6/6/10
To whom it may concern,First and foremost, I wish to state that I speak only on behalf of myself and what I perceive as the sane majority of the population of Israel. Sane, as opposed to the bloodthirsty monsters we are usually depicted as.
In the past few days, since the so called “aid flotilla” incident, I find myself repeating the same debate with different people. A debate regarding the morality and necessity of the IDF operation, and of course, the world's response to this action. The fact that the people of Israel are so disturbed by this incident, far more than one would expect, is because we feel more alienated and isolated than ever before in the international community. We have finally come to the conclusion that no matter how righteous our actions would be, how morally justified our ways are, we will forever be singled out, condemned and sentenced immediately and without trial, not due to facts, but due to what is popular and looks good on television.
I don’t expect the people of France, Great Britain, Libya or any other country to be objective since I am positive that they are not able to see the whole picture. They see only what they are shown through commercial media. However, I do, by all means, expect Heads of State, ministers and above all the UN, to fully analyze and understand the situation before sounding an opinion.
You and the institute you represent do not have the privilege of jumping to conclusions nor ignoring the truth, no matter how uncomfortable, inconvenient or unpopular it is.
The UN is probably the only international organization meant to maintain justice. Trying to break through a border of a sovereign country is unjust. Disguising a group of mercenaries as peace activists is unjust. Lynching soldiers that are armed with paintball guns and have absolutely no intention of applying force is unjust. The UN proves itself numb and lacking a backbone when releasing condemnations in a panic frenzy, due to international stress, before understanding all the facts. It is unprofessional, it is irresponsible, and worst of all it is unjust.
I myself, as well as everyone I know, saw the footage of the event on the news and saw the only thing that there was to see; not peace activists attacked by trained commando warriors, but an armed mob, prepared ahead of time for storming a group of soldiers (links added below). I find it hard to believe that anyone could see anything else on these videos unless looking through eyes flooded with hate and prejudice.
I wish to clarify that I do not think that the representatives of the UN hate Israel, as a matter of fact I am positive that the majority of them do not really care what happens here. We live in a country which is barely a speck on the globe, and yet, the amount of political debates stirred regarding Israel would equal those regarding the greatest empire on the planet. Since I am not a diplomat I have the privilege of saying what everyone else is apparently thinking: Israel is a thorn in the world’s behind. I should probably stop here just to offer my deepest apologies that our very existence as a country is such an unbearable inconvenience to so many. We are the sole non-Islamic country in our hate saturated corner of the world. Whatever our leaders say makes someone somewhere burn an Israeli flag for some reason (or for no reason, for that matter).
About once a week the leader of some country in the Middle East says something about Zionists drowning in their own blood. As an Israeli, you see, unfortunately you get used to these things. Then, the one body that is supposed to maintain global morals and justice spits in your face for not turning the other cheek to all those who want you dead. For a lot of Israelis, that was the final straw. The situation today is that the people in Israel have lost any sense of trust in the UN, and without the people’s trust you will not be able to receive any cooperation in any future investigations. How do you expect us to abide to a so called “impartial investigation” when the verdict is already written? It was written the second you condemned before thinking.
I would like to invite you to participate in a short mental experiment. Try to imagine the response of the Arab world to photos of U.S. citizens (just for the sake of the example, the same would apply to any Western country) burning a Syrian flag. Try to picture an Israeli peace activist group trying to deliver supplies to the Curd rebels in Northern Turkey without allowing the Turks to inspect the cargo. Do you think that the Turkish government would allow that? Would any sovereign country allow a defiance of its maritime border? Let alone, by ships with an unknown cargo headed for a region held by a terror organization?
Just a reminder of a few facts you should already be familiar with:
1. The Israeli government repeatedly offered the flotilla organizers to pass the cargo on, after inspection, through the border crossings in to Gaza. Offers which were repeatedly rejected.
2. Israel had declared in advance that it would not allow these or any ships to reach Gaza. It was clear to anyone and everyone involved that the ships would never reach their destination.
3. During the take-over of every ship in the flotilla, except for the “Mavi Marmara”, there was no violence from the side of the activists and accordingly no IDF soldier fired a single shot or harmed any of the passengers in any other way.
From a short inspection of these three facts two things can easily be deduced: First, the flotilla's real objective was not to deliver goods to Gaza but rather to create a public stir. Secondly, the IDF soldiers' objective was to stop the ships, with no intention of harming the passengers.
I would like to share that I served for 5 years as a non-commissioned officer in the navy. From my first day to my last day in the navy, I was made clear this one thing: as an IDF soldier you are obligated to fill whatever orders you may receive whether you agree with them or not, all except one. One order that you are strictly forbidden to fill even if the Chief of Staff himself issued it. An Israeli soldier is never, without a doubt, to be ordered nor is he allowed to comply with an order to apply any force on unarmed civilians. From personal acquaintance, the members of the Israeli Naval Commando are people with the highest moral standards, and are literally the best of our men by every criterion. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that there was no excessive use of force in this action, and that any and every bullet fired was necessary for these men to come home in one piece.
I call on you to inspect yourselves, your own set of morals and your responsibilities towards the world. Do not encourage terrorism. Make the just decision, not the popular one.
Respectfully yours,
Ronen Yogev (Mr.)
Link 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6wKvKjoepI
Link 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZlSSaPT_OU
