A sincere post on the flotilla incident

I read this on an online forum:

From an friend in Israel who would never vote for Netanyahu :

Now, I must say that many of us here in Israel are not proud about what happened on the vessel and are deeply troubled and concerned about the results. We are trying to understand the events, to analyze them and to learn from them. Surely practical and operational lessons must be learned.

For someone like me, who consistently holds the opinion (and more importantly, hope) that the conflict must be resolved as soon as possible by a two state solution (as an historic agreement), and that the two nations learn to appreciate each other and to cooperate, the events of the past few days (and of the past few years actually) have been very frustrating.

The Navy Seals' operation was conducted and structured under the false assumption that indeed we are dealing with Peace Activists. Take into consideration that the unit involved is one of the most effective and highly trained commando units in the world, Had they been seeking to cause injury and damage, you wouldn't have seen them sliding down ropes one by one without covering fire or use of snipers. The screw up lies exactly here: in actually believing that they were facing political activists asking to protest non-violently (most likely most of them were, but that's not good enough when terrorists are allowed to use the sail as a platform for violence).

Concerning the "Marmara ship" events, a few key points must be addressed:

1. It is clear that this was not a case of humanitian aid, but an international provocation meant at propoganda. Humanitarian aid has been coming in to Gaza in mass quantities throughout the blockade, unconditionally (medical supplies, food, etc.) The organizers of the sail were offered several practical solutions that would have allowed all supplies to come through, but refused all of them. It should be clear that their aims were purely political - a cynical act of disinformation.

2. Gazza has become one of the world's largest missile bases. Ammunition that would come in (by sea or otherwise) will ultimately be fired at civilians, as has been the case throughout the conflict. So there's no question about the need of the State to defend its citizens.

3. Please remember that the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted in 2006, remains captive, while humanitarian visits required under international law are not allowed.

4. So the strongest unit the IDF could send was directed not to use any fire arms and to avoid casualties. Paradoxically, they were armed with paint ball weapons. This has got to be an unprecedented phenomenon: Elite commandos armed with paint ball guns facing so called "peace activists" who attack them instantly with bats, knives, shock gernades, molotov cocktails, lynch them in attempt to injure or killl. One troop gets thrown off deck. Live fire is used and two soldiers are injured from gunshot. Then and only then the soldiers received permission to defend themselves and to take over the situation.

5. A group of thugs put the lives of all the other participants in jeopardy. They did so knowingly and intentionally. Yes, unfortunately for all, they succeded.

6. Paradoxically, the instigators are labelled as innocent victims. And Israel is singled out diplomatically.

It is not humanly possible to do right under such a crooked set of rules and double standards.

And the reactions to this event are merely an example of an untruthfull, post modern and cynical systematic approach.

The international community (or diplomacy) is wrong on another count: Resolution of the conflict requires good faith. Extreme and unfair pressure naturally tend to fuel nationalist sentiments and disbelief. They stengthen advocates of the hard line approach, politically.

I am one of many Israelis who continue to be hopeful and who voice themselves on the importance of pursuing Peace and a fair resolution of the historic conflict. However, this cannot be achieved through distortion of both facts and values.