By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ANKARA, Turkey–After its disgust and continued severing of ties with Israel, Turkey has formally declared that it will apply sometime next week for an investigation by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). This application arises over concerns that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is illegal. In addition, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed, through Turkish state-run television, his nation’s support for efforts to win recognition for a Palestinian state through the United Nations.

“All military agreements have been suspended. Our aim here is not to hurt the historical friendship between Turkey and Israel, but, on the contrary, to redirect the current Israeli government as to correct a mistake that does not correspond with their exceptional friendship.”

On 02 September, Turkey continued to separate itself from Israel by ejecting Israel’s ambassador, Gabby Levy, and freezing military agreements with Israel. This separation comes after a UN report detailed the killing of nine individuals, eight Turks and one American of Turkish-descent, during an Israel raid on a Gaza-bound ship nearly 16 months ago.

The Israeli navy intercepted Mavi Marmara, the Turkish-flagged ship, in international waters as it was trying to reach Gaza’s coast on 31 May 2010. The nine individuals who lost their lives were reportedly pro-Palestinian activists. The deaths of these nine individuals did not elicit an apology from Israel in any fashion.

Israeli military officials reported that its commandos fired live rounds only after being attacked with the likes of clubs, knives, and guns. But activists on board Mavi Marmara said that the commandos started firing from the moment that they hit the deck.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has held the position since the incident that his country has nothing to apologize for, although expressed “regret for the loss of life.” He shared these sentiments about the developing situation.

“They were not ready for a compromise and kept raising the threshold. I think we need to stay to the Turks: as far as we are concerned, this saga is behind is. Now we need to cooperate. Lack of cooperation harms not only us, but Turkey as well.”

The UN Secretary-General has urged Turkey and Israel to improve their diplomatic ties and that both sides should accept the recommendations of the UN report. Turkey has continually held the position that Israel should end its blockade of Palestinians residing inside Gaza.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe prepared the UN report. But Turkish Foreign Minster Davutoglu made the point that the report had not been endorsed by the UN and consequently, was not binding. Thus, Turkey is in pursuit of the ICJ.

“What is binding is the ICJ. This is what we are saying: let the ICJ decide.”

The UN report detailed that Israel’s decision to board the vessels “with such substantial force at a great disctance from the blockade zone and with no final warning immediately prior to boarding was excessive and unreasonable.”  The report came to the conclusion that the Israeli blockade was a “legitimate security measure in order to prevent the entering of weapons into Gaza by sea.”

Turkish Foreign Prime Minister Davutoglu firmly disagreed with this conclusion and noted that it directly contradicted the UN Human Rights Council’s findings. Also, Turkish officials have declared that they will pursue criminal charges against Israeli officials responsible for the killings.

“We will start the application process to the International Court of Justice within the next week, for an investigation into what the Gaza blockade really is.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had strong words regarding the situation.

“We do not need to apologize that the naval commandos defended themselves against the violent activists. I hope a way can be found to overcome the dispute with Turkey. Israel never wanted its relations with Turkey to deteriorate and now too Israel is not interested in a deterioration in relations. But as well as this I repeat: The state of Israel expresses regret at the loss of life.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, revered in the much of the Muslim world for lionizing the Palestinian plight, is expected to take a trip to Egypt later this month that could further increase tensions with Israel. There is widespread speculation that Erdogan will travel to Gaza through Egypt’s Rafah border crossing as a political statement.

Foreign Minister Davutoglu issued a warning that the dormant democratic forces awakened by popular unrest in the Middle East would certainly fester hostility towards Israel unless it changed its policies.

“Israel has to make a choice; the Arab Spring will bring about a significant enmity against Israel it if fails to change its attitude regarding regional issues.”

It is evident that Turkey’s solicitation of the International Court of Justice may have regional consequences that reverberate much further than its current disagreement with Israel.

For more information, please see:

CNN-Netanyahu: Israel won’t back down in Turkey confrontation-04 September 2011

The Guardian-Israel and Turkey: sailing into choppy waters-04 September 2011

Reuters-Israel’s Netanyahu says won’t apologize to Turkey-04 September 2011

Al-Jazeera-Turkey to take Israel to ICJ-03 September 2011

BBC-Gaza flotilla: Turkey to take Israel to UN court-03 September 2011

NYT-Turkey Expels Israeli Envoy in Dispute Over Raid-02 September 2011

By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEL AVIV, Israel — A recently published cache of documents released by WikiLeaks has revealed new insights into Israel’s political and diplomatic relations.  The documents cover sensitive topics ranging from information about U.S. citizens living in the West Bank settlements to Israel’s difficulty in dealing with non-violent protests in the West Bank.  Perhaps the most damaging information however is not even from a specific document but the new revelations into the relationship of Israel and America, and their intents and attitudes towards the Palestinians.

While knowledge of the two countries’ close relationship is not really a secret, the candor of the documents is something not normally seen by outside eyes.

A document from a 2006 meeting between the U.S. ambassador and the Israeli foreign minister notes that the model for a secure Israel is to keep the Israeli Jews and the Israeli Arabs segregated.  The Israeli foreign minister warns that in two years “Hamas will take over” the Israeli Arab population, and that the only reason why Israeli Arabs wish to remain in Israel is to receive the social benefits. When discussing the possibility of a two state solution the foreign minister advocates more “creative” thinking, including the “transferring” of more Palestinians out of Israel.  The U.S. ambassador gives no response either positive or negative to the idea.

Another group of more recent documents reveals that U.S. officials have been well aware of Israel’s harsh methods of dealing with peaceful protests in the West Bank for a long time.  A February 2010 cable sent to the U.S. ambassador reveals a premeditated effort to use force against such protesters.   In the cable, the U.S. ambassador notes that government officials consider any such rally as grounds for the use of military force.  At a later meeting, Israel informs the U.S. of it’s intention to use “dirty water” to break up protests even if they are non-violent.  “Dirty water is a reference to the IDF’s chemically treated water that duplicates the effects of skunk spray,” reveals a leaked U.S. cable.  In the same document, Amos Gilad, Israel’s director of policy and political military affairs, is quoted as saying, “we don’t do Gandhi very well.”

The scrutiny given to the WikiLeaks release will likely also be stoked by the U.S.’s announcement that it wishes the Palestinians to delay their bid for statehood at the United Nations General Assembly later this month.  The U.S. wants the Palestinians to return to peace talks with Israel so that both entities can be satisfied.

The current plan, based on a broad vision laid out by U.S. president Barack Obama in May, seems to have the favor of Israel, but the Palestinian position remains unclear.  There have been some signs that Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, would forego the UN vote in favor of real talks, but senior Palestinian official Nabil Shaath, dismissed the proposal as inadequate and said a vote would go ahead regardless.  Other Palestinian officials have said that they will not be deterred by the U.S. from seeking UN membership, and that “all [their] papers are ready.”

Currently, the Palestinians expect “more than 150” of the 192 UN member nations to back their bid, but this is still short of the required number needed.

The U.S. has veto power in the Security Council, whose approval is necessary to gain full recognition.  Even with a veto from the U.S. the Palestinians should have enough votes in the general assembly to change their status from a nonvoting entity to a nonvoting observer state.  This status change would allow them to join a number of international committees, and it could strengthen their ability to bring cases against Israel at the International Criminal Court.

A deep concern for many is the effect that an American Security Council veto will have on American-Middle East relations.  Ghaith al-Omari, a former Palestinian negotiator who is now the executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine in Washington, warns “an American veto could inflame emotions and bring anti-American sentiment to the forefront across the [Middle East].”

There is also a “powerful argument…that this will provoke a Palestinian awakening…there will be new violence…and we’ll be blamed,” said Martin S. Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel.

The prospect of new violence taken together with the WikiLeaks revelations of how Israel plans to crack down on future protests casts a somber importance on the diplomatic discussions between the U.S., Israel, and the Palestinians leading up the UN vote.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Palestinian statehood bid ‘papers ready’ — 4 Sept 2011

Al Jazeera — US cable tells of Israel’s ‘harsh measures’ — 4 Sept 2011

Bloomberg — Palestinians Expect 140 Nations to Back Bid — 4 Sept 2011

NY Times — U.S. Is Appealing to Palestinians to Stall U.N. Vote — 3 Sept 2011

Y Net News — WikiLeaks: Israel irked by West Bank protests — 3 Sept 2011

Mondoweiss — WikiLeaks: In ’06, Lieberman told US ambassador of need to transfer Palestinians from Israel – and US says nothing — 25 Aug 2011

Salon — WikiLeaks’ revealing information about U.S. citizens living in West Bank — 24 Aug 2011

By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A diplomatic cable recently made public by WikiLeaks provides evidence that U.S. troops executed at least 10 Iraqi civilians, including a woman in her 70s and a 5-month old infant, before calling in an airstrike to destroy the evidence.  This incident took place in 2006 in Iraq’s central city of Ishaqi.

The cable contains questions posed by a United Nations (U.N.) investigator about the incident after local Iraqi officials, who were angered by the soldier’s actions, demanded some sort of a remedial response.  The official U.S. response at the time was to deny that anything out of the ordinary had occurred.

In 2006, at the time of the incident, Ishaqi, about 80 miles from Baghdad, and not too far from Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, was considered extremely dangerous.  All roads in the area had been classified as “black,” meaning that there was a high probability they were booby-trapped with bombs.

The original report of the incident put the fault on an intense battle with an Iraqi Al Qaeda suspect that resulted in the complete decimation of the house he was hiding in, and the death of all of its inhabitants.

Townspeople denied this explanation, claiming instead that the soldiers had executed the 11 people living in the house, but military officials said that other accounts of the incident were highly unlikely to be true, and that they didn’t warrant further investigation.

Philip Alston, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, sent the cable to Condoleeza Rice, then Secretary of State, 12 days after the incident took place.  He had a different view of how the events unfolded.  Most disconcerting was his revelation that the autopsies performed on the dead from the incident revealed that they had been handcuffed and shot in the head.  Among the dead were four women and five children, all of which were 5 years old or younger.

Alston’s version of the events is as follows:  The troops approached a house belonging to a local farmer, and were met with gunfire lasting about 25 minutes.  After the firefight ended “troops entered the house, handcuffed all residents and executed all of them.” After the initial ground operation was completed a U.S. air raid occurred that destroyed the house.  “Iraqi TV stations broadcast from the scene and showed bodies of the victims.”

When questioned in an interview on Wednesday after the cable became public knowledge, Alston said that as of 2010 the U.S. officials still hadn’t responded to his requests for more information. He further said that such inaction and lack of response “was the case with most of the letters to the U.S. in the 2006-2007 period” of the Iraq war.

“The tragedy,” he continued, “is that this elaborate system of communications is in place but the (U.N.) Human Rights Council does nothing to follow up when states ignore issues raised with them.”

The newly leaked cable seems to vindicate the townspeople’s claims, and creates a lot of questions for both the military and Washington.  While civilian casualties are sadly a common occurrence during raid operations the killings described in the cable would clearly constitute a war crime.

Not surprisingly, the Pentagon hasn’t responded to any requests for comments on the incident, or the leak.

For more information, please see:

Daily Mirror — WikiLeaks reveals Atrocities by U.S. forces — 1 Sept 2011

Digital Journal — WikiLeaks cable says Iraqi children shot in head during U.S. raid — 1 Sept 2011

Huffington Post — WikiLeaks: U.S. Troops Executed Iraqi Children in 2006 Raid, According to U.N. Sources — 1 Sept 2011

International Business Times — WikiLeaks Cable Release: New Evidence that U.S. Troops May Have Massacred Iraqi Civilians — 1 Sept 2011

McClatchy — WikiLeaks: Iraqi children in U.S. raid shot in head, U.N. says — 31 Aug 2011