Interview with a Crusader

(Short Version)

I interviewed a believer in faith. The faith of Islam. She is only one person. Her thoughts might not represent many who has and will join a "flotilla" that would try to cut through Israeli blockade to Gaza. But still she believes that it does. She says her approach to bring aid to people in Gaza is shared among many who acted on their faith. I remain uncertain.

"Why would you like to go to Gaza?"

"Because they are the only muslims. We want to help them fight Israel. Israel is killing children and women. I don't believe, say, the people in Turkey or in Saudi Arabia are muslims. People in Gaza are the real muslims, and their need precedes any other."

"But, IHH director said the aid to Gaza was not an Islamic move, it was a humanitarian move."

"Of course it was. But our priority was Islam. We wouldn't help anyone on the planet. There are too many in need, our priority was muslims, and real muslims for that matter."

"There are many muslims in need throughout the world. For example Kurds are muslims, too. And they are in dire need of aid in two different countries. Why wouldn't you help them for example?"

"They are muslims, but they are also tools of western, Israeli and Armenian conspiracies against Turkey. They don't deserve Islamic aid. Also, many people living in Turkey are not real muslims themselves. They don't turn to "Allah" in life. They prioritize other things in life. They don't put "Allah" first."

"If you go with the next flotilla, very likely, Israeli Defense Forces will intercept the ships and prevent them to enter Gaza. What will you personally do if they board the ship and attempt to arrest people on board?"

"We will not fight. People on the first flotilla didn't fight as well. Israelis started shooting them"

"But there were videos that depict people attacking soldiers and throwing one overboard?

"These were all fabricated. How can you believe what Israelis show? Or the USA or any western force? Their agenda is obvious. Israel and her western allies are powerful. They manipulate everything you see."

"But really why? Why would you leave your job, your life here and put yourself in harms way to help people who were accused of helping a terrorist organization and attacking Israeli land with missiles?"

"I'm not saying that I'll go for sure. But if there'll be another ship, whether it be from Turkey or not, I want to be in it. And God willing, I'll be. These people need our help. God directs us to help them. I won't be doing this for myself, or only for their welfare; I'd be doing it for the road to "Allah".

Surely, I asked her some personal questions as well. Although they are exempt from this interview, suffice it to say that, if my subject was a representative of the flotilla passengers, it was not a humane effort, it was an Islamic one. And it happened to make a point against Israel, their perceived tool of satan against Islamic welfare.

Provocation and Retaliation

I was a fairly decent writer getting ready for bed yesterday when newswires started to inform that the Freedom Flotilla ships were approaching Gaza, next the southwest border of Israel. 6 ships allegedly full of humanitarian aid like supplies, food and daily items accompanied by human rights activists, European Parliament members and journalists.
Live broadcasts from on board the main ship carrying mostly humans and tweets of journalists on board reflected the public opinion at large: Solidarity and willfulness against the inhumane blockade by Israel on Gaza, preventing the civilians in this area from the necessities of survival. 
But behold, on the last broadcast live from the flotilla, Israeli Defense Forces started by attacking the ship by armed commandoes from boats and helicopters and started shooting at activists who refused to be taken in without a fight. As seen on the videos broadcasted by Turkish TV's Israelis answered sticks and knives with live ammunitions and killed at least 9 activists on the spot. Among which there are Turkish and Greek citizens alike. (Still unclear. As reported by June 1st 2010, 3:00 am GMT)
Independent media outlets around the world today, are calling Gaza as the Vietnam of Israel. 
However, this author sees these event from the viewpoint of two separate more important issues than politics or global world balance: 1. Human Rights and 2. Importance of social media in world events.
This event is first and foremost a twofold abuse against human rights by the state of Israel. Going even further I fully acknowledge Israeli claims that Hamas is a source for terrorism on Israeli soil. However Israel herself is playing to the Hamas hand by letting them hide behind the women and children of the strip by heightening the blockade of Gaza. There is one force and only one force that is legitimizing Hamas and that is the no-nonsense politics of a weak and incompetent government in Israel. Israeli media is questioning their competency with solid grounds as written by Reuven Pedatzur of Haaretz: "the inefficiency and the panic that overwhelmed the commandos [attacking the ships], leading to the deaths of so many, raises worrying questions about their skillfulness and operational capability". It shall be the purpose of International community to bring the issue of human rights violations by Israel against Palestinians and human rights activists in and outside of Israel to the attention of masses everywhere. This is not a simple case of attacking civilians (as it became the habit of many governments supposedly fighting against terrorist), but another attempt to move beyond its own territory to perpetrate military action assaulting basic human rights. Israel also violated freedom of speech rights by confiscating all belongings of journalists on the ships including all personal belongings with the only exception of clothing that they were wearing.

The second issue worth mentioning is the rising power of social media in forming public opinion. As soon as the IDF hit the main flotilla ship tweeters all around the world started sharing news and opinions. However @Twitter was sleeping due to time difference and later on public holiday. And their automated filters started to ignore #flotilla trending which in turn turned into wide protests against Twitter. Upon realizing the incident, @Twitter updated its filters and immediately the phrase flotilla was available for trending.
Here we have to stress the significance of freedom of speech. And punctuate the fact that no matter it promotes hate speech and extreme opinion, it is of utmost importance to keep it alive! Yesterday, people on Twitter, all around the world, following news through twits had access to information that no other media can provide: 1. Accessed opinions of people actually living the tragedy live; 2. Informed immediately of the opinions of people who did not simply think like they did.

This is no longer social media, this is modern activism: as a result of the informational surge on Twitter, many Turkish TV's were following the events by newly formed Twitter desks at their news centers, voicing many views that could never be heard before. On the other hand many people creating new twitter accounts, "broadcasted" their opinion through this revolutionary media. 
Provocation and retaliation has different meanings since yesterday. Were the attacking IDF forces provocating the activists? Or were they when they stroked the commandoes with clubs and sticks? Was is retaliation to human rights violations at Gaza when activist ships provoked IDF to find a way to stop them? We shall never decide yet. On political repercussions we need to wait until "the big boys" take action if they ever will. But locally, the actions of self-indulgent states are becoming well known thanks to the new weapons held by human rights activists. Tomorrow will bring new perspectives whether it be when Turkey acting towards Kurds or Israel against Palestinians.