Flotilla Set to Depart from Turkey to Gaza
The organization Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), which is based out of Turkey, is set to send along a flotilla filled with aid supplies to the Gaza Strip, possibly sometime this August, 2014. According to reports, “[t]he organisation, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said that representatives from 12 countries had met in Istanbul over the weekend and would send ships loaded with humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip “in the shadow of the latest Israeli aggression on Gaza”, in a statement emailed to Reuters.” They have not yet stated when this flotilla will depart for Gaza. The reports of their plans for sending the flotilla came out in late July, 2014, and now the more recent announcements are coming out now, August, 2014.
What we have to remember regarding this story is that Israel continues to impose a naval blockade on Gaza, and they have done so since 2007. Thus, ships are not able to access Gaza since Israel monitors the waters. Human Rights organizations have continued to bring this up, and have attempted to call on Israel to end the blockade, and at times, try to break through the blockade with flotillas. For example, there was an incident regarding the Mavi Marmara Turkish flotilla in 2010 where 9 individuals were killed on the boat after Israeli forces entered on the flotilla.
Knowing the danger of this trip, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition did issue a statement saying that “[t]he coalition will attempt to breach the blockade without military assistance, insisting they have “not asked for military escort, have no intention to, and will not sail with a military escort.” This position seems to be different from earlier discussions about how they would send the flotilla. It was previously reported that
“The Turkish pro-Palestinian organization IHH announced that its second Gaza flotilla will be launched soon – and will be afforded protection by the Turkish Navy, Israel’s NRG reported on Sunday [July 27th, 2014].”
It is important to look at the timing of this announcement, all the while keeping an eye on how international actors will respond to this flotilla announcement. I believe there are are a few particular points and questions to keep in mind.
Israel’s Occuption of Gaza and control of Gaza Waters
From a public relations perception, one wonders whether the Israeli officials and backers of their policies in Gaza, and those who continue to suggest that Israel does not occupy the Gaza Strip will address the fact that they still control the waters of Gaza. It becomes difficult to make the argument that Israel does not occupy Gaza, and then proceeds to control the flotillas that are to set sail to the area. Sovereign states or entities usually have the ability to make their own decisions on entry into their borders. Thus, to suggest that Israel has no control over the citizens in Gaza is quite misleading.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan just recently won another term as Turkey’s top political leader. He has faced a number of challenges in the past months, including a large corruption scandal, and yet, still has significant enough support in Turkey. In terms of the situation regarding the Israeli invasion of Gaza, he has been quite outspoken about Israel’s crimes in Gaza, making some very controversial statements, such as “calling it ‘genocide'”. And following calls by the American Jewish Congress for Erdogan to return a 2004 ‘Profile of Courage’ award given by the group, according to an RT report, Erdogan proceeded to say that “If you support this cruelty, this genocide, this Hitler-like fascism and child murderer regime, take your award back”. Much of this stems from statements that he has made in recent weeks. According to the report, Erdogan has been quoted as saying
““What is the difference between Israeli actions and those of the Nazis and Hitler?” Erdogan asked the audience on Thursday. “How can you explain what the Israeli state has been doing in Gaza, Palestine, if not genocide?” he said, as reported by Arabnews. “This is racism. This is fascism. This is keeping Hitler’s spirit alive.””
Furthermore, as the RT report states, “It was not the first time that Erdogan resorted to harsh criticism of Israeli actions. Earlier this month while campaigning in Ordu province, he was quoted by Hurriyet Daily News as saying, “Those who condemn Hitler day and night have surpassed Hitler in barbarism…Terrorist state Israel has attacked Gaza once again, hitting innocent children who were playing on a beach.”” This lead the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say:
““I heard the things the prime minister of Turkey said, words of the utmost gravity,” Benjamin Netanyahu said. “I told [US Secretary of State] John Kerry, [these are] anti-Semitic statements, they have an anti-Semitic tone”” (RT).
Thus, given the history and rising tensions between Israeli and Turkish leaders, it will be interesting to see whether Erdogan speak out in support of the new flotilla that is heading towards Gaza. If we recall, he was furious at the IDF response to the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident, pulling ambassadors from Israel, and demanding. He also said that “[t]he attack that took place in international waters did not comply with any international law. In fact, it was cause for war. However, befitting Turkey’s greatness, we decided to act with patience…”. Israeli leaders did eventually apologize for what transpired, where, according to a March 24th, 2013 CNN report,
“”(Netanyahu) made it clear that the tragic results regarding the Mavi Marmara were unintentional and that Israel expresses regret over injuries and loss of life,” the Israeli government said.”
The United States and the Flotilla
It will be interesting to see how the United States political leadership will respond to the aid flotilla being sent to Gaza. Many United States leaders continue to make arguments that Israel is justified in their attacks in Gaza. And very few have condemned Israel for the thousands of civilians killed in their invasion into Gaza. In fact, the US government continued to provide bullets and weapons to Israel. In addition, they were the one country to vote against the 2010 fact-finding mission set up by the United Nations Human Rights Council regarding the Mavi Marmara Flotilla incident. Thus, it will not come as a surprise if the United States leadership will argue that this flotilla is a major challenge to ongoing cease-fire efforts between Israel and the Palestinian representation. They have done little to stop Israel from not only their current actions in Gaza, but also in the context of their continued occupation of the Palestinian Territories.
The United Nations and the Flotilla
The United Nations representatives will most likely speak on the issue of the Turkish flotilla that is planning on entering into Gaza. It remains to be seen what would be said regarding their position on the new flotilla moving into Gaza. Following the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla incident, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations investigated what transpired on that day. In a report on their findings, they said that
“The fact-finding mission concluded that a series of violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, were committed by the Israeli forces during the interception of the flotilla and during the detention of passengers in Israel prior to deportation.”
Israel has been quite critical of the Human Rights Council, their 2010 fact-finding mission on the flotilla incident, and some have been concerned that they unfairly target Israel in their resolutions, all the while ignoring human rights abuses of other countries. Their feelings towards the Human Rights Council became more clear, when “[i]n January 2012, it became the first country to refuse to attend a periodic review of its human rights record. And two months later, it cut all ties with the Geneva-based council after it announced an inquiry into how West Bank settlements may be infringing on Palestinian rights. Israel has accused the UNHRC of routinely singling it out at its annual meetings, as well as passing a number of anti-Israel resolutions.”
Along with the fact-finding commission selected to investigate the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon also had its own “panel of inquiry” in 2010 and 2011 regarding the Mavi Mara flotilla. In the report’s findings, the panel supported Israel’s security concern. The United Nations was also quoted as saying in a Reuters report that there was an “organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers” on the flotilla.But he and the panel have arguably said little little in terms of condemnation for their continued blockade on Gaza.
Some, such as Professor Richard Falk and others have written on the various issues that they saw with the Palmer Commission’s report, saying, among other things, that
“the report of the Palmer Commission is severely flawed from an international law perspective. The most significant finding of the report is its most dangerous and legally dubious: the conclusion that Israel’s blockade of Gaza, in effect since mid-2007, was somehow, despite being severely harmful to the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza, a legitimate act of self-defense. The report gives considerable attention to the illegal rockets fired into Israel by Palestinian militants mainly associated with Hamas, and notes, appropriately, that “stopping these violent acts was a necessary step for Israel to take in order to protect its people.” But while that justifies protective action, it does not make the case for a valid claim of self-defense under international law.”
In the backdrop of all of this is the United Nations moving forward with a three panel commission to investigate war crimescommitted by the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas during this recent Israeli invasion into Gaza.
Thus, it will remain to be seen whether the flotilla will be sent towards Gaza, and if so, how Israel, the United States, Turkish leaders, the United Nations, along with other actors will respond.
