The Gaza Flotilla: Showboating for Hamas

What’s the latest fetish shared by all of the following?

Noam Chomsky, George Galloway, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), UNRWA and Code Pink.

Why of course! They are all cheerleaders for the flotilla of “peace activists” who have been steaming across the Mediterranean toward Gaza, nattering on about their dedication to non-violence, humanitarian aid and “freedom” — as in their grossly misnamed “freedom flotilla.”

Real freedom for Gaza would entail an end to local rule by the terrorists of Hamas, and an end to the endless violent attacks on Israel — which are the reason for the blockade that this flotilla proposes to break. But the “Free Gaza” crowd behind this stunt is apparently not bothered in the least that Gaza operates as a terrorist enclave, or that Hamas receives training and smuggled weapons from Iran. These folks are bothered — very bothered — that Israel does anything to defend itself.

As propaganda, this flotilla is clever stuff. It must be a hoot for the “peace activists,” now embarked on a springtime cruise of the Mediterranean, aiming for the thrill of an high-visibility encounter with the Israeli navy — while simultaneously relying on the skill of the Israelis in trying to thwart this stunt with minimal damage to all involved.

On the Huffington Post this is playing right now as an awesome display of the power of non-violence. That’s a bizarre interpretation of an exercise that Hamas — terrorists dedicated to the destruction of Israel — are waiting to welcome with open arms. This flotilla is not about freedom, not about aid, and not about non-violence. If it succeeds in any way — in what are evidently the twin goals of helping Hamas and harming Israel — it will be an awesome tribute to the power of propaganda. More on that in my column on Hamas Ahoy!.

No doubt there are some starry-eyed folks aboard those boats — launched from Algeria, Greece, Turkey and Ireland — who really believe they are on a voyage of high and humanitarian purpose. There is a long history of useful idiots who will sign on for this sort of terror tourism, uninterested in facts or realities (Remember P.J. O’Rourke’s brilliant tale of cruising down the Volga in Soviet days, with fellow travelers come to admire the paradise: Ship of Fools.)  But check out the list of endorsers, and ask yourself if you’d like these folks delivering diktats on your own security, or that of your country.