Israel has tremendous guilt in the eyes of the people and will never succeed in washing the blood from its hands. As such, the Turkish judiciary’s decision to drop the Mavi Marmara case against the illegitimate state ofIsrael will not be recognized by us, the friends of Palestine, as we vow to pursue the struggle against the Zionist occupier
A court board at the Istanbul 1st Court of Serious Crimes voted on 9 December during its 15th and final hearing to drop the Mavi Marmara case regarding the killing of 10 Turkish activists onboard a flotilla bringing aid to Gaza. As BDS Turkey, we are full of disappointment and fury at the court’s decision, the latest manifestation ofa “normalization” process that we have protested at every step between Turkey and the illegitimate state of Israel.
In line with the decision, legal proceedings into those responsible for the massacre, former Israeli Chief of Staff Gen. Gabriel Ashkenazi, Navy Cmdr. Eliezer Alfred Maron, Air Force Intelligence officer Avishay Levi and Israeli Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin, were dropped in their entirety. Apart from the 20 million dollars in compensation paid for the people it killed during its attack on the Mavi Marmara aid flotilla, Israel no longer bears any legal responsibility for the incident. As it is, Israel even appears set to recoup the costs of the compensation after taking retaliation by levying a fine of 40 million dollars in back taxes againstYılmazlarİnşaat, a Turkish construction company that operates in the occupied territories. The dead have died, and for what? Israel has “been absolved” – at least in terms of the law.
BDS Turkey attended the final hearing with a three-person group, which provided an opportunity to witness some of the precautionary measures in place. Because of its U-turn in policies, the government, which had once scored political points with its anti-Israel rhetoric, banned any observers from entering the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan with a Palestinian flag or even bracelets bearing the Palestinian flag. We were disappointed to see that the dozens of mainly young people that came to attend the hearing did not once take aim at those who had signed the normalization agreement with their slogans, which otherwise rightfully reflected their anger.
The Freedom Flotilla, which included the Mavi Marmara, was an endeavor that attempted to break the siege of Gaza and was a cause that had been taken up by different peoples; neither courts nor the two capitals can pass judgement on this subject. Israel is guilty in the eyes of the people and will never succeed in washing the blood from its hands. As such, the Turkish judiciary’s decision to drop the case against the illegitimate Israeli state will not be recognized by us, the friends of Palestine, as we vow to pursue the struggle against the Zionist occupier.
During this period, which coincides with the anniversary of the first Intifada against the Israeli occupation, we emphasize we will marshal all our forces to oppose any step to strength the Zionist entity. We duly call on everyone to raise their voice and join the struggle to sever all ties with Israel in the face of all the concrete results of the Turkish-Israeli normalization, particularly the dropping of the Mavi Marmara case.
BDSTurkey (Initiative to Boycott Israel for Palestine)
