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January 29, 2009
So, is Turkey pro-Hamas now?
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Israel's brutal attack on Gaza has not just left 1,330 dead bodies, including those of 437 children, but also a Turkey that is very bitter against the Jewish state. Turkish society deeply felt and shared the suffering of the Palestinians in the Strip and rallied against the bombs that hit them.
The last time I saw such a tense public sentiment was the early 1990s, when Bosnians were subjected to "ethnic cleansing" by Serbian nationalists. The situation in Gaza was more complex, to be sure, but it was perceived in Turkey as something similar to the slaughter of Muslims in the Balkans.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 5:03 AM | Comments (14)
January 24, 2009
Terrorism In The Name of Judaism
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
If you don't already know him, let me introduce you to former Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel, Mordechai Eliyahu, an 80-year-old man of faith. In May 2007, he wrote a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to give him some religious advice on what to do with the Palestinians. As reported in the Jerusalem Post on May 30, 2007, the retired chief rabbi was furious about the rockets fired from Gaza into Israel and held the whole population in the Strip responsible. "An entire city holds collective responsibility for the immoral behavior of individuals," he argued.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 3:23 AM | Comments (15)
January 22, 2009
Barack Obama and The American Gospel
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
I was among the billion people who watched the inauguration of President Barack Hussein Obama. And like most of those people, I was moved and filled with hope for a better world.
For me, one of the striking points in the inauguration ceremony was that it started with a prayer by pastor Rev. Rick Warren, and ended with a benediction by pastor Rev. Joseph E. Lowery. During the whole ceremony, repeatedly, God was praised, His blessing was asked, and His Scriptures were evoked.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 2:13 AM | Comments (5)
January 17, 2009
When Both Sides See The Other As Evil
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Since Israel started its brutal onslaught in Gaza, I have been receiving dozens of emails everyday about the nature of the conflict and the parties involved. Most of these fall into two distinct narratives that are 180 degrees opposite.
My Muslim friends are telling me that Israel is "the real terrorist," that its goal is to annihilate or enslave the Palestinian people, and it is responsible for not just the current bloodshed but also the 60-year-old tragedy in the Holy Land. My American or Israeli friends, on the other hand, are telling me the exact opposite. The problem is Arabs, they say, who never accepted Israel's right to exist. Hamas, for them, is responsible for the carnage in Gaza. Israel, they argue, is only defending itself against this fanatic group.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 2:13 AM | Comments (6)
January 15, 2009
Time For Hamas to Consider Peace
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
I have great sympathy for the Palestinian people. They are my co-religionists with whom I share a common history and culture. Every now and then I recall with nostalgia that the Ottoman Sultans, living in my home city, Istanbul, used to rule Palestine for centuries in a way that made it possible for its people live in peace and security. And I feel deeply sad about what happened to them after we Turks were forced to leave the Holy Land during World War I.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 2:01 AM | Comments (10)
January 10, 2009
The Morality of 'Collateral Damage'
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
As of yesterday, the Israeli military had killed 770 people in the Gaza Strip, about 200 of them children. Millions around the world are appalled at this ruthless bloodshed. But Israeli spokespersons routinely show up on television, and pleasantly tell us that they don't have the slightest responsibility in all this carnage. They are doing everything they can do avoid this "collateral damage," they say, including warning civilians to run away from their homes before launching an onslaught of bombing. And, based on that, pro-Israeli commentators, such as Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post, coldly tell us that Israel is absolutely the "moral side" in his conflict.
Really?
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:40 PM | Comments (3)
January 8, 2009
Can You Finish Terrorists by Killing Them--and Their Kids?
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Sometimes an article by one man summarizes the mindset of millions. The piece titled "Bam Stirs Fear in Israel," written by Ralph Peters and published in the New York Post on January 1, was like that. Fearing that "Bam" (i.e, Obama) could "stab Israel in the back" (i.e., tell her to stop the bloodbath in Gaza), Mr. Peters was trying to persuade his readers why it was crucial that the Israeli military kept on bombing the Gaza Strip - a deadly operation which has killed more than 150 women and children up to this point.
"Fighting terrorists effectively means going in on the ground, and sooner is better than later," argued Mr. Peters. "You can't impress fanatics into surrendering. You have to kill them. Nothing else works."
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 3:38 AM | Comments (10)
January 3, 2009
You Wonder Why They Hate You? Look at Gaza
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
The Israeli air force has been bombing the Gaza Strip since last Saturday. As of yesterday, the death toll was over 400 hundred. According to the United Nations, a quarter of these people were women and children. The wounded, which again included hundreds of innocent civilians, were calculated to be more than 1,000.
Now let’s stop there and think for a second. I repeat: the Israeli war machine has killed around 100 innocent civilians. Some children died bleeding in their mother’s arms, others were burned alive.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 9:50 AM | Comments (12)
A New Mosque Styled For The New Millennium
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Zeynep Fadillioglu is a Turkish designer known for creating some of the most stylish lounges and nightclubs in Istanbul. As a winner of the Andrew Martin International Designer of the Year award, her fame, and that of her husband, restaurateur Meto, has gone beyond Turkey.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 9:41 AM | Comments (2)
