THIS is a hard column for me to write. Israel is wounded right now. I feel bad for everything she is going through. The whole flotilla raid what a tragedy. I believe Israels reaction is totally justifiable, morally, ethically, legally even strategically. But blood was spilled when maybe it didnt have to be. That is hard on my conscience.
Dont get me wrong. I realize fully that these peace activistswere no Martin Luther Kings or Mahatama Ghandis. Some news reports even link this ship to al Qaida. Of course, that would be no surprise, considering that this humanitarian vessel was bringing goods to Hamas which affiliates, or is at least linked to al Qaida.
Of course the people sponsoring the flotilla, and the people on Mavi Marmara the specific vessel in the fleet where all this trouble took place made no secret about the fact that this was no neutral humanitarian aid effort, but meant to be a full-on confrontation challenging the sovereignty of Israel by flagrantly violating and disrespecting its blockade on Gaza.
Make no mistake about it, in addition to delivering supplies, part of their goal and mission was to protest the blockade on Gaza in their words the Israeli siege on Palestinians. If this, in fact, was part of their mission, then why, I ask, did these peace and civil disobedience civilians have clubs, stun grenades and other weapons on them? Read the related IJN editorial
As far as I always understood, civil disobedience means showing you are against social or political policy without resorting to violence. Isnt that the whole point and power of the enterprise? These passengers hardly seem to fit the profile of innocent-passionate peaceniks concerned with civil disobedience.
Of course, this mission couldnt have only been about providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, because Israel does this herself with water, electricity and more every single day. Unfortunately, this aid does not, perhaps, always reach Palestinians due to the corruption among Hamas which does not necessarily make good on the delivery.
So, back to the flotilla.
As the ship was approaching the high seas of hostile waters, after many radio warnings by Israel and the IDF to the Mavi Marmara, to change course, leave the hostile high seas they were on, and dock at the port of Ashdod, the flotilla refused to do so. Again, Israel gave more than fair warning and told them they support the humanitarian aid, but that it will need to be distributed through formal border crossings. Yet again, Israel invited them to Ashdod where tents had already been set up, prepared to help the Mavi Marmara unload the aid.
Unlike the previous five ships in the flotilla which Israel successfully and non-violently guided to alter course and dock at a legal port, the Mavi Marmara plowed on. News coverage: Israel faces flotilla fallout
In a way, a confrontation was unavoidable. Israel was put in a tight spot and needed to react, to intervene, and disable the course of this ship to the Gazan port in some way. Lets get this straight: the aggressors here were the hundreds of people on board the large Mavi Marmara ship; the responders: Israel.
THE question still remains: if Israels goal was to disable the course of the ship why was it not done technologically, without any navy commando ever setting foot on that ship? The propellers could have been disabled, stopping the vessel from continuing on its way. Now, I know no matter what Israel would have done, she would have been demonized. She would have taken a beating in the public court of world opinion either way.
But at least blood would not have been spilled.
At the same time, I can understand the Israeli sentiment of, well, if we are going to be demonized either way, we might as well earn it and do whatever it takes to take care of ourselves kind of thinking.
There is no doubt about it: the flotillas decision was a provocative act. A trap for Israel. A bait. And, sadly and to me, surprisingly Israel rose to it. Israel basically handed Hamas and Palestinian supporters a propaganda victory bigger than they could have dreamed of. Martyrs. And I am sorry to say, to sound so cynical, but , yes, it seems this was, to an extent, part of the goal of this humanitarian aid flotilla. Apparently, they themselves went into this journey publicly saying how a military reaction from Israel would breathe new life into the pro-Palestinian cause.
I feel sad for the futility, for the pain of the loss of life. But I feel deep compassion for the IDF navy commandos who executed this. I ask you, at what point do you decide to shoot and protect yourself? How many soldiers have to die before you act on self-protection? Once in this hostile mob of people, the IDF commandos had no choice. Was Israel right? Post your opinion on the blog
AS sad as it is, they did what was right and brave. The truth is, I feel the commandos sent in should have been sent in with more ammunition, more prepared, not like some half-armed civilans without any confidence put into your mission, with instructions to keep checking back with supervisors before every micro move that is made. This only cultivates a weak soldier and leads to more damage and poor decision making not moral or nice fighting, like you would think.
From what I have read in the San Remo document of the IRC, it seems Israels actions were all within her rights. If there is a blockade, the law permits the party imposing it to interdict any ship attempting to run it. So, the law is on Israels side. So are the ethics.
But the brains? Was there tactical and procedural savvy and wisdom? In this case, not so much. I write with a heavy heart. I dont want to be doing Israels accounting in her hour of pain and isolation, especially since I believe she did right. For me, now is the time more than ever, to stay strong with Israel. And, oh, I am. I do! But it is nonetheless a time to take stock, do some soul searching too. To try to understand how we can do things better in the future.
What can I say?
It is difficult to watch a family member you love make a huge mistake.
