Aylık arşivler: Mayıs 2024

Israel’s Time of Troubles

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May 27, 2024

The Hamas onslaught of October 7 has been described by many as a “shock” for Israel. In terms of its violence, indeed it was a shock, but considering the misery, subjugation, and deprivation in Gaza, next to one of the world’s most prosperous and advanced countries, and growing international apathy toward the Palestinian question, a local outburst was only to be expected. Recently, Professor John Mearsheimer, a prominent critic of US foreign policy, called the situation in Gaza, “apartheid”.[i] And no wonder that the case against Israel was brought to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by South Africa whose President Cyril Ramaphosa said that as a people who once tasted the bitter fruits of dispossession, discrimination, racism, and state-sponsored violence, they are clear that they will stand on the right side of history.

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Growing Concerns Over Israel’s Rafah Offensive

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May 20, 2022

Until yesterday, international attention was focused on the pending Israeli offensive on Rafah and the domestic political challenges facing Prime Minister Netanyahu. On Sunday, however,  Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials died in a helicopter crash on their way back home from Azerbaijan. How this tragedy would impact the extremely complicated Middle East picture remains to be seen.

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“Yumuşama” in Türkiye

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May 13, 2024

During the past two weeks, the word “yumuşama” was widely used to describe “political change” in Türkiye. Though I know what some matching words are in English, I nonetheless looked up in the dictionary for alternatives. Among those were “moderation”, “softening”, “mellowing”, “relentment”, and “détente”. Being a retired diplomat, I was tempted at first to go inadvertently for “détente”. Inadvertently because the “policy of détente” refers to the time in the 1960s-1970s when the two superpowers, the USSR and the US eased tension and tried to cooperate to avoid conflict. It was a process.

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What After the Rafah Offensive?

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May 6, 2024

The UAE was the first Arab country to sign the Abraham Accords in 2020 normalizing relations with Israel. Later Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco followed suit. Washington then started encouraging Saudi Arabia to join the group. In July 2022,  Riyadh announced that it would open its airspace to all airlines, paving the way for more overflights to and from Israel. The normalization of Israel-Saudi Arabia relations appeared close. What led these countries to seek better relations with Israel was their desire to benefit from its advanced technological achievements in multiple fields and broaden the front against Iran and its Axis of Resistance. After all, Islamic solidarity is a myth, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is a non-entity. Nonetheless, while signing the Accords they did not fail to pay lip service to the Palestinian cause. In reality, the question of Palestine was swept under the carpet for dynastic/national interest.

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