Kerry Pushing Turkey and Israel Towards Peace

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                     

Yesterday Secretary of State John Kerry told Turkey's leaders that it was vital for peace that they and Israel get their diplomatic relationship "back on track."  Kerry thinks that Turkey could be "an important contributor" to peace, but Yuval Steinitz, Israel's minister of international relations, thinks this is a "poor idea."

"On Feb. 28 Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking at an international conference in Vienna said that Zionism was a “crime against humanity” like fascism, which triggered reaction in Israel and among the Israeli lobby in the U.S. and Europe. The same day U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said during a joint press conference with his Turkish host,  Ahmet Davutoglu,   that the U.S. and Turkey do not share the same views on Israel.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogans of Turkey did visit Israel in 2005 and was a peace negotiator.  Events leading up to the present have not been good for these two countries.  The 2001 formed Turkish government, AKP (Justice and Development Party)  has moved towards the Muslim Brotherhood ideals more than originally, meaning that they have become more aggressive towards Israel.  In fact, many countries of the Middle East have become more Muslim and less secular.    Turkey  remains  pro-West, siding with Saudi Arabia, USA and Qatar on the Syrian problem by siding with the rebels against the Syrian government.  Religiously, compared to the rest of the Muslim world, they are called moderates.

In 1949 Turkey was the first country to recognize Israel.  Our relationship fell during the 2008-2009 Gaza War.  By May 31, 2010 a Turkish group  decided to be a part of a flotilla  of 663 people from 37 nations of pro-Palestinian activists sponsored by the "Free Gaza Movement" to bring supplies to Gaza. Six ships made up the flotilla. Five of the ships allowed boarding and were just passive resisters.  Israel had already put out word that they would board all ships to check and make sure that weapons and ammunition was not being brought to Gaza. The ships were told to go to the port of Ashdod for inspection, but this was ignored by the Marmara.   The Mavi Marmara with Turkish activists on board had the goal to break the Israel-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip.  Israel had to board from a helicopter as it was such a large ship but just used speedboats for smaller ones.    Israel had 13 naval commandos board the Marmara and met with violent resistance from 40 activists armed with iron bars and knives.  10 of the Israelis were wounded, one seriously, while 9 activists were killed.  Eight of them were Turkish nationals and one was a Turkish- American.  Others were wounded.

"The Israeli military later said the soldiers were not expecting trouble and had paintball guns as their primary weapons while handguns were only for an emergency. Two activists grabbed the handguns away from soldiers and shot two of them, the military said at the time. Both activists were then shot and killed."

"A United Nations report, after analysis of both Turkey and Israeli national investigations, concluded that the Israeli blockade was legal, but that Israel army used excessive force in this incident by firing stun and smoke grenades from the Israeli army's speed boats and helicopters before boarding into flotilla and conducted live fire rounds from the helicopters before or after boarding, though the flotilla was still in international waters.   The report also mentioned "serious questions about the conduct, true nature and objectives of the flotilla organizers, particularly IHH.-Turkey's Marmara."

Erdogan took the side of the pro-Palestinian activists on the Marmara and called this "state terrorism" and would lead to irreparable consequences in bilateral relations.  By September 2, 2011, Turkey's diplomatic ties with Israel were downgraded and they suspended military co-operation after the UN report was released.  Israel's comment was that "Israel hopes to find a way to overcome the dispute and will continue to work towards this goal.  Turkey demanded an Israeli apology and compensation over this.  Israel refused to give one.  Turkey was the partner in this flotilla as the organizers were the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief. (İHH)  It is known that much of their money goes to Palestinian terrorists.  One avenue of that is the Union of Good.

Along came Kerry right after becoming Secretary of State and the Obama March visit in Israel.  Israel apologized.  An apology from Turkey has not been heard or suggested.

Israeli and Palestinian officials were hostile Sunday to the idea of a Turkish role in peace talks.  US and Turkish officials had differences of opinion about how to proceed.  Turkey is demanding that Israel lift its embargo on Gaza.  Erdogan plans to visit Gaza soon.  Turkey is suing the Israeli military on top of everything.

When all Israelis moved out of Gaza in 2005 for peace between Israel and Hamas Palestinians, southern Israel was shelled by thousands of mortars, rockets and missiles.  This actually affected over a million of Israel's population.  A cease fire came about at the end of 2012, but has since been broken just recently.  Israel is not occupying Gaza, but has the right to keep out weaponry as it is used on its citizens.  Hamas has a charter that says their goal is to destroy Israel.

Besides the apology, "Israel has promised to compensate the bereaved or hurt and agreed to ease a six-year blockade on Gaza.   Erdogan said these gestures met his conditions for normalizing relations with its erstwhile ally. However,  Turkey holds onto lawsuits against the soldiers.  They are filed against 4 of Israel's most senior retired commanders and if they go through would get life sentences.  Israel wants these dropped.  "Israel has called this a politically motivated "show trial."  One of the wounded on the Marmara, Cogas, commented " "Unless these soldiers are punished and the blockade is lifted, we won't accept compensation."

In my opinion, if the Marmara hadn't sided with Palestinian terrorists who shell Israeli civilians  constantly and broke the law with their flotilla, they wouldn't have had any dead or wounded.  When you play with fire, you get hurt.  This has not been the way to react to Israel's pain and suffering if they were allies.  It was not Israel's goal to kill or harm anyone, but when they were physically attacked, they had to react to defend their own lives.  Now all these demands are for one purpose only; to show that they have power in the Middle East and can bend Israel to their will.  Everyone is vying to be the most powerful; Egypt, Syria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey.  This would be a coup for Turkey, a country with 73,722,988, who are 99% Sunni Muslims to hold over Israel's 7.4 million of which  6 million are Jews.

Resource: http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/organizations/justice-and-development-party-turkey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Turkey_relations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Mavi_Marmara
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_flotilla_raid
http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/israel-apologizes-to-turkey-over-2010-flotilla-deaths-1.1207061
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/turkish-gaza-flotilla-victims-to-go-to-court-despite-israeli-apology-1.514357
http://tribune.com.pk/story/196723/turkey-back-in-the-muslim-world/
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/israeli-apology-the-background-story.aspx?pageID=449&nID=43493&NewsCatID=409
Oregonian newspaper 4/8/13, page A4, Kerry travels to woo Turkey, Israel by Roy Gutman and hannah Allam, McClatchy Newspapers 

Oh U.N. Where are the People Who Defend Israel?

Nadene Goldfoot
Though we already celebrated Jerusalem Day this year on May 20th (28 Iyar), we are thinking about Jerusalem all the time with the Palestinians wanting to again divide our city and take over East Jerusalem as part of their Palestine.  Israel had liberated Jerusalem in June 1967 in the Six Day War when attacked by the neighboring countries and made the city whole again.

Which reminds me, where are the people in the world who care about the Jews and Israel?  Everyone is ready to pounce on Israel in favor of the Palestinians but never defend the Jews of Israel, and now  anti-Semitism has again become very prevalent in the rest of the world, especially in Europe.  Such things as the flotilla from last year; people calling for peace but ready to disregard Israel's security and rights in favor for the Palestinians who wish to do them in and drive Israel into the sea instead of living next door peacefully.  So again,  it's time to read my 3rd cousin Stanley's letter to the world, as I'm wondering also what's going on.  I know that there are some who defend us such as organizations like CUFI and others, but we need to reach the leadership of countries, and this letter is especially for the UN.  

A Letter to the World from Jerusalem

By Eliezer ben Yisrael (Stanley Goldfoot)

Founder Editor

The Times of Israel

I am not a creature from another planet, as you seem to believe. I am a

Jerusalemite - like yourselves, a man of flesh and blood. I am a citizen of my

city, an integral part of my people. I have a few things to get off my chest. Because I am not a diplomat, I do not have to mince words. I do not have to please you or even persuade you. I owe you nothing. You did not build this city, you did not live in it, you

did not defend it when they came to destroy it. And we will be damned if we

will let you take it away.

There was a Jerusalem before there was a New York . When Berlin, Moscow,

London, and Paris were miasmal forest and swamp, there was a thriving Jewish

community here. It gave something to the world which you nations have rejected

ever since you established yourselves - a humane moral code.

Here the prophets walked, their words flashing like forked lightning. Here a

people who wanted nothing more than to be left alone, fought off waves of

heathen would-be conquerors, bled and died on the battlements, hurled

themselves into the flames of their burning temple rather than surrender,

and when finally overwhelmed by sheer numbers and led away into captivity,

swore that before they forgot Jerusalem , they would see their tongues cleave

to their palates, their right arms wither.

For two pain-filled millennia, while we were your unwelcome guests, we

prayed daily to return to this city. Three times a day we petitioned the

Almighty: "Gather us from the four corners of the world, bring us upright to

our land, return in mercy to Jerusalem , Thy city, and swell in it as Thou

promised." On every Yom Kippur and Passover, we fervently voiced the hope

that next year would find us in Jerusalem.

 

Your inquisitions, pogroms, expulsions, the ghettos into which you jammed

us, your forced baptisms, your quota systems, your genteel anti-Semitism,

and the final unspeakable horror, the holocaust (and worse, your terrifying

disinterest in it) - all these have not broken us. They may have sapped what

little moral strength you still possessed, but they forged us into steel. Do you think that you can break us now after all we have been through? Do you really believe that after Dachau and Auschwitz we are frightened by your threats of blockades and sanctions? We have been to hell and back - a hell of your making. What more could you possibly have in your arsenal that could scare us?

I have watched this city bombarded twice by nations calling themselves civilized. In 1948, while you looked on apathetically, I saw women and children blown to smithereens, after we agreed to your request to internationalize the city. It was a deadly combination that did the job - British officers, Arab gunners, and American-made cannon. And then the savage sacking of the Old City - the wilful slaughter, the wanton destruction of every synagogue and religious school, the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, the sale by a ghoulish government of tombstones for building materials, for poultry runs, army camps, even latrines.

And you never said a word.

You never breathed the slightest protest when the Jordanians shut off the

holiest of our places, the Western Wall, in violation of the pledges they

had made after the war - a war they waged, incidentally, against the decision

of the UN. Not a murmur came from you whenever the legionnaires in their

spiked helmets casually opened fire upon our citizens from behind the walls.

Your hearts bled when Berlin came under siege. You rushed your airlift  "to

save the gallant Berliners". But you did not send one ounce of food when

Jews starved in besieged Jerusalem . You thundered against the wall which

the East Germans ran through the middle of the German capital - but not one

peep out of you about that other wall, the one that tore through the heart of

Jerusalem.

And when that same thing happened 20 years later, and the Arabs unleashed

a savage, unprovoked bombardment of the Holy City again, did any of you do anything?

The only time you came to life was when the city was at last reunited. Then you wrung your hands and spoke loftily of "justice" and need for the "Christian" quality of turning the other cheek.

The truth - and you know it deep inside your gut - is that you would prefer the city

to be destroyed rather than have it governed by Jews. No matter how diplomatically you phrase it, the age old prejudices seep out of every word. If our return to the city has tied your theology in knots, perhaps you had better re-examine your catechisms. After what we have been through, we are not passively going to accommodate ourselves to the twisted idea that we are to suffer eternal homelessness until we accept your savior. For the first time since the year 70, there is now complete religious freedom for all in Jerusalem . For the first time since the Romans put a torch to the temple, everyone has equal rights (You prefer to have some more equal than others.) We loathe the sword - but it was you who forced us to take it up. We crave peace, but we are not going back to the peace of 1948 as you would like us to.

We are home. It has a lovely sound for a nation you have willed to wander

over the face of the globe. We are not leaving. We are redeeming the pledge

made by our forefathers: Jerusalem is being rebuilt. "Next year" and the

year after, and after, and after, until the end of time - "in Jerusalem "

I want to add that being we have advanced the cause for a humane moral code in the world, why on earth would you think our religion has changed in any way other than to emphasize the moral code upon ourselves?  Our people have kept to this high regard of morality in peace and in war more than any other groups combined.  It's always our directive to our behavior.  We have this very high authority to answer to, same as our Kosher hotdogs do.  When I see a flotilla and peaceniks coming to our aid, I'll know the messiah is about to arrive.  Nadene

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Day

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GOLDFOOT by Nadene

We're now living in a Chelm-like state. So much of the world is against Israel that it's like we're back in the 30's in Germany again.

Here's where's Chelm comes in. Israel has been fighting in wars and terroristic attacks since its rebirth in 1948. When it tries to protect itself, even while using far more restraint than many other nations would, its condemned, even by a few of its own fellow Jews living safely in the diaspora!

Right now it was just embraced with a 9 ship flotilla of media mischief makers bent on giving Israel a bad name again, and they managed to do so easily. It's gotten to the point of no matter what we do to defend ourselves, we get a bad rap. That isn't all that's going on. In the North in Lebanon sits terrorists ready with chemical weapons to shoot into Israel causing the government to arm each citizen with gas masks, just in case. Besides that, Iran has said so many times I've now lost count that they will destroy Israel and all the Jews. They already have the makings for two atomic bombs. Guess where they might want to drop them. Besides that, rockets keep on coming in from Gaza. They haven't stopped!

We have a country where the government is not backing Israel as previous people have. In fact, they're treating us in a shockingly disrespectul manner while saying at the same time we are friends. I don't think Israelis feel that friendship anymore at all. The climate has changed 180 degrees, I'm afraid.

USA is even training some of our unfriendly neighbors in warfare!

In our own USA there is a campaign to deligitimize Israel. Several large denominations of churches have been campaigning to boycott and divest from Israel and have voted on sanctions against Israel. They will not buy any goods from Israel and encourage others not to do so. We're the scapegoats for the ills in the world once again. Not only has this entered the realm of churches but it's permeating on campuses of universities, and in our civic, corporate, labor and cultural world as well.

What hurts me the most is to see so many of our own Jews throw their hat into the ring of these accusers and hurl more insults than others. Instead of reading and studying and learning about the issues they simply give up and have joined the pack. They've turned their back against this one in a 2,000 year opportunity to have our own state back again and not be wanderers on the earth anymore who have gone through the cycles of being invited and then disinvited into countries as well as extinction of the holocaust .

If you care at all about Israel's existence and do not care to be a part of the whirlwind that's killing it, you can do the following:

1. Confront boycott campaigns by buying Israeli goods.
2. Respond swiftly to false or distorted media statements about Israel. Become informed! Speak up! Be brave!
4. Educate professional and lay leadership and students in high school and college about the nature and dangers of this BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement. It isn't just a matter of replacing items on the shelf. It's harming! Makes me angry. We've invented and shared so much with the world in our short period and this is the slap in the face we get.
5. Be vigorous in combatting slanderous attacks, including the anti-Semitic fabrications levied against Israelis that are reminiscent of the ancient blood libel. Whatever, arm yourselves with knowlege. It's time to learn about our history.

Remember when David Ben Gurion commented that it was nice to meet the American preident who was president of 30 million people. His job was very hard, though. He was prime minister of 3 million presidents. We all have answers to the problems and think only our answer is the best solution. Let's get together. This has become a life or death situation. We Jews are less than 1% of the total population on earth. We're a family. We've got to support this family or it's existence will be no more.