A few days ago, the Israelis attempted to interdict a ship flotilla that had publicly declared its intention to run a military brigade. When the IDF boarded one of the ships, its crew began attacking the soldiers and started a bloody confrontation that left nine dead. Pro-Hamas activists sent another ship to run the blockade, the ‘Rachel Corrie,’ carrying 550 tons of cement for building projects. The IDF stopped this ship as well, but because no one on the ship attacked the IDF, no violence ensued:

A couple of thoughts about this. The CNN interviewer seems a bit of a fool. Yes, the Irish inspected the ship when it left port, but that doesn’t mean that other materials couldn’t have been transferred aboard the vessel after it left Irish waters. After all, there are actual overland means to transfer humanitarian materials into Gaza; Israel sends such materials through border crossings every day, unless Hamas is conducting attacks at the border itself. It doesn’t take a beach landing in Gaza to get cement to the Gazans, as the IDF spokeswoman patiently and repeatedly explains. That makes a blockade-running ship just a wee bit suspicious, and in any case, a blockade means ships don’t get to pass through.

Also, this episode should remind everyone that if it were up to Israel, there would be no war. If it was up to Hamas and Fatah, there would be no Israel. And that’s the main problem with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and one that is irreconcilable.