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Turkey seems to be the leader, and its actions seem planned in advance.Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon held a press conference on the morning following the nighttime takeover of the Gaza bound flotilla. He elaborated on the terse, earlier announcement of the IDF spokesperson, Avi Benayahu, who had said:
“IDF forces met with pre planned violence when attempting to board the flotilla. IDF naval personnel encountered severe violence, including use of weaponry prepared in advance in order to attack and to harm them. The forces operated in adherence with operational commands and took all necessary actions in order to avoid violence, but to no avail." Later, he added, "There are ten passengers killed, passengers and soldiers are wounded.”
Passengers denied the presence of weapons in clear, media savvy, English. Recorded voices were later heard in
English and Hebrew calling for help.
Ayalon correctly defined the flotilla as a “provocation”. The question that arises is just what the militants, masquerading as “peace activists” on a humanitarian mission, want to provoke and what they will indeed provoke.
So far, as if on cue, Turkey summoned Israel’s ambassador to the Foreign Ministry. Hamas called the Arabs of Judea and Samaria and the Palestinians of Gaza to go out (to protest), which they duly did A general strike was called in the Arab sector.
Turkey seems to be the leader, and its actions seem planned in advance. After all, boats have been stopped from reaching Gaza before. However, this time around, children were brought as human shields, the flotilla was larger, and there were well known faces on deck. Most seriously, there were weapons hidden aboard and people willing to use them, just waiting for the IDF to board the boats.
The IDF warned the passengers repeatedly that they would board if the flotilla did not change course of its own volition and then boarded, expecting in the worst case scenario, to use tear gas.
Israel had every right according to international law, to demand that the boats identify themselves and to prevent their docking in Gaza. This could have ended as did the other attempts. Why didn't it?
The cost in human life, whatever the final tally will be and whatever noise is heard, is not significant to the organizers of this convoy. They glorify suicide bombers, send youngsters to blow themselves up and their Hamas cohorts aim missiles from schoolyards. Their goal is to damage Israel by creating a no-win situation on the international diplomatic front and on the Israeli Arab as well as PA fronts
As expected, the condemnations are rolling in. We can probably be sure that all that the media will show is Israel’s soldiers boarding a “humanitarian” convoy, the innocent children aboard (no one will ask what they are doing there as they have been known to ask Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria after terrorist acts) and Israel's prior announcements that the convoy will be stopped.
Israel will be on the dock once again in the leftist homegrown media, the UN and in most of the world.
All this is nothing new.
The real question is not about whether Israel had any other course of action open to it, as is being discussed endlessly on the Israeli airwaves, or what really happened, but whether this is one of several incendiary devices that are intended to lead to war.
Because this is the kind of incident which has often led to the breakout of war.
A lethal chess game is in progress, with Israel trying to convince the world to act against Iran, the USA blaming Israeli construction for the conflict and for casualties in Afghanistan, and betraying her on the NPT treaty. Russia and China are jockeying for power and selling arms. Turkey, Brazil, Syria and Hizbullah are doing as they wish and building alliances against Israel in the face of Obama’s weakness and attitude towards Israel. Increasingly, anti-Semitism disguised as anti-Zionism has become de rigueur.
We are in a fantasy world, where a "peaceful" flotilla with unnecessary goods, armed and ready for bloodshed achieves the goal of public relations damage to Israel. Except that someone has to stop the ball from rolling on to another goal.