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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Tension in West Asia

The tension once again marred the peace in the region when Israeli, code named Operation Sea Breeze or Operation Sky Winds, intercepted the six ships Gaza Freedom Flotilla carrying some 10,000 tons of aid for the isolated seaside territory. Activists aboard the flotilla’s largest ship, the MV Mavi Marmara, clashed with Israeli Shayetet 13 Special Forces as the commandos abseiled onto the deck of the vessel. Nine IHH activists were killed by the Israeli troops and seized 682 persons. The flotilla, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH) was carrying humanitarian aid. IHH is a Turkish NGO established in 1992 and officially registered in Istanbul since 1995.
The Gaza area has been blockaded by Israel for three years. The Israeli government had urged the flotilla not to try to breach the blockade before the ships set sail from waters off Cyprus and offered to take some aid in for them. The Gaza Strip has land borders with Israel and Egypt, and a sea border on the Mediterranean. Egypt and Israel largely keep their borders with the territory sealed. After the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Israel tightened the blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel argues that the blockade is necessary to limit Palestinian rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on its cities and to prevent Hamas from obtaining other weapons. This act of Israel has been condemned by most the nations of the world. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to abruptly cancel his planned meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington to rush home. Israel established the inquiry after a widespread international condemnation against the raid, but rejected a United Nations proposal for an international probe. Israel has named its own threemember “Independent Public Commission”, all of them Israelis, along with two international “observers”, Lord David Trimble, a Nobel Peace laureate from Ireland, and Brigadier General Ken Watkin, a former judge advocate general of the Canadian military forces. The military investigation, headed by retired Major-General Giora Eiland, is examining the operational aspects of the takeover of the flotilla. An internal Israeli military investigation into the takeover of an aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip has revealed flaws in operation planning, and in the way naval commandos were used to seize the ships and criticised the faulty pre-raid intelligence.
Implications:
1. The global reaction appeared likely to increase pressure to end the embargo that has plunged Gaza’s 1.5 million residents deeper into poverty. As a result of this the key regional ally Turkey withdrew its ambassador, the U.N. Security Council held an emergency session, the British foreign secretary demanded an end to the blockade of Gaza, and Jordan called Israel’s raid a “heinous crime. Britain has said that Israel’s restrictions on access to Gaza must be lifted in line with Security Council Resolution 1860.
2. Obama voiced “deep regret,” over the raids. Clinton has said that ultimately, the solution to this conflict must be found through an agreement based on a two-state solution negotiated between the parties.
3. Russia has said that Israel’s deadly raid on an aid flotilla for Gaza was a tragedy that demands detailed investigation and must not be repeated.
Israeli contention and action: Those who are attacked in the raids are part of the IHH, which is a radical Turkish Islamist organization which has been investigated by Western governments and by the Turkish government itself in the past for their links with terrorist organizations. On the directions of UN, Israel has released the 620 of the 682 detainees and deporting them back to their countries.
Overall impact: It is a sad event in the light building peace in the region. The tension in West Asia is bound to escalate and the peace process is going to be adversely affected. The concerned powers must realize that without sacrifice of pieces CURRENT INTERNATIONAL of land, the peace cannot be restored back in the region and if instability continues then the whole purpose of life is over. The policy of appeasement must be analyzed under this background. It is not going to yield any major results and a peaceful solution to such an intricate problem is bound to be found beyond the pale of policy of appeasement, and alignment and realignment.

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