Erdogan's "Healthy Criticism" or "Demonization" of Israel?

1) "Gaza War Created Rift Between Israel and Turkey," A6, by Sabrina Tavernise and Ethan Bronner
2) "Agency Says Hamas Took Aid Intended for Needy," A10, by Isabel Kershner and Taghreed El-Khodary

*****
Gaza War Created Rift Between Israel and Turkey

Tavernise and Bronner's analysis of the recent deterioration of the Israeli-Turkish creates an 'equivalency of responsibility' that in the end rings hollow in its lack of logic.

The article begins with the comical assertion that while "Israel’s Arab allies stood behind it in the war," "Turkey... protested every step of the way." Israel's Arab allies? Israel may be at peace with Egypt and Jordan, but those countries would never consider Israel their "ally." And while Egypt and Jordan may have cheered for a Hamas defeat, they were nearly as vociferous as Turkey in condemning Israel's actions (using the language of "a massacre").

Focusing on Israeli-Turkish relations, the Times attempts to minimize the anti-Israel sentiments of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan. According to Michael Reynolds of Middle East Strategy at Harvard, the relationship between Turkey and Israel has been deteriorating since 2001 and Erdogan's government has been sympathetic enough to Hamas to receive their emissaries in Ankara.

Employing another euphemism, Ergodan's attacks against Israel's military operations are described as "healthy criticism" when it clearly went far beyond that. At the Davos Forum, Erdogan lashed out at Israeli President Shimon Peres, "declaring that his shouting betrayed a guilty conscience and imputing to him expertise in killing children at beaches, before going on to cite the Torah’s prohibition against murder and throwing in criticisms of Israel from Israelis for good measure." That is clearly not the "healthy criticism" of an ally, but demonization.

The article's sophistry reaches new heights when it erroneously reports that Erdogan "rejects Hamas's use of violence" based on this quote: "I’m not saying Hamas is a good organization and makes no mistakes." That is clearly not a rejection of Hamas's violence but the Times unprofessionally stretches it to take on that meaning.

In fact, throughout this entire article Tavernise and Bronner are 'stretching' to create an equivalence of responsibility between the two countries. The perceptive reader, however, should be able to recognize that Erdogan's anti-Israel theatrics, which has earned him much praise at home in the region, is the cause of this latest diplomatic fallout.

*****
Agency Says Hamas Took Aid Intended for Needy

Straight from the title, the Times find itself mired in a 'he said-she said' account. It's somewhat shocking that the NYT reporters cannot independently confirm that Hamas forcibly stole supplies from the United Nations Relief & Works Agency (UNRWA), instead having to resort to reporting that 'UNRWA said...'

The article details that "UNWRA staff had earlier refused to hand over the aid supplies to the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs. The police subsequently broke into the warehouse and seized the aid by force." From this information, Hamas' responsibility should be clear, but for whatever reason, the Times can't outright say it. In later articles, hopefully the Times will be able to corroborate this story and report it as fact as it seems to be.

In the same article, the Times reports that "the Israeli military acknowledged that its soldiers fired two tank shells on Jan. 16 at the house of Izzeldin Abuelaish, a well-known Gaza doctor, killing three of his daughters and a niece." The reader should be able to recognize the sharp contrast between Israel's behavior - admitting to its errors - and that of Hamas - which would never admit to error.

Israel has a respect for Western philosophical values and the concept of universal truth. Even the father of the deceased, Dr. Abuelaish, has appreciation for Israel's truth-seeking by thanking Israel "for carrying out an honest investigation" and stating, "We all make mistakes."

Israel is aware and admits it makes mistakes. Hamas would never admit to making one. What does that say about the nature of these two adversaries?