WEST PALM BEACH: When America's top diplomat called to offer condolences over the killing of his son in the Israeli airstrikes that hit a World Central Kitchen convoy delivering aid in Gaza, John Flickinger knew what he wanted to say.
The grieving father told Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the killings by Israel in the Hamas-run territory must end, and that the United States needs to use its power and leverage over its closest Mideast ally to make that happen.
Flickinger's 33-year-old son, Jacob Flickinger, a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen, was among the seven humanitarian workers killed in the April 1 drone strikes.
“If the United States threatened to suspend aid to Israel, maybe my son would be alive today,” John Flickinger told The Associated Press in describing his 30-minute conversation Saturday with Blinken.
Flickinger said Blinken did not pledge any new policy actions but said the Biden administration had sent a strong message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the relationship between the United States and Israel may change if the Israeli Defense Forces do not show more care for the fate of Gaza's civilians.
“I'm hopeful that this is the last straw, that the United States will suspend aid and will take meaningful action to leverage change in the way Israel is conducting this war,” John Flickinger said.
Flickinger said Blinken also spoke with his son's partner, Sandy Leclerc, who is left to care for their 1-year-old son, Jasper.
In addition to Jacob Flickinger, three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national and a Palestinian were killed in the strikes.
John Flickinger described his son as “larger than life,” a “loving son, a devoted dad and new father and a very loving companion to his life partner.”
Jacob Flickinger was remembered as a lover of the outdoors who ran survival training retreats and was involved in mountaineering, rock climbing and other adventure activities. He spent about 11 years serving in the Canadian Armed Forces, including eight months in Afghanistan.
The elder Flickinger said his son knew going to Gaza was risky, but he discussed it with family members and volunteered in hopes of helping Palestinians in Gaza that aide groups say face imminent famine.
“He died doing what he loved, which was serving and helping others,” said Flickinger, whose own nonprofit, Breakthrough Miami, exposes underrepresented students to academic opportunities and prepares them for college.
World Central Kitchen representatives have said they informed the Israeli military of their movements and the presence of their convoy.
Israeli officials have called the drone strikes a mistake, and on Friday the military said it dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others for their roles. The officers mishandled critical information and violated rules of engagement, the military said.
But John Flickinger said that in his view the strike “was a deliberate attempt to intimidate aid workers and to stop the flow of humanitarian aid.”
World Central Kitchen has since ceased food deliveries in Gaza, Flickinger noted, and he said it looks like Israel is “using food as a weapon.”
The Canadian government has been communicating with the family and is offering financial support to move Leclerc and Jasper from Costa Rica, where the family lives, back to Quebec province to be closer to family, Flickinger said.
Flickinger said his son's remains are in Cairo pending the issuance of a death certificate by Palestinian authorities. Once that happens, the family has made arrangements for them to be transported to Quebec.
In call with Blinken, father of killed aid worker urges tougher US stance on Israel in Gaza
https://arab.news/mjmax
In call with Blinken, father of killed aid worker urges tougher US stance on Israel in Gaza
- Flickinger told Blinken on Saturday that the US must use its power to pressure Israel to end killings in Gaza
Israel is risking global security, warns Somali Information Minister
- Tel Aviv’s actions boost terror groups, Daud Aweis Jama tells Arab News in exclusive interview
- He accuses Tel Aviv of wanting to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to region
RIYADH: Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and its presence in the region risks inflaming the situation there, allowing terrorist groups to undermine regional security and stability, according to Somali Information, Culture and Tourism Minister Daud Aweis Jama.
In a special interview with Arab News, Jama insisted that Israel’s unprecedented Dec. 26 move to recognize Somaliland as a sovereign state represents a major setback for Mogadishu’s fight against terrorist organizations like Al-Shabab and Daesh.
“The presence of Israel will be used by the terrorist groups to expand their operations in the region. (They will) have a pretext to spread their ideologies in the region,” he said.
“That is another factor that is also risking global security and regional stability, because we have been in the last stage of overcoming the challenges of the terrorist groups Al-Shabab and ISIS,” he added, using another term for Daesh.
Jama added: “We have been putting all our resources and all our time into making sure that we finalize the final stages of the fight against Al-Shabab. So, if something else interrupts us, that means that we are not going to focus fully on the operations against Al-Shabab. And that means we are giving more opportunities to Al-Shabab or other organizations.”
The consequences of this hit to Somalia’s ability to fight terror will not be restricted to the country’s borders, according to Jama, but will spread across the region and beyond.
“This might invite other, external terrorist groups to the region, because they will take advantage of this crisis and will make sure that they take over all the areas that have been defeated before,” the minister said.
“We believe this has come at a time that is going to affect our security as a Somali government, the security of the Horn of Africa, the security of the Gulf of Aden, the security of the Red Sea, the security of the Middle East and global stability. This is a very important location that holds the trade of the world.”
The minister underlined that Israel’s recognition and larger presence in the region are leading to more challenges, “putting more fuel on the ongoing challenges that exist in the region, especially in Somalia.” He added: “And at this time, it is not only limited to Somalia, but it’s going to be a challenge that is going to spread like a fire all over the region and all over the world.”
Jama told Arab News that Israel has other strategic motives for its recognition of Somaliland — including the forced resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza.
“According to reliable sources that our intelligence gathered, one of the conditions that Israel put forward (for recognizing Somaliland) was to have a place that they can settle the people from Gaza,” he said.
“We find that it is a violation also of the people of Palestine, because we believe that the people of Palestine have the right to self-determination. The two-state solution that has been the call of the international community has to be adhered to and implemented.”
Israel’s coalition government, the most right-wing and religiously conservative in its history, includes far-right politicians who advocate the annexation of both Gaza and the West Bank and encouraging Palestinians to leave their homeland.
Somalia’s UN Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman said Security Council members Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone and Somalia “unequivocally reject any steps aimed at advancing this objective, including any attempt by Israel to relocate the Palestinian population from Gaza to the northwestern region of Somalia.”
Israel last month became the first country to recognize Somaliland as an independent nation. In the three-plus decades since its self-declaration of independence in 1991, no state had recognized the northwestern territory as being separate from Somalia.
Mogadishu immediately rejected the Israeli move, alongside countries all over the world.
Saudi Arabia affirmed its rejection of any attempts to impose parallel entities that conflict with the unity of Somalia. It also affirmed its support for the legitimate institutions of the Somali state and its keenness to preserve the stability of Somalia and its people.
A group of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries, alongside the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, also firmly rejected Israel’s announcement. In a joint statement, the ministers warned that the move carries “serious repercussions for peace and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region” and undermines international peace and security.
The 22-member Arab League rejected “any measures arising from this illegitimate recognition aimed at facilitating forced displacement of the Palestinian people or exploiting northern Somali ports to establish military bases,” the organization’s UN Ambassador Maged Abdelfattah Abdelaziz told the UN Security Council.
In the most recent development in Israel-Somaliland relations, less than two weeks after Tel Aviv’s recognition, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visited the region on Tuesday to publicly formalize diplomatic relations.
“It was a blatant violation of Somalia’s sovereignty that Israel recognized a region within the Somali Federal Republic as an independent state,” Jama underlined. “That was a total violation of international laws. It was a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Somalia.
“From the beginning, our path was to follow diplomatic efforts. And we kind of started with a successful UN Security Council meeting that supported Somalia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. (This was) followed by other international actors like the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the African Union and regional bodies like the East African Community and IGAD.
“Also, the Peace and Security Council of the African Union has reiterated the importance of supporting Somali sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
