The End Of The Zionist Experiment (?)

Israel's massacre in Gaza will necessarily trigger a rise of anti-Semitism around the globe.

Turkish-Israeli relations will enter a new phase.

However, the new policies the United States has adopted with President Barack Obama's coming to power have suggested that the use of violence as an instrument in international relations should be abandoned and that disputes should be settled via dialogue and negotiations. These policies had raised hopes in everyone.

Although he had done nothing remarkable, Obama was decorated with the Nobel Peace Prize shortly after his inauguration. Obama sees clear occupation and massacre as part of self-defense, setting an example for his European allies.

The truth is that the decision-makers of Israeli policies fail to understand the change in the world. The people of Israel continue to experience the psychologically destructive reality of being surrounded by enemies in a hostile environment. Israelis believe they are a nation surrounded by barbarians.

Jewish intellectuals such as Benny Morris suggest that nuclear war may bring about total annihilation in 20 years. "The Zionist experiment may end up with destruction," Morris says. For him, Zionism -- the establishment of a Jewish state in the Middle East in 1948 -- was never a mistake. However, since the establishment of Israel, neither Palestinians nor Israelis have found peace. Permanent peace between Israel and Palestine seems like an illusion.

A state established by people who suffered from numerous persecutions for 2,000 years believes that it can be protected from its enemies only by building high-rise walls and massacring other nations. During the last 50 years, the Israeli state has conducted numerous massacres against Palestine and sent it to exile. Despite occasional cease-fires, the war continues; Israel's operations targeting civilians produce stronger reactions.

When the United Nations declared Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in its 69th session on Nov. 1, 2005, Turkey was one of the four Muslim countries that lent support to Israel's proposal. According to this proposal, the state would raise the awareness of future generations about genocide and find ways to keep this tragedy alive in memories. But where should we place the ongoing Gaza massacre? Can anyone say anything to current generations to raise awareness so that the Gaza massacre does not occur again?

Primo Levi said destroying mankind is as hard as creating it. To define what makes genocide possible, he said: "There was a special attitude in Hitler's Germany: Those who know would not speak and those who don't know would not ask questions and those who ask questions would not get answers. In this way, a typical German citizen would feign ignorance and find consolation in the illusion that he knows nothing and therefore is not an accomplice."

Today, we are faced with a different situation. Israelis know what is happening in Gaza and they celebrate victory with Israeli soldiers when they bombard Gaza.

ORHAN MİROĞLU (Cihan/Today's Zaman)