On Flotillas and Fighting

Yesterday, one of the ships in an international humanitarian flotilla meant to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip was attacked by Israeli Defense Forces, resulting in the deaths of at least nine. Outraged protesters gathered worldwide to demand an apology from Israel. Turkey, whose ship was targeted and whose citizens are the majority of the dead, angrily leads the condemnation of Israel. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu calls the attacks "murder by a state." Immediately after the incident, officials from Europe, the US, and the UN met to form an emergency response. The statement from these talks expresses concern and the need for an immediate inquiry into the violence; sterner sanctions are, as yet, awhile off.

Here in Ankara, the reaction from students has been anything but restrained. Political alliances are well known by the Turkish public- it is no secret that the United States is a firm supporter of Israel. Oftentimes, this relationship negatively links the US with Israel's more brash behavior: the US is, in the minds of many Turks, a de facto supporter of the nation that humiliated its ambassador in January and reduced the Gaza Strip to rubble in early 2009. This support is further connected with a perceived Western dislike of Muslims (many in the EU publicly oppose Turkish membership to the body on the grounds that Turkey is a Muslim country). So when students asked what I thought of the incident, the question was really: "Given your affiliation with Israel, to what extent do you support this barbaric attack against philanthropic Turks, impoverished Gazans, and Muslims in general?"

I told them that killing humanitarians in general is deplorable. Even if the humanitarians did attack the IDF, warranting defensive maneuvers, the deaths beg the question: how did several armed soldiers up against knives and clubs end up killing 10 people?
This response seemed to please the students. Then they wanted to know my opinion on Turkey's reaction. I said war is not an option, for two reasons. First, the flotilla does not represent the government; though many Turkish politicians may support the mission, the efforts represent an international, humanitarian, and, importantly, apolitical attempt to help Gazans. Therefore, though Turks were killed, Turkey per se wasn't targeted. Secondly, humanitarians get killed all the time, and the deaths of humanitarians has never been a reason for war. Members of the international anti-famine group Action Contre la Faim are routinely kidnapped, killed, or otherwise brutalized in places such as Sri Lanka and DRC. If there is to be international outrage solely on the grounds of humanitarian deaths, may it be much broader in scope than this one well-televised incident. Turkey is unlikely and would be ill-advised to rush to war.

Many students were visibly, vehemently angry at Israel. We discovered the extent of the anti-Israeli feelings later that evening on the student's Facebooks. Several students (not all; well less than half even) posted images of protest as their default photos: Xed out Israeli flags or combination Turkish-Palestinian flags. Worse though were the numerous defaults of Hitler, accompanied by his quotes in the status bar: "In the future, people will wish I had finished the job" is the most common post, sometimes in both Turkish and English. We were dumbfounded by this harsh, extreme statements.

Unfortunately the sudden burst of anti-Israeli sentiment is predictable. Turks are fiercely nationalistic; the deaths of their citizens will certainly be lionized. There is also the recent political tensions that I mentioned. But the Hitler quotes and images reveal the antisemitic side of some of those who loathe Israel. Turkey is still--if just on the periphery--a part of the Middle East; this sometimes entails an undercurrent of antisemitic feelings and more usually a distrust of Jews. This dislike has cropped up elsewhere: when we prepared a lesson plan around the 9/11 terror attacks, many students were quick to blame "the Jews"; according to them, none of "the Jews" went to work on September 11th (the Internet is the common source of conspiracy theories such as this). Its always tragicomic to hear educated college students make widespread accusations such as this in a supposedly modern university in a supposedly modern city. The undercurrent of antisemitism, the distrust of Israel, and national pride all combine to produce some very distressing, ill thought-out reactions.

The beauty of the Internet is instant access to multiple points of view, as well as an unrestricted ability to comment on all subjects. Discussion, debate, and idea-sharing thrive in forums. Unfortunately, as often as this power is used for good (think flash-Twitter protests in Egypt, Iran), too often arguments devolve into incivility as gut reactions find quick, easy outlets. The elements of anti-Israeli sentiments combined with the Internet to produce some extreme forms of protest.

The important thing to note in all of this is that, despite the reactionism, most Turks are not antisemitic or anti-Israel. Indeed, just as the actions of the IDF and the Israeli government overshadow the probable majority of ordinary peace-loving Israeli citizens, so too do the actions of a few reactionary Turks obscure the majority of level-headed, tolerant Turks. What this incident and the Internet responses do allow is an unfiltered view of each nation at its worst. In the case of Israel, security priorities apparently trump cooperation with aid workers. In Turkey, nationalism and antisemitism manifest into appalling bigotry. Hopefully, in the wake of this crisis each of the involved governments will communicate and gather information responsibly with electronic tools. Otherwise, irrationality and extremism will worsen a tragedy: a crisis nobody wants. Cooler heads must prevail, Inshallah.