The brutal attack by Israel over the Turkish freedom flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza was condemned all over the world. Bending to world pressure Israel agreed to set up an “Independent Public Commission” to enquire into the incident that took place and was broadcasted on TV channels. At the same time Israel has been rejecting the demand for an international enquiry commission.
The self-appointed commission of Israel comprises two foreign observes: Noble Peace Prize laureate William David Trimble from Northern Ireland and former brigadier-General Ken Watkin of Canada. Secretary General of United Nations Ban Ki-moon has stated that the appointment of only two foreign observers will not get international trust. Turkey, the country that suffered the largest number of casualties in the attack, and Palestine have rejected the Israel-appointed commission. According to Turkey, if Israel can attack in a place which is not in its jurisdiction, it can never ever conduct an unbiased probe.
Ban Ki-moon has called for the formation of an international commission for the investigation in the attack.
On the flotilla of seven ships that was targeted by Israel besides humanitarian goods, there were as many as 700 unarmed peace activists, law-makers, film-makers, politicians, journalist and intellectuals. Showing ‘zero-tolerance’ towards even to the humanitarian aid workers from Turkey, Australia, France, Morocco, Algeria, the US and many other countries Israeli army attacked them in an area where Israel does not have any sovereign claim. It violated the international boundaries and once again showed that it is beyond the international laws which protect human lives.
It is a tragedy that enquiries are needed even in what are self-evident. Everyone including America which believes in “Israel-can’t-be-wrong-and-do-no-wrong” knows that activists on the flotilla instead of weapons were taking necessary articles for the helpless Palestinians living on meagre UN aids. Their crime, in the eyes of Israel, was that they had dared to feed the 15 lakh Palestinians struggling for survival in the Gaza Prison. Israel does not consider those Palestinians as humans and has kept them under blockage for almost three years not allowing sufficient food being supplied to them.
The attack on the flotilla is not, of course, the first aggression by Israel controlled by Zionist terrorists. The world community which easily sanctions ban after ban on Iran for its “peaceful” (former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mr Mohammad ElBaradei had clarified the nature of Iran’s nuclear program as peaceful.) nuclear program, has no interest or courage to boycott Israel which is not ready to abide by any international law.
It is quite evident that the sanctions are passed only against the countries that apparently do not abide by the diktat of the United States. North Korea, Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and Iraq under Saddam Husain’s rule and of course currently Iran.
The United Nations Security Council recently levelled its fourth round of sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program. Only two, non-permanent council members Turkey and Brazil, out of the 15 nations on the Council opposed the measure while Lebanon abstained from voting.
President Barack Obama said termed it the “toughest sanctions ever faced by the Iranian government.” The sanctions among other things are against military purchases, trade and financial transactions carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps which is believed to control the nuclear program of Iran. Another aspect of the sanctions bars all countries from allowing Iran to invest in their nuclear enrichment plants, uranium mines and other nuclear-related technology.
At the same time, United Nations is unable to pass sanctions against Israel whose nuclear arms deals with Africa have been recently disclosed. Why does America not feel in Israel a potential threat to world peace? The murder of peace activists by Israel proves that it never wants peace to prevail in the Middle East and in the world at large.
The demand by General Ban Ki-moon for the formation of an international commission to probe the flotilla attack is welcome. However, it is depressing to see that the UN Secretary General is raising a feeble voice of demand. He is supposed to take initiative without caring whether Israel allows it or not. Anyway, whatever may the case be, the result should be the formation of an international commission at earliest.
But what is the guarantee that Israel will accept the findings. And if it accepts that it has done a wrong by killing peace activists by calling them terrorists, the damage has already been done. Dead activists cannot be brought alive. World community must be united to ensure that Israel stops all these brutalities.
They can come together against Iran which never is behaving the way Israel is doing, why does the same international community not come forward against Israel? United Nations is expected to take practical initiative in this regard. What will be the use of UN if it is not able to check any country from tyranny of the other?
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