are already short of supplies.

Many of us can remember the days back in 1965 when Freedom Marchers in the United States marched south to help the blacks obtain their rights which were theirs all along. The year, 1965 marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. The marchers had right on their side because during that period and prior to that year, blacks were mistreated by the southern black communities. The marchers had no weapons with them and while marching peacefully, they were subjected to beatings by white thugs and police alike. The Freedom Riders who headed to southern United States also had no weapons with them on their buses. That is because they all came peacefully as a means of protest against the abuses heaped upon the southern blacks by the whites in their areas.

The 600 pro Palestinians on the other hand that were on board the Mavi Marama did not board the ship with peace in mind. They came aboard the ship with knives and clubs in hand and were prepared too use them if the Israelis tried to board the ship. They knew that the Israelis would board their ships as they had done so before and they were prepared to attack the Israelis when they boarded their ships.

As to be expected, the Israelis boarded the Mavi Marama first by being lowered from helicopters and later by small boats pulling along side the ship. No sooner had they boarded the ship, pro Palestinian thugs began viciously attacking them with knives and clubs. One Israeli soldier was thrown to a deck below, sustaining serious injuries.

The Israelis didn’t come on board with machine guns. They came on board with paint-ball guns and hand guns in their holsters because they didn’t want to seriously injure the people on board the ship. However, when it became obvious that their lives were in danger, they asked for permission to use their handguns and when permission was obtained, they shot nine of their attackers to death and injured others.

Just hours after the raid on the Mavi Marama, a group of Israeli lawyers petitioned the country's High Court, alleging the incident in international waters was ‘an act of piracy’ that involved hijacking, robbery, wrongful arrests and kidnapping. They claim Israel breached the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

That argument is pure gibberish. Pirates keep the booty they get from captured ships. Israel has for the most part, sent the goods they seized from ships that attempted to get past the blockade, to the people of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli lawyers also want the raid to be recognized as an international crime to which universal jurisdiction applies. This means anyone can prosecute it, especially "the courts of those countries whose flags were flown by the vessels that were attacked."

Turkish prosecutors are examining their options under the Turkish Penal Code. But neither Israel nor Turkey is a signatory to the Law of the Sea, which safeguards innocent passage of vessels on the open water.

But others argue that the flotilla's stated intention was to ‘break the siege’ of Gaza, including the blockade itself. The Israelis say that that was sufficient grounds for boarding the ships and seizing them. Aurel Braun of the University of Toronto, who has served as counsel for the conservative Jewish organization B'nai Brith said, "If those ships intended to break that blockade, then Israel has the right under international law to defend itself and intercept them."

That is true if the Israelis’ blockade’s purpose is to prevent guns etc., from getting into Gaza. But if it is merely to punish the Gazians because they voted the Hamas’ favour to lead their country, then the blockade has no justification at all. The United Nations, the European Union and many other countries have called for the Israeli blockage to be lifted because they too do not believe that the blockade is justified. Israel’s storming of humanitarian aid ships bound for Gaza has been condemned by both diplomatic friends and foes alike.

Israel says the blockade is meant to keep weapons out of Gaza and to put pressure on its Hamas rulers. But weapons and other goods continue to reach Gaza through underground tunnels with Egypt, and many Gazians blame Israel, not Hamas, for their hardships.

A prominent Turkish lawyer, Hanak Hanli told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review that the Israelis got some things right -- showing themselves and issuing a verbal warning -- but then Israel did a lot of things wrong. Legally, they should have fired at the front of the boats to slow them down or force them to change course, then if that didn't work, they should have come abreast of the boats. He also said Israel should have contacted the country whose flag was flown on the boat, in this case Turkey, to ask it to intervene by radio.

I doubt that Turkey would have ordered the flotilla to turn back to Turkey. The Turkish government knew what was going on and had no intentions of stopping the flotilla considering the fact that the flotilla left Turkish shores.

Israel claims it is engaged in an armed conflict with Hamas, the party in power in Gaza, and the blockade is a war measure that must be enforced. Sarah Weiss Maudi, the Israeli Foreign Ministry's point-person on maritime law said; "When a maritime blockade is in effect, no vessels can enter the blockaded area. That includes both civilian vessels and enemy vessels. Any vessel that violates or attempts to violate the maritime blockade may be captured or even attacked."

That is true if they are at war with Gaza. Rob Margolis, a Canadian maritime law expert, said Canadian warships in the Persian Gulf perform similar actions. He said, "We will often stop other vessels and check them for smuggling arms and other contraband.”

But is Israel really at war with Gaza? I hardly think so and since they aren’t, then the blockade may be a violation of maritime law. However, the United States isn’t at war with Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia or Somalia and yet they blockade ships in those areas that they suspect are carrying weapons.

Israel has in the past, allowed ships to proceed towards Gaza five times, but has blocked them from entering Gaza waters since a three-week military offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers in January 2009.

Israel, which is facing international criticism over the boat deaths, says it needs to control Gaza's borders or else Hamas will smuggle in material to make rockets and attack its territory. Palestinians, backed by the UN and human rights groups, say the restrictions on food imports and construction materials have created a humanitarian crisis. That’s true, it has.

Iranian President Mahmoud Amadinejad said the “inhumane” acts would lead to Israel’s demise. No one takes that fool seriously. He's even suggested that Iranian ships will protect the next pro Palestinian flotilla. He is determined to have a war with Israel.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called it “a disproportionate use of force”, while Russia said it was a “crude violation of international law.” If the Israelis soldiers that boarded the Mavi Marama were fighting for their lives (and I believe that they were) then they had every right to shoot their attackers. When one is faced with knives and clubs at close range, you can’t take the time to aim your guns in non-fatal areas of the human body.

The Israelis probably didn't expect to face opposition either from those aboard the flotilla or by other nations. That's why they boarded the Mavi Marama with paintball guns and small arms, because they've done this before without being attacked. Israel says the commandos resorted to force only after activists attacked them with knives, crowbars and clubs, as well as two pistols wrested from soldiers. Activists who had set sail for Gaza with 10,000 tons of aid, hoping to break Israel's 3-year-old blockade of Gaza, say the commandos fired first. I doubt that.

Activists apparently were spraying jets of water at them and then a large flash, what the army says was a stun grenade was launched at the soldiers. There is a video showing a man being interviewed, saying that he wants to become a martyr. A microphone bearing the logo of Iran's state-run Press TV points up at him.
Hundreds of activists were towed from the international waters to Israeli detention centers and hospitals. Eventually almost all of them have been released and returned to Turkey after being treated for injuries.

The high-seas confrontation was a political nightmare scenario for Israel, which insisted its soldiers were simply unprepared for what awaited them on the Mavi Marmara. The Israeli government had previously urged the flotilla not to try to breach the blockade before the ships set sail from waters off Cyprus and offered to take some aid in for them. Their request was ignored. Those people in the flotilla knew what was in store for them if they went ahead with the attempt at breaching the blockade.

A spokeswoman for the ‘Free Gaza’ movement, which organized the flotilla, said the group’s goal — beyond just bringing supplies to the impoverished territory — was to shatter the blockade. Greta Berlin of that group said in Cyprus, “What we’re trying to do is open a sea lane between Gaza and the rest of the world. We’re not trying to be a humanitarian mission. We’re trying to say to the world, ‘You have no right to imprison a million and a half Palestinians.”

There you have it. The foodstuffs etc., was merely a ploy to open the sea lanes between Gaza and the rest of the world. Well, the plan backfired. Nine pro Palestinians paid for that mistake with their lives.

Relations with Turkey, a key supporter of the aid flotilla but also until recently Israel’s staunchest ally in the Muslim world, were badly damaged by Monday’s events, possibly irreparably. Ankara announced it would recall its ambassador and call off all military exercises with Israel. Around 10,000 Turks marched in protest.
At the U.N., Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the raid “murder conducted by a state” and demanded an immediate Israeli apology, plus international legal action and an end to the blockade.

I will say this for the Turks. They have a lot of gall chastising Israel when you consider that Turkey continues to deny being responsible for the deaths of over a million Armenians a century ago and imprisoning its own citizens if they publicly claim that those allegations are true. For a country that has killed as many as 40,000 Kurds, its weeping tears are merely crocodile tears and nothing more. Perhaps Turkey is attempting to get back into the good graces of the European Union so that they can be accepted as members of the European Union and if the Union isn’t too excited about that prospect, perhaps the Turks feel that they might be better off by being friendly with Islamic nations instead and if that is so, what better way can they do this than by condemning the only non-Islamic nation in the middle east.

The United Nations Security Council condemned acts which resulted in nine deaths during Israel's raid on ships bringing aid to the Gaza Strip, adding to pressure to end the country's control of the coastal enclave's borders. The council's 15 member governments agreed after more than 12 hours of negotiations to endorse “prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation,” and requested the release of the flotilla and captured civilians. Their statement said that the situation in Gaza is “not sustainable.”

British Foreign Secretary William Hague suggested calling on Israel to “allow unfettered access” to Gaza, a comment echoed by European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. I’m not completely in accord with that proposal. Although I realize that Israel needs to find a better way to deal with this problem, I think that to solve the problem, ten steps will have to be undertaken. They are;
Step One: Israel has to publicly acknowledge the fact that Hamas is currently the government of the Gaza Strip unless the people of the Gaza Strip vote otherwise.

Step Two: The Hamas or other governing authority of the Gaza Strip has to publicly acknowledge the fact that Israel is a nation and as such, has a right to exist as such.

Step Three: Israel must stop the blockade and permit anything but guns, ammunition, explosives and rocket material to enter into the Gaza Strip.

Step Four: United Nations observers should be permitted to inspect all goods being delivered by sea to ensure that weapons etc., are not being delivered to the Gaza Strip. That means that the observers should also remain on the ships until the deliveries are completed. Also, if any ship tries to sneak into Gazian shores without an UN observer on board who hasn’t inspected the shipment, the ship should be seized by the Israel navy and forfeited to the Israel government irrespective whose flag it sails under.

Step Five: The government of the Gaza Strip should take necessary measures to ensure that no one under their control commits acts of terrorism against Israel and if Gazian terrorists do commit those crimes, they will be suitably punished.

Step six: Egypt should undertake to prevent Gazians from entering Egypt via tunnels by periodically saturating the areas with high explosive bombs where tunnels have been built. This will act as a deterrent.

Step Seven: Weapons and ammunition for Gazian police should be permitted to be brought into the Gaza Strip if a year has passed without any attacks of Gazian terrorism on Israel.

Step Eight: The airport in the Gaza Strip should be opened in two years from the last time an attack on Israel is made by any terrorist in Gaza and shipments can be flown into that airport. Those shipments must first be inspected by United Nations observers.

Step Nine: All shipments to the Gaza Strip should be shipped to Gaza by sea or by air without prior inspection if no terrorism attacks by anyone in the Gaza Strip has attacked Israel from five years after the last time someone from the Gaza Strip has committed an act of terrorism against Israel.

Step Ten: Israel and the Gaza Strip (known as Gaza) should have embassies in each of their nations and Gaza should be permitted to be a member of the United Nations if after five years has passed from the last time someone in the Gaza Strip has committed an act of terrorism against Israel.

It seems to me that if these ten suggestions are adhered to, there can be peace in that area and the relationship between the Gazians and the Israelis can be beneficial to both of the peoples in that area. Trade agreements can follow and the people in each of those two nations can visit in each other’s country.