Month: May 2010

Stratfor's George Friedman, not a natural antagonist to the Jewish state, wonders if this could be a turning point against the Netanyahu-directed assisted suicide of Israel. After all, Israel opened fire on a ship from a NATO member, Turkey.  Should NATO treat this as an attack on every member nation?

The tougher Israel is, the more the flotilla’s narrative takes hold. As the Zionists knew in 1947 and the Palestinians are learning, controlling public opinion requires subtlety, a selective narrative and cynicism. As they also knew, losing the battle can be catastrophic. It cost Britain the Mandate and allowed Israel to survive. Israel’s enemies are now turning the tables. This maneuver was far more effective than suicide bombings or the Intifada in challenging Israel’s public perception and therefore its geopolitical position (though if the Palestinians return to some of their more distasteful tactics like suicide bombing, the Turkish strategy of portraying Israel as the

instigator of violence will be undermined).

Israel is now in uncharted waters. It does not know how to respond. It is not clear that the Palestinians know how to take full advantage of the situation, either. But even so, this places the battle on a new field, far more fluid and uncontrollable than what went before. The next steps will involve calls for sanctions against Israel. The Israeli threats against Iran will be seen in a different context, and Israeli portrayal of Iran will hold less sway over the world."

Note that the flag on that ship was Turkey, a NATO member. Will Turkey demand invocation of NATO's Article 5?

And this will cause a political crisis in Israel. If this government survives, then Israel is locked into a course that gives it freedom of action but international isolation. If the government falls, then Israel enters a period of domestic uncertainty. In either case, the flotilla achieved its strategic mission. It got Israel to take violent action against it. In doing so, Israel ran into its own fist.

(Photo: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman briefs the media during a press conference on May 31, 2010 in Jerusalem, Israel. By Maya Hitij – Pool/Getty Images.)

An otherwise calm weekend erupted today with the attack of Israeli commandos on a flotilla of aid activists bound for Gaza. Dramatic footage here. Israeli version of events here, a foreboding sign from Turkey here, and an unconfirmed report of a blinded American here. Gideon Levy compared the incident to the 2008 assault on Gaza, Goldblog responded with angst, and Andrew posed a counterfactual. Readers reacted here. Before the incident, a reader reflected on how Israel responds to its enemies and Time told us what really happened during that supposedly contentious meeting between Barack and Bibi.

In other news, the Guardian reported on the resurgence of the far right in Britain, Joel Wing worried about Iraqi refugees, and Graeme Wood investigated the widespread use of witch trials in Africa. Joe McGinniss broke his silence to Weigel, TNC tackled Lanny Davis, and Andrew criticized George Will's reasoning over Obama and the spill. He also examined the latest victim of the closet.

In spiritual coverage, John P. Meier explained the Jewishness of Jesus, a Protestant reader discussed death and faith, another reader enriched the debate over Christ's divinity, another delved into the deeper meanings of Frost, an Orthodox Christian tried to apply original sin to bonobo apes, and atheist David Sloan Wilson went after Dawkins. Olivia Judson looked at man-made DNA, Bailey defended man-made organisms, and Ryan Sager summed up some studies on happiness.

In assorted coverage, Nick Carr kept up his crusade to save our attention spans, a reader countered, Mike Konczal critiqued online education, and Kottke came up with a great use for the iPad. Swimming pigs made it into an MHB and a few readers provided parting words for Ralph. Cool ad here, cool map here, and a heartbreaking map here.  Lots of amazing images of animals here.  And the Dishness was strong with this reader.

— C.B.

(A young woman lays down on the grave of U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Noah Pier on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery May 31, 2010 in Arlington, Virginia. Pier was killed February 12, 2010 in Marja, Afghanistan. This is the 142nd Memorial Day observance at the cemetery. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.)

More awful news from Israel. This is unconfirmed at present.

A suggestion of a real confrontation:

Two Turkish activists were reported to be among those killed in the flotilla. Ankara warned that further supply vessels will be sent to Gaza, escorted by the Turkish Navy, a development with unpredictable consequences.

Ian Welsh has more. The death toll is now being put at 19. I wonder what the nationalities of the dead and injured are.

A reader writes:

It was not 30 "activists" v. 30 commandos. It was 30 (at least) v. one-at-a-time as the commandos came down off of the ropes from the helicopter. As each commando descended, the "activists" swung his rope (threatening to cause him to fall from the rope to the deck), and they were immediately on top of him, beating him with metal poles, as soon as he was within reach.

The video clearly shows, in at least one instance, several "activists" swinging metal poles multiple times from over their heads, suggesting that they were hitting a commando prone on the ground. They also then employed fire bombs and stun grenades. In another clearly shown instance, several "activists" are seen throwing a commando over the railing to the lower deck. There are also reports, though I haven't seen video confirmation yet, that when one of the first commandos to hit the deck was mobbed by the many "activists", they were able to get his gun, and they used it. Hardly a "30 commando v. 30 unarmed peace activists" massacre.

Calling this a "military attack" by Israel is a wild distortion. These were people purposefully attempting to run a known blockade, knowing that they would be stopped and boarded. They were provoking exactly this type of boarding by israel, planning to start a fight, to get exactly this result. It is classic Gaza strategy.

No, it was not a massacre. There was a fight. But the fact is the boat was in international waters, had committed no crime in Israeli waters, could have been kept away by a variety of other tactics, and was attacked by fully-armed commandos who ended up killing many unarmed civilians. To see Israel as the victim in this is so perverse it borders on unhinged. Another reader writes:

As an Israeli citizen (although I no longer live there) I am appalled at Israel's tactics with the ships bound for Gaza. They could have easily used non-lethal means to accomplish their objective. For example, they could have moved a gunboat in front of the large ship forcing it to stop or slow down. They could have dropped a frogman into the water to disable the propeller and/or rudder with a small explosive. The immobilized ship could then be towed anywhere Israel wanted.

Knowing the Israeli psyche like I do, they took the approach of confrontation to teach "them" a lesson and show "them" who is boss. I see the same thing every time I'm in the West bank, which is twice a year for the Holidays visiting my settler relatives.

What we have just seen is a microcosm of what's killing Israel. Some think it's Israel's only option and want more aggression from the Jewish state. Another reader:

The flotilla "demonstrators" were not civilians.  They are terrorists, seeking to provide aid, comfort, and supplies to the butchers in Gaza known as Hamas.  The Israelis should have sunk the ships.  Most of us out here who have not deluded ourselves into believing that peace can actually be achieved there knew right from the start that this is precisely how these events would evolve.

(Photo:  Israeli Navy soldiers stand guard on a missile ship as the Israeli Navy intercepts peace boats bound for Gaza on May 31, 2010 in the Mediterranean sea, 70 miles from the cost of Gaza. More than 10 people were killed after Israeli commandos boarded ships transporting aid to the Gaza Strip. By Uriel Sinai-Pool/Getty Images. NOTE: Image has been reviewed by IDF prior to transmission. )

Gideon Levy says what must be said about the rogue government in Jerusalem. He's particularly on point with respect to the mindset that sees this kind of aggressive over-kill as somehow part of Israel's existential struggle:

Like in "Mini-Israel," the park where there is everything, but smaller, Israel embarked yesterday on a mini Operation Cast Lead. Like its larger, losing predecessor, this operation had it all: the usual false claim that is was they who had started it – and not the landing of commandos from helicopters on a ship in open sea, away from Israeli territorial waters. There was the claim that the first act of violence came not from the soldiers, but the rioting activists on Mavi Marmara; that the blockade on Gaza is legal and that the flotilla to its shores is against the law – God knows which law.

Again came the claim of self defense, that "they lynched us" and that all the dead are on their side. Once more the use of violence and excessive and lethal force was in play and once more civilians wound up dead.

This action also featured the pathetic focus on "public relations," as if there is something to explain, and again the sick question was asked: Why didn't the soldiers use more force.

Benjamin David Hennig updates a classic:

The night view of the earth has become a very popular depiction of this planet. Although the NASA itself says that “The brightest areas of the Earth are the most urbanized, but not necessarily the most populated” many people mistake this view as a representation of the inhabited places on the globe. Our gridded population cartogram can help to get a better understanding of the relation of people and light. The following map is a reprojection of the earth at night that shows the nightview in relation to the population distribution.

An interactive map by CNN. Stamen Design spent almost a year on the project.

The project is a sobering look at the human cost of two wars in the Middle East, and as such we've worked within a restrained and sober palette of blacks, whites and greys. CNN has hooked the maps up to CNN iReport and we're hearing stories of people using the map to post memories and share stories about their lost loved ones. It's not been the easiest subject material to work on, but we've come away with a keen sense of the human face of these conflicts and hope you'll take the time to look around a bit at the stories that these kinds of maps can tell.

(Hat tip: Flowing Data)

What really happened last March 23 – whatever JPod's fevered imagination would like to believe.