Frank Pallone: “On Saturday, February 7, The Washington Post reported that a Turkish Islamic-oriented human rights group, the…”

“On Saturday, February 7, The Washington Post reported that a Turkish Islamic-oriented human rights group, the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples, known as Mazlum-Der, initiated a probe to investigate if war crimes and genocide were committed by Israel during the recent Gaza conflict. I was startled to read that Mazlum-Der plans to investigate 19 Israelis, including Prime Minister Olmert, President Peres, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, for orchestrating genocide. For a Nation that for 94 years has practiced widespread genocide denial of the killing of 1.5 million Armenians, hypocrisy runs deep today in Ankara. Last week, I expressed my concerns regarding Turkey's recent rash of anti-Semitism, but this probe is going too far. Israel did not commit genocide, but this has not stopped Ankara's chief prosecutor from launching this war crimes probe. The probe out of Turkey will investigate Israel's actions in the Gaza conflict to see if they amount to 'genocide, torture and crimes against humanity.' If the prosecutor finds evidence against the Israeli leaders, under Turkish law, they can be detained if they enter Turkey. The absurdity of this probe and of the fact that Turkey is issuing that it must be exposed. Israel did not commit genocide. Israel was not attempting to eliminate the Palestinian people. Israel was protecting itself from the hundreds of bombs Hamas has been shooting into its cities.”