Coming February 6, 2024 . . .
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
Coming February 6, 2024 . . . MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
By Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem and Ewen MacAskill in Washington
The Guardian, 22 March 2013
Barack Obama has persuaded Israel to apologise to Turkey for the loss of nine lives on board the Mavi Marmara – the lead ship in an aid flotilla trying to breach the blockade of Gaza – in a deal that paves the way for diplomatic relations to be restored between the two countries.
News of the US-brokered deal came on Friday as Obama was leaving Israel at the end of his first official visit during which he was praised for an emotional speech tailored to mainstream Jewish opinion but criticised for doing nothing practical to advance stalled peace negotiations and downplaying Palestinian suffering.
The apology to Turkey for the May 2010 incident had been resisted by Israel until now, despite pressure from the international community. Both are close US allies – Turkey is a member of Nato – so the president was well placed to broker the deal.
According to White House officials aboard Air Force One, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu placed a call to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan while closeted with Obama in a trailer on the tarmac at Ben Gurion airport in the last minutes before the president's departure for Jordan. Obama joined the call at one point [.....]
Comments
Netanyahu apologizes to Turkey and that is a great diplomatic achievement. But, what exactly did Netanyahu apologize for?
The 'operational mistakes' that Netanyahu apologized for were killings. Israel was charged with war crimes and United Nations members overwhelmingly agreed that Israel was guilty of very serious human rights violations, as the majority of the victims, the UN investigation revealed, were killed "execution style". The semi-apology for 'mistakes' that president Obama arranged was to Turkey. Furkan Dogan was a U.S. citizen, he was apparently executed, but we do not get an apology. Who cares? Based on media mentions, hardly anyone.
From the Dag link with my emphasis:
"The prime minister made it clear that the tragic results regarding the Mavi Marmara were unintentional, and that Israel expresses regret over injuries and loss of life. In light of the Israeli investigation into the incident, which pointed out several operational errors, Netanyahu apologised to the Turkish people for any errors that could have led to loss of life and agreed to complete the agreement on compensation."
The following appears on pages 30 and 31 of the UN report into the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla: Emphasis mine.
On 3 June 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed his death and said U.S. officials had met with Doğan's father to express their condolences. Clinton said,
Are they still trying? Should we care? In May 2011, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the U.S. government to release documents related to its knowledge and role in the attack, which it has thus far blocked.
Details from the U.N. report of other death are here at Mondoweiss. One detail of the 'operational mistakes' is that an old man was shot by a bean bag at such close rage that it entered his skull and remained lodged there.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/09/the-details-of-those-killed-on-the-mavi-ma...
by A Guy Called LULU on Sat, 03/23/2013 - 2:30pm
The United Nations report did support the Israeli claim that the soldiers met with armed resistance when they boarded, although it seems to regard the killings as unlawful--five shot from behind, one probably finished off after he was wounded, no evidence that the dead had been armed--and also says that prisoners were mistreated. It also questions the decision to board the ship. In short, not as hard on the IDF as the Turkish report, but still a verdict of guilty.
by Aaron Carine (not verified) on Sat, 03/23/2013 - 5:46pm