B'NAI B'RITH EUROPE NEWS
SPECIAL EDITION
Israel's Interception of the Freedom Flotilla – An Israel-Based Perspective
By Alan Schneider
Director, B'nai B'rith World Center – Jerusalem
If the Israeli government's sole goal was to prevent the "Freedom Flotilla" from reaching Gaza, then the Israeli Navy's interception of the six-ship Gaza flotilla in yesterday's early morning hours went according to plan. Five of the ships were boarded by Navy SEALS and surrendered peacefully, allowing them to be sailed to Ashdod port where the humanitarian supplies they were carrying were unloaded in preparation for shipment over land into the Gaza Strip.
Indeed, the government of Israel had repeatedly announced that it was ready to accept all bona fide humanitarian aid and to truck it into the Strip following the obligatory security checks- despite the fact that Gaza does not, in reality, face a humanitarian crisis. The Mavi Marmara- the sixth andlargest ship in the flotilla with some 679 passengers-was seized and towed to port, but at a heavy price. The IDF soldiers, who descended on ropes from hovering helicopters, encountered severe violence. For over 40 minutes they responded with paintball guns in the face of vicious attacks by dozens of the passengers who used clubs, Molotov cocktails, slingshots, metal pipes and knives, and pistols stolen from the soldiers. Other soldiers were thrown into the sea and onto lower decks. Outmanned and in imminent mortal danger, the soldiers were given permission to open fire. Ten soldiers were wounded- three seriously-nine foreign nationals were killed, and about 50 were wounded in the fight.
While the operation's immediate mission was achieved, Israel's diplomatic posture and image have been damaged, with an unfair rush to judgment and forceful criticism from many leaders around the world. Prime Minister Netanyahu even forfeited a meeting with President Obama-at which at least some mending of the damaged relationship between the two men was expected as part of the Administration's much touted "charm offensive"-in order to return to Israel and take charge of the public policy crisis facing the Jewish state.
The interception of the flotilla and its aftermath has commandeered the entire public space in Israel and has led to deep soul searching on all sides of the aisle. Commentators here largely agree on the major contours of the issues:
1. Israel was within her rights under international law to impose a blockade on Gaza-which is run by a terrorist organization (Hamas) sworn to the destruction of Israel-for the purpose of preventing it from building a military infrastructure, importing advanced missiles, and preventing foreigners from bringing in new forces and dangerous technologies. To enforce this legitimate blockade, Israel is within her rights to commandeer ships on the high seas.
2. The "Freedom Flotilla" was organized by IHH, a radical Islamic anti-Western Turkish organization which has ties to Hamas and al Qaeda. Most of the passengers are radicalized Turkish Islamists, along with a number of blindly loyal followers from the West-among them a small number of Israelis and Jews. The flotilla was one ploy employed by IHH as part of the massive aid it gives Hamas and its desire to make propaganda capital for Hamas and itself. (According to a report issued May 31 by the Terrorism Information Center in Israel, Turkish authorities raided IHH offices in Istanbul in 1997 finding weapons, explosives, instructions for making homemade bombs, a flag with a jihad message, and documents indicating that IHH members were planning to take part in jihad activities in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya). As reported by Palestinian Media Watch from an Al Jazeera TV broadcast, pre-battle atmosphere was created on board the flotilla by men chanting a well-known Islamic battle cry invoking the killing and defeat of Jews in battle: "[Remember] Khaibar, Khaibar, oh Jews! The army of Muhammad will return!"
3. The flotilla and the anti-Israel atmosphere surrounding its launching were aided and abetted by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has been on a collision course with Israel ever since taking office. The clash serves Erdogan's plans to lead the anti-Western Islamic camp in the Muslim world, even as support for his AK party is declining according to recent polls.
Turkey's foreign minister accused Israel of murder in an address to an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council while Erdogan demanded an emergency session of NATO. As Ankara recalled its ambassador to Israel and cancelled three planned joint military maneuvers, the Israeli government's Counter Terrorism Bureau issued a travel advisory warning against travel to Turkey, one of the most popular vacation spots for Israelis.
4. Israeli soldiers acted with tremendous bravely in fulfilling their orders, commandeering the ships and holding fire on the Mavi Marmara until they were in mortal danger. Even though they were not properly prepared for the level of violence they encountered on the boat, they still saw the mission through.
Notwithstanding the claims of those who champion the cause of the flotilla, it was clearly not intended to be a "humanitarian mission." Had that truly been the intention of the organizers, they would have had no problem accepting a request by Noam Shalit to carry in a letter to his son, the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The fact that they chose not to do so only serves to underscore the provocational and propagandist intentions of the flotilla.
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giovedì 3 giugno 2010
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