The Turkish flotilla: Why wouldn’t they test Israel?

by Rossputin | 8:02 am, May 31, 2010 | Comments Off

In an early morning raid on a flotilla of boats attempting to enter the Gaza Strip, Israeli commandos killed about 10 people. It is unclear whether those people were activists, terrorists hiding among the activists, or something else, though it seems clear most of the dead are Turkish.

Israel had warned the boats, on a mission supported by Turkey, not to violate the blockaded waters to try to access Gaza directly. Israel had also offered to bring aid supplies to Gaza by truck if the boats went into a different port.

There are still a lot of details to be learned, so I can’t write a lot more about the particulars of the event.

One thing, however, bears mentioning now and repeatedly:

Barack Obama’s “apology tour” and his reprehensible treatment of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is sending a message to Arabs and other haters of Israel: The US is no longer to be relied on in supporting Israel, even from people whose stated mission is the elimination of Israel and Jews.

News reports discuss Turkey, formerly one of the most secular Muslim countries, as trying to cement a reputation as defenders of the Palestinians in order to build up their prestige in the Middle East.  This is the same Turkey that has been trying for years to become a member of the European Union.  Not too many years ago, Turkey would rightly have seen their anti-Israel moves as likely to damage their desired integration into the western world.  But no longer, with a president as unsupportive of Israel (and supportive of its enemies) as Barack Obama, combined with the increasingly pro-Palestinian positions of European governments and, of course, the world’s leading basher of democracies, the United Nations.

Even now, each UN and European response includes words like “disproportionate” and demanding an “explanation”.

In other words, western leaders and particularly Barack Obama, have sent a clear message that anti-Israeli behavior will not cost the perpetrators anything important.  It’s an invitation not only for bad behavior but for behavior which could stir up the hornets’ nest of the Middle East which has been relatively calm for many years due in large part to the implicit position of the US as a staunch defender of the Middle East’s only democracy.  That defense is barely implied anymore and Israel’s enemies are responding to that not-too-subtle message.

Every time we see aggressive, provacative anti-Israeli (or pro-Palestinian) actions in coming months, we need look no further than Barack Hussein Obama to see why those actors have been so emboldened.

With his pro-Muslim apologies and his anti-Israeli behavior, Barack Obama is making the world a much more dangerous place.

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