Thursday, July 29, 2010

Anyone Notice The Difference In How Cameron Speaks About Israel And Turkey?

While in Turkey this week, David Cameron, Prime Minister of Great Britain, came out against Israel on Gaza this week:
Cameron's criticism of Tel Aviv came when he called for Israel to relax its restrictions on Gaza. "The situation in Gaza has to change," he said. "Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp."

He strongly condemned Israel after the assault on the Gaza flotilla. "The Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla was completely unacceptable," he said. "I have told prime minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu we will expect the Israeli inquiry to be swift, transparent and rigorous. "Let me also be clear that the situation in Gaza has to change."
But don't worry--Cameron knows who his real friends are, as Barry Rubin points out: In Speech to Turkey, PM David Cameron Goes Full Idiot

When it came to talking about turkey, on the other hand, Cameron came out at his most obsequious, with comments such as:

  • I’ve come to Ankara today to establish a new partnership between Britain and Turkey. I think this is a vital strategic relationship for our country.

  • People ask me why [I’m visiting] Turkey and why so soon. I’ll tell you why. Because Turkey is vital for our economy. Vital for our security. And vital for our politics and diplomacy.

  • Turkey is a great NATO ally. And Turkey shares our determination to fight terrorism in all its forms —
    whether from al-Qaeda or the PKK. [Note that he fails to mention Hamas or Hezbollah!] But perhaps more significant still is the fact that Turkey’s unique position at the meeting point of East and West gives it an unrivaled influence in helping us get to grips with some of the greatest threats to our collective security.
Read the whole thing--including some real whoppers.

It's important to know who your friends are.
Maybe somebody should give Cameron a few pointers.

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2 comments:

  1. British Prime Minister David Cameron pulled out all the stops to impress the Turks. But he did not strengthen the UK's standing in Europe. Np one seriously thinks the EU will take his new found Turkish project any time soon.

    As for his lecturing Israel about a "prison camp," there is the matter of his own Majesty's Government reneging on its Mandate obligations during the time it ruled Palestine and putting the Jews in prison camps on Cyprus for the sole crime of wanting to arrive in their homeland.

    He who lives in a glass house should be careful about throwing stones.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Who pays attention to history these days anyway?

    The people who don't realize that there has never been a Palestinian people or a land called Palestine (both are fabrications)--are not going to know or care about how Great Britain bungled the Mandate.

    ReplyDelete

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