On May 31st, a number of ships from Turkey tried to go to Gaza but were attacked by Israeli soldiers. Nine Turks were killed. Israel had blocked the port of Gaza to stop Palestinians bringing in weapons.
Now the United Nations has decided to hold an Inquiry into this attack. New Zealander Sir Geoffrey Palmer is the Head of the Inquiry. He will start his new job on August 10th. The first progress report is due by the middle of September. One Israeli, one Turk and the President of Columbia are the other three members of the Inquiry. They will meet in New York.
Sir Geoffrey is a very well-known lawyer in New Zealand. He was also Prime Minister for a short time from 1989 to 1990. He was probably chosen for this job because New Zealand is not involved with either Israel or Palestine so a New Zealander can be fair to both sides. He is also a very respected lawyer.
Questions
1. Why is Israel represented on the Inquiry but not Palestine?
2. Why is Turkey important in the Middle East?
3. Will a UN Inquiry report change anything in the Middle East?
The membership of this Inquiry is biased towards Israel. Mr Natanyahu is certaily pro Israel. Mr Uribe, Colombia’s president is dependent on the USA, which, in turn is a traditional Israel ally. The Turk representative, of course, has nine dead bodies to guide his interpretation of events. So that leaves us with Sir Geoffrey Palmer´s position. If he sides with the Turk, the Inquiry will come to a standstill, which Sir Geoffrey will very probably avoid. No politician accepts failure, no matter the cause he defends. These comments may explain why, suddenly, Israel agreed to the Inquiry it has rejected all along.
A few questions remain: why 4 members? why a Colombian president, whose fight angainst terrorists in his own country, financed by the US, will predispose him against Hamas and the Gaza population? why a New Zealander and not an European, much closer and better informed?
So, chalk up one more point for Israel and the USA.