Gaza's Biggest Problem: Political Islamists

Israel has launched yet another brutal offensive against Gaza. There is no way a human being can accept Israel's unacceptable use of excessive force against the people of Gaza. Israel deserves a serious censure, and I sincerely condemn Israel's strategy, which has turned into a collective punishment against all the people of Gaza.

Having said this, we Muslims should also recognize that Gaza's biggest problem is not Israel. Unfortunately, it is the political Islamists around the world who have done very little to restore Gaza and help its people during the period of peace. Instead, they exploit the sufferings of the people of Gaza for their own domestic political agendas.

Let me share a striking example from Turkey. It has been argued that Prime Minister Erdoğan's son Burak Erdoğan has not hesitated to continue trading with Israel when Turkey-Israeli relations soured. Yet, Erdoğan's daughter showed up in front of theIsraeli embassy to protest Israel's offensive against Gaza.

So far, neither Erdoğan nor his son have denied the allegations that they have conducted business with Israel.

Turkish media reported that Turkey is selling cheap Kurdish oil to Gaza, perhaps used as fuel for Israeli fighter jets to bomb Gaza, but the same government is also supporting the protests against Israel.

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said that, as a government, Turkey has not sold cheap Kurdish oil to Israel. Well, the Turkish government has not sold any oil to any party in the world because there is no such thing as a government selling oil. It is private companies that sell oil.

Moreover, Erdoğan's government and its supporters, political Islamists, use Israel's attack on Gaza as a pretext to criticize the opposition. Political Islamists use language against domestic opposition that they cannot use against Israel. Political Islamists criticize domestic opposition groups for not showing enough “courage” to stand against Israel, as if they were the ones who attacked Gaza.

For instance, Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials as well as pro-AKP figures and media outlets criticize the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the Peoples' Republican Party (CHP) and the Gülen movement for being silent in the face of Israel's aggression toward Gaza. They hammer the domestic opposition, using cruel language that they cannot use against Israel.

This is the main problem for the people of Gaza. Since it has been an instrument to be used against domestic opposition and not against Israel, the crisis in Gaza will never end.

It is obvious that any peace deal between Israeli and Palestinian people would harm the interests of political Islamists around the world. If there were peace in Palestine, political Islamists would find it very difficult to generate political discourse for their domestic political agendas.

Thus, political Islamists around the world do not want to see a peace deal in Palestine as much as those war-like Israeli politicians, who also benefit from the conflict.

The example of Erdoğan, who exploits the crisis in Gaza, is more than enough to see that the biggest problem for Gaza is the political Islamists and not poverty, not the blockade and not even war.

For instance, back in 2010 it was claimed that Erdoğan was going to go to Gaza with Turkish war ships to end the blockade. When the international press published the news of such nonsense, Turkish officials did not deny it. Hence, it was believed that Erdoğan was going to go to Gaza. He himself said a number of times that he would go to Gaza to end the blockade. In fact, he even challenged American officials when they urged him not to go. In a press conference held during his visit to Washington back in May 2013 -- standing right next to Obama -- he said he was going to go to Gaza.

He has exploited every shred of hope in the people of Gaza and Muslims around the world. People in Gaza have named their children after Erdoğan. Yet, until Israel's recent offensive against Gaza, Erdoğan had forgotten about his promises and public statements, and never once mentioned going to Gaza. Even during the early stage of Israel's Gaza offensive, he did not say a single word against Israel until the US warned Israel.

What is the biggest problem for the people of Gaza? If exploiting the wounds of the people of Gaza for domestic political agendas were not, if making empty promises but doing nothing were not, what would be?

EMRE USLU (Cihan/Today's Zaman)