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The Flotilla Fiasco
(Washington Post) Editorial - The Israeli commandos who landed on the deck of the Turkish ferry Mavi Marmara were totally unprepared for what they encountered: dozens of militants who swarmed around them with knives and iron bars. We have no sympathy for the motives of the participants in the flotilla - a motley collection that included European sympathizers with the Palestinian cause, Israeli Arab leaders and Turkish Islamic activists. Israel says that some of the organizers have ties to Hamas and al-Qaeda. What's plain is that the group's nominal purpose, delivering "humanitarian" supplies to Gaza, was secondary to the aim of provoking a confrontation. The White House has been properly cautious so far in responding to the incident; it should be careful to distinguish itself in the coming days from the anti-Israeli chorus. U.S. diplomacy should aim at ensuring that the inevitable calls for an international investigation do not lead to another one-sided setup like the UN's Goldstone commission, whose report on Israel's 2008 invasion of Gaza has become another weapon in the international campaign to de-legitimize the Jewish state.