Jonah Goldberg
On
Naiman waxed lyrical about how the moral authority of nonviolence had compelled Turkish-controlled
"All this," Naiman gushed, "and the main confrontation between the Israeli occupation authorities and the Gaza Freedom Flotilla has not yet begun."
Roughly 48 hours later, the "main confrontation" unfolded. In fairness, the majority of "peace activists" on the ships were nonviolent, offering passive resistance. But on the last boat Israelis boarded, the supposed disciples of peace attacked the Israeli commandos. These new Gandhians beat the Israelis with metal bars and even threw one Israeli overboard.
Funny, I'm no expert, but that's not how Gandhi behaved in the movie. Maybe there was a sequel with
The commandos had been equipped with paintball guns out of deference to the professed pacifism of the activists. But when the goons attacked, out came the real sidearms. Nine "humanitarians" were killed.
Now, one wouldn't expect Naiman to take
One might also expect kosher pigs to fly.
After the incident, Naiman returned to the
He opened with a question: "How do you know when someone is serious about pursuing a strategy of nonviolent resistance until victory for justice is achieved?" And then he answered it: "When they refuse to turn back in the face of state violence. Damn the commandos. Full speed ahead." He then went on to celebrate another propaganda ship heading toward
How do you know when a proselytizer of nonviolence is full of it? When he doesn't object to the use of violence.
Among
The first part is almost indisputable at this point. The raid was a disaster. As for the second part -- that
The assumption is that world opinion is open to hearing
Question: If Israel is always hell-bent on murder, massacres and genocide, why is it so bad at it? If its battle plan called for a slaughter, why kill "only" nine people? Why not sink all of the boats?
Meanwhile, is it really the case that
And yet the only villain as far as much of the world is concerned is
But none of these facts matter. Indeed, it's tiring even to recount them in an environment where big lies matters more than obvious truths, where self-defense is "aggression," where restraint is "genocide," and where the heirs of Gandhi wield steel pipes.
Available at Amazon.com:
At War with the Weather: Managing Large-Scale Risks in a New Era of Catastrophes
- Don't Lift the International Ban on Whaling
- Why No Outrage for Anti-Israel, Phony Flotilla?
- U.N. Probe of Israeli Raid Is a Joke
- When Doing What You Need to Do Goes Badly
- The Convenient Villain
- An Act of Piracy on the High Seas
- History Returns to Europe
- Colombia Vote Showed Social Media's Limits
- Political Tremors in Tokyo
- Managing a More Assertive Turkey
- Obama's New Security Strategy Looks Much Like the Old One
- Sticking to the Iraq Withdrawal Timetable
- Israel Is a Key Ally and Deserves U.S. Support
- Israel: Re-Run
- Korean Tensions: Waiting for China
- Our Chief Confessor
- New Political Winds in Latin America
- Colombia: Moving Beyond 'Narco-Democracy'
- Is Colombia's Front-runner Too Romantic? Not Really
- Mexico has its own 'Arizona' problem
- What Next for NATO?
- European Union Funding Proposal Is Only the Beginning
- Afghanistan - Marinestan
- Farideh Farhi on Shifts in Iran on Nuclear Policy
- Brazil Diplomacy Needed Closer to Home
- Do Great Leaders Make History or Are They Carried Along by the Tides of Change
- France Offers Lesson in How Not to Integrate Immigrants
- Euro Crisis has American Fingerprints
- European Debt Crisis Affects Investments
- Greece: Model of Socialistic Excess
- Hugo Chavez Ceding too Much Control to Cuba
- Afghanistan: Papering Over Afghan Woes
- Expeditionary Economics: Spurring Growth After Conflicts and Disasters
- Why More Diplomacy Won't Keep the Financial System Safe
- Bigger Is Better: Case for Transatlantic Economic Union
- European Union: A Fragile Partnership
- The Brussels Wall: Tearing Down the EU-NATO Barrier
- Muddling through Greece's Tremors
- Greece Financial Crisis Raises Doubts About European Union
- Greek Debt Crisis May Hurt Latin America Economy
- The U.S. Mission in Iraq
- Shared Goals for Pakistan's Militants
- Bringing Change From Below in Afghanistan
- The Global Glass Ceiling: Why Empowering Women Is Good for Business
- The Future of American Security Assistance
- Questioning the Wisdom of American Restraint
- Enforcing Human Rights for World's Poor
- The Geography of Chinese Power
- The Rise of Asia's Universities
- On Israel: Obama Playing the Middle East Game Wrong
- What's Happening With Israel?
- Exaggeration of Iranian Threat Could Have Dire Consequences
- Obama's Nuclear Policy Enhances America's Moral Position and Security
- New Obama Nuclear Policy Could Spur Proliferation and Harm America
- U.S. and Russia Should Share Anti-Iran Missile Defense
- Obama's Promise to Work With Foreign Governments
- The NATO Nuisance
- Cuban Cardinal Says Too Little Too Late
- The Starving Armenians
- Arizona's Anti-Immigrant Law Will Spark Hispanic Exodus
- Open Season on Latinos in Arizona
- Obama Criticism of Arizona Immigration Law Ignores Federal Incompetence
- Change for U.S. Nuclear Strategy: Nuclear War Planning and Non-proliferation
- Obama's Nuclear-Weapons Conference Fatally Flawed Before It Began
- Fear Factor: Swine Flu, Nuclear Weapons, Reacting to Doom
- Documents Reveal Al Qaeda Cyberattacks
- Iraq Elections - So What Happened to Iraq?
- Mexico's Big Hope: Get 5 Million U.S. Retirees
- U.S. Latin Policy: Big Gestures and Little Substance
- United States - 5 Ways to Keep America Great
- Iran - Sanctions on Iran
- Securing Afghanistan - Pakistan Connection
- Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai Ungrateful Puppet
- As Iraq Threatens to Come Apart Problems in Afghanistan Mount
- Latin America Must Diversify Trade With China
- Cuba After Fidel and Raul Castro
- China Should Be Ashamed of Its Aid to Haiti
- Pivot to Foreign Policy: American-Russian Cooperation
- Nuclear Roulette: The Obama Doctrine
- Al-Qaeda has Lost the Battle. But has it Won the War?
- Why Natural Disasters Are More Expensive But Less Deadly
- Dangerous Bias of United Nations Goldstone Report
- Greek Financial Debt Crisis Only Part of EU's Woes
- Remember the Pacific War
- Strange Sighting in Iraq
- Mexico Facing Six Wars Not Just One
- Mexican Violence Rising but Less Than in Washington
- Pakistan's Shrewd Shift in Dialogue
- Earthquake May Delay Chile's First World Goal
- Trees for Haiti Campaign Starts -- Slowly
- Haiti: Reforestation Should Be Part of Rebuilding Process
- Pentagon Wrestles With Haiti Relief
- Chile's Sebastian Pinera Unlikely to Be South American Silvio Berlusconi
- Earthquake Buries Progress in Haiti
- Beyond Haitian Relief Effort, How to Fix Haiti
- Haiti Needs a Version of the Marshall Plan
- Tough Love Only Long-Term Cure for Haiti
(C) 2010 Jonah Goldberg