Turks Teach Arabs 'Stark Lesson' About Following America
"The Turkish lesson to Arab 'moderates'
is a stark one. Democratic Turkey, a key member of NATO and traditional ally of
the U.S., shows a degree of autonomy which those who aspire to leadership in
the Arab world are far from showing. … The Turkish position demonstrates
that blind alignment with the Americans is a dead end."
Three days after their aggression
on the high seas, the Israelis maintain a veritable information blockade about
the exact number of victims and their nationalities. But in the course of Israel's
release of the hostages, the circumstances of the criminal assault by its
"elite" troops have been confirmed. The Israelis used their weapons
before even setting foot on the vessels. The activists, immediately brutalized,
defended themselves with makeshift implements - mostly sticks and chairs.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
In the process of releasing
the hostages and listening to their testimony, the scenarios painstakingly crafted
by Zionist spin doctors and obligingly passed on by Western media completely break
down. They don't even convince those charged with relaying them.
Amid the general stupor and stammering
pseudo-condemnations of Western defenders of human rights, only the voice of
Turkey is clearly perceptible. According to the lawyers and independent experts,
this is an extremely grave and unprecedented situation, in which ships loaded
with humanitarian aid and carrying peace activists have been very violently
boarded in international waters. The assailants killed unarmed people, seized
the vessels and took the people on board hostage, beating some and placing all in
detention.
The Turks, through their prime
minister and foreign minister, reiterated their demand for an investigation by
an international commission - with the support of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
The matter throws a harsh
light on Israeli morals and the criminal methods that they routinely resort to during
the day-to-day occupation and blockade of Ghaza. From this point of view, the objective
of the humanitarians was precisely to break the siege imposed on a million and
half Palestinians. The message intended for global opinion and Western leaders
was transmitted perfectly. Many voices are now calling for the end to the blockade.
The Turks have made lifting the blockade a precondition for a resumption of
normal relations with Israel. The great dignity and firmness of Turkish
officials have been perfectly calibrated to the international crisis provoked
by Israeli terrorists.
The Turkish lesson to Arab "moderates"
is a stark one. Democratic Turkey, a key member of NATO and traditional ally of
the United States, shows a degree of autonomy which those who aspire to
leadership in the Arab world are far from showing. In this grim landscape of
capitulation, the reopening of the Rafah crossing [Egypt into the Gaza Strip]
is the bare minimum that must absolutely be maintained. The Turkish position
demonstrates that blind alignment with the Americans is a dead end.
Must we wait for those regimes
to put pressure on the West - and on the Quartet in particular, for the
immediate and unconditional lifting of the siege of Gaza? What's certain is
that the Israeli-American political defeat in the eastern Mediterranean penalizes
with equal severity, the failure of "moderates."
