minister

Reported by Ziva Galili

Hey, Ishmael Khaldi helped host the Traveling Geeks when we visited Israel, a coupla years ago. We even visited his family and village.

I recommend his A Shepherd's Journey: the story of Israel's first bedouin diplomat

Originally published on The Hill

When several years ago I first met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and had the pleasure to have two private conversations with him, he immediately struck me as the ultimate "purple" leader. As the Washington Post wrote recently, "Erdogan's Justice and Development Party has religious roots, but it also draws conservative entrepreneurs and liberals with its free-market policies."

Until quite recently, it seemed that Turkey had a clearly defined role in the Middle East, from the standpoint of U.S. policy. They were the "good Muslims," who were part of NATO, who contributed troops to U.S. wars, and who had good relations with Israel.

Cross posted with the Center on Public Diplomacy

Israel's 2009 war on Gaza has been exhaustively documented: some 1,400 Palestinian deaths (compared to 13 for Israel), a vast, rubble-strewn landscape, international condemnation culminating in the hard-hitting and controversial "Goldstone Report" from the UN, and a blockade, tacitly approved by the U.S. and EU, that led to a humanitarian crisis, and ultimately to the high-seas catastrophe this week on the Free Gaza flotilla.

In the aftermath of Israel's violent seizure of the Free Gaza flotilla early this week, it's important to emphasize that leading elements of the international community set the circumstances which resulted in this massacre. Monday's raid -- like the 2008-9 military assault on Gaza ("Operation Cast Lead"), and like the further atrocities that almost certainly lie ahead -- are the predictable outcome of established international policy towards the Gaza Strip.

Israel is often dubbed "the Jewish State" by its supporters, so it is not out of left field to question whether its actions should be taken as a reflection of Jewish values.

That is a question ultimately for Jews to answer.

Personally, as a Muslim whose own faith values are often undermined by the misdeeds of those who claim to act in the name of defending the honor and freedom of Muslims, I know better than to blame Jewishness for Israel's egregious violations.

(AP) JERUSALEM - Israel on Thursday rejected calls from the United Nations and others for an international investigation of its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla but left the door open to foreign involvement.

Israel says the commandos used force, killing nine people, only after activists attacked them with knives, crowbars and clubs, as well as two pistols grabbed from raiders. Activists who had set sail for Gaza with tons of aid, hoping to break Israel's 3-year-old blockade of Gaza, say Israeli commandos fired first.

"I appreciate your call. My staff was going to get in touch with you. The task force is meeting tomorrow at 8:30. Can you make it?"

"I'm afraid the Consulate will need to get someone else. I'm calling to tell you I can't help anymore. I'm too upset..."

"But the facts are on our side. Didn't you see the IDF video we just released? It's great! It proves that our soldiers were attacked when they descended from the helicopters. So Israel had every right to..."

There is an ominous shadow looming over Israel's recent international missteps. The global rush to judgment against Israel's interdiction of the Turkish ferry "Mavi Marmara" represents an important barometer of Israel's decaying public diplomacy.