Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The Good, The Ugly, and The Uglier

Reactions to the Flotilla attack are starting to come in. For one of the few highlights we've got the reliably sane Stephen Walt:
My first question when I heard the news was: "What could Israel's leaders have been thinking?" How could they possibly believe that a deadly assault against a humanitarian mission in international waters would play to their advantage? Israel's government and its hard-line supporters frequently complain about alleged efforts to "delegitimize" the country, but actions like this are the real reason Israel's standing around the world has plummeted to such low levels.

The Washington Post editorial makes some of the obvious statements, but only after a bewildering stupid opening:
The Isreali commandos who landed on the deck of the Turkish ferry Mavi Marmara off the coast of the Gaza Strip early Monday were totally unprepared for what they encountered: dozens of militants who swarmed around them with knives and iron bars. The result was a bloody battle in which at least nine passengers were killed -- and a diplomatic debacle for the government of Binyamin Netanyahu... We have no sympathy for the motives of the participants in the flotilla -- a motley collection that included European sympathizers with the Palestinian cause, Israeli Arab leaders and Turkish Islamic activists.

Dozens of militants, ahahahahahahahahaha. If you ever try to stop people from illegally boarding your boat, you're a militant! Also, apparently WaPo has no sympathy for the motives of the flotilla organizers, motives like "delivering aid to Gaza" and "trying to draw attention to how badly Israel is fucking Gaza." Those are some pretty unsavory motives there! Finally, check out the headline and of this Haaretz piece:
Straight into the trap
The troops slid from helicopters into a violent crowd, which attacked them with sticks; It's no wonder they opened fire in self-defense.

IT ISN'T SELF DEFENSE IF YOU'RE THE ONE BELLIGERENTLY TRYING TO COMMANDEER A BOAT. It also isn't any sort of reasonable self defense if, during the course of your boat-commandeering activities, you use automatic weapons on people attacking you with "sticks." Jesus.

2 comments:

  1. " We have no sympathy for the motives of the participants in the flotilla "

    That sentence sums up their worldview doesn't it? If you don't have sympathy for those attempting to bring aid to one of the most devastated places on the face of the earth, you are probably a monster. Just saying.

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  2. Ah, I see Israel is going with the "I'm going to walk forward swinging my arms like this and if you just so happen to get punched it's your fault" defense.

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