It is a sentiment, no doubt, shared by many around the world who view Israel as an unwanted step-child who just would not go away. Of course this time this sentiment was expressed by the person who for years now had a front row seat on every press conference given by last few U.S. presidents. Helen Thomas was a senior White House Press Corp member.

If you thought that this kind of rhetoric sounds familiar you are correct. The Iranian president, Mahmaud Ahmadinejad, repeats it every week and on every occasion no matter how big or small and to anybody who would listen. He should be proud of himself as he is obviously is reaching a lot more people then he ever dared to hope for. It just proves how much can be accomplished if you are disciplined and persistent.

Of course Mr. Ahmadinajad's big goal is a destruction of the State of Israel or his own version of "Final Solution". He must be a much smarter man then given credit for. There was a time, not long ago, when he was dismissed as a lunatic. I would say he is more crazy like fox, when he is not busy killing and raping young Iranians seeking broader social freedoms.

But since the Iranian crackdowns on protesters of the rigged elections the world has resigned itself to the fact that his mind can not be changed no matter what they do and sending a flotilla or any other form of protest to Iran would be, to put it mildly, crazy. It's like sending protesters to Tibet, which is under Chinese control, to support the Tibetans. Who would ever think of doing something as stupid as that when Israel is right there in the heart of the Middle East and finding the support for marching on the Jews does not require a great effort.

As the Gaza flotilla project was born there were some organizational issues but once the Free Gaza movement partnered with Turkish Islamic organization the logistical problems were resolved. So what if a lot of your compatriots are Islamic radicals some of whom are seeking martyrdom. The end justifies the means. When Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in Iran his allies included the liberals, the communists and many other political denominations. Of course he killed a lot of them on his way to create an Islamic state but the relationship was good while it lasted.

The Hamas controlled Al-Aqsa TV reported on May 30th, a day before the incident, that flotilla commander said  'We will not allow the Zionists to get near us and we will use resistance against them". How will they wage resistance? "They will resist with their fingernails. They are people who seek Martyrdom for Allah, as much as they want to reach Gaza, but the Martyrdom is more desirable" noted the commentator.

Before boarding the ships destined for Gaza, the Turkish activists were preparing themselves for a battle by singing and dancing. There were chanting "remember Khaibar, Khaibar, Oh Jews! Army of Mohammed will return". They were of course referring to the battle of Khaibar that took place in the year of 629 around 150 miles outside of Medina (modern-day Saudi Arabia) when Army of Mohammed attached the Jews who were barricaded in the fort of Khaibar. The Jews were conquered and few years later expelled by caliph Umar.

I wonder if the Jewish activists aboard those ships, including a Holocaust survivor, were dancing while listening to these songs. Oh well, the mission for them was probably more important then minor inconvenience of age old hatred for Yahudis (the Jews). There were representatives of many other countries on those ships besides the Turkish and Arab nationals, including members of the Free Gaza movement, European MPs, politicians of all sorts and even a Nobel laureate. And of course the Israel friendly media, including always present representatives from Al-Jazeera, was welcomed with the open arms.

Unfortunately the Israeli leaders grossly underestimated the objectives of this particular flotilla. While it carried tons of goods in its storage tanks it was the weight of hatred carried by it's passengers that was palpable. Israelis intercepted many boats before without an incident and based on that they send out few lightly armed troops to board the ships. The flotilla's flagship, Mavi Marmara, sailing under the Turkish flag was more then ready to greet them with metal bars and knifes and by the time the Israeli troops landed on board they were fighting for their lives.

Turkish activists with metal rods beating up a fallen Israeli soldier

Picture by IDF Spokesperson

When asked about her knowledge about any people on board that might have had links to terrorism, The Free Gaza movement co-founder Greta Berlin's response was: I'm the wrong person to ask, you need to ask the Turks. Because the people Israel is accusing of being terrorists, were on the Turkish ship. We are responsible only for our own passengers".

Reportedly, Mrs. Berlin considers herself to be an “internationalist” who doesn’t identify herself as an American and no longer lives in the U.S. As she distanced herself from the Turkish activists she went on on usual anti-Israeli tirade, accusing Israel being a real terrorist as so on. Like I said earlier, the end justifies the means. Sometimes you make a pact with a devil to get where you need to go. The Peace Now movement would be nowhere near Gaza without Turkish participation on that trip.

In light of this incident I have asked myself a question. What motivates all these people? Is it their love for the Palestinians in Gaza or is it their hatred for Israelis who happen to be Jews? After all, there are many other bigger conflicts in the world that dwarf the Israeli-Palestinian issue in terms of lives lost and number of displaced people left without any means for survival. Is it their support for Hamas? But Hamas is closer in it's ideology to Islamic Republic of Iran and Taliban then it is to democratic values of the western countries.

The answer is not difficult to find. Let's say the blockade of Gaza s lifted and Hamas will feel free to do what it's charter dictates them to do, which is to become an Islamic society that adheres to the Sharia Law. Is that what the good citizens of the world want for Palestinian people, another religious dictatorship where women and minorities will have minimal or no rights? As much as I question the judgment of Gaza activists and millions of their supporters, I do not believe that, with the exception of Islamic radical members of the group, that's the future they want for Palestinian people.

Then the answer lies in the latter. The hatred of Israel. I do not think that most activists are even thinking about what future holds for Palestinians should the blockade be lifted because the future they seek is one that does not have Israel on the map of the Middle East. I think their main objective is to contribute to the end of State of Israel as we know it. The existence of the Jewish state is an unacceptable fact of life for many and any role they can play to ensure it's demise is worth an effort even if it's misguided.

There is also a sinister side to the entire event. While the bodies of the dead Turkish activists were flown back to Turkey and mourned by their families, the Istanbul based Islamic group named IHH (or Insani Yardim Vakvi), who is a major sponsor of the of the entire Freedom Flotilla enterprise, was openly celebrating their success. The fact that nine people were dead matters very little except of course for it's publicity value. Those were the martyrs for the cause. Without those deaths there would be no scandal and therefore no gain for the activists. "We become famous" was boasting a smiling member of the group.

IHH was responsible for purchasing three ships for the flotilla, including the biggest ship Mavi Marmara, from the company owned by Istanbul city government, as reported by New York Times. IHH has close ties to Hamas and apparently receives donations from affluent Turkish religious merchants who played a major role in bringing to power the pro-Islamic Justice and Development party and it's leader the current Turkish prime minister Recep Erdogan. According to Professor William Backley in his CNN peace on 6/3/10, the Justice and Development party "emerged from a hardcore anti-Western and anti-Israeli Islamist tradition that had close ties to Hamas and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood".

Mr. Erdogan was convicted in 1998 for inciting a religious hatred. See, in his younger days Mr. Erdogan was somewhat of a religious zealot. He was arrested for publicly reading an Islamic poem with following lines: "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers". In many other countries few would pay attention to this poem, but in post Ataturk Turkey this was a big deal. Erdogan was sentenced to 10 months in jail but was freed after just one hour.

After he was elected a prime minister in 2002, Recep Erdogan disavowed his hard-line Islamic views and tried to portray himself as pro-Western conservative. But that was back in 2002. In 2010 Recep Erdogan is a seasoned politician who consolidated his power internally, has repeatedly assailed Turkey's most sacred institution, the army, slowly but surely distanced himself from his Western allies in favor of other Islamic countries. The founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk must be turning in his grave, as this was exactly what he was guarding Turkey against. Many secular Turks fear that Erdogan never really changed his radical views but just hid them until he no longer felt vulnerable.

Just recently Turkey has held a military exercises with Syria and couple of weeks ago, along with Brazilian president, Erdogan was seen hugging Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as he was trying to sell a crappy Iranian nuclear agreement to the West. He was very upset when that deal was declined by U.S. and it's allies. Earlier Turkey's prime minister declined to support President Barack Obama's push for tough new sanctions against Iran. He said that Turkey has had a strategic alliance with Iran since the 17th century and wants a diplomatic solution to end the deadlock.

As reported by CNN, Turkish prime minister is also trying to avoid the scrutiny of U.S. lawmakers who recently supported a resolution in the House of Representatives that branded the World War I era killings of over a million Armenians by Turkey as genocide. After the resolution was passed, Turkey temporarily withdrew its ambassador from Washington. In March of 2010. Mr. Erdogan threatened to expel thousands of Armenian workers from Turkey as a reprisal. "If necessary, I may have to tell these 100,000 to go back to their country because they are not my citizens. I don't have to keep them in my country". I suppose old habits die hard.

Over the years Turkey has developed close military and economic ties with Israel. Turkey was always referred to as Israel's closest ally in the Middle East. As he traveled to Tehran, Damascus, Riyadh and other neighboring capitals it's hard to imagine that Erdogan was not asked and sited for Turkey's relationship with Zionist enemy. He probably cringed every time Turkey was mentioned as Israel's ally in the media.

If Recep Erdogan was to succeed in being a leader of the Islamic world and embark on his goal of creating the Pan-Islamic alliances he needed a clean break from his relationship with Israel. The idea of a flotilla could not have come at the better time. Very little recruiting was needed. Once the word was out that the flotilla was sailing to Gaza and confrontation with Jews was a strong possibility, the volunteers were pouring in. Turkish government knew full well that many of the so called Islamic peacenics were seeking martyrdom.

Turkish activists throwing an Israeli soldier overboard

The stage was set and all the actors were in place. There they were, the ships of peace with western women in traditional Palestinian kefayas, the devote Muslims crying for the plight of the Gazans, a customary Jew or two, the concerned European politicians and of course the other side, the blood thirsty Zionists. All the makings of a good Greek tragedy.

Unfortunately tragedy it turned out to be. And it was played impeccably to the last tiny detail. The public burial ceremonies that attracted thousands of mourners, the interviews with the activists telling the horrible stories of how the Jews stared shooting without any provocation, the mandatory protests with Israeli flag burning ceremonies performed by hysterical mobs weeping up already outraged population. The young Turkish mother who took her one year-old child on this trip and was willing to do it again was paraded all over the airways and of course the anti-Israeli media frenzy began almost immediately accusing Israel of crimes before even knowing the facts. The usual staff just taken a notch higher.

Then it was the politicians' turn to step up to the plate. And what better stage then the UN Security council where the Turkish minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Davutoglu called the Israeli raid "a bloody stain on the history of humanity". Big words! Speaking of history, I guess the Armenian genocide perpetrated by his countryman, the fact that he would vehemently deny, pails in comparison to Israeli raid on the hate flotilla.

The same Mr. Davutoglu is now hard at work to start up an international commission to investigate Israeli action a la the Goldstone report which was a shameful attempt to put a blame on Israel alone for Gaza incursion during the operation Cast Lead in 2009. Israel went into Gaza to stop the thousands of rockets raining on Israeli cites. One of the main reasons for those commissions is to neuter Israel so it can no longer defend itself against it's enemies. The tactic is very effective, in light of all the bad publicity Israel gets, and is used over and over again.

During his public appearance on 6/5/10 in the city of Konya, prime minister Erdogan added to the tensions, insisting that Hamas is not a terrorist organization. "Hamas are resistance fighters who are struggling to defend their land. They have won an election" Erdogan told the cheering crowd of supporters. "I do not accept Hamas as a terrorist organization. I have told this to US officials... and think the same today".

That kind of rhetoric is no longer surprising. Just a week ago I watched Mr. Erdogan's new best friend, Bashar Al-Asad of Syria, look Charlie Rose of PBS straight in the eye and say that Hezbollah is a peaceful organization. Few months ago Prime Minister Erdogan won the inaugural prize of the Rafik Hariri UN-HABITAT Memorial Award which he has proudly accepted in the ceremony held in Beirut. I am curious how does Mr. Erdogan reconcile the fact the his friend, Bashar Asad, had Mr. Hariri killed along with 9 other people back in 2005?

On the other hand Rafik Hariri's own son Saad, the current prime Minister of Lebanon, went to Syria just back in May to kiss the ring of his father's killer. I guess Hezbollah has convinced him that Israel is about to invade Lebanon any time now. That's why they are collecting the Scud missiles, all 30,000 of them.

As I am writing this article, the headlines on the Internet are how in light of the Gaza flotilla incident, Turkey has emerged as a new leader of the Middle East. So the entire adventure turned out to be a win-win citation for most of the participants. Turkey has new found leadership role, the Peace Now emerged as the rock stars of the radical liberal movement, Turkish Islamic group IHH has become famous and I am sure that the donations are just pouring in.

Hamas won because it was officially accepted as a "resistance movement" by arguably the most powerful Muslim country in the world. The Egyptians opened up their side of the border with Gaza. They could not be seen as siding with Israel. And what was the price? Nine people dead and few injured. The cynic would say that some of these people were seeking martyrdom anyway.

So everybody won? Not exactly. Israel lost and the regular Palestinians of Gaza lost. Israeli leaders need to take deep breath and look around. Using the tactics of 1980s and 1990s will no longer do. There is a new world out there and it is getting more hostile towards the Jewish state. As Daniel Pipes noted the battle field has moved to TV tubes and blogosphere and while Israel will never win the popularity contest she needs to adjust to the new realities.

They need a new game plan that would allow Israel to survive in the 21st century. Domestic bickering needs to turn into the unity government that can deal with existential threats facing the country. Cut off all the weak links. Time for internal political correctness has come and gone because the stakes are too high. The main goal should be the survival of Israel and not whether you can hold on to a couple of parcels of disputed land.

As for Palestinian people of Gaza, they lost because no matter what happens with the blockade they still have to live under Hamas control. Turkey, Iran and other Hamas benefactors can try to make them smell like a rose but it is still a terrorist organization that does not show any sign of change. They will use the citizens of Gaza as sacrificial lambs without hesitation if it suits them, especially if there is any progress towards peace. Because if there is one thing Hamas is really good at it's knowing how to kill any hope for a peaceful solution.