Flotillas and the Wars of Public Opinion

Flotillas and the Wars of Public Opinion

www.rightsidenews.com

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon charged that the mission was simply an attempt to provoke the Israelis. That was certainly the case. The mission was designed to demonstrate that the Israelis were unreasonable and brutal. The hope was that Israel would be provoked to extreme action, further alienating Israel from the global community and possibly driving a wedge between Israel and the United States. The operation's planners also hoped this would trigger a political crisis in Israel.

(visit the link for the full news article)

A logical Israeli response would have been avoiding falling into the provocation trap and suffering the political repercussions the Turkish NGO was trying to trigger. Instead, the Israelis decided to make a show of force. The Israelis appear to have reasoned that backing down would demonstrate weakness and encourage further flotillas to Gaza, unraveling the Israeli position vis-à-vis Hamas. In this thinking, a violent interception was a superior strategy to accommodation regardless of political consequences. Thus, the Israelis accepted the bait and were provoked.

In my opinion, this a very strong analysis of what actually happened yesterday. If the Israelis wouldn't have stopped the flotilla, it would be a clear sign of weakness and naturally additional flotillas would head for Gaza. This also explains why the Israeli military said today that they will use more force next time (source)

The direction Israel has chosen is obvious. Nevertheless, it was a very smart move of the Turks as it would damage Israel either way. I am just not sure whether the Israeli response was the best option. The next time they are going to attack a flotilla, the global outrage will grow even further. They will try to influence the public opinion towards their side, but that is going to be a very difficult objective to achieve as every person could see what happened. During the Gaza war, the Israeli's denied journalists access as a pre-cautionary measure to minimize damage to their reputation.

Ironically enough, the flotilla idea could very well originate from a similar move (the Exodus story) that Zionists used to disparage the British Empire, which contributed to their greatest achievement: the creation of Israel.

It is recommendable to read this very interesting analysis fully, but I'll quote another snippet from the Exodus story:

The Turkish flotilla aimed to replicate the Exodus story or, more precisely, to define the global image of Israel in the same way the Zionists defined the image that they wanted to project. As with the Zionist portrayal of the situation in 1947, the Gaza situation is far more complicated than as portrayed by the Palestinians. The moral question is also far more ambiguous. But as in 1947, when the Zionist portrayal was not intended to be a scholarly analysis of the situation but a political weapon designed to define perceptions, the Turkish flotilla was not designed to carry out a moral inquest.

www.rightsidenews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Mdv2


I have been pointing to the SS Exodus for a while... I can not get my head around what Israel was thinking considering it deeply understands the historical tipping point the SS Exodus actually created vis-a-vis the creation of the State of Israel.

The main difference is that the Exodus was boarded in Palestinian waters, rather than International waters.. apart from that a very similar series of events, and I can see a very similar outcome.

So you really have to wonder why the Israeli's took this route considering they know full well what the potential outcome would be...

Edit to add: It is IMHO a mess.

To argue that the SS Exodus had a right to landfall means these vessels had the right to landfall..

To argue it was right for Israel to board these vessels means it was right for the British to board the SS Exodus..

I do not envy anyone unpicking this mess.

[edit on 1/6/10 by thoughtsfull]