BY ZEYNEP GURCANLI
The different countries of the world approach the human tragedy in Gaza in line with their national interests.
Russia, for instance, goes after forging a link between what happens in Gaza and the war in Ukraine.
Attacks against Jews at the Makhachkala Uytash Airport in Russia’s Dagestan region seem to give an excellent opportunity for Russian Leader Putin to the Ukraine link. Putin correlated what happened at the airport with “foreign actors” and the current Ukrainian administration, which he describes as “Nazi,” and stated that “They want to stir up unrest inside Russia.” Moscow’s aim seems to whitewash Russia’s invasion of Ukraine through the tragedy of civilians in Gaza with the message that it fights against the Nazis. While doing that, the language Putin uses is very salient. He prefers to dump on the U.S., the master across the ocean, instead of accusing Israel, which bombs Gaza.
Another Ukraine-Gaza comparison by Russia came from Dimitry Medvedev, who exchanged the presidency position with mutual consent with Putin due to the constitutional imperativeness and still serves at the Security Council of Russia. Medvedev adjoined the photo of tens of thousands of people at the Gaza meeting in Istanbul, where President Erdogan also delivered a speech, and the photo of a handful of protestors, who attended the demonstrations to support Ukraine in Europe on social media and said to feel the difference.
EMPTY BEDS, SHOES, YELLOW STARS…
Of course, Israel doesn’t idle in the war of symbols. Israel’s propaganda is made through the hostages taken by Hamas during the attacks on October 7. Empty beds corresponding to the number of hostages held by Hamas or shoes with the names of hostages are demonstrated at the squares in one different European city every day.
Moreover, Israel densely uses the genocide image of Jews in the Second World War and doesn’t hesitate to link the October 7 attacks by Hamas with the Holocaust. To correlate this, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations attended the UN meeting where Gaza was discussed, wearing a yellow Star of David patch on his chest, which the Nazis forced Jews to wear in Europe to identify them.
BLOODY HANDS AT THE AMERICAN CONGRESS
Another symbol regarding Gaza appeared in the American Congress in a very striking way. Anti-war protesters raised their “bloody” hands behind U.S. Secretary of State Blinken when he defended the President Biden administration’s military assistance planned for Israel.
INITIAL PREPARATIONS KICK OFF FOR POST-HAMAS GAZA
Israel hasn’t kicked off the land assault, which it announced to carry out. However, ideas about the aftermath of Gaza to get free of Hamas have already started to be brought forward. There are three scenarios reflected in the Western press. One of them is to govern Gaza through a commission consisting of Arab countries that have good relations with Israel. The second scenario is to appoint observers to Gaza from region countries, the U.S., and Europe, which are acceptable for Israel and prevent Hamas or a similar terrorist organization from seizing control of the region. The third scenario is delivering Gaza directly to the UN administration. U.S. Secretary of State Blinken also signaled in his speech at Congress that the ‘idea gymnastics’ for the post-Hamas Gaza have begun. “We cannot allow either Hamas or Israel to control Gaza. We, as the U.S. and different countries, closely examine different possibilities,” Blinken said.
“EITHER A GREATER WAR OR A GREATER PEACE…”
President Erdogan’s statement that Hamas isn’t a terrorist organization seems to have significantly decreased the possibility for Turkey to be included in the multinational powers in Gaza. However, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s statement that the conflicts in Gaza may result in a greater war or peace has revealed that Ankara has started to make its calculations.
Ankara has started to seek a way from the Gaza chaos to achieve a peace that can also whitewash the deadlock in Syria…
