Turkey’s move came before the anticipated publication Friday of a U.N. report about the Israeli raid, which killed nine activists. The breakdown in ties also raised concerns that other countries, including Egypt and Jordan, may follow suit by recalling ambassadors and increase Israel’s alienation in the region.

“If this ends with Turkey, it will be a miracle,” said Alon Liel, a former Israeli ambassador to Turkey. “There is a lot of internal pressure in Egypt, and Turkey could use its clout in the Arab and Muslim world to pressure other nations to follow suit.”

I can think of two billion reasons why that won’t happen, all in American aid to Egypt. There is also aid to Jordan, and America’s goodwill is an important piece of the glue that keeps the Husseins on the Hashemite throne. The Muslim Brotherhood is starting to eye Jordan as next in the revolution. It’s too bad that Jordan is one of the most democratic kingdoms in the Middle East; I doubt the people are in the mood to overthrow the kings just yet.

But to get back to the AP media spin on the downgrade: There is not a single Israeli government source or spokesperson willing to go on record, which is incredibly stupid on Netanyahu’s part. The Israeli media isn’t quoting anyone by name, either. It’s all “sources” and “senior cabinet minister” said this and that. Jewish and Israeli bloggers have been complaining for years that Israel has the worst PR in the world. Well, it isn’t much better than it’s been. When you don’t have a statement from your official spokesperson on the downgrading of ties with a nation that was a huge trading and military partner, you are behind the news cycle. That allows the wire services to quote the Turks ad naseum (and they do). The AP quotes the Turkish president. Nobody is quoting Netanyahu, because he’s not giving anyone any quotes Here’s the Israeli quote:

Addressing the Palmer Report on the IDF raid of a Turkish ship in May 2010, state officials clarified Friday that Israel regretted the loss of life but would not apologize for its soldiers’ acts of self-defense.

“Israel, like any other country, has the legitimate right to defend its citizens and soldiers,” they stressed. “The State of Israel hopes a way will be found to overcome the disagreements, and will continue to work to achieve this goal.”

And here’s the line that has been repeated in thousands of news articles, one that Netanyahu could spin into pure platinum, if his office would only try:

Asked to comment on the U.N. report’s suggestions, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said: “To be frank, the report is null and void for us.”

Why Bibi isn’t coming out with a quote saying that the United Nations has found that Israel was well within the bounds of international law in responding to the breaking of the blockade is beyond me. He could pounce on the “null and void” phrase and point out that Turkey is the country that is acting like it is above the law, refusing to acknowledge the law of the sea that all other nations go by. Your PR sucks, Bibi. Sure, you can fund-raise with the best of them. Yes, you can get Congress to give you more standing ovations than the president. But when it comes to helping Israel get past the anti-Israel media bias, your PR sucks eggs.

Fix it.

Maybe then, the AP will write a balanced piece on Turkey downgrading ties. However, I think dropping the following paragraphs to numbers eight and nine is yet another example of the anti-Israel bias. The fact that the report clears Israel of one of the biggest charges Turkey leveled—that of Israel violating international law—merits keeping in the lead. It utterly negates the Turkish claims of legitimacy, and shows that Turkey is ignoring protocal and international treaties. Not that I expect to read an analysis of that sort in the AP. It would be lovely, but I’m sure it would cause some editors’ heads to explode. So instead, we get this information, buried in the part of the article that will get cut by tomorrow’s print edition editors:

The U.N. report on the flotilla raid, obtained by The New York Times and posted on its website, said Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is a “legitimate security measure.” But it also said Israel’s use of force against the flotilla was “excessive and unreasonable.”

An Israeli official said the report showed Israel’s naval blockade was in keeping with international law. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the report had yet to be officially released. He said Israel expected it to be made public by the U.N. later Friday.

I look forward to seeing the next update of this story. Then again, I’m going to the county fair tonight, so the AP just might get a bye.

Until tomorrow.

Report Finds Naval Blockade by Israel Legal but Faults Raid
A United Nations review has found that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is legal and appropriate but that the way its forces boarded a Turkish-based flotilla trying to break that blockade 15 months ago, killing nine passengers, was excessive and unreasonable.

The report, expected to be released on Friday, also found that when Israeli commandos boarded the main ship they faced “organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers” and were therefore required to use force for their own protection. But the report called the force “excessive and unreasonable,” saying the loss of life was unacceptable and the Israeli military’s later treatment of passengers was abusive.

“Excessive and unreasonable” is used twice in two paragraphs. The angle the Times chooses to focus the article is that the IDF soldiers, who were surrounded, captured, and fired upon by dozens of IHH would-be “martyrs,” used excessive force to protect themselves. This is in spite of the fact that Israel was cleared in four out of five charges.

The Times also doesn’t like the fact that the UN investigators found the blockade of Gaza to be legal.

The United Nations investigation into the events on the Turkish-flagged ship known as the Mavi Marmara, the largest of six vessels that were commandeered by Israeli commandos on May 31, 2010, was headed by Sir Geoffrey Palmer, former prime minister of New Zealand, aided by Álvaro Uribe, former president of Colombia, along with a representative each from Israel and Turkey.

It takes a broadly sympathetic view of Israel’s sea blockade of Gaza.

“Israel faces a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza,” the report says in its opening paragraphs. “The naval blockade was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law.”

Look at the difference in the way the Times treats reports that take the stand that Israel has the right to act in self-defense. Note how the writer uses the phrasing of Israel’s enemies and critics in the first paragraph, and makes sure that the defense of Israel is the very last thing in the article.

Those critical of Israeli actions toward Gaza have viewed the naval blockade that began officially in January 2009 as part and parcel of a siege imposed by Israel on the coastal strip shortly after Hamas took full control there in 2007. That siege, which has eased considerably in the past year, prevented the movement of most goods and people.

But the Palmer committee said while it had concerns about that policy and urged that it be loosened further, it saw the naval blockade as a purely security-oriented tool that had been imposed to stop weapons arriving to Gaza by sea. It also expressed strong concern for the thousands of rockets and mortars fired into Israel from Gaza in recent years. It said that because Gaza’s port cannot handle large ships, a naval blockade has little impact on the supply of civilian goods.

Did I expect the Times to be fair to Israel? Of course not. Let’s see how the AP does on this.

Turkey declared Thursday that it would not tolerate further delay in the release of a United Nations report concerning Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010, and warned of consequences including sanctions should Israel continue to refuse to apologize for the incident.

Let us recap the issue: The UN report on the Mavi Marmara incident, which has been postponed three times, is going to show that Turkey is at fault.

According to Israeli officials, the 102-page report comes to the following conclusions:

• Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza was legal, as was the interception of vessels trying to break the blockade.
• The IHH activists behind the flotilla were looking for a violent provocation.
• Turkey had a role with the IHH in the flotilla setting sail.
• The IDF soldiers defended themselves after coming up against premeditated violence by those on the ship.
• The IDF soldiers used excessive force.

The publication of the report has been delayed for months in the hopes that Israel and Turkey could reach an amicable agreement that would obviate the need for its publication. The concern is that once the report is released – a report that calls on Israel to express “regret” for the incident, but not apologize – it will be more difficult for Israel and Turkey to reach any type of reconciliation.

Israel has already expressed regret for the loss of life in the incident.

So, even though Israel has already bent over as far as possible towards Turkey’s position, Erdogan is going for broke and trying to get Netanyahu to apologize for having his soldiers attacked by terrorists. Yeah, I’m thinking not. So what are the consequences of a non-apology going to be?

In another reference to the possible consequences that would occur in the eventuality that Israel continued to avoid a public apology for the raid, the Turkish FM said that Turkey intended to ” impose sanctions which both Israel and other international parties are aware of.”

Really? Sanctions? Turkey has already lost more than 90% of its tourism from Israel, which is a huge hit to its tourism industry. Trade between Israel and Turkey? I’m thinking there was almost none. Turkey won’t sell Israel arms? Turkey doesn’t sell Israel arms. The only kind of sanctions Turkey can issue that will harm Israel is support of Israel’s enemies. And the IHH (to name only one Turkish organization) already does that.

Empty threats, and yet, watch the world media leap on them as if they mean something.

Update: When I’m wrong, I’m REALLY wrong. Israeli exports to Turkey total nearly one billion dollars. The question is, will Erdogan stop the trade? It will hurt Turkey, too.

Barry Rubin explains what the “sulfur” that the “activists” plan on throwing at the soldiers is:

According to reliable information, some of the Islamist participants have spoken in conversation of their desire to kill Israeli soldiers. Some are also equipped with sulfuric acid to throw at Israel soldiers. We will see which of these scenarios take place.

In the meantime, another boat was sabotaged (ooh, the Mossad agents are good; that makes at least two and probably more). The Irish Prime Minister is calling on Israel not to harm the “activists.” I have yet to hear him call on the “activists” not to harm the soldiers as they board.

This is what passes for objectivity in the WaPo, in an article that purports to present both sides. Note the word in bold, put there specifically to make the reader doubt the veracity of the statement.

Israeli officials insist the naval blockade of Gaza is meant to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the territory. On Wednesday, an Israeli cabinet minister said Israel is “prepared for the worst” and promised to block the flotilla before it gets to Gaza.

And there’s this (boldface mine again):

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs has even accused a senior Muslim Brotherhood figure as being behind the flotilla.

The JCPA is an organization that presents scholarly, well-researched, fact-based articles on Israel and the Middle East.

The Center is a multidisciplinary, independent non-profit think tank for Israel policy research and education, bringing together the best minds in the political, strategic, diplomatic and legal arenas, in Israel and abroad.

But with the weasel word “even,” the WaPo writer discounted the JCPA completely.

And last, but not least, here’s a website for all the facts you need about the Gaza flotilla, brought to you by the people of StandWithUs. I stood with them for Israel nine years ago.

Military elements monitoring the Gaza flotilla said that radical elements taking part in the sail have said they were planning “surprises for the IDF” and plan to kill many soldiers.

The information suggests that radicals are planning to equip some of the vessels with bags containing chemicals, possibly sulfur, which they will use against soldiers who may try to take over the ships.

So what does the leader of the flotilla say? That’s impossible, because they signed a nonviolence declaration.

An organizer of a Gaza-bound flotilla is dismissing Israeli allegations that extremists aboard the ships plan to harm Israeli soldiers who would be dispatched to stop them.

Dror Feiler says the hundreds of people planning to sail soon in a bid to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Palestinian territory have signed a declaration of nonviolence.

Oh, that’s all right, then. They signed a nonviolence declaration. That’s just like last year, when the IHH said they were bringing humanitarian supplies and there would be no violence against Israeli troops. Oh. Wait.

An IDF source told the JPost the possible uses of sulfur as a chemical weapon against a person.

“This is a chemical weapon, and if poured on a soldier it can paralyze him,” an IDF source told The Jerusalem Post Monday night. “If the sulfur is then lit on fire, the soldier will light up like a torch.”

The information was obtained from closed meetings held by participants on the ships during which some voiced their intention to “murder Israeli soldiers,” according to the IDF.

Note the words in bold. The Mossad is all over this flotilla, which doesn’t surprise me in the least. That would explain how one of the flotilla boats had its propellor cut while in a Greek port. Amira Hass notes that things just keep on happening to the ships in Greece.

Let us not forget that the flotilla is not trying to break the blockade for humanitarian purposes. Only two of the ten ships going are cargo chips. The rest are carrying passengers. Even the New York Times acknowledges that Gaza is not in crisis.

Two luxury hotels are opening in Gaza this month. Thousands of new cars are plying the roads. A second shopping mall — with escalators imported from Israel — will open next month. Hundreds of homes and two dozen schools are about to go up. A Hamas-run farm where Jewish settlements once stood is producing enough fruit that Israeli imports are tapering off.

The flotilla organizers want an end to Israel (see Point 9).

There is also this relevant news that the various wire services and other media organizations keep dropping to the end of their flotilla articles. It explains why Israel is warning about plans to murder soldiers. It’s the very last paragraph in this Voice of America article.

The Turkish aid organization IHH, which was involved in last year’s effort, said several of its activists will join the ships sailing for Gaza. But the group dropped plans to send its own vessel, the Mavi Marmara, again this year.

It should be right up in the lead. It should be followed with an explanation that the only violence in last year’s flotilla was on the Mavi Marmara, the ship sent by the IHH. But of course, that would go against the narrative. Just read whitewashes like the Christian Science Monitor’s, and you will get no background on why there is a blockade except for revenge against the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. The full story isn’t even being told any more. It’s just the standard boilerplate that the IDF killed nine Turkish “activists” after boarding their ship last year. The guns, knives, clubs, chains, and attacking of the soldiers as they rapelled down onto the ship? Not a word of that in the media narrative a year later. The anti-Israel narrative, carried in the anti-Israel media, wins the day. Watch what happens if the IHH terrorists do attack the soldiers. Even if they’re caught on video, red-handed (or should I say, “sulfur-handed”?). The narrative will still be the evil, monstrous IDF soldiers attacking the innocent, nonviolent flotilla fools.

No way this ends well.

Alice Walker is the most literate of the Flotilla Fools. She explains, via CNN, why she is doing this:

Our boat, The Audacity of Hope, will be carrying letters to the people of Gaza. Letters expressing solidarity and love. That is all its cargo will consist of. If the Israeli military attacks us, it will be as if they attacked the mailman. This should go down hilariously in the annals of history. But if they insist on attacking us, wounding us, even murdering us, as they did some of the activists in the last flotilla, Freedom Flotilla I, what is to be done?

Translation: Ooooh, look how brave I am. They might kill me, but I’m going anyway—to bring my valuable cargo of letters expressing solidarity and love

That’s funny. I thought the flotilla’s purpose was to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza. At the moment, The Audacity of Hope is stuck in a Greek port undergoing a seaworthiness exam. The crew now includes Ha’aretz’s most anti-Israel reporter, Amira Hass, who is documenting the daily routine of “What to do in case of an Israeli army attack” lectures.

There are nine other passengers in their sixties, and many others between 40 and 60.

So why are they doing this?

“I’m appalled, as are many friends and colleagues, by the conditions in Gaza and by the silence of the international community regarding the ongoing blockade in Gaza,” says Lyn Adamson, trying to explain why they are taking this calculated risk.

Adamson, 59, a Quaker from Toronto, is active in a number of social justice advocacy groups.

“In the absence of effective action by the international community to pressure Israel and Egypt to change their policies … we, at the grass roots, must take action,” she says.

Note the ridiculousness of the quotes. There is no humanitarian crisis. Gazans are now importing luxury cars through the smuggling tunnels, and building luxury hotels and malls. Israeli allows everything but weapons and construction material inside. Oh. Wait. They’re allowing construction material now, too. So why is the flotilla still coming? Let’s go back to Alice Walker again:

It is justice and respect that I want the world to dust off and put – without delay, and with tenderness – back on the head of the Palestinian child. It will be imperfect justice and respect because the injustice and disrespect have been so severe. But I believe we are right to try.

Ah. “Justice and respect.” This is how, she says, she is repaying her debt to the Jews who marched with Martin Luther King: By freeing the Gazans from oppression. Alice Walker is a deluded fool. The only oppression Gazans are suffering from is the oppression of Hamas rule. There was no blockade until Hamas took over the territory. Since that time, Sharia law has been slowly but surely enforced on the people of Gaza. Women are being forced to wear headscarves. Christians are being driven out; their churches and meeting centers bombed. Segregation of the sexes is being enforced. Has Alice Walker written a word about that?

No.

The term “useful idiots” has been used so much in the blogosphere that it is nearly meaningless now. But these fools are, in truth, the perfect example of Lenin’s useful idiots. The publicity they reap for the Hamas overlords is worth millions. News organizations are “embedding” reporters in the flotilla boats, as if this were a war against Israel and their reporters need to write about it. And yet, this is a war against Israel, waged by terrorists, and fought by useful idiots like Medea Benjamin and Alice Walker.

Three boats are already on their way. Greece is holding seven ships, and Israeli is exerting tremendous pressure on Greece to refuse to allow the boats to sail from their ports. Here’s hoping the pressure works. Because when you read the words of the people on board, you realize that the flotilla’s purpose is not to support Gaza. It is to defy and destroy Israel. Once again, let me point out the ninth “Point of Unity” stated as the flotilla’s mission on its website:

We recognize the right of all Palestinian refugees and exiles and their heirs to return without delay to their homes in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, to recover their properties, and to receive compensation for damage, dispossession and unlawful use of such property, in accordance with international law. This is in the first instance an individual and not a collective right, and cannot be negotiated except by the individual.

Right. That’s clear enough: An end to Israel is the true goal of the Flotilla Fools, and people like Alice Walker? Useful idiots. Of more than one organization.

Yep, Iran and Hezbullah are shooting Syrian civilians: More and more stories like this are coming out. Suddenly, in an army that bans beards, bearded soldiers are firing on civilians. Also speaking bad Arabic and good Farsi. Gee. Whoever could that be? And oh yeah—they were the ones behind the border incursions into Israel. Color me shocked, shocked to hear that those demonstrations weren’t spontaneous.

And the Hamas-Fatah split grows wider: Hamas says Fatah can’t name the prime minister. Awesome! Actually, it’s just revealing the terrorists behind the curtain. Good, good, and good. In the book, the Wizard was a bad man (not a mischievous one as seen in the movie), who made a deal with a witch to steal the throne of Oz by kidnapping and hiding the royal heir. So kind of Hamas to reveal the Palestinians’ machinations before September. Maybe that’s why Abbas is suddenly saying he might sit down and talk with the Israelis instead of calling for a state.

The flotilla will be televised: Major media reporters are going to be on the boats. I sure hope the IDF is working hard to find ways to stop the flotilla without having to use force, because the media is going to slam Israel no matter what. Please don’t give them film to show over and over again on the 24 hour news channels!

“We shall set sail, we have many surprises in store,” IHH spokesman Ömer Faruk said. “If there really is no blockade then there shouldn’t be a problem with us going there. Everything will become clearer next month.”

And it looks like they’re planning on violence again.

The spokesman declared they will act peacefully, adding “we only hope the Israeli side acts the same.”

Earlier this week, IHH head Bulent Yildirim said, “Even if we sacrifice shahids (martyrs) for this cause, we will be on the side of justice.”

I’m guessing this time, they’re going to hide their actions from the “internationals” a little better, and confiscate cameras that catch them preparing to attack the IDF.

And here is where we get to the meat of the matter—why they keep insisting on breaking the blockade when there is no longer any kind of crisis in Gaza:

“It’s not just Gaza. It’s the West Bank and Jerusalem. Israel continues to hurt Palestinian rights illegally. This policy must change, and opening Rafah will not change the fact that Palestinian fishermen cannot fish more than five km away.”

Yes, it’s no longer about the faux humanitarian crisis. (That’s the one that never was.) It’s about trying to force Israel to allow Palestinians to freely enter Israel. Why? Because they want to. They’re enemies of Israel, and no nation on earth has open borders to a hostile neighbor, but that’s what these idiots think is right.

But the flotilla is still necessary, he claimed. “The opening of the crossing still depends on the Egyptians’ mood, they may decide to close it after two days. This also applies to Israel – sometimes it opens crossings, sometimes it closes them. We are acting on the belief that the Palestinians must have control over their own passageways and points of contact with the world. The blockade must end.”

As for violence, well…

Fyler admitted that radicals may try to cause provocations. “I call upon representatives of the UN and the EU to board the ships and check the passengers and cargo before and after the sail.”

The only thing that makes me feel less worried about this flotilla is that nobody learns faster and better than Israelis. They will not make the same mistakes as last time, while I would bet that the IHH Islamists are going to do pretty much the same, with the extra added attraction of probably having a weapons cache or three onboard.

Now THAT’s dedication: An amateur photographer created a 360-degree version of the night sky, linking 37,000 photographs to do it. Yes, really. It is awesomeness. Dude.

Dammit. They went back up. Stupid commodities prices.

I don’t think that word means what you think it means: Erdogan stands up for Hamas, insisting it’s not a terrorist organization. Of course not. Israelis are the only terrorists according to Islamists. Turkey is lost unless the people throw these bums out of office, and I don’t see that happening.

Apparently, freeing Gaza is not a high priority for too many people: The Gaza flotilla is being postponed. What? You mean people don’t want to risk their lives covering for terrorists pretending to be innocent little activists (who keep talking about martyrdom to the Arabic press)? Color me amazed. If they’re finally getting some sense, good for the idiots. And there’s also this:

It also turns out the Turkish organizers have been largely unsuccessful in raising donations to fund the operation. Many ship owners refused to loan their vessels for the cause, fearing they might be confiscated by Israel. Now the activists are forced to buy the ships themselves.

So the truth did get out, even though the anti-Israel media did its best to paint the Mavi Marmara incident in the best of lights for the terrorists. That’s hopeful news.

Leviathan can’t get here soon enough: I can’t wait for Israel’s energy independence from the Jew-haters around the Jewish state. An “unknown armed gang” blew up the gas line to Israel again. And oh yeah, they’ve arrested the people who made the gas deal with Israel and are charging them for selling gas to Jews for too little money. Sure, Egypt is going to be a peaceful neighbor. Because it’s not like Mubarak allowed decades of anti-Israel incitement or anything like that while he was distracting Egyptians from their shitty condition under him. Oh. Wait.

Obama’s answer to high gas prices: More oil imports. Opening up our own deep water wells again? Nope. Allowing drilling in the U.S.? Nuh-uh. More offshore drilling? Fuhgeddaboudit. But hey, more oil from the Saudis? Awesome! Plus, blaming oil companies for high profits, and putting together yet another commission to investigate “fraud and abuse.” Because that’s exactly what we need, not, say, more American oil.