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Sme website, Bratislava, Slovakia
June 23 2010
Turkey - Heading eastwards
Commentary by Peter Morvay
The blockade of Gaza is necessary as long as HAMAS rules there.
However, it must operate differently than until now.
The Israeli government did the right thing when it decided to ease the
Gaza blockade. However, it will also do the right thing if it does not
heed the frequently hypocritical calls from various parts of the world
and does not abolish the blockade completely.
It will be possible to lift the Gaza blockade - which prevents, at
least to some extent, the import of weapons into an area that is
controlled by terrorists - only when the HAMAS movement stops
controlling the Gaza Strip. Or if HAMAS itself changes, its moderate
wing prevails, and the destruction of a neighbouring state will stop
being its main goal.
HAMAS must renounce the endeavour to liquidate Israel and terrorist
methods permanently and not just temporarily for tactical or marketing
reasons (as it has temporarily limited the shelling of Israel with
rockets). The question is whether this is possible and whether a
moderate wing exists in HAMAS in the first place.
Defence or harassment
However, for the blockade to fulfil its purpose and to be justifiable,
it must pursue clear goals and a clear line must be drawn between
legitimate self-defence and unnecessary harassment of the civilian
population of the Gaza Strip. Short of this, it will also not be
possible to fulfil a less frequently conceded goal of the blockade -
making the majority of Palestinians get rid of the terrorists
themselves.
In its previous form, the blockade had been frequently doubtful and
counterproductive. There were far too many items, selected on the
basis of extremely vague criteria, that the Israelis did not allow
into Gaza.
The blockade must become more flexible, more transparent, and more
rational. If the United States and the EU really want to help solve
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they should - in lieu of general and
nice-sounding calls for an unconditional end to the blockade (which
would only help HAMAS) - help Israel with an effective blockade, one
that would stop only weapons and material that can be used to produce
them, that would operate on the basis of clear rules, and that would
set clear conditions for its termination, also for the Palestinian
side.
Islamic leader
The West should change its approach, all the more so as the disputes
over the supposedly humanitarian Gaza-bound ships are part of a
broader geopolitical game, which the West stands to lose.
It is no coincidence that it is mainly Turkey that is attacking Israel
and dispatching ships to Gaza today (making use also of all kinds of
naive activists), a country that is increasingly turning away from the
West, chumming up to the Iranian and Syrian dictatorships, and
flirting with the role of the Islamic world's new leader. At the same
time, Turkey cannot be bothered that it punishes references to the
genocide of Armenians, occupies a part of Cyprus, and its soldiers at
home are killing Kurdish civilians.
Istanbul feels rightly offended that Brussels did not play a fair game
with it when it kept talking about the possibility of EU entry but did
not clearly say that the main obstacle to membership is not the
country's Islamic character but, for example, the serious democracy
deficit of its own ruling elite.
Nevertheless, Brussels is right when it insists on some conditions. A
country that did not want former Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen to
head NATO because he did not forbid Danish media outlets to publish
caricatures of Prophet Muhammad can hardly be considered democratic.
Turkey's new heading towards the East, and its search for allies other
than the West, are thus logical in a way. If this reorientation
becomes confirmed, however, it will have serious repercussions for
international security. The West may lose many illusions about the
possibility of cooperation with Muslim countries embarking on the path
of democratization and should start getting ready for this
alternative.
[translated from Slovak]
From: A. Papazian
June 23 2010
Turkey - Heading eastwards
Commentary by Peter Morvay
The blockade of Gaza is necessary as long as HAMAS rules there.
However, it must operate differently than until now.
The Israeli government did the right thing when it decided to ease the
Gaza blockade. However, it will also do the right thing if it does not
heed the frequently hypocritical calls from various parts of the world
and does not abolish the blockade completely.
It will be possible to lift the Gaza blockade - which prevents, at
least to some extent, the import of weapons into an area that is
controlled by terrorists - only when the HAMAS movement stops
controlling the Gaza Strip. Or if HAMAS itself changes, its moderate
wing prevails, and the destruction of a neighbouring state will stop
being its main goal.
HAMAS must renounce the endeavour to liquidate Israel and terrorist
methods permanently and not just temporarily for tactical or marketing
reasons (as it has temporarily limited the shelling of Israel with
rockets). The question is whether this is possible and whether a
moderate wing exists in HAMAS in the first place.
Defence or harassment
However, for the blockade to fulfil its purpose and to be justifiable,
it must pursue clear goals and a clear line must be drawn between
legitimate self-defence and unnecessary harassment of the civilian
population of the Gaza Strip. Short of this, it will also not be
possible to fulfil a less frequently conceded goal of the blockade -
making the majority of Palestinians get rid of the terrorists
themselves.
In its previous form, the blockade had been frequently doubtful and
counterproductive. There were far too many items, selected on the
basis of extremely vague criteria, that the Israelis did not allow
into Gaza.
The blockade must become more flexible, more transparent, and more
rational. If the United States and the EU really want to help solve
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they should - in lieu of general and
nice-sounding calls for an unconditional end to the blockade (which
would only help HAMAS) - help Israel with an effective blockade, one
that would stop only weapons and material that can be used to produce
them, that would operate on the basis of clear rules, and that would
set clear conditions for its termination, also for the Palestinian
side.
Islamic leader
The West should change its approach, all the more so as the disputes
over the supposedly humanitarian Gaza-bound ships are part of a
broader geopolitical game, which the West stands to lose.
It is no coincidence that it is mainly Turkey that is attacking Israel
and dispatching ships to Gaza today (making use also of all kinds of
naive activists), a country that is increasingly turning away from the
West, chumming up to the Iranian and Syrian dictatorships, and
flirting with the role of the Islamic world's new leader. At the same
time, Turkey cannot be bothered that it punishes references to the
genocide of Armenians, occupies a part of Cyprus, and its soldiers at
home are killing Kurdish civilians.
Istanbul feels rightly offended that Brussels did not play a fair game
with it when it kept talking about the possibility of EU entry but did
not clearly say that the main obstacle to membership is not the
country's Islamic character but, for example, the serious democracy
deficit of its own ruling elite.
Nevertheless, Brussels is right when it insists on some conditions. A
country that did not want former Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen to
head NATO because he did not forbid Danish media outlets to publish
caricatures of Prophet Muhammad can hardly be considered democratic.
Turkey's new heading towards the East, and its search for allies other
than the West, are thus logical in a way. If this reorientation
becomes confirmed, however, it will have serious repercussions for
international security. The West may lose many illusions about the
possibility of cooperation with Muslim countries embarking on the path
of democratization and should start getting ready for this
alternative.
[translated from Slovak]
From: A. Papazian