Tag: Gaza

  • Regional Balances Are Changing Rapidly

    Regional Balances Are Changing Rapidly

    Turkey’s decision to completely stop its trade with Israel is likely to trigger a number of new developments in the coming months, deeply affecting Israel’s strategy of aggression, genocide and extermination of the Palestinian people.

    Israel is the 12th country to which Turkey exports the most.

    According to Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data, the volume of trade between Turkey and Israel in 2023 was $6.8 billion, 76 per cent of which consisted of goods sold by Turkey to Israel.

    In addition to this, Israel imports overland – especially strategic products such as oil – through Turkey. Therefore, it is certain that Turkey’s imposing restrictions on the shipment of products that Israel buys from third countries, raw materials and reserve ores that Israel needs for production, especially the oil that Israel buys from Azerbaijan, through its territory and ports, will put Israel’s economy in trouble. (Israel’s dependence on Turkey in this regard is many times higher than Turkey’s dependence on Israel).

    Considering these facts, Turkey’s decision to completely halt mutual trade with Israel resembles and evokes the global isolation policy that many countries implemented in the last years of the 20th century against the ‘apartheid’ regime in the Republic of South Africa, which ruthlessly implemented the idea that whites of European origin were superior to other races, including the suspension of the purchase and sale of all goods and services, and the severing of political and diplomatic relations.

    The last government in the Republic of South Africa, formed by whites of European descent, which had managed to maintain the apartheid regime for more than a century with the use of brute force in addition to the military and police force, in which whites were not arrested in any way, was crushed under these global isolations and gave up. Apartheid was buried in the dusty pages of history, never to return. 

    It should be noted that Turkey’s decision is not primarily directed against the Israeli people. The reason for this decision is the removal of the Israeli government, which persistently pursues the policy of genocide with its policy of global isolation, from power and the cessation of attacks against the Palestinian people and Gaza.

    It is certain that if some countries with common sense take Turkey’s decision to stop trade with Israel as an example and decide to stop their trade with Israel in the coming days, this will put Israel in a difficult situation despite all the support that the US has given/will give to Israel.

    At this stage, the US factor and Turkey-US political and economic relations have begun to come to the fore and gain importance. A few days ago, 57 Democratic Party members of the US House of Representatives asked US President Joe Biden to cut off aid to Israel, stating that Israel’s continued attacks would bring the region to the brink of a war that Israel and the US cannot afford, and the US government’s statement that it respects Turkey’s decision indicates that the regional balances have changed.

    In the coming weeks, it is possible to say that Israel will lose global support to a great extent, will rapidly move towards isolation, and as a result, the pro-genocide government will leave power, the attacks will stop and the Palestinian state will make great gains towards recognition.   

    Prof. Dr. (Civil Engineer), Assoc. Prof. Dr. (UA. Relations) Ata ATUN

    Member of the Advisory Board of the TRNC President

    TRNC Republican Assembly 1st Term Deputy

  • Sarah Colborne: The arms trade with Israel has to end now

    Sarah Colborne: The arms trade with Israel has to end now

     

    Sarah Colbourne
    Sarah Colbourne

    Tens of thousands of people marched through London from the Israeli embassy to the British parliament to demand an end to the massacre in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel.  Number of Protests were held across the UK today, from Edinburgh to Hastings, Cardiff to Cambridge.

     

    Sarah Colborne, Director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, told the crowds of tens of thousands outside Parliament today: “It’s shameful, it’s sickening and it’s revolting that Britain sells components to Israel for its weapons. It’s shameful that weapons that Israel has field tested on the Palestinians are bought by Britain. The arms trade with Israel has to end now.”

    Baroness Jenny Tonge, also addressed the crowd: “Israel is no longer regarded as part of the family of nations. Israel is a rogue state. Tell your MP that you will not vote for them, you will not support them unless they support Palestine. We shall win.”

    Dave Randall Faitless group_
    Dave Randall – Faithless Group

    Dave Randall, from the band, Faithless, addressed the crowd at the rally for Gaza:
    “The last time Faithless was on a world tour, we heeded the cultural boycott of Israel. I’m very pleased to see that my colleague and fellow singer, Sinead O’Connor, has also this week said she will boycott Israel. My message to my fellow artists is to join the cultural boycott. Do not entertain apartheid Israel.”

    Great number of  Latin Americans also participated in the protest and chanted “Viva Palestine” (Long Live) in front of the British parliament.

    Walter Wolfgang
    Walter Wolfgang

    Walter Wolfgang, the 91-year-old German-born British socialist and peace activist, addressed the crowd outside the Israeli embassy today: “I stand here to protest against Israel’s barbarism, and I do so as a Jew. This is naked aggression by the Israeli government, and it must be treated as such. We need economic measures. We need to end the siege of Gaza. We need a free Palestine.”

     

    Glyn Secker, of Jews for Justice for Palestinians, addresses the crowd at Parliament today, during the rally for Gaza.
    Glyn stated: “As a voice for our Jewish organisation, I categorically disassociate ourselves from the Israeli government and the Israeli army.  We are from a different Jewish tradition – one that stands for human rights, mercy and compassion.”

    Protestors infront of   the British Parliament
    Protesters in front of the British Parliament

    Protestors in front of   the British Parliament
    Protesters in front of the British Parliament

    Protesters in front of the British Parliament
    Protesters in front of the British Parliament

    Protesters in front of the British Parliament
    Protesters in front of the British Parliament

  • Jewish and Turkish Communities joined the protest for Israeli offensive in Gaza

    Jewish and Turkish Communities joined the protest for Israeli offensive in Gaza

    Jewish people joining protest against Israil
    Jewish people joining protest against Israel

    Tens of thousands people including Jewish and Turkish Communities have turned out in London to call for an end to Israeli strikes in Gaza. The event organizers stated Palestinians are facing “a horrific escalation of racism and violence” at the hands of the IDF.  At the recent Israeli strikes some 121 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian sources. The UN says more than three-quarters are civilians.

    The British capital saw the largest turnout with thousands of protesters rallying outside the Israeli Embassy.  Demonstrators flooded the streets around the Israeli Embassy waving placards that read “Gaza: End the Siege” and “Freedom for Palestine.” 

    Furthermore a group of  protesters scaled one of the city’s iconic double-decker buses.  The Jewish activists also climbed on top of the iconic London bus with a placard which read  “Judaism rejects the Zionist state and condemns its criminal siege and occupation.”

    Stop the War Coalition, British Muslims, European Islamic Forum, Palestine Solidarity Platform and many other NGOs joined forces for the protest.  The Palestinian Solidarity Campaign protesters joined the protest with banners which stated: “Palestinians living under Israeli occupation are currently facing a horrific escalation of racism and violence as the Israeli State pursues a strategy of collective punishment.”

    In order for protests to take place safely London Metropolitan Police closed the streets surrounding the Israel Embassy in London. Police Helicopter hovered over the crowd at all times during the protest in London.  End to Israeli strikes to Gaza protest ended peacefully after all protesters acted responsibly and peacefully.

    [As international pressure continued to build on Israel to end its four-day conflict with Hamas and Palestinian militant groups in the enclave, Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said the Israeli military must abide by international law.

    “We have received deeply disturbing reports that many of the civilian casualties, including of children, occurred as a result of strikes on homes,” Pillay said. “Such reports raise serious doubt about whether the Israeli strikes have been in accordance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”] *

     

     

    Tolga CAKIR

    Post by Tolga Çakır.
          [caption id="attachment_108013" align="aligncenter" width="440"]Turkish community members at the protest for Israeli strikes Turkish community members at the protest for Israeli strikes[/caption]     [caption id="attachment_108034" align="aligncenter" width="444"]London double decker bus during the protests for Israeli strikes London double decker bus during the protests for Israeli strikes[/caption]     [caption id="attachment_108015" align="aligncenter" width="436"]The crowd  and placards showing Benjamin Netanyahu as Hitler The crowd and placards showing Benjamin Netanyahu as Hitler[/caption]                             *Reference: The Guardian
     

  • Turkey’s refusal to be brow-beaten highlights political bankruptcy of Israeli blockade

    Turkey’s refusal to be brow-beaten highlights political bankruptcy of Israeli blockade

    Israel’s efforts to isolate the Gaza Strip politically are not working. Not even the recruitment of the US secretary of state has been enough to persuade Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to postpone his visit to the besieged enclave.

    International opposition to the visit has refocused attention on to the occupied Palestinian territory. Similarly, the pressures exerted on the Spanish government to freeze its decision to open a consulate in Gaza have revived the debate about the legality of the Israeli-led blockade and its political value. Israel’s policy is morally and politically bankrupt.

    The reaction by Ankara and Madrid to Israeli pressure contrasted markedly. Turkey reaffirmed its stand immediately and, indeed, has since hosted Gaza’s minister of the interior for an official visit.

    The Spanish, however, were incapable of resisting. It only took a meeting lasting an hour and a half between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo before the latter announced that plans to open an honorary consulate in Gaza were “frozen”. His explanation was that it was “probably” not “the right decision at the time”.

    Nevertheless, the mere fact that Madrid contemplated such a move suggests that the government there is not convinced about the need to blockade a million and a half people because they voted for a government hated by Israel. Unfortunately for Spain, though, it ranks among a group of poor EU countries labelled derisively as “PIGS” (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) by their detractors. The feeble state of its economy does not give Madrid the political muscle to challenge any EU policy which is itself so open to pressure from the pro-Israel Lobby.

    Turkey is a different kettle of fish. Although its economy is now recording its lowest growth rate since 2009, Turkey still has the largest national economy in Central and Eastern Europe. According to OECD estimates it will become the second fastest-growing country in the world by 2017, ranked just below China. Thus, with no particular need for US hand-outs, unlike Israel, Turkey was always better positioned to spurn John Kerry’s “advice” on Erdogan’s trip to Gaza.

    Israeli objections to the opening of the Spanish consulate in Gaza were typically vacuous. An article in the quasi-official Jerusalem Post claimed that Spain’s decision was incompatible with the provisions of the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinians, explained the Post, had committed not to exercise powers and responsibilities in the sphere of foreign relations.

    The question must therefore be asked: when has Israel ever honoured the terms of any of its international agreements with the Palestinians? Article IV of the 1993 Declaration of Principles, for example, states that the two sides must view the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as a single territorial unit, whose integrity will be preserved during the interim period.

    Today, Israel’s apartheid wall around and within the West Bank has effectively redrawn its geographical boundaries, not only separating Occupied East Jerusalem from its natural hinterland but also cutting-off the northern part of the West Bank from the south.

    Similarly, after Israel’s latest military aggression against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip in November 2012 one of the conditions of the ceasefire brokered by Egypt was an end to the blockade. Israel continues to obstruct this believing that this is a price worth paying in order to topple the democratically-elected Hamas administration.

    While Hamas may, understandably, view the increasingly frequent high level political visitors as some kind of diplomatic progress, the real beneficiaries are the people of Gaza.

    Even so, it is no secret that the Western-approved Palestinian Authority in Ramallah utterly opposes all visits to Gaza by high-ranking foreign politicians. Such initiatives have been described by Ramallah as a threat to the geographic integrity of the land designated to be the future state of Palestine. The PA’s claim that Hamas is seeking to establish a state in the Gaza Strip cannot be taken seriously. The very reason why it is on the list of ‘terrorist’ organisations is because it believes in the liberation of all of historic Palestine, a basic tenet of the national struggle which Mahmoud Abbas and his movement have long since abandoned.

    Mr Erdogan, like every other leader in the region, knows that the exclusion of either of the main Palestinian parties, Fatah or Hamas, from the political process is counter-productive. Hence, in order to avoid the repetition of the international hostility meted out to the Emir of Qatar and the Malaysian prime minister after their visits, Mr Erdogan will almost certainly reaffirm his request to be accompanied in Gaza by President Abbas. The response is equally predictable because as much as Mr Abbas may dearly love to make such a move, neither the Americans nor Israelis would allow it.

    Meanwhile the road ahead for Hamas remains long and tedious. Thankfully, the recent announcements from Ankara and Madrid indicate that they are making headway. Today the movement enjoys relations with the Russian Federation, countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

    Notwithstanding the importance of diplomacy, Hamas’s experience in Gaza has proven that ultimately what matters is the responsible exercise of power on the ground. This is what brings respect. If Mr Abbas was only able to do the same in the West Bank, Israeli settlers would not run amok at will as they do in every village and governorate under his nominal control, including Ramallah. That alone should drive home the futility of his current strategy.

    Related Tags: Israel-Turkey | Daud Abdullah | Recep Tayyip Erdogan | Palestinian territory | Israeli blockade | Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo | pro-Israel Lobby | Benjamin Netanyahu | Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement | Mahmoud Abbas | Russian Federation | Erdogan |
  • John Kerry asks Turkish leader to delay Gaza trip

    John Kerry asks Turkish leader to delay Gaza trip

    John Kerry asks Turkish leader to delay Gaza trip

    The secretary of State also acknowledges frustration with the slow delivery of U.S. aid to Syrian rebels.

    By Paul Richter, Los Angeles TimesApril 21, 2013, 9:22 p.m.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu shows U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry the skyline of Istanbul before the start of a meeting in the Turkish city. (Hakan Goktepe / AFP/Getty Images / April 21, 2013)
    Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu shows U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry the skyline of Istanbul before the start of a meeting in the Turkish city. (Hakan Goktepe / AFP/Getty Images / April 21, 2013)

    ISTANBUL, Turkey — Secretary of State John F. Kerryurged Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to delay a planned visit to the Gaza Strip, saying it could jeopardize efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

    Ending a two-day visit to Istanbul, Kerry told reporters Sunday that he believed that “it would be more helpful [for Erdogan] to wait for the right circumstance…. We’re trying to get off the ground, and we would like to see the parties with as little outside distraction as possible.”

    He said this was one of a number of “important reasons” why Erdogan shouldn’t go on the trip, and implied that the Turkish leader hadn’t made a final decision on the plan.

    Kerry met with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and other Turkish officials, but didn’t see Erdogan.

    Both the Israelis and Palestinian Authority PresidentMahmoud Abbas have voiced unhappiness with Erdogan’s plans.

    Erdogan has been pushing for Israel to ease its partial embargo on the entry of goods into Gaza, and has announced plans to visit the impoverished seaside zone in the next few weeks.

    The move could complicate efforts to begin a rapprochement between Turkey and Israel. Former allies, they have been estranged since Israeli soldiers killed Turks when a Turkish flotilla sought to breach the naval blockade of Gaza in 2010.

    At President Obama’s urging, Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu formally apologized to Turkey last month. An Israeli delegation is scheduled to meet with Turkish officials Monday to discuss compensation for the families of the Turks who were killed.

    On another subject, Kerry acknowledged some frustration with the slow delivery of U.S. aid to Syrian rebels, but said U.S. officials have made progress in speeding deliveries, and insisted future aid will arrive more quickly. Aid that Kerry announced in February hasn’t yet been delivered to rebel forces, and it’s unclear how long it will take for delivery of a new round of nonlethal aid that Kerry announced at an international meeting in Istanbul on Saturday.

    Kerry promised he would “press as hard as I can to make sure it’s a matter of weeks — it has to happen quickly.”

    Rebel fighters have complained that the United States hasn’t given them enough military help, and the aid it has approved has been slow in coming. In late February, Kerry announced that the United States would provide $60 million in food and medicine, in a package that for the first time would be sent directly to rebel fighting units. That amount will now be more than doubled, to $123 million.

    Kerry said it is still unclear what kind of gear will be bought with the new money. He said the Syrian opposition’s Supreme Military Council would be given its choice of goods, which may include body armor, night-vision goggles and armored vehicles.

    U.S. officials say they remain opposed to providing arms, partly because they fear weaponry could end up in the hands of the religious extremists who are a growing part of rebel forces. But other U.S. allies, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are funneling arms to the opposition fighters.

  • ‘Turkey first state with ambassador to Palestine’

    ‘Turkey first state with ambassador to Palestine’

    ShowImage

    Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer

    Turkey’s consul general to the Palestinian Authority has presented his credentials to PA President Mahmoud Abbas and will become the first ambassador recognized by Palestine, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported on Monday.

    The move comes after the Palestinian upgrade to non-member observer state at the UN General Assembly in November.

    Turkey was one of a large majority of states which recognized the PA’s status upgrade at the United Nations.

    Şakir Torunlar, who has served as the consul general in Jerusalem, which provides consular services for Turkish citizens in the West Bank and Gaza, will be the new Turkish Ambassador to Palestine, according to the report.

    The move came weeks after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s apology to Turkey for operational errors committed that may have led to a loss of life on the Mavi Marmara in May 2010. Nine Turks were killed when Israel Navy commandos, trying to keep the ship from breaking the blockade of the Gaza Strip, were attacked by those on board.

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to visit the Gaza Strip for the first time at the end of May, Hurriyet reported on Monday.

    Herb Keinon contributed to this report.

    via ‘Turkey first state with ambassador to Palestine’ | JPost | Israel News.