Turkey cannot ignore Israel's past

Turkey is the largest significant Muslim country having diplomatic ties with Israel. Following the Israeli attack on the humanitarian flotilla of ships bound for Gaza on May 31, which resulted in the death of nine Turkish activists and injury to a host of others, the Turkish government recalled its ambassador to Israel and demanded an immediate apology and compensation for the victims' families.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu speaking to the largest English language daily in Turkey stated that the Israelis had three options. "Either they apologise, or accept an international [inquiry] commission and its report, or relations will be broken," he said.

The Turkish government's expectations of a swift end to this flagrant act of murder on the high seas were quickly dashed when the government of Benjamin Netanyahu clearly stated that no apology would be forthcoming. Even UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's proposal for a full international inquiry was rejected by the Israeli government.

If the Turks had studied a bit of history on the aggressive policies of Israel, they would have realised that it is an act of futility to get Israel to own up to the crimes it has been committing for the past six decades and more.

Just ask the survivors of the USS Liberty some still alive and seething with anger over Israel's complicity in the murder of their colleagues and getting away with it. It was on June 8, 1967, when US Navy intelligence ship USS Liberty was attacked on the high seas in international waters by the air and naval forces of Israel.

The Israeli forces attacked with full knowledge that this was an American ship and lied about it. Thirty four American sailors died and 172 were injured.

Israel's apologists immediately claimed that the attack was a case of "mistaken identity".

Former intelligence officers that conducted the inquiry that followed were willing to testify that they received real-time Hebrew translations of Israeli commanders instructing their pilots to sink "the American ship". Furthermore, late Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, president of the Court of Inquiry, in private conversations years later admitted that President Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara ordered him to conclude that the attack was a case of "mistaken identity".

The Johnson administration never pursued the prosecution of the rogue nation or otherwise attempted to seek justice for the victims. They concealed and altered evidence in their effort to downplay the attack and simply allowed those responsible literally to get away with murder.

Every year on June 8, survivors of Israel's attack gather in Washington, DC to honour their dead shipmates as well as the mothers, sisters, widows and children they left behind. They continue to ask for a fair and impartial congressional inquiry that would for the first time allow the survivors themselves to testify publicly.

But this is Israel, America's ally. And the US would have none of that. A book What I Saw That Day… Israel's 1967 Holocaust of American Servicemen aboard The USS Liberty And Its Aftermath" by USS Liberty Survivor Phil Tourney was released earlier this year, graphically depicting the cold-blooded brutality to an ally by Israel.

In a letter to the then US President Bush, Tourney claimed that the crew of the USS Liberty were ordered to remain silent under threat of court martial, imprisonment, or worse, and demanded an inquiry for justice to prevail; words that simply fell on deaf ears.

Turkey must take a lesson from this historical episode and realise that no goodwill will be forthcoming from Israelis. And if they are concerned with the $3 billion (Dh11.03 billion) in trade between the two countries, it could very quickly be made up by its regional allies.

But, Turkey, please don't hold your breath waiting for an apology or an admission of guilt. Just ask the survivors of the USS Liberty.

Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.