 Outside our 5th floor window, thewhite cruise ship with the huge red star and crescent flag in the nearby Bosphorus Strait loomed over Sirkeci Station. Inthe week I’d lived here, I was used to seeing ferry boats docking, but anyvessel this big was usually across the Golden Hornat the larger Karakoy docks. For quite some time that afternoon as I worked inour apartment, I could hear various people on a sound system, occasional musicand organized chants. Helicopters circled overhead. I was just far enough awaynot to really hear what was said, but by the sounds of it, the mood wasfestive, with a more than a ting of expectancy. This could not be a normalholiday sendoff, but I was too tired to leave my ivory tower to check it out.Eventually, to fireworks and the Turkish national anthem, the ship left harbor. Later when Abit came home from work, heturned on the news. “What was that event at Sarayburnu Port?”I asked, pointing out the window toward where the ship had been. “Oh, that wasthe Mavi Marmara. It’s full of people taking aid to Gaza.” And there it was, on TV.
I’d been proud of Prime Minister Erdogan’sefforts to speak for the majority of his Turkish citizens, to focus the world’sattention on the 2008 military operation against Gaza and later the UN-outlawed blockade.Erdogan became a national hero when he had the guts to speak his mind and walkout at Davos.Perhaps he lacked a certain diplomatic polish, so passionately and publicly cursingShimon Peres like he did, but I admire a politician who’s not afraid to speakhis mind to the world. Turkeymay have been Israel’sclosest ally in this fractured neighborhood both countries live in, but being areal friend means telling that ally when they’ve done something wrong.
I remember thinking, “What brave people onthat ship – I hope nothing happens to them.”
Then I completely forgot about the MaviMarmara, the aid workers and the Gazans, until this past Tuesday afternoon.Caught up in our new Istanbullife (and a problematic wireless connection), I was oblivious to events untilthen.
I now wish I’d had enough curiosity to walkthe short distance to the Bosphorus shore. If I’d known what the rally was about, would Ihave felt comfortable mingling with the crowd? Just as I wish I’d had enough courageto walk the 20 minutes west to the Fatih Cami on Thursday, where huge crowdsheld a service for the nine Turkish men, ages 19 to 61, murdered on the Mavi Marmara,their plain wooden coffins draped with the red star and crescent flags that hadgraced the side of the cruise ship. One crowd, jubilant, yet with fullknowledge that they may never return. The other, in deep mourning and askinghow in God’s name another country believed they had the right to kill as they did.How would either crowd have felt to have this American woman in their midst?
I don’t have the guts to put myself inharm’s way, even though I know that one person can make a difference. I stillperhaps naively believe that dialogue, elections and leaders can bring aboutchange their citizens want, but this year that belief has been sorely tested. Iwish President Obama had Erdogan’s audacity. Obama needs to speak the truthabout the United States’dysfunctional relationship with Israel.
I have no ties to Israel, only good memories of design tripsthere, the same itineraries taking me to Istanbuland Tel Aviv before heading east to Hong Kong.I have no ties to the Palestinians, yet have had my view of the conflictcompletely changed by living in Turkeyand hearing their side – a perspective sadly missing from the American MSM. Israel all too frequently calls itself “the onlydemocracy in the Middle East”. They are not. BecauseI too live in the neighborhood, what happens between my two countries with Israel and thePalestinians matters greatly to me.
These past days the opinions I’ve read onlinemade my head reel. The television coverage here has been comprehensive; theinterviews with the survivors riveting. There is hand-wringing, flag-waving andplenty of emotion; in all my years here, I’ve never heard “Allahu akbar”chanted in Turkeyas much as this week. If the West is worried about Turkeybecoming increasingly Islamist, Israel’sactions added fuel to that fire.
But Turks are talking about this from allsides, and as I’ve seen happen before with big issues (like whether to grantpermission to the US to use Turkey asaccess from the north in the buildup to the Iraq War), truly taking the time todeliberate what the country’s reaction should be. One late-night news debate hada closing song over images of the injured returning to Istanbul: Sting’s Desert Rose, with the haunting vocals of Cheb Mami. One tellinglyric: “These dreams are tied to a horse that will never tire.” I could notthink of a better way to sum up the will and strength of the Turkish people.
Yes, Turkeyhas much in common with Israelbesides democracy and military partnership. Turkey has treated its minoritypopulations with the same paranoia, fear and violence. True, those minoritieshave also used violence in attempts to make themselves heard. In fact, the PKKattacked and killed 6 Turkish solders in Iskenderunthe same day as the ‘flotilla fiasco’. At least one of the solders killed wasKurdish. Nothing is black and white in this part of the world.
31st May 2010 will be a day longremembered here for more senseless deaths in this troubled neighborhood. “Aneye for an eye leaves the whole world blind”, Gandhi said. Will blindness inthis region prevail? Or will we someday be able to mark this week as the one inwhich we all truly began to take seriously the words “Never again?”
What Israeldid Monday was wrong, just as Turkey’spast actions have been wrong. The difference between the two countries is that Turkey has hadthe courage to start looking at its history, to open public dialogues, and to makereal change.
Israel and the US– do you?
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I wish we would stop funding Israel. That might make the "playing fields" more even. It's all just horrible. I think about all the kids that are growing up in such terrible conflict- Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and even in our own streets. Guns everywhere. Life is meaningless to many of them. How can they grow up into functional adults with "normal" life expectations? Yet, somehow some do.
When I was a teenager, I read everything I could about the holocaust and lots of Jewish authors. Now, I feel that Israel is doing the same thing the Nazis did to them. Palestinians have been by no means sheep led to the slaughter, yet they have been slaughtered. The irony, to me, is that they are all "cousins", tied to the land historically. I long for the day when they become "kissing cousins".
Thank you for your bravery, Catherine. This is such an important local perspective, and speaks to a huge rupture that has taken place in the Middle East. With Turkey further reconsidering their alleigance with Israel, I fear that Israel will be even more on the offensive than they are now. The USA and Israel do need to really look at themselves and their actions, the repercussions of bad decisions. Such a sad and strange time in the world.
Thank you for speaking out, Catherine. I stand with you.
Love,
Sezin
Appreciate your comments! 'Rayela' – your cousin correlation is exactly right. As an outsider, I can see the strong family ties between the cultures here perhaps more than those who grew up in this region, taught to not trust those 'cousins'. But within a big dysfunctional family, disagreements cut closer to the heart and take on exaggerated importance.
Sezin, I will be following Turkish news with great interest to see what direction they decide to take. Hopefully cool heads will prevail – anger will provoke action, but let's pray it is rational. I trust it will be. As for the US, I know Obama has given some interviews I have not seen, so off to do that now. Would love to see your amazing commentary on this tragedy in print somewhere soon – courage, my dear!
Very well done, Catherine. And rest assured, I think here in America, people are opening their eyes to the whole Israel/Palestinian thing.
Thank you Kim – I hope and pray you are right!
Dear Catherine, Thank you for posting your first person account and for your bravery to voice your thoughts. I'm thankful to Anastasia for pointing at the OpEd article by Michael Chabon in the N.Y.Times I second all he writes. And I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one. Just this Friday evening I was at a Sabbath gathering of "critical" Jews led in discussion of this matter by Lawrence Bush. I felt and feel relief their thoughts and mine run along the same lines as Chabon's.
Thank you Judith! Great to hear about your gathering. I have to believe there are many who think like you and I do, and we have to speak out in the hope of changing someone's mind and making a difference somehow.