FREEDOM HAWK: Israel rightfully defended against terrorism
Source: DailyaztecstarBy Patrick Walsh, Senior Staff Columnist Published: Monday, June 7, 2010 Updated: Monday, June 7, 2010
Israel has been unjustly accused of “state sponsored terrorism” for defending itself against terrorism from Islamic extremists. Now, the Jewish state is facing international criticism and protest for simply enforcing its laws.
Many don’t remember the sequence of events leading up to the recent controversy. Israel returned the Gaza Strip to Palestine in the summer of 2005, a bold and self-repressing move for peace. Hamas, the terrorist organization bent on wiping Jews off the face of the earth, responded by firing rockets into Israel, targeting civilians.
So Israel created a legal blockade for the Gaza Strip to stop the flow of weapons into the region. Since then, Israel has permitted the international community to send humanitarian aid into Gaza with good faith.
The pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement organized six ships to “break” the blockade last Sunday, planning to bypass inspections. The first five ships were pulled aside peacefully after the Israeli navy promised that if they permitted inspections, the aid would be allowed into Gaza. This proves the Israeli military had no hostile intent.
However, the sixth ship had a different agenda. It was sponsored by an organization called The Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation, which is said to have ties to al-Qaida. The ship had 600 activist Turkish voyagers onboard, armed with sticks, baseball bats and explosives.
This sixth ship was not stopping at the navy’s commands, so Israeli commandos boarded the ship. The invaders fired high-powered water hoses at the commandos, beat them with baseball bats and sticks, threw stun grenades and fired rifles. Nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed and seven Israeli soldiers were wounded. All of the activists were arrested, but released days later by the Israeli military.
It’s unfortunate that civilians were killed, but it’s also unfortunate the Free Gaza Movement attempted to provoke violence in an effort to smear Israel as peace talks are underway. Huwaida Arraf, one of the Free Gaza Movement leaders, said the boats would head straight toward Gaza “until they either disable our boats or jump onboard.”
Activists couldn’t accomplish this without expecting some kind of violent confrontation.
Israel has every right to protect itself. Terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and terror-sponsoring states such as Iran have armed Hamas and Hezbollah in the past, and seized shipments of rockets bound for Gaza by sea in the past.
All of these organizations have vowed the complete and utter destruction of Israel. Any rational country would have acted the exact way Israel did.
Israel would have allowed all humanitarian aid into Gaza after the boat was inspected. If the flotilla’s real intent was to provide aid, it would have complied and followed the legal steps to get in. But that was not its aim. It wanted to create an international incident and have countries around the world condemn Israel for acting in self-defense.
The United Nations, Turkey and France spoke out against Israel and were outraged — not at the criminals, but at the Israeli military. But where was this outrage when North Korea sunk a South Korean vessel? Where was it when Gaza attacked Israel? Where is the outrage when Saudi Arabia actively funds terrorism? It’s the same hypocritical condemnation of Israel that’s always unfairly heaped upon it.
Thankfully, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton all support the Israeli military’s action.
Something must be done to prevent this from happening again or it’s going to get messy for everyone involved. The biased, corrupt U.N. is useless in solving this international dispute, as always, but there is a path Americans can blaze to bring a compromise.
Gaza will continue to need food and medicine.
Israel will continue to need to protect itself from terrorists. The U.S. military should get involved and agree to be a watchdog to ensure every aircraft lands, every ship docks and every mobile vehicle halts at a checkpoint to undergo a U.S.-Israel weapons inspection.
In return, Israel must agree to swift, efficient inspections and allow all aid to enter Gaza immediately; delays should not be tolerated.
Through the oversight of the U.S., Israel will be guaranteed its safety and the people of Gaza will receive their aid in a timely fashion. If Obama proposes this, we may be able to simmer this red hot scenario before it boils into another Arab-Israeli war.
—Patrick Walsh is a political science senior.
—This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to opinion@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Include your full name, major and year in school.
Israel has been unjustly accused of “state sponsored terrorism” for defending itself against terrorism from Islamic extremists. Now, the Jewish state is facing international criticism and protest for simply enforcing its laws.
Many don’t remember the sequence of events leading up to the recent controversy. Israel returned the Gaza Strip to Palestine in the summer of 2005, a bold and self-repressing move for peace. Hamas, the terrorist organization bent on wiping Jews off the face of the earth, responded by firing rockets into Israel, targeting civilians.
So Israel created a legal blockade for the Gaza Strip to stop the flow of weapons into the region. Since then, Israel has permitted the international community to send humanitarian aid into Gaza with good faith.
The pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement organized six ships to “break” the blockade last Sunday, planning to bypass inspections. The first five ships were pulled aside peacefully after the Israeli navy promised that if they permitted inspections, the aid would be allowed into Gaza. This proves the Israeli military had no hostile intent.
However, the sixth ship had a different agenda. It was sponsored by an organization called The Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation, which is said to have ties to al-Qaida. The ship had 600 activist Turkish voyagers onboard, armed with sticks, baseball bats and explosives.
This sixth ship was not stopping at the navy’s commands, so Israeli commandos boarded the ship. The invaders fired high-powered water hoses at the commandos, beat them with baseball bats and sticks, threw stun grenades and fired rifles. Nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed and seven Israeli soldiers were wounded. All of the activists were arrested, but released days later by the Israeli military.
It’s unfortunate that civilians were killed, but it’s also unfortunate the Free Gaza Movement attempted to provoke violence in an effort to smear Israel as peace talks are underway. Huwaida Arraf, one of the Free Gaza Movement leaders, said the boats would head straight toward Gaza “until they either disable our boats or jump onboard.”
Activists couldn’t accomplish this without expecting some kind of violent confrontation.
Israel has every right to protect itself. Terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and terror-sponsoring states such as Iran have armed Hamas and Hezbollah in the past, and seized shipments of rockets bound for Gaza by sea in the past.
All of these organizations have vowed the complete and utter destruction of Israel. Any rational country would have acted the exact way Israel did.
Israel would have allowed all humanitarian aid into Gaza after the boat was inspected. If the flotilla’s real intent was to provide aid, it would have complied and followed the legal steps to get in. But that was not its aim. It wanted to create an international incident and have countries around the world condemn Israel for acting in self-defense.
The United Nations, Turkey and France spoke out against Israel and were outraged — not at the criminals, but at the Israeli military. But where was this outrage when North Korea sunk a South Korean vessel? Where was it when Gaza attacked Israel? Where is the outrage when Saudi Arabia actively funds terrorism? It’s the same hypocritical condemnation of Israel that’s always unfairly heaped upon it.
Thankfully, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton all support the Israeli military’s action.
Something must be done to prevent this from happening again or it’s going to get messy for everyone involved. The biased, corrupt U.N. is useless in solving this international dispute, as always, but there is a path Americans can blaze to bring a compromise.
Gaza will continue to need food and medicine.
Israel will continue to need to protect itself from terrorists. The U.S. military should get involved and agree to be a watchdog to ensure every aircraft lands, every ship docks and every mobile vehicle halts at a checkpoint to undergo a U.S.-Israel weapons inspection.
In return, Israel must agree to swift, efficient inspections and allow all aid to enter Gaza immediately; delays should not be tolerated.
Through the oversight of the U.S., Israel will be guaranteed its safety and the people of Gaza will receive their aid in a timely fashion. If Obama proposes this, we may be able to simmer this red hot scenario before it boils into another Arab-Israeli war.
—Patrick Walsh is a political science senior.
—This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to opinion@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Include your full name, major and year in school.
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