[CaptainCrunch]

I respect Wieseltier and the Economist a great deal. But it seems like theres a real generic approach to this whole crisis that is a little disconcerting.

At the end of the day, they talk about Israel losing support in the international community over this incident, but I don't really think that international support has been the primary goal for Israel throughout thier existance. The primary goal is security, everything takes a secondary seat to that. Israel has basically been under constant attack since the first day of their existance, and that type of attack has dynamically shifted over the year which puts even more pressure on their security apparatus.

These articles and condemnations are written from a very cookie cutter understanding of the situation, the writers are trying to apply a very western concept of international relations model to the situation in Israel.

The fact is that the blockade was put into place against Gaza because of the Hamas Government instead of being concerned with feeding and sheltering its people puts a priority on bringing in weapons to attack Israeli civilians. Even if you look at this boat full of peacefull activists, the boat had bullet proof vests, gas masks and goggles, those items alone are enough for Israel not to allow the shipment through.

To me, not enough people are asking the question of what else Israel was suppossed to do to ensure their security first and foremost, remember this is a nation with a bunker complex that believes that the defense of itself will not come with any help from the outside world.

It would be too easy to simply write off Israel in this case and condemn them, but the right questions aren't being asked about this 6th boat, the contents of the cargo (blankets, clothes, toys, expired medicines), the fact that Hamas refused to receive this shipment, the backers of the flotilla and the chain of events that lead to the deaths.

The face of this war has changed, nobody is denying that Hammas isn't run by fairly smart and saavy militants. They realized that rocket launches and suicide vests aren't helping anymore, and they've added a interesting combination of media and political Saavy to their handbook. But even with these new additions, we know that Hamas is never going to negotiate for anything but a respite to resupply and rearm, and we know that Israel is never going to give up on their primary goal of securing their country, and they don't feel that they're going to be able to do this with Hamas living next door. Which means Israel is trapped, they can't take down the blockade because the minute that they stop inspecting shipments is the minute that Hamas, and IHH and the Union of Good gain a whole new pipeline for shipping weapons in, so there can really be no comprimise by Israel. Just like there will never be meaning ful negotiations with the Hamas Cult in power.

Neither side will accept UN intervention, and the UN has never shown the strength or resolve to be a true force of change in the world.

In a Tom Clancy book written in the 1990's (The sum of all fears) the Palestines started using peacefull protest methods against the Israeli's and Jack Ryan exclaimed that Palastine had just found a way to destroy Israel. While this situation won't go that far, what it will do is make Israel feel more alone, more paranoid and more into the model that they're responsible for their own defense and nobody else is going to help.

I'm not saying that the media condemnation is wrong, I'm saying that its premature, and it applies the wrong set of national interest and international rules and understanding.

Where the condemnation has to go is to the UN which has failed and continues to fail in showing any kind of leadership, strength, creativity or resolve in the whole middle east situation.