Beyond Savagery

There is no justification for the savage act committed by the Israeli army against the flotilla with humanitarian aid on its way to the Gaza Strip. This was an act of corsairs — pirates in the service of a government, in the strictest sense of the word — not interested in gold coins, but in the forceful imposition of a state increasingly isolated by its own rancor. Israel was created by the U.N. to end the Jewish diaspora at a time when the world was faced with the horror of 6 million people executed in Nazi gas chambers during the Holocaust. The guilt of Europe’s silence in the face of the horror helped solidify the concept that it was important to liberate the Jewish people by giving them a country in which to live: a just idea that Brazil, with Oswaldo Aranha, helped to become a reality.

Today, upon seeing images of the attack recorded by Al-Jazeera, I could not contain my indignation and surprise. The absolute impunity and the cynical hypocrisy that run through the dorsal column of the Israeli state today have solidified a pact of conscience that transforms every Israeli soldier into a potential assassin. And this is not because of their nature, which would be an unfair generalization of the many citizens of that country who disapprove of this paranoid and aggressive behavior, but because of doctrine. The commandos who invaded a Turkish flotilla in international waters are the synthesis of a position that Israel — due to a progressive interpretation of Teodor Herzl’s ideal — strives to communicate to the rest of the world as its permanent message.

In a news cycle that has been preoccupied with the agreement made between Brazil, Turkey and Iran — one clearly denounced by the U.S.-Israel alliance — the attack on Monday was a sort of pronouncement to the world; more than that, it was a slap in the face. A justification given on the Internet is that the soldiers reacted when attacked with knives and pistols. Even if this were so, it would not be justified. The Turkish flotilla was invaded by troops with no mandate for their actions. I would have reacted the same way.

It is interesting to follow reactions to the attack, especially from the United States. Twice humiliated by the Benjamin Netanyahu government, President Barack Obama cannot run the risk of a third time — from his only unconditional ally in the Middle East. Therefore, the first commentary from the White House spokesman was to lament the occurrence, instead of offering the usual condescending statements regarding ongoing threats between neighbors in that region. This time, the U.S. stated that it was “aggressively trying to understand what happened on that ship.” What is understood is the mounting of a supportive public relations strategy aimed at calming the world’s revulsion, and, at the same time, containing any movement toward investigation by the U.N. But this will be a difficult battle.

The biggest mistake of the attack was that, beyond the incident that left 10 dead, is the fact that Israel shot itself in the foot. Turkey is a temporary member of the Security Council and is an important ally to the Tel Aviv government in the region. The commerce between the two countries is high, despite the heavy Turkish population, the majority of whom are Muslim and not sympathetic to the Israeli cause. Today, the Israeli ambassador in Ankara was called upon to explain, and the government of Turkey released a harshly-toned statement. If there is a country today that can be classified as a “rogue” nation, it is Israel.