On the Importance

of Apologies

When people, or countries are 'stuck' it can be a combined matter of pride wrapped around a sense of self-protection wrapped around a dignity issue wrapped around an enigma.

Turkey and Israel are now stuck. They have had a five hundred plus year friendship, and Turks and Jews had each other's backs vis-a-vis more aggressive Iranians and even Syrians. Now they can't look sideways at each other over an incident involving Turkey sponsoring a boat going to Gaza for allegedly humanitarian aid that Israel nearly blew up and killed the crew.

Turkey prides itself on being a Switzerlandish peaceful island in a troubled land. It protests, we just want to do business, and they are doing a yeoman's job at that. They need peace and stability to trade- they are about building up not destroying. They talk to everyone.

So will they ever get unstuck. An Israeli Ambassador says, no apology so long as the Israeli foreign minister is who he is as it was viewed as a provocative act of aggression to go there. Turkey says, hey- you killed our guys, please say you are sorry.

So how to move forward? Israel is between a Rock of Gibralter and a hard hearted Syrian monarch it seems with an unstable Egypt chomping at the bit and opening up avenues of travel to heretofore blocked off passages. Can't we all just get along?

Israel could be more diplomatic even if they view the Flotilla as a provocation by saying something like-we regret deeply the loss of any life and we regret deeply that our warnings were not heralded. That would still maintain their territorial integrity issues and maintain a security posture wouldn't it?

Israel can't keep everyone out of international waters but isn't there a few feet out that are territorial waters so that they could put buoys out or something that stopped anything transgressing the water baricade brigades? I'm just thinking like an amateur sailor in former years who nearly ran into a few buoy things stuck in the waters.

Turkey is right if all they were doing is getting humanitarian aid to Gaza. Gazains are people too who need to eat and Turkey loves to feed people. But Israel is right if they didn't get to do a customs inspection where the international waters line traversed territorial waters. And no one is ever right shooting first. No one should have to die in policing international waters for weaponry. If you know there is only rice and a few bloggers on the boat why shoot?

Everyone needs to say they are sorry. Israel, you are sorry you couldn't figure out how to board a boat for a customs inspection without killing the crew. Turkey you are sorry you didn't figure that out and were a bit tauntingly provacative.
Now kiss, make up and pass the baklava.