Netanyahu's refusal to apologise over the Gaza flotilla killings shows that Israel is misreading the new Middle East

Israeli commandos killed eight Turkish citizens and one American of Turkish ancestry aboard the Mavi Marmara [EPA]

In the prologue to The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem,
the author Josephus tells us that works written earlier by others "were
marred by inaccuracies and prejudice" and that he "hopes to comfort the
conquered and to deter others from attempting innovations".

Josephus'
clmindic account is indeed a gripping story evoking powerful emotions
and leaves us in no doubt as to where our sympathy lies: As the mighty
Romans lord over the powerless Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem
perpetuating cruelty and injustice, the story is as old as mankind. The
oppression of human beings by fellow human beings is not a tale told by
an idiot but by the chronicle of time. And as this history repeats
itself, the once oppressed can easily become the oppressor. Where once
it was the all-powerful Romans against the downtrodden Jews, today it is
the high and mighty regime of Israel against the helpless Palestinians.

Adding
to this state of oppression is the deadly flotilla attack by Israeli
commandos under the Netanyahu government, in which nine people were
killed - with at least seven having been handcuffed and shot in the back
of the head. Yet the latest United Nations report on the attack has
completely gone off the mark by concluding that Israel's blockade of
Gaza was a legitimate act of self-defence.

According
to the Palmer Commission's report, the legitimacy purportedly arises
from Israel having to take necessary steps to protect its people from
violent acts by Palestinian militants in Gaza, such as the firing of
illegal rockets into Israel.

While
no one condones violent acts that threaten the security of the people
of Israel, the purported rationale for self-defence in this case flies
against the facts, the most telling of which is that a unilateral
ceasefire by Hamas had already been in place since early 2009. Bereft of
this pretext, the entire edifice for the perpetuation of deadly force
by Israel crumbles.

But
that is cold comfort for the 1.5 million Palestinians being
incarcerated in Gaza, who are now at the mercy of Israel's land and
naval blockade, which continues to deny them their right to move freely
within and between all countries. Sanctioning such a military siege
against a helpless civilian population is to turn the global rule of law
on its head. And this is a community that has already been so
dispossessed. As Edward Said once said, few national groups have been
stripped of their humanity in the eyes of the world more blatantly than
ordinary Palestinian men and women.

The
attack on the humanitarian flotilla can neither be sanctioned nor
rationalised. Apart from violating international maritime law, it was an
act of ruthless aggression against an innocent party. No sovereign
government can allow such a transgression to take place with impunity.

When
two Israeli soldiers were captured by Hezbollah, Israel invaded
Lebanon. Nine Turkish citizens have been brutally killed in
international waters, and no one should expect Turkey to sleep over the
death of its citizens. One of those killed was also an American citizen,
the 19-year-old Furkan Dogan, about whom the Obama administration has
kept silent. Turkey is therefore right in unequivocally rejecting the UN
report and all attempts to justify the military siege of Gaza as legal.

Netanyahu's
announcement that Israel will not apologise to Turkey demonstrates his
dereliction of responsibilities and a particular callousness towards a
nation that used to be a military ally. He is completely misreading the
dynamic of the new Middle East, in which justice, not oppression and
authoritarianism, will shape history.

More
significantly, it has missed a golden opportunity to further the
prospects of peace through an enhanced collaboration with democratic
Turkey under Prime Minister Erdogan. There is no better time than now,
particularly in the wake of the Arab Spring, for all parties to move
towards a more enduring peace in the Middle East driven by universal
ideals for freedom, democracy and justice.

Anwar Ibrahim is currently opposition leader of Malaysia and was formerly the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister.