During Israel’s justified response to repeated Hamas attacks against it southern citizens, Daoud Kuttab, a prominent Palestinian “moderate” described the rocket attacks:
In its efforts to stop amateur rockets from nagging the residents of some of its southern cities, Israel appears to have given new life to the fledging Islamic movement in Palestine.
I dunno, Daoud, but does this look like “nagging” to you?
Yesterday Kuttab wrote:
The Unites States cannot continue to be all but silent on an attack in international waters on civilians representing most Western countries, including the United States. It cannot hide behind the facade of waiting for an inquiry when basic facts such as the location of the attack, the perpetrators of the killings and the absence of violent intent or goods on board the ships are so obvious.
Does this picture look like the “absence of violent intent?”
Remember, this violence took place before the Israeli commandos shot anyone. Clearly, then, the Israeli soldiers were acting in self-defense.
Someone else lacking in perspective is Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, Namik Tan, who writes:
Whatever the aid carriers may have chanted in opposition to Israel, this was a humanitarian initiative. In any democratic country, people have freedom of expression so long as they avoid violence.
But incitement to violence is not tolerated.
And it appears that the flotilla participants were doing more than chanting “in opposition to Israel.” MEMRI reports:
The father of Kuwaiti activist Abd Al-Rahman Al-Filkawi told the Kuwaiti Al-Watan daily that his son had told him that the flotilla participants’ morale was high, and that they “would sacrifice themselves for the sake of Allah. He added that his son had “told them before embarking that he would be a martyr for the sake of Allah.”[31] The next day, the father told a press conference: “My son Abd Al-Rahman came to me and said: ‘Reckon my sacrifice [of my life] in anticipation of the reward of Allah’ and I did so. Then he went to his mother and she reckoned his sacrifice in anticipation of the reward of Allah. If he dies there [with the flotilla], he dies as a martyr [with the predetermined aim of becoming one].”
And the chants were in “opposition to Israel” in a way that Nazis are in opposition to Jews.
On board one of the ships, according to Al-Jazeera, the “humanitarian” Palestinians sang “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return” — a reference to the 628 massacre of Jews in Arabia at the hands of Muhammad.
So yes, a little perspective would be nice. Unfortunately we’ve gotten precious little of it regarding Israel’s self-defense.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
