ICEJ Statement on the Gaza Flotilla

The international condemnation of Israel this week over the interception of the Turkish ship the Mavi Marmara is clearly a case of “don’t confuse me with facts because my mind is already made up.”

Any fair-minded person, after viewing the IDF’s video footage of the incident, will concede that Israeli commandoes were definitely not boarding a ship full of peaceful activists intent on bringing love and aid to the citizens of Gaza. On the contrary, there were embedded among the passengers a large number of well-armed militants motivated by a twisted desire to inflict bodily harm on any Israeli soldiers they encountered on the voyage to Gaza or to die while trying.

It has emerged that many of these so-called activists were in fact radical Islamic jihadists fully prepared to sacrifice their lives for this misguided adventure. They, in fact, left statements to this effect with their families and friends and then, as they saw it, went off to wage war against Israel in the real expectation of dying and ascending immediately to paradise!

Israel’s interception of the ship in question, and indeed of the whole flotilla, was imminently legal given that several such ships have been used over recent years to attempt to ferry arms to Hamas and Hizbullah. The Hamas regime ruling Gaza has been officially listed as a terrorist organization by numerous states and the on-going arms blockade of Gaza is, in fact, a cooperative effort supported by Egypt and the United States.

Once again the radical Left, mainly in Europe, and Muslims extremists have linked hands in order to recklessly stage a publicity stunt that had little to do with delivering aid to Gaza. Not only did this misguided venture cost lives, but it has exposed the anti-Semitic agenda of those who gave themselves to it. The rush of states like Turkey and the wider world, including the United Nations, to judge and condemn Israel before the real facts emerged was little short of pathetic. Once again, blind arrogance and hatred triumphed over reason and truth.

Israel did what was right and, indeed, what every self-respecting democracy would do in defense of its civilians and sovereignty. The failure then of the Western democracies to stand up in defense of a more measured approach based on all the facts is evidence of the degree to which they have given in to the radical voices of hatred in their countries. Appeasement of these voices is a highway to disaster and it is slowly but surely eroding the freedoms that were won, especially in Europe, some sixty years ago by the spilling of much blood. The winds of change are indeed blowing, but if the West is not careful it will reap the whirlwind!

The Prime Minister of Israel was thus right when he accused the international community of double standards and of losing its way in terms of understanding the difference between good and evil. This hypocrisy is no more evident than in the recent attack by North Korea against a South Korean frigate which resulted in the death of forty-five South Korean sailors. Where was the condemnation, protests and outrage at this clear act of unprovoked aggression? No, all of this has been reserved for Israel, who is locked in a life-and-death struggle with an opponent in Gaza who – with the full backing of Tehran and Damascus – unashamedly calls for and works towards her total destruction. An opponent that, without shame, has launched some 10,000 rockets at the Israeli civilian population over the past decade.

It has become popular to bash Israel and ‘play games’ with totalitarian regimes in the Middle East, including the rulers of Gaza, but in the end the truth of what really happened on the Mavi Marmara will and is being revealed for all to see. That is, to those who are not blinded by hate and whose minds are not already made up!

And by the way, in case you were wondering, an average of nearly 150 trucks pass from Israel into Gaza every day, bringing much needed help to the people living there.

Malcolm Hedding
Executive Director
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem