Rogue State

By Sedat Laciner
Director USAK
Monday, 7 June 2010
Courtesy Of "The Turkish Weekly"

'Rogue state' is a term, used mostly by the United States,for states that are threatening international peace, acting in an unexpected way, or supporting terrorism by using politics as a tool.States like Libya, Syria, Iran and Iraq have frequently been given as examples of rogue states. The U.S.has tried to legalize its policies against these countries through this concept. However, the U.S.has never defined Israel as a rogue state. As a matter of fact, Israel has probably acted like one of the countries that fall under this description.

If you ever had any doubts, the incident on the morning of May 31, 2010 puts Israel at the top of the list of rogue states. This will not leave any room for doubt.

First of all, the Israeli army attacked6 civilian ships on the high seas with fully equipped professional soldiers. There was not even a single weapon on these ships. Consisting of all volunteers, these ships were carrying humanitarian aid. Moreover, before the Israeli attack, the ships had raised the white flag and had proclaimed to Israeli security forces that no weapons were on board. According to international law, Israel's interception (72 nautical miles offshore from Israel) of these ships in the open seas are illegal.

Stopping the ship and even their efforts to control the ships are obviously a violation of law. Israel could have waited for the ships to enter Israeli waters but they did not. Second, we can see that Israel had no reason to stop the ship. If the purpose was to stop the ship, there are many technical methods that could have been used. The ship's engines could have been stopped by intervention from outside; the ships could have been taken with more powerful ships; the ships could have been handled more easily with simple techniques, etc. Instead, however, Israel organized an air born operation - as if the volunteers on the ships were the most notorious criminals - and attacked the ships with naval boats. Many people lost their lives during this attack, and more than 30 civilians were injured by Israeli bullets. When we look at the number of dead and injured, it is understood that Israeli commandos open fired 200 times. Israel says "they attacked us with pipes and chairs" as a reason for the murders they performed. This explanation is really ridiculous and far from justifying the crimes.

It is very clear that if you are retaining a ship in the open sea then this is piracy and banditry. There is no difference between this and the piracy off Somalia.The Somalian pirates can even be accepted as more careful of the human life in ships that they kidnap than are the Israeli security forces.

Israel continued to violate international law after this stage, and brought the ships to Israel by force. The Israelis handcuffed the hands of the wounded as if they were criminals and continued to behave badly to the hundreds of people they detained. For example, the released ship captain initially stated that they were kept hungry for 26 hours and even said that they were not allowed to reach their own food on board. Also it is understandable that in custody, rude behavior, beatings and torture were common practice. Some people have very interesting reports that the Israeli authorities forced them to say that they have weapons on board. Obviously Israel was trying to deceive the world by rewriting the story. From the first minute of the event, Israel did not let the press approach the ships. Perhaps the situation could have been understood during the operation, and even after 24 hours after the event the number of dead and injured was not known. Even the names of people killed and injured by Israel were not released to their relatives and the international public. Surely this is another violation of rights.

In summary, a fully equipped navy with the world's best-trained commandos raided the convoy, including women and children, by air and sea, at least 10 people were killed and dozens were wounded. This is the name of piracy, terror, murder and banditry in the law. Unfortunately, the Israeli government ignored the great crimes it committed, has not apologized, and has not provided an acceptable explanation. Even the Israeli Foreign Minister claimed that the aid ships are affiliated with Hamas, al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. We all know that if Israel believed it, if Israel had the slightest evidence in its hand, then Israel would arouse the world, but they themselves do not believe what they have told the world. It was totally black and calculated propaganda.

IS THE CRISIS OVER?

Unfortunately, the crisis still continues. Israel has detained hundreds of people. Perhaps a significant portion of them will be released soon. However, particularly the wounded and some others may be kept in custody for a long time, and might even be tried and sentenced. Here, Israel will accuse the people of resisting to security forces, supporting the terrorist organization and even membership to the terrorist organization. Statements of the Israeli authorities are the signs of a period of hardship. This attitude will create a pressure on he relationship between Israel and the citizens of other countries that were on board the ship, as well as Israeli-Turkish relations.However, it is obvious that Israel's behavior is not reasonable and logical at this time. If Israel keeps Turkish nationals in prison for a long time, and if this issue is taken to court "which would take months" and furthermore, if these people experience more harm,then the Turkish government may face serious criticism in the domestic arena, this oppression can lead to further harden of Ankara's stance against Israel.

DID ISRAEL LEARN ITS LESSON?

The description so far shows that Israel has denied liability in the case. Israel does not make any statements on accepting their mistake, as well as insisting on justification. The government said that they stand by the operation. Israeli officials are actually claming to be victims themselves due to attacks with chairs, sticks and knives by volunteers on the ship. At first glance, it might seem like a joke, but Israel is serious. Prime Minister Netenyahu even visited an injured commando in the hospital.

According to Israeli Foreign Minister Liberman the tough reaction of international community to Israel "includes the hypocrisy and double standards". Liberman says, "In May, 500 people worldwide died in violent incidents, but only Israel has been condemned, and furthermore, due to an action for defensive purposes." Both Liberman and Netenyahu find the condemning decision of UN Security Council "unacceptable." According to them, the aid ships aimed to damage the Israeli sovereignty. Yet, everyone knows that these ships were operated in the open sea and these ships were trying to reach the territorial waters of Gaza, not Israel. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz argued that the Israeli military had acted with determination and courage.Not only the political parties forming the Government of Israel, but opposition member Tzipi Livi also did not question the Israeli attack and referred to the Israeli commandos as victims.

In short, Israel is not likely to accept what the world public opinion thinks. When we look at the explanations of Prime Minister Erdogan and Foreign Minister Davutoglu, Turkey's reaction will be more than just making statements on the issue. As Erdogan stated, that attack on the ship was a turning point. The stressed and weakening Turkish-Israeli relations are approaching the breaking point. Although Israel is connecting this to the AK Party, religious groups in Turkey, axis slide in Turkey and so on through its Western allies, it seems that main axis slide is in Israel, not Turkey.

Despite what Israel says the most recent initiatives have reached their aim: first of all, the Gaza issue came to the world's agenda after a long absence. In addition, this time strong global opposition to the blockade has arisen.In fact, Israel, which wants to isolate Gaza and Hamas, isolates itself while making mistakes and this process increasingly continues. Israel is at the point of losing 'friendly' Turkey, which is a strong, respected state and at the same time consists of Muslim people.

IS TURKEY'S REACTION INSUFFICIENT?

There are some measures states can take against such a crisis. These measures could be diplomatic, legal, political, economic or military. In the first step, the relations are suspended; Turkey made it by canceling three exercises and postponing sporting events. In the second place, diplomacy is being used, Turkey succeeded it as well. The Turkish Ambassador to Israel was recalled to Ankara and the Israeli Ambassador to Turkey was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry. The actual diplomatic attack was condemning the decision to remove Israel from the UN Security Council, and Turkey has succeeded in this. Ahmet Davutoglu unexpectedly was also able to make the countries including the US take a decision against Israel by calling an urgent UN Security Council meeting as a temporary member. The decision was not only condemned but also says that the issue should be investigated in an objective manner. This investigation will be carried out in the coming days.

Some take the decision of the UN Security Council lightly and argue that Israel will not take this decision into account and the issue cannot be solved solely by sayings. Such a response means almost not knowing International Relations and International Law, because the UN Security Council is the pinnacle of the international system and a decision in your favor justifies all of your next steps. Convincing the UN Security Council to issue such an order is quite difficult, though Turkey has been able to do so. After this ruling it will be much easier to issue such decisions in other international platforms. Indeed, on June 1 Turkey called for an emergency NATO meeting and a decision similar to the one by the UN Security Council was made. NATO Secretary General Rasmussen called for volunteers in Israeli custody to be released. Similar statements were released by the European Union and many countries. In short, Turkey was not left alone to face Israel; Turkey has managed to make the issue internationalized as well as making it recognized by the international public opinion.

Diplomacy continues to work, and more remains to be done. Turkey has to resolve its dispute with Israel as much as possible through law and diplomacy and without losing composure. It must be stated that Israel is constantly violating the law and Turkey's response would remain within the law. Turkey is, therefore, avoiding threats as much as possible. In this context, the cooperation between the victims of events and their states can be improved. Israel is also aware of this fact so it primarily releases the detained foreigners, and changes its applications to the Turks, Muslims and citizens of other countries in order not to create more victim states like Turkey. For instance, the Turks and Muslims are handcuffed, while others are not. While journalists of other countries are released immediately, Turkish and Muslim journalists continue to be kept under poor conditions. Obviously Israel is trying to turn it into a mutual problem not only with Turkey but also with the Erdogan government; Israel tries to disrupt the nerves of Turkey as well.

Other diplomatic measure that might be taken are freezing relations, decreasing the level of support, and ultimately, cutting off diplomatic relations. However, such actions would only be taken as a last resort. At this stage, Turkey must force other states to take necessary steps, international judicial mechanisms must be engaged, and Turkey must be careful not to be left alone in the international arena.

As previously mentioned, it is possible to put the measures that can be taken against Israel under five separate headings: diplomatic, legal, political, economic and military. All these measures have a ranking in itself. Turkey should use these measures as a package. This should be done step by step. If the last precaution is taken early then the desired effect cannot be achieved. So far the gradual introduction of measures can be seen.

THE U.S. ATTITUDE

Perhaps the most important country in the crisis is the United States. The support of the Obama Administration in this issue is of vital importance, and it is also in a critical position to solve the problem internationally. As, till now, Israel was able to perform all spoiled actions by taking refuge in the shadow of the U.S.

It is important that the U.S has not taken place in any blocking activity in the UN Security Council and NATO. Moreover, it is a remarkable development that Israeli Prime Minister Netenyahu canceled his U.S. trip and returned to his country. Under normal conditions, when Netenyahu visits Canada he also goes to the U.S. and does not return to Israel without receiving a statement of support from Washington. Obviously, the Obama Administration does not blindly support Israel so far. This is not surprising. If we remember, U.S.-Israeli relations had been declining in recent months. However, the U.S. does not want to condemn Israel outright. Turkey has requested a clear condemnation of Israel in front of the press. The recent statements of the U.S. indicate a sense of sadness, and also demanded to it find a way to take aid to Gaza without undermining the security of Israel.There is no doubt that these sentences are not the ones that the Turkey was waiting for, but certainly Washington remains in very difficult position between Israel and Turkey. Davutoglu put the U.S. in a more difficult situation by saying "Turkey is a member of NATO, but the one which had an unacceptable behavior was not a NATO member."

The U.S. is currently trying to reduce the tension by putting pressure on Israel to release the ships and the detainees. If Israel responds to these pressures and releases everyone in custody, then Israel would choose the best way. If Israel insists on escalating the crisis, the entire Middle East policy of the U.S., including the Iranian nuclear issue, will go into an uncertainty that cannot be estimated. Another step taken by the U.S. so far is to make the incidents clearer by making an independent and respected investigation. Both President Obama and Foreign Minister Clinton have called for international participation in an investigation. This demand angered Tel Aviv because Israel sees what happened as a matter of national security and does not want to see it become an international issue. Just like the Hariri murder, Israel believes that it will be harmful for its government if it is internationalized.
On one hand, the U.S. does not want to leave Israel alone in the face of international condemnation; on the other hand, the U.S. sees that Israel insists on its problematic attitude. Foreign Minister Davutoglu said of the U.S., which remained in difficult situation: "This situation between Turkey and Israel is not between right and wrong, this is about choosing between legal and illegal."

TURKEY IS WEAK IN PROPAGANDA PART

Turkey may mostly be criticized about its propaganda actions concerning the crisis. From the first minute Israel has written its own story and spread it around the world. Although there was a problem during the hours following the incident about healthy access to information, all Israeli spokesmen were ready to give their information to all media organs including the Turkish media. These Israeli representatives did not talk for hours and said nothing. They have only confused people and claimed that volunteers have connection with al-Qaida and Hamas. They deliberately played with the number of dead and wounded. Confusing pictures and images were distributed to the entire world. At this point they insist on the argument that the ship was armed. If we consider the large number of Jewish journalists in the world press, then we can see that this argument will be widely spread. At this point if Turkey cannot explain its argument to the world' s media, then Turkey will be perceived as unfair, even though Turkey is fair. Here is the advantageous point for Turkey is that the event's taking place in the open sea. It is required that plenty of visual material about the whereabouts of the ship at the time be produced and that those materials be spread worldwide in different languages. Maps, satellite images and so many more materials could have been distributed to the reporters at the start of the crisis. There are so many measures that may be similar to these.

Although Turkey works miraculously in diplomacy, unfortunately in the case of propaganda and communication issues it is not satisfactory. Of course we are not saying that we must be opposed to a state like Israel, which has become a master of propaganda since its establishment and has become a kind of propaganda machine, and be skillful like Israel. However, for such an important issue, demanding that at least the most basic principles of communication be considered is probably a reasonable expectation.