Except For Lone Loyal Ally, World Condemns Israel's Midnight Attack on Aid Flotilla Bound For Gaza Strip...

By PATRICK ALCATRAZ
Special to The Tribune

McALLEN - It is admittedly a world away, but something rankles us when we hear of Israel attacking anybody. True, it is a country with a long, long history of being on the short end of things, that horrible adventure in Germany being high on the list. But this latest assault by Israeli forces on an aid flotilla headed for blockaded Gaza cannot help things for the starcrossed Jewish people.

This latest episode began sometime after midnight Sunday, when Israeli commandos dropped-in on a seven-boat flotilla carrying some 10,000 pounds of aid for residents living without basic goods and materials. According to the aid group sponsoring the flotilla, activists aboard their ships were armed only with basic self-defense weaponry. Israel, meanwhile, said its commandos descended on the flotilla's main ship carrying only "paint ball" pistols and small arms. In all nine flotilla members were killed, most of them from Turkey, the location of the flotilla's departure port. Israel said seven of its commandos were wounded in the hours-long deck fighting.

What makes it an even worse public relations nightmare for Israel is the acknowledged fact that the flotilla was not carrying weapons of any sort, a contention Israel has used in the past to stop boats headed for Hamas-controlled Gaza. Without the aid flotilla, residents of the city of Gaza and outlying villages in the Gaza Strip have relied on minimal survival shipments via Egypt.

In this country, President Obama expressed regret upon hearing of the assault and resulting battle at sea. In recent weeks, a rift of sorts has developed between President Obama and headstrong Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu centered on Israel's continue desire to tighten the vice on the Palestinians - action the U.S. considers not helpful in the search for peace in the region. What's worse, the world knows that Israel gets its military supplies and a sizable foreign aid package from the United States - a perception that, says Washington, D.C., only fuels anti-American sentiment abroad.

As some 600 activists were being detained in the Israeli coastal city of Ashdod, word surfaced that another aid ship had sailed from the coast of Italy for Gaza. Still, Israeli stayed with the fight. Said Israeli Navy commander, in an article published by The Jerusalem Post: "Next time, we'll use more force."

And while Netanyahu did not issue any comments, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon took a hard line, saying the protesters have links to Al Qaeda. He discounted reports that the flotilla's main ship -  Mavi Marmara - was part of a "Freedom Flotilla" carrying medical and school supplies, and construction materials to the besieged Gaza Strip.

The blockade has been in place since 2007. In numerous declarations issued during the past two years, Israel has vowed to enforce the blockade. It considers the seemingly benevolent flotilla organization - Insani Yardin Vakfi, AKA I.H.H. - a dangerous Islamic group with terrorist connections.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, had been scheduled to meet with President Obama today. Instead, he hurriedly returned to Jerusalem. There, he expected to deal with harsh condemnation of his country's action lodged by most members of the United Nations, including its regional allies Turkey and Egypt. The United States did not join in the condemnation.

The blockade initially was supported by Egypt as a way of putting pressure on Hamas, the radical government that took over the Gaza Strip three years ago. Israel has also said that it wishes to punish Hamas for the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. He was captured in a 2006 cross-border raid and remains in the hands of Hamas, or so the Israelis believe...

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