Nothing like a good Israeli bruhaha to bring out the very worst in people who have nothing better to do with their time than to condemn or support a country which so many millions of people devote the entirety of their lives to willfully misunderstanding. Israel fixation is a disease of the mind. It's a psychological disorder in which minds of a fanatical bent can engorge themselves on an issue on which nobody will stop them from leaving reason at the door. There is nothing, on either side of the debate, that brings out people's inner sanctimoniousness more than their feelings on the State of Israel. As somebody who's routinely called variations on 'war-monger' by friends in DC (love you all :) ) and a appeasing pinko by his family in Baltimore (love you all too :) ) , I can say for sure that trying to have sane discussions on the issue of Israel is one of the hardest things in the world to do. For the record, the best post on the Gaza Flotilla goes to JONATHAN CHAIT, who simultaneously uses the post as a way to do a fantastic sendup of Andrew Sullivan (whatever else one says about Sullivan, he never found an issue on which he couldn't champion both extremes). I agree with Chait totally, and my feelings can be summed up the same as his thusly with an h/t to Chait.
Three Points:
1. The Gaza occupation is terrible policy. READ HERE.
2. Israel was militarily justified. READ HERE.
3. That doesn't mean the way they did it wasn't really stupid. READ HERE
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