first off, i don't think israel is like a person. it doesn't "want to do" things. it is a nation-state like any other. it's well past time that people thought of it as a nation-state like any other. because there are rules for nation-states.
second, the idf's obviously false cover story is coming undone:
Quote:
12.07pm:
The Israeli army has all but admitted that the activists did not have guns of their own before the raid. Army spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said two pistols were seized from activists but these had been taken from the troops raiding the boat. She claimed the magazines of both weapons had been emptied before they were seized back.
Speaking to al Jazeera she insisted that the force used by the troops was proportionate. "Any metal bar pointing at someone's head can kill," she said.
Asked to list weapons on board she said there were knives, scissors, night vision binoculars, many metal bars and sharp objects. She claimed they had been prepared in advance and added that throwing soldiers off the boat was not the actions of a humanitarian organisation.
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Israel releases Gaza flotilla activists ? live coverage | World news | guardian.co.uk
the center of this is the siege of gaza. it is a brutal and wholly reprehensible affair predicated on the collective punishment of an entire population for electing hamas 3 years ago. it has turned out to be a disastrous political choice that has since boxed in the israelis into this right-wing circularity the culmination of which was the massacre of last winter. it's obvious what the intent of the siege is: to prevent hamas from being able to deliver basic services to the population as a way of delegitimating the organization. it's obvious that the israelis were hoping somehow that fatah would benefit from this. neither has worked out at all. so since the massacre of a couple years ago, conditions have worsened.
personally if i was of any international political stature and thought it would do any good, i would be on one of these boats. i think anyone who sees this siege for what it is opposes it. i think most israelis oppose it.
from a rightwing viewpoint, what the idf/navy managed is an extraordinary blunder that made martyrs of 10 or so activists and has drawn levels of attention to the siege of gaza beyond the wildest hopes of the free gaza activists.
from my viewpoint it's exposed israel to a level of pressure not seen since they began their massacre in december 2007 of people in gaza to dismantle the siege.
and i think that's a fine thing.