An American citizen was executed May 31 by an allied country’s military. Furkan Dogan, a 19-year-old American citizen, was found to have been shot in the face at point-blank range while unconscious after being shot four times previously.
This is what the U.N.’s independent inquiry into Israel’s raid of the Gaza-bound flotilla this summer found, which was officially released Sept. 27. In this raid, Israel violated several international laws, including some human rights laws.
Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard about this, as the media seem to be fairly quiet about something which, quite frankly, should be considered a pretty big incident.
What had Dogan done to deserve such a death, might you ask?
Along with eight other civilians (at least four of whom were executed in a similar style), Dogan was killed while traveling aboard the Mavi Marmara, the flagship of the humanitarian flotilla. Positioned on the top deck, he was simply recording the Israeli Defense Force raid when he was shot and posed no threat to the assailing commandos.
While the unwarranted, extralegal execution of any citizen should cause international outrage, one would assume the death of an American by a foreign military would get people up in arms.
So, this begs a question: Why exactly have we heard nothing about these findings, and instead been shown the same frivolous crap concerning celebrities?
I see two possible options, neither of which speaks well of America. On one hand, it could be because Dogan is a permanent resident of Turkey and not an average American citizen. The other option would be simply because the foreign country in question is Israel, and we can never have them do any wrong.
It is hard to believe the media would be this quiet had it happened to a permanent U.S. resident or if it had been done by a country like Iran.
Given the way some senators were against the U.N.’s inquiry regarding the flotilla, the second option seems much more likely.
On June 23, 87 senators from both sides of the political aisle urged President Barack Obama to oppose any sort of investigation by the U.N. These senators defended Israel’s actions wholeheartedly, without any reasoning to do so.
If Israel had done nothing wrong, an investigation would simply prove this, right?
Apparently, this makes too much sense. Instead, we have people in our government who would rather remain ignorant to the truth behind an international incident rather than believe Israel could do wrong. This is more than an alliance, and it is something potentially harmful to the U.S.
Allies can and should disagree with each other at times. The unconditional support some of our senators are showing is not healthy and only has potential to drag us into situations in which we shouldn’t be involved.
Beyond the politicians, our media’s silence on the matter is just as much a disservice to the public and to Dogan. Isn’t it important for us to know our government would rather side with a foreign country than its own citizens? Where’s the outrage from Fox News, MSNBC or CNN?
While the entire incident was handled horribly, in the end it was only an overreaction and miscalculation by the IDF. While there should be repercussions, this should not be something that permanently dampens relations between Israel and the U.S.
Despite my personal feelings toward the country and its actions, I know mistakes happen, and as long as they do not occur again, I cannot hold this against them indefinitely.
Instead, my outrage goes to Sen. Harry Reid, Sen. Mitch McConnell, the rest of the 85 senators against any investigation and the major news outlets. An American citizen was executed, and between attempts to bar an investigation and the silence following its results, they have all failed their country and its citizens.
Zachary Davis is a 19-year-old history sophomore from Warsaw, Poland. Follow him on Twitter   @TDR_zdavis.
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Contact Zachary Davis at [email protected]