I think the best take I’ve seen on the boarding of the ‘Freedom Flotilla’ off Gaza comes today from Bradley Burston in Haaretz. Bernard-Henri Levy, speaking this morning at a conference in Tel Aviv, seems to have a similar take.
I’ve seen enough of these kinds of incidents to be quite skeptical of the initial reports from both sides. But getting too focused on just who fired first misses the deeper rabbit hole the current government of Israel is going down by pursuing the raft of policies its backing. The breakdown of relations with the Turks is extremely bad news for Israel — something I suspect not a few people in the current Turkish government are not unhappy to see and just as many in the current Israeli government are happy to facilitate.
With a lot of people crying out that this was a crime or a war crime or whatever else my own take, to quote Fouche, is that it was a worse than a crime; it was a mistake. But we’ll see.
Late Update: Meanwhile Jim Sleeper asks whether Israeli is drifting toward civil war.
Later Update: Here’s J Street’s statement on events overnight …
J Street is deeply shocked and saddened by reports that at least 10 civilians have been killed and dozens more wounded (including Israeli soldiers) this morning as Israel intercepted a naval convoy bringing humanitarian supplies and construction materials to the Gaza Strip.
We express our condolences to the families of those killed and we wish the injured a full and speedy recovery. We hope that leaders on all sides will take immediate steps to ensure that this incident does not escalate into a broader round of violence – in Israel, in Gaza, or in the region.
There will undoubtedly be calls in the coming days for a UN investigation into today’s events. A credible, independent commission appointed by the Israeli government should provide the world with a full and complete report into the causes and circumstances surrounding the day’s events and establish responsibility for the violence and bloodshed.
This shocking outcome of an effort to bring humanitarian relief to the people of Gaza is in part a consequence of the ongoing, counterproductive Israeli blockade of Gaza. J Street has been and continues to be opposed to the blockade – believing that there are better ways to ensure Israel’s security and to prevent weapons smuggling than a complete closure of the Gaza Strip.
We do not know yet what the impact of today’s incident will be on the just-restarted peace process, on Israel’s relations with the international community, or on the health of Arab-Jewish relations within Israel itself.
We do know, however, that today is one more nail in the coffin for hopes of ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict peacefully and diplomatically and for preserving Israel’s Jewish and democratic character. We urge President Obama and other international and regional leaders to take today’s terrible news as an opportunity to engage even more forcefully in immediate efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
