The man who ordered the attack on the aid flotilla to Gaza, set up the inquiry, chose its members and determined its mandate, has announced its outcome even before it has started. Binyamin Netanyahu’s beaming smile showed an Israeli prime minister confident that he had faced down international protestations over the Israeli attack on the Gaza aid flotilla, buying off the pressure with an inquiry that even the Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz, described as a farce.For those without crystal balls, Netanyahu helpfully told us that the inquiry will show that Israel took “appropriate defensive actions in accordance with the highest international standards”. Well, it will say that, we can be sure.Is this a rerun of the Widgery inquiry into Bloody Sunday that falsely found that civilians opened fire on British soldiers first? (Israel stated that it was the civilians who attacked first, as if the boarding of the ships never happened). Let us hope that it will not take 38 years to find a Saville, unearth the truth and for someone to apologise for this Bloody Monday massacre as well as others.The inquiry chairman, Jacob Turkel, has stated that holding people to account is a marginal issue. Israeli soldiers will not testify at the inquiry. Would any of the activists co-operate with or trust this kangaroo court? Would an activist beaten up by Israeli soldiers, who has seen their friends and colleagues killed and shot, feel safe going back? Will all their photographs and video footage be released intact after having been illegally confiscated by the Israeli authorities? Israel was very fast to release its own carefully edited selected footage.Turkey has understandably dismissed this inquiry. A valid inquiry requires Turkey’s co-operation to share the findings of the post-mortems into the nine Turkish citizens killed. They reportedly show that one victim was shot five times from less than 45cm.Netanyahu has hand-picked two international observers including Lord Trimble who on the day of the attack on the flotilla was starting a “Friends of Israel initiative”. They will not be allowed to vote on the inquiry’s conclusions. In case of need, the commission can hold closed sessions as it sees fit.Do not expect the inquiry team to be so naive as to produce a report that will totally exonerate Israeli actions. No doubt there will be references to alternatives that should have been used, operational shortcomings, grey areas in international law and lessons to be learned.If Israeli actions were legitimate, and if their soldiers did act properly and legally, then what has Israel to fear? If it wants to restore its image then only a proper international, independent inquiry reporting to the UN Security Council would suffice. Such an inquiry would have to have full powers making it mandatory on all parties to co-operate including Israel, Turkey and the activists. Any party found responsible for illegal actions should then be held to account.The Israeli record of investigating itself is shockingly poor. Even when the Kahan Commission into the Sabra and Shatila massacres found Ariel Sharon to have “personal responsibility”, he still retained ministerial office in Begin’s cabinet, and before long became foreign minister and ultimately prime minister. The Shamgar commission set up to investigate the massacre of 29 Palestinians at the Ibrahimi mosque in Al-Khalil in 1994 exonerated both the army and the settler leadership of all responsibility, and recommended the partitioning a site that had been a mosque for nearly 1,400 years.The Landau commission investigating Israeli interrogation techniques, not only took no action but deemed Israel had the right to “use moderate physical pressure” – torture to the rest of us. It even outlined in a secret part of the report exactly how this should be done. Torture continues today, with recent reports of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy threatened with torture by use of car battery leads on his hands and genitalia.While a UN inquiry into Israel’s assault on Gaza found evidence of potential war crimes and crimes against humanity, the initial Israeli investigation only prosecuted one soldier – for the use of a stolen credit card. History repeats itself, as it seems a credit card of one of the activists, taken by Israeli security ended up being used in Tel Aviv.Impunity also extends to soldiers and settlers in the occupied territories. The Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem has reported for years on how settlers are never held to account for their crimes. Rabbi Moshe Levinger, a Al-Khalil settler leader, was given a five-month sentence for killing a Palestinian, reduced to only four. While Western fatalities attract more attention from the Israeli authorities and international media, justice rarely ensues and the families of Rachel Corrie or Tom Hurndall, both killed by Israeli soldiers, still await the truth of what happened to their loved ones even today.How can a government that uses overwhelming force against civilians, torture, detains children without trial, steals land and resources of another people, demolishes their homes and property, and has violated so many laws and conventions it would be difficult to list them on one page, seriously be expected to hold itself to account?Sadly, British ministers have already welcomed the inquiry despite its shortcomings and lack of independence. Suspicions have been aroused that acceptance of this charade was in return for a cosmetic easing of the blockade of Gaza, and not what is needed, its full and final lifting.The international community, and in particular the United States, never says enough. Like a spoilt child, Israel can do as it pleases. Should we be surprised that Israel uses fake British passports to assassinate people in third countries? The impact of this lack of accountability was highlighted in the report of the UN fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict in 2009 arguing that this only led to further crimes.Stitching up an inquiry will be a Pyrrhic victory for Israel, just as Widgery did not help the British. The blockade of Gaza is unravelling, its barbaric siege and imprisonment of Gaza further exposed to a horrified world, with more flotillas prepared to run the gauntlet of Israeli gunboats and boarding parties. Hamas gets stronger as do more elements in Gaza. Israeli leaders are not asking the right questions. Only a root-and-branch change in their policies and actions towards the Palestinians will bring them both security and international acceptance that they crave.
LONDON: The United States is concerned at a breakdown in Turkey’s relations with Israel and fears Europe’s rebuff of Ankara’s EU aspirations is pushing the pivotal country “eastward”, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday. As Nato’s only Muslim member, Turkey has been a key US ally in the Middle East, but its deteriorating ties with Israel and recent overtures to Iran have stoked worries in Washington. “I personally think that if there is anything to the notion that Turkey is, if you will, moving eastward, it is, in my view, in no small part because it was pushed, and pushed by some in Europe refusing to give Turkey the kind of organic link to the West that Turkey sought,” Gates told reporters in London. Turkey’s long-running negotiations to join the European Union have slowed to a snail’s pace, partly because of disputes over Cyprus but also because the leaders of France and Germany have made clear they do not want the Turks to join. Relations between Ankara and Israel plunged to their lowest level in decades last week after nine Turks were killed when Israeli commandos stormed a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, sparking an international outcry. At the same time, Turkey has pursued a rapprochement with Iran, promoting a compromise on Tehran’s nuclear programme that it believes should avert further international sanctions, which Turkish leaders have publicly opposed. The Islamist-leaning Turkish government backed the attempt by pro-Palestinian activists to use the convoy of aid ships to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Hamas movement. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan responded by recalling Turkey’s ambassador from Israel and cancelling joint military exercises with the Jewish state. “The deterioration in the relationship between Turkey and Israel over the past year or so is a matter of concern,” Gates said.“The two had a pretty constructive relationship and one that contributed to stability in the region, and I hope that, overtime, that kind of constructive relationship can be re-established.” He appeared to blame the estrangement more on European obduracy than on Israeli behavior. “We have to think long and hard about why these developments in Turkey (are occurring) and what we might be able to do to counter them and make the stronger linkages with the West more apparently of interest and value to Turkey’s leaders,” he said. An aide to Gates said Washington’s concerned included a perception that EU countries were setting the bar higher for Turkey than for past candidates for membership in a deliberate effort to make accession more difficult. The 27-nation bloc has frozen negotiations on 13 of the 35policy areas into which the EU talks are divided — eight due to Turkey’s refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from Cyprus, and five due to French objections to discussing any item that implies eventual Turkish membership.
The bloody ending to the high-profile mission to deliver supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip plunged Israel into a diplomatic crisis on the eve of talks between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As Israel pointed the finger of blame at passengers for initiating the violence, accusing them of using deadly force, activists from the ships countered with their own descriptions of how events unfolded in raid which took place in international waters at around 5:00 am.
Live footage taken from the Turkish passenger boat, which was posted all over the Internet, showed black-clad Israeli commandos rappelling down from helicopters and clashing with activists, as well as several wounded people lying on the deck of the ship.
“Under darkness of night, Israeli commandos dropped from a helicopter onto the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot the moment their feet hit the deck,” according to a report on the website of the Free Gaza Movement.
The shaky footage shows scenes of chaos, with the dark profiles of Israel missile boats looming in the background.
Senior Pakistani journalist Talat Hussain, another Pakistani journalist Agha Raza and a Pakistani NGO worker were also on board one of the ships. So far, they had not made contact.
The Israeli army insisted its troops opened fire only after they were attacked with knives, clubs and even live fire.
“As a result of this life-threatening and violent activity, naval forces employed riot dispersal means, including live fire,” an army statement said, adding that it appeared as if the passengers “were planning to lynch the forces.”
Israel had a blunt response to the bloodshed, pinning the blame squarely on the activists.
“They initiated the violence,” Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev told AFP.
“We made every possible effort to avoid this incident.
“Unfortunately they were attacked with deadly force by the people on the boats — with iron bars, knives and live fire.”
Israel's Channel 10 TV said 19 passengers were killed and 36 wounded in the raid.
The army confirmed more than 10 people had died in the operation and said between 15 and 30 passengers were wounded.
Five naval commandos were also wounded, two of whom were said to be severely injured, while another three were in moderate condition.
A Turkish charity involved with the flotilla claimed at least 15 people were killed, most of them Turkish nationals.
As details of the bloody confrontation emerged, an Israeli military boat could be seen escorting a large white boat and a smaller yacht-type craft into the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, an AFP correspondent said.
Black-clad naval officers could be seen on the deck of the larger boat which appeared to be a passenger vessel, he said.
Media reports also said that senior Arab Israeli leader Raed Salah had been injured in the clashes.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas slammed the navy raid as “a massacre” and announced a three-day mourning period.
“We will have to take some difficult decisions this evening,” an official from his office told Palestinian television, without giving further details.
The Palestinian Authority also called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council “to discuss the piracy, the crime and the Israeli massacre,” said top negotiator Saeb Erakat.
Israel's Arab community called a general strike in response to an Israeli naval operation and called for protests across the country.
In response, hundreds from across the political spectrum flooded onto the streets of the northern Arab Israeli city of Nazareth to protest against the bloody attack.
Hamas reacted angrily to the raid.
“We call on the Palestinian Authority to halt negotiations, direct or indirect, with Israel because of this crime,” said Ismail Haniya, Hamas’ prime minister in Gaza.
The ships, carrying more than 700 passengers, were on the last leg of an aid mission to deliver some 10,000 tonnes of supplies to Gaza, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007.
Israel had warned the attempt to break the Gaza blockade was illegal and that it would intercept the ships, tow them to the Ashdod port and detain the activists before deporting them.
It labelled the convoy a media stunt, insisting the humanitarian situation is stable in Gaza despite reports to the contrary from aid agencies.
The US House of Representatives approved President Barack Obama’s request for $205 million to spur Israel’s production of a system to counter short-range rockets of the type used by Hamas and Hizbullah. The authorisation for the extra funding was part of a defence spending bill that would provide $726 billion next year for US national defence programmes, including funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The House gave the bill final passage on Friday by a vote of 229 to 186. The Senate Armed Services Committee likewise voted to provide $205 million for the Israeli system, known as “Iron Dome,” panel chairman Carl Levin told reporters on Friday. Levin said he hoped his committee’s bill would reach the Senate floor before the July 4 Independence Day recess. A congressional staff member said the request for the funding “seems to have come directly from the commander in chief,” Obama. It was not entirely clear what prompted it. Produced by Israeli state-owned Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd., Iron Dome uses small radar-guided missiles to blow up Katyusha-style rockets with ranges of between 3 miles and 45 miles (5-70 km), as well as mortar bombs, in mid-air. Its development was spurred by the 2006 conflict in Lebanon with Hizbullah, and the Gaza Strip war against Hamas a year ago. In both cases, Israeli towns within reach of short-range rockets were in some ways defenseless. A White House spokesman, Tommy Vietor, said earlier this month Obama recognised “the threat missiles and rockets fired by Hamas and Hizbullah pose to Israelis.” As a result, he decided to seek funding from Congress to support the production of the Iron Dome system, Vietor said. Two Iron Dome batteries are under construction, an Israeli defence official said in February. Designed to be towed by vehicle, they will be available for any Israeli front at a few hours’ notice. The Pentagon’s Missile Defence Agency has three initiatives with Israel to boost its home-grown capability to defend against short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. The so-called David’s Sling Weapon System is for short-range defence; the Arrow Weapons System targets medium-range missiles; and the Arrow-3 interceptor is an upper-tier system under development. The United States is also developing interoperability between the US ballistic missile defence system and the Israeli architecture to make sure Israeli systems can be stitched in to a global umbrella. In addition, the Obama administration is working toward a Middle East missile defence that envisions adding an advanced radar site in a Gulf state to one already in Israel to thwart any Iranian attack, US officials have told Reuters.The House voted to authorise $10.3 billion for ballistic missile defences overall, $361.6 million more than Obama’s request. The extra funds will strengthen defences against “the most immediate threats from nations such as Iran and North Korea,” said Rep. James Langevin, the Strategic Forces subcommittee chairman.
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