By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO–A friend of mine was considering a Mediterranean cruise. I suggested that he find another itinerary. One of the ports of call he had been considering was in Turkey. I can’t imagine a reason after the Gaza Flotilla incident why any member of the Jewish community would want to go to Turkey, anymore than they should want to go to Iran, Syria, Lebanon, or to Gaza.
There are places in the Muslim Middle East I would recommend visiting: Egypt, Jordan, and Oman, all of which I’ve had the pleasure of visiting myself. Oh, I’ve also been to Turkey, but not again, thank you. While Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in power, I’ll be waiting for his government to be reset, tied up, er-gone. If I want Middle Eastern flavor, I’ll go to Israel. And if I do venture among Israel’s other neighbors, perhaps it will be to the United Arab Emirates, Morocco or Tunisia. I certainly won’t waste time on the country of a false friend, a provocateur, someone who has betrayed Israel in order to curry favor with the most radical regimes in the Middle East.
Beautiful beaches? Erdogan’s Turkey can keep them. Antiquities? There are a lot more in Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Turkish coffee? The world has learned to brew it long ago. Carpets? We can manage without them.
There was a time when I wanted to travel everywhere on the globe, to meet the people of every land, to taste their foods, partake of their customs. Not anymore. If other countries want tourism, let them earn it. Let them show that they respect the people of the world, no matter where they come from or how they pray. Let them demonstrate that they are willing to abide by international standards of decency.
It was an act of indecency last May when Turkey attempted to force Israel to either give up its right to self-defense or be condemned by Arab-engineered “world opinion” for blocking such manifestations of “humanitarian assistance” as knives, cutlasses, grenades, and automatic weapons.
Five of the six ships in the so-called Gaza Flotilla went peacefully to the Israeli Port of Ashdod and their humanitarian cargoes were transferred without incident to Gaza. These supplies amounted to drops of water in the river of aid that Israel continually sends to the people of Gaza notwithstanding the fact that their Hamas “leaders” thank the Israelis with Kassam missile strikes on Sderot and the villages of Sha’ar Hanegev.
Only the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara refused to be escorted peacefully to Ashdod. As the video released by the IDF makes clear, the “humanitarians” on board replied to the Israelis who invited them to deliver the cargo there: “Shut the f**k up. Go back to Auschwitz! We’re helping Arabs going against the U.S. Don’t forget 9/11 guys.”
Listen, you so-called “humanitarians,” we Jews are not going back to Auschwitz. And we Americans will definitely remember 9/11, and all the innocent people who died there at the hand of terrorists with whom you apparently have much in common.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World