A view of the march in Istanbul in solidarity with Palestine and condemnation of Israel for civilian deaths. In the front row was former Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu (third from right), flanked by President Erdoğan’s son Bilal Erdoğan and former Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop. The “Zionist organization” expression on the banner is in reference to Erdoğan’s criticism of Israel for “not acting like a state but like an organization.” (Photo: AA)
On Saturday, October 14th, marches for solidarity with Palestinian people and condemning Israel for civilian deaths took place in Istanbul (and many cities in Türkiye), as they did in many cities worldwide. It was the 7th day of the bloody clashes that began with the October 7 attack by Hamas upon Israel. Crowds of tens of thousands marched with Palestinian and Turkish flags from the entrance of Istanbul University in Beyazıt to the Hagia Sophia Mosque 3.5 kilometers away.
Türkiye has witnessed much larger and more exciting Palestine solidarity marches, to be frank. This time, despite the presence of prominent AK Party faces at the front of the march, the reason for the difference in participation and excitement is that neither the sympathy for the Palestinian people nor the reaction to the killing of civilians in Israeli military operations over the years has diminished. This time the whole world is aware that it is facing a completely different situation.
Most people in Türkiye – of all political persuasions – who feel solidarity with the Palestinian people realize that Palestine is not just about Hamas and that embracing Hamas’s actions does more harm to the Palestinian people. On the other hand, there is also a concern that directly blaming Hamas, when it is known that Hamas also killed Israeli civilians in the October 7 attack, will be used by the Zionist right-wing aggression in Israel and the mainstream Western media to target the entire Palestinian people.
Durting his live interview with the BBC, Palestinian representative in London, Husam Zomot, despite his description of Hamas as a “militant organization” and a political rival of Hamas, refused to condemn it on the grounds that this does not legitimize the Israeli state’s killing of Palestinian civilians, was a clear example of this. In France, the populist-leftist leader Jean-Luc Melenchon refused to condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization for the same reasons and thus sparked a serious debate in his country.
Last week in the US, a group of students at the University of California (UCLA) was also accused of being Hamas supporters for chanting “intifada” in Arabic, meaning “uprise” during a demonstration in solidarity with Palestine. Columbia University in New York reportedly closed its campus to avoid demonstrations pro and against Israel.
Likewise, there is a difference between opposing the Israeli government’s indiscriminate attacks claiming the lives of civilians, and the siege of Palestinians in their own land, and opposing the right of Israelis to live in their own land.
There is also a huge difference between opposing the right-wing Zionist aggression in Israel, currently represented by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and supported by marginal Jewish Sharia and racist parties, and opposing anti-Semitism and racial and ethnic discrimination. This is akin to the growing Islamophobic politics in the West, where all Muslims are equated with ISIS or al-Qaeda terrorism.
Immediately after the Hamas attack, the mainstream and influential Haaretz newspaper ran headlines and commentaries blaming Netanyahu’s aggressive and reckless policies for this catastrophe. MP Ofer Cassif, a member of the leftist Hadash coalition in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, blamed the Netanyahu government’s policy of occupation of the Palestinian territories for the disaster. (Neither Haaretz nor Cassif has been prosecuted. I leave it to you to answer the question “What would have happened in Türkiye?”)
Iran is now the most important supporter of Hamas. The Iranian Shiite and Hamas Sunni opposition is united on the grounds of Israel’s right to exist and, in fact, anti-Semitism. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has said that if the Israeli operations continue, they might activate Hezbollah in Lebanon. Of course, we should not forget that if transnational terrorist movements are activated globally, anti-Muslim sentiment in the Western world will rise in response.
We should also keep in mind that Hamas, currently under siege, will eventually run out of ammunition, as well as entire Gaza population will run out of water, food, and medicine. This seems to be one of the reasons why Israel is postponing the ground operation. This is partly why Hamas wants to prevent civilians from leaving Gaza.
From day one, the US has thrown its heavy support to right-wing Zionist aggression in Israel. US President Joe Biden is sending a second flotilla of aircraft carriers to the Eastern Mediterranean. So many weapons are too much for Gaza and too much for Hamas. If it is for Iran, the US must consider the possible reactions of Russia and China before throwing the region into a full-scale war.
Russia is glad that attention has been diverted from the war in Ukraine. While those who think that Russia, preoccupied with Ukraine, will not go to war for Palestine are right in a way, it should also be seen that Russia will not want to give up Syria, its foothold in the Middle East.
Türkiye, Russia, and Iran are in contact through the “Astana Process” in Syria. Türkiye’s number one security concern now is the US-backed presence of the outlawed PKK and its affiliates in Syria, which has caused serious tensions with the US.
On the other hand, Türkiye wants the war in Gaza to end as soon as possible before it spreads to the region and Türkiye is forced to intervene. There are political, humanitarian, and economic reasons for that. As the war drags on, oil prices and the deterioration of the investment climate will make it harder to get out of the economic crisis.
In the Palestinian crisis, as in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Ankara is taking a balanced stance, trying to keep its nerves in check as much as domestic politics will allow. Erdoğan is taking it out on the US, at least rhetorically. Perhaps it is more politically expedient to put the US administration behind him rather than targeting Israel alone, which could easily incite anti-Semitism.
Knock on wood, not to see things getting worse.
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