What did the flotilla think it was doing?
According to the BBC (which someone posted they didnt trust?) The ships were loaded with aid supplies including such dangerous items as cement and windows which the Israelis have embargoed. The israelis were then told the cargo list. So obviously the intention was to force the Israelis to act. The report I heard said there was only fighting on one ship, so Id make a total guess that the one ship had the 'contraband' on it. Otherwise I expect some people got overexcited when the Israelis landed. Or I suppose they could have been suicide chair throwers.
They must surely have known that there was no way that Israel would let them land in Gaza. They must have known that an incident would be cereated which would set back peace in the Middle East.
Only if your idea of peace is for Israel to lay siege to its enemies until they all starve. Perhaps not literally for lack of food, but as I said the Israels are forbidding them to build anything. And every now and then they blow some more of the place up. Given the helpful hints in the bible I expect they embargo straw for making mud bricks too. Its a very biblical sort of revenge, come to think of it. Most people dont call that peace. They call it enemy occupation.
They must have known that their actions would be of no benefit at all to the people of Gaza - indeed the result will actually hurt the people of Gaza
No one ever won a war by agreeing to the enemy terms. It was as peaceful a way as you could imagine to force the Israelis into committing another illegal act of war.
Is there any reasonable explanation other than that they were going out of their way to create an incident? Was this their sole motive?
Well obviously they were creating an incident, but only in the way that british or US troops in Afghanistan who drive over a landmine are creating an incident by being blown up. Why do US troops keep getting themselves killed just to make diplomatic incidents? I would be surprised if the ships cargoes contained anything ordinary people consider terrorist supplies. The BBC said Israel was restricting imports to 1/5 their previous level, so no, not their sole motive: they were trying to provide some of the 4/5 a normal state would need to live on.
The best solution would have been if Israel had been able to take charge of the ships without anyone getting hurt. But seeing the film of the attacks on the Israelis as they boarded one ship it seems that the flotilla ensured that this solution was not possible.
Firstly that isnt Israel's style, and secondly I agree with others that they obviously didnt try. Someone said there were some EU parliamentarians on board? Israelis being Israelis its surprising they didnt manage to shoot some of them too, but I dare say they didnt look like arabs.
Come on Jason, Israel does not respect international law. They just do what they want. They know no action will be taken against them because the west does not want Israel overrun by Arabs. They take advantage of this to break all the normal rules when they think it is in their interest. In this case Im not sure if they did the right thing. Well see, they might have gone too far. I expect there will be another aid convoy along soon carrying some more dangerous cement.
peace in the Middle East has taken ten steps backwards.
No. its just the logical next stage of an unacceptable siege Israel is imposing. There was no peace to set back unless you mean the peace of the desert. The only peace Israel will accept is total surrender of their enemies and for all the people living there to go somewhere else leaving Israel in charge. I would say that is their strategy. Now, its understandable but that doesnt help find a genuine solution.
