My Take On The Recent Turkish Sponsored Attempt to Break the Israeli Blockade of Gaza

Note: This was slightly revised on 7 June

My Take On The Recent Turkish Sponsored Attempt to Break the Israeli Blockade of Gaza

My take appears to be unique, so I wonder that I might be way off, but I'm throwing it out there, because it smells right, and in the condemnation of Israel I smell a rat. Rather than argue the case in a narrative, I intend to begin by presenting certain facts.

1. The government of Gaza has publicly committed itself to the destruction if Israel. While it is not currently launching rockets at Israel, it has done so in the past, and takes no measures to deter its citizens from doing so now. As such, the government of Gaza constitutes a belligerent.

2. Israel has imposed a blockade against a belligerent that she is facing. Suggesting that the blockade is illegal collective punishment suggests that people are not responsible for the government that they have elected.

3. The sponsorship of the mission to break the Gaza blockade by a Turkish charity with close ties to the Turkish Prime Minister, Mr. Recap Erdogan, is not a coincidence. The current Turkish government has been steadily pushing Turkey into the Islamist camp. Having once been disqualified from running due to its non-secular nature, the current Turkish ruling party (the bJustice and Development Party, or AKP) carefully cleansed itself externally, so as to qualify for the ballot. Having won the election, they began purging the military at the senior and mid grade officer level. Officers at these levels have traditionally seen themselves as guardians of the modern Turkish secular state. The party, having now protected themselves from the guardians of secularism, has moved to permit more overt public expressions of Islam. They are beginning to dismantle the modern Turkish secular state. They also canceled joint military exercises with Israel, and began close military cooperation with Iran and Syria. The sponsorship of the Gaza blockade run was just the most recent effort on the part of Turkey to make its bones in the Islamist world. The fact that people on board the Turkish Ferry Marvi Marmara were able to incite violence (the pipe swinging folks on deck are pretty good evidence, unless the Israelis faked it) just solidified the Turkish position. They now have solid Islamist credentials, and can continue dismantling Ataturk's state.

What does this mean for NATO? A member state is now exchanging military information with two strong supporters of state terrorism. Hey, you be the judge. While you're at it, for extra credit, judge whether NATO itself has a future.