Editorials against israel in Indian Newspapers

Israel stands alone- DNA India
http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/editorial_israel-stands-alone_1390772
Israel stands alone

DNA
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 2:00
India has quite rightly joined in the international condemnation of Israel’s attack on a flotilla of humanitarian aid ships on their way to the Palestinian enclave of Gaza. At least 10 people have been killed and it is feared that the death toll will be higher. The convoy was attempting to break an embargo placed on Gaza by Tel Aviv and was carrying 10,000 tonnes of supplies. Israeli commandoes rappelled down into the ships from helicopters and allegedly opened fire on the aid workers and activists on the ships.
Lately, India and Israel have moved closer together but this did not prevent the ministry of external affairs using stronger language than it has for decades. The statement read, “There can be no justification for such indiscriminate use of force, which we condemn. We extend our sympathies to the families of the dead and wounded. It is our firm conviction that lasting peace and security in the region can be achieved only through peaceful dialogue and not through use of force.”
Israel, however, seems set upon its course of using force to deal with the issue of Palestine. Its intransigence has led to it losing international support over the years. The United Nations is planning an emergency session of the Security Council to discuss the matter.
Israel stands practically isolated with regard to its Palestine policies and it now seems to depend solely on the United States to support it. The US is in the unenviable position of having to defend two of its oldest allies from the consequences of their own behaviour — the world no longer looks upon Israel and Pakistan with as much tolerance as it once did. The convoy which was largely Turkish, also included Americans, Palestinians and Europeans.
It seems that the amount of time that it has taken to deal with what is euphemistically called the “Middle east crisis” has only been detrimental to its solution. Positions have hardened over the years on both sides and violence — niggling attacks by Palestinians answered by resounding thumps by Israeli forces — has become the norm. Both sides have fallen prey politically to the radical rightwing and prospects of peace have moved away even further.
Sadly, as long as Israel behaves as if it does not belong to the comity of nations and will not therefore abide by accepted international norms, questions about its existence will become more strident. Having taken the law into its own hands with utter disregard for human life, Israel stands once more at the brink.
 
Shooting itself in the foot- Hindustan Times
 http://www.hindustantimes.com/&sg=myj+xb45xwpmgqslbrtjbgch+huadi59035xgvtle08=&tsp=1275490006545/
Strange are the ways by which the State of Israel shows its sovereignty. On Monday, as part of its policy of enforcing an economic blockade of Gaza, Israeli Defence Force (IDF) troops stormed a flotilla of civilian aid ships, killing at least ten passengers and injuring many more. These ships carrying passengers that included lawmakers, writers and journalists were planning to bring humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza who have been facing severe food and medical shortages. So even if the plan was to ‘break’ the blockade, an escorted non-entry move on the part of the IDF — rather than a full-scale commando operation — should have done the needful.
International opprobrium has ensued after the attack. But Tel Aviv has, in the past, proved its machismo to itself by shrugging off such criticism; it will do so again. Coming as this attack does a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington, Mr Netanyahu has an additional agenda, the same that he showcased when giving the go-ahead to building Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem when US Vice President Joe Biden made his trip to Israel earlier this year: to drive home the message to Washington, and thereby to the world at large, that Israel can do whatever it likes, all in the name of its sovereign right to protect itself. But what is even more astounding is the realpolitik-diplomatic disaster that Mr Netanyahu’s unleashed in his dealings with Israel’s one open ally from the Muslim world, Turkey, in Monday’s attack. The flotilla under attack was sponsored by Turkey, the bulk of fatalities being Turkish passengers. It’s well nigh impossible that the IDF was unaware of this fact. If the increasingly Islamicist Turkish government ever needed an excuse to break the alliance with Israel, it certainly has been provided one.
Since the Palestinian group Hamas won the elections in the Gaza area in south-western Israel in 2006, defeating its Fatah rivals and taking over the administration of the area the following year, Israel (and Fatah-backing Egypt) reimposed an economic blockade on Gaza that was on and off in place since 2000. The blockade’s been an unsubtle attempt to wean support away from Hamas, and yet the results have been quite the opposite. If the actions and policies of Mr Netanyahu are to be explained by his desire to ‘neutralise’ an increasingly belligerent Iran, for which he does find support among the international community, Monday’s operation has certainly swung the pendulum against Israel’s favour. All one can smell is overreach, overkill and a deepening complex in Israel’s dealings with the world in which it has no qualms leaving even its traditional allies in a sticky, embarrassingly difficult situation.
 
Eye on Gaza- IndianExpress
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/eye-on-gaza/628220/
The Indian Express Posted online: Wed Jun 02 2010, 03:00 hrs


Life hadn’t been this calm in the Middle East since the Iraq war. Yet, people have perhaps never been so pessimistic. Calm — despite the Iranian nuclear programme, the lack of a Palestine settlement, an impending transition in Egypt, Dubai possibly on the brink, the Islamist threat to Yemen, and a still unsettled Iraq. But it’s Israelis and Palestinians despairing the most. Nevertheless, the “proximity talks” appeared to have been salvaged from the controversy surrounding new constructions in East Jerusalem settlements announced at the start of US Vice President Joe Biden’s March visit, that brought US-Israel relations to a dramatic and historic low. Then, the Israel Defence Forces were authorised to rappel down to the Turkish-led flotilla reportedly carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. The aftermath: 10 civilian activists killed by the IDF in international waters, people aboard the flotilla detained at the Israeli port of Ashdod, and a very isolated Israel facing near-unanimous global condemnation, offering defences few would buy.
Israel’s blinkered intransigence of late — whether West Bank constructions or the present government’s long refusal to acknowledge the two-state roadmap, or the policy leverage of right-wing fringe parties — is doing Israel as much disservice as did the 2006 Lebanon war. Israel recently turned away all-purpose dissenter Noam Chomsky; it’s blockaded Gaza for three years hoping to topple Hamas; and now it’s shot civilian activists. What has it achieved thereby? Israel is about to lose an old ally in the Islamic world, Turkey. Another Islamic ally, Egypt, will find itself at odds with a livid public. Israel has embarrassed an US trying to resuscitate the proximity talks. It’s also ensured that the global focus shifts from its own biggest concern — Iran — to itself. The UNSC, set to discuss fresh sanctions against Iran, now had to convene over the IDF assault.
Israel’s increasing tendency to shoot itself in the foot will not help its security. Its diplomatic standing is sinking. Little wonder that some have begun wondering if Israel’s agenda has moved from “self-defence” to “defence of the Gaza blockade”. Of all possible options, Israel chose the worst vis-a-vis the flotilla. And the one party that’s gained the most from the Gaza siege is militant Hamas, which has practically legitimised its narrative in many quarters. Meanwhile, ordinary Gazans suffer and Gilad Shalit languishes in captivity.
 
Was Israeli outrage to abort peace bid? Asian Age
http://www.asianage.com/editorial/was-israeli-outrage-abort-peace-bid-957
 
In attacking in international waters the Free Gaza peace flotilla made up of ships from Turkey, Europe and the United States, Israel has consolidated its reputation for disregarding international law and opinion. As the UN Security Council sought an independent inquiry into the shocking episode in which a large number of international peace activists may have been killed and many times that number injured, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly hinted that the raid on the flotilla by Israeli commandos in international waters may have placed Israel afoul of international law. Many believe that Tel Aviv has made a career of doing just this. Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator who now researches at an American think tank, noted wryly after this predawn incident on Monday: “Israel constantly claims it wants the world to focus on Iran, but then it ends up doing something that gets everyone to focus on itself.”


For some time now, domestic politics in Israel and the ascendance in it of anti-Palestinian hawks has ensured that the US-inspired “roadmap” to peace has virtually run aground. Following the worldwide condemnation and anxiety caused by the peace flotilla incident in the Mediterranean, it is not unlikely that the Israeli ruling class’ aggressive posture will be further strengthened, marginalising even more the prospects of resumption of the long-stalled peace talks with Palestinians. Many are also likely to wonder if one of the reasons for the wholly illogical Israeli military response to ships carrying humanitarian assistance was not to scupper prospects of peace talks for a long time to come, unless they are held entirely on Israeli terms. The unexpected turn of events may be expected to upset several geopolitical calculations and inflame the Islamic world.

US President Barack Obama is likely to be placed in an especially tricky situation by the gear-shift caused by Tel Aviv’s action and its stubborn defence of an indefensible act. Mr Obama had stretched out a hand of peace to the world’s Muslims after he entered the White House, but did not follow this up with sufficient nuts-and-bolts changes in American government policy. Now his administration will be required to do more than merely express the wish to find out the circumstances that led to the tragic event. The fundamental issue is to question Israel’s blockading of Gaza, a tiny strip on the coast with a population of 1.5 million, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 war. In 2007, Israel began a maritime blockade of Gaza after Hamas — widely regarded in the West as a terrorist outfit — handsomely won the 2006 election in that Palestinian territory. The election was widely regarded as fair. British foreign secretary William Hague has called for lifting of the blockade. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has noted that Gaza’s closure was “unacceptable”. Washington cannot afford to miss the cue here and continue to leave the impression that Tel Aviv enjoys its sanction to impose a blockade on a territory it grabbed as a booty of war. It is plain to see that developments in Gaza and other occupied territories are the key to any positive movement in a peace process between Israel and Palestine, no matter who initiates it. Israel has sought to justify its attack on the peace ships by underlining that its blockade of Gaza is legal. It is unclear where it got this impression, but the assumption is now being questioned with greater vigour than before. India has so much to do with West Asia, but its policies for the region are grounded in uncertainties and opportunism. New Delhi has expressed regret over the loss of lives and Israel’s use of disproportionate force on peace vessels, but it did not raise the basic question about Gaza.