In January, Turkey’s current prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, created an international sensation at the World Economic Forum in Davos when he stormed out of the meeting after accusing Israeli soldiers of deliberately killing innocent Palestinians in Gaza, calling it “a crime against humanity.” When Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi, the commander of those soldiers, heard that, he reportedly replied: “Erdogan should first look in the mirror.” General Mizrahi is right, and all Turks should take his advice, but not for the reason most Turks think.
Most Turks assumed General Mizrahi was referring to the increasingly loud international chorus insisting that Turks, too, are guilty of crimes against humanity because they committed genocide against innocent Armenians in World War I. They think he was saying, in effect, “We may be wanton killers, but you have no standing to criticize us, because you are too.” I don’t assume that’s what the general meant — because the truth, and the point, is the opposite. Persistent and hugely successful propaganda campaigns to the contrary notwithstanding, Jews are no more guilty of wanton murder today than Turks were of deliberate genocide in World War I (as I’ve argued here and here).
General Mizrahi’s legitimate point is that people who have felt the lash of unjust accusations by corrupt foreign leaders, and the dangerous mobs they incite, should refuse to join in when mobs unjustly target another state, demonizing it and whitewashing its enemies.
Read Full Article »