By Alex Liff
- Alex Liff
SAN DIEGO–In early twentieth century the American journalist John Reed wrote a book called, Ten Days That Shook The World in which he described the events of the Russian revolution. Perhaps one day someone will publish something along the lines of “10 days that characterized the world” to describe the sinister 21’st century. Over 10 days recently we witnessed a series of seemingly unrelated but very interesting events that clearly illustrated the degeneracy of the current 21’st century generation.
First, came the irrefutable proof, established by an international commission, after a careful, multi month study, that a North Korean torpedo sunk the South Korean ship killing 46 innocent sailors. It was a clear act of war but you wouldn’t know that by the reaction of the world’s powers. China refused to condemn the act while Russia insisted on seeing the evidence itself and has still not made any comments. In general the reaction was rather muted, one that can best be characterized “yep that’s kind of bad, what’s for breakfast Joe?”
Second, came the news out of Pakistan that around 100 innocent worshippers were butchered, slaughtered in cold blood in their houses of worship. Their crime? They were Muslim, but apparently the wrong kind of Muslim for their ruthless killers who also were Muslims. The world’s reaction? Hardly a murmur, not a single Muslim of note in Pakistan or anywhere else for that matter hit the streets with any kind of protest for what has become a nearly daily occurrence in the Muslim world. And just to prove that this was no fluke, the very next day a group of Muslim gunmen burst into a hospital and butchered six more people, attacking the emergency room of all places. The world stood by silently once again, no protests, no UN condemnation, complete and utter silence which has become so typical in these occurrences.
And then came Monday, the day the so called “Free Gaza Flotilla” met the Israeli Navy and unleashed a worldwide storm of protest and condemnation. So what was all that about and what triggered the world’s violent reaction to an event that paled in comparison to the ones above? Let’s take a look at some interesting facts here. The Gaza flotilla was essentially sponsored and organized by a Turkish Muslim group with known ties to al Qaeda and Hamas, which were well documented by CIA and other U.S government agencies. Furthermore, it was put together with the tacit approval if not outright support from the Turkish Islamist government headed by Tayyip Erdogan. You may remember Erdogan as the one storming off the stage at Davos, in a fit of anger after accusing Israel’s President Shimon Peres of genocide in Gaza after the Israeli actions there to stop the missile firings. In fact Erdogan has been a relentless critic of Israel, while at the same time warmly embracing Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He went so far as to declare that Iran had no intentions to build a nuclear bomb, was a peaceful symbol of democracy and was in no way threatening the world peace, unlike the aggressive and human-rights denying Israel.
Now a naïve observer, may ask, who is this humanitarian dignitary, Tayyip Erdogan, who is so keenly concerned about the supposed humanitarian crisis in Gaza and what makes the Turks so uniquely qualified to champion such noble a cause? Let history serve us as a quick guide here. In the early 20th century, right around World War I, the Turks masterminded and executed one of the grisliest genocides in history where in the course of several weeks they raped, pillaged and brutally murdered up to 1.5 million Armenians.
Furthermore, to make matters worse, despite the overwhelming evidence and worldwide consensus on the historical facts, to this day they have continued to deny that fact and have refused to pay any restitution to the victims. As a personal aside, my close Armenian friend’s great grandfather was nailed to the door by the Turks in a manner that was very characteristic of the bestial murders of the Armenians.
A little bit later in the century, as the founder of the current Turkish republic Kamal Ataturk, launched his war of liberation, the Turks drove out and murdered hundreds of thousands of Greeks and a few remaining Armenians. I visited the city of Izmir in Turkey, a city which used to be a major Greek center, and there is virtually nothing left to remind one of the Greeks’ existence. In fact eyewitness accounts from Izmir tell a gruesome story of mass murder of the civilian population, a true ethnic cleansing if you will.
Continuing our historical journey, deeper into the 20th century, one finds the atrocious treatment of the Turkish Kurds by Ataturk and his successors where an estimated 30,000 of them were murdered, countless others imprisoned, their language and way of life outlawed. Those were Turkish citizens mind you, their only crime was the desire to maintain their self identity. In fact, while hitchhiking in Turkey in the 90’s I happened to ride in a car with a Kurdish Turk who after hearing that I am familiar with their plight, opened up, and in broken English told me how the Turkish army murdered half his family and how he could not openly practice his way of life. So a slight diversion if you will, just to help one understand Turkey’s humanitarian credentials and background. In fact, as a representative of the Turkish nation, Erdogan would be well served to remember a simple saying along the lines of “He who lives in the glass house, should not toss the first stone”.
So it is clear that a Muslim, terror-linked charity organized the flotilla, staffed it mostly with Turks and it was sponsored by the Israel-hating, Israel-bashing government of Erdogan to further his own political agenda. Now, an innocent observer may ask, what about all those supposed Europeans, an Israeli (living in Sweden), a Nobel peace laureate and a Holocaust survivor who were on board? Well, most of the Europeans, and Australians and other nationalities on board had last names like Talib and Mukhbar and so one. They are Muslims who happen to have European passports. The Holocaust survivor in her 80’s can be forgiven for getting matters confused and as for the Israeli, well each nation has its share of Benedict Arnolds and Israel is no different.
The Israeli government went to great lengths to warn the flotilla to stay away and was clear that they would not be let through. Israelis offered to transport all of the legal goods to Gaza by land but that did not suit the organizers. For Erdogan this was simply a way to try to further isolate and embarrass Israel while scoring some cheap points on the home political front. It’s much better to have the masses focused on the “evil Zionist entity” than on the everyday bleak reality that his party has created at home. For the willing participants, although they came from different countries and different walks of life, there was one common element that bonded and united them and that was their deep hatred of the state of Israel and all things Jewish. In other words, a pogrom in the making, Muslim style.
The Israelis made every effort to avoid a confrontation, warning the ships to turn back on numerous occasions but that is not why these rabble rousers came. They wanted their day in the sun in the anti-Semitic pantheon and they got it. Even when faced with such provocation, Israelis made every effort to avoid casualties, foolishly dropping off virtually unarmed commandos into the arms of blood thirsty thugs waiting on board with knives, metal poles and chairs. Seven brave commandos were savagely beaten and almost lynched, essentially leaving the Israelis no choice but to escalate their use of force to protect these valiant young men. The fact that only nine rabble rousers were killed is a testament to the Israeli self restraint and courage under fire.
The world’s reaction to this propaganda trick was swift and predictable. “State sponsored terrorism” declared Edrogan whose nation should know a thing or two about that. “A bloody massacre” whined the west’s favorite “moderate,” PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas. Even the old favorite, “disproportionate use of force” returned, from the mouth of the French. The Australians, the British and everyone in between piled on and jumped on the merry Israel-bashing bandwagon. And all those Muslims who were completely silent, virtually non-existent on Saturday when 100 people were butchered in the mosques of Pakistan or Sunday when six more were gunned down in the hospital suddenly found the inspiration to rush to the streets to condemn this “bestial” Israeli aggression that killed nine provocateurs.
Even the U.S, I guess by now not surprisingly, expressed “concern” and demanded immediate accounting and the facts. In fact, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sternly warned that the situation in Gaza is not sustainable and cannot continue, in other words, get rid of the blockage and let the Iranian weapons flow in. Yes, a great friend of Israel indeed. What made the international reaction even more amazing is the fact that there was clear and undeniable evidence that Israel provided, on tape, showing how the savage crowd set upon the descending commandos, but I guess when it comes to Israel and the world’s band of anti-Semites, facts are not really relevant.
Predictable? Yes. Expected? You bet. Understandable? Never. It is a wicked, crazy world we live in and it’s drifting further into the abyss. The moral compass is so off kilter that it would almost take a divine intervention to set it straight. God called on Israel to be a light onto the nations but the evil darkness that is enveloping us is clearly trying to block out that light. Let’s say a prayer for the speedy recovery of the valiant Israeli commandos who almost gave their lives protecting us. They are the best, the brightest, they are our pride and strength. Let’s hope that the Israeli generals who sent them into battle with paint guns have learned their lessons. Israel we stand with thee, the light shall not be overcome with evil darkness. Erdogan and his ilk better take heed.
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Liff is a freelance journalist based in San Diego