HUSSEIN SHOBOKSHI The horrific news of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukrainian airspace by a rocket is still shocking. The gruesome news leads eventually to indicting the Russians and their clear support for the Ukrainian rebels who are opting to “join” Russia. These rebels have been supplied with very sophisticated weapons capable of downing the plane. The West in general, and the American administration in particular, has taken advantage of the incident and is pressing hard to point the finger at Russian President Putin with a full-court press in the media where talking heads are putting enormous pressure on Putin and the Russian government. Could this episode be to Putin and Russia what Lockerbie was to Gaddafi and the Libyans? This seems to be extremely farfetched and wishful thinking. Putin is no Gaddafi and Russia is no Libya. This horrific incident is not the first of its kind. In 1983, the Soviet Union shot down a Korean Airlines plane en route from New York to Seoul when the aircraft was in Russian airspace. The Soviets said the plane was on a “spying” mission. In 1973, the Israeli government decided to shoot down a civilian aircraft belonging to Libyan Airlines. The aircraft which was en route from Tripoli to Cairo via Benghazi was shot down by Israeli jet fighters. The 727 left Tripoli but due to very bad weather and a severe equipment failure, it lost its way over northern Egypt. Over 100 people were killed when the plane exploded over the Occupied Sinai Peninsula, Egyptian territory which was then under brutal Israeli occupation. The French crew which was contracted by Air France to Libyan Airlines were given no option and were simply shot down as later details revealed. The story gets even uglier as the order to two Israeli F-4 Phantom fighting jets to shoot down the aircraft and kill its passengers in cold blood was directly given by Israeli Chief of Staff David Elazar. The United Nations, as expected, did not take any action against this terrorist act. The 30 member nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) simply voted to censure Israel for the attack. Knowing this story might help explain the brutal campaign conducted by the Israeli government against Gaza and its innocent people. Its mighty army is bombarding civilians, killing scores of people every day. This is not self -defense. This is terrorism, plain and simple.
