When Israeli leaders sent their commandos to attack the activists aboard boats in the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla in international waters, they intended to kill them. If they had wanted to seize the flotilla, carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, and take the boats to Ashdod in Israel, they would have equipped their soldiers with tear gas and rubber bullets, given that the activists were civilian and unarmed. The question then is: Why did they commit those murders? In fact, the history of Israel relates that its leaders have acted and reacted like terrorists since its creation. They range from the Deir Yassin massacre in Palestine and the Lavon scandal in Cairo to the killing of the Egyptian prisoners of war to the recent Al-Mabhouh assassination in Dubai and the murderous assault on the flotilla of international activists. They did not hesitate also to kill their allies, as happened when the US spy ship Liberty was bombed intentionally by Israeli warplanes during the June 1967 War. Therefore, it is not strange that they kill Turkish citizens or seize an international flotilla containing Turkish boats, although Turkey has strategic relations with Israel. The Israeli leaders think and believe they can escape with any crime. They succeeded in the past, thanks to the American support and the US turning a blind eye to their inhuman violations. However, the Americans are increasingly coming to the conclusion that Israel has become the main stumbling block to achieving their strategic aims. Despite this inference, the Israeli leaders are behaving more unwisely and violently in dealing with any crisis, as happens when a leader is fighting a losing war or cannot achieve strategic goals. Israel's strategic goal was creating a state from the Euphrates to the Nile. Because of many geopolitical and demographic changes, and losing the 1973 War, the Israeli leaders discovered that their dream could not be achieved. Some Israeli politicians became convinced that the only way for Israel to survive is for the Palestinian people to have a state. Others on the right wing, especially those who came from the former Soviet Union, wanted to steal more land from the Palestinians to build settlements. It was as if Palestinians had to pay with their own lands as compensation for Jewish suffering and also for any sins of dictatorship from Hitler to Communists. These immigrants empowered the right wing at a time that its ideology had become invalid, rhetoricians being the most violent persons. Politicians in Israel now just make alliances to stay in cabinet. The more violent the politicians, the more votes they gain. What was the aim of the Israeli politicians when their commandos attacked the flotilla? First of all, they did not want to end the crisis peacefully. They intended to kill the activists and they wanted to embarrass Turkey. In other words, they wanted to put a ceiling on Turkish ambitions in the region. Their second aim was to block the Israeli-Syrian negotiations that were brokered by Turkey. In other words, they wanted to tell the Turkish politicians that you should be a friend of Israel to have a role in the Middle East, or Israel will reject this role that may add weight to the Arabs. The Israelis know that they cannot delete three heavyweight countries in the region ��" Egypt, Turkey and Iran. They can block one of them for a while but geopolitics dictate facts. Turkey approached Iran and brokered a deal that may help to end the nuclear crisis if not now then in the future. Turkey has strategic relations with Egypt. Egypt supports Iran's rights to use the nuclear energy for civil purposes. It opposes military actions against the Persian state. However, Egypt is against Iranian ambitions in the Gulf and Iraq. There are serious contacts between Egypt and Syria, and even their trade agreements are looking up. A compromise between these four states while Israel is negotiating with Palestinians means that Israel will be cornered and facing a united Palestinian front. Another question presents itself prompted by the presence of the Israeli Prime Minister in the White House on the day Israel attacked the flotilla. Did the Americans approve the military action against peace activists? The US response was weak and it did not take the side of France and Britain who asked for an international committee to investigate the crime. Did the Americans want to punish Turkey because it allied itself to Brazil to strike a deal with Iran that angered them? In other words, did the Americans tell the Turks that Washington should approve the extent of your role in the region? As US Vice-President Joe Biden came to Cairo to discuss new ways to deal with Gaza economically and politically and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that conditions in Gaza were unsustainable, the Palestinians have to invest in this and should agree and stand united. France proposed that the European Union should control humanitarian ships to Gaza. Hamas and Fatah should strike a deal now. Arabs and Turks should drag Israelis to courts in all capitals of the world. The Americans must realise that they will never have good relations with the Islamic world as long as they allow Israel to kill civilians using American weapons with impunity, exploiting the American veto.
