On July 27, British Prime Minister David Cameron gave a speech in Turkey, in which he called Gaza a "prison camp."
Here is an opinion piece on Cameron's remarks by Washington Post columnist Jackson Diehl:
Western leaders have been puzzling over how to respond to the Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which in recent months has abandoned its former policy of seeking integration with Europe and begun seeking to establish itself as an Islamic power — with cosy relations with Iran and Syria.
On Tuesday Britain's new prime minister, David Cameron, tried shameless pandering. In a speech delivered in Ankara, Cameron first denounced European opponents of Turkey's membership in the European Union, saying they were motivated by protectionism or prejudice against Islam.
But Erdogan lost interest in the E.U. some time ago. So Cameron embraced the Turkish leader's new favorite subject: the evils of Israel.
"The Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla was completely unacceptable," Cameron said. Then he added: "Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp."
A prison camp? Israel's enemies are fond of using that term, with its implicit hint that the Jewish state has adopted the policies of Nazi Germany. But according to the BBC, no British prime minister has ever spoken so harshly of Israel's handling of Gaza.
Asked about it later, Cameron protested that he was only repeating what he had said in a House of Commons debate several weeks ago. But the Guardian checked: in that instance, the prime minister referred to Gaza as "a giant open prison," not a prison camp.
Erdogan, of course, was delighted to have Cameron join his anti-Israel campaign. His Islamist ruling party encouraged the Turkish ferry whose attempt to break Israel's sea blockade of Gaza at the end of May led to a clash in which nine Turks — all of them members or supporters of a militant Islamic "charity" — died. Since then Erdogan has been using the incident in a bid to compete with Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah for leadership of the Middle East's Israel-hating "street."
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