Palestinian Activists To Blame For Flotilla Violence

Jillian Bandes
Monday, May 31, 2010

Israeli's IDF forces stormed a flotilla loaded with 700 international activists who deliberately provoked a response by violating — or attempting to violate — a longstanding blockade of the Gaza strip. The incident represents a conniving scheme to trap the Israeli military through circumstances out of their control. It was carefully pre-planned by violent activists who knew exactly how to invoke the scorn of international pro-Palestinian sympathizers, and did so with the deliberate intention of derailing peace efforts between Israel and Palestine. Unfortunately, those pro-Palestinian sympathizers have already managed to get ahead of the news cycle and spin the event as an atrocious act of state terrorism by the Jewish state.

Ten thousand tons of humanitarian aid on board a "defenseless" flotilla is a difficult thing to look at and say, "That delivery ought to be stopped, and the use of force is justified to stop it." But the Israeli government is currently conducting an examination of the aforementioned "humanitarian aid," and only time will tell if there are arms and other contraband on board. Regardless, the delivery of such materials is not allowed in the manner it was being delivered, and the organizers knew this before embarking on their mission. Refusing to allow materials to be brought into a neighboring state that actively calls for the destruction of Israel is not only the right of the IDF, but the very reason the IDF exists.

Seven hundred activists are even less defensible than ten thousand tons of relief supplies. That many volunteers are simply unnecessary if legitimate relief work is being performed, but more importantly, the nature of the volunteers was such that it exculpates Israel from blame right off the bat. Why would 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland — now 66 years old — be on board to assist with the maneuvers? Maguire is notorious for insisting that Israel is conducting ethnic cleansing on the Palestinian people, and has a history of violence when dealing with the IDF. Maguire and her band of activists are primarily interested in violence when dealing with international activism.

International diplomats and the international media is already placing blame on Israel for perpetrating this tragic event, but the U.S. and Britian have been wise to hold their tongue until the full facts of the case have been made clear. An examination of those facts can begin with this video.