Who benefits from the murder?

The photo looks amusing at first glance. On second thoughts, it is not. The photo shows a man in Islamic attire and boasting an Islamic-style beard, standing in the middle of a protesting crowd and holding out a placard that reads: "Death to all Juice."

Unfortunately, that’s not a fatwa against fruit, in the words of the friend who sent the picture. It’s a reflection of the anti-Semitic sentiment most people hide at normal times and fail to hide each time "that cursed nation" kills innocent Muslims Ñ alongside not-so-innocent Muslims.

Who are the losers apart from the dead? Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, is no doubt a major loser. Ehud Olmert may be securing a military victory and a "handful of votes." But in the longer term the country he loves so dearly will probably lose. Simply because this is an asymmetrical warfare: A nation for which one life means a lot versus a nation for which death is a ticket to paradise.

News from Gaza are also bad news for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Ahmet Davutoğlu, the prime minister’s foreign policy genius and "ambassador" to terrorist Hamas. Not only that Mssrs Erdoğan and Davutoğlu now see their years-long efforts for Middle East peace-brokering slipping into the political wasteland, they also fear every piece of tragic news from Gaza may mean a few less votes for their party in municipal elections on March 29.

Tragedy for "our Palestinian brothers" has always been an Achilles heel for the Justice and Development Party, or AKP. The latest attack on Gaza is no exception. "More Muslim" Turks, otherwise loyal supporters of the AKP, have already begun campaigning against the government with demands including "closing down the Zionist embassy, expelling its ambassador and canceling all international treaties with Israel."

One such Islamist protest message accused the AKP of "being strategic partners with the Zionist gang" and of "sinning by being the collaborators of genocide." Another Islamist protest note carried a very interesting message: "Hell would have broken loose if it were the government of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, not of the AKP!"

Quite true, Turkey’s Islamists have the bizarre habit of accusing the Kemalists of being pro-Jewish when Jews kill Muslims, and anti-Semitic when they need Jewish and American support to advance their political agenda. Smart? Cunning? It depends on whether and how much they can fool the powerful Jewish lobby in Washington.

The Kurds? Not a voice. Are the Kurds not Muslim? Are they not in awe and anger? Or are they in awe and anger, but too shy to express their feelings of awe and anger in order not to offend their Jewish friends?

What else has the Israeli offensive unmasked? Diyanet. Our religious affairs directorate which is "at equal distance to all faiths." Read Diyanet’s official statement on the "Gaza affair" and you will have a better understanding of the predominant Islamic thinking. In the first place, it is hard to understand why should Diyanet make a statement on Gaza. Is it Diyanet’s job to comment on Gaza?

If the answer is yes, because human deaths naturally fall into the authority of religious affairs, then the question should be why did Diyanet not make a statement when Islamist terrorists killed innocent people in Mumbai. Would Diyanet issue a statement and condemn if Palestinian terrorists killed Israeli civilians? Has it ever issued a statement and condemned the deaths of Israelis?

Diyanet’s statement is a de facto confession that this is a war of religions. Diyanet is the office for "religious affairs," not foreign affairs. It issued that statement precisely because "Jews are killing innocent Muslims." That’s precisely why Diyanet thinks the Israeli offensive on Gaza falls into its authority, "religious affairs."

What does Diyanet’s statement say? It talks about "a nation" which suffered injustice, cruelty and discrimination in historyÉ That’s the Jews. It talks about "that nation," Jews, inflicting similar pain to the others, Palestinians, now that it has seized power, Israeli Defense Forces, or has won the support of world powers, the United States. It also says all this is regrettable.

It may or may not be regrettable. The argument that the Jews are now doing to the others what others once did to them can always be debated. But the point is, the statement reveals the true colors of Diyanet which at times Israelis do not bomb Palestinian targets plays the political role of the "peaceful Sunni Muslim" who loves Jews and Christians.

But who are the winners? No doubt, the winners are the Hamas and the Mullah in Tehran who must be counting the civilian death toll, especially children and women, with big smiles not visible on their faces.